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Chapter 15:
"Let that girl go!" Booth's father told the two men.
Brennan was far too busy being relieved at the sight of a laughing Parker to object to the term 'girl'. 'Parker is happy, that means Booth has to be okay.' She thought and though a smile started to cover her face, a single tear escaped her eyes. 'Oh, thank you... God, thank you...'
She hardly noticed that the two security men had obeyed immediately and that their grip on her arms loosened, while she was staring up at the window.
"Come up here, Dr. Brendon" Booth's father invited. "It's Brennan... or Bones" Parker interrupted and her smile deepened. "Room 3-1-3" Booth's father continued and smiled down at her, gesturing to her to hurry.
And she did. She hurried inside, grinning broadly at the receptionist, who looked at her in pure astonishment. Brennan shouted: "Room 313! Thanks for not helping at all, Blondie!" She took a moment to admire the woman's dumb-struck expression, but then she sped towards the stairs... no way she was going to lose more time waiting for the elevator. No way.
"Did they let her go... Is she coming up?" Booth asked his father anxiously. Robert Booth closed the window and nodded. "Ran back in at full speed... she should be here any minute."
Booth smiled as relief washed over him. He still could not believe Bones had picked a fight with the security men... that woman sure as hell was full of surprises. His heartbeat picked up a bit, when he realised he was finally going to see her now.
A few moments later they heard the quick clatter of heels on the hallway and an instant later the door was flung open. "Booth" She exclaimed when she saw him, a bit breathless.
"Hey Bones! How come you always end up fighting security men, hmm?" He grinned at her, but when he took in her appearance he suddenly turned serious. "Bones... what's wrong?" She was pale and although she was wearing make-up, he could tell that her eyes were a bit swollen. She had been crying not long ago.
"You... you..." She stood in the door frame, not able to move. She could not believe what she saw. He was sitting in his bed as if there had not been a surgery at all. Still pale, but he looked a lot better... and he was talking... his voice a bit hoarse, but nonetheless...
There he was, not intubated anymore and able to talk... and he had not even called her. He had not even thought of informing her, that he got moved to another room. The relief of seeing him like that soon turned into a feeling of disappointment... and pain.
She had acknowledged to herself, that she loved him, but seeing that he had not even thought about her, told her he did not return the feeling. She had had doubts about the depth of his feelings anyway, but KNOWING it... was hard. Harder than she had imagined.
But she was not willing to show it... no, she told herself, she would not show how hurt she was. To what purpose? She did not want pity, she had had enough of that in her life. She had thought she knew him...
Slowly, over years, he had broken down all her defences... and now he had broken her heart. She clenched her teeth, desperately trying to force down all the emotions that were boiling in her.
"Bones?" He looked at her, his face wearing an expression of utter astonishment... and worry. He tried to read her face, tried to find out what she was thinking. But this was one of the rare times he had no clue at all, no clue what could have happened. He nearly forgot about the presence of his parents and his son, while trying to understand what was going on inside her.
"Temperance, talk to me... What's wrong?" Booth tried again, his gaze fixed on her.
She bit her bottom lip. He had used her first name... and as always, it was slowly eating away her last bit of control. Her voice was shaky, when she answered: "What's WRONG? I... I nearly punched that blond girl at the reception to get a bit of information on how you are and ... you are apparently well. Talking and all... Not that I wish it was otherwise, mind you... but... I... nobody told me a thing, Booth. But, well...after all... I am just your partner. And your family is here... so ...I should probably go." After choking out these last words she turned around, fighting the tears that threatened to fill her eyes again.
Booth was speechless for a moment, but then he stopped her: "NO! Temperance... stay." His voice sounded nearly desperate.
She stopped in her movement, but she did not turn around. "What, Booth... I ... have things to do." She said, her voice low.
"Wait, please... Bones...please." His voice was soft when he spoke to her, but when he addressed his parents the tone changed. "Mom, Dad... you were supposed to call her! It's not like I asked you to call many people, just two. Rebecca and her... how... could you forget about it?" His voice sounded confused... and hurt. Her heart skipped a beat... he HAD thought of her?
"BOB!" Mary Booth shot her husband a harsh look. "You said you took care of it!"
Robert Booth raised his hands, as if to defend himself against the accusing looks on the faces of his son and his wife. "I did not have a phone number of your her."
Booth gasped. "And so you just ... decided to forget about it? It was important to me." And then, in a lower voice " She is important to me." He could not believe it... his own father letting him down like that?
When she heard his words, Brennan closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She was important to him?
"No!" Robert Booth shook his head. "Son, you should know me better... I would never do that. I had no phone number of your partner, so I called you boss... that...what's his name ... Mr. Cullen. He had called us and so I had his number. I told him about how you were going to be moved and asked him to inform your colleagues... I don't know why he did not tell her..." He hesitated, when he saw how his son shook his head.
"Oh, Bob!"
"Oh, Dad!"
Both his wife and his son exclaimed the words at the same time and they still looked at him accusingly.
"What?" His gaze wandered from Seeley's eyes to Mary's and back.
"Bones is not with the FBI, Dad. When you told Cullen to inform my colleagues, he did not think of her...He is not in charge..." Booth explained and he looked at his partner. She was still standing in the doorframe, with her back to him, but he could see that her hand was trembling.
"But ... you said she is your partner!" Bob Booth gave back, utterly confused.
"She is... but she's also a scientist, Bob... works at the Jeffersonian and writes books." Mary Booth added.
"You knew?" Bob asked his wife, his voice full of surprise.
"OF COURSE I KNEW, Robert... I told you: He is my son, he tells me THINGS!" Mary rolled her eyes. "He would tell you, too... if you would ever listen..."
"Oh..." Bob Booth grinned sheepishly. "Mhm... I guess ... Instead of me, YOU should have done that calling people thing, eh?"
When nobody grinned back, he quickly straightened his face again and said in a serious voice: "I am really sorry, Seeley... I thought Mr. Cullen would call her" Then he turned towards Brennan and added "I am sorry, Dr. Brandon."
"Not Brandon... Brennan, Grandpa!" Parker corrected, sounding a bit annoyed, too.
A strange noise came from the door and the members of the Booth family watched how Temperance Brennan's shoulders shook lightly.
"It's okay, Parker" She said, her voice somehow muffled... and when she turned around, Booth saw by what the strange noise earlier had been caused: She was laughing. And crying. Both at the same time.
His eyes widened. "Bones?" His voice was a soft whisper.
She shook her head and both her laughter and her crying stopped abruptly, when she mused about the amount of coincidences that had kept her from finding out anything about Booth's condition.
After a moment, she whispered: "Cullen did NOT call me. Rebecca did not call back. Dr. Chen was not available... I tried to call Cullen, but he was forever in meetings..." Her voice trailed off and she swallowed hard, remembering how desperate she had felt... so full of fear.
"You called Rebecca?" Booth asked, a bit astonished. He remembered he once had given her his ex-girlfriends number... in case anything happened to him, he wanted her to call her ... to tell Parker.
"I left her a message... to call me back... yesterday. But she did not call back... and her mobile was turned off. I did not find her number in the phone book." Brennan continued.
"Mommy lost her phone. She can't find it." Parker threw in. All eyes suddenly were on the boy.
"Oh" Brennan softly said. "So she probably did not get my message at all." The tight feeling in her chest loosened more and more... all coincidences... nobody had had the intention to leave her out...
"And you did not find a number in the phone book, cause I told her not to get it listed..." Booth murmured.
"I thought so." Brennan gave back and a tiny smile crept on her face.
Booth, however, did not return the smile. He looked at his mother. "Mom... do you still have that notepad somewhere in your bag?"
She nodded and started to rummage in her purse. A few moments later she handed him the notepad and the pen. He scribbled something down and handed it back to his mother.
"There... now you've got her phone numbers. Home, office, cell phone. This is not going to happen again, okay? Next time you call her! Got that?" Booth's voice was stern.
His mother nodded, but also added in a soft voice "I'd rather not see you in hospital ever again, Seeley."
Brennan looked at Booth incredulously. "You know all these numbers by heart? Not even Angela knows them all..." Her voice trembled a bit, her mind processing this bit of information.
"He always had the knack of memorising numbers." Robert Booth said, which earned him an annoyed look of his son and a chiding "Bob!" from his wife.
"What?" He asked, oblivious to the deeper meaning of his son memorising all the phone numbers.
Mary Booth rolled her eyes and grumbled. "You really have no social skills at all. Tactless to the very core of your bones."
A sudden laughing fit erupted from Brennan. Booth would have joined her, but his injury did not respond well to laughing, so he merely chuckled.
"No social skills..." Brennan choked out, remembering that Booth had often used the same words to describe HER " and tactless to the very core..." She shook with laughter.
"Of your bones." Booth finished. "Mom... that was..." He stopped, chuckled and shook his head, winking at his partner.
Mary Booth frowned for a moment, then she suddenly smiled too. "OH! A not intended pun. But it's true anyway... aaaaaaand I think we should get going now, Bob."
"Why? The zoo isn't going anywhere..." Robert Booth mumbled, but his wife punched him playfully in the arm. "Let's leave the young folk... I am sure they have things to talk about. And Parker wants to see his lions, right?" Parker nodded enthusiastically, already tugging at his grandfather's sleeve impatiently. "Come on, Grandpa."
Mary Booth gave her son an understanding look. Contrary to her husband she had understood why Booth knew his partner's phone numbers by heart, why his face had lit up when she had opened the door and why he had been so hurt when she had told him, nobody had called her.
He loved her... and Mary Booth was ready to bet her purse with all it's content on one thing: Temperance Brennan loved him back... Why else would that young woman have been so desperate to start a fight with the hospital security? And the way she looked at him...
Now all Mary Booth could do, was trying to get her husband out of the room before he said something stupid... again. She waved a good-bye at her son and said: "We will come to see you afterwards, Seeley... It's been a pleasure, Dr. Brennan."
She winked at her son and shoved Parker and his grandfather out of the room before they could object.
THERE!!! You saw it? Fluff... and there will be more, now with only booth and brennan in the room... WOHOOOOOO!
What do you say???