Those four simple words bore deep into Booth's chest, tightening around his heart and lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe. His head begins to pound, his temples pulsing and the room spinning. He blinks, his body trembling, his son's confession echoing, beating against his brain. I miss my mom.

Parker's voice was so quiet, almost as if he was whispering a secret to his dad, similar to what he used to do when he was little. Like one time when he was six and the two of them were hugging goodbye after spending the weekend together, Rebecca standing in the doorway waiting patiently. Parker stopped hugging his dad and got really close to his ear, whispering quietly (or so he thought) that he hadn't actually cleaned his room before he left his house, that he just stuffed his things under his bed and in his closet. Booth had simply smiled at the boy and glanced at Rebecca, fighting back a laugh…

The memory is only making it harder for Booth to turn his thoughts into words because right now, his son isn't sixteen, he's six. He's an innocent little kid, confused and grief-stricken. He swallows hard, feeling his throat closing on him. His thumb brushes against his son's palm and their eyes finally meet. He licks his lips and looks down at the IV lines in his son's hand. As his eyes drift back to Parker, the vice around his heart and lungs tightens upon seeing a few tears race down the teenager's pale face.

Parker shifts, a soft screech of pain escaping, and he swallows the sobs that are clawing at the inside of his throat. He gives his father's hand a very weak squeeze back and twitches as the tears begin to tickle his cheeks.

Booth leans down and kisses his son's thumb, offering him a shy smile. After several minutes of unnerving quiet, he says, "I know, bub, I know. If I could go back and change what happened, I would." His breath hitches and he swallows, gnawing at his bottom lip until he's bitten away a patch of skin. "I'm sorry. She loved you so much, Parks." His voice falters, his son's nickname caught behind his lips as he pushes them together.

There's a moment of the two of them just glancing back and forth at each other, Parker looking between his dad and the ceiling, Booth looking between his son and the floor, all in complete silence. That is until there's a knock on the doorframe. Booth cuts a look at the door and nods, a faint smile gracing his lips.

"Hi, Seeley." Cam adjusts the coat slung over her arm and looks at him. "Mind if I come in?"

Booth shakes his head. "No, no, come in. Pull over a chair if you want."

Cam nods and sets her jacket down on the coach. She pushes over the chair by the window and sits beside her friend. "How are you?"

"I've been better," he says, looking at Parker, watching as the teenager drifts off the sleep—his pain medication and the antibiotics always make him drowsy.

Cam looks around. "Wait, where's Dr. Brennan?"

"Oh, um, Bones, she went to the park with Angela. I mean, with Christine and Michael Vincent too."

"I figured the kids would be there. I can't see Dr. Brennan just going to the park by herself, especially not with Parker in the hospital." She pauses. "I've been worried about you."

He smiles. "I'm fine. Bones said you called."

"Several times, in fact."

"Sorry. She's been handling all the phone calls. Well, mainly just Max and Angela. I haven't told Pops yet. I'm afraid his heart can't take it, you know? Then there's Jared, and well, I just haven't been up to calling anyone to tell them about Parker. I should be used to telling people bad news, right? I do that whenever we have a new case. It just seems different, now that it's my family. Parker's not dead, but telling someone their loved one is hurt and that he almost died, that's just as bad."

"Hey, it's okay. I understand. It's hard. I get it."

He nods. "I'm glad you're here. With Bones gone, it's, I have a lot of time to think."

"I should have come by sooner, but with Brennan here all day, I've been taking on a brunt of her paperwork as well as my own, so I've been busy."

"Yeah. It's fine. I wasn't really up for any visitors anyway. Just Bones and Christine."

"So how's Parker doing?"

He shrugs. "Dr. Brooks says she's going to remove his brain pump sometime in the next couple days and a couple days after that, she'll work on having him get out of bed and trying to take a couple steps. It'll be limited because his broken bones are still healing, but it's a start."

"What happens after that?"

"He'll be able to come home." Booth beams. "One step closer." He sighs. "But he hasn't said much to us since we told him about Rebecca. His body is healing, but his mind, he's, uh, he's having nightmares."

"About the accident?"

He nods. "He'll wake up screaming for his mom and sometimes he'll try to rip out his IVs."

"I'm sorry, Seeley. If there's anything I can do—."

"Thanks, Camille, but I'm still trying to figure out what I can do for him."

"How's Dr. Brennan holding up?"

"It's hard on her." His eyes suddenly dart away from Cam's, falling to the floor, a sigh escaping his lips.

Cam nudges him. "What?"

He shakes his head. "Uh, nothing."

Cam raises an eyebrow, but chooses to let it go…for now. She reaches into her purse and sets a plastic container in Booth's lap.

He picks it up and looks inside. "What's this?"

"It's a cricket." She pauses. "Dr. Hodgins ran into me just as I was leaving the lab and he told me to give that to you. He says that in some countries crickets bring good luck."

He smiles. "Ha, Bug Boy," he mutters to himself. "Tell him thanks when you see him."

"I will and if you need me to call anyone for you, I can."

"Yeah, uh, yeah, that'd be, that'd be great, thanks."

Cam squeezes his arm and sighs. "He's going to be fine."

"I know. I know." He leans his head on her shoulder and closes his eyes, his hand still holding Parker's. "This is just the beginning. This is the easy part."

Cam nods.

"I can't do this without Bones."

Cam blinks. "What makes you think you have to?"

"She left."

"To go to the park."

"But she left."

"To go to the park," Cam repeats. "She'll be back." She shrugs his head off her shoulder, getting his attention. "Hey, she'll be back."

He nods. "Yeah."

"Now say that like you mean it." She shakes her head. "I haven't seen her step foot in the Jeffersonian in over a month. Dr. Temperance Brennan hasn't been at work in over four weeks, Seeley. It's safe to say, she just went to the park with Angela and that she'll be back."

He smiles.

"She loves you."

He nods. "I'm going crazy." He laughs. "I can't believe I actually thought that Bones wouldn't come back." He laughs louder, losing control.

Cam smiles and rubs his back as he collapses against her in a fit of giggles. "Oh wow." She pours him a glass of water and hands it to him. "Breathe and drink this."

He takes the water and throws it back. He coughs, choking as another string of giggles rises up in his throat. He swallows and tries to breathe, but he can't stop laughing. He buries his face in his hands and continues.

Cam can't help but laugh with him, seeing her friend completely lose it right in front of her.

He's sleep deprived, stressed, emotional, and hasn't left the hospital in weeks, so it's no surprise that he's losing it right now.

"Calm down, Booth."

"I—I ca—ca—can't." He blows out a puff of air that turns into a chuckle and drops his head again. His shoulders jerk and his breathing is choppy at best, but try as he may, he can't stop giggling.

A crowd of nurses gather outside the room, looking in. One steps forward and knocks. "Is everything alright in here?"

Cam turns her head and nods. "Yes, yes, everything's fine. Just get back to work," she orders, momentarily forgetting where she is. She looks back at Booth, his shoulders still shaking as the hysteria continues.

The laughter ceases the second he hears his son's screams. He catches his breath and squeezes Parker's hand. "Parker! Parker, buddy, hey, wake up."

Parker's eyes pop open and he looks around. "Where is she? Where's my mom? Where the hell is she?" His screams get louder as panic rises. When he sees Booth, he lets out a breath and blinks.

"Shhh, buddy. You're okay. It was just a nightmare."

Parker nods. Haunting pictures of the accident flood through his mind again. He shivers, hearing his mother's screams, hearing her mutter his name over and over again, hearing the screeching sound of rubber against asphalt, hearing the popping of his own bones, feeling the rush of heat and pain travel through his body, feeling and seeing her bloody hand touch his forearm, and hearing the distant cursing of pissed off drivers outside as he closes his eyes, unable to muster the energy to keep them open and lift his shoulders to lean back against the passenger seat. A scream gets caught in his throat as the memories get more vivid.

Booth squeezes his son's hand tighter. "Buddy, hey, it's okay, you're okay. Do you want some pudding?"

Parker nods again, swallowing.

Booth looks at Cam and smiles.

"Vanilla or chocolate?"

"Both."

Cam rises to her feet and nods. "I'll be right back." She pauses. "One of those for you? You always had a weakness for pudding." She laughs and looks at Parker, offering a small smile. "Hey."

"Hey," Parker's greeting is somewhat forced, his brain still reeling from the memories.

Cam squeezes Booth's shoulder and soon, leaves, on a mission to get pudding.

The next chapter is more on the lighthearted side...I think so, at least. (Hint: It involves some Angela and Brennan banter about the status of B&B's relationship. That's always fun, right?)

Anyway, I almost didn't write this chapter. I was originally going to just skip right to Angela and Brennan in the park. Hope I made the right decision. :)