A/N: Many thanks for all of the reviews from last chapter! The next chapter will most likely not be posted from close to two weeks, as I will be away for business.

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Hannah called once more. Brennan didn't answer and promptly turned her phone on silent and shoved it in the drawer of Booth's night stand. She pulled down the rail of Booth's bed on the side opposite his chest tube and gunshot wound. Gingerly, Brennan laid her head down on his arm. She sobbed softly into his shoulder as she had the night Vincent died, and she and Booth had conceived the child growing inside her. Gradually, Brennan's tiredness overcame her worry, and she succumbed to sleep.

She slept for nearly eight hours, waking briefly when a nurse's aid came in to record Booth's vital signs. She finally woke at seven when the surgical attending came in during morning rounds. Although he seemed eager to get on with his day, the doctor answered the questions that Brennan asked. The doctor said that air still seemed to be draining from the chest tube, but more slowly than before. He was hopeful that no further intervention would be needed.

Shortly after the doctor left, Angela came barging into Booth's room.

"Oh, thank God you are okay!" she exclaimed upon seeing her best friend sitting, holding her partner's hand.

Brennan looked at her curiously.

"I've been calling you for the last hour!"

"Oh," Brennan exclaimed, just recalling that she'd silenced her phone – and the reason she'd done so, "I'm sorry. I put my phone on silent to try to get some sleep."

"It's okay," said a relieved Angela, "I was just worried about you...and Booth, of course."

"I appreciate your concern, Ang. The doctor was just here. He seemed to feel positive about Booth's prognosis."

"That's great, sweetie."

Despite the words she'd just spoken, Brennan couldn't prevent tears from welling in her eyes, "I just…I can't believe this is happening."

Angela put her arm around her best friend, "I know, sweetie. I don't think any of us can, but it's just a bump – a really big one – in the road for your guys."

Brennan nodded.

"You two were meant to be together, sweetie."

"I don't believe in fate," Brennan asserted.

"You don't have to believe in something for it to exist," Angela countered gently.

Brennan merely shook her head in response.

"How many forensic anthropologists work with an FBI agent the way you do with Booth?" Angela asked.

"None, I suspect. There are fewer than one hundred certified forensic anthropologists, and perhaps another several dozen who identify themselves as forensic anthropologists without certification."

"Right, but none of them are partnered with an FBI agent, correct?"

"Not to my knowledge," Brennan replied, "but forensic anthropologists frequently work with law enforcement."

"Don't you think there has to be some reason in the grand scheme of things for why you and Booth were partnered together?"

"No, I blackmailed him into allowing me to go into the field with him," Brennan reminded her friend.

Angela shook her lightly and smiled, "Just the fact that you and Booth were paired up. He came to you for help with the Arrington case."

"Cam recommended that Booth seek me out, due to her knowledge of my expertise," Brennan reminded Angela.

Angela shook her head, " Bren, I know that you felt something for Booth from the very beginning."

Brennan was silent after this. She considered countering Angela's statement with the fact that, of course, she'd been attracted to Booth when she'd first seen him, as had Angela, but did not.

Angela merely smiled at her surprise triumph.

"'Did you eat any breakfast?" she asked.

"Yes, the nurse brought me in something shortly before you came."

"Good," said Angela, satisfied that Brennan was taking care of herself.

Angela left just before visiting hours ended at eleven, and, although Brennan had been grateful for the company, she was also glad to be alone with Booth once again.

"I know that you may be able to hear me, since you heard me after your brain surgery," Brennan's voice trailed off as she was filled with the memories of those few days.

"I hoped I'd never be in that position again," Brennan said as a few tears fell down her cheek.

"Angela – Angela agrees with your hypothesis that we were fated to be together. As you know, I don't believe in fate. Aside from the lack of evidence, it just seems too…easy. It takes away personal responsibility for one's choices. I love you, because I choose to love you. Yes, I was attracted to you immediately, and when we kissed I felt something, possibility perhaps."

Brennan looked down at Booth and gently stroked his forehead, "I spent years trying to convince myself that loving you openly, being in a relationship with you wasn't worth the possible emotional turmoil if it ended badly. But I was wrong, and I was afraid that I might have to regret my decision forever. Then, we got a chance in the form of the loss of a life and the conception of a new one."

Tears were now streaming down Brennan's face, as she poured her heart out to her unconscious lover.

"I choose you," she said softly, "to raise our daughter together as a family, to share my life with for an indefinite period of time, to love in a way I'd never thought possible."

Brennan rested her head on Booth's shoulder and whispered, "I choose you."

As Brennan lay on Booth's shoulder, she felt a slight, almost imperceptible movement beneath her head.

"Booth?" she said, quickly raising her head, "Booth?"

Booth's eyes slowly fluttered open and found the blue eyes that were fixed upon him.

Brennan was barely able to hold back tears as she told Booth about his injuries.

"You're in a hospital," she said gently running her hand down his uninjured arm, "You were shot…in the leg and chest. The chest wound caused a pneumo – a collapsed lung."

Brennan could tell that Booth was able to try to speak in response and brought her hand to his cheek, "Shh, you have tube down your throat helping you breathe. Just nod if you understand me."

Booth nodded slightly.

"Good. They had to put a tube in your chest to drain the excess air from your lung, so it can re-inflate normally," Brennan said gently touching her fingertips to the area just above where the tube was inserted.

Booth nodded in understanding.

"Are – are you in pain?"

Booth shook his head every so slightly, and Brennan feared that he was merely giving her the response he knew she wanted to hear.

Brennan was about to call the nurse when she decided to ask the question she most needed an answer to.

"Booth, do you know who I am?" she asked, her voice quivering with trepidation.

Booth reached for her hand and squeezed it, then nodded in an affirmative response.

As tears began cascading down his partner's cheek, Booth placed his palm over Brennan's swollen abdomen. After brushing away tears, Brennan put her hand on top of Booth's and allowed herself to believe that everything would be alright.