The Other Bones

The Hospital

As they walked through the front doors of the hospital, Stella realised she was pretty much dragging a dead weight. Mia's legs didn't want to cooperate; they felt like they were trapped in concrete. Her brain was willing her to run to the front desk and demand Seeley's room number, but she couldn't make her body work. Stella was still determinedly dragging Mia to the front desk, hoping that she would be able to speak once they arrived. For a second, Stella thought she was going to speak. Mia took a shaky breath, but no words came out. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and Stella realised. It had all hit Mia the moment they walked in the front doors.

"Agent Seeley Booth" Stella said to the receptionist.

"Room 1268" the receptionist said, "2nd floor then the door to the left." The receptionist directed them, noticing the obvious anxiety on the older woman's face.

"Thank you" Stella said politely before dragging the woman she thought of as her aunt to the elevator. Mia had done so much for Stella over the past sixteen years that helping her now was the easiest decision Stella had ever made.

As they reached Seeley's room, Stella noticed that there was a large group of people standing outside the room. They were silent, simply standing, watching Booth through the window. Agent Booth was completely still. Stella heard the breath leave Mia's body. She could barely stand. Suddenly, everyone turned to face them. Mia basically collapsing made a lot more noise than Stella realised.

"Is she okay?" the curly-haired man asked, looking over at them very concerned.

"She'll be fine" Stella said quietly, trying to get them to go back to their previous state.

"Do you want some help?" He asked with a smile.

"Please," Stella replied, struggling to stay upright under the weight of Mia's body. Within seconds, the curly-haired man had collected Mia from Stella's arms. He carefully placed her on a nearby chair.

"What's your name, sweetie?" A woman with dark hair asked Stella.

"Stella, and this is Mia" Stella replied, watching the people carefully. Her dad had taught her all about stranger danger.

"I'm Angela" replied the friendly woman "That's Dr Brennan" she continued pointing at a pale woman with brown hair "The guy that helped you is Jack and this is Cam" she replied indicating the woman standing next to her.

"And I'm Jared Booth" replied the final man who was dressed in a military uniform.

Stella watched them all carefully, not entirely sure what to do next. They all kept watching her and Mia. Jared was staring at Mia intensely. It seemed like he was trying to read her mind.

"Hi" Mia said breathily, watching Jared carefully. A hint of recognition passed over their faces. Stella knew they had met before but didn't know how well they knew each other. The others sitting around them replied with a variety of greetings. Jared stepped closer to Mia. He knew why she was here. He knew how his brother felt about her even if he would never tell her.

He stepped up to Mia and whispered in her ear. The others looked confused as Mia quickly stood up, partially helped by Jared, and made her way into Agent Booth's room. Something the others had not been allowed to do.

Once she reached Booth's hospital bed, she sat in the chair next to the bed. For the first time in two days, she relaxed. Completely. Within a few minutes, she fell asleep. Even if the chair was uncomfortable and she would regret it later. Right now, she needed sleep.

As Mia slept, Stella had to answer the questioning of the group waiting outside Booth's room. She quickly explained that they lived in Texas and that Seeley spent all of his downtime in Texas. She tried to explain how Seeley and Mia knew each other without explaining Mia's past. Stella knew that she wouldn't want these random people to know about her past, especially what happened with her dad. Stella desperately wanted to leave. The questions were becoming overwhelming for her. She made eye contact with Jared. They'd met a few times when Stella had been over at Seeley's house escaping her family. He shot her a look, meaning 'escape now while you can'. He was ready to take on the next round of questioning. About an hour after Mia had gone into Seeley's room, Stella left in search of somewhere for them to stay. She made it to the front reception before Angela caught up with her.

"Here's Booth's keys, if Mia really spends basically every day with him she might feel more comfortable going there once she wakes up" Angela explains to Stella earning a quick thank you and then Angela passes a note to Stella with Booth's address on.

Within 20 minutes, Stella had managed to walk to Booth's apartment. Stella carefully let herself in the main door of the building. It wasn't as nice as his Texas house, but the building was quite nice. She made her way up the staircase, quickly finding the door to Seeley's apartment. The tiredness hit her as she reached the door. It had been a long day for Stella. It had been 9 hours since that phone call, but Stella felt like it had been more like a week. As she looked around the small apartment, she smiled. It was like Booth in apartment form, but she quickly noticed a small problem. There was only one bed. It would be an issue later, but right now, Stella needed a nap. So she headed to Seeley's bed. It was surprisingly comfortable, and she fell asleep almost instantly.

With the hours ticking by the team from the Jeffersonian slowly made their way back to their own homes, vowing that they would be back tomorrow. This left Jared sleeping on the hard hospital chairs outside his brother's room. Mia was still asleep in the chair next to Seeley's bed. That's exactly where they would stay for the rest of the night.