DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: T for Teen
SPOILERS: Through US Aired Episodes (Specifically Season 4 Finale)
WORD COUNT: 882
PAIRING: Booth/Brennan
SUMMARY: The aftermath of that final moment in the Season 4 Finale.
A/N: I'm still tweaking on that last chapter, but here's the 2nd one. I hope you enjoy it.
REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.
It was disorienting enough to wake up in a completely different reality, but having a bunch of doctors and nurses poking and prodding and taking every sample known to mankind was just too surreal. They kept asking him questions; what year is it, how old are you, can you feel this, can you move that, what's in this picture, can you read the bottom line? He half expected them to ask him the name of his first grade lunch lady at the rate they were going.
He just wanted a few moments alone. Five minutes of peace so he could sort through all the muddled up thoughts swirling around in his brain. There were a million images and snippets of life trying to assault him all at once. Basic training, a Navy uniform, an abusive drunk, a badge, a hockey game, a lab, his brother the cop, the desert, a son, a wounded soldier, friends, employees, a fist fight, another fist fight, another fist fight, music, a woman on a stage, his brother the squid, a baby, a circus, gunfire, more gunfire, lots of gunfire, his son, and the woman. The woman was everywhere; hockey games, in a lab, singing, at the circus, at a bar, at a fight, with his son, by his side, everywhere. She was everywhere and having her everywhere always seemed to feel right.
The problem with all of those images was that they felt garbled. Like they didn't all belong together. And he wanted to sort them all out, to figure out which ones were real and which ones belonged in some fantasy life. He needed to know what was real, because the reality was the important part. He may not be able to tell the difference between yellow and banana on a color chart, but he knew that there were important things in his reality, and he needed to get back to them.
When the last nurse finished fiddling with his I.V., he closed his eyes tight and tried to catalogue each and every image as real or fantasy. Vivid blue suit and white shoes went into the fantasy category. Corporal Edward "Teddy" Parker went into the reality one, right next to the one of his son Parker. Gang banger fist fight out back of The Lab was dropped into the fantasy folder, while playing hockey with Wendell was for the reality one.
As he diligently tried to deal each image into the correct piles, one of the nurses poked her head inside his room again. "Mr. Booth?"
"Huh?" He was distracted by the task he so desperately wanted to finish.
"Sir, you have some visitors." She looked back into the hallway before asking him her question. "Do you feel up for a little company?"
"I ah…" He tried to come up with a reason not to let these visitors into his room, but a smiling man with a heavily creased face and graying hair slipped in past the nurse.
"Oh, Agent Booth is always up for company. The man is practically a machine." He stared at the intrusive man for a moment, trying to put a memory to the face.
"I'm not supposed to like you." He eyed the man with keen suspicion. He knew there was something about this man he didn't like. But he also knew there was something else; something that made it impossible not to like him just a little.
As the nurse left the room, the man flashed him a wide, crooked smile. "I knew you'd still be in there, Booth."
Obviously, the man seemed to know more about him than he did at the moment. If he just had a little more time to sort through the mixed up images in his head. He knew he was in the Army, and he had named his son Parker in memory of man he served with. He knew the difference between right and wrong, even if it cost him everything. And he knew that his memories were still confused, because there was so much more to him and the life he lived before.
He dropped his head back into the bed and closed his eyes, hoping the images would all magically sort themselves out and he would finally know what it was that remained a mystery to him. "I thought she said visitors."
The man moved closer and poured him some water, passing it to him as he asked, "What's that?" When he didn't take it right away, the man insisted. "You sound dry, drink some water."
Taking the cup and bringing it to his lips for a sip, he said again, "She said I had visitors. Where's the rest?"
"Oh!" The man turned back to the door once he realized that he was alone in the room with the patient.
His head felt heavy again and he rested it on the pillow, waiting for the man to re-enter the room. He never realized how tiring not knowing who you were would be, and he just wanted to rest. Just a few moments on the soft pillow with his eyes closed was all he needed. A few quiet moments to pull himself back together. A few quiet moments quickly gave way to sleep and he drifted away from himself once again.