Brennan put Christine to bed a few minutes ago and now she's just cleaning up the living room. The five and a half year-old's toys are scattered everywhere. She freezes when the phone rings and immediately scoops it up off the table. She looks at the caller ID and lets out a breath. She presses talk and sinks down onto the couch. "Booth."
"Look, I'm sorry I ran out of the house like that."
She shakes her head, a little confused at his sudden, unneeded apology. "Under the circumstances, I understand."
"And I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away. I have a lot on my mind and I know you don't like lying to Christine. I thought that if you didn't know anything, you wouldn't have to lie to her." He's talking fast and his voice is all over the place. He's holding back tears, it's obvious.
Again, she shakes her head at the completely unnecessary apology and reassures him, "It's okay, Booth. I understand." She pauses. "Is there any news regarding Parker and Rebecca?"
He swallows. "They're still in surgery. I—I don't know if they're gonna make it, Bones."
"I'm going to call Angela and ask her to come over and watch Christine, so I can meet you at the hospital."
"You don't have to."
"I want to, Booth. I love you and you're going through something right now. You shouldn't have to go through this by yourself, especially when you're not alone. It's irrational, Booth. Parker is family to me. I'll be there as soon as I can."
He smiles. "I love you too."
"Bye." She hangs up and dials Angela's cell phone number. "I apologize for the inconvenience, Ange, I know it's late, but I need to ask you a favor."
"Is everything okay, sweetie? You sound upset and stressed."
"Parker and Rebecca were in a car accident earlier this evening. Booth just called. They're still in surgery. He isn't confident that they'll make it. I'm worried about him."
"That's horrible. Poor Booth. What can I do, Bren?"
Brennan sighs. "I need you to come over and watch Christine for me while I meet Booth at the hospital in Alexandria. She's asleep. I just need you to be here in case she wakes up. Would you mind?"
"Of course not, sweetie. I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Thanks, Ange."
"No problem."
Brennan hangs up the phone and lets it fall into her lap. She blinks back tears and swallows the lump in her throat. Booth's the optimist. He always says everything's going to be fine when in actuality he has no idea if it will be or not, so for him to not know if Parker and Rebecca are going to make it, to not feel that everything's going to be okay in the end, is very telling and it makes her chest tighten.
Brennan arrives at the hospital at around nine. She called Booth on the way to Alexandria because she failed to ask him earlier the name of the hospital that Parker and Rebecca were taken to after the accident. She also told him to go to the ER to wait for her because according to her GPS, she was seven minutes away.
She pulls into the parking lot and snags a spot close to the Emergency Room's West entrance. She walks inside, clutching her purse close to her body. Her eyes are cloudy with unshed tears and she's a bit jittery. She looks around and spots Booth sitting in a chair against the wall. She pads over to him and rests her hand on his shoulder, giving his neck and shoulder a light squeeze.
Booth tilts his head up and grabs her hand, resting his wet cheek against it for a second or two. He blinks back tears and a small smile breaks through his gloomy expression. "Hey." He swallows and shifts on the plastic chair, not wanting to let go of her hand.
She sits down beside him and sighs. "Hey." She pauses and pulls something out of her purse. "I brought you some Mac-n-Cheese."
He glances down at the to-go container and then looks into her clear, blue eyes. He laughs, a sort of nervous laughter, and shakes his head. "I'm not hungry."
"You should eat something, Booth. When I'm working on a tough case or if I'm having a hard time emotionally, you always tell me I need to eat. This isn't different than any of those times."
He nods.
She runs her hand down his arm and presses a kiss to his cheek. "Parker's going to be fine, Booth." She has no way of knowing that and she normally wouldn't say something like that unless she had hard evidence backing her up, but it's what Booth needs to hear right now and she gets that.
He looks at her and blinks, taken aback by her very uncharacteristic statement. He nods and sets the container of pasta in his lap, so he can pull her into a hug. He buries his face into the crook of her neck and scrunches her hair with his hand. His shoulders heave forward and his body trembles, as tears soak into her shirt collar.
She completes the embrace and swallows. She closes her eyes and holds onto him, scooting as close to him as she can possibly get. "It's going to be okay."
He pulls back from her a few minutes later and sniffles.
She rummages in her purse and pulls out a travel pack of tissues, handing it to him. She looks around and then leans forward, pushing her lips against his. She breaks the kiss and runs her thumb across his cheeks, trapping fresh tears as they drip down his face. "Come on." She stands up, holding out her hand for him. "Let's go sit outside for a little while. I'll tell you all about a certain tea party you missed out on."
He takes her hand and stands up, following her outside, albeit slowly and hesitantly.
Booth and Brennan are sitting on a bench outside the ER, the container of Mac-n-Cheese between them. They're sharing it because she didn't eat dinner either. She was too worried about Booth. She's still not very hungry. She takes another bite and crosses her ankles.
Booth holds his fork between his fingers and stares straight ahead.
She covers the Mac-n-Cheese and sets it down beside her. She loops her arm around his and nuzzles her head into his shoulder. She tilts her chin and draws in a breath before giving him a soft, loving kiss on his clenched jaw. She relaxes again, closing her eyes.
He tenses and then lets out a breath, lacing their fingers together. "Thanks for being here, Bones."
She nods. "I'll always be here for you, Booth, always."
He drops a kiss on the top of her head and shifts on the wooden bench. "I think we better go inside. The doctors won't know where to find me if there's any news."
She lifts her head and clutches his arm, looking into his brown eyes. "Whenever you're ready." She separates from him and tosses the leftover pasta in the trash. She combs her fingers through Booth's hair, waiting for him to give the signal that he's ready to head back inside the hospital.
"I'll meet you in there."
"I'm not going in there without you, Booth."
He turns his head and his lips curve upwards into a shy smile. Five minutes pass and he finally stands up. He zips up his grey sweatshirt, slipping his hands into his pockets, and looks at Brennan, giving her a slow nod.
She gets up and slips her arm around his. They walk through the sliding glass doors and then through another set of double doors, on their way to the OR waiting room.
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