Chapter Nine

Brennan opened her eyes to darkness. She closed them, and opened them again. It was still dark; she had no idea where she was. She sat up and let her eyes adjust to the room she was in. Nothing looked familiar. She suddenly remembered the dream she had been having, she and Booth were making love, and it was sweet and passionate. She sighed, it was only a dream. A door opened on the other side of the room and light flooded in. She shut her eyes in reflex.

Angela poked her head in through the door and proceeded the rest of the way in when she realized her friend was awake.

"Oh good, you're up. I was just sent to get you, Booth is out of surgery." Angela stood beside Brennan as she got up off the sofa where she had been sleeping.

"Damn," muttered Brennan.

"What's wrong?" The tall artist wondered out loud.

"I thought that maybe this was all a dream. That maybe Booth was fine, and I was experiencing some sort of psychotic episode, where I was hallucinating everything. How is he? What did they say?" Brennan was now fully awake, and in control of herself; the dream instantly forgotten as she became conscious of reality.

"I only saw him for a minute or two. They're waiting for you before they tell us anything. Booth's grandfather is already with him in the ICU. So far, he's still alive. That's a start right?" She took Brennan by the arm as they walked down the hallway.

"How long have I been asleep?" She leaned on Angela a little bit, grateful for the support. Her legs felt very weak.

"A couple of hours. The Doctors came out about 20 minutes ago, and showed us where he was."

They took the elevator up to the Intensive Care Unit. Angela led her to a room at the end of the hall, but stopped her before she went in.

"Brace yourself Sweetie, he doesn't look good."

Despite Angela's warning, Temperance felt her knees weaken considerably when she entered the room. Booth's head was wrapped entirely in gauze, and there were tubes coming out of it, leading somewhere she couldn't see. There were machines all around him, some breathing for him, some measuring his heart rate, and a few whose purpose she didn't know. Even his eyes were wrapped up. She approached the bed, trying to find the strength to not completely fall apart. She leaned on the bed for support; Booth's grandfather came up behind her and put his arm around her waist. She felt stronger instantly.

"I'm so sorry Temperance. I can't imagine what you are feeling right now. No one should see the one they love in a position like this." He kissed her cheek gently. She looked calmer.

Angela, who had followed Brennan into the room silently, looked at the old man. Did she hear that right? 'One they love'? She thought Booth and Brennan had only slept together, she didn't know it had escalated this far. She stayed silent, wondering what her friend would say.

"No one should have to see their grandson like this, but here we are right?" There was no denial of her true feelings, Angela was a little surprised.

Doctor Callaway entered the room with another man, presumed to be the Doctor from Boston. They both had that impartial 'Doctor' look on their faces. Brennan was trying to read further, but they gave nothing away.

"Doctor Brennan, Mr. Booth, this is Doctor Nathan Hughes, my colleague who did the surgery on Seeley. He'll give you a better rundown of the situation."

Doctor Hughes took a few seconds to shake the hands of everyone in the room before he started his briefing.

"Well, we have managed to drain a considerable amount of fluid from the brain of the patient here. Spinal taps done before and after the surgery have indicated a significant drop in intracranial pressure, which is positive. We have him in a chemically induced coma right now to enable a recovery from the trauma. We won't know the degree of damage until later, but we're hoping for a positive outcome. The bleeding was in a part of the brain that doesn't control any significant bodily functions, but there's always a chance that there will be some long lasting effects. His condition is still very serious. We can only wait now. It's up to him."

Everyone in the room looked at Brennan, her eyes were closed. Her shoulders were starting to shake with forth coming sobs. Angela had never seen this strong, independent woman so close to the edge. She and the grandfather both had hold of her now. She buried her face in Angela's shoulder and the expression of grief let itself out. The Doctors took that opportunity to depart, leaving the family to deal with their emotions. Everyone cried for a while, until a nurse interrupted them.

"Mr. Booth, there's a man downstairs claiming to be the father of the patient, he's being a little unruly, can you come and help us deal with him?" The nurse looked frustrated.

"Yes, I'll be right down," He looked at Brennan, who was looking at him with her big, blue, weepy eyes. "I'm sorry honey, he's Seeley's father. I had to call him. I won't bring him up though, unless you say its okay." He rubbed her back a little.

"It's okay, I understand. I just really don't want to deal with him right now." Brennan was starting to have suspicions that he might be responsible for the condition that Booth was in right now. She was more grateful than ever that the grandfather was there. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek and followed the nurse into the hallway. He wasn't gone more than five minutes when another nurse opened the door.

"There's a crew of people downstairs claiming to be from the Jeffersonian, they were asking for you Doctor Brennan."

Brennan looked at Angela with a look that crossed with pleading with panic. She opened her mouth to talk, but found that she had no voice.

"I called Cam, to fill her in on the situation, she must have called everyone. I'll go deal with her, and tell everyone what's going on." The artist noticed the look change on Brennan's face to one of relief. She also followed the nurse into the hall. Brennan was finally alone with Booth.

She edged closer to the bed, slightly afraid of what she would do. There were so many tubes and wires running in and out of her partners body that she didn't know where to touch him. She had to though. She finally took his hand, there was an IV line connected to it, but she was careful not to disturb it. She wanted to say something, she had read that a coma patient can hear when spoken to, but she didn't know what to say. Or more importantly, what to say first. She leaned down and pressed her cheek against his. She whispered,

"Booth, stay with me okay. You finally get me admit that I love you, you cannot abandon me now!" She straightened up, secretly hoping that her words would bring him back, but her realistic mind knew that it was fruitless. She kissed his forehead, which was one of the other few places that had no machines attached to it, though it was wrapped in bandage. The beeping of the heart monitor increased and she felt his body start to tremble.

She dropped his hand and ran for the door, crying for help. Two nurses came running in and started flicking switches on various machines. Doctor Callaway followed not seconds later. He took out his stethoscope, and listened to the man's chest.

"Is it another seizure?" Brennan was terrified.

"No, this is just a side effect of the hypothermic state that we put him in. It's actually good news," Brennan looked confused. The Doctor continued,

"You see, when the core temperature of the body drops, the initial reaction is to shiver. When the shivering stops, that's a sign that the hypothermia is worsening. In this case, we're bringing his body temperature back up, so he's reaching the shivering stage again. This means that his body is responding to autonomic reflexes. This is very good news." The doctor was writing something in the chart at the foot of the bed.

Brennan was trying very hard to be relieved, but the terror of watching him seize on the floor of her bedroom was still very, very fresh. The doctor and nurses left again and she reclaimed his hand and settled onto the chair that was beside his bed. She laid her head on the bed, so that her lips were in contact with his knuckles. She felt slight warmth in his hand again, his body periodically shivered, she closed her eyes.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The medical staff of the ICU let her stay that first day and all of the night. She was no bother to them. She didn't get in the way, she wasn't demanding, she just sat by the man's bed, holding his hand. No one could even remember her getting up to go the bathroom. His condition didn't change, and the nurses convinced her, eventually, to go home and get some rest. Angela was there to take her home.

Brennan didn't say much on the ride back to her apartment. Angela tried to fill the silence by asking her all sorts of question about the events that had transpired in the last week. Brennan was honest and actually happy to have Angela's feedback on the moments that had led to where they were. Her and Booth.

Angela was quietly and secretly thrilled. Her best friend had finally caught up. She hoped that Booth would be alright. This would destroy Brennan if he weren't.

Although she freaked a little bit when she first entered her bedroom, where so many emotions had played themselves out over the last few nights, Brennan managed to have a shower and sleep through the night. Angela spent the night on the couch and was there for her friend when she awoke in the morning.

She took the time to call Rebecca and apprise her of the situation with her son's father. They both decided it would be best if Parker stayed away from the hospital for now. It would be very traumatic for the young boy to see his father in such a state. Rebecca thanked her and was given the promise by Temperance that she would be regularly updated of his situation.

As they prepared to leave for the hospital, the phone rang. Temperance jumped at the sound, but when she didn't recognize the number on the phone, she found she had the courage to answer it. It was not the hospital. She walked down the hall to take the phone call, out of earshot of Angela. When she came back into the doorway, where Angela waited patiently, she explained,

"That was the FBI, they want to question me about the assault on Booth, and everyone down at headquarters thinks that Booth's father should be charged with a federal crime. They're all pissed that this happened."

"Wow." Angela was shocked." What are you going to do?"

"I said I would meet them at the Jeffersonian as soon as I could get there."

"Let's go." Angela made a dramatic gesture that Brennan should go through the door first. A little smile played on her lips.

"Thanks Ange. For everything."

"That's what friends are for."

"Hey, I know that one..." Angela laughed.

On the ride to the Jeffersonian, Brennan took the time to call the hospital to check on her partner's condition. There was no major change, but his body temperature had returned to normal, and his pulse and vitals were stable. They let her know that his Grandfather was there with him now, and if there was anything she needed to know, they would call her right away. She let them know she was grateful.

As she and Angela entered her office in the lab, they were met by two FBI agents, both wearing black suits, white shirts, and very serious looking. They introduced themselves as Agent Smith and Agent Smith.

Angela laughed. Brennan looked at her questioningly.

"What's so funny?"

"You know... Agent Smith...from the movie 'The Matrix'."

"We hear it all the time ma'am. It's just a coincidence," one of the agents said to her, while checking her out, head to toe. She smiled.

"I don't know what that is." The look on her face was slightly annoyed.

"It's okay Bren, it's not important." She gestured for the agents to continue with explanations as to why they were there.

They asked that Angela wait outside, as they wanted to question Doctor Brennan in private. She waited just outside the office and before long she was joined by Cam, Hodgins and Wendell.

"What's going on in there?" Cam asked Angela.

She explained the story, as much of it that she knew anyway. The Medico-Legal crew speculated about the interview taking place in the office, when after a while, the door burst open and Brennan came rushing over to them. She addressed them all,

"Agents Smith want to know if the Lab is willing to help analyze the events, to see if there is enough evidence to charge Booth's father with assaulting an FBI agent. The charges could be raised to murder if Booth dies." Every one of the team members saw the color of her face drain when she said those words out loud.

"Anything we can do help." Cam answered her, "It'll be okay Doctor Brennan. Booth will be fine."

Temperance just nodded and went back to her office to give the agents their answer. They started work immediately.

Brennan came and went over the next day as the evidence mounted. They spent hours going over simulations on the Angelator, trying to determine which blow delivered the near fatal injury that Booth continued to be comatose from. They had copies of the MRI and CT scan of Booth, and they re-enacted possible events by going over the evidence. Every move was closely watched by the FBI Agents Smith. This one had to be by the book.

She spent every moment not at the lab with Booth, in the hospital. The Doctors were discussing trying to remove the respirator to see if he would breathe on his own. They decided to try on Friday. The day of Jared's funeral.

Temperance initially had no intention of going to the funeral, but she decided that she would go for Booth, who would not be there. She was not looking forward the inevitable run-in with Booth's father, who she had continued to deny access to his son. She suspected she could also be supportive to Booth's Grandfather. The day would be rough for him. He had been so kind to her; it would be a small repayment of his consideration.

The funeral proceeded without incident, the people who knew the full extent of the situation, kept Temperance and Booth's father far apart. He tried to have a confrontation with her at one point, but she just gave him a disgusted snort, and turned to walk away. As much as she wanted to drop him where he stood, and she could, she decided enough violence had been passed for a lifetime. She looked around, Angela looked impressed, and the rest of the Jeffersonian crowd and more than a few in the FBI, made sure they came between the two as she walked to her car.

As she entered the hospital, and headed towards Booth's room, she was stopped by Doctor Callaway, who informed her of the good news that Booth was breathing on his own, and they had stabilized the pressure in his head. She was more optimistic than she had been in days. He told her that they had started to decrease the amount of the drugs that were keeping him in the coma. They might see results soon. She thanked the Doctor, and headed a little bit more quickly to his room.

She opened the door, and immediately noticed that there were a few less machines in the room. The heart monitor continued to beep steadily; she looked at him. There were fewer bandages around his face and she noticed that his eyes were no longer bandaged. She noticed something else...

His eyes were open.