Emergency Contact Part 2

Disclaimer: I still do not own Bones.

Angela and Hodgins walked into Bones' room later that morning. Angela walked to the opposite side of the bed from Booth and asked,

"How is she?"

"The nurse said her vitals are looking good and that the doctor will be by this evening to hopefully wake her" he said.

"I'll leave you alone with her" he said and left the room with Hodgins.

Angela walked around the bed and sat in the chair that Booth had vacated.

"Sweetie, you're going to be ok. You have to be because I need you, my baby needs you and Booth needs you. I know he screwed up but Sweetie you should have seen the despair on his face when he arrived at the hospital. It got worse when I told him you had named me your emergency contact. He still loves you Bren. You have to wake up sweetie"

Outside in the hallway…

"How you holding up man" asked Hodgins.

"I'll be better when they wake her up" replied Booth.

Hodgins asked, "So, how did Hannah take it when you told her you were spending the night here?"

"Honestly, I haven't even thought about Hannah since Angela called me. I guess I should call her and explain what happened" Booth said without much enthusiasm.

"She might like to know you're ok man".

"Yeah, I guess I'll go call her now" and he walked farther down the hall.

Hodgins reentered the room where his wife was talking to Dr. Brennan.

"Where's Booth" she asked.

"He went to call Hannah. He stayed here last night and didn't even call her to let her know what was happening" he said.

"I'm sure she'll be upset that he didn't. I think he finally realizes he still loves Bren. Even though I would never want to go through this again, maybe this is what he needed to wake him up" she stated.

"Yeah he did seem pretty torn up when he got here yesterday and when you told him you were Dr. B's emergency contact".

Booth returned to the room after only a couple of minutes.

"Well, is she mad" Angela asked.

"I don't know, I didn't get an answer" he stated.

"Oh well, she's probably already at work. I'm sure she'll call you back when she has a chance" Hodgins tried to sound hopeful.

Booth didn't seem to be listening; he was looking at Bones, deep in thought.

"I guess we're going to go. We'll be back later but call if there is any change" Angela said.

"Ok. I will" Booth replied never taking his eyes off of Bones.

Angela gave Hodgins an "I told you so" look as they were leaving.

Booth took his place in the chair beside Bones' bed and took her hand in his again.

"Bones, I've messed things up so badly. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to fix this. When you wake up we have a lot to talk about".

Later that evening the doctor entered Bones' room.

"Well, we've taken her off the sedative so she should be waking up soon. Her vitals look good and if nothing changes we should be able to move her to a regular room tomorrow morning. She'll be here till the end of the week at least. We'll check back on her in a little while. If she wakes before that, please call the nurse" the doctor stated.

"I will. Thank you doctor" Booth replied.

Once the doctor left Booth took up his vigil of holding her hand and talking to her.

"Bones, it's time to wake up. Please baby, open your beautiful eyes. I need you to talk to me Bones".

Bones' brow furrowed and her mouth turned down in a frown. She didn't open her eyes so Booth wasn't sure if she was awake or just dreaming.

"Bones, come on, wake up. Please wake up. I love you".

Suddenly her eyes flew open and she turned her head to look into the most intense chocolate brown eyes she'd ever seen.

"Booth?"

His face broke out into the biggest grin.

"Yeah Bones it's me. I'm here. Welcome back. How are you? Are you in pain? Let me ring the nurse."

Booth pressed the button for the nurse.

"Where am I? What happened?" Bones asked shakily.

A frown etched Booth's face as he explained

"You were shot Bones. Brown shot you. You're at Washington General. They had to operate on your stomach and you've been sedated for 24 hours."

The nurse entered and began checking her vitals. Booth stepped away from the bed to give the nurse room to move around Bones. He walked to the corner and called Angela and Cam to inform them Bones was awake. After he got off the phone he stepped back to the bed.

"How is she" he asked.

"She is recovering well" was the nurse's reply as she left the room.

Booth reached to take Bones' hand but she pulled back and he let his hand drop to the bed.

"Booth, why are you here? Where's Angela?"

"I'm here because my partner was shot. Angela is on her way as well as Cam and the others" he replied.

Bones just stared at him not sure why he looked so beaten down and tired.

"Bones are you ok? Do you need me to get the nurse?" he started for the door just as Angela and Hodgins walked in the room.

"Sweetie! Oh Thank God you're ok. I was so worried about you" Angela shrieked as she gently hugged her friend.

Booth walked out with Hodgins right behind him.

"Angela, what is Booth doing here? I asked him and all he said was "my partner was shot". That doesn't explain why he is here instead of with his girlfriend"

"Sweetie, Booth hasn't left this hospital since I called to tell him to get here."

"You mean he spent the night here? But Angela why?"

"Because he loves you Bren and he was scared. We all were."

"Angela, Booth does not love me. He loves Hannah"

"No Bren, I'm pretty sure you're wrong there. You haven't seen him these past 24 hours sweetie. The looks he's given you can only be looks of love."

Brennan appeared to be contemplating what Angela had said.

"You know, right before I woke up I thought I heard someone say "I Love You" but when I opened my eyes Booth was here and I figured I must have dreamed it" Bones stated.

"I'm sure it wasn't a dream sweetie but why don't you ask him about it?"

Booth and Hodgins returned to the room followed by Cam and the squint-terns. Everyone spoke to Bones and relayed their joy of her waking up. Just then the nurse entered the room and shooed everyone out. They all said goodbye and confirmed they would be back when she was moved to a regular room.

Angela bent to kiss Bones' cheek and whispered, "Ask him".

She touched Booth on the arm as she and Hodgins walked from the room.

Booth took his seat beside Bones' bed and again reached to take her hand. This time she didn't pull away. It seemed she was staring at an invisible spot on her blanket.

"Are you ok Bones?"

Bones took a steadying breath and looked Booth in the eye.

"Booth, when I was waking up I thought I heard someone say "I Love You". Was it you?"

Booth's eyes widened in shock but they never wavered from hers.

"Yes Bones. It was me. I said I love you. I've always loved you".

"In an atta-girl kind of way, right?" she replied as she looked away.

"No Bones, not in only an atta-girl kind of way. I love you in every way. I always have and I always will".

Blue eyes met brown. He could see she was uncertain of what he was saying so he went on.

"You changed your emergency contact Bones. Why did you do that? I've been your emergency contact for 6 years. Why change that now?"

"Because Booth, you have Hannah now. I didn't want you to have to leave her and come to me if something happened".

"Bones you can always depend on me. I'll always be there for you no matter what. Don't you know that?" he replied.

"No Booth, I don't know that. You told me that you were "that guy". That you wanted 30, 40 or 50 years with me. But when I told you that I didn't have an open heart you immediately said you had to move on. I understood that and I've tried to support your decision. We went away for 7 months and you come back with a girlfriend. The fact that you were able to move on so quickly was confusing enough but when we get back you start pulling away from our partnership, from our friends, from me. So no, I don't know that you'll be there for me no matter what. So that's why I changed my emergency contact to Angela because you haven't been there Booth".

Booth sighed. "You know what, you're right. You're right about all of it. When you turned me down, I was crushed. So to protect my ego I said I had to move on. I met Hannah in Afghanistan and she was someone there for me to talk to because I hadn't heard from you. One thing led to another and things progressed as they do. I kept telling myself that she was what I needed. What I wanted. That she would eventually heal the hole you left in my metaphorical heart. But she didn't. The hole is still there and when Angela said you were shot it got bigger. When I saw you and the doctors weren't sure if you were going to make it, it got bigger still. So I spent the night here, holding your hand and talking to you. I realized I had made a horrible mistake trying to move on. Because there's no moving on from you. You're the standard Bones. I'm sorry for all of it. For all the pain I caused you over these past months but I'm even sorrier for not telling you before that I love you Bones. With all of my heart and soul, I love you".

He pulled their hands to his mouth and placed a light kiss on the back of her knuckles.

Bones just stared at him. Then she pulled her hand away and asked the only thing she could, "what about Hannah?"

Booth dropped his hands to his lap and hung his head. He knew he had messed up everything. He had hurt everyone involved without even realizing it.

"I called Hannah earlier but she didn't answer. I plan to speak to her as soon as possible. To explain things, to make things right. I know I've hurt her and I'm sorry for that but I can't keep pretending anymore. Not now".