dr_temperance (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dr_temperance) wrote2008-10-28 07:34 pm
dr_temperance) wrote2008-10-28 07:34 pm
Post-Wannabe In The Weeds
Brennan finds herself preoccupied with numbers.
Sometimes it’s just easier to think in terms of numbers.
In the year 2007 the number of law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty was 57. The 57 deaths occurred in 51 separate incidents across 25 different states. Among the officers killed, the average age was 37. The officers had served in law enforcement for an average of 10 years. Of the 57 officers, all 57 were male; 47 were white.
It seems wrong that Booth should be boiled down to a statistic.
Brennan knows that some might argue the accuracy of the statement that Booth had been killed in the line of duty. Technically he had been off-duty. Having a fun night out with his friends.
If stepping in front of a bullet to keep it from hitting your partner doesn’t constitute ‘in the line of duty’ Brennan doesn’t know what does.
4:08 AM was the time at which the surgeon had come out to tell the room full of waiting Squints that Booth had been pronounced dead at 3:56.
There were 6 people that Brennan could think of off-hand who were not present at the hospital and would need to be informed of the news. The first 5—Booth’s mother and father, his brother, and his son and Rebecca--she knew that Booth’s superiors would take responsibility for contacting.
That left the 6th. And though she knew the number without even having to open her cell phone directory, Brennan didn’t dial it. At 4:31 AM she left the hospital and drove the 23 minutes to Hannah’s dorm at GW (the odd hour made for light traffic and allowed her to maintain an average speed of 52 miles per hour).
The night guard at Hannah’s dorm had taken one look at Brennan and immediately admitted her when she said she was there regarding a personal emergency. She didn’t know what he had seen that made him move so quickly, but she was, in a detached fashion, grateful for his efficiency. She rides the silent elevator up to the 3rd floor, walks the 17 paces to the door of 14C and knocks 3 times on the door.
And then 3 times again.
Sometimes it’s just easier to think in terms of numbers.
In the year 2007 the number of law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty was 57. The 57 deaths occurred in 51 separate incidents across 25 different states. Among the officers killed, the average age was 37. The officers had served in law enforcement for an average of 10 years. Of the 57 officers, all 57 were male; 47 were white.
It seems wrong that Booth should be boiled down to a statistic.
Brennan knows that some might argue the accuracy of the statement that Booth had been killed in the line of duty. Technically he had been off-duty. Having a fun night out with his friends.
If stepping in front of a bullet to keep it from hitting your partner doesn’t constitute ‘in the line of duty’ Brennan doesn’t know what does.
4:08 AM was the time at which the surgeon had come out to tell the room full of waiting Squints that Booth had been pronounced dead at 3:56.
There were 6 people that Brennan could think of off-hand who were not present at the hospital and would need to be informed of the news. The first 5—Booth’s mother and father, his brother, and his son and Rebecca--she knew that Booth’s superiors would take responsibility for contacting.
That left the 6th. And though she knew the number without even having to open her cell phone directory, Brennan didn’t dial it. At 4:31 AM she left the hospital and drove the 23 minutes to Hannah’s dorm at GW (the odd hour made for light traffic and allowed her to maintain an average speed of 52 miles per hour).
The night guard at Hannah’s dorm had taken one look at Brennan and immediately admitted her when she said she was there regarding a personal emergency. She didn’t know what he had seen that made him move so quickly, but she was, in a detached fashion, grateful for his efficiency. She rides the silent elevator up to the 3rd floor, walks the 17 paces to the door of 14C and knocks 3 times on the door.
And then 3 times again.
no subject
"You should sleep.
"Come on."
no subject
Brennan follows Hannah.
She is under no illusion that things will be better after she wakes up. If anything, they are likely to be worse for the lack of numbness brought on by exhaustion.
But physically she'll suffer more for not sleeping. And she'll need whatever fortitude she can muster for the coming days.
no subject
But she gets Brennan settled, waits until she's asleep, leaves water and aspirin and apple juice on the table beside the bed, calls Angela's cell phone and Dr. Sayoran's office the Jeffersonian and leaves messages so people will know where Brennan is and that she's all right, for a given definition of all right.
And then she goes back to the common room, and sits down in the floor with her back against the wall over in the corner where she can't be seen from the door, with her arms wrapped around her knees.
And that's where she is when Hilary finds her, an hour and a half later. And Hilary just manages to get the very sparest of details out of her roommate before Hannah finally, and utterly, breaks down.