“Devon,” Brennan said, taking a step forward to help support her.

She was wobbly on her feet.

“Reid, just stop.  You’ve lost.  You lost me,” she said, trying to stay as strong as she could.  “You’ve been following me in my dreams for months…and I want you to stop.  I want you to stop following me.  I’m not in your life.  You’re not in mine.  You need to find a new life because we’re over.”

“Dev,” Reid said, the life draining out of his eyes.

“No, Reid.  We’re done,” she said.  “I’m never letting you hurt me again.  You’ve done enough damage.”

“The papers,” Brennan whispered.

Devon nodded.  “I filed a restraining order.  Someone will be serving you papers, and you’ll have to appear in court.”

“A restraining order?” Reid asked in a strangled voice.  “But my med school applications.”

“You should have thought about that,” Devon whispered harshly, barely able to keep the tremble out of her voice, “before you ever laid your hands on me.”  She paused to let that sink in, and then she released a shuddering breath.  “Low scores are the least of your problem.  Good luck having your dad get you out of this one.”

Devon felt herself sinking.  Her vision blurred, wavered, straightened, and then blurred again.  “Brennan,” she said, her voice coming out slow, like her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth.

“Yeah, Belle?” he asked, pulling her in closer.

“You saved me.”

“I’d do anything for you.”

She smiled.  Then, she felt her world tilt, and she lost consciousness.

BEEP.  BEEP.  BEEP.

Devon’s chest slowly rose and fell with the strange beeping noise.  It clouded her already fuzzy thoughts, and it seemed to take over her consciousness.  She tried to concentrate, but she found that tended to intensify the annoying sound.  Instead, she thought about the placement of her body.  Five fingers on the right hand.  One.  Two.  Three.  Four.  Five.  And five on the left hand.  She could feel all ten of her toes, up to the balls of her feet, and across her arch to her heel.

Her face felt right but also wrong.  It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel normal either.  Her tongue felt solid, and her lips felt heavy.  When she thought about her cheek, it only seemed to throb more, so she stopped.  Her throat was dry, like she had swallowed cotton balls, and she started coughing at the thought.

Someone was at her side, taking her hand and slowly lifting her head off the pillow.  She began to breathe easier.  Devon remembered her eyes then, and they opened to the harsh lights.  She blinked a few times, allowing her eyes to adjust, and then she squinted at her surroundings.

She was in a hospital.  That much was obvious.  White curtain, white bed, white floor.  Sanitation heaven.

She saw that it was Brennan holding her hand.  That made her smile despite her being in the hospital.

“Hey, Belle,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips.  “Good to see you’re finally awake.”

“I said no hospitals,” she said immediately.

“I didn’t hear you when you were unconscious,” he said with a sad smile.

Devon giggled.  “Fair point.”

“How are you feeling?” he asked, taking a seat in the chair next to her.

“I’ve been better,” she whispered.

“Are you in much pain?  They gave you some painkillers, but I don’t know if they have worn off,” he asked, concerned.

“I’m doing okay.”  She squeezed his hand.  “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” he asked with a frown.

“I remember, uh…Reid showed up.  You guys got into a fight.  I told him that we were over…and that’s about it,” she said, biting the side of her lip that wasn’t swollen.

“That’s about what happened.  You passed out.  When he pushed you into the wall, I guess it upset your already delicate condition.  I scooped you up and drove you straight here.  I was, uh…going to call the cops, but I was worried you might kill me when you woke up.  I thought I’d leave that decision up to you…if that’s what you want.”

“No hospitals.  No cops.   No court.”

“I know, but you’ve already broken two of those,” Brennan said.

Devon narrowed her eyes.  “No cops.  Just because you keep breaking the rules doesn’t mean I want to involve the police.”

“I’ll break every rule to keep you safe.  The doctor said it was really good I brought you in,” he said, pushing her hair back with one hand.  “You’ve been out of it for a while.”

“So…Reid just left?” she asked carefully.  She was tired of being afraid of where he might turn up.  She was beginning to see why the restraining order was a good idea.

Brennan shrugged and scratched the back of his head.  He chuckled softly and looked away from her.  “He was here earlier.  They had to reset his nose.  Seems he managed to break it in two places.”

Devon giggled with him.  “I wonder how that happened.”

“I guess he was unlucky when he ran into my fist,” he said.  “Anyway, he tried to come see you.  I hope you don’t mind that I showed the restraining order to the nurses.  He was escorted out of the building.”

“Oh!  The nurses escorted him out?” Devon asked.

“Uh…the cops escorted him out.”

“Brennan!  No cops!”

“I wasn’t letting him anywhere near you.  It’s not like they arrested him…like they should have.”  He bent down and kissed her lips.  “I’m just glad you’re safe now.  I don’t care if you press charges.  I just care that you’re safe.”

“I’m glad I’m safe, too,” she said even though the injuries on her body told her that she didn’t feel that safe.

Brennan leaned his forehead against her hand as he sighed softly.  His lips found her hand, then her palm, and then the inside of her wrist.  “You know what I’m going to do when you’re feeling all better?”

“What?” she asked.

His lips traveled up to her elbow.  “I’m going to kiss away every bruise and every scar and every headache.  I’m going to kiss away every thought of heartache,” he whispered.  His kisses were now reaching her shoulder.

“You…you are?” she asked through gulps.  When the beeps on the machine picked up speed, she tried not to blush.

“Yep.  I’m going to kiss every inch of your beautiful skin, so when you look at it, all you see is me.”  He stopped his kisses and stared down into her eyes.

“All I see is you already,” she responded huskily, trying not to let her mind stray to all the things she wanted to do to his body.

“I’ll be a happy man every day that is true.”

He bent forward and kissed her lips.  Devon reached her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, anchoring them together.

Someone cleared her throat, and Brennan pulled back from the kiss.  Devon blushed and looked over to see Hadley and Garrett standing together in the doorway.

“Hope we’re not interrupting,” Hadley said, planting her hands on her hips.

“Course not,” Devon said.  She looked back at Brennan.  “I didn’t know you called them.”

Brennan shrugged.  “I thought they’d want to know you were here.”

“Of course we wanted to know you were here.”  Hadley tossed her oversized purse on the floor and rushed over to Devon’s side.  “You came to visit me when I was here.  I couldn’t imagine not visiting you.”

“It’s good to see you,” Devon said with a smile.

“Do you guys mind giving us a minute?” Hadley asked, shooing them out of the room.

Brennan kissed Devon’s forehead once more.  “Want anything from the cafeteria?”

She smiled.  Always thoughtful.  “Jell-O.”

He chuckled.  “You’re in the right place for that.”