-Chapter 13-

Three Days Later

They were to both be discharged that day. Angela and the rest of the 'squint squad' had visited several times over the last three of four days. Booth had met with a physical therapist who told him that he wouldn't need the actual therapy but rather to do certain exercises every day, which the therapist taught to Booth.

Booth was able, for the most part, to move his arm in a good range of motion, definitely not his full though. The doctor had said it would probably be two months until he had his arm fully back, saying he followed the exercises.

Breakfast quickly became lunch and before long they both were filling out their release forms. They had been moved to a semi-private room, though they were the only occupants. They kept the curtains between their beds open at all times.

A nurse came in to pick-up the release forms, taking them to the doctors for their signature. A minute later however, Dr. Bailey followed by the male intern who operated on her entered. The intern picked up Booth's chart first and started reading it.

"O'Malley, tell me weather you would release these two." Bailey ordered, not so much as nodding at either Booth or Brennan.

"Well, he's ok to go. With two or so weeks of home-rest and some pain-killers he should be fine." He said sounding rather distracted.

"Good enough… And her?" She said indicating Brennan with the clipboard she was holding. O'Malley picked up her chart and read.

"Pretty much the same… Painkillers and rest. However she will need to have someone checking on her frequently, also she'll need to come back in…" He pulled up an x-ray of her broken ribs and reviewed them before continuing. "Three or so weeks to have her broken ribs checked." He concluded.

Bailey turned to Booth and Brennan. "Well you heard him; a nurse will drop of your prescriptions in a few minutes." The resident and intern turned to leave the room when both of their pagers sounded, then hastened from the room.

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They both found the visit by the doctors rather… odd. They turned to each other; odd looks on their faces before sharing a light laugh. Booth's arm had been taken out of the support… thing. He had no clue what those things were called. It was now in a sling. He got up and covered the few feet between their beds. She slowly scooted over for him, careful to not hurt her ribs too much. She winced in pain; he saw this and leaned over the side of her bed helping her with his good arm.

They woke up a half hour later. There were two manila folders on the table next to Brennan's bed. One with 'Booth, Seeley' on it and the other 'Brennan, Temperance'. They both silently guessed that these were their release papers. Booth tightened his grip on Brennan.

"Hey." He mumbled sleepily into her hair. She scooted in closer to his chest… if that was possible. He smiled and inhaled her scent, along with that of, as always in hospitals, commercial disinfectants and cheap laundry detergents.

"When were out of here your staying with me or I'm staying with you." He quietly, his face half buried in her hair, his mouth a few inches from her ear.

"No Booth. I'm not letting you go all alpha-male and follow me everywhere because you think I need protection. I'll be fine on my own." She replied a little annoyed

"First, I didn't mean to protect you. The doctors said both of us should have someone taking care of them or checking up on us. Were both injured, we're very close friends… actually no, were something more now aren't we? But we'll check on each other. Also to reveal the sub-motive, I want to spend time with you… away from corpses and hospitals. Second, you DO need protection. You're constantly being threatened, kidnapped, almost murdered, and every time you haven't stopped it from happening to you Bo… Temperance, so I feel the need to. Okay?"

Brennan thought over what he had said. He had a good, logical, solution to who would check in on them at home. And, did he say he wanted to spend time with me… alone? And we are something more than friends now. I just don't know what this feeling is. Whenever I see him now, whenever I'm near him, whenever I hear his voice… Is this love? Have I actually fallen in love? With Booth?! Is that possible? Could it be…? No, no, it's probably just that 'sexual tension' thing Ange is always talking about between me and Booth. No, there is something else. And… he is right. I guess I really can't protect myself that well.

"You're right." She said quietly, she sounded far away, as if deep in thought. Booth tightened his grip on her and she relaxed back against him. After a minute she slowly turned to face him, careful not to hurt her ribs. She looked at him, a confused look on her face, he smiled, his brown eyes meeting hers.

She leaned forward; kissing him. Every time she had kissed Booth in the last few days or vice versa, she always felt an unexplainable feeling. After realizing that she had, what she thought was love for him, the feeling generated by this kiss was hundreds of times stronger than before, and before it had been strong.

The kiss deepened. Booth raised an arm from around her waist and wrapped it around her head. Pulling her even closer to him; well that is until they heard an uncomfortable 'ahem' from the doorway. They both yanked back and looked to find Rebecca.

"Uh... yeah… Hi!" Booth said getting over the embarrassment of being caught making out in a hospital bed with Bones of all people. "Is Parker here?" He asked hopefully.

"No. He's in school. I just wanted to see how you were." She avoided both of their eyes.

"Oh yeah… right." Booth responded, his hopes of seeing his son stopped. He had seen him yesterday, but if it was up to him 24-7 wasn't enough time.

"When are you being discharged?" Rebecca asked, still uncomfortable.

"Today actually." Booth said his hopes rising again at the prospect of leaving this god-forsaken hospital.

Brennan had remained un-characteristically silent; looking at anything but Rebecca. She wasn't sure why she was so embarrassed to be seen making out with Booth.

"Alright then. I have to go grocery shopping before I pick up Parker so I'll see you later Booth. Get well."

Booth flashed his charm smile with a thanks and Brennan mumbled a thank you from her position, facing away from the door.

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They had filled out their papers and changed into clothes that Angela had dropped by for them. Angela, unfortunately, had caught on to the change between them. The noise that came out of her mouth when she realized what happened almost broke the TV screen and the glass vases next to the beds.

They thanked their surgeons and nurses then were wheeled out of the hospital. Angela was leaning against her car on the curb outside the hospital. When she saw them coming through the door she ran up to them. She started saying something; however neither Booth nor Brennan were listening. They stood from the wheel-chairs, picking up their bags.

Angela got that they weren't really listening both had contemplative looks on their faces. She walked around and climbed in starting the engine. Booth helped Brennan into the front seat then climbed into the back of Angela's car.

They drove in silence. Angela headed towards Brennan's apartment. No one spoke, the only sound was that of three people inhaling and exhaling.

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Angela had dropped them off, grinning and winking suggestively at Booth and Brennan when she saw Booth carrying both Brennan's and his luggage to her apartment. They had both rolled their eyes at her. Now they sat on her couch. She was leaning on him and he had his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder. They sat together, quietly; just wanting to be near each other.

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They awoke the next morning on the couch. Booth was the first to wake. He opened his eyes and couldn't see. He felt a second of panic before the weight on him registered. He relaxed, realizing it was Bones'… BONES! Holy crud! Bones and him! It seemed every time he woke that same thought hit him, the same feeling of content… happiness. He knew she was the 'one'. He had been in relationships many a time in his years. None of them ever felt so right. No other woman made him feel the way he felt every time he saw her. Now that they were more; more than friends, more than partners that feeling had increased one-hundred fold. Just seeing her filled him with happiness and calm.

She shifted uncomfortably. She held back a gasp at how much her ribs hurt. Then another feeling registered. There was a human body underneath her. She slowly opened her eyes. She was in her apartment, on her couch. Who was under her? She involuntarily tensed up.

Booth felt her tense and wrapped his arms around her. She turned her head a bit and was able to see part of a smiling Seeley Booth's face.

"Good morning." He said, never wanting to move from where he was.

"Good morning." She replied, the same thoughts swirling through her head.

She shifted in order to get even closer to him. He smiled and kissed her directly behind her ear. She turned on to her side, lying on Booth's chest and looking into his eyes. His eyes were conveying emotions that she thought would scare her. But they didn't in this instance… With him she wasn't afraid. She knew that he wouldn't leave her. He wouldn't hurt her like everyone else she had held dear.

She leaned forward slightly and kissed him. He returned the kiss passionately. The kiss followed natural progression and deepened. Both of them were completely lost in each other. Nothing in the world mattered. Booth's arms moved from her waist and held the back of her head as they continued kissing; ignoring the need for air. All that mattered to them at that very moment wasn't the three corpses that would be discovered in NY, Cam, Sullivan, Brennan's parents, or Booth's life as a soldier. All that mattered were each other and the kiss they were sharing. Eventually they broke for air; both gasping.

The kiss soon resumed after a quick 'breather'. The feeling Brennan felt whenever she kissed Booth or vice versa was flooding her, filling her with pure happiness and a feeling she hadn't felt for years. She felt… loved.

She pulled back and looked Booth in the eyes. They were both gasping for breath. She had to tell him how she felt, and she had to hear how he felt about her.

"I… I… I love you Seeley."

Booth was too shocked to reply. He wrapped his arms around her head and pulled her close into him, pulling her as close against his as possible. Brennan understood his reaction completely. She pulled out of his arms and stood up. Booth's face fell, well that is until Temperance put her hand out to Booth. He got up and took it and she started leading them down the hall to her bedroom.

Midway there he wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her close. He whispered in her ear, his voice heavy with emotions, all of them good ones.

"I love you too Temperance. I love you too."

Finis

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Hey y'all that was it. I hope you all enjoyed and that you check out the sequel; 'In a New York State of Mind'. More BB fluff and a B rescues B scenario. The question; which B is doing the rescuing???