Thank you for sticking with my story. I really appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

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Lying on the cot, Brennan stared at the ceiling as she listened to the blood pressure gauge attached to Booth's arm automatically inflate until it detected the absence of oscillometric pulses. After it deflated, the only sounds in the room were the faint clicks coming from the monitor attached to Booth's arm and chest.

Booth, awakened by the cuff inflating, waited until the machine had silenced to speak. "Bones are . . . are you asleep . . . yet?"

"Actually, it is very difficult to sleep in hospitals." Sitting up, she stared at the profile of her partner.

Booth stared at monitor next to his bed and chuckled quietly. "Yeah . . . tell me about it."

Restless, Brennan stood up, stretched and then walked over to the chair next to the bed. After she sat down, she placed her hand over his hand. "Do you want something or do you just want company?"

Grateful that she was there with him, Booth shrugged his shoulders and instantly regretted it. Feeling pain shoot across his chest, he gasped and waited for the pain to subside. Worried about the look on Brennan's face, he smiled. "Okay . . . Why don't you go . . . go home and get . . . some sleep? You're tired."

Shaking her head, Brennan squeezed her partners hand. "I'm where I want to be, Booth."

Nervously, Booth cleared his throat. "So . . . Uh. . . . I've been thinking . . . about us. About what happened . . . outside the Hoover."

Leaning forward, Brennan stared at his face. "I have too."

Surprised, Booth stared intently at his best friend. "Bones, being shot and . . . almost dying. . . it's made me think about . . . the important stuff . . . My life isn't a game, it isn't . . . I shouldn't have thought of it . . . as having rolled the dice and won or . . . loss. My life . . . is real and I shouldn't have given up . . . so easy . . . It's just that I've never . . . I've had time to think . . . about what I said and what you said and . . . . I don't want to move on Bones . . . I know what I want in my . . . life and that's you. I just think . . . that if I wait . . . If I give you more time to . . . to get used to the idea of . . . love and me as someone . . . Bones I love you. I have . . . for a long time. I know you don't . . . believe in love and I . . . and I do and I . . . just think that if . . . Ah hell. Look . . .I love you. I love you . . . more than I've loved anyone . . . else in my life . . . I think if I . . . give you more time and . . . if I just wait then . . . you'll see that a relationship . . . with me could work . . . I know you Bones . . . I know who you are . . . and I love what I see . . . I always have . . . Do you understand . . . what I'm trying to tell you? . . . I'm not asking you . . . to just rush into a . . . a relationship with me . . . If you'll just give me a . . . a chance and if we move . . . really slow, you know in steps . . . I think you'll see that . . . you don't have anything . . . to be afraid of. I'll prove to you . . . that I'll never leave you . . . I won't leave you Bones . . . I'm not your parents or . . . Russ. I'll never walk . . . away from you . . . Never . . . do you understand what . . . I'm trying to tell you? . . . God it's so . . . hard to catch my . . . breath."

Watching his monitor, Brennan saw the rise in he partner's blood pressure, the increase in his heart rate and fearing that in his condition the increase in his vitals may be harmful, she stood up and placed both of her hands on his arm. "Booth, I hear what you're saying, but you need to calm down, you need to try not to talk so much . . . ."

Interrupted by a nurse hurrying into the room, Brennan found herself gently, but firmly moved away from the bed so the nurse had access to Booth and his monitor. "Mr. Booth, what's going on? Can you tell me what's going on? You appear to be under a great deal of stress. Are you in pain?"

Shaking his head, Booth blushed. "No. . . no, not really . . . I was talking to my partner . . . about something and I . . . guess I got carried away . . . I'm sorry."

Not happy with Brennan, Nurse Robinson glared at her. "Mr. Booth, it is very important that you remain calm and not put too much stress on your lung." Turning to look at Booth, Nurse Robinson asked him. "Do you need something to help you sleep? You really need to rest. That's part of the healing process."

"No, I don't . . . like sleeping pills. I'm . . . fine." Pointing towards the cuff on his arm, he pleaded with the nurse. Please take this . . . off . . . If you'd take . . . that thing off, I'd probably . . . get some sleep. How am I . . . supposed to sleep . . . when it comes on . . . all the time and squeezes . . . my arm?"

Brennan, aware that she was the actual source of her partner's stress, walked to the foot of the bed. "Booth, perhaps I should go home for the evening so you can rest. I'll be back in the morning."

Slowly shaking his head, Booth realized that he might have upset his partner. "No, Bones . . . You don't have to . . . go. I promise not . . . to talk for the rest . . . of the evening . . . I'll just go to sleep."

Sighing, Brennan placed her hand on Booth's foot. "No, Booth, you'll be fine and you'll rest better if I'm not here. I promise that I'll be back by six. You try to sleep, alright?"

Closing his eyes, Booth nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. Listening to her gather up her jacket and purse, he soon heard the door open and then close. Nurse Robinson, watching her patient's face, realized that she shouldn't have interfered. "Mr. Booth, I'm sorry. Would you like me to go and get her?"

"No thanks . . . I'm fine." Opening his eyes and staring at the nurse, he sighed. "You're not going . . . to take the cuff off . . . are you?"

Smiling sadly, the nurse patted his arm. "No"

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