Hello everybody. I want to thank you all so much for your reviews on the last chapter, so glad you liked it. I'm sorry that I didn't update for so long, but my life was kind of crazy for the past weeks. Nothing dramatic happened, just a lot of small things piling on each other and…. well, I guess you know how it sometimes works. But here I am again and I hope you still like to read more.

THANKS!

Coming home

Chapter 23:

They managed to keep me away from my little girl for two days. The first day I mostly spent sleeping, so it wasn't that hard, but the second day was pure torture. And not because of the pain of the wound, no, mostly because of the separation of my child. She still had to stay at the NICU, for at least another week and I ached so much for her it surprised me.

I should have known that there was that primal instinct in me, I was a mother now, after all. I should have anticipated this, but still, the depth of my need surprised me. And made me cranky and demanding. Quickly I learned that harassing the nurses didn't help my case much, so I asked to see my doctor. Pleaded to see my baby.

He wouldn't give in. The young man stood in front of my bed, his gaze skimming over my medical chart and I wanted to strangle him for not letting me see my daughter. "I need to see her." I repeated for the third time.

"I'm sorry, Miss Brennan, but your condition is still not stable enough. You've undergone surgery and had internal bleeding. We have to be very careful not to rupture your stitches." He said, his voice clinically detached, his 'I'm sorry' sounding as emotional as if he was reading it off my chart. People had accused me of being cold in my past. Maybe I had come across a little like this doctor, but I hadn't understood back then. I did now. I needed to see my child.

It was vital, something I could not just ignore or explain away. I glared at the man. "You don't have children, right?"

"No, I don't have children. Which doesn't have anything to do with your condition." He answered.

"No, but with your ability to understand. I need to see my baby. I don't care if it hurts and I'll do my best not to rupture any stitches, but I need to see my child. And if you say no, I'll just try to get to the NICU by myself when nobody's here." I threatened, trying not to sound as weak and exhausted as I felt.

"You are not going to do anything like that!" He exclaimed, horrified now. "You're in no condition to be wandering around the hospital."

"So get me a wheelchair and make sure somebody's with me." I gave back.

"No." He shook his head.

"Then you'll have to lock me in here. Which would be against the law and I'll sue you." I glared at him.

"I don't understand you. You know that your daughter is doing fine, better than expected, actually. Let yourself heal. Do you really want to risk your life just to see her? You won't be any good to her if you start bleeding again. " The young doctor finally asked, abandoning his mask of careful indifference.

I shook my head. How could I ever make him understand? I knew my daughter was fine. Seeley, my father and Angela were giving me updates on her condition all the time. Seeley should be coming down from the NICU any moment now, but the information – though welcome – didn't give me what I needed. Contact. I needed contact. I ached for it, so much that suddenly tears gathered in my eyes. A part of me was annoyed at myself for crying in front of the doctor, but I couldn't help it. Hormones, I told myself.

"You don't understand." I exploded, sobbing. "I feel so empty. I carried her in me for months, felt her every move, felt when she hiccupped, EVERYTHING. And now there is nothing, just…… I need contact, okay? I need to feel her, I can't stand this anymore." I cried, knowing that the post-natal hormones were fuelling the fire, helping my break-down along. And still, I couldn't do anything about it.

"I need my baby. I feel so… empty and I need to touch her. To feel her." I whispered between sobs. I heard the door to my room burst open and I blinked. My vision was blurred, but I saw Booth scowling at the doctor. The doctor was looking horrified… maybe because of my outburst or because of Booth's lethal stare. I didn't care.

"Temperance, baby…." He came over to my bed and carefully took my hands in his. "Just calm down, okay…" Then he glared at the doctor again. "What the hell did you do?"

The young doctor paled and held up his palms as if surrendering. "Nothing…. Ah…. She keeps on insisting she wants to see her child, but I think it's too risky."

"I need her, Seeley. I feel so…" I whispered and he hushed me. "I heard you, Bones. I heard what you said to him. I understand." He dropped a kiss to my forehead and straightened again, his gaze fixed to young doctor.

"Make it happen." He just said.

"What?" The doctor blinked.

"She needs to see her baby. Make it happen. Make sure there's as little risk as possible. She is allowed to leave the bed to go for a few steps, that's what the nurse told me, right? So two steps to the wheelchair shouldn't be a problem." Seeley said, his voice flat.

"But… but.. there is still a risk and…" The young man stammered.

"She knows that and still wants to see her chid. You're not going to be able to keep her away from Angelina for any longer, so we'll make the best of the situation and try to minimize the risk. She's not going to be able to relax until she sees her baby with her own eyes… and seeing as we can't move Angelina away from the NICU, we have to bring her mother to her. Simple." Booth narrowed his eyes at the doctor.

"I…" The young man still hesitated.

"I'm sure she threatened to just take off when nobody's here." Booth smiled. "Of course I did." I said right at the same time the doctor nodded.

"It's not an empty threat. When she says something she means it." Seeley said and understanding dawned on the young man's face. He regarded me thoughtfully and I was pretty sure he tried to evaluate my chances of being alone for long enough to pull out the IV and just sneak out.

"I would make it to the elevator in a few minutes and your nurses can't be everywhere." I said, smiling sweetly.

"Damn." The young man muttered. Resignation swung in his voice as he said. "Fine. But first, you'll rest for at least another hour. You're agitated right now. And you're only allowed to get up if you're blood pressure is okay. You'll go in a wheelchair and your husband will stay with you all the time and at the slightest sign of pain you WILL let somebody know and return to your room. Are we clear on that?"

His transformation into a bossy nurse actually amused me for a moment. I didn't bother to correct him about Booth not being my husband either. I just nodded.

The doctor glared at us for a moment, then left my room.

Seeley grinned. "In the end he sounded a lot like my grandmother." He sat down on the visitor's chair beside my bed and regarded me thoughtfully, the smile on his face vanishing. "You look exhausted, Temperance. I know you want to see Angelina, but … we really need to be careful, okay? I don't want you to need more surgery."

I sighed. "I know. It's just… I need to see her, Seeley. I just…" He interrupted me.

"I know. I understand… well, probably not completely, but I'm trying. But you really should be resting now. One hour of sleep, how does that sound? I'll grab a bite in the cafeteria and be back later, okay?" He suggested. I really felt tired so I nodded mutely and he kissed me and left my room. He had barely closed the door when I fell asleep.

One hour and ten minutes later I was sitting in a wheelchair, nervously biting my bottom lip as the glass doors of the NICU opened with a swishing sound. Getting into the wheelchair had been painful, but now I felt fine. Sure, the wound of the C-section still hurt, but not that much. Not more than it had before. I figured that was a good sign.

And now I was so close to finally seeing my daughter for the first time, my hands were shaking a little.

Booth slowly pushed my wheelchair inside the NICU, greeting the nurse. He obviously was already familiar with the nurses, but that wasn't really a surprise. He had come here often in the past two days.

The middle-aged woman regarded me with a broad smile.

"Ahhh, you're here to meet your baby girl, right? So glad to see you're well enough to come up here. You had C-section, right?" Her voice was cheerful but understanding.

I nodded. "Yes. Placental disruption. Emergency C-section and then surgery because of internal bleeding. "

"Oh, dear, right, your husband told me. Poor thing. So, you haven't seen her, you were still anesthetized." She said. I just nodded, since my throat seemed unable to produce a sound.

"Well, that's a good coincidence then, that Dr. Corwin just told me we could take her out of the incubator for a few minutes when her Daddy would come see her the next time. You know, snuggling with the parents is really good for the little ones, if they're stable enough." She chatted on happily while opening the door to a warmly lit room with a few incubators.

"I can hold her?" I choked, not believing it, not sure I had heard right. I felt Booth squeeze my shoulder lightly while he pushed my wheelchair inside the room.

"Just for a few minutes." She said, but nodded. "And here we are…. Little Angelina, your mummy's finally here. Oh, look, she's even awake." I heard the nurse say, but my eyes were on the incubator and the small infant inside.

My eyes filled with tears as I looked at my daughter for the first time and her head turned, as if she wanted to meet my gaze. Which was impossible of course, seeing as she wouldn't even be able to SEE me much less understand what was going on. The rational part of my mind told me all that, but in that very moment, my heart nearly stopped and the mother in me took over. "Hey baby." I whispered.

Reviews would be awesome… I really hoped you like this chapter!