May 2012
They shared a quiet weekend as Brennan settled into being home now with her limitations. Booth had decided to ask family and friends to hold off visiting until after the weekend to give her a little time to get comfortable. She was feeling a touch of anxiety at the thought of actually standing, and was worried about protecting the healing injuries. So when Booth proposed the idea of no visitors over the weekend, she was glad that he was so good at reading her mood.
"I'm really excited about the 50-50 weight bearing that I'll have in two weeks, but this 75-25, where Dr Banks doesn't want me putting that much weight on the ankle is worrying to me. And I'm also concerned that trying to put any weight at all on either leg will be difficult after being off my feet for so long."
Booth came over and gave her a hug. "Just trust Michael, honey. He seems to know what he's doing, and I know that I have a lot of faith in him after just one meeting." He sat down next to her and took her hand. "I was thinking maybe we could order a pizza for dinner. You know that one over on 14th Street has great salads."
Her face brightened up. "Ohhhh. Pizza and salad. That sounds wonderful Booth. I've missed some of our favorite take out places." He leaned over and kissed her. "I'll go get the menu."
The weekend was a time to get used to being together 24/7. She occasionally got a little frustrated with him fussing over her, but there was very little she could do without his help. And that really was the root of her frustration. It wasn't really Booth who was annoying her - it was her helplessness.
And, of course, he understood. Booth's superpower had always been that he could understand emotions and motivations. So, every time she sniped at him, he would smile and back off for a few minutes. But he never went far, because he knew she would need him - and would be contrite over her outburst.
She had her first solo shower on Saturday, and it felt glorious. Booth helped her to undress and lifted her onto the shower chair. He had purchased the shelf to hang in the shower to give her easy access to her shampoo, conditioner, facial scrub, and shower gel. And he had purchased the hook that she needed to rest the handheld shower head. Luckily, he was able to pay extra to have both items shipped overnight. Once she was all settled, he closed the shower curtain and said that he would be back when he heard the water shut off.
Every shower she had taken in the rehab center had been done by one of the aides. They wheeled her into the large shower room and were required to stay with her the whole time. And some of them insisted on helping to shampoo her hair or wash her body.
So being in the bathroom all alone felt like the most indulgent thing she had done since the accident. What she didn't know was that Booth was too afraid to leave her all alone. So he sat on the floor right next to the door with his ear pressed against the slight gap in the closed door. It allowed him to hear exactly what was going on in the room and he kept alert for any sounds that would indicate she was in trouble.
But the shower was uneventful, and when he heard the water shut off, he paused for about ten seconds, stood up, and opened the door slightly to ask if she was finished. He saw the shower curtain open, and she turned to him with a big smile on her face. "Oh Booth. I feel like I'm in paradise. You can't imagine how good it feels to have a normal, private shower."
He chuckled as he grabbed a few towels. He set one down on the shower floor, and another one on the bathroom floor right outside the shower. He wrapped the third one around her and picked her up, walking over to a small wooden bench. "I'm going to set you here so we can dry you off before you go into the wheelchair." He had brought a change of clean clothes, and when he wheeled her out of the bathroom she told him that she felt like a new person. He wheeled her into the kitchen and they chatted while he made lunch. He had made homemade tomato soup the day before, so he heated up a couple of servings while he made some grilled cheese sandwiches.
After lunch, they ended up in the bedroom where they enjoyed a couple of hours of mostly languorous foreplay, with a couple of orgasms each thrown in. They were still taking it easy, but she was getting antsy for something a little more vigorous. By the end of the weekend, they were getting a bit more adventurous as she egged him to go harder and faster. And by the time they fell asleep Sunday night, they were both fully satisfied and optimistic about the level of physicality that they were achieving.
Monday morning, she anxiously awaited Michael's arrival. He started her on the exercises that she was doing daily. He said that it would warm up her muscles and get her body used to moving. Booth sat across the room watching and feeling excited, but nervous about the attempt to stand that he knew was imminent.
After she finished the last set of exercises, Michael asked if she was ready. She nodded, but Booth could see that she was gnawing on her lip. Michael checked that the walking boot on her left leg and the brace on her right were all tightened and in place. He asked Booth to come over to assist. She was sitting on one of their dining room chairs in the middle of the living room and he had placed her walker right in front of her. "I'm going to have us stand on either side of her, facing her. Grab her hand with one of yours and place your other hand under her armpit to help raise her from the chair."
They both got into position and Michael looked down at her. "Are you ready?" She nodded nervously. "Okay, one…two…three…lift." She was mostly being held in place by the two men, but she was only upright for about five seconds before she said she needed to sit back down. "My legs just didn't feel like they were going to hold me. I felt like I was going to fall."
Michael stroked the top of her shoulder. "That's normal Temperance. Those legs have been inactive for two months now. And no worries. Seeley and I had you - you won't fall. Just relax for a few minutes. I'm going to go get you a glass of water and then we'll try again."
She attempted to stand five more times during the session. Each time she was able to hold out just a little longer, and the last couple of attempts she was actually able to put some weight on her legs. During the last attempt, she was able to grab the handles of the walker and boost herself up so that her arms were taking most of her weight. When she said she needed to sit back down, the two men eased her back onto the chair.
She was feeling a little disappointed that she was able to make so little progress, but when she looked up, Michael was smiling at her. "Temperance, I'm so proud of you. Do you realize that last time you were on your feet for a full minute?" She scrunched up her face. "Are you sure it was a minute?"
He chuckled. "PTs have stopwatches in their brains. Yes, it was a full minute." She didn't think that a minute was much of a victory, but he reminded her that the first attempt was only five seconds. "It will get easier every day. I don't want you to attempt this again until I'm here on Wednesday, but we'll see how much longer you can stand then. Just keep doing the leg strengthening exercises."
As he was packing up, he told them that he was ordering a handicap placard for their car. Booth wasn't sure about that. "Do we really need that? She'll be walking soon." Michael convinced them that the temporary six month card really would be helpful. "When she's using the walker, she won't be able to walk that far. Plus, getting into and out of the car requires the wider spaces available in the handicap spaces. Just think about coming out of the doctor's office or a restaurant to find out that the car that pulled into the space on your passenger side parked very close to yours. She would have no way to get into the car."
After he left, Booth picked her up and placed her back into the wheelchair. When he stood up, he saw a tear rolling down her cheek. He immediately got down on his knee so he could look in her face. "What's wrong Bones? You were upright for the first time! It was a big step." She sniffed and dried the tear with her sleeve. "I just feel so weak Booth. I've been doing all of the exercises, but I've never felt this weak."
He wrapped his arms around her and cradled her head against his chest. "Oh Temperance. You've been through so much. It's expected that you would be weak. But we're going to get you going and you will be walking before you know it. I promise."
After dinner that night, Angela came over and spent the evening with her. Booth knew he couldn't leave because she still needed his help to use the bathroom. But he also knew they needed girl time, so he decided to hole up in his den and watch the Flyers playoff game. He put Brennan in the recliner and brought out the wine and snacks.
"Okay! Anything else you two need? I'll be in the den. Angela, if either if you need anything, just come and get me." He leaned down and gave Brennan a kiss and then stood back up looking back and forth between the two women. "Try not to get into too much trouble, will you?" He gave them a dazzling smile, and as he turned and headed down the hall, he heard two sets of raspberries aimed squarely at his back.
The next day, he knew it would be a long day because she was so anxious to try standing again on Wednesday. As they were eating breakfast, he looked out the windows toward the park. "Hey Bones. How would you like to get outside today? It's going to be a beautiful spring day."
She perked up. "Oh yes! Where? Out on the back patio?" He shook his head. "No, I was thinking I could take you for a walk in the park - in your wheelchair of course." Her eyes lit up and she started thinking about what she needed to wear for the outing.
As they set off across the street, she had a sweater lying across her lap in case she found it too chilly in the wooded areas. By now, they knew the park well enough to know where the paved paths were, so they headed in and were both thrilled to see all of the spring blooms popping up on both sides of the path. When they got to the open area in the center of the park, he wheeled her over next to one of the benches, locked the wheels, and sat down next to her.
They were both enjoying breathing in the crisp spring air and leaning back to feel the sun on their faces. Booth thought for a few seconds and then leaned over and put his mouth to her ear. "Would you like to sit on the bench for a little while?"
She quickly turned to him and her eyes were sparkling. "Oh yes, please!" He gave her a big smile as he stood up, picked her up from the chair and deposited her onto the wooden bench. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She dropped her head onto his shoulder. "Oh Booth. This was a great idea. It's beautiful out here."
They sat there for several hours and just enjoyed being outside listening to the birds and squirrels chattering at each other. Some of the time was spent talking, and some just quietly appreciating being outside in nature together.
When Booth noticed that she was beginning to yawn, he stood up. "Okay baby. Enough For one day." She gave him one of her death stares and yawned out, "Don't call me baby." He chuckled as he lifted her off the bench and deposited her back into the wheelchair.
By the time they were back in the house, she was having a difficult time holding her head up. So he took her right into the bedroom and tucked her into her bed, raising the foot of the bed to elevate her legs and covering her with her favorite blanket. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll have lunch ready for us after your nap."
When Michael arrived on Wednesday, Brennan was feeling much more confident and determined. Before helping her up from the chair, he went over the plan. "This time, I want you to grab onto the walker as soon as we get you up. As we let you take over your own weight, you put 25% on your right leg, 50% on your left, and 25% on your arms. I'll help you to find that balance, okay?"
She nodded in agreement and he could see the grit and determination on her face. The two men lifted her off the chair and then slowly released her as she took on her own weight. Michael was watching her limbs closely. "I think you've got it Temperance. Can you feel that you are holding yourself up? Seeley and I are just here for support when you're ready to sit back down."
She stood there for almost two minutes before her arms began to burn. Michael saw it in her face. "Okay, we're going to sit you back down." He and Booth grabbed her under the arms and gently sat her back on the chair. She looked up at Michael. "I did it. That was all me." Michael nodded. "You sure did. Great job Temperance."
They kept working, and by the end of her session she was standing for a full five minutes. Her body was getting used to the prescribed weight distribution, and by the time they finished the session she didn't have to concentrate as much as when she started.
As they finished the session, Michael reminded them not to try having her stand on her own yet. "We need to work a little more before I'm ready for you to do this without me. But you're doing great Temperance!"
At dinner that night, Brennan was in a good mood and decided they needed to celebrate with wine for dinner. As Booth poured glasses for both of them, she surprised him. "I'm going to have several glasses of wine tonight Booth. I feel like getting tipsy. I won't be attempting to stand again until Friday, and I have you to carry me into bed, so I'm going to let go a little tonight."
Booth gave her a big smile and picked the bottle back up to fill both glasses almost to the top. "That makes me very happy Bones. You've been working so hard that you deserve to have a little fun tonight. I'm going to get tipsy right along with you."
They each enjoyed several full glasses of wine with dinner, and had broken into the second bottle when he cleared the table. "I'm going to leave the dishes to soak so we can go watch some more episodes of your show on the DVR."
He opened the fridge, pulled out two slices of cheesecake, and grabbed two forks. He walked them over to the living room and came back to hand Brennan their wine glasses and the bottle they had just broken into. He wheeled her over to the sofa and took the glasses and bottle to set on the table. "Do you want to sit with me on the sofa?" She nodded emphatically and he picked her up to set her in her usual spot.
The spent the next few hours finishing off the wine, watching the antics on the tv, and getting more and more giggly as they critiqued the actions of the couples on the screen. They also found themselves getting frisky, and soon Booth declared it was time for bed.
It was the first time in a long time that they had drunken sex, and they both enjoyed it immensely. Neither of them remembered ever laughing and giggling so much while teasing each other during foreplay. And the laughing continued all the way through the act itself. As they both came down from their orgasms, she snuggled into him and he wasn't sure if the tone in her voice was a sign of sleepiness or drunkenness. "That was fun." He chuckled. "It really was." They were both asleep almost immediately.
The next morning as they were eating the big breakfast he had prepared, they were both fighting hangovers. Booth had insisted they needed to eat and made eggs, toast, and coffee trying to ease them both into the day.
Brennan took a bite of toast. "You know what last night reminded me of?" Booth raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do you remember the first time we almost had sex?" Booth smiled and nodded. "The night I fired you."
She laughed. "Yes! And I ran away because I didn't think it was such a good idea because we were drunk. Little did I know how much fun, sex with a drunken Booth could be." She gave him a wink and he laughed.
"Yeah, but I still think you made the right decision that night. I think we would have had a fabulous time if we'd gotten into that cab together. And it would have been so good that it would have led to several more fabulous times. But our personalities clashed so much that it took us seven - seven! - long years to mesh them together. Back then we would have burned brightly for a few weeks, but it would have fizzled out pretty quickly. And now, after all these years, our differences have become our strengths."
He winked at her. "And drunken sex is still pretty good." She smiled and reached her hand across the table to clasp his. "I love you Booth." He smiled back at her and squeezed her hand. "I love you Bones."
After he cleared the table and washed the dishes, he put in place the plan he had made the previous afternoon. Now that Michael was getting her on her feet, he needed to find a way to distract her on the days she didn't have a session with him. On Tuesday he had taken her for the walk in the park. This next weekend, Parker, Max, and Russ would all be there on Saturday and Sunday. So he had come up with an idea for today.
He walked into the living room where she was sitting in the wheelchair doing her daily exercises. "You almost done in here?" She looked up at him. "I just have two more to go." He sat down on the arm of the sofa across from her. "When you're done, I have plans for us. How would you like to take a drive around the city?"
Her eyes lit up. "Really? Like where?" He shrugged. "Anywhere you want to go. I'll get you in the car, we'll start driving, and we'll come home whenever you feel you've had enough excitement." She laughed and clapped her hands. "That sounds wonderful Booth! Let me finish up here and we can get ready to go."
He had picked a good day for a drive. It was sunny and in the mid 70s, so she was able to have her window open as they drove around her favorite neighborhoods. He made sure to avoid the area where she had her accident, but she didn't seem to notice because she was so happy seeing all of the familiar sights. She especially wanted to see all of the monuments, the White House, Capitol Hill, the Tidal Basin.
As they drove past the National Mall, she sighed. "I can't wait for the day that we can walk along the reflecting pool together again." He reached over and grabbed her hand. "We will soon Bones. I promise you." She turned to him and smiled.
He drove past the Hoover Building, and then turned and drove a couple of blocks, pulling up in front of the Jeffersonian. "Oh Booth. I miss this place so much." He grabbed her hand again. "I know. Are you interested in going in for a visit?" She thought about it for a few seconds. "No. I don't think I'm ready quite yet. Maybe in a few weeks when I'm up and walking?" He nodded. "That sounds reasonable. What do you say we swing by Starbucks? I'll run in and get sandwiches, coffee, or smoothies, and we can go sit in the car at the Tidal Basin?" She thought that was a great idea.
They spent time eating their lunch, watching tourists walking the paths and watching airplanes taking off and landing at the airport just across the river. The soft breeze blew through the windows and Brennan thought that it felt like a cleansing balm. "We need to get outside more often Booth. I'd like to try to get out on our back patio on days when the weather cooperates." Booth responded that it was a good plan and he would get out and get it set up so they could spend time out there.
He noticed that she seemed to be getting tired and suggested they head home. He took her right into the bedroom and once he got her settled on her bed, he took his shoes off and climbed into the big bed next to her and they both took a long nap.
The next day, Michael worked with her again to get her used to standing. She was becoming very adept at distributing her weight as Dr Banks had prescribed. By the end of the session, all three of them were very encouraged by her progress. Three different times after standing up, she took four steps by putting 75% weight on her bad ankle momentarily as she moved the walker forward.
Michael was now open to having her work on standing when she just had Booth to assist her. But he thought it would be difficult with the dining table chair they had been using. He asked Booth if they had any kind of seating with no back. Booth went into the bathroom and brought out the wooden bench.
Michael tested it out. "Perfect!" He had Booth lift her from the chair to the bench, and showed him how he could use both hands to lift her from behind so she could grab the walker. They practiced having her take four steps while Michael stood to the side and she had only Booth assisting her. "I think you two have it all in hand. As long as you are feeling strong, go ahead and do a few sets once or twice a day on Saturday and Sunday. And then we'll just work all next week getting you stronger and stronger so that you'll be ready to go on '50-50 Day'. It's only a little over a week away."
Brennan could hardly contain her glee. "50-50 Day" was the goal they had been discussing for the last week. It was the day she could put 50% weight on each leg, and it was the day she would be able to truly walk using the walker. Michael patted her shoulder. "I'm very proud of you Temperance. You're really putting in the work, and a week from Monday I have a feeling you will be ready to walk all over this house." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She was almost there.