Chapter 8 Let's Hope What the Parents Don't Know About They Never Will

At Camp

Michael Vincent Hodgins awoke with the first rays of sunlight shining in his eyes. Remorseful after Christine's mishap, he spent a restless night with fragmented dreams of seeing his best friend get hurt but finding himself unable to reach and rescue her. He shook his head, rubbed his gritty eyes, and sat up on the side of his cot. He grabbed a t-shirt and shorts, pulled them on, slid his feet into his Chacos and started to leave the tent. His counselor's hushed question stopped him. "Hey, bud, where are you going so early?"
"I need to go see how Christine is doing," the boy explained.

"It's a bit early for that; only 6 am. Infirmary's not open yet, Michael. Lie back down and get some rest. Sorry, but I need you to stay here til breakfast. If you can't sleep, you may use your headlamp and read or play silent games on your phone but please stay here. The medic will take good care of your friend. You might be surprised, when you're young, muscles and ligaments can heal pretty quickly. "

"How do you know that?" Michael asked.

"Oh, we get pretty thorough first aid training as part of becoming a counselor here," the counselor replied quietly. He didn't tell Michael that he was a first class midshipmen, heading into his final year at Annapolis.

Christine was still asleep thanks to the pain medicine the camp nurse had given her at bedtime. When nature called, she hobbled to the adjacent bathroom on crutches. The medic on overnight duty had refilled her Polar Care machine with ice, rewrapped its' pad around her ankle, and settled her back into bed. Her ankle was wrapped in a bandage which prevented skin damage from the ice, thus allowing extended use of the cold therapy.

Once he'd impatiently finished his breakfast and tidied his tent, Michael walked to the infirmary and sat down on its front steps to wait til it opened. The nurse arrived 10 minutes later, and he followed her into the clinic. "How's our patient this morning?" she asked the medic for Michael's benefit.

"She slept well, m'am. I haven't unwrapped her ankle but that Polar Care machine did the trick when I hurt my elbow during spring break maneuvers."

Michael wondered what spring break maneuvers were, but he was anxious to see Christine and didn't want to delay their reunion with questions. The nurse and the medic disappeared down the short hallway and he could hear Christine answering their questions as they checked her ankle.

"Good morning, Christine. How did you sleep?" the nurse asked as she checked the injured area. "Move your foot very slightly for me, and see how that feels."

"It still hurts, but not near as much. I slept pretty well, but my head feels like wood."

"Those pain pills might make you a bit dopey today, but they reduce swelling and help you sleep. We won't give you any more of them. Today you can take some Advil."

"My dad gets really funny when he has to take pain medicine. He acts really silly," Christine remarked.

"Yes, your chart indicated your parents are both sensitive to pain medications. We gave you a very small dose. It doesn't look like your ankle sprain is serious. I want you to keep weight off of it for today, and then you can resume normal activity gradually tomorrow. You've got an early visitor already this morning, Christine. Do you want some company while you eat your breakfast?" the nurse said.

"Sure, if it's allowed."

"You may come in now and see your friend, young man," the nurse smiled at Michael as she exited Christine's room.

Michael walked down the hall and peeked in. Christine was sitting up in bed, a tray in her lap, eating oatmeal. There were three other twin beds in the room, with various pieces of medical equipment, a wheelchair, several sets of crutches, and a walker arranged along one wall. A camp stool had been placed beside Christine's bed, and she waved him over.

"Hi, Michael, you want one of my granola bars?"

"No, Chrissy, I tried to eat breakfast but I didn't get very far. Been worried about you."

"Here, Michael, take half. I'm feeling a lot better. The medic James took good care of me all night. My ankle is sore, but not near as much as I thought it'd be. But I can't climb or crawl today. You think they'd let me go with you to your bug sessions?"

Michael grinned at that thought, and reached for the granola bar, taking a big bite. "Yeah, I bet they would; that would be fun to show you what I'm doing. But I promise to not let you get hurt. None of the bugs are poisonous."

"They're still kinda icky, Michael, but I think I'd like to see your insects. Just don't let them crawl on me!" Christine exclaimed, making a face at her friend.

The nurse re-entered the room. "Christine, I think you are fine to continue your session at camp with us. However, if you wish us to contact your parents to come pick you up early, we can do that for you as well. I don't believe it's necessary, but it is an option if that is what you prefer-"

"Oh, no, PLEASE don't call them. I will be fine. I've wanted to come to camp for so long, I don't want to go home early at all! I'll take it easy and be careful not to hurt my ankle again, I promise!" Christine exclaimed.

"Honey, that's fine. I just wanted you to know you have the choice to go home if you wanted to," the nurse reassured her.

"Actually, since this camp is sponsored by the US Naval Academy, they admire determination in our campers, Christine," the medic grinned at her. "If you want to consider Annapolis when it's time for college, that's exactly the spirit they look for in their cadets! You should keep it in mind for your future."

"Okay, James, she doesn't have to enlist today! Missy, when you've finished eating, I'll help you dress. I want you to stay on those crutches for today, and come back here after your lunch and let me check how your ankle is doing. Until then, don't put any weight on it whatsoever, you hear?" the nurse instructed Christine.

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By lunchtime, Michael had managed to gross Christine out several times with his worms and larvae, but they laughed and talked as he followed the counselor's instructions for the day. The kids had seen several pupae break out of their cases, which delighted Michael more than Christine.

"Well, it's interesting, but I still prefer the rocks and caves, Michael. It is so much cooler inside the caves even in the middle of summer. Hot and muggy outside, yet a perfect temperature inside a cave," Christine remarked as she walked carefully to lunch.

"At this rate, Chris, there won't be any food left for us by the time we reach the dining hall," Michael teased. "Thank goodness you talked the nurse out of calling your parents. I hope your ankle's all better soon and they don't have to find out about what happened."

"You want me to trip and fall again? My parents will make you pay the medical bills if I break my leg and need a cast, Michael Vincent Montenegro-Hodgins!" Christine declared hotly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I was just teasing you. Thank goodness you talked the nurse out of calling your parents, Chris. I hope your ankle's all better soon and they don't have to find out about what happened."

"Yup, that would be best all the way around. I hope we can just keep it between ourselves," Christine agreed.

After lunch, the nurse cleared Christine to begin putting slight weight on her ankle, and instructed her to return for another check that evening and the next morning.

By the next day, she was able to return to her spelunking sessions, though she had to keep the ankle wrapped as a precaution over the weekend.

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Back in D.C.

Angela and Hodgins had returned the invitation, having Booth and Brennan over Wednesday evening for a dinner of steaks and tofu burgers, fresh strawberries off their property, and the delicious pie that Hodgins' chef prepared. Booth declared that he hadn't eaten pie that good since his Gran's, and made Helena, the cook, promise to teach Bones how to bake it before Thanksgiving.

"Sure seems like a long week without the kids here, Bren, don't you think?" Angela asked her friend.

"I didn't think it was possible to miss anyone so acutely, Angela. When Booth is out of town, I miss him terribly, and can't sleep well, but Christine being gone has been even worse, which I would never have believed if I hadn't experienced it. Rationally, I know that time can't slow down, but during the past week, it certainly feels like it has!" Brennan replied.

"Angie, Dr. B, no news is good news. I know they discourage the kids from using their cell phones, but if anything serious had gone wrong, I'm sure we would have heard from them or the camp," Jack Hodgins reassured them.

Booth nudged Hodgins surreptitiously. "You girls need another beer?" he asked.

Hodgins stacked their dessert plates and headed for the kitchen. As the door swung shut behind them, he turned to Booth. "Why'd you poke me in the ribs?"

Booth grinned at him. "I can't say this to Bones, but Christine hoped and fought so hard to go to camp, she wouldn't let us know if anything was wrong under any circumstances. Wild horses couldn't drag her home early."

Hodgins returned his smile, "Yes, I think you're right. I've never seen Michael so excited as when Christine told him she was allowed to go to camp this summer with him. Our kids are really growing up. Last fall he didn't want to go to Cub Scout camp overnight."

"Christine will go anywhere anytime on any adventure she can find. A lot like her mother. Brennan thinks nothing of trekking off to Mapachukapoo to look at dusty old bones, but she takes an entirely different view of things when her daughter shows the same spirit. The next few years are gonna be hard on Bones, and me too. Christine is spreading her wings, and no amount of motherly concern is going to slow her down, I suspect. I miss her like the dickens too, but I'm glad the kids got to share this experience."

The men returned to the spacious family room with ice cold bottles of beer and a huge tub of popcorn for the movie the two couples had planned to watch. Booth put his arm around Brennan as Hodgins dimmed the lights and kissed her cheek, "Christine will be home soon, Bones. I'm sure she's doing fine."