Booth's pacing back and forth in the OR waiting room, mumbling to himself, his hands clenched into tight fists, his cheeks flush, his eyes brimming with unshed tears, and his chin quivering. "Gah!" He grunts and kicks at a chair, knocking it over.
The six people who are sitting in the room look at him in confusion and a bit of annoyance.
Brennan looks around. She then grabs Booth's hand and squeezes it. She tilts her head and glances up at him. "Booth, come here and sit down."
He sniffles and sinks onto the chair beside her, leaning forward and putting his head in his hands, scratching at his scalp with his nails. He rubs his eyes and swallows.
She cups his shoulder and his bicep, rubbing his arm gently.
"It's been three hours."
"Parker's still alive, Booth."
"How do you know? You always say I shouldn't say stuff unless I have proof, so Bones, what's your proof? How do you know he's still alive?"
"I know Parker's still alive because no one has come in here to tell us otherwise," she explains as she gently strokes his arm.
"Oh." He leans back and crosses his arm across his chest. He sits up abruptly and turns to face her. "This is my fault."
She raises an eyebrow. "How do you figure? You were home with me and Christine."
"I should have fought harder. I should have demanded more time with Parker when I had the chance. This wouldn't have happened if he was with us tonight, Bones."
"Maybe that's true, but how can you be so sure he would have been with us? If you had talked to Rebecca, and together, you two had agreed on a new schedule, you can't be certain that you would have had him on this particular day." She pauses. "What I'm trying to say is that this isn't your fault, Booth. It's not. I know you feel responsible, but you shouldn't. The only person at fault here is the driver in the other vehicle who decided to get behind the wheel with a blood alcohol level way beyond the legal limit," she says, stroking his arm.
He opens his eyes and glances down at her hand as it gingerly rests in the crook of his elbow. An almost invisible smile creeps onto his face as he brings his eyes up to focus on her face. "He's just a kid," he whispers, his voice trapped deep in his throat.
She nods. "I know, Booth." She shifts and then adds, "This hospital has a chapel upstairs. If you want, I can sit with you while you pray for Parker and Rebecca."
He blinks. "Yeah, yeah, I'd like that," he says, nodding.
She stands up and holds out her hand for him. "We'll tell a nurse where we're going, just in case anyone comes looking for you with news."
He takes her hand, stands up, and without any words exchanged between the two of them, they walk out of the waiting room, hand-in-hand.
It's close to 2:30 AM, and Brennan's asleep, her head on Booth's shoulder and his sweatshirt draped over her like a blanket. Their arms are linked and her head is bobbing with each heavy breath he takes in and lets out. She's holding onto him tight, even in her sleep, and it's comforting to him.
He suddenly jerks, displacing her head.
She pulls away her arm and rubs her eyes. She looks around and fights back a yawn. She swallows and brushes her hair off her face. "Booth?"
He's standing up now, clutching his phone in his hands and staring straight ahead, his eyes following a woman in blue scrubs as she comes closer to them. He grits his teeth and balls his hand into a fist.
The woman stops when she reaches them and pulls off her scrub cap. "Seeley Booth?"
Booth nods, and clears his throat after the first attempt to answer her fails. He nods again. "Yeah."
"I'm Dr. Brooks." She pauses. "I'm here about Parker."
Booth stands straighter and feels someone take his hand. It's Brennan, he soon realizes. He blinks and stares at the doctor. "Is he, is he okay?" He swallows, ready and not ready to hear the answer at the same time.
Dr. Brooks stuffs her scrub cap into her breast pocket and motions for Booth to have a seat. She takes a seat across from him and leans slightly forward. In a soft, calming tone, she says, "He made it through surgery."
Booth's shoulders drop as he lets out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding in, and looks at Brennan. "That's good, right, Bones?" That's good."
Brennan pats his arm. "Let her finish, Booth."
He turns back to the doctor and nods.
Dr. Brooks swallows and continues, "He made it through surgery," she repeats and then adds, "He has a minor fracture to his right clavicle, two bruised ribs, and a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula. Dr. Reagan stabilized the breaks while I dealt with Parker's head injury."
"Head injury?" Booth swallows hard and clings to Brennan.
Dr. Brooks nods. "He suffered a fracture to the frontal bone of the skull, which resulted in a subdural hematoma, that's bleeding in the brain. I was able to evacuate the blood and stop the bleeding, however I had to remove a portion of his skull due to swelling."
"Remove, uh, remove a portion of his, of his, of his skull?" Booth stammers, squeezing Brennan's hand.
"It's just temporary. This will allow his brain to expand without causing more damage." She pauses. "He'll be monitored closely over the next few days and once the swelling in his brain stabilizes, I'll take him back to the operating room."
Brennan stands up and looks at the doctor. "Can we see him?"
"Yes, of course, but he'll be intubated and hooked up to a ventilator, and there'll be some swelling and bruising, especially around the eyes, as well as some minor scrapes."
Brennan nods and tightens her grip of Booth's hand. "Booth, we can go see Parker now."
"You two can follow me."
Brennan looks at Booth and then back at the doctor. "Do you, by any chance, have any information regarding another patient, Ms. Rebecca Stinson?"
"I'm afraid not. Dr. Franks is the surgeon in charge of Ms. Stinson's care. I'll be happy to find out some information for you."
Brennan nods. "Thank you." She starts to follow the blonde doctor, but is pulled back by Booth. She turns her head and arches an eyebrow. "What is it, Booth? Don't you want to go see Parker?"
Booth closes his eyes, the information the doctor just told him finally sinking in.
Brennan wraps her hand around his bicep and tilts her head, looking up at him. "Come on."
Booth tries to smile, but his lips only manage to press into a line. He sighs and they follow Dr. Brooks down a hallway to the elevator.