Page 60 of Bones
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I startled awake at a loud crash.
“Ah fuck,” someone groaned.
“Sam!”
I turned my head to see Trey sitting beside my mattress looking away from me with an exasperated expression.
“Did you seriously just break that?”
“Well, I thought the lid would stay on!”
I followed his gaze to see Sam standing by the exam table, holding a glass lid and looking guilty. The jar I kept clean rags in lay in pieces on the floor. He met my eyes and was visibly startled to see me awake and staring back at him.
“Sorry, Shortcake,” he sighed. “I’ll find you a new one.”
“Hey,” Trey said from my other side. “How you feelin’?”
I looked back to find him studying me. “What happened?”
“You saved a shit ton of people, and then you passed out.” He paused. “You had a high fever again. I’m wonderin’ if you sorta burn out when you use up all your power and it makes you sick. Cause this was just like last time.”
Last time, when I helped Madame torture Hojo to death.
“Did that little girl die?” I mumbled.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes, guilt sweeping through me.
“Bones,” Trey’s hand curled around mine and squeezed, “you saved so many people. You did everything you could. It’s not your fault.”
I still failed.
”Would you blame me for her dying?”
My eyes popped open. “No.”
“If I’d found her sooner, she might be alive,” he countered.
I set my jaw. I knew what he was doing, and I didn’t like it. “It’s not the same thing,” I muttered.
“Why not?” he pushed.
“Youdid all you could.” The whispered words tumbled out of me. “I couldn’t do enough.”
"Bones," the gentle way he said my name made my eyes well up, "you might have remarkable power, but you're still human. You have limits."
“It’s never enough,” as soon as I said the words, I wished I could take it back.
“Whatwouldbe enough?” he asked slowly, studying me.
I swallowed hard. This was headed toward dangerous ground. “I want to get up,” I said instead.
He hesitated but then nodded. "Ok, just take it easy."
I sat up and realized Sam must have left. Just the two of us remained in the clinic. I frowned, a hazy memory floating through my head. “Was Mac here?”
