Rest and Recuperation

Previous: Fools Rush In

Andrews didn't seem phased at all. “I was telling you more to go with your wife, but suit yourself.” The man said. The medic began to check over the bruising on Seeley as two more shut the ambulance doors and climbed in, the two in back visible through the window starting an IV line on a sobbing Ella who was dealing with the full force of the pain hitting her. The ambulance pulled away to take her to Irving, where blood was drawn, and then she was prepped for surgery. However, at the last minute, her labs came back and Ella was forced to endure a bullet extraction with only local anesthetic.

“He's dead, sir.” The agent told Kaine. By the time he got to Irving, Summer was still in surgery.

Winter was as good as her word. She used Summer's phone that she'd been holding since before they got to the Gala, calling Giles to bring the car. Only when it came did they leave the Met. Both girls held Troy and Ethan's hands with tight grips, their faces solemn. Stacy looked at Winter. “Your sister is the toughest hellion I know. She's gonna be fine. I know it.” She said confidently, and Winter nodded, resting her head on Troy's shoulder. What a birthday.

“Mrs. Booth?” The doctor said as he came into Ella's room after the bullet had been removed and her wound stitched and bandaged.

“Well…” Fuck. “Thanks.” He turned to look at the ambulance as it pulled away. “I'd say you know how it is when the adrenaline crash comes, but…” He bit his tongue. No smartass comment. Andrews had come up through the ranks, so he would know, despite Seeley's dig. “Yeah, you know how it is. I'll catch up.”

“Good. He got what he deserved.” Once at the hospital, he pushed and prodded at his phone, trying to distract himself. Failed miserably. He was worried, hiding it behind the anger.

Ethan and Try squeezed their respective hands. Troy spoke up. “I've seen your sister in action. She won't give up while there's any breath…” His words faded as he realized what he was saying. He paused. Tried again. “She's a fighter.”

Ethan barely knew her, there was nothing he could add. He just held on to his girl and tried to process everything.

Seeley managed to get airlifted, using the helicopter that had brought him to the warehouse to get him over to the hospital once the medics finished checking him out. He made his way through the corridors in a daze, asking where to find Agent Booth's room. He finally reached her, just before the doctor entered, sitting next to her bed and taking her hand as he entered.

“Mrs Booth?”

Giles pulled up to the hospital and the group was led to the same waiting room as Kaine. Winter took one look at him and squeezed Troy's hand before sitting on one side of Kaine, taking his phone, tucking it in his jacket pocket, and taking his hand in her own, her other left free for Troy. Stacy tugged Ethan along with her and nudged him into the seat next to Kaine before settling on the other side of Ethan, rubbing his back and leaning on him.

Ella smiled, relieved, threading her fingers through Seeley's as he came in. She looked up at the doctor. “Everything went well I hope? You need a stronger local anesthetic.” She quipped. “Well, Mrs. Booth…we couldn't knock you out, and the location of the wound was in close enough proximity that we couldn't use more than the calculated dose. You did well though. Everything was clean and there were no complications.”

“What do you mean you couldn't use more than calculated?” Ella asked. The doctor flipped through a couple of pages. “Right before we were going to knock you out, your labs came back.” He looked up from her chart. “Using more than calculated could have posed a risk, due to the location of the wound.” The doctor looked at Seeley. “Your wife had a bullet buried in her hip, close to the hip bone, on the interior side, close to the pelvic region.” Ella looked irritated. “What do you mean? A risk to what?”

“You don't know? Mrs. Booth, your labs clearly show that you're pregnant.”

The surgeon came into the waiting room and looked at Kaine. Winter. Troy. Ethan. Stacy. “She's out of surgery. We repaired her lung, the abdominal bullet was removed, thankfully nothing major was hit. She's stable and being taken up to the ICU. If you'll kindly wait another half hour, you can all go up to see her.”

Ethan sat next to Kaine and put his arm around his brother's shoulders. Troy dropped into the seat on the other side of Winter, his hand on her leg, on her hand.

Kaine looked to either side. First Winter. Then Ethan. Then he closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hand. Tears. Streaming tears at the thought he could have lost his Rose. No words, just sobbing, streaming tears.

Seeley looked up at the Doctor and listened to his words. He was still slightly foggy. A few words stuck out in his mind, even hers. Anesthetic. Knock you out. Proximity. Calculated dose. Clean. Complications. Ugh. Too much fog. Labs. Risk. Hip bone. Pelvic. Risk. Risk to what? Huh? What the hell's he talking about?

His fog lifted enough to hear those last words. All worry dropped from his face for the moment it took him to start grinning like a loon. Words couldn't begin to say how he felt, even now.

Kaine looked up. His cheeks and eyes were wet where he'd been crying. All he could do was nod. And smile. It was a weak smile, but the tears kept coming. No longer from sadness, but joy that she was safe.

Thank you Booth. Booths. Thank you both.

“Pregnant?” Ella looked at the doctor, jaw dropped. The doctor nodded and Ella looked at Seeley, taking in his expression. Pregnant. Ella was pregnant. She was having a baby. His baby. Their baby. A child. She threw her arms around Seeley and began to cry tears of happiness. “Seeley, I'm pregnant….we're having a baby, you're going to be a father again!” She whispered.

Winter squeezed Kaine's hand and laid her head on his shoulder in a comforting little sister way. “It'll be okay, Kaine. She's gonna be okay. You know her. She'd live just to spite those who'd try to…yeah. You know.” She murmured, squeezing Troy's hand. They all looked up when the doctor came in. Summer was going to be okay. Stacy let out a whooshing breath along with Winter, her hand holding Ethan's lightly rubbing his leg.

“We've gotta like…buy them dinner. A vacation. Something. Anything.” Winter mumbled as she thought of the people who had saved her sister. Half an hour later, they were being shown into the ICU, into Summer's room. She was pale, bruised on her face, but when she saw them all filing in, she cracked her trademark wry smile. “You all look like hell.” She quipped in a hoarse voice.

She was going to be just fine.

“Mmm, yes!” He wrapped his arms around Ella and hugged her as best he could from where he sat. He felt like he didn't have the energy to stand. “Parker will be so happy to have a little… Brother? Sister?” He glanced at the Doctor. It didn't matter which.

Kaine still couldn't talk, but he could grab his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his eyes. And cheeks. And jaw where a few tears still clung. He tried to say he knew, but all that came out was a croaking sound, so he stopped trying to talk.

Ethan breathed deep, pushing his breath out through his mouth. He barely knew the woman, but he knew she made his brother happy. He barely knew his brother, but with her, he wasn't the man he'd read about. He was better. He patted Stacy's hand where she rubbed his leg but didn't stop her.

Troy felt a little out of place. As if he wasn't quite part of the family. Winter's squeeze on his hand made him feel a little closer, and he knew it wasn't the truth, it was just… How he felt. He needed air. “I'll catch up, I need a moment, okay?” He stood to walk outside.

Kaine shook his head as he entered, seeing her for the first time since she'd been dragged away at the event. Hearing her voice, hoarse as it was, brought words to his own lips. Even if they did sound more common. “You ain't doin' so great, either.” Finally, a smile from the Lone Wolf.

They were going to be just fine.

Winter kept looking towards the door of Summer's room, her expression solemn. Stacy caught the look and leaned up, kissing Ethan's cheek. “I'll be right back, okay? I think I found a way I can be of some use here.” She then left the room. Summer smiled at Kaine. “I'm alive. Way I see it, I win.” She replied softly, her fingers flexing, then reaching. “C'mere, you.” She murmured, then looked to Winter and Ethan. Finally, she settled on Winter. “Happy birthday, kid.”

Stacy went outside and leaned on the wall next to Troy. “You know. I kinda feel like an outsider too. They barely knew me until I stood up to Kaine and stuck up for Ethan. It's a lot, and it's overwhelming, but the way I see it…shit takes time, and the fact that you're with Winter means you're family to the other two.” She looked at him then.

“I'll tell you one thing. I ain't standing in that room for Kaine or Summer. I'm standing there for Ethan, who's trying to figure out the best way to support the brother he's been recently reunited with. And I'm there for Winter, who's in visible pain. No matter how I feel, I got out relatively unharmed, save for this lip. Winter? She was pushed out of a moving car. And she's still standing up there for her sister, for Kaine.” An eyebrow arched. “You gonna come stand up for her? If not, if this is too much for you, today aside, then walk away and don't come back. But she keeps looking at that door. She ain't looking for the doctor, darlin', she's looking for you.” She shrugged and then headed back inside and up to the ICU, slipping her arms around Ethan from behind and leaning into him.

The doctor looked between the Booths. “It's a little too early to tell, but if it's okay, I'd like to have an ultrasound ordered, just to make sure everything is okay. At this stage, probably six weeks? We should be able to visualize a fetal pole….a heartbeat.” Ella nodded, then looked to Seeley. “We're fine with that…right?”

Ethan looked down at Stacy as she kissed his cheek. “I understand. I know how it feels.”

“From what I hear, that's a pretty fucking big win.” Kaine moved over to stand by her as she started talking, slipping his fingers into hers as he arrived by her side. He followed her eyeline as she spoke to Winter before he could speak again. Quietly. “I thought I'd lost you.”

Troy looked up as Stacy arrived. He reached up with his hand to curl his fingers around his neck as he listened to her. “Yeah, my family isn't… I'm an only child. I'm used to being on my own. I'm not used to being around lots of people. Guess I'm going to have to get used to it, huh?”

His hand dropped from his neck. “I'm not wal-hey, wait!” He shoved off from the wall and followed Stacy back to the room. He moved behind Winter, slipping his arms around her waist, trying to avoid what he could see as injuries. He could see scuffs on the dress, but not what was underneath. “Sorry.” He closed his eyes. He couldn't explain how he felt. Nor could he figure out how to apologize. He left it at that.

“Sure, we're fine with that.” He pushed himself up enough so he could kiss her forehead. “I'm gonna be a father again!” He was so happy!

“I'm a lot harder to get rid of than that.” Summer murmured to Kaine, squeezing his hand weakly. Winter smiled when Troy came back in, leaning back against him for support. “Don't be sorry. I understand. You're here now, that's what matters.” She whispered softly.

An ultrasound machine was wheeled in, and cool gel squirted on Ella's abdomen. The tech laid the wand on her and immediately her womb came into view. “Alright here's the fetal pole….” The tech pointed to what literally looked like a little blob with a bright line in the center. At the top, the line seemed to be flickering, like a star in the sky. “And there's the heartbeat.” The tech explained. Ella stared with wide eyes.

Their baby.

“Praise be to God.” She breathed.

After stopping by the ICU to check on Summer, Ella and Seeley returned to DC, to their home, where they began to work on converting one of the spare bedrooms into a nursery.

Summer was in the ICU for a week and was released to Kaine's care. The gossip pages had a field day, outing Ethan Harrison and Stacy Jenson as a couple, and also confirming that Winter and Troy were a couple. Everyone read about the She-Wolf of New York being shot, and the paper that sold the most copies was the Post, who got a picture of Kaine's face as Summer vanished…and the look of relief in his smile as the two left the hospital, Summer's face still sporting a fading purplish yellow bruise on her jaw.

Then….two weeks later, in a home in suburban DC….the fun began when Ella bolted out of bed and ran into the master bathroom, losing her dinner into the toilet.

Yep. She was definitely pregnant.