Author's Note: I apologize for the wait, guys. I had a research paper due last week and it kind of jeopardized my time a little bit. I'm planning on updating once a week, and I'll keep it on that schedule as much as I can. Thank you so much to those who read and review, knowing that people are reading and enjoying this makes me feel happier than you'll ever know.
Anyway, I hope that you enjoy. After this week's awesome episode I'm not sure how great this could be considered, but I think it's substantial enough. Enjoy!
"We can't stay for long, Park. The doctors have a lot of things they need to do to make sure Bones will get better." Booth spoke while pressing the button for the correct floor. He watched as Parker filed into the elevator next to him.
"I know," Parker spoke. He looked at the card he held in his hand before looking at his father. "You think she'll like the card?"
Booth smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
The doors opened and they made their way down the hall. A nurse was just leaving her room when they approached. She eyed them both and nodded. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes to take her for testing."
Booth nodded in reply. "Thanks." He opened the door to see Brennan in the bed, staring in their direction. "Hey, Bones. I got a visitor here to see you."
Brennan looked surprised until recollection took place. "Parker," She spoke, remembering Booth saying he'd bring him by the following day from their conversation the day before. "how are you?"
"Good." Parker looked up to see Booth nod before heading over to her bedside. "I brought something for you."
Brennan stared curiously at the object Parker handed her. She opened the front to see the words he'd scribbled in marker and crayon on the inside. '- I miss you and hope that you get better soon. Love, Parker.' She smiled and closed the card. "Thanks, Parker. That was really nice of you."
Booth cleared his throat before shifting his feet and taking his hand out from behind his back. "It's not exactly homemade or anything, but-" He shrugged and showed her the small bouquet he bought in the gift shop. "I know it's not much, but it can replace the ones that are in there."
"Daffodils, Booth?" Brennan asked, the slightest hint of a smile crossing her features. "You know."
It wasn't a question, but Booth nodded in response. "Yeah, I do. They're-"
"My favorite." Brennan replied, smiling back at him as she watched him tilt the flowers closer to her so she could smell them. "Could you put them in the vase?"
"Of course." Booth replied, taking the flowers and vase over to the bathroom to replace the flowers. He knew it was a nicer gesture than he probably should have opted for, but he felt like he needed to give her something. He listened through the half open door to hear Parker telling her about things happening at school. They were having a play that they were practicing for but no parts were decided yet. His project, Booth laughed when hearing him groan, was due the next day.
"I suppose it's a good thing you had your father to help you, then." Brennan said as he walked back into the room.
"Maybe he won't wait so long next time?" Booth teased as he set the newly furnished vase back on the table.
Parker sighed and swiveled around in the chair. "I know."
"Alright, bub. I think we need to let Bones rest for a bit before she goes to take those tests." Booth said, ruffling up his son's hair.
"But-" Parker started to object.
"You guys really don't have to." Brennan said, eying the daffodils from the corner of her eye. They weren't distracting really so much as...calling her, she supposed, though the idea was ridiculous.
Booth studied her gaze but chose to not say anything, thinking that if anything were to happen she'd tell him. "I know, but we were kind of warned. That, and somebody here's gotta finish gluing that model for your paper, too."
"Fine." Parker moped as he slid off of the chair. "I'll see you later, Doctor Bones."
She reached a hand out to squeeze his shoulder. "Thank you for the card."
Booth watched as Parker waited patiently by the door. "Everything okay, Bones?"
Brennan blinked before looking back at him. "Yes, I'm fine." She smiled in a way she hoped seemed convincing. "Will you be coming by tomorrow?"
"I'll stop by, yeah. I've gotta stop by the lab to get Zach to sign some things. Kid still hasn't gotten the swing of things, but he's coming around." Booth said, hoping that it would cheer her up. Something about the way she was acting made him feel like something was off, but with Parker there he was reluctant to ask. The last thing he wanted was to upset him.
"I'll see you later then, Booth." She nodded and offered a smile. "And you too, Parker."
Booth and Parker waved and said their goodbyes before leaving. Brennan sighed and turned to look at the card Parker brought along with the flowers-daffodils-Booth had given her. Daffodils. The word itched something, gently prodding it in her mind, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
Booth and Parker were sitting down to dinner that night when the phone rang. "Booth,"
"Hey. Am I interrupting anything?" Angela asked upon hearing him answer.
"Parker and I were just eating dinner. Why?" His voice was suddenly full of concern. Setting his plate on the table, he cleared his throat. "Is something wrong?"
Angela sighed, shaking her head despite the fact she knew he couldn't see. "I'm not sure. I just got back from seeing Bren earlier. I don't know...I guess she's just disappointed with the fact she hasn't been released yet. I'm sure it's nothing."
Booth looked at Parker, who was apparently content munching away on his chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes, and quietly walked into the other room. "Yeah, I know she's frustrated with the way things are going, and I am too. If there was anything wrong, either she or Doctor Weston would have said something."
"I'm sure they would have, but I don't know how much longer we're supposed to go just pretending like everything is just how she remembers it. There's a gap in her mind, and...we just pretend like all that stuff never happened?" Angela asked. She knew it didn't do any good, because Booth was feeling exactly the same, but maybe that was it. If there was anyone else who could have understood, it was him.
"She'll remember." Booth insisted. The scene from before in her hospital played in his mind. Something about the way Brennan reacted to the whole situation told him something had clicked with her, even if it didn't particularly fit. "Has Bones said anything to you? You know, small things or anything?"
"No, she hasn't." Angela sighed as she heard him do the same on his end of the line. "Well, you still have Parker over. I should let you go."
"Hey, Ange?" Booth asked, unsure of why he'd really think to even mention it. "I just...I kind of-" He rubbed at his eyes, finding himself more tired than usual. "Parker made her a card earlier, and so when we visited Bones he gave it to her. She was happy about it, smiling and thanking him. But I gave her some flowers and she just-"
"She what?" Angela asked after a few moments of Booth not saying anything.
"She was happy, but I could tell that something was bothering her." Booth said, turning and walking to the window. He stared out at the street before turning back around and watching Parker eating and the table.
Angela frowned and wrapped an arm around her waist. "About the flowers?"
Booth shrugged, clearly frustrated about whatever it was that was lingering just beyond their reach. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But I know Bones and the way she likes mulling over things before coming to a conclusion. Evidence and all that."
"Maybe it's because of the fact she knows you're married, but she doesn't yet know she is the one you're married to?" Angela asked, the idea sounding obvious. "Bren isn't the kind to accept gifts so frivolously without some kind of reason about them, especially if it's something that could in any way be seen as something personal like that."
"I was her partner and friend before, she knows that. How can me giving her something to help cheer her up be seen as anything different?" Booth asked. He realized he spoken a little too loudly and shook his head, frustrated with himself for not thinking through everything. There was something there, something he could be doing to help, but it wasn't the one thing he was so badly wanting to do. "Look, I just think it's too soon to be trying to dump things on her, okay? That doesn't mean we can't be there and be supportive, but like what Doctor Weston said-"
"Too much too soon and it could be traumatic, I know." Angela replied, a feeling of sympathy passing through her. "But what will you do when she does remember though, whenever it happens? Act like you were just trying to protect her? Just because it's the truth doesn't mean Brennan's gonna see it that way."
Booth was about to respond when a knock came at the door. Parker had just finished eating and was taking his plate to the kitchen. "Hey, listen...Becca's here to pick up Parker. I'll see everybody at the lab on Monday."
Brennan was sitting up in bed the following morning reading a book when she heard the door open. Expecting a nurse that would be bringing her to therapy or a doctor checking in, she lifted her head. Rather than seeing someone sporting scrubs and a lab coat, she saw someone wearing a suit and tie. Apparently trying his best to look professional, he was waiting for her to say something. "Sweets. How did you know I was here?"
"I spoke with Angela the other day. I've also spoken with Booth, your-" Sweets paused, clearing his throat. Of course, he reminded himself. If it were any different, he probably would have laughed at the irony of it all. Two of his most frustrating and interesting patients, the ones who had so obviously been meant for each other in one way or another, had finally gotten together. As in married. But then something happened, and the woman sitting in front of him no longer remembered. "How are you?"
"I've been better I suppose, but I'm doing good. The doctors believe that I am making significant process. As far as whatever memory I seem to have lost-" Brennan left the sentence dangling and offered a shrug. "I'm doing the best I can with what I've been given. Whatever it is that's blocking me from remembering will eventually go away, and when it does I will be grateful."
Sweets wasn't sure why it mattered, and didn't want to sound presumptuous in the least, but he couldn't help asking. "Do you remember when I left?"
"When you..." Brennan frowned, her mind working hard to recover something she had lost. "No," Brennan replied with a sad expression. "I don't. At least at the moment."
"I was just thinking about the time line, how things have occurred. With an idea as to how much time you have lost, it could be easier to help you begin to remember." Sweets replied, offering a warm smile. He looked at his watch regretfully. "I have an appointment. My new book is in stores and I've been asked to speak at a local bookstore. The perks of being a world-renowned psychologist, I guess."
Brennan smiled in return and nodded. "Goodbye, Sweets."
The door shut behind him and she sighed, staring at the light echoing through her window. She wanted to get up, to reach the window herself. Walking wasn't entirely impossible, but there was pain involved not to mention the actually getting the muscles to perform properly. Choosing instead to relax, Brennan reached again for her book when the flowers Booth had given her caught her eye. Daffodils, her favorite flower. The color was bright and vibrant, and the scent not too overpowering. It was her favorite for many reasons, and yet-
There it was again. That nagging feeling, like there was something there. Something important? She couldn't be quite sure. Brennan tried remembering, recalling whatever it could possibly have been. As touched as she had been the day before by Booth giving her the daffodils, something about them coming from him seemed equally in place and yet...not. Had she ever even told him it was her favorite flower, or was it by luck that he'd chosen them? Or, a more likely case, Booth was observant enough in their years of working together to notice.
Daffodil. Daisy. Jupiter.
Her mouth hung slightly open, not quite able to really comprehend what she was remembering. Was it even worthy of truly being noteworthy? Either way, she knew something-more importantly, something she hadn't quite remembered just minutes before.
She and Booth were...what were they doing? They had been drinking. Not excessively, but discussing events from the day. It was something they normally did, nothing out of the ordinary. But he said something, something about knowing her and talking about flowers and planets and-
"Hey, Bones. I'm pretty sure I'll get busted for this, but I managed to sneak it past the nurses' station." Booth grinned widely, holding up a bag. "Bagels. It's not exactly gourmet, but better than whatever you're getting here." He looked up, slightly worried because she wasn't saying anything. The look in her eyes worried and excited him a little. "Bones?"
She looked at him, unsure of what exactly had just happened. "Booth..."
