(The Corpse at the Convention)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

He'd had a restless night and Sunday morning seemed to be dragging along. Booth was both anxious to hear the tapes his grandfather had recorded and dreading to hear what his grandfather said on them. He didn't think Brennan sitting next to him was going to help, but it wouldn't hurt either. Maybe that logical brain of hers could process what Hank was doing better than he could. At least he hoped so.

At the moment he was feeling guilty for placing his grandfather in a retirement home. There weren't many good options at the time, but he supposed he should have taken a sabbatical from the FBI until his grandfather was better. His grandfather had been the one to suggest it was time to sell his house and move into an assisted living residence and Booth had made that happen as quickly as possible. Now he was wondering if he'd jumped too quickly. Did he do it for Pops or for himself? He didn't know and that worried him.

With Christine taking a nap in her room, Booth went out to the garage and brought in the tape player and the box of cassettes. Once Brennan was sitting on the couch, he plugged the tape player into the electrical outlet next to the fireplace and placed it on hearth. "This is the third tape." After hitting the play button, he sat down on the chair near the fireplace, leaned forward and listened to his grandfather speak from the past.

I think this thing is on . . . yeah, the wheels are going around so it has to be . . . Okay this is me, Hank Joseph Booth talking into a tape recorder so my doctor will get off my back . . . My speech isn't slurred . . . Well it isn't now, is it? Exactly, so I don't see why I have to do this . . . okay, whatever . . . Yes, Edwin came by to see me yesterday. He's not looking well, but you know why. I wish we had known about PTSD when he came back from Vietnam. Maybe we could have got him some help . . . He really loved to fly and when he was shot down . . . well his injuries were bad and the Air Force had to give him a medical discharge . . . he never got over that . . . I don't want to talk about Edwin. We've talked about him and talked about him and nothing changes . . . I'm not mad, I'm just saying I don't want to talk about Edwin . . . Hey, remember that time we drove to Niagara Falls? You wanted to see the water falling and we did. It was pretty impressive, especially since it was winter and there was this ice all over everything and there were huge icicles and the steam from the water made it foggy and kind of creepy. I took a lot of pictures and the boy at the photomat ruined them . . . That kid needed to be fired . . . well, he ruined my pictures . . . whatever . . . Hey, remember that time Seeley and Jared were at the house and we made chocolate ice cream and those boys had a lot of fun. They'd never seen ice cream made from a hank cranked ice cream machine. They really loved it. After you were gone, we made some a few times every summer. Seeley didn't mind cranking the machine when I got tired . . . I miss you. I wish you hadn't left me behind. Not a day goes by I don't think about you . . . I don't know why you're here, but I love that you came to see about me . . . I love you too, Marie . . . I will always love you . . ."

There was silence on the tape, Hank had stopped talking and Booth turned off the tape player. "Well?"

"I don't know Booth." She had listened to the tape and now she was trying to process what she had heard. "It's common for people over the age of 65 to have complications after heart attacks. Up to 60% of those who have certain surgeries develop delirium. It can last for weeks. Hank moved into an assisted living home four weeks after his hospitalization. I'm sure you would have mentioned this behavior to Hank's surgeon if you had noticed this was happening."

"Of course, I would have." Booth ran his shaking hand through his hair. "I . . . I didn't hear him talking to my grandmother when I was taking care of him. Not in the hospital and not when he was in my apartment. He was slow and his right leg was dragging but he had therapy for that and the therapist didn't notice anything else was wrong. Pops didn't really talk to me too much while he was with me, but he's like that when he's sick. He doesn't like people hovering over him when he's sick . . . I had a hard time getting him to eat after his surgery, but after a couple of weeks, he was eating properly . . . I should have made sure he was okay. I should have noticed that something was wrong."

Moving over to the chair that her husband was sitting in, Brennan knelt in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. "Booth . . . I need you to be rational. While he was in the hospital he didn't show in any signs he was in distress. The nurses would have noticed. They're trained to notice things like that and Hank wasn't talking irrationally when he was living with you. If he wasn't showing any signs then how are you responsible? . . . Obviously this didn't last too long or someone at the assisted living home would have noticed."

His hands now covering her hands, Booth stared into her bright blue eyes. "Maybe . . . Do you want to listen to the fourth tape?"

"Of course." Standing Brennan moved over to where the tape player was laying, replaced the third cassette with the final one and hit play. Sitting on the coffee table, she kept her eyes on Booth hoping this final tape wasn't too upsetting.

Seeley, I know you're upset listening to these tapes, but you shouldn't be. Your grandfather needed encouragement after his heart attack and I had to help him.

Stunned, Booth stared at Brennan, his eyes open wide, a look of fear and confusion on his face.

He wanted to give up, Seeley. He wanted to join me, but it wasn't his time. Not yet. He wouldn't talk to you or his surgeon. He was isolating himself and he wasn't eating. I had to give him hope. I had to let him see that he had more life to live. Don't be upset with me. I did it for Hank. Now he is here with me and all is well. He's fine . . . we're fine. Someday we'll all be together, in the meantime, live your life, love your family and believe in yourself. I'm sorry bad things happened to you, but you're strong and you will get through this. Give people a chance, Seeley. Learn to trust again . . . I love you my dear sweet boy. I will always love you.

The room was silent. Unsure what was happening, Brennan turned the tape player off and turned so she faced Booth. "Who was that?"

"That was my grandmother . . . my dead grandmother." Exhaling deeply, Booth was suddenly calm. "That was . . . amazing." His grandfather had needed help and that help had come in the form of his grandmother. This was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him and it made him feel happy that his grandmother had found a way to talk to him.

A chill running down her spine, Brennan licked her bottom lip and tried to understand what was going on. "There is no such thing as ghosts, Booth. That wasn't your grandmother on the tape. That would be impossible." Rewinding the tape, Brennan hit the play button only to listen to static and white noise while the tape steadily wound around the wheels. The message that they had heard was no longer on the tape. "This is impossible. There is no such thing as ghosts." She didn't know what the explanation was, but she was certain that there was no after life. Someone was playing a trick on them. She wasn't sure why, but it was the only possible explanation.

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth smiled. "Not a ghost, Bones . . . An angel . . . Pops is okay . . . Pops is okay and I'm going to be too."

She had no explanation for what was going on, but the happy look on her husband's face stopped her from speaking further on the matter. Brennan didn't know what had happened, but she would leave it alone. Sometimes a mystery had to stay a mystery.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you thought of my story. Thank you and Happy Halloween.

A/N: if you would like to read another Halloween story written by me, I posted one past year, 'Stop'.