A.N : Bones. Nope, still not mine. Damn!

So... I´ve started a new fic based on a very intersting phrase of Hart Hansom about season 5...if you haven´t read it yet, give it a try! It´s called " living the dream". Don´t forget to review and tell me what you think!

CHAPTER 17- GUY HUG

She winced at her own comment while realizing that Booth fidgeted uncomfortably, and cursed her lack of self control. But Temperance Brennan blame it all on the fever, which she was sure was high again, judging for the fatigue she felt suddenly all over her body and the Chills that were attacking her. She also felt her eyes burning and her head throbbing. It was horrible. She had always been such an active person, and now she felt not capable of doing the simplest tasks. Even moving to a seating position seemed to take all her energy. She sighed heavily, willing that Booth didn´t realized how awful she was feeling again.

" I´m sorry, Booth. I can´t seem able to stop with innapropriated comments. I´ll try to keep my mouth shut. But please, feel free to interrupt me." Never in her life she thought she was going to say this to any human being. She hated being interrupted. But desperate times asked for desperate measures, and she smiled lightly to Booth as his face became full with surprise with her recommendation. " I wont be mad, I promise. I would normaly be, but you´ll be actually avoiding me to embarrass myself even more." Her throat still hurts, she realized as she spoke.It seems that my body had transformed into something completely useless. They were both surprised by the beep of the alarm, indicating that the time of her medications had come.

" Ok, Bones. I´ll go fetch you some water." Again, a small hand stopped him from getting up, as she gave him her lost little girl look.Man, she´s good at it.

" I don´t want to take the medications. They make me drowsy and dazed. I feel completely useless taking them. I think I´ll pass." Booth looked at her as if she´d grown another head, blinking in disbelief. How could a so called genius come up with this kind of ideas.

" Bones, are you insane? Wait, is the fever that high again? Because it´s the only reason I can come up with to understand this statement. You have to be delusional. Have you not listened to anything that the ER doctor and Cam had said? You´re not getting better if you don´t take your meds correctly. Jeez, you are a freaking scientist!" But she bitted her bottom lip looking more and more like a little girl, and Booth considered seriously to call Cam and say that his Bones had completely lost it.

" yes, I`ve heard everything they had said, Booth. But I know my body. Too many medications can be actually damaging. What if I just take the antibiotics? And maybe the gastric protector, because this erytromicin is making me extremely nauseous." My God, I must be really loosing my mind. I´m refusing medical treatment. And Booth looks like he´s ready to explode now.

" No freaking way, temperance. You´re taking every single pill that the doctor had prescribed. I´ll make sure of that. If you don´t I swear to God that your next stop will be back at the hospital. And this time, you can be sure that I´ll make them admit you." He fumed at her, never stopping to be amazed by her sometimes twisted logics. He let go of her hand and disappeared quickly, coming back with a glass full of water and giving it to her, along with all the correct meds, a stern look all over his face. She knew then that she was defeated. It was this or IV medication at the hospital. So, brennan just glared at him and took everything, making sure that Booth saw how displeased she was. But the true was, she wasn´t displeased with Booth or the amount of meds. She was unhappy with herself and the apparent failure of her body. She could not understand how this could be happening to her. She was a healthy person, with healthy habits. Her immune system should be working with perfection. But instead, it had failed her and allowed her lungs to contract a big infection. And she started thinking that maybe, just maybe, Booth could be right. She worked too much and forgot about her welfare. Not that she was ever admitting it to him.

" there, all done. Happy now?" She was being snappy, but she couldn´t help it. All the frustrations that had started to form from the previous day and had just accumulated by the hours of strict bed rest were now surfacing, and she actually felt like crying. Which only frustrated her more. Booth seemed to catch in the air her state of spirit, and his expression softened immediately, his voice gentle and careful.

" I´ll be much happier when you are feeling better, Bones. And you´ll be in no time, you´ll see. I know that for you it´s hard to stay like this and that if you could you would be working like crazy as always. But give you some rest,ok? It happens to the best of us." It was like pushing the right bottoms to make the tears fall. And she hated herself for that sign of fragility. But it was involuntary. Every time she got sick she would turn into another person. And she really, really hated that person. Booth looked positively frightened by her sudden meltdown, and hurried desperately to her side. " Whoa, Bones. What´s this now? Was that something that I´ve said? Because if so, I apologize. i take it back. C´mon, Bones. Don´t be like this." He felt absolutely useless as he watched her tears rolling down her cheeks as she shook her head. He scooped her in his arms, and she quickly buried her face in his chest, her voice coming out muffled and hoarse.

" It´s not you, it´s me. I just feel so useless lying in this bed. And I positively hate the fact that you have to do almost everything for me. It´s just…so different from the usual me. I´m in pain all the time, and so tired. It´s hard to breathe and my head just can´t seem to function properly. I don´t usually cry too, you know.I´m not a vulnerable person." She felt completely out of air, the tears making her breathing even harder. And she knew she was close to sobbing, but she wasn´t able to stop. Booth´s kindness seemed to only make things worse. But despite that, she realized that she wasn´t able to leave his arms. And to be fair, she didn´t want to. He just let her cry, whispering soothing words at her ears, his hands gently rubbing her back in small calming circles. He knew that it was no use to try to make her stop or pointing that it was a situation out of her control. It was just who temperance Brennan was, an independent, vibrant woman. And he loved her for that.

Crying so hard for a while had actually a good effect on her. It was like a big burden was moved out of her chest. Brennan realized that she had wanted to cry for a long time now, but never allowed to do so. But Booth made that possible with the simplest things. And amazingly, she didn´t feel a lot embarrassed by that. She felt that with him, she could afford to loose her beloved control now and then. It was a rare thing in her life. She slowly started to register how great it was to be like this, so intimate and close, his lips at her ears, his well worked arms holding her with such a sweetness that she had barely knew in her entire life. The small circles around her back were now starting to give her shivers, but for a completely different reason than the fever or the tears, which had mostly subdued by now. Booth was warm and solid, and she felt the sudden desire of having the opportunity to be hugged like this more often.We´ll definitely have to talk after all of this. She risked speaking, her voice small and still a little insecure.

" Booth? Is this one of your guy hugs?" Her head was still buried at his chest, and she could feel his heart beating and the sound of his soft laughter reverberating as he considered her question.

" No, Bones. This one is much better." She couldn´t agree more. Her arms created a life of their own, one hand grabbing the fabric of his shirt while the other rested comfortably around his neck.

" I will have to agree with that. I hope we can hug like this another times." This time, she wasn´t even sorry for the slip of her tongue. She wanted Booth to know. They stayed in a comfy silence for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts, his heartbeats calming her down. They only parted when the shrieking sound of his door bell made it´s presence, and Booth relutanctly let her go, not before looking at her eyes deeply.

" You´re okay now?" She nodded tentatively, wishing for her eyes don't look much puffed after all that crying. Just because she had allowed Booth to see her in tears, it didn´t mean she was ready to let the rest of her friends to see her like that. She watched as Booth retreated, accommodating herself against the pillows. She felt absolutely drained.

Booth opened the door to a grinning Angela and a slightly more serious Cam, and smiled back tentatively, feeling suddenly very self conscious. He had the distinct feeling that Ange knew something she shouldn´t and had shared with Cam. Only that could explain the funny looks he was getting right now. He almost jumped at the sound of Angela´s sly voice, and cringed at her question.

" hey, stud. You look so much better than this morning, except for the excess of clothing. Did you sleep well?" Angela knew that she shouldn´t tease, but oh, it was just too good to be wasted. She watched as Booth started to look at anywhere except the place where she was standing, and felt Cam nudging her at the ribs." Ouch." . She gave the doctor a outraged look, and only received a stern gaze back, that clearly told her to shut up and just walk to the bedroom.Fine, I´ll give them a breake. But just for a while. Cam was already taking Booth out of his misery, asking kindly how Bren was as they walked down the corridor.

" You tell me, Cam. I want you to make a complete examination. After the fright we had last night, I don´t want to take any chances. She´s coughing a lot, and I can tell that she´s having trouble to breathe.I think she´s in much more pain that she lets me know." Cam smiled at her friend, having the same certain that struck her the night before. Seeley Booth got it bad.

" All of this is pretty much natural in pneumonia, big man. But we can certainly do something about the coughing. I´ll prescribe some codein, it will also help her to sleep better at night." Booth let out a small laughter, knowing exactly what his Bones would have to say about another medication.

" Then, make sure you convince her of the absolute need of this,´cause she´s already complaining about the amount of the meds. She actually refused to take them a while ago. I had to threaten her with the hospital." Cam and Angela rolled their eyes while Booth opened the door.

" yeah, this sounds like Brennan." Cam stated as Ange nodded vehemently before opening a large smile as spotting her friend on the bed.

" sweetey! How are you tonight? Jack says hello, he wishes he was here. But he had to solve something with his family´s business. Also, Sweets was at the institute today and sent his best wishes. He told that tomorrow he would pay you a visit." All Booth could do was to sigh heavily at the possibility of having Sweets at his house. The kid would surely try to go psychologic at him and Bones. Angela was still blabbering as cam opened her suitcase and started taking her stethoscope, but his Bones´s best friend suddenly gasped and became serious. " Sweetey, have you been crying?" Bones gave a desperate look at Booth as her friend approached to make a better examination at her face, and the FBI agent placed his hand gently at Angela´s arm.

" Not now, Ange. She´s fine now, right, Bones?" Temperance shut her eyes as she nodded, and Booth sensed that if they didn´t change the subject, she would breake again. " So, Cam is going to hear your lungs now, right?" He turned to Cam with a pleading look, and the burnette acquiesced, even if she couldn´t quite follow what was really happening. But nobody really understand those two dynamics anyway, except perhaps themselves. So, she approached Brennan carefully, smiling at the anthropologist before placing the stethoscope at her chest and talking slowly, the professional tone already placed.

" Ok, dr. Brennan. Let´s see how things are. Deep breathes, please." Booth felt his heart shrink by the view of his Bones trying to follow Cam´s requests. He could see that every in sharp of air was painful. Thankful, so did cam, and she was fast and sharp, doing her best to finish quickly. Angela used the time to question Booth in a hushed tone.

" ok,hot stuff. Spill . What´s wrong with her?" If he did anything to upset her, I swear to God that I´ll kiss his yummy ass. And then, I´ll drag Bren to my place. But she honestly didn´t believe that Booth could do anything that would slight do any harm to Brennan. He was way too overprotective when it came about Temperance Brennan. Booth gave the woman a serious look.

" she´s a little down, that´s all, Ange. I think that it finally sank that she´s really sick. And you know Bones. She feels useless if she´s not doing her normal stuff. But I got her. I´ll cheer her up, I promise." Angela Monetenegro felt as she could hug Booth until the end of the world for caring so much about her best friend´ That man was exactly what the doctor had ordered, in her wise opinion. They were out of their reverie as Cam´s voice said outloud as the doctor pulled away the thermometer.

" Ok, What you say about another shower with me and Angela helping like yesterday? I would feel better leaving this place with your temperature a little lower than that." Both Booth and Angela stretched to see the numbers, and Booth cursed inwardly. 103.5. No wonder his Bones was shaking like that.

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Once again, they were ready to sleep. It was just past midnight, and Booth had managed to make Temperance not only eat, but take all her meds with the addition of the codein, that he had bought earlier while cam and Angela kept company to Brennan. The visit actually was a great thing, for Angela took as her personal mission to make Bones laugh that night, having some success. Her spirits were still a little too low for Booth´s taste, but he was guessing that tomorrow it would risen a bit, since the bed rest would be over. She would be able to walk a litte around the apartment, and he sure as hell would settle her in his couch with a bunch of fun movies.

Booth looked at the still in the floor cushion he had arranged to him yesterday, wondering if he should just lie down in it despite his wish of sleeping again by her side. Brennan seemed to sense his doubt, lifting those amazing blue eyes to him with decision.

" Booth, just store this cushion already. There´s no sense in you sleeping on the floor when this bed is absolutely big enough to the two of us." Plus, I´ll sleep so much better with you holding me like you already did. She kept this last part for herself, no matter how her loosen tongue twitched to speak. She still got some pride and dignity left, and she would fight like hell to remain that way. Booth still seemed a little awkward with their sleeping arrangements, and she decided to go to his weak point. The alpha male. " C´mon, Booth. What if I have another fever spike? I may be needing body heat again." She blinked innocently , for she knew she had just hit the nerve, specially because her temperature was still too instable for everybody taste. Cam had said so herself. They´ve managed to keep it down after another cold shower, but the doctor was very clear that she needed a lot of survailance. So, booth nodded his head slightly and stepped at the bed gingerly, feeling the smell of her shampoo, and feeling slightly dizzy by it. How can she affect me so easily?

This time, they were much more careful around each other, their conversation of earlier still filling every space of their minds. They had finally admitted that something had changed, and now, both were feeling the aftermath. It was odd and exciting at the same time. Like opening a gift without really knowing what was inside the box. Booth tried to keep the much distance he could between each other, and Temperance turned to her side, feeling her cheeks suddenly flushed. She closed her eyes trying to find sleep, but despite all her tiredness, it was like something was missing. And she knew exactly what was it. She tried to ignore it, she really did. But patience was never one of her virtues. So, she just turned again and grabbed Booth´s arm, making him embrace her like a spoon. And then, sleep came in no time, for both of them.

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Booth woke up in a jolt, as he felt Temperance jumping out of the bed, and squinted his eyes to see what time was it and to try to understand what the hell was happening. 3.30 AM. And he could hear her steps the fastest she could manage until the bathroom. He was out of the bed in a second, following her even knowing that she would complain. He didn´t care.

He found her keneed in front of the toilet, her forehead shining with sweat as she throwed up what looked like everything she had ate at night. Booth didn´t even stopped to think, kneeling besides her and pulling her hair back, feeling that it was damp with cold sweat, his other hand placing securetly at her wait, in order to give her some balance. He felt his chest tightening with every retching effort that she made, only imagining how horrible she must be feeling. There were tears rolling down her face, and she looked like a ghost. She managed to get a grip of herself for a few seconds, her voice shaky as she made a feeble attempt to look fine and shove him off.

" Go way, Booth." All her body was trembling, and she never felt so nauseous in her life. She felt like fainting or just lying at the floor, but another wave of illness came across her body, and she just bended again, hurling, while his arms became stronger in his embrace.

" Not a chance of me leaving, sweetheart." He spoke loud and clear as holding her. It was going to be another long night.

TBC…

You know what makes me write fast, right? That´s it, your reviews!

By the way, don´t worry, Brennan wont be this sick from now on. But the ones that had pneumonia know how bitchy this disease can be, specially on it´s first days. But expect some improvement ´I promise this soon. For now, enjoy the fluff moments with caring Booth….