Tawny caught up to me about five seconds later.

"It's really not that big of a deal," Tawny said. "Don't make it one. Nobody can tell if it is or isn't. All they know is that it looks gorgeous on you, and they're jealous."

Tears clogged my throat.

"Thank you," I whispered to her.

Tawny patted my hand, being sure to let go before we made it back into the ball room.

"Gosh, he sure is beautiful," she said from beside me.

I looked at her.

"Who is?" I asked.

"Aaron," she said, tilting her head in the direction of Aaron and Booth who were standing next to our table, a beer in their hands.

All the senior staff had gone home for the night and now all that was left were the younger, more fun group.

Apparently, the senior officers leaving was the signal for the alcohol to be broken out.

I, sadly, couldn't drink.

Not that I would, anyway.

I was the only one able to drive home, and a grin overtook my face as I took Tawny's hand and pulled us forward.

"Hey, Aaron," I said. "Did you know if you drink too much, I get to drive your truck home?"

He turned to me at the sound of his name, then narrowed his eyes.

"You're not driving my truck," he denied instantly.

I raised my eyes at him.

"Oh really?" I teased.

He looked down at his beer.

"Yeah, nobody drives my truck but me," he confirmed.

"Not even me?" Tawny fluttered her eye lashes at him.

Aaron's face clouded, and I started laughing.

"Oh, Aaron. You're screwed."

Booth took my hand then and led me onto the dance floor, not putting his beer down as he did.

"Stop teasing them," he said against my lips.

I kissed him, then.

"I love you, Booth," I whispered, looking up into his eyes.

He lifted his hand, the one without the beer in it, and ran it along the apple of my cheek.

"And I love you, Mase."

I stood up with the shirt that Booth had worn in my hands, staring at it with love as the memories from that night continued to pour through me.

That had been the happiest night of my life.

And I swore that I'd make this work with Booth.

After I let him know just how unhappy it made me to be ignored and put on hold all night.

Chapter 13.

I can't take you back. I already told my mom what you did.

-Note to self Booth "Where'd you get that shiner?" Tai asked me.

"Fucking SWAT call last night," I sighed. "The bitch threw her fucking kid at me. Had paperwork out the ass afterwards, Aaron needed talked down from a ledge, and I wasn't done until 0700 hours and had to come straight here. No time for fuckin' ice."

Or it might've been Masen clocking me and breaking her finger.

"She threw her kid at you..." Tai's face as he asked for confirmation was comical.

I nodded.

"Car seat and all. Just swung it like it was a doll instead of a real, live, breathing person," I nodded. "Caught the baby. Lucky for him he was in his seat. Bad for me that his seat hit me in the face."

Tai snorted and stiffened when the tones dropped over the loud speaker.

"Shit," Tai growled. "Fuck me."

My brow rose. "What?"

He grinned and pointed at me. "You're lead."

Then proceeded to tell me what the hell I was about to get myself into.

I walked into the house warily.

It was a hoarder's house; I hated hoarder houses.

The sheer amount of crap left too many hiding spots for people to use as cover.

I'd never know they were there until I was right on top of them, and for a soldier, that was detrimental. I could practically feel the sweat start pouring out of my pores.

"What the fuck is that?" I asked Tai.

Tai looked at the bottle I was pointing at and grimaced.

"That's my period blood. I've been saving it for ten years now because the man said I had to," a woman's voice interrupted my question.

I blinked, confused.

"Um, what?" I asked, turning to the voice.

She was young. Maybe twenty-five or so, with long blonde hair that was twisted into dreadlocks.

Her eyes were hazy, and I could smell the faint hint of marijuana wafting off her.

She nodded. "You heard right. Period blood. I've saved it because the man said I needed to. He said it would protect me from any unseen forces that try to kill me."

My mouth dropped open, not knowing what to say to that.

"Is this similar to that alien show where the little girl saved up all the glasses of water because it had the amoebas in it?" PD tossed out from behind me.

I wanted to vomit.

"Are you the one that called 911?" I swallowed, my voice surprisingly normal despite the fact that I was very close to freaking out.

I was a paramedic, and had seen some pretty fucked up things. However, jarred period blood had never been something that even crossed my lists.

And it was quite disturbing.

She nodded her head. "Yes, I am," she confirmed.

"Were you calling about yourself or someone else?" I continued patiently.

"Myself," she said, holding up the side of her shirt.

My eyes bulged when I got a look at her stomach.

"You... you've been shot," my eyes widened.

Or she had been anyway, at some point.

It was healing...and infected.

Very infected.

"Yes," she confirmed, poking at the spot on her belly right above her left hip.

I moved forward while I heard Tai step back to call the PD in.

Whenever there was a gunshot wound, it was routine department procedure to notify the police.

I'd just prodded the outsides of the wound when I saw the gleam of silver out of the corner of my eye.

I reacted instinctively, rearing back and rolling backwards so the blade in the woman's hand passed harmlessly over my side.

She screamed in outrage at having missed, and I finished my roll and came to my feet, ready to defend myself.

I didn't have to, though.

Tai had watched the whole thing go down and had swung the oxygen tank he'd brought in with him.

The tank connected with the woman's hand and she fell, the knife skittering away.

And in horror, I watched as the bottles of disgusting fluids started to teeter off the shelves and ledges like dominos.

"Oh fuck," I gasped, raising my arm to cover my mouth with the crook of my elbow.

A few of the men behind me started to gag and leave the room, making Tai and I the only ones left to take care of the now irate patient.

"Grab her shoulders," I insisted, walking to her feet.

I stepped over a broken glass jar, trying very hard not to look at the jar's contents, and scooped the woman's thrashing legs up.

Tai did the same with her arms, and we then attached her to the stretcher with restraints.

She was covered head to toe in the jar's contents, and I was reluctant to even get close to her again.

But I did my job, passed her care over to the hospital staff eight minutes and thirty-five seconds later, and promptly drove back to the station and scrubbed myself raw before we caught another call ten minutes after I got out of the shower.

Tai took the lead this time, and I was grateful.