Chapter 13

Machines beeped steadily in with the hum of the medical equipment that the frail body of Lily Walsh was connected to. In the room stood Booth, Brennan and Theo, all barely dry from the tropical rains that continued to spill onto the city. Lily had returned from surgery only minutes ago after losing about half of her blood. Had they been even a minute further from the hospital, they would be staring at her on a cold metal slab. They still weren't sure of her prognosis as she was hypoxic for moments when her heart stopped beating on the way to the hospital.

Tears ran down Brennan's cheeks as she stared on, while Booth had a supportive arm over Brennan. His face was glared over; he was still shocked at what she had done to save him. Had he been more careful, she never would have needed to be in this position. Theo collapsed into a chair, and sat there stone solid, not moving.

A nurse came in moments later to shoo them out of the ICU. Booth tugged on Brennan's arm. "Come on Bones," he whispered. "We need to call her family." Brennan nodded and allowed herself to be lead away. Theo, however, was adamant about staying in the room. The nurse looked from Lily and Theo and gave a sad smile.

"Don't let anyone find out that you are here, or there will be riots." Theo gave a weak smile and the nurse left. When the door shut, he dragged his chair over to her bedside, grabbed her hand, and started to cry.

…

Lily was in pain; her arm throbbed with every heartbeat. She opened her eyes weakly, but even the weak light in the darkened room hurt her eyes. It took a few cycles of opening and closing her eyes before she was able to open them fully. Outside the sun shone brightly, her first indication that she had been out for an extended period of time.

She looked to her right to find her uncle sitting there, his head in his heads leaning forward. She tried to speak, but couldn't with the tubes in her mouth. She instead reached out for him. Her movement was weak and he only looked up when her arm fell feebly to the side.

He stood quickly and started to smile. "Oh my… Lily, thank God." He jogged to the door and made a gesture. Her aunt came running in followed by Theo holding her cousin Sam. They were followed shortly by a doctor. The doctor removed the tubes and then checked her eye movements.

"Well Lily," he said with a smile. "It looks like you defied odds." Uncle Sean gave her a few pieces of crushed ice that she gratefully swallowed.

"How long was I out for?" she was finally able to ask.

"Five days," he answered. "Everything looks to be in order. We'll run some tests in a little bit to make sure everything is okay, but you should be able to leave in a few days.

The doctor stepped out from the room and so did Theo, with promises that he would return. In reality she knew that he was just giving them the chance to catch up as a family first.

"Hey guys," she said, breaking the momentary silence. "How you get here?"

"Dr. Brennan just after it happened," started Sean. "She offered to buy us tickets for the next flight out. We got here later that night, but you were out, obviously. We've been here ever since."

"But what about your jobs?"

"Sweetie, you are more important than any job," replied Denise. Lily could tell that she was holding back tears. "I'm so sorry about the way we've treated you. You and Sam deserve so much better."

"Aunt Denise, no. I appreciate everything that you've done since Dad died. You've done the best that you can. Now things are turning around with Uncle Sean's promotion we can start all over again, like a family." The two adults just looked on with pride and leaned in for a hug. "Aw, you guys got all sappy on me." They smiled at her.

"Perhaps we should leave," suggested Sean. "I haven't showered since early yesterday and there is a young boy that seems eager to talk to you. We'll be back later honey." Sean and Denise leaned in to press a kiss to her forward before departing. As they left, Theo reentered the room. He sat in the chair that had been beside her bed since the first day and grabbed hold of her good hand.

"You had everyone so worried."

"Theo, I had to do it. Otherwise Booth would have been shot point blank."

"Lily, I don't think you realized how close you were to death. You were hit on the artery. Had we been an further from a hospital you would have died. You lost almost half your blood. Your heart stopped once on the way to the hospital." Lily took that all in. She was surprised at herself. She didn't think it could end up that bad.

"Well when you put it like that…" Theo gave her a stern look. "Theo, I wouldn't change what I did at all. It was an impulse action, one I'm glad I could make. I just wish I was a bit faster. How's my arm going to be?"

"It was close to the nerve, but the doctor was pretty sure that it missed the vein and that you would have full function when everything heals. You have some luck on your side it seems."

Lily smiled and squeezed his hand. "Thanks for being here Theo." Theo stood and pressed a kiss to her lips. When he withdrew, Lily laughed. "You're brave for doing that when my lips are drier than the Sahara and I haven't brushed my teeth in a while."

"Hey, I'm just glad that I can do it again."

…

Lily was released from the hospital three days later. Her aunt and uncle returned home since Lily had to return soon anyway for school. Her last night fell at the end of August. She and Theo were in Brennan's apartment while she was out to dinner with Booth. She had extended an invitation to them, but they politely declined, preferring to stay in their last night.

Lily was situated in the crook of Theo's arm as they lay in Lily's bed staring at the ceiling. The room was dark; the only light came from the dim hallway light that crept in from the cracked door. Lily's bad arm was in a splint and immobilized in a sling. It would have to stay like that for two months. She was glad to have an interesting story to go back to school with.

Booth had thanked her endlessly, in between scolding her for not listening to his orders to remain in the car. In the end, Lily and Theo received awards from the FBI for their courageous acts and they had received a standing ovation from everyone when the crew went to celebrate dinner that night.

Lily didn't like the attention though; she saw the act as something that anyone would do for a friend or at least someone in grave danger. She wanted to be a normal teenager, one that went to school and spent her spare time listening to music and playing games. She was happy to go back to that life the next day, but at the same time, she wouldn't get to see Theo that much. That was the one thing that bothered her so much.

"Theo, when am I going to see you next?" she asked finally. She never wanted to be that desperate girl that always had to see her boyfriend, but she did get curious.

"Well that depends. I'll be in college, so who knows with the work I'll have to do. But I mean Harvard isn't that far from you right? Couldn't your uncle drive you down?"

"Maybe, if he's not busy. You could also come up to visit me." She started laughing to herself. "I still can't believe that you got into Harvard."

"Funny," he groaned. "I had good grades, plus my parents went there. Besides, you're a genius. Maybe you can get in there when you have to apply this year."

"Yeah, we'll see." The silence of the apartment was broken by the sound of a door opening and slamming against a wall, followed by a crash.

"Oh shit," they heard Booth curse from the foyer. "I'm sorry Bones. I didn't mean it."

"Forget it Booth. It's not a big deal."

Theo sat up slightly and looked over to Lily and mouthed, "since when doesn't she care about artifacts?" Lily could only partially shrug. However, Theo's question was answered when a mass the size of two people bounced into the wall across from their room.

"Where are the kids?" asked Booth before planting what sounded like a wet kiss on Brennan's throat.

"I don't think they are hear, at least I don't hear them."

"Good, to your bedroom!" Lily and Theo tried very hard to repress giggles when the door to Brennan's bedroom slammed shut. Theo gestured for them to get up and they headed to the living room. Theo pointed to the vase that had fallen earlier; it was the same one that Parker had dropped.

"We better let Parker know that he's in the clear," whispered Theo. With one last look to the bedroom, the two teenagers headed out to Theo's car where they headed to the park to spend their last moments together for a long time.

AN: Well this is the end… it's been a fun ride and I thank you all that have read and those who have reviewed as I dragged this story out for ages. There will be a short epilogue and then I'll be able to put this to rest. Thanks again!