Booth and Brennan have been back from the hospital for exactly one week now. Four times they've attempted to take a drive over to Rebecca's place, so that Parker could pick out what he wants, but the farthest he's made it is to the car door. The teenager tenses instantly. His face goes pale, his hands begin to tremble, and this morning, he actually got physically sick. They've had to arrange for his physical therapist to come to the house for his appointments because he refuses to get in the car to take the drive to the hospital. Booth's hoping this is just temporary anxiety; he's praying that it is.

Booth's currently sitting on the couch on his laptop, replying to the emails that he's let build up over the past two months. He's bored. Christine's at school, Brennan's at work, and Parker's silently sitting in the recliner staring at the TV, appearing to be watching it, but Booth knows better. He sighs, closing his computer and setting it on the coffee table. "Hey, bub, you wanna do something?"

Parker adjusts his sling and reclines farther.

Booth stands up and walks over to his son. He kneels down and pulls on the Velcro tabs on the teenager's air cast. He carefully removes the boot and sets it to the side. "That feels better, huh, buddy?"

Parker nods and wiggles his toes, wincing slightly.

"Are you still feeling nauseous?"

Parker shakes nods. "The ginger ale helped a little."

"Good."

After a few minutes of silence, Parker looks away from the TV and stares at his father.

"What's wrong, bub?"

"Do you—do you think I'm weak?"

Booth blinks. "What?"

"I wanna be brave. I wanna face my fears and all that crap, but I just—I see the car, any car, and I just can't move."

"Parker, you are not weak, okay? You are the opposite of weak, you hear me? You're strong and you're so brave, bub. Being scared does not mean you're weak, not at all. I'm so proud of you, buddy."

Parker shifts on the leather. "I don't wanna let you down," he confesses

Booth rests his hand on his son's shoulder and shakes his head. "You will never ever let me down, Parker. I love you. It doesn't matter if you ever get in that car again. The important thing is that you never give up trying." He pauses and takes a deep breath in, letting it out before adding, "My job is dangerous. What I do, catching bad guys, it's dangerous, and I get scared, I've been scared." He swallows. "I've been to war, I've been kidnapped, shot, tortured, stalked, and I almost drowned, but I'm scared every day. I'm scared that I'm gonna go to work and not come home. I love what I do, I'm good at what I do, but I'm always scared that I've used up my nine lives."

Parker swallows.

Booth regroups and lets out a breath. "I don't care how long it takes you to feel comfortable getting in a car. I don't care if you ever feel comfortable getting in a car. It doesn't make any difference to me. You're my son. I love you, I'll always love you, I'll always be proud of you. I just—I don't want you to give up and I don't want you to let your fears rule your life." He sighs and stands up, interrupted by the phone. He walks over to the couch and reaches for the portable phone on the side table. He answers it quickly, keeping his eyes on Parker. "Booth." He shakes his head. "No, she's not home." He nods. "Yes, I'll let her know. Thanks." He hangs up and puts the phone back in the dock, his hand shaking slightly.

"Who was that?"

"Bones' doctor—something about blood test results," Booth croaks out, his brain in overdrive. He picks up the phone again and dials Brennan's office phone, figuring she's probably at her desk. He sinks onto the couch and taps his foot on the rug as he counts the rings.

Parker turns his head, watching his father.

Booth lets out a breath when Brennan answers. "Bones, it's me." He pauses. "No, Parker's fine, Christine's fine too. I—I just got a call from your doctor. She says she has the results of your blood test. She needs you to call her back as soon as possible." He hears her swallow and her breathing picks up slightly. "What blood test is she talking about? Are you okay?" He sighs. "Bones? Answer me. What's going on? Tell me!"

Parker listens, noticing that his dad's facial muscles are twitching. He's scowling, glossy-eyed, his lips are taut, and his voice is rising in volume. He's getting more and more agitated as the conversation goes on.

Booth exhales, his shoulders dropping with the expel of air. "Okay, okay. I believe you. We'll talk when you get home." Booth smiles. "I love you too, Bones." He hangs up after the phone line goes dead and looks at Parker, realizing that he's staring at him. "Everything is fine, Parks. Bones is fine. She says it was just a routine blood test, that there's nothing to worry about."

"And you believe her?"

"I trust her. If something was wrong, she'd tell me. I know she would." Booth stands up. "I'm kinda hungry. You want a snack or something, bub?"

Parker shakes his head. "I'm still a little nauseous."

"How about an ice pop?"

"Cherry."

Booth nods and disappears into the kitchen. He pours himself a bowl of potato chips and grabs a cherry ice pop for Parker before heading back into the living room. He hands the Popsicle to his son and reaches for the remote, collapsing onto the sofa. "Let's see what's on TV." He flips through the channels, skipping quickly over the sports' channels, since there was an incident the other night involving a baseball game. The sport, which happens to be Parker's all-time favorite, reminded him of the fact that he wouldn't be able to participate in any sports for a while. He lands on a rerun of The Simpsons and stretches out on the couch.

Parker licks his Popsicle and turns his focus to the TV, allowing his father's words, his father's confessions, to sink in.

So a little Parker/Booth bonding :)

Next up: Brennan comes clean to Booth about her blood test results

Thanks for reading/reviewing