And here we go, the next chapter finally is ready... I hope you like it... Thank you all for your comments and for taking the time to read this... it means a lot to me! And I know I am mean to make it such a hard time for them... but I hope it will be worth the wait!!!
Chapter 13:
Temperance Brennan was sitting at home on her couch, nervously clutching her mobile phone. Angela had offered to spend another evening with her, but she had declined. And now here she was, all alone.
Rebecca had not called back. Temperance had relied on it... had told herself that Rebecca would call her back as soon as she and Parker left the hospital and she turned her mobile phone on again.
When the call did not come until about 8 30 pm or so, she told herself that Rebecca was having trouble bringing Parker to bed... and would call later...
And now she debated with herself if it was too late to call Rebecca... at 10 pm. 'To hell with it... I call her' She finally thought and pressed the button. But Rebecca's mobile was turned off... and she did not have the number of Rebecca's phone at home.
Something that could be fixed. She rose and went to her wardrobe, where she kept the phone book. It was three years old, but did it matter? She searched for Rebecca's name, but there was no entry. There were two possible explanations: Rebecca had no phone at home or – more likely – Booth had advised her to leave her number unlisted. Brennan sighed.
What was she supposed to do now? She had no idea how to contact Booth's parents, because Cullen had taken care of that. She had tried to reach Cullen at his office, but the meeting surely was over now, because nobody had answered her call. She should have told his secretary to call her back as soon as the meeting was over, but she had forgotten... and had been convinced Rebecca would call back anyway... but since the phone was turned off now... Her thoughts circled around the same thing all over again: Why had Rebecca not called back?
She shuddered, hoping that nothing bad had happened.
She thought of calling the ICU again, but the memory of the conversation with the unfriendly nurse, more or less telling her that anybody who was not family had no rights at all, was still fresh in her mind. Too fresh. And she could hardly storm into the hospital in the middle of the night, demanding to see him... could she? No, she decided, it was a bad idea. Even if she could get to him at this time – unlikely - he needed to rest.
Another possibility occurred to her... Dr. Chen. Surely he would remember her and tell her at least SOMETHING. She did not call the ICU, but the hospital's office and asked if Dr. Chen was available. After a few minute's wait a young man's voice told her that Dr. Chen was busy with an emergency surgery... nobody could tell her how long it would take. She stifled a curse... the nice young man on the phone had done nothing wrong. She thanked him and hung up.
There was nobody left to call... no way for her to get information about Booth's condition. She hugged her knees and stared at the naked wall in front of her. How should she get through that night? Again, she told herself that it was better to not get a call at all than getting a call with bad news...
She stared at the empty wall for what seemed an eternity but in fact only about an hour had passed. How was she supposed to get through those long hours to come, the entire night? She briefly thought of reading, but dismissed the thought immediately... not enough concentration. Going for a walk? No, she decided, maybe somebody would be trying to reach her at her home phone... no, she would not go out. Going to sleep was not an option either... Not with her on that emotional rollercoaster right now...she felt so empty, left out... abandoned.
Finally she decided to get rid of the cold numbness that had started to settle in her limbs... she went to the bathroom and started to run her a bath. 'Maybe a bit of wine will help me relax enough to get at least a few hours sleep." She thought and headed for the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of red wine and chose melancholic music from her CD-collection... something that matched her mood.
Later, when she had lowered herself into the hot water and sipped her wine, desperately longing for a little relaxation, she realised, that no hot water or wine would be able to drive away the chill she felt... because it had it's roots in the tight knot in her chest, that was her heart.
And despite she had been crying so much lately, there were still tears left, soon mingling with her slowly cooling bath water.
'Love' she thought 'is cruel'
Booth tossed and turned around as much as was possible with his injuries. The medication and sleeping during the day had thrown him out of his normal rhythm and now, in the middle of the night, when everything was quiet and peaceful, he could not sleep. He muttered a curse and looked around in his room. The crumpled note on his nightstand caught his eye: "Call Bones, tell her that I get moved". He frowned at the handwriting, but the thought of Bones placed a picture in his mind.
He smiled, when he pictured her, curled up on her couch with a glass of wine, reading a book, listening to Jazz-music. That peaceful picture of her finally gave him something he could cling to and he drifted off to sleep.
Unfortunately Brennan was not feeling the least bit peaceful and rested. She had spent nearly an hour in her bath tub, crying and drinking wine, her bath water going cold. When that caused her to shiver, she realised she could not stay in the cold water forever. She opened the sink and quickly showered with hot water. Then she wrapped herself into a big bath towel.
She frowned at the empty wine glass that was still standing beside the bath tub. A glass had not been enough. Clothed in nothing else but the bath towel she stumbled over to the kitchen, leaving a trail of water droplets behind her, to refill the glass. She glanced at it doubtingly and finally took the whole bottle with her to the living room. There she lowered herself on the couch and her gaze fell on one of the movies Angela had left. "The Matrix" She had never seen it.
She shrugged and opened her lap top. She was not able to sleep anyway... She might as well watch a movie.
But although she found the imagination of machines with artificial intelligence using humans as nothing more than an energy resource quite interesting and creative, she often caught herself staring at the screen without even noticing what happened.
She did not realise, that the movie had ended and the credits started to fill the screen... she just sat there, sipping her wine and staring at her laptop as if there was still something to watch.
And finally, after hours and hours the wine she had drunken and her tired body won over her anxious thoughts and she fell asleep... some time around 3 am.
She woke with a dry feeling in her mouth and an aching back. When she found out, she had been sleeping in a half-sitting position on her couch, the pain in her back did not surprise her. The dry feeling in her mouth soon was explained by the empty bottle of red wine on her couch table. Dehydration, caused by too much alcohol... Now, that was clear, but why had she been drinking?
The knowledge hit her suddenly. "Booth" She mumbled. Quickly she went to the kitchen and gulped down a glass of cold water. She glanced at the watch: 8:45 am.
She knew the day in hospital started early... she hoped she could see Booth today... She simply did not think she would be able to get through another restless night like the last one.
She decided to stop somewhere for a cup of coffee and went to her bedroom to get dressed.
When she stood in front of her bathroom mirror she frowned at her own reflection. Her eyes were red and a bit swollen and she looked pale and tired. Quickly she put on make-up and left her apartment.
Booth woke when a nurse entered his room at about 6 am.
In hospital the day starts early... he had known that, but he did not have to like it, did he? The nurse came in, checking his temperature and left, only to return minutes later with a doctor, Booth did not know.
Dr. Krug informed Booth, that Dr. Chen was not available, since he had been doing a surgery all night and now was at home. The doctor checked Booth's injuries and after some time nodded his approval. After the last checks, he finally declared Booth well enough to get moved.
And so, Booth was already in his new room and had eaten breakfast, when his watch showed 9:00 am.
He barely had time to get accustomed to his new room, when somebody knocked on his door. When the door opened, he smiled broadly.
Sooooooooo, please let me know, what you think...
Who opens the door?????