(After Season 12)

I really don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooo

After making an arrest in the McKinney case, Booth had escorted Robert Patin to the hospital after the man had fired at Booth and Agent Aubrey and Booth had shot him for his trouble.

Robert Patin was a poor shot and managed to put some bullet holes in Booth's truck but hadn't hit anyone. Furious, Booth fumed about his new truck being damaged by Patin and he dreaded reporting it to the Accounting Department. "They're going to blame me, you just watch. The last time one of my trucks got bullet holes in it they gave me an old truck as a replacement until the new one was fixed . . . assholes."

Amused, Aubrey declined to comment about the truck or the accounting department. "Agents Harris and Park are on the way over here to babysit Patin so once they get here I want to go the diner and get some lunch. We can do the paperwork after we've eaten . . . I work better on a full stomach."

"Do you ever have a full stomach?" Booth pulled a chair from across the hallway, placed it next to the room Patin was being treated in and sat down.

"Sure, once in a while." Aubrey was used to Booth's jokes about his appetite. Before he could say anything further, someone in the room next to them started coughing and it sounded like the man was strangling. Not sure what the problem was, he peaked inside the curtained room, saw a man holding his hands against his chest coughing and a nurse standing next to him trying to take his temperature. "Oh boy." Moving away from the room, he crossed the hallway and stood there staring at Booth. "Dr B says this place is a germ factory and she's not wrong."

"Yeah, she hates hospitals, but sometimes you need them and I'm glad they exist, germs or not." Booth found it funny that Brennan hated to go to hospitals and would only go if she had to. The coughing was getting worse in the room next door and Booth decided to move the chair back across the hallway next to Aubrey. "As long as I can see the room Patin is in . . . no need to be in the way over there."

Chuckling, Aubrey nodded his head. "No shit."

Ooooooooooo

A few days later, Booth was sitting in the kitchen helping Brennan slice some vegetables for a vegetable soup when he placed his knife down on the table and placed his hand against his forehead. "I don't feel well . . .Do you think I have a temperature?"

Concerned, Brennan stood up and left the room. She was soon back with a thermometer and inserted it in Booth's mouth. They both waited and once it beeped, she looked at it. "You have a fever, Booth . . . 101 degrees. I think you should go to bed. I'll bring you some water and some Advil."

"What about the vegetables?" Booth had wanted to help cook dinner.

"I'd rather you went into our bedroom for the time being." Brennan placed the thermometer on the table. "I don't want you to expose the children to any disease you may have come in contact with . . . Do you have any other symptoms that I should know about?"

Standing, Booth placed his hand on his chest. "I feel a little congested. Maybe I have a cold."

"Go to bed Booth. I'll bring you some soup when it's ready." Worried, Brennan watched her husband leave the room. Booth was rarely sick, but it had only been 19 months since he'd almost died from a gunshot wound to his abdomen and this sudden illness was worrisome. She hated it when Booth was sick. "It's probably just a cold or the flu."

Oooooooooooo

She awoke a little after eleven that evening when Booth started to cough. She waited for him to stop, retrieved the thermometer and took his temperature again. "102 . . . your temperature is still a little high." Leaving the bed, she retrieved some cough medicine from the bathroom as well as some cough drops and a box of tissues. Once that was done, she retrieved some bottled water from the kitchen and placed the bottles on the nightstand next to Booth's side of the bed. Worried about his cough, she sat on the bed next to him while he coughed again.

Once he stopped, Booth placed his hand on her arm. "Maybe you should sleep on the couch or in your office . . . Don't let the kids near me. I don't want them to get this, whatever this is."

"I don't think sleeping in another room will do any good, Booth." Brennan patted his stomach. "I've already been exposed to whatever you have so isolating myself from you know will serve no useful purpose." She watched him cough again and struggle to stop. "I think you should stay home tomorrow. If your symptoms get worse then you should go to the doctor."

"If you think so." Booth felt terrible and he prayed it was just a cold. "I'm going to start carrying a mask in my jacket pocket just in case I have to go to the hospital for any reason. I think I might have been exposed to something while I was there."

Brennan felt that was an excellent idea since hospitals had sick people in them, many with contagious diseases.

Ooooooooooooo

"I'm staying home today." Brennan finished dressing while Booth watched her from their bed. "Your fever doesn't seem to want to return to normal so I will stay home to monitor it."

Feeling lethargic, Booth closed his eyes. "You can go to work, Bones. I'll be fine. It's just a cold or something."

"It's the something I'm worried about." Brennan moved over to the doorway. "I will take Christine to school and Hank to daycare and arrange for them to stay with Angela and Hodgins this evening and perhaps tomorrow. That way we don't have to worry about them getting sick too."

"Yeah." Booth closed his eyes. "I don't feel well."

Pausing in the doorway, Brennan looked back. "Yes . . . I'm going to go get you some juice, water and some toast. You need to eat and drink no matter how badly you feel."

Not sure he was hungry, Booth knew that if he didn't eat something Brennan would bug him about it. "Okay, but just toast, no jelly or jam."

Once she was in the kitchen, Brennan called Cam to let her know she wasn't coming to work. "Booth is sick and I feel uncomfortable leaving him by himself since I don't really know what is wrong with him. I suspect he was exposed to something at the hospital a few days ago when he took his suspect in to have his gunshot wound attended to."

"I understand." Cam knew that Booth was rarely sick and it worried Brennan when he was.

After she had a tray fixed containing a plate of toast, a mug of hot tea and two bottles of water, Brennan carried them down to their bedroom and rested it on the nightstand. "I have hot tea for you. I know you like hot beverages when you're sick."

"Thanks Bones." Moving to sit up, he picked up the mug of tea and sipped it. "You really can go to work. I'm fine."

"No, I will be back once I drop the children off where they need to be." Brennan paused in the doorway. "I can work on my book while you convalesce."

Placing the mug back on the tray, Booth laid back down. "Okay . . . I'm fine you know."

"Perhaps." Brennan was worried, but she knew that her being in the house with her sick husband would ease her mind.

Once she had the children in the car, Brennan smiled at them before she closed the passenger door. "Your Daddy is staying home today because he has a cold. You get to stay with Aunt Angela and Uncle Jack tonight. Angela is planning on having movie night tonight."

Worried, Christine started to cry which caused Hank to cry. "Is my Daddy sick, Mommy? I don't want him to go to the hospital. I don't want my Daddy to go away. Please Mommy. I don't want my Daddy to be sick."

Upset her children were crying, Brennan tried to calm them down. "Christine, your Daddy just has a cold and we don't want you to get it. He's not going anywhere. He's in bed in the house. He's not in the hospital. There is no reason to cry. It's just a cold, Honey."

A little afraid, Christine glanced at the house. "Don't make my Daddy go to the hospital Mommy. Please Mommy. I . . . I'm afraid. I want my Daddy."

Concerned for her daughter and son, Brennan motioned for her daughter to leave the car while she unbuckled Hank from his seat. "We're going inside to see your Daddy. We can't get too close to him because he's got a cold, but you can talk to him from the door."

Grateful, Christine ran to the house, opened the door and raced down the hallway to her parents' room. Standing in the doorway, she clasped her hands and held then under her chin. "Daddy are you alright?"

Surprised to see his daughter, Booth opened his eyes and smiled at the little girl. "Of course I am, Honey. I just have a cold and I don't want you or Hank to get it. I'm fine. I promise."

Relieved, Christine smiled at her father. "I don't want you to go to the hospital. I was afraid when you were there, Daddy."

"I'm sorry about that, but I'm okay . . . really." Booth noticed Brennan was now standing behind their daughter holding Hank in her arms. "Hey little man. Your Daddy is okay."

His tear stained cheeks a testament to his fears, Hank held his hand out towards his father. "Daddy."

"No baby. I have a cold." Moving from the bed, he coughed a little then shook his head. "I have a nasty old cough that's all." He witnessed Hank rub his eyes and felt sorry for the child. "I'll see you tomorrow. I promise . . . You too Christine."

Now that she could see her children were calmer, she placed her hand on Christine's shoulder. "We need to go to school now."

"Bye Daddy." Christine reluctantly followed her mother down the hallway. She was glad her father wasn't in the hospital, but she hated that he was sick. When her father had been in the hospital she had been afraid until he'd come back home.

Once his family was gone, Booth got back into bed, covered up and closed his eyes. "My poor kids. They've been through too much lately. Just too much."

Oooooooooooooo

Once Brennan was back, she checked on Booth. After she took his temperature and found it to be 101 degrees, she patted his chest. "It doesn't look like you're going to get well as fast as you hoped you would." Leaving the room, she was soon back carrying two bottles of water and a sliced apple lying on a paper plate. "You need to drink water, Booth and you need to eat."

Tired, Booth sat up and drank from one of the bottles. Once he was done, he picked up the paper plate and stared at the apple slices. "Bones, you don't need to stay home. It's just a cold."

Standing, Brennan shook her head. "I have a lot of unused vacation days. I will use them when I want to and right now I want to use them to be with you."

Resigned that she was staying, he smiled at her. "Okay, but you're going to be bored."

"Probably, but I'm staying until you feel better."

Oooooooooooooooo

Annoyed, Booth witnessed Brennan enter the room carrying two more bottles of water. "Bones, if I keep drinking water like this I'm going to drown or get water poisoning or . . ."

"You must drink, Booth." Placing the bottles on the nightstand, she picked up the empty bottles and turned to face her husband. "You don't drink enough water and it's important to stay hydrated especially when you're sick."

"I get that, but I don't need to drink this much water." Booth crossed his arms against his chest. "Bones, I've been sick before and you've never been this obsessed before. It's just a cold. It's not like I'm dying . . ." He witnessed her grow pale and he finally understood what was happening. "Bones, I . . . um, I appreciate you staying with me because I'm sick, but it's just a cold. I'm going to be fine. I think you're letting my injury last year affect you now. I think that's what's wrong with Christine and I . . . I'm fine. It's just a virus. I'm not going to leave you . . . okay? It's just a cold."

Sitting on the bed next to her partner, Brennan placed her hand on his thigh. "I keep telling myself you just have a virus, but I am reminded that you were in the hospital 19 months ago and there was a chance you would die . . . I was afraid, Booth. I can admit that now. I was afraid that you were going to leave me . . . I know you just have a cold right now. I know that, but . . . just let me take care of you. I need to take care of you. Do you understand?"

He saw the tears on her cheeks and he knew that he had to let her handle this situation her way. "Hey . . . hey, I get it. I messed up and I got hurt and it could have turned out badly, but it didn't. I'm right here in this bed and I'm going to be alright . . . It's okay if you want to stay with me and take care of me. It's fine." Booth placed his hand on her hand. "Just remember that the next time you're sick, I'm going to take care of you and you'll have to put up with me no matter how much it bugs the shit out of you."

"I can live with that, Booth." Brennan smiled at her husband. "I can definitely live with that."

Oooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. I appreciate it.