Booth's back let him know early the next morning that he had not had a comfortable night's sleep. He had spent the night sitting next to Brennan's bed, hunched over in the hard plastic chair and his screaming joints were letting him know they weren't happy with him. His eyes felt scratchy which he attributed to being woken every hour when the nurse's came in to check on Brennan, waking him every time in the process. Brennan slept through the interruptions, only waking once when the nurses had given her another strong dose of Tylenol. Booth was thankful of that fact at least, even though his back was killing him and he was exhausted he knew that she at least slept peacefully and got the well needed rest she needed to start getting better.

"Good morning Agent Booth," the morning nurse Eden said smiling at him as he stretched, wincing as the muscles in his back protested.

"Morning," he said.

"She looks better this morning," Eden said checking the monitors that showed Brennan's heart rate and temperature.

"Yeah?" Booth said sitting up and looking over at a still slumbering Brennan.

"Her fever is practically gone," Eden said kindly, "She's very lucky she had you to bring her here."

"We're partners," Booth shrugged, "We look out for each other."

"Well she's one lucky lady," Eden smiled knowingly, "I'd kill to have a partner who cared for me as much as you obviously care for her. I'll have some breakfast sent up for the both of you and then someone will be in to check on her again and decided whether or not she can be discharged this morning."

When the nurse left Booth took a moment to really study his partner's face. Her cheeks weren't flushed as they had been last night and her skin wasn't as pale. Her hand twitched in his making Booth jump. He hadn't even realised he'd still been holding onto it until that moment and he pulled it back as if expecting to get in trouble. He shook his head, laughing at himself as there was nobody else in the room.

Brennan groaned and he moved back to lean over her as she reached up and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey sleepyhead," Booth grinned, "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Ugh Booth why are you so cheery?" she groaned brushing the hair out of her eyes, pulling her hands back when she felt the IV, "What happened?" she asked suddenly noticing her surroundings.

"How much of last night do you remember?" Booth asked.

"None," she answered clinically, "There are gaps from when we were at the lab working on the remains for the Senator until now. Was I drugged again?"

"No, what, no Bones you weren't drugged," Booth said quickly, hating how she even needed to consider that possibility, "You're sick remember, the flu. Your fever got really bad last night so I brought you here, to the hospital so they could help bring it down."

"Oh," was her reply and Booth watched her as she thought for a few moments, "Then thank you Booth. I'm glad you were there to help me out, it must not have been the best way for you to spend your night but I appreciate it."

"Bones," he said softly, "There's no other way I'd rather spend my night."

"Then in a hospital?" she asked, her brow scrunched in confusion, "Booth, I'm sure you can think of other ways you'd rather spend your nights. You love pie. A night eating pie would be much more enjoyable then spending it here."

"No," Booth shook his head, "That's not what I meant."

"You need to be clear then Booth," she scowled, "My head is feeling like it's fuelled with cotton wool."

"Filled with cotton wool," he corrected her, "What I meant was is that I'd rather spend my night with you, no matter where we are."

He looked up at her to gauge her reaction and it seemed that for once in her life Temperance Brennan was speechless. Her crystal blue eyes widened as she comprehended what he meant and her mouth fell open slightly as his words turned over in her head.

"You kissed me," she said suddenly.

"I did," he said, "And before you say anything I know it was wrong. You were sick and vulnerable and I took advantage of you so I'm sorry for that but I'm not sorry for the kiss."

"That's contradictory," she blurted out, "You can't be sorry and not sorry at the same time."

"Yes I can," Booth persisted, "I'm sorry for the timing but I'm not sorry for the kissing. I have never felt anything like that before and I know you felt it too even though you weren't really all there. You kissed me back and I know you felt it too. This has been coming for years and I'm at a stage where I can't deny my feelings anymore. I know you don't believe in love or soul mates or any of that but I do and I know in my heart that what I feel for you is as real as the science you believe in. I'm not asking you to marry me, or move in with me, I'm just putting my cards on the table, metaphorical cards," he said as he saw her open her mouth to protest, "I'm putting my metaphorical cards on the table and asking you to give us a chance to be something more."

She was quiet and suddenly Booth was afraid her had said too much and had scared her off. He hadn't meant to blurt all that now, he had wanted to wait until she was better and they were back in the familiar DC setting but his mouth had seemed to have a mind of its own and suddenly he was on the edge of his seat waiting to see if she was going to break his heart. As he read her face for clues as to how she was going to respond Booth could feel his heart hammering in his chest. If she declined and said she didn't return his feelings he didn't know how he would ever recover. He couldn't handle to see her every day and know that he couldn't have her as fully and completely as he wanted. At the same time he couldn't never not see her, she meant so much to him that not seeing her might just be worse.

Booth closed his eyes in anticipation as she opened her mouth to speak. He was just waiting for her to break his heart.

A.N: Sorry to leave you on such a cliffhanger. Hope you're all still enjoying this story. I'm going away today until Boxing Day so I won't be updating for a week. Hope you all have a safe and Merry Christmas.