Chapter Five - Reconciliation

Everything was black. And everything remained black for several moments. The next thing Booth knew, he could hear several beeping machines. He could feel the light blanket and scratchy sheets of the moderately comfortable bed he now found himself lying in against the bare skin of his arms. He could also feel a warm hand clutching onto his.

He decided to open his eyes to the hospital room.

His awakening was slow; he was suddenly quite groggy. He'd soon realise this was because of the high dose of morphine that was forcing his immense pain into a dull, throbbing sensation.

The owner of the hand holding onto his was immediately aware of his stirring. She burst into tears. It wasn't something she normally did, but had found herself doing several times during that last week.

"Booth! Is that you?" She exclaimed, an expression of utter joy upon her face; her red, puffy eyes lighting up the way only he could make them. Booth wasn't quite able to manage a verbal response, so he tilted his head a little towards her and nodded slightly. "Oh my God! Booth! I can't believe...you're..." she trailed off as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close.

"Bones, you're back." Booth managed to say. She looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean, I'm back?"

"Never mind." He smiled.

"I missed you so much, Booth."

"I know."

"What? How do you know?"

"Let's just say comatose patients hear more than you think."

"You could hear me?" Booth nodded.

"Every word." A tear trickled down Bones' cheek.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, Booth."

"What? Why should you be sorry? You didn't make me walk out in front of oncoming traffic."

"Is that sarcasm? Because you know I'm not good at that."

"No, I'm serious. It wasn't your fault."

"I think it was."

"I think it wasn't." Booth smiled.

"But, if I hadn't made you so mad, maybe you wouldn't have-"

"I overreacted."

"But I put you on the spot. And your reaction was completely understandable. You got very frustrated with me, which wasn't unreasonable."

"You know, Bones. I meant every word of it. Except the part where I wished you were normal. I never should have said that. I know you're not normal, but I just want you to know that I could never think that's a bad thing." Bones was silent.

"So...you...meant it when you said...you know...you love me?" Booth nodded.

"Bones, you know I love you. You know that you're more than just my partner. Heck, you're more than just my friend, or best friend even. I mean, I should have told you in a less aggressive way, but that was just because the way you appeared to be so...rational about it all...it just frustrated me. I don't just want to 'father a child' for you, I want to have a child with you, and be with you."

"Booth, I have a feeling that's the medicine talking."

"No, Bones, it's not. I've been thinking about us for months, long before any of this."

"Then...why didn't you say anything?" Bones had been asking herself this question for a long time. She'd been fully aware of Booth's attraction to her for years, and had tried and tried to ignore it. However, she also had become aware of her feelings for him that last Christmas, when they'd shared their first kiss. Their had been a definite spark between the two of them, and that spark had been the kick-start that made her start thinking that maybe she liked him too. What had always confused her was that Booth, who was, in her opinion, excellent at expressing his emotions, had never vocalised his feelings. It was understandable that she wouldn't; she was never good at those sorts of things, but she had always been puzzled as to why Booth had never said anything. It didn't make any sense to her.

Booth looked at her, the twinkle already back in his tired eyes.

"Well...it would have been embarrassing, Bones."

"Why?"

"Well...you know...it would have made things pretty awkward...for us."

"I'm not following."

"It's just that...you know...you don't..."

"What? You think I don't love you too? Seeley Booth, you're the one who's blind!" She smiled. She leaned in closer to him and kissed him softly. This kiss lasted several more 'steamboats' than their previous one, and was filled with far more passion and emotion from both sides. It was Bones who eventually had to end it. She looked deep into his eyes, a smile playing on her lips.

"I cannot believe I missed that." Booth said, smiling widely.

"Well, I'm more skilled at concealing my emotions than you are. You wear your heart on your cuff."

"Sleeve, Bones." Booth chuckled.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Never mind, Bones. Never mind." Booth smiled, pulling her in to kiss her again. "You know, when I was in a coma, I had this really weird dream/nightmare thing. It showed me just how my life would be if you were 'normal' like I'd wished." Booth said, once their kiss had ended.

"What was it like?" Bones asked, slightly nervous. She hoped it hadn't been a good experience for Booth.

"It was awful. I was a drugs unit cop and you didn't know me; you weren't even a forensic anthropologist."

"What? What was I?"

"A neurosurgeon."

"Hmm. That's not really a normal job, though."

"Yeah, but obviously you kept your brains."

"Tell me more about this dream."

"Well, your name was Joy Keenan."

"What? Joy Keenan? Is this implying that I'm not normal because of my troubled childhood?"

"Wow, you got that a lot quicker than Sweets or I did."

"Sweets was there?"

"Yeah, he was kind of like my sidekick, helping me solve the mystery."

"Mystery?"

"Did I not mention that I only recovered my memories of the evening when...well, you know, over time?"

"No."

"Well, I did, and neither of us could work out why I was transported to an alternate reality, because I could never remember the accident itself. Turns out that Sweets was the 'missing memory' the whole time."

"Interesting." Bones nodded. "Go on."

"So anyway, you were Joy Keenan and you were married and had a daughter."

"Married?"

"Yeah, well you weren't you either."

"I suppose, it makes sense. What was my daughter's name?" Booth smiled.

"Ruthie."

"After my mom." Bones said quietly. "She still would have been Ruth, if I was Joy."

"Yeah. Too bad we could never name our daughter Ruth."

"Why not?"

"Ruth Booth?"

"Oh..yeah." Bones smiled. "It'd make a nice middle name, though."

"So, you're serious about this baby thing?"

"Yes, but now I'm thinking that it can wait a while."

"Why?"

"Because I've found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"Oh, well I hope the two of you are happy together." Booth pretended not to get what she meant, just to see her reaction.

"I mean you, Booth!"

"I know, Bones, I know. And just so we're clear, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too."

"That's good." She smiled. She'd dreamed about this day for a long time. Sure, she'd pictured it pretty differently; none of her ideas of how it would happen ever involved Booth nearly getting killed, but nonetheless, it had happened. She and Booth were together, and she was going to hold onto him forever because, and while she'd never say this aloud, he was her soulmate. They were meant to be. It was fated. Whichever way you put it, it was entirely irrational, but Bones had come to understand, with Booth's help, of course, that love was never supposed to be rational. It was just...love.

A/N - Thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter :) You see, when you review, updates come a lot quicker! Epilogue should be up in the next few days...