Booth strode down the corridor with purpose. A box containing a coffee machine under one arm, a large department store bag full of bits and pieces retrieved from Pops room at the nursing home in his free hand. Brennan followed carrying a small travel bag. It contained pyjamas, toiletries, Hanks teeth, which had been removed at the time of his collapse. A robe, his slippers, socks, underwear, his favourite cardigan, and a scarf. These were things that Booth had decided he would need when he woke up. She thought that several of the items were not necessary at this point. He would be in a hospital gown for quite some time yet, but she didn't want to upset Booth, so she just packed them and brought the bag.
He reached ICU, found no one on duty, so he headed down the corridor to Pops room. He almost dropped the coffee machine when he got to the doorway. The room was empty. The bed stripped of sheets. A green plastic mattress on a grey metal frame was all that was in there. No machines, no sign of his grandfather.
Booth turned and quickly walked back down to the desk and put down the coffee machine. He started banging on the bell on the desk until a flustered nurse appeared.
"Do you mind? There are sick people here and you only needed to press the bell once Sir!" she said crossly.
"Hank Booth. Where is he? Is he alright? He's missing? Nobody called me to tell me anything" he blurted.
"Booth, give her a chance to answer" Brennan said softly.
"Oh. You're Mr Booth? His grandson. Yes, I was warned about you. Just a moment please." The nurse started flicking through her notes, then referred to the computer screen, tapping on the keyboard. "Ah. Yes."
She looked up at Booth and smiled. "Your grandfather has been moved to a private room. He was deemed stable and there have been no changes in his condition. He is on the fourth floor, room 417"
Booth allowed his body to relax, his shoulders dropping "Thank God" he said, blowing out the breath he had been holding. "Thankyou" he managed to say to the nurse before picking up the coffee machine and the bag he had dropped. He turned and rolled his eyes upwards "Upstairs!" he said as he headed towards the elevator.
Brennan nodded and thanked the nurse, then followed Booth down the corridor, struggling to keep up with him, he was almost jogging.
"Booth, why are you walking so fast! Can you wait for me please?" she called out to him.
He was standing at the elevator holding the door open, waiting for her. Clearly impatient, his foot was tapping.
"Do you think he has woken up?" he asked her, hope filling his eyes.
"Let's not get ahead of the horse and cart" she said, which made him frown, then smile at her.
"I think you mean let's not put the cart before the horse" he said, winking at her. After all these years, her ability to cock up common sayings still made him laugh.
"That's what I said" she huffed, changing the bag into her other hand.
"Actually no you didn't"
She shook her head "It's not really important."
DING!
"We're here. What was the room number?" she asked, changing the subject. Sometimes it irritated her that Booth always corrected her when she used common idioms. Surely it didn't matter that she didn't get them a hundred percent right. They made sense to her.
Booth started down the corridor, looking for room numbers, then stopped and doubled back walking past the elevators in the other direction.
"He's here!" he said, looking into a room and seeing Pops.
He hesitated at the door, looking through the glass panel of the door.
"What's wrong Booth?" Brennan asked, looking past his shoulder.
"He's not awake. He's still hooked up to the machines" he said, disappointment tinging his voice.
"Booth, it's barely been 24 hours. We have to give it time. It's far too soon" she said gently, pressing him to go through the door. "And that machine is just monitoring his heart, temperature, and possibly his breathing. Perfectly normal in Pop's situation. He's not on life support, so that's a good thing"
Booth pushed the door open and stepped through the doorway, looking around the room. It was small, but light and airy, with a large window. He walked over and looked out.
He shrugged, his bottom lip pursing outwards "This isn't so bad. Overlooks the central garden. It's nice!" he said, turning and smiling at Brennan. "Once we get his things put around the room. It'll feel more homely". He walked over to a small cupboard underneath the TV that was mounted on the wall and put down the box containing the coffee machine. "phew! I didn't realise that was so heavy!" he laughed.
Brennan smiled and put down the carry all with Pops clothing in it. He walked over and grabbed his notes from the end of his bed and perused them, flipping up the top sheet, her eyes taking in the important details at a glance. Her lips pursed as she read the doctors notes, then she replaced them and walked to the side of the bed next to Pop and leaned over and kissed his forehead, taking note of his temperature.
Booth flicked out the blanket and spread it across the foot of the bed, smoothing it across the two lumps that were Pops feet. "I brought your favourite blanket from your bed. I know you don't like these holey woven cotton things the hospital call blankets" he said.
He pulled several photo frames out of the bag and stood looking around the room. "They don't really have many spots for things do they Pops?" He placed one on the bedside cabinet making sure that it was well out of the way of the nurses. The other two he placed on the window ledge, leaning them against the glass of the window. He stood looking at them for a moment. One was of Bones and himself, laughing at the camera. It was taken on their honeymoon. One of the rare moments when they weren't chasing around, trying to catch a murderer. He smiled.
The other was of Christine and Parker, taken at their wedding. Christine was in her pink flower girl dress and Parker was wearing his tuxedo. Booth grinned because he could see the stain where Pops had spilled chilli on the lapel. They had tried to blot it out, somewhat successfully. His finger traced the faces of his children.
"That was his favourite I think" Brennan spoke, breaking Booths daydream.
"How do you figure that?" Booth asked, curious.
"Because it was at the very front of all his photos on his bedside table in his room. It was the one he looked at first every morning, and last thing at night. That must be because he loved it the most." she reasoned.
"Makes sense. Plus he always asks me when we are going to add another one to the photo. He's keen for us to give Christine a brother or sister." Booth said, pulling a clock out of the bag. He wound it and placed it next to the photo on the bedside cabinet. "There, now Pops can see the time. You know how he hates not being able to see a clock. I swear he's obsessed with time. There was a clock in every room when I was growing up. And he always made sure we were punctual for everything we did."
"Some people would posit it is just being polite to be on time, not obsessive." Brennan said, hanging Pops robe on the hook behind the door. "I myself always try to be on time." She returned to the bag and pulled out the old cardigan Booth insisted she pack. "Where do you want this?" she asked him.
He took it from her and hung it over the chair next to the bed. "When he wakes up, he'll say he's cold. It was always the first thing he put on" Booth said, stroking the woollen garment.
There was a narrow closet in the corner of the room next to the bathroom door. Brennan placed the remainder of Pops clothing on a shelf and put the carryall in the bottom of the cupboard.
Booth opened the box and unpacked the coffee machine, discarding the box and the foam packaging onto the floor.
"Booth! You can't just drop that foam onto the floor." Brennan said as she picked up the white foam and placed the two halves together and pushed them back into the cardboard box, making a loud squeaking sound as the packaging slid against the cardboard. She then picked up the box and walked to the door. "I'm going to go find a place to dispose of this. It's not at all good for the environment" she said shaking her head.
"uh huh" Booth muttered as he plugged in the coffee machine.
Brennan smiled and left the room.
"won't be long Pops and we'll soon have the delicious aroma's of delicious coffee filling the room" he said turning and looking at his grandfather. His mouth was watering at the mere thought of having a steaming hot mug of actual coffee any minute now.
"Mugs!" he exclaimed, his head jerking up. He pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in a number. "Bones! No mugs! Can you pop out and buy some? And I forgot sugar. And maybe we better get some cream because Pops loves cream and sugar in his coffee. God knows why, but he does. And maybe some donuts. Or a sandwich? Thanks!" he said and hung up.
He grabbed the bag of freshly ground coffee and popped the seal, sticking his nose deep into the bag and inhaling "mmm Oh God. You smell so good" he murmured romantically, nuzzling the gold foil bag. Booth carried the bag over and held it under Pops nose. "Smell that? Fresh coffee. You love fresh coffee." He waited a moment, hoping for a reaction, but getting none.
He shrugged and walked back over to the coffee machine. He used the small scoop and added coffee to the machine, put on the lid. Walked over to the bathroom and filled the jug with water, bringing it back and pouring it into the machine. He flicked the switch and smiled as the red light came on. "And away, we go!" he said jovially.
"OK Pops. Coffee is on. Brennan says I should talk to you, or tell you stories. So, I don't know. What shall I talk about?" he frowned, sitting down next to the bed and reached out and covered Pops hand with his. "This is harder than I thought" he said.
"Oh! Do you remember that time that Bones and I were on a case. And you were staying with me, and we took you with us to that club where all the, err, the girls with jam in their jelly were dancing?" He used the phrase that Pops had used when describing his grandmother. "And you joined in and you danced so much, the next day you could barely get out of your chair, because your legs and hips were so sore? Oh boy. You were having so much fun, I didn't have the heart to make you stop. Bones told me that you would regret it, but, Pops, if you could have seen the look on your face. You were so happy. And that just made me happy." His voice trailed off as he smiled at the memory of Pops dancing in between two voluptuous women.
"That was a good night" he added softly, stroking Hanks hand. "Your skin feels kind of like paper" he said randomly. He pulled out the drawers of the cabinet one by one and found a container of moisturiser. He opened it and sniffed it. His nose crinkled up "Eww! What is this shit? I mean crap. Sorry Pops."
He grabbed his phone again "Bones? Hand cream. Can you get some? The stuff here smells weird. What? No. They feel like crinkly paper. OK. Thanks!" he hung up. "Bones is gonna get you some nice hand cream. Something that doesn't smell like wet socks"
He took the lid off the hand cream and smelled it again, his nose screwing up tightly "Who on earth would want their hands to smell like this?" he asked nobody as he stood up and walked over to the trash can, dropping the tube into it.
"I think I made the coffee too soon. How about I make another fresh batch. Yeah." Booth said, rubbing his hands together. He grabbed the pot of coffee and carried it into the bathroom and tipped it down the sink. He rinsed the glass container, refilled it with fresh water and carried it back to the machine. He got a new filter, spooned in the ground coffee, and was almost about to pour the water into the machine. "Maybe I better wait until Bones gets back. Don't want to jump the gun again" he said, putting the jug of water down next to the machine.
Booth walked around the room, stopping by the window to look out. "You got a pretty good view here Pops. There's a nice garden down below us." He turned and grinned at Pops "when you wake up, I'll wheel you down there and we can have a sandwich for lunch. That sound nice?" He stared at the old man in the bed. He was still connected to one machine that monitored his heart and his temperature. He turned and looked out of the window.
"So, Bones told me that you mentioned to her about my Dad, and what happened. You know, when you found him beating me, and you kicked him out of the house for good. I want you to know that me and Jared, we probably wouldn't have made it if you hadn't done that. I wouldn't have made it." Booth said, his voice dropping low "I told her about that time when I was going to. When I wanted to. You know. End it. I know I was still a kid, but I just had so many guilty thoughts, you know? Only two people in the whole world know about that. You and Bones. You've both saved me at different times in my life. That's some coincidence, don't you think?"
Booth sighed. "Do you think you might wake up soon?" he asked softly. "Pops? You, you know Bones and me. We're gonna stay as long as we can. But, it would be easier if you could maybe, you know, wake up soon. But, hey." He walked over and sat down next to his grandfather. "If you need a few more days. That's cool."
Brennan walked into the room carrying a large brown paper bag. "Did you get the hand cream?" Booth asked standing up and walking over to grab the bag from her, his nose dipping down into the bag as he looked at the contents.
"Yes. I got a lovely organic cream. It's unperfumed."
"And coffee mugs?" he asked, not really listening to Brennan's description of the hand cream he had requested.
"Yes. I bought coffee mugs" she smiled.
Booth put the bag down on the end of the hospital bed and reached into it, pulling out two large bright blue mugs with large curled handles with what looked like actual gold scrolls. "These look fancy. Bones? Where did you get these from?" he asked, suspicious of the quality of the mugs.
Brennan cleared her throat "Well. I. They're beautiful mugs. And they're big, just like you like."
"Bones?" he asked again.
"Well, I was going to just get some cheap mugs, but when I looked at them, they just seemed poorly made, and the ceramic had tiny crackling, and I don't think that was good. And there was a lovely little kitchen store just down the road a little way from the Organic Store I found which is where I got the hand cream from. I loved it there! All their products are formulated with only pure organic essential oils, no artificial fragrances, and food-grade organic ingredients. Everything is handcrafted."
Booth stared at her.
"And I also bought myself some shower cream, and I picked up a face moisturiser for you. Your skin is looking a little dry. It's probably the stress." she continued.
He felt the corner of his mouth begin to twitch.
"And I was going to look for somewhere to get some cheap mugs, when I found the kitchen store, and they had so many beautiful mugs and oh, the dinner sets were to die for. I found one that matches our kitchen so perfectly. I know that it seems frivolous, considering why we are here, but I just couldn't walk out without it. You know I've been looking for a while"
"So how much did this quick trip to the shops cost?" Booth asked, knowing full well that she wouldn't tell him the exact truth.
"Not as much as you would think! The mugs were on special and they're so nice, don't you think? The handles are nice and big. So your fingers won't get stuck in them, like those one's at the hotel. I know how you hate that. So I bought four. Two for here, and two for the hotel room. Saves us bringing them backwards and forwards, don't you think? And then when we go home, we will have a set!" she said, smiling.
"I need coffee" Booth said, finally, turning away so she wouldn't see him grinning from ear to ear. He poured the water into the machine and pressed the button.
He turned around and saw Brennan sitting next to Pops, holding his hand, applying the hand cream gently, massaging it into his skin.
He watched her, his head tilted to one side, finding himself loving her even more than he already did.