(After "The End in the Beginning")

This story was suggested by Robin.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Slowly moving from his dream world to reality, Booth looked up at the ceiling of his hospital room and tried to separate himself from that wonderous dream. "Such a weird dream."

Relieved that Booth was awake, Brennan moved over towards the bed and leaned over her partner. "Booth! Booth, you're awake."

Still unable to completely let go of his dream, he shook his head. "So Real."

Nervous, Brennan placed her hand on her partner's shoulder. "Your operation was a success, but you reacted poorly towards your anesthesia. You've been in a coma for the last four days. What took you so long to wake up?"

Confused, Booth stared at Brennan. "It felt so real." He knew it must have been a dream since he'd never had a happy life like that life, but he wanted one like it. Or at least, he thought so. "It felt so real." He stared at Brennan. Was he still dreaming? Was the Brennan standing over him the real Brennan? He wasn't sure.

"It wasn't real." Brennan could see her partner was confused.

He stared at her and wondered if she was his wife or his partner. "Who are you?"

Nervous, Brennan shook her head. "Don't you know me, Booth?"

Feeling lethargic, Booth closed his eyes. "You're Temperance . . . but I don't know if you're Bones or her . . . are you her? . . . My wife? Are you Bren or Bones?"

Suddenly afraid, Brennan shook her head and moved backwards towards the door. Once she was near the chair next to the door, she leaned over and picked up her purse and laptop. She didn't want to make a mistake and she felt that if she tried to explain what she thought was going on to Booth, it would just confuse her partner. "I have to leave, Booth, but I'll be back . . . soon. I just . . ."

Once he was alone, Booth stared at the door and sighed. "I don't think that was my wife." Closing his eyes, he wondered if he could find that dream again. He'd been happy there and Bones belonged to him in that world. Why couldn't he have that world?

Ooooooooooo

He didn't know why she hadn't come back to visit him. He'd had visitors, but not her and that worried him. He had talked to Sweets during a few of his visits about his dream and about Brennan. The younger man had talked to Booth about his dream world and tried to help him accept that the dream he'd had while he was asleep was just that a dream. He wasn't married to Brennan and she was just his partner. He wasn't a night club owner but he was an FBI Agent. In this world, he was the father of a son who needed him.

He wanted Sweets to be wrong, but everyone else that visited him in the hospital said he wasn't. His dream world had been a great place to live. It had been fun and exciting and he wasn't alone there. He had a wife, a baby on the way and that was something he'd craved for a long time. He loved Parker, but the boy lived with his mother and he wasn't the father he wanted to be.

After a few days, Booth knew his partner wasn't going to come back and visit him. He was sure he had upset her and he didn't know how to fix that. He had finally been told that she had gone on a dig in Guatemala and would be back in a couple of months. Cam had assured him that he was doing well and he would be allowed to go home in a few days. He was grateful for her kindness and appreciated her friendship. It seemed like she was the closest friend he had. He considered Brennan to be a dear friend too, but he suspected that she didn't feel the same way towards him. He was her partner and friend, but apparently it was a limited friendship and her trip to Guatemala proved that didn't it? He knew she didn't believe in love and she trusted very few people in her life. He felt she trusted him, but only so far and that made him feel like he had failed her somehow.

Oooooooooo

He had managed to fend off offers from Cam, Sweets and Angela to stay with them when he was released from the hospital, but Booth had let them know he wasn't going to alone and they had accepted it. His grandfather had informed him that he was going to stay at Booth's apartment for a few weeks and Booth wouldn't be alone, so his friends were relieved. He still hadn't heard from Brennan and that was starting to worry him.

"I have to do some therapy on my hands and I have a pile of pills I have to take every day . . . Something is wrong with my left eye, but I was told it's temporary. I've had a few dizzy spells, so don't worry about that. It's part of the recovery I guess . . . I'm a mess, Pops." Booth was sitting in his living room staring at his phone lying on the coffee table. "I think I scared Bones in the hospital . . . I asked her if she was my wife . . . like in my dream and she . . . she left the room and didn't come back . . . I scared her. I know I did."

"I don't know if scared is the right word." Hank felt that Booth's partner had misunderstood his grandson's question and she hadn't known how to handle it. "You've told me in the past that she's literal and . . . well, she probably didn't want to scare you . . . That dream had a powerful hold on you and you didn't want to let it go . . . You still don't want to let it go . . . She probably wanted the professionals to help you since you probably blew her away with that question . . . She isn't your wife, Son . . . You have to let that go. She's your friend."

"I have let it go, Pops." He didn't want to, but Booth knew he had to live in this world. "She's my partner and my friend, but she isn't my wife . . . I know that."

He saw the hesitation before his grandson had told him that, but he knew his boy was a realist and he would accept that the Club World had been a dream and nothing more. "Good . . . She'll come back from Guatemala and you two can work together and renew your friendship . . . It will work out. You'll see."

"I hope so." Booth prayed that she would come back and forgive him. He needed her to come back. He needed her friendship. He needed her in his life.

Ooooooooooo

She had accepted a position at a dig in Guatemala with the understanding that it was a short term obligation. Brennan had hesitated before she took on the project, but she had made a serious mistake when dealing with Booth in the hospital and Sweets had assured her that he could fix it.

She had been frightened that Booth would remain in his coma and he wouldn't come back to her, so she had written a story for him. A story that wove her life into his life. It had been a happy story and she had given him the things she thought he deserved. Unfortunately, when he woke from his long sleep, he had appeared to be confused and didn't understand that he had been dreaming. Not sure how to fix what she had done; she had explained her story to Sweets and he had felt she really hadn't done anything wrong. The problem seemed to be that their friend had loved his life in her story and didn't want to give that life up. Sweets knew that if he talked to Booth about it the agent would realize that reality was better than a dream.

Sweets had talked to Booth numerous times in the hospital and after his friend was at his apartment, he'd visited him there and had a few sessions with him. He could see that Booth knew he had to let go of that dream but wanted that life and not the one he had. It was important that Booth see that his real life was better than a dream. "You have a lot of friends that care for you. You have an important job and a great position at the FBI. What you do matters."

"If I have a lot of friends, then why did Bones go to Guatemala? Why did she leave me behind?" Booth was depressed and he didn't know how to find his balance again. For years, he had loved Brennan, but had kept that a secret or so he had thought. It was confusing that Brennan had written him a story while he'd been in his coma and in that story, in that dream, he had been in love with Brennan and they were married. His secret must not have been much of a secret. "She . . . I didn't mean to scare her in the hospital, but I can't fix it if she's in another country . . . I need to fix that."

"There is nothing to fix, Booth." Sweets tried to make Booth see that he hadn't lost his partner. "She read you a story while she wrote it. She wanted to anchor you to reality and she chose to use herself in the story to do that. When you woke up, you were still attached to the dream and Dr. Brennan was afraid she had done something wrong. She didn't do anything wrong and neither did you. I told her to go on the dig while I worked with you and straightened out your issue . . . She didn't abandon you."

Slowly shaking his head, Booth sighed. "It feels like that's what she did . . . Maybe she doesn't want to be my partner anymore."

"No, Booth . . . no. She does want to be your partner. She's your friend. Her story proves that. She wanted you to come back to us and her story did just that . . . She wrote that for you. No one else will ever read that story. She wrote it for you and only you . . . Don't you see? She is your friend and she values your partnership. She values your friendship. She told me she would do anything for you and that includes going away while I help you. She didn't want to go to Guatemala . . . She went away so you could recover. If she had stayed, it would have just confused you. I asked her to separate herself from you for a small amount of time. I did that, not Dr. Brennan."

Listening carefully to his young friend, Booth hoped Sweets was telling him the truth. "So, she'll be back."

"Of course she will." Sweets smiled at his friend. "You didn't lose your partner, Booth. You didn't lose your friend. You just lost a dream."

Hopeful, Booth decided to accept what his young friend was telling him. "Alright . . . good. I don't want to lose my partner."

"And you haven't." Sweets felt relief. Booth was finally seeing that he wasn't abandoned by anyone including Dr. Brennan. "When she gets back, when you're ready to go back to work, you'll see that nothing has changed."

Booth was sure that wasn't true. He knew something had changed and he feared that change.

Ooooooooooooo

Thank you for reading my story.