She stayed that way for several minutes before she managed to pull herself together. The tiniest shred of hope that she still clung to, forced her up. She had to climb down to the campsite and get the keys. She had to get help. Her rationality told her it was too late. It had already been too long and his injuries to severe, but that tiny part of her that had the faith he had always spoke of screamed to her to that there was still a chance.
Fighting her exhaustion and ignoring her pain she forced herself to her feet. She observed her surroundings and determined which direction she needed to go.
The temperature of the water shocked his body; the pain he had been ignoring intensified and demanded his attention.
"I love you too, Booth." She had said.
Those words brought warmth to him contrasting the frigid waters. He watched as she began to climb. She would make it, he had faith in her. She would survive to see the sunshine past the rain. This thought gave him the strength he needed to find his way back to dryer ground. He would surely freeze to death or drown if he stayed here.
He wanted to stay, to give her words of encouragement as she made her climb; but he felt his strength fading. He fought as the darkness crept into his peripheral vision. If he stayed here and she saw him drift into unconsciousness or death, she wouldn't continue her escape. She would come back to help him and her life would again be in jeopardy. No, he needed to move away. He needed get as far as he could from her.
He let her words of endearment repeat in his mind as he struggled towards the mouth of the cave. Those may be the last words he would ever hear. He could die a happy man.
Brennan hurried as quickly as she could down the side of the mountain. Her sprained ankle screamed for mercy but she continued on. She was a woman on a mission. Keys… get the keys, find the trail, follow it to the truck, and drive for help. She repeated the words like a mantra to give her strength.
In her rush, she tripped over a tree root protruding from the ground and began rolling down the side of the mountain. She felt every new injury she sustained as she tumbled down, finally coming to an abrupt and violent stop. She heard the crack of her own bones as her ribcage impacted a large white pine tree. All the air left her lungs as she lied there mouth agape. Silent tears escaped her eyes as she stared up into the rain.
She felt stabbing pain in her chest as she took in shallow breaths of air. Could this be what he had experienced while down in the cave? This question brought her the strength to try movement. If Booth had done all he did to help her escape feeling this way, she could continue on to get the help they both now desperately needed.
She finally managed to raise herself on shaky legs, wrapped her arm tightly around her chest and continued down the mountain. She could just make out where the ground flattened out a few meters ahead.
Relief filled her as she finally reached level ground. She began looking desperately around for the camp Booth had constructed earlier. Her relief soon turned to despair as she saw the remnants of one of the canopies approximately 60 meters to her left. The entire camp was buried in the rubble of the landslide. She stumbled over to get a more thorough look.
Her chest ached more as sobs wracked her body and she fell to her knees in anguish. In her top condition it would take hours, if it were even possible to find the container of dried goods in which Booth left his keys under all the rocks and mud. Both their cell phones had been destroyed in the cave-in. Another sliver of hope vanished.
Brennan watched the sun creep under the horizon trying to think of an alternate plan. She decided the only thing she could do was find the trail to the truck. She could work on a plan as she traveled. She salvaged what she could from the exposed canopy. She made makeshift pant legs and stuffed them with the driest debris left from the trees that she could find. She gathered what was left of her strength, replaced her pain and exhaustion with determination and moved on.
She had to make several stops along the way to rest her weary body. The cold temperatures were slowly sinking into her already stiff and aching muscles. She could see her breaths coming out in short uneven bursts. She tried in vain to keep her thoughts from her and Booth's mortality. She had no more tears to shed. She was dehydrated, in the beginning stages of hypothermia and had an unknown number of other injuries. She had no idea if Booth's was even still breathing, but clung to the fact he needed her help to keep her going.
She didn't care if she survived at this point. Her body was ready to give up, but as long as he was in her thoughts she could keep going. She had to do it for him. As long as she kept focus on him she was able to get up and move on. Though, each time it became more difficult.
She estimated that is couldn't be much further. This trip would have normally taken less than an hour, but she had already been walking several hours now. She was disappointed in how slow she was actually moving. He was relying on her and she was failing
After two more stops, Booth's FBI truck came into view. She concluded that if she could break a window she could use the horn to signal anyone near for help. It was a long shot, but she was uncertain how or if the truck could be hot-wired. It was miles to the nearest town, she was uncertain of anything else that she could do.
She wandered over and found a fairly large rock. She swung at the driver side back window with what strength she had left. Pain ricocheted through her body, but the window was left virtually unmarked. She tried 3 more times before sinking to the ground in failure.
Booth finally managed to get to the water's edge. He pulled with all his strength to get his upper body to dryer ground. His body trembled uncontrollably from the low temperatures. With shaking hands he untied one if the splints and used the make shift bandage to compress the open wound on his leg. He gritted his teeth in pain as he synched it as tight as his weakened body allowed. He left the injured leg in the frigid water to slow the blood flow. He knew the dangers, but his choices were limited. He accepted that his death would not be far gone, but he wasn't going to help it along.
He had every intention of prolonging his demise for as long as he could will his heart to beat and his lungs to take in air. Breathing had become more difficult after his fall. He could feel pressure build with each breath he took. His pain was becoming overwhelming as he shivered. Every sore muscle in his body tensed as he shook.
He couldn't help but think that all the other times his life had almost ended were easier and more pleasant than this. This moved to his number 1 way of not wanting to die. He laughed at himself for this thought. He willed what strength he had left to the woman he loved. He prayed for her to make it to safety. He prayed for her to be OK when they found his corpse. He hoped that she would not be there when he was found. He hoped that none of his friends would be there for that. He wanted them to remember him vital and alive, not broken, bloody, and dead.
He filled his mind with her, everything about her; her beauty, her laugh, her voice, her scent, and most of all her final words to him. A smile came to his face and he didn't notice his vision fading, the darkness starting at the sides moving inward. He didn't notice as he slipped into unconsciousness.