You guys are awesome. Each one of you. Every time I open my email, it's like unwrapping a Christmas present. Thank you - very much.
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"Bones?" Her lashes drifted lower and finally lay in a dark, smudged crescent against her cheek. "Come on, baby, talk to me," he urged. "Bones?" His hand patted hers insistently. "Come on . . . one more time . . . open your eyes . . . open your eyes . . . Bones?"
He pushed back quickly from the bed and ran to the door. "She's awake! She -" The nurses' station was unattended. One quick glance over his shoulder told him Brennan still lay unmoving; he took two quick steps down the hallway to the right, changed his mind and rushed back the other way, searching for someone . . . anyone.
A group of three stood outside the door of a room just around the corner. "She's awake!" he yelled when he saw them. "She just talked to me - she said my name! She's awake!" Without waiting for their reaction, he turned and hurried back the way he'd come.
They were at his heels, followed by more personnel as heads poked out of doorways at the sound of his shouted revelation. In Brennan's room, he was pushed to the side as medical staff surrounded her bed.
"She's awake!" he insisted as he paced restlessly at the edges of the crowd. "She . . . she squeezed my fingers . . . and it wasn't one of those involuntary . . . she did it twice!" he added triumphantly. "No, no, it was three times. She grabbed my hand and she squeezed three times. Three times!" He wasn't sure anyone was listening to him but he kept on talking, persuading himself that what had just happened was real. "She looked at me - she opened her eyes and she looked at me and she said my name!" Through the shifting rainbow of uniforms, he caught glimpses of her lying there, unmoving once again. "She said my name," he repeated. "She said it. I heard it. She said my name! I heard her!"
Deborah, a carefully preserved nurse in her fifties who had taken a shine to Max, stepped away from the bed and, with a hand on his arm, stopped his frantic pacing. "Seeley -"
"She said my name," Booth insisted again. "She opened her eyes and she looked at me and she said my name. I heard her."
Deborah's smile was tender. "I believe you."
"Then why isn't she awake now?" His panicked eyes went from Brennan's form to the nurse. "I heard her!"
She rubbed small circles into his back and spoke to him in a calm, soothing voice. "This is not unusual at all," she said. "She's been unconscious for a long time -"
"Twenty-three days," he interrupted.
Deborah nodded. "Twenty-three days," she smiled. "It's only in the movies that people wake up and just jump out of bed right away. Seeley?" She counted the heavy breaths that lifted and lowered his shoulders as he watched Brennan and then, discreetly, let her hand slide down his arm until she could wrap her fingers around his wrist and feel his pulse. "Are you okay?" she asked softly. "Would you like me to get you something?"
"What?" Shocked, he pulled his eyes away from Brennan and stared at the nurse beside him. "What? No . . . no, I'm fine, I just . . . why isn't she awake? She said my name," he insisted again. "I heard her."
"This is not uncommon," she assured him. "In cases like these, often what we see is that patients surface slowly, for brief periods," she explained gently, "and those moments gradually become longer and longer. When she's able to communicate, we'll be able to assess any permanent damage -"
"She's going to be fine," Booth interrupted harshly, his eyes lit from within. "She's going to be fine."
"Of course," Deborah nodded. "Of course." He didn't see the teasing smile that she turned on him as the room began to empty of medical staff. "Maybe when she wakes up again, you could just press the CALL button? Instead of running through the halls yelling for someone?"
"Call button, right." The helpful nurse was dismissed from his mind before she ever left the room, as he pulled a chair close up beside the bed and reached for Brennan's hand. "I'll use the call button."
He watched her the way new parents studied their infants. He counted the breaths she took and the pulse of the heartbeats he could see on her neck, just below her ear. Her hand was in his, her fingers pressed against his lips . . . and he waited.
He didn't know how much time had passed when she frowned and then whimpered with pain. He whispered her name.
The muscles in her throat worked as she tried to swallow and then the dark soot of her lashes lifted with a flutter and once again, her head turned ever so slightly toward him.
He dropped his head weakly as he prayed aloud. "Thank You." When his eyes opened they were immediately snagged by hers.
" . . . here." He had to lean in close to hear what little bit of voice she had.
"Of course I'm here," he choked out, as tears made waves of her face. "Where else would I be?"
Another tiny mewl escaped. " . . . hurts," she managed, as she tried to lick dry lips.
"I'll fix that," Booth answered immediately. "I'll take care of it." He remembered the CALL button then and released her hand long enough to grab for it and press it a million times before letting it swing free again. When her throat worked convulsively again, he picked a piece of ice out of his drink and used it to moisten her lips. "There. Better?"
"Well, look who's here!" Deborah's cheerful voice intruded on the moment. "And don't you just have the prettiest blue eyes, now that we can see them open." She bustled around the bed, taking Brennan's vitals.
"She's in pain," Booth told her roughly. "Do something about it."
"Of course, sweetheart, I'll call the doctor right away." Deborah smiled at Brennan from the foot of the bed. "Do you know your name, honey?" she asked with a smile. "Can you tell me what your name is?"
Booth once more held Brennan's right hand between both of his, convulsively squeezing then patting it, then pressing his lips to the palm while he watched her. She frowned again, fighting to keep her eyes open before she found Booth.
There was a small movement that might have been a nod. "Bones," she whispered. He felt her hand squeeze his. " . . . Bones."
He laughed and kissed her fingers again. "Yea, that's right," he told her as he tried to blink back the onslaught of tears. "You're Bones."
"That's a good girl,' Deborah chirped in her relentlessly happy tone. "Now what about your real name? Do you know what that is?"
There was a moment of no response and then Brennan's eyes widened fearfully. Her head shook with tiny movements. "I . . . I don't . . ." She focused on Booth, her face panicked and scared. " . . . can't . . ." Tears formed; one silver drop slipped out and began a slow journey toward her ear. "I . . ."
"Shhhh! Shhhh, baby, it's okay," Booth was immediately beside himself. "Don't cry, honey, don't cry, it's okay." He glared at Deborah, furious that she'd asked the question that caused Brennan's tears. "You're doing great, I promise," he murmured, one big hand cupping her cheek, wiping away the moisture. "It's okay, it will all come back to you. It will. I swear. Don't cry, baby, don't cry."
"He's right, sweetheart." Deborah patted Brennan's right foot. "You've got plenty of time, don't you worry about it. Now, I think I'll just go see if we can get you something for that pain, okay?"
They ignored her leaving. "I can't . . ." Brennan managed brokenly, fighting back tears and weariness as her eyes began to close again compulsively. " . . . don't go . . ."
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised again and again. "I'll be right here, I promise." As she drifted off once more into sleep, he leaned over and pressed his lips against her forehead, and stayed there with his own eyes closed. "It's going to be okay, I promise. I promise."
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He fell asleep himself, hunched over the bed beside her as he'd done the first night he'd spent at her side. A hand landing awkwardly in his hair woke him up. When his head lifted, she was looking at him.
"Temperance." Her voice was low and rough from long disuse. " . . . name . . . Temperance . . . Brennan."
His smile was wide and beautiful. "Yes, it is."
"Brother . . ." she continued, and the determined, focused look he remembered so well was back in her eyes. "Russ."
"Yea." He was so proud of her, he thought his chest might explode with it.
"Mother . . ." She shook her head.
He nodded, and waited.
"Father. Matthew . . ." She frowned. " No . . ." Her eyes searched his. "Max . . . Max," she repeated.
He could see the struggle as she searched for the rest of her father's name.
" . . . can't . . ."
"It's okay," he laughed softly. "He only needs one name anyway." He brought her hand to his lips again.
Brennan curved her fingers around his jaw. "Seeley."
"Well, now you're just showing off," he teased, but it was an effort to get the words past the rush of love and relief that threatened to overcome him.
She smiled back at him, and fell once more into sleep.
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He held them all at bay with his back to the closed door. "Alright, before you go in, there are some rules," he told them firmly. He'd guarded her fiercely for the two days that had passed since she'd regained consciousness; despite their vocal opposition, he refused to allow anyone to see her while she struggled to recall basic memories and skills. He gave in now only because he feared a mass invasion if he didn't.
"She's my daughter!" Max argued loudly.
"And if you want to see her right now you'll shut up and listen!" Booth shot back. Mouth clamped, clearly irritated, Max backed down reluctantly.
"First, she tires very easily. She can only handle about ten minutes and then she starts to drop off, and when that happens, you're gone. No arguments. Got it?" He waited for a nod from each of them before continued.
"She may not remember your name right away and if she doesn't," he glared at them all, "you will not make a big deal about it. Understand?"
"No hugging," he added severely. "Her arm and leg are still messed up so don't touch her. And don't mention the stitches in her head or that half her hair is gone."
He pointed a long finger at Angela. "Don't go in there crying, either. You'll just upset her."
Angela bounced on her toes in anticipation. "Okay already! Okay! Can we see her now?"
He held up one finger, hit them with another silent blaze of warning from his hard stare, then twisted the other arm behind his back and opened the door. "Are you sure you're up for this, Bones?" he asked as he leaned inside, his formerly harsh tone now gentle and tender. "They can come back tomorrow -"
"Well, I'm not coming back tomorrow," Angela argued as she pushed her way past him. When she saw Brennan awake and alert, she immediately burst into loud tears. "Sweetie!" She ran to the right side of the bed and embraced her best friend tenderly. "Don't you ever do this to me again, do you hear me?"
Booth could only glower and grumble in disapproval as one by one - coworkers, interns, Sweets, Max - ignored his pointed lecture and approached Brennan for a careful hug or to touch her cheek with theirs. He leaned against the wall, one foot crossed over the other, arms folded across his chest and watched it all with a keen eye, alert for signs of fatigue or distress, ready at a moment's notice to boot everyone from the room.
"Ahhh, sweetheart," Max sat down in Booth's chair and held onto her hand. "It's so good to see you awake. You had us all so scared." He smiled, his happy relief obvious. "Russ will be back in a few days, too. He wanted me to tell you."
"That will be nice," she answered, her voice still weak and hesitant. "Booth told me he was here every weekend . . . while I was unconscious . . ."
"Three weeks." Max blinked back tears. "Three of the worst weeks of my life."
"Twenty-three days." Booth's voice drew their attention to him. His eyes were on Brennan. "If anyone was counting," he shrugged. The smile and wink he added was just for her.
"Did you know," Vincent Nigel-Murray's crisp British voice broke the moment of silence that followed, "the longest coma ever recorded was 37 years, 111 days?"
"Perhaps I regained consciousness too soon," Brennan said with a wobbly smile. "I feel as if I've underachieved."
Mouths dropped as every head turned toward her in surprise.
"I'm sorry." Her head dipped uncomfortably. "I shouldn't joke about -"
"No, honey," Angela reached out and rubbed her forearm. "It was funny! We're just not used to you being funny," she added with a laugh.
After a few moments of shared humour, Clark spoke.
"Do you know how much longer you'll have to stay here, Dr. Brennan?" he asked solicitously.
"No." She looked ruefully across her body. "I seem to have quite a few injuries so -"
"You broke your second toe." Booth pushed off from the wall and cut through the circle that surrounded her bed to stand at the foot, facing her. He looked at the offending limb and then sent a crooked smile toward her. "How does someone break their second toe?"
A frown momentarily creased her forehead before she smiled back. "Phalanges," she told him. "I broke a phalanx."
"No," he shook his head. "I said toe, not a finger."
"Toes are also phalanges," she informed him.
His eyes danced as he tried to appear unconvinced. "Are you sure about that?"
She hesitated briefly. Beside him, Booth heard Daisy take a breath and immediately kicked her in the shin. She winced, but got the message and stayed silent.
Brennan finally nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."
"Well, you also broke - what's that bone in your lower leg?" he asked casually. "Not the thin one but the big one."
She struggled for a moment before the information came back to her. "The tibia. Not the . . . the other bone is the fibula. You mean the tibia."
"Yea, that one," Booth nodded. "You have screws in that one. You're going to have fun at the airport from now on," he chuckled.
She didn't smile back. "Keep going," she whispered.
Beside her, Angela covered her mouth with one hand and reached for Hodgins' hand with the other as she struggled to control a fresh bout of tears.
It wasn't a game anymore, and as had happened so many times in the past, the rest of the room disappeared in their focus on each other.
"Knee."
"Patella," she responded.
"That's just bruised. Above that -"
She struggled for a moment. "Femur."
"Clean break," Booth told her. "A couple of inches above the knee. Then your wrist -"
"No," she interrupted, closing her eyes as she grasped for what she knew she knew. "Ilium," she said finally. "Sacrum. Pubis." If she had looked up at that moment, she would have seen her interns silently mouthing the words for her. "Coccyx." She raised her head triumphantly.
Everyone backed away as he stepped around the bed to her side. Max rose immediately from the chair. "You forgot one," Booth teased gently as he sat down and reached for her hand.
"I . . ." Brennan's eyes widened in distress for a moment and then cleared. "Ischium. Ischium!"
He nodded proudly; in the act of lifting her fingers to his lips, he paused and spread them apart with his own. "Now these," he murmured as he displayed them for her, "these are phalanges."
She laughed at his silliness, and they both jumped in alarm when the room erupted in applause. Brennan looked around the circle of people who surrounded her, at misty eyes and wide happy smiles, she saw the hugs they shared and the nods of approval directed toward her . . . and was suddenly overwhelmed and emotional.
"Thank you," she whispered as she fought to control the rush of tears that threatened. "I . . . I don't know . . . what . . ."
"Alright, that's it." Booth stood up and began pushing those close to him roughly toward the door. "She's had enough, everybody out." If someone resisted, he simply pushed harder. "Out."
"Maybe just me -" Max began.
"Out," Booth ordered. "I'll tell you when you can come back. Out."
Angela rushed back in to leave one more kiss on Brennan's cheek. "I love you, honey," she whispered. Booth hooked an arm around her shoulder and marched her back to the door. "I'll be out here when you're ready!"
"I'll let you know when she's ready," Booth growled, right before he closed the door on the crowd still trying to wave goodbye.
Then he turned back to Brennan, who was sinking into her pillow, and pulled the blankets up higher against her shoulders. She was asleep again before he sat down and, in a gesture that had become a reflex, reached for her hand.
"I thought they'd never leave."
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I love Booth and Brennan. I really do.
Thanks for reading!
