AN: Just so you know, I stayed up until... three in the morning to get this update out. Katherine, I hope this is okay because I wrote it just because you said you wanted an update. I hope everyone enjoys this update. Please let me know what you think when you're done reading. I might not respond to reviews (my computer time is almost non-existent) but I do appreciate them.

"Dr. Brennan, Temperance, it's okay. Shhh, it's okay." Temperance looked up through tear-filled eyes at her comforter, surprised to see that it was Padme. Logically, she knew that Jared's fiancee was the one meeting her here for the trip to the hospital, but it seemed odd somehow that she was the one comforting her. "It's okay. You'll be able to see him soon enough."

Brennan pulled away from her and took a deep breath to calm her breathing and wiped at her eyes. She had to compose herself for Booth's sake. Padme kept a hand on her shoulder until she was sure that the anthropologist was going to be okay and then helped the woman to stand up.

"How is he," Temperance asked once she was finally back to herself. She ignored the glances of other passengers as she headed to the carousel to get her luggage.

"According to the doctors his surgery was successful, but he hasn't woken up yet."

"They were aware of his reactions to anesthetic weren't they?"

"Yes, his doctors were aware of his reaction from the last time and used something different, but he still had a reaction. I mean his vitals are steady, but he just isn't waking up."

"It took him four days last time to emerge from his coma." Brennan frowned once she had her luggage and they headed for the car. Her thoughts drifted back to his last stay in the hospital and everything that followed from his short lived confusion over what their exact relationship was to her leaving him to recover on his own. His absolute belief that they were married and expecting a child had scared her, and as usual, she'd left to distance herself from her feelings. That seemed to be the story of their relationship. He'd always believed that they would be together forever, and she always ran when her emotions began to slip out of her iron grasp on them.

"Is everything okay?" Brennan looked over at Padme, startled out of her thoughts. The young woman looked at her with concern, so she offered her as much of a smile as she could muster.

"I'm just thinking, that's all. Does Hank know about Booth? What about my team at the Jeffersonian?"

"Jared called Hank when Seeley was taken into surgery, and he's kept him informed. Seeley didn't tell him anything was wrong the last time and it wasn't until he was out of the hospital a few weeks that anyone found out. I know Jared wasn't too happy to find out that his brother had almost died while he was away."

"Booth didn't want anyone to worry, and everything happened so fast the last time that we really didn't have time to inform anyone."

"I suppose I could see that. Everything's happened so quickly this time as well. He passed out in Afghanistan and within a week was back here for tests." Padme shook her head as she turned off the car. They'd reached the hospital, which surprised Brennan somewhat. It hadn't seemed like a long enough time to have reached it from the airport. "Jared's been such a rock for Seeley during the whole thing. He said that it was his turn to do the care-taking."

"Well thank you both for everything that you've done for Booth. I know he doesn't say it, but he appreciates the support, as do I." Padme looked at Brennan for a moment, her head cocked to the side as she considered the anthropologist.

"You're a strange woman Temperance. I don't know what's kept you and Seeley from admitting that you're in a relationship, but the fact that you've remained in denial for so long makes me wonder what's held you back."

Temperance sighed and shook her head a bit. The reality was that she knew exactly what was keeping her from giving herself to Booth and it was entirely her fault. She just hoped that it wouldn't be too late to make up for her past mistakes.

XxXxX

"You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips, and there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips. You're trying hard not to show it, but baby, baby I know it..." Bren spun around in the kitchen as she monitored the food cooking on the range. She held a wooden spoon up to her lips to finish belting out the song. "You've lost that lovin' feeling, oh that lovin' feeling. You've lost that loving feeling now it's gone, gone, gone, oh woah."

"That's an odd choice of song don't you think," Booth said as he watched her from the doorway of the kitchen. Bren let out a yelp, her cheeks flaming a bit in embarrassment.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in. Is everything set at the club for tonight? Fisher isn't still threatening to quit is he?"

"Threatening to quit? No. He is however claiming that the mundane task of creating a tower of wings is drawing him ever closer to the dark nothing that awaits us." Booth pushed off of the wall and stepped into the kitchen, pulling his wife into his arms. "So what's with the song choice? Trying to send me a message?"

Brennan frowned as she looked at him. "I simply heard the song on the radio earlier and it's been in my head ever since. It seems a bit true though, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean baby?"

"You feel it don't you? I can tell that you don't feel for me the way that you did. Something has changed with us and I just know that it's because of her."

Booth let go of Bren and ran a hand through his hair. He had in fact noticed that something was off with them, but he was sure that it had nothing to do with Bones. No, something else was going on that was drawing him away from his wife.

"It has absolutely nothing to do with..." He paused and took a deep breath. A very familiar scent filled the room and he took a deep breath, trying to place it. Once it clicked in his mind where he knew the scent from, the whole world faded away and he was surrounded by nothing but, "Bones."

XxXxX

"Baby, baby, I get down on my knees for you. If you would only love me like you used to do, yeah. We had a love, a love you don't find everyday, so don't, don't don't let it slip away..." Jared sang along with Tom Cruise as he watched the movie 'Top Gun' on the hospital room television. A smile played a bit on his lips as he watched. Seeley and his best friend had imitated the serenade scene from the movie at a party once, one that Jared and Pops weren't supposed to know about. Instead, he'd snuck in the house with his own friends and mingled with his brother's friends until he was caught.

"It's somehow comforting to know that both of the Booth boys seem to have the same singing voice." Jared looked up at the doorway in surprise and gave a sigh of relief to see Temperance standing there with Padme.

"Tempe, I'm so glad you were able to make it." He popped up from his seat to give the weary anthropologist a hug. She smiled at him wearily as he led her to Booth's bedside and sat her down. "You've got to be exhausted. Do you want anything?"

"No thank you Jared, I'm fine. I just needed to see Booth. Have the doctors said anything about his condition?" She reached over and laced her fingers with Booth's as she looked at Jared. There was something comforting about being here with him even if he didn't know that she was here.

"They took him for an MRI earlier, and I'm Just waiting for his doctor to come back with the results." Temperance nodded and let out a breath through pursed lips. Her exhaustion was catching up to her. She glanced over at Booth once and gave his hand a squeeze. "We're still waiting on the results from the biopsy. The prognosis isn't good, but I'm holding out hope that this isn't cancer."

"We can only pray," said Padme as she took her fiancee's hand, offering him her support. There was a knock on the door, and all three turned as Dr. Jursic stepped into the room. He nodded to Jared, but when he noticed Temperance, he smiled.

"Dr. Brennan, normally I would say it's a pleasure to see you again, but under the circumstances I think I'll refrain."

"Are you in charge of Booth's care?"

"Yes, of course. He was put back under my care when he arrived from over seas. Honestly I don't know what the army was thinking, asking him to re-enlist. After his surgery, he shouldn't have been allowed back into service, but I'm getting off topic. I'm sure you're curious about Booth's test results."

"So, will he have to go through radiation treatment? Is he going to wake up? What's going on?" Jared asked as the doctor pulled out a few copies of images. Dr. Jursic set the images down onto a table and motioned for the three of them to take a look at his scans.

"First off I have gotten back the results of the biopsy, and Seeley is lucky to have dodged a bullet a second time. The tumor was benign, though generally they don't grow as fast as this one has." There was a collective sigh of relief at the words, and Brennan relaxed a little bit. He wouldn't have to endure harsh treatments to kill off any cancerous cells, but that didn't have anything to do with him recovering from a coma.

Dr. Jursic pointed down at the images on the two scans and glanced over at Brennan when he began to speak again. "Now these two images here are scans taken of Seeley's brain before and after surgery. The area here that's all lit up is the area of the brain responsible for emotions. Think of it as the part of the brain responsible for love." Dr. Jursic made a circular motion with his finger as he indicated what they should be looking at. Brennan felt her stomach clench as she looked at the image. Here was scientific proof of Booth's emotions, and the activity shown there indicated that his feelings for her were genuine. His feelings were genuine and strong and she'd turned him down because she was too scared to open herself to him.

"Is Seeley in a relationship currently?" The doctor looked over the three of them and at their collective head shake, he gave a quick nod. "Well, it's probably a good thing because I think you'll find his feelings altered assuming he wakes up."

"What do you mean his feelings will be altered?" Jared frowned as he looked at the doctor. That just didn't make any sense to him.

"This," Dr. Jursic said as he indicated the second scan, "was taken after the surgery. As you can see here, the activity is diminished."

"Wouldn't the drugs he was administered before surgery have an effect on his brain activity," Brennan asked as she looked at the scan.

"It would have an effect yes, but nothing as drastic as this. As a matter of fact, we found the exact opposite results the last time round. His brain lit up after the surgery. Whatever happened the last time around created a strong love response in his brain. It's probably a good thing that he's not in a relationship with anyone currently because his feelings toward them would likely be different once he comes out of the coma. I would hate for this to cause a change in his feelings toward another person."