"Bones!" he shouted in alarm. She slammed into the ground and he barely saw her raise her hands in front of her face before the shelves hit her and the clattering of metal shook the kitchen.

Lemaire was running; taking off towards the door. His mind was torn between making sure Bones was alive and stopping the guy that had just hurt her. But Lemaire was already out the door, and he didn't have much of a choice. There was no way he was taking off and chasing the guy to who knew where while the woman he loved lay there on the ground and he didn't know the extent of her injuries.

He ran to her side, his hands hesitating as he tried to figure out what to do first... he needed to get the rack off of her... but the knives laying strewn on the floor, which had been on the rack... the other ones might be cutting her...

She stirred slightly and he heard a moan murmur through her lips.

"Bones," he said desperately, feeling just a bit of relief at the sound, "Bones, can you hear me?" He carefully lifted the rack off of her body as slowly as he could, just waiting for any signs of extra distress or pain from her. There were none, and when he had it lifted off of her he slid it to the side and out of his way.

"Oh God..." he gasped. "Bones! Bones, stay with me!" There was blood coming from multiple places... and there was a knife sticking out of her arm and a large gash across her forehead. The front of her shirt was ripped and he had to assume she'd been cut there as well. She was staring at him, but her eyes were more looking through him.

"Hang on, Bones..." he murmured, fumbling for his cell phone and hastily calling it in.

He gave the details, and was relieved to see that there were FBI vehicles out front now. He hadn't noticed them pull up because he'd been so focused.

Jimmy appeared in the entrance, and trained his gun on him. He immediately lowered it as he realized who it was, and stared in shock before turning and shouting out the door.

"Lemaire took off running!" Booth shouted to him, and he nodded and relayed the information while he turned his focus back to his partner. "Easy, Bones... you're going to be fine..."

"Booth," she choked out, lifting her head slightly and then immediately letting it fall back again, wincing.

"I've got you," he said reassuringly. "Help's on the way. Just stay with me, you got that?"

He'd let this happen. She shouldn't have come in with him at all. He should have made her stay behind at the apartment, the thought came to him in a flash. Why hadn't he done that? She should have stayed to protect the evidence and meet the FBI team when they arrived. She could have helped them... he could've used that as an excuse for her to not come along for the arrest...

He should have kept her safe. Even when they'd gotten here, he should have been paying all of his attention to her rather than pursuing Lemaire through the house so he couldn't escape out the back...

There was nothing to do now, though, as he carefully stroked her cheek and murmured comfort to her, reminding her again and again that he loved her and that she had to stay with him. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her... but he wasn't going to, he reminded himself. She was going to be fine...

"We've got Lemaire," Don informed him a short while later. "And the ambulance is nearly here."

He just nodded, "Thanks," he said, barely able to get the word out.

By the time the paramedics arrived, she'd lost her fight and slipped into unconsciousness. He stood by helplessly as they loaded her into the back, and then climbed in next to her, not caring if he was allowed to do so or not. He was beyond listening to anything anyone had to say unless it regarded her condition.

-

An hour later saw him pacing the waiting room, feeling incredibly frustrated.

"What happened?" a voice asked him worriedly, and he turned to see Cam hurrying towards him. He stopped his pacing and dropped tiredly into a chair. She stood next to him, waiting with a concerned frown.

"Bones is... somewhere," he muttered, "A rack of knives landed on her. And the damn hospital staff won't tell me a thing."

Cam sat down carefully beside him. "I'm sure she'll be fine," she attempted to reassure him. "She's been through worse."

He snorted, "No kidding," and then buried his face in his hands and let out a long sigh. He would give anything to trade places with her right now... he'd been in the hospital plenty of times, and he'd take surgery over this torture of not knowing if she was okay any day. As long as he knew she was safe, he'd suffer through pretty much anything.

But he didn't have that option, and so here he was, trapped in the waiting room, with nothing to keep his mind off of his fears. The usual thoughts were racing through his mind... what was taking so long? Surely they should have something to tell him by now? Why wasn't anyone coming to inform him she was awake and ready to see him? And he better not hear any of that 'family only' crap, because he was her boyfriend now and he was pretty sure that ranked higher than his old status of not really sure what he was, only that he cared more about her than anything else. The word partner hadn't gotten him very far. Boyfriend should do better.

Finally he saw the promising sight of a nurse headed in their direction, and he sprung immediately to his feet, staring at her expectantly.

"You're waiting for Temperance Brennan, correct?"

"Yes," he answered tensely.

"Ms. Brennan lost a lot of blood, but she's currently stable. We've had to do several transfusions. She's doing very well, though; if you'd like to see her she's awake now."

"Yes, I would," he said immediately.

"Give me a call to let me know how she is later, if you have time," Cam said with a smile and a nod. He offered a grin back, his relief incredibly tangible. She left, probably headed back to the Jeffersonian to report the news to Nigel and anyone else who might need to know, and he turned and hurried after the nurse, eager to see her and prove to himself that she was indeed okay. Words were one thing, but being able to hold her and speak to her was another.

"Not long," the nurse told him as they stopped in front of a door. "She needs to rest."

He nodded and brushed past her, pulling open the door and slipping inside. He didn't really care what the nurse had to say about rest. If Bones told him she wanted him to stay, he was staying. That was how it was going to work.

She was lying in the bed, her head propped up on a thick pillow. Her eyes had been closed, but as he shut the door behind him they slid open and focused on him. Immediately a soft smile spread across her features, and he resisted the urge to run to her and pull her into his arms. Instead he swiftly crossed the room and dragged the chair over so that it was facing the bed and right beside her head. He dropped into it and smiled back at her, stroking a finger gently down her cheek.

"You scared me," he whispered.

She closed her eyes, "I'm sorry," she murmured back, "I'm so sorry."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. "You're alive, Bones," he murmured, his face mere inches from hers, and her eyes staring deeply back into his so that he felt almost lost within them. "That's all that matters to me. That I didn't lose you."

"How close was it?" she asked, glancing from him down to her bandage wrapped stomach and arm, and the tubes she was still hooked up to.

"I don't even know," he said softly, "But I was scared, Bones, I can tell you that. It was my fault. I should never have let that happen..."

"Booth, you can't control everything... and you certainly can't control me. There was nothing you could have done differently, believe me. If anything, I should have reacted faster."

"They got him," he said suddenly, realizing she wouldn't know. "He's in custody."

"They?" she asked with a frown.

He glanced away. "Bones, you were lying on the floor under a set of wooden shelves with knives all over the place. He bolted out the door... I couldn't follow him. I couldn't leave you. I just... couldn't. I had to make sure you were okay."

She nodded slowly, then bit her lip, "Sweets is going to have something to say about that."

"Then let's not tell him," he answered simply. That was the easiest solution, after all.

She laughed softly, and he relaxed at the sound, feeling the relief shoot through him once more. If he hadn't gotten to hear her laugh ever again... he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about any of that, anything that involved losing her.

"Did all the evidence get gathered?" she asked suddenly, "Did you find the murder weapon?"

He winced, "Yeah, it was sticking out of your arm," he muttered. "The handle was wrapped in twine because it was damaged. You were right."

She just nodded thoughtfully.

"I should have listened to you," she said finally, her voice barely a whisper and her eyes not meeting his.

"What?"

"I should have stayed behind you. If I had... well, I might not be in here right now. We could be sitting back at the apartment eating Thai and doing the paperwork for this case."

"Does this mean you're going to start doing what I tell you to do?"

She smiled slightly, "No. But... sometimes I should defer to your expertise and keep myself a bit safer. Don't you think?"

"Yes, I do," he answered seriously.

"It's just... what you said when you came in here, that I scared you... I don't want to do that to you. And then you start blaming yourself, and I know you'd do that, too, if I died, even if it wasn't your fault at all. I don't want you to have to live with that." She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, "And I want to stay with you, too, so that works."

He chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm glad you're seeing reason, Bones."

"But just because I'm going to listen to you doesn't mean you don't have to listen to me, or that you can leave me out completely, you got that?"

"Of course."

She looked around the hospital room, then back down at herself, and finally back to him. "When can I get out of this place?" she asked.

He laughed, "That's my Bones. I'll go find a doctor or a nurse or somebody and demand to know. Be right back." He kissed her again, pulling away regretfully after a long moment and leaving the room with one last smile thrown over his shoulder.

Sorry for the delay in getting this one up. I was going to make it longer... but then I decided it was good the way it was. But I've been distracted lately by my other story (which I shouldn't have started while in the middle of another project). I'll try to get more of this up soon, though. :)