Chapter 6: Black Eye and Peas
This chapter was a little shorter than I intended, but I realized there wasn't much point in keeping it in my computer as I pondered my next move. Bon appétit!
Temperance Brennan was awoken the next morning by two simultaneous occurrences. The first was a loud voice calling through the apartment, "Seeley! I used the spare key to let myself in man. Seels? Dude, I brought lunch… and Padme, so make yourself presentable." The second occurrence was Booth shooting up into a standing position at the turning of the lock and unceremoniously dumping Brennan onto the floor.
"Ow!" she screeched grumpily before noticing Booth wincing in pain.
"Sleeping in the chair all night was not a good idea," he muttered under his breath. Jared walked in just as Brennan herself staggered upright. She glanced back at the bed, which was unmade and obviously had been slept in on both sides. Booth was shirtless and her tank top straps had slipped down her arms. Both were flushed from sleeping without moving for several consecutive hours under the blanket.
"Dude," grinned Jared as Padme peeked around his arm and withdrew with a slight smile. "You could have warned me man."
"Jared," said Booth stepping forward, "man, nothing happened. Last night…"
"Oh my God Tempe," interrupted Jared, and Booth secretly seethed at his casual first name basis. "What happened to your face?"
"Don't say it like that," snapped Booth, "she just…Bones! Your face!" Horrified at their reactions, Brennan scooted a few feet to the left and looked into the small mirror hanging above Booth's dresser. Overnight her face had swollen and purpled beyond the bandage. Her left optical cavity now sported what Booth would call "one hell of a shiner." She winced both at the look and at the pain.
"Bones – here." Booth was suddenly behind her in the mirror, dropping a large white pill into her hand. Grimacing, she swallowed it without thinking twice. Jared started giggling inanely in the background.
"Bro…did you? Oh God, you said this happened last night?" he couldn't keep back his squealing guffaws as he coughed into his hand. Booth looked as if he wanted to murder his brother then and there.
"No Jared," protested Brennan, trying to ameliorate the situation, "Booth his me with a bat, not his fist." The laughter stopped abruptly. Padme looked shocked.
"Not like that!" shouted Booth. "Jeesh, I'm so tired of everyone assuming that I hit Bones with a bat on purpose!" Brennan frowned.
"Who suggested that? You would never hit anyone with a bat on purpose."
"Yeah I know," smoldered Booth, "but apparently, that's the kind of guy I am."
"Easy man," said Jared, cuffing his shoulder. "So how'd it happen?"
"I was trying to teach Bones how to play tball with Parker last night after his game."
"Did he win?" asked Jared. Booth's brow scrunched up.
"That's seriously what you're worried about? Yes, yes, they won." Padme took a step into the room, seeming not at all shocked by their intimacy. Brennan found it odd until she remembered her past as a callgirl.
"So what happened?" asked Padme.
"I stepped into Booth's swing," answered Brennan sheepishly while Booth simultaneously said,
"I hit Bones from behind without looking." They both stopped, glaring at each other.
"It was my fault Booth," argued Brennan.
"No Bones," he retaliated brusquely, "I should have looked."
"Whoa, whoa," said Jared, holding up his hands. "First off, Tempe you look awful. Do you need to lie down?"
"My stitches are fine," she frowned. Booth looked over in confusion until he saw the hazy clouds in her eyes.
"Vicadin is kicking in," he chortled, "this should be good. Last time I saw Bones high was…well…"
"What?" asked Padme in a shocked voice.
"It was an accident," sighed Brennan, "we were investigating a meth bust at a club. The lights were really…pretty." Not seeming to notice the recent exchange Jared blurted,
"Stitches?"
"We had a little eventful trip to the hospital," muttered Booth, "which is why she stayed the night. No other reason. She needed someone to watch her."
"Where'd Angela go?" said Brennan, lucid again. Booth did a double take at his apartment and wandered out of the bedroom.
"No idea," he said in puzzlement. He saw the blanket on the floor and a soft smile came to his face. "But she's a hell of a woman, Angela is."
"Hodgins is a good man," corroborated Brennan.
"Maybe you should lie down," seconded Padme, catching Brennan's wobbling elbow as she stumbled.
"I'm fine," she said automatically. "I want to get changed." She glanced around for the bag of clothes Angela had brought her.
"Good idea," said Booth, folding his arms over his bare chest. "Jared…what are you doing here? It's too early for this."
"Seeley," scoffed Jared, "It's 12:20."
"What?" Booth was floored. He hadn't slept this late uninterrupted in years.
"Yeah man, I brought lunch. Padme and I were going to have a movie marathon later. I was wondering if you wanted to come…maybe bring somebody? But I guess since Tempe is here…"
"Would you like to watch movies Temperance?" Padme called politely through the bathroom door.
"That would be…excellent. I mean, excellent. Yes, I just said that." There was a confused pause and she yanked the door open. Padme grimaced.
"I haven't seen a black eye this badly since the girls would come home roughened up. I've got a few tricks to help the swelling." She took Brennan's elbow over her weak protests. "Go sit on the couch with…Booth. Seeley. You know who I mean," she sounded irritated. "Ask Jared what he brought for lunch while I look around the kitchen."
Brennan staggered toward the couch, head swimming.
"Booth?" she called weekly. He was immediately there, half carrying her and half guiding her as she snapped viciously at him. "I'm not an infant. You are being preposterous."
"Trust you to use big words on Vicadin," he grumbled.
"What's a big word, preposterous? You are such a Neanderthal."
"And we're back to anthropologist," groaned Booth, setting her gently in a sitting position in a corner of the couch. "Bro, take care of her while I change?"
"Sure, sure," said Jared. "Padme?" he called.
"Just a minute!" she yelled back, "I'm looking for some Epsom salt, frozen peas and a citrusy fruit like orange juice or a pineapple."
"We have mangoes in the bag," offered Jared. "What are they for?"
"They're for me," groaned Brennan, "the vitamin C produces an enzyme that changes the molecular structure of the blood, so it's more easily absorbed by the body. The best fruit in vitamin C rich supplements is papaya, but broccoli and other citrus fruits work as well."
"Look at you," chuckled Jared, sounding uncannily like Booth for a minute, "sporting a shiner and spewing science."
Padme came back into the room with an armful of objects. They clattered to the table and she immediately handed Brennan a pack of green peas, still icy from Booth's freezer.
"This'll mold better to your face than an ice pack. Press gently," she instructed.
"You playing nurse is so hot," grinned Jared. Brennan groaned, both from the awkward exchange she couldn't escape, and from the instant relief to her hot, swollen face when she pressed the frozen peas against it. Padme stuck her tongue out and scurried back to the kitchen. She returned carrying a bowl of cut fruit and a larger, plastic bowl full of steaming water and a washcloth floating around.
"Okay, remove the peas," she instructed, and handed the bowl of fruit to Brennan's seeking hand. "Eat this pineapple. Jared will gladly cut you up a papaya." Jared's mouth opened but he closed it and dug in the bag he had brought. "In the kitchen," continued Padme icily when Jared attempted to slice it on the coffee table.
"This might sting," she cautioned, and wringing the wet steaming washcloth, she folded it expertly and applied it over Brennan's eye. Brennan hissed.
"What's in that?" she coughed.
"Epsom salt and hot water. It cleans the cuts and boils away infection."
"Also the hot water in contrast will force the blood to leech from my skin in order to seek my core body."
"Very good," smiled Padme, "you really are a scientist after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Brennan, offended.
"For a while here, you were starting to look like a prizefighter." Brennan's face reluctantly cracked into a smile and Padme smiled radiantly back.
"Okay, it's getting cool again," sighed Brennan. She reapplied the frozen peas and winced at the contrast.
"I can get a towel to wrap it in," offered Padme.
"No, the sudden change in temperature is more effective than a gradual one."
"Have some orange juice then."
"I'm going to die of overdose on Vitamin C," groaned Brennan, but she dutifully downed half the glass.
"Easy there Bones," said Booth, coming in, fully clothed, "that's only orange juice, not a bottle of jack."
"Pineapple," drilled Padme. Brennan popped a piece into her mouth. The sweet juice dripped a little over her lip and Booth, grinning, wiped it off gently with his thumb while her eyes were closed. At his contact, her one eye popped open in surprise, but smiled up at him as he stole a piece of pineapple from her bowl.
"I see what Jared meant," giggled Padme. They both turned to look at her.
"About what?" frowned Booth.
"Nothing," said Padme airily, "you two are too funny."
"We're just partners," reiterated Brennan, hearing tone in her voice.
"Just partners," echoed Jared in time with Booth as he returned bearing another small bowl of papaya. "Tempe." He handed the bowl to her as she sighed.
"Could we please not all stare at me? I'm finding it vaguely disconcerting, and not to mention embarrassing." She switched her washcloth for the hot Epsom salt water as Jared opened a bag.
"Bon appétit," he grinned.
"Does this seem vaguely familiar?" joked Booth to Brennan.
"Déjà vu," she laughed and they all sat down to eat on the couch.