It's around two in the afternoon, and Booth, Brennan, Christine, and Max are all in the OR waiting room. Christine is currently asleep, curled up on her father's lap, with her head against his shoulder, Brennan is reading a random magazine, trying to pass the time, Max is just sitting there, tapping his foot and watching the doorway, and Booth is mindlessly running his fingers through his daughter's hair and watching the clock.

A nurse came in about an hour ago to inform them that everything was going as well as to be expected, and if everything continued to go that way, they could expect Dr. Brooks to be finished with the surgery by 2:30.

Booth shifts on the chair, which causes Christine to stir for a brief moment and then fall deeper asleep. He gives her a kiss on the top of her head and sighs.

Brennan looks over at him and rubs his upper arm. "I can take her if you need me to. I don't mind."

He shakes his head. "She's fine where she is, Bones." His voice is shaky and his breathing is getting heavy again, as he watches the minute hand make one more full rotation.

Brennan nods.

When Booth's cell phone rings a couple minutes later, he looks at Brennan. "Can you grab that for me? I've got my hands full."

Brennan nods again and reaches into his pocket, feeling around for the phone. She pulls it out and glances at the caller ID. She blinks. "It's Tyler." She stands up and leaves the room, leaning against the wall just outside the entrance to the waiting room. "This is Seeley Booth's phone, but this is Dr. Brennan." She nods and hangs up shortly after. She steps back inside the waiting room and swallows.

Max immediately senses something's wrong the second he sees his daughter's expression. "Tempe, is everything alright?"

Brennan closes the gap between her and her family, still clutching Booth's phone in her hands. "No."

Booth tilts his head and looks at her finally. "Bones?"

"Booth, Rebecca went into cardiac arrest fifteen minutes ago. The doctors tried everything to revive her, but her heart just couldn't take the stress of her injuries. I'm sorry."

Booth blinks and swallows.

Brennan sits down and shifts uncomfortably in the chair. She rests her hand on the crook of Booth's elbow and looks at him. "We expected this to happen. Dr. Franks told us it would most likely take a miracle for her to survive her injuries, Booth, and everyone knows that there are no such things as miracles."

Booth hugs Christine tighter against him and kisses her hair. The truth of the matter is that he did expect this to happen, but it doesn't make it any simpler or easier. Rebecca is the mother of his son and he was in love with her once. There's a history there.

Brennan sighs and leans back in the chair.

The room falls dead silent until Dr. Brooks comes in almost forty-five minutes later.

By three, Booth's back at Parker's bedside, holding his hand. The teenager is still hooked up to a ventilator for the time being, but Dr. Brooks expects the intubation tube to be removed by Wednesday, possibly before then, if everything goes well.

Brennan walks in after saying goodbye to her father, with a now wide-awake Christine on her hip, the five year-old hiding her face in the crook of her mother's neck. "It's okay, Honey." She hoists her higher up and readjusts her hands as she walks closer to the bed.

Christine lifts her head and stretches out her neck, so she can see the bed. She clings to her mother's collar and looks away again. She squirms and loosens her grip.

Brennan sets her daughter on the floor and takes her hand before they walk the final distance over to Parker's hospital bed.

Christine peers over the edge of the bed and touches the sheet, pulling back instantly. Her eyes bounce around the room, unsure where to look, until they stop on Parker's bruised and scraped face. She cringes and covers her eyes with her hands.

Brennan sighs and squats down. She carefully removes her daughter's hands from in front of her face and kisses her on the tip of the nose. "What's wrong, Christine?"

Christine nibbles on her lip and sniffles. She shrugs and walks back over to the side of the bed, tugging at the sheet a little. She rises up on her tippy-toes to get a better look and then turns back to Brennan. "That's not Parky."

Brennan nods. "I know it's hard to recognize him, sweetheart, but if you look closely, you can see that it is in fact Parker."

Booth drops his son's hand and pushes back the chair. He pats his leg and looks at Christine. "Hop up, princess," he says softly.

Christine climbs into her father's lap and sits down, facing the bed.

Booth nudges her to scoot up towards his knees and takes Parker's hand, gently placing it on Christine's palm.

Christine's little fingers weave between Parker's and she looks at his face again. She closes her eyes and opens them again, tears welling up again. "Can he heared me, daddy?"

Booth nods. "He can hear you. Go ahead."

"Booth, he's unconscious—," Brennan starts, but Booth just ignores her, cutting her off.

"Go ahead, baby," he says, wiping away a few tears as they drip down his cheeks.

Brennan steps back and places her hand on his shoulder. She feels herself getting choked up as she listens to Christine tell Parker all about what she did with Max, how much fun she had with Michael Vincent, and how much she wants him to get all better so he can teach her how to throw a football like he promised her he would.

Booth rests his hand on Brennan's when he feels her dig her nails into his shoulder and hears her hitch a breath. He looks at Parker and kisses the back of Christine's head.

"I love you, Parky," Christine whispers, and then looks up at Brennan. "What's that big tube for, mommy?"

Brennan blinks back tears and swallows. "The ventilator blows oxygen into that tube, which then flows into Parker's lungs. Unlike you, daddy, and me, he's not strong enough yet to inhale and exhale on his own, so the machine has to do it for him."

Christine cocks her head to the side, staring at Brennan.

Booth sighs. "The tube helps him breathe, princess."

"Ooooh." Christine looks back at Parker. "Is he gonna have the tube in there forever?"

"It's too soon to tell," Brennan answers before Booth has a chance to.

"Does it hurt?"

Brennan shakes her head. "No, Honey."

Christine continues to hold her brother's hand and stare at him.

"I'm going to call Angela and give her an update," Brennan states, after a few moments of silence.

Booth nods. "Don't be gone too long."

Brennan leans over, pressing her lips flat against his cheek and dragging her fingers through his hair. "I'll be right back. I promise." She smiles. "Stay with your daddy, Christine. I'll be back in a few minutes." She leaves after getting a nod from her daughter and disappears down the hallway to make a couple phone calls.