Fortyfive minutes after Booth left, Brennan woke up. She closed her eyes again to shield them from the bright light.

"Sweetie?"

She could hear the voice and immediately realized it was Angela. She opened her eyes once again and saw her best friend sitting in the chair next to the bed. She could see Angela had been crying.

I'm so glad that Booth isn't here right now. I don't think I could handle seeing him.

Let alone hearing him call me Bones.

I don't think I'll ever be able to hear him say that word to me again. I really don't want to see him again until I'm able to hear him say that word again.

But how am I going to tell him that? She looked at Angela. Maybe she can help me.

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God I hope she's awake. I really need to see her eyes, to know if she's even remotely okay or not. She can tell the biggest lie she wants, but her eyes never lie to me.

Booth had hurried his way back to the hospital.

To his Bones.

He had only packed the most basic supplies. He'd brought some towels, a hairbrush, fresh underwear and clothes, and some soap. He had also brought a sleeping gown, he knew from experience just how uncomfortable those from the hospital were.

He walked over to her room and entered. He didn't knock because he didn't want to wake her up in case she was still sleeping. He felt the knot in his gut loosen when he saw that she was awake. It was some sort of proof that she'd get through this.

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Booth entered the room, carrying a backpack with her supplies.

He walked over to her.

Please don't call me Bones. Please don't call me Bones. Please don't call me Bones.

She kept repeating that sentence over and over.

He smiled his most comforting charm smile at her and said: "Glad to see your feeling better, Bones."

The word kept ringing in her ears while she once again started to shake and shiver.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wow! What the hell just happened? It seems she's afraid. Of Booth? I expected her to be afraid of men. But Booth too?

But when she could look Bren in the eye she saw it.

Bren is terrified. But why? It doesn't really matter. What does matter, is calming her down again.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Her eyes turned to Angela. They were pleading. "Ange, please get him out of my room."

She looked up at Booth. The only thing she saw in his eyes was confusion. He didn't understand it either. She averted her eyes back to Temperance. The only thing she saw there was fear. She decided that it would be best for now if she would just do what she wanted.

But I'm not going to let these two drift apart.

"Let's go Booth. We can come back tomorrow." She said while walking to the door.

Booth followed her. Temperance's voice stopped them both.

"No, he can't come back. Only you."

Booth turned around and looked at her in shock.

She must be joking. She can't expect me to stay away. I care about her.

I love her.

But when he saw her eyes he realized that she wasn't joking. That she was very serious. He heard Angela say something and felt her tugging at his sleeve. He just let her drag him out of there.

Brennan was left alone feeling violated and guilty.

He didn't deserve that. He's just worried about me.

Her dreams that night were haunted by the painful expression in Booth's eyes.

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Booth woke up with a start. He was sweating and his heart was racing. When he'd come home he'd decided to drink something to calm his nerves.

To stop seeing the words that were carved into her beautiful skin.

To stop seeing his name carved into her skin.

To stop hearing her begg some guy to get out of her.

To stop hearing her tell him that she didn't want to see him again.

To stop seeing her shaking everytime he tried to connect with her.

And finally to block out the painful conclusion that kept haunting hem.

A realization that hit him once again, now that he was awake.

She blames me.

She blames me. And she should.

Why shouldn't she. After all, it is my fault. I'm her partner. I'm supposed to protect her. Instead I'm the cause she's hurt. Sure Angela tried to tell me that it isn't my fault. She can't be serious. She saw those damn words. She knows that this bastard did this to MY partner, because I work with her. If I wasn't her partner, she wouldn't be in this mess.

Booth got up. He stumbled out of his bedroom, went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There were still a few beers left. He grabbed them and went over to the couch.

He woke up there the next morning, surrounded by empty beer bottles and with a killer hangover.