"I'll be right back, Sweetie, are you sure you're going to be OK?" Angela asked over her shoulder as she reached the door. He heard Brennan's voice, but couldn't tell what she said. Whatever it was, it made Angela smile fondly, before leaving her room finally.

Booth stood as he watched Angela walk away down the corridor. He was stiff from having waited so long in the corridor for Angela to leave. He felt slightly guilty for lying to her about leaving Bones alone, but he had to sort this out, and to stop her from worrying.

Walking confidently forwards, he pushed open the glass door, pausing in the doorway for a moment before going in the full way. Bones was lying with her eyes closed, but her breathing was too erratic for her to be sleeping. Letting the door close silently behind him, he smiled to be close to his partner again.

"Bones?" he murmured, wincing as he saw her eyes shoot open, watching him warily.

"Booth? You're not supposed to be here."

He grinned that cheeky grin, moving to sit in the chair that Angela left. "I've been waiting all day for Angela to leave. She's gonna kick my ass when she finds me here," he quipped, watching as Bones struggled to take off her oxygen mask. "Uh, Bones, are you sure that's a good idea?"

She ignored him, laying it by her side as she swallowed painfully. "What are you doing here, Booth?" she asked, closing her eyes against him. She jumped as he took her hand gently in both of his.

"Well, you know, it's kinda what you do when you're partner and best friend is in the hospital," he told her, seeing a small smile form on her face as she listened. "And I needed to know why you didn't want to see me."

She winced, finally opening her eyes to see the pain in his eyes. She blushed, dropping her gaze to their joined hands. Her eyes teared up when she saw his arm.

"Are you OK?" she asked in a small voice, searching his eyes anxiously when he chuckled, reaching to stroke her cheek gently.

"Bones, you're the one in the hospital, and you're still worrying about me? There's nothing for you to worry about, I'm perfectly fine, as you can see. Well, I'm fine apart from my partner being in the hospital."

She nodded. "What happened?"

He sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand. "I went to make sure Steve wouldn't hurt you again. I know I said I wouldn't, but I had no choice, Bones, I couldn't see you hurt again, it was killing me. I should have done more to protect you the first time."

"It's not your fault, Booth, I made a decision." She sighed, this was a hard conversation to have. "What did he do?"

Booth smiled. "He had a knife, and we fought. He caught me on my arm with it before I kicked it out his hands." Looking up, he saw tears running down her face. "It's OK, Bones, it wasn't deep, they stitched it up and I'm going to be fine, I promise!" he told her, his thumbs tenderly rubbing the tears from her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Booth," she told him, Booth surprised at her words.

"Hey, hey, less of that!" he told her gently, seeing her eyes shoot open as he looked down kindly at her. "I can't think of a single reason for you apologise to me, Bones. It's me that should be apologising for not being there when I should have been, and going after that psycho when you told me not to."

"But I didn't stop you getting hurt, Booth, I never wanted this. I shouldn't have let you know."

"Hey!" he said, the sternness in his voice making her eyes shoot to his. "Of course you should have told me, Bones, you should have told me sooner! And you certainly should keep me up to date now, and let me help. God, if I'd have realised sooner, this might not have happened! We're a team, Bones, we do stuff together. Including stuff like this. I want to be here with you, so let me."

"But you got hurt Booth..." she started, only to stop when she felt his fingers against her lips softly.

"Temperance, I got hurt because I'm too pig headed to listen to good advice! That's hardly your fault! And besides, look at you. You got hurt because I was too slow and stupid to stop it happened, and it's killing me to see you lying here like this! None of this is your fault, you have to believe me on that."

Tears fell rapidly down her cheeks now as she reached for him. He pulled her gently into his arms, letting her cry on his shoulder as her hands clutched at his shirt. His own tears joined hers, just glad to have her alive, and talking to him, cradled in his arms where she always should have been.

"No more secrets, OK, Bones?" he murmured, feeling her nod against him.

"I was so worried, Booth, and I just...I was embarrassed that I was so weak, and you saw that."

He sighed. "You're far from weak, Bones, you chose to go back to him to save your friends. That's the definition of strength, I'm not sure I could have done that. And you were willing to shoulder all of this alone, just to stop me being in danger. But you don't have to do that now, we're all here for you. And there's nothing to be embarrassed about! This isn't your fault."

"It's not your fault either," she told him, looking honestly into his eyes.

"Oh, Bones," he told her, giving her an affectionate squeeze. "How about we both admit that we feel a bit bad, but that we shouldn't, and we'll do the rest of this together?"

She nodded. "That'd be good."

He smiled, laying her back against the bed. "You need to rest, Bones. But please don't shut me out from now on. And once you're feeling stronger we'll talk properly, and we'll do all the fun stuff we used to do, OK? And you can stay with me once you get out of here, I want to be here with you, every step of the way."

She nodded. "That sounds good."

He grinned, leaning down to kiss her cheek before replacing the oxygen mask on her face, his thumb lingering and rubbing small circles before he dropped his hand again. Standing from the bed, he went to leave before her small voice called him back.

"Booth?"

"Yeah, Bones?" he asked, seeing her fighting against sleep. He noticed her hand reaching for him, and he willingly gave her his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Will you...I mean...would you mind staying? Please?"

He grinned, feeling like a kid at Christmas. "Of course I will. I just didn't know if you'd want me to. Nothing would make me happier!"

She smiled, finally feeling at peace. Turning the chair slightly, Booth rested his legs on her bed, leaning back as he pulled her hand carefully onto his lap, folding it in both of his.

Angela grinned from the door, not surprised to see Booth sitting there, or Brennan sleeping peacefully for the first time since she got to the hospital without drugs. Opening the door quietly, she saw Booth wince at her presence before she held a coffee out to him, taking the chair on the other side of Brennan's bed and mimicking his position.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" he asked in surprise, before Angela tutted, shaking her head at him.

"Because you're you. And you love her," she stated, before turning her attention back to a magazine, her hand never leaving Brennan's.

He shook his head in wonder at Brennan's best friend, feeling more affection towards her than he ever had before. Taking one more reassuring look at Brennan, he closed his eyes, resting his head back against the chair as he fell into the deep sleep that he'd needed for days.