Title: The Man in the Hospital
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Pick up from the Season Four Finale – plain and simple.
Warning: Severe spoilers for "The End of the Beginning" – Season Four Finale episode! You have been warned!

Chapter 1 – "Who are you?"

Author's Note: Obvious spoilers in case you didn't read the warning. It picks up RIGHT from "The End of the Beginning." Also, I'm using a different POV in this fic, let me know what you think! Not my normal style.

.............................

Hospital Room

"Who are you?"

The words scared her and for a brief moment she thought he was joking, but then the truth settled. It made her want to cry and shake him. He was awake! The operation had been a success! He was going to live! Everything was going to be okay now. Why didn't he remember? Tears threatened to fall. Brennan kept them at bay and tried to keep a smile in place, there was no use in worry him. It would only upset him.

"It's me," Brennan said quietly. "Doctor Temperance Brennan." That was the wrong response she knew. "Bones. You call me Bones. We're partners, Booth."

She still wanted to cry. They'd come so far. She didn't care if she had a child; all she wanted was for Booth to be okay. That's all she wanted. She didn't need a progeny if she couldn't have Booth. Even though Angela was her best friend, so was Booth. Booth was just a different kind of best friend.

"Booth is me?" he asked.

He looked generally confused. Brennan nodded. She wanted to touch him, to assure him that everything would be okay. They'd figure out what was wrong. They'd find a way. They always did.

"Yes," Brennan finally responded after a moment.

"That's a weird name, isn't it?"

Brennan smiled. "You're Special Agent Seeley Booth, F.B.I." The clarification of who he was seemed to both impress him and still confuse him.

"I see why you call me Booth," he said.

He sounded like Booth. He didn't smile though. "I should get a doctor," Brennan said after a moment. She wanted to know if this was temporary or if Booth really wouldn't remember his life, his memories, her...

................................

Hospital Lobby

This was hard.

Harder than she had thought.

She hadn't told them what had happened, that Booth couldn't remember, she'd just asked them all to come. Now she'd have to explain to them the truth of Booth's current condition. Brennan didn't understand why she couldn't stay calm. It was logical that she stay calm, after all, nothing was wrong with her. Booth hadn't died. He just didn't remember. Temporary amnesia was common with head trauma and with surgical procedures done on the brain. She should have expected it. Been prepared.

But she wasn't.

"Out with it, Sweetie," Angela prompted.

"Booth," Brennan started, she couldn't look at them. Somehow she felt it was her fault. She hadn't thought of this outcome before. No one was prepared, least of all her. So, she stared at the tiled floor. "Booth can't remember... The doctors say that the amnesia could be temporary...or it may be permanent. They're looking him over now."

"Oh, Brennan," Angela said.

Angela's arms encased her and held her tight. Brennan had noticed Angela's voice, one of sympathy. She held on for a minute. She needed this. She released and she could feel Angela do the same. Brennan pulled away and looked finally to the others. Everyone looked worried.

"I put in a call to Rebecca," Cam spoke up. "I was afraid that this wouldn't be the best news. I didn't want her to bring Parker down here until after I talked to you."

Brennan nodded. "It could seriously impact Parker if Booth didn't recognize him."

"It has to be good for him to see familiar people, though, right?" Hodgins spoke up. "He just needs some time to wake up and knock the cobwebs out of that head. We all see him every day. He'll recognize us."

"So much so that he'll probably kick us all out," Wendell spoke up.

Cam smiled. "Mr. Bray is right. Thinking negatively isn't going to help Booth. We need to stay positive. I'm sure between us all we can jog his memory."

She wasn't convinced. Brennan wasn't sure if she should be. She knew that Sweets was still on his way. Contacting Jared had resulted in leaving a message on his voicemail, but she hadn't heard back from him yet. She wasn't sure if she would. She didn't know where he was. For all she knew he was in India.

"Sweetie, why don't you go home?" Angela suggested.

"I'm fine," Brennan blurted out without thinking. She didn't want to leave Booth. She didn't care if he didn't remember her. Brennan wanted to be there when he remembered. She wanted to be able to help him remember.

"You've been here for four days, Doctor B," Hodgins said.

"I'm fine."

It was a lie. She wasn't fine. She wanted to cry. She wanted to go back into the hospital room and shake Booth and yell at him to remember. How could he forget her? Forget Parker? Brennan kept the tears at bay. She didn't want to look weak in front of them...at least not now. She couldn't bear it.

"Brenn—" Angela started.

Brennan quickly cut her off. "I'm fine, Ang," she told her as she stared at her. "I am. I need to be here right now." And she did. She didn't think she'd be able to relax at home. She just couldn't. She needed to be there with him.

"Look, the doctors are in there right now, right?" Cam asked.

She nodded.

"I'll go in and stay with Booth," Cam said.

She didn't want to leave him. Before Brennan could interrupt, Cam continued to talk.

"You run home. Grab a shower, pack a bag, maybe think of something that will help Booth remember, and then come back..." Cam said. "If there's any change, I'll call you right away. I promise. It's going to help him if you're okay."

Angela smiled. "You know Booth won't be happy when he finally wakes up from his amnesia if you look like hell just because you wouldn't go home for an hour."

She was right. Angela was always right it seemed, sometimes it just took her longer to realize it. Brennan didn't want to listen, but Angela was right. She hated to admit it.

"Okay."

...................................

Hospital Room

"Hello."

"Hello."

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

Tears sprung to her eyes, but she tried to keep them back. Her breath hitched in her throat. She struggled to control her emotions. To keep control. "You have nothing to be sorry for," Brennan said. She'd gone home and left him in Cam's able care. Cam hadn't gotten much from the doctors. They were all "it's too early to tell" with all their answers. It was unacceptable.

"Cam, right? That woman who was here before, her name is Cam."

Brennan smiled and moved the chair to his bedside. "Yeah, Cam."

"She explained things and that doctor... I feel guilty for some reason," he admitted. He shrugged.

"You shouldn't," Brennan told him. "You're alive, that's what matters."

"We're partners...that's what you said," Booth said.

He was trying. Brennan wasn't sure how much of Booth trying to figure out their world she could handle. It was heart breaking. "Yes," she finally said. "We're partners."

"And I'm an F.B.I. agent," he said with enthusiasm.

Brennan laughed. She couldn't help it. He almost sounded like a little kid just finding out what he was going to be in twenty years. "Yes. The best F.B.I. agent in fact."

"So, does that make you the best partner?" Booth asked.

She couldn't help, but keep her smile in place. "I'm the best in my field," she admitted.

"What field?"

Brennan tried to settle in and then got a bit worried. "Maybe you should eat something..." She didn't know if he'd eaten while she was gone, but she would have thought that he'd be hungry after being out for four days. Solid food might do him good.

"I could go for a burger and fries."

That was Booth. Somewhere inside he was there. "I don't think the hospital will let you have it, but I'll tell you what...you eat hospital food now, I'll make sure that Hodgins or Wendell bring you one later. Okay?"

"I could go for some pudding..."

Brennan got up and headed to the hall.

"Doctor Brennan?"

She stopped. It'd been a long time since he'd called her that. It had always been Bones. Bones. Now, she was reverted to a formal title. She turned and kept a smile on her face. For Booth. "Yes?"

"Are you going to tell me about what we do when you come back?"

Brennan willed herself to nod. "Yes." And she would. As best as she could. In terms that she knew that Booth would prefer. She'd use as little anthropology as possible. "But it's a long story..."

She left him with a smile and then disappeared into the hallway. Brennan found a nurse first to let her know that he wanted food, specifically pudding, and that she was going to get coffee. That's not where she was going. She fled the floor. Got into the elevator and mashed the first floor button.

The tears had to stay in.

She had to remain in control.

Control.

Control was slipping.

She wanted her Booth.

The Booth that called her Bones.

She waited. Not yet. Brennan sniffled and tried to stay as composed as possible at this point. Just a little farther. She hurried out of the elevator the second the doors opened. Quickly to the nearest exit, she fled. Out in the open air, she couldn't breathe.

Breathe.

Walk.

Breathe.

Walk.

Breathe.

Brennan approached the parking structure and thrust her hand into the pocket of her jacket to look for her keys. Happy that she'd deposited them there instead of in her bag that was still in Booth's hospital room. Quickly, she walked towards where she remembered parking her car.

She stopped. Her car wasn't there. She turned around. Tears were threatening to fall. Sobs were willing themselves to escape. It was imminent that she'd completely breakdown. Not here. Not here.

She'd parked here before. She'd gone home and then when she'd returned, she had parked on the second level. A sliver of sanity restored, she located the stairs and quickly ran up them. There was no time. Brennan spotted her car right away then. Clicking the remote, she unlocked her car.

Breathe.

Walk.

Breathe.

Walk.

Breathe.

Opening the door, she felt the cold of the door handle. She sniffled. Brennan sat in the driver's seat and quickly closed the door. Clicking the remote once again, this time to lock, she finally gave in.

Tears.

Sobs.

No air.

She couldn't handle it. She needed her Booth back. She wasn't the strong one. He was strong. She wasn't like that. She couldn't survive. Brennan let her head fall to her steering wheel and just cried.

A baby.

She was going to have his baby.

He'd wanted to be part of the baby's life. They'd have been a family. Brennan had been prepared to tell him that she was okay with that. That she wanted that. That she could be a family with him and a baby. She trusted him.

A baby.

That was just a dream.

A dream is what Brennan desperately wanted to wake up from. Booth was okay. She'd fallen asleep in her office...at her desk...or on her couch. A dream. That's what it had to be. She wanted to scream. She wanted to just work out all the emotions in any way she could. She had to return to Booth. The Booth that wasn't a dream. The Booth that didn't remember her. The Booth that was upstairs in the hospital room eating pudding.

Control.

Breathe.

So, she breathed and tried to calm herself. She'd already been gone for some time. Booth would be wondering what was taking her so long. She took in deep breaths and then pulled down the make-up mirror on the visor. Her face was red, she was splotchy, her mascara was running... There was no hiding that she'd been crying.

Keys in the ignition, she turned it. Once the car was on, she turned the air conditioner on high and let it cool her face. She reached into the glove compartment and found tissues. That was something at least. She tried to mop up the mess that her tears combined with the black mascara had caused.

A few minutes later, she felt she looked at least presentable. This Booth wouldn't notice the change. Her Booth would have. He would have known that there was something wrong. But he wasn't there. She closed her eyes and let her head drop into her hands as she breathed for a few extra minutes. She was afraid that if she thought about Booth that she'd break down again.

"You can do it," she told herself quietly.

Turning off the car, she pulled the keys out. She could do it. Getting out of the car, she turned and closed the door before clicking the remote to lock it. Once it beeped, she walked away. This time she took the elevator. Taking more time to return.

As she crossed the lobby. She stopped. Coffee. She'd gone to get coffee was her cover. Heading quickly for the cafeteria, she picked up a cup of coffee along with a croissant. At least she'd look like she'd done what she'd said she was doing. The line was really long was going to be her cover.

The elevator ride up was too fast. Before she knew it, the doors opened to the floor which Booth was located on. She stepped out a bit hesitantly.

Walk slowly.

When she got to his room, she paused for a moment to breathe before entering. She put on a smile for him. A façade. "Sorry, the line was really long," she apologized.

"They brought me pudding. Want some?" Booth asked.

"No," she said quietly. "I'm fine. Thanks."

"So, you said it was a long story."

"Yes," Brennan said a bit louder. She looked up at him. His face was expectant. "It is a long story... We work on cases together—"

..................................

TBC...