Are there more than one stem going down into the soil? If so, you can probably take it out of the pot and gently pull it apart. bougainvillea can be reproduced by cuttings in damp sand or potting medium. So I suspect it would recover if you pamper it a bit.

By the way, those "flowers" contain a natural decongestant. In Mexico people will make a tea from the red colored "flowers" to help with colds. One friend told us to boil together:

a clove of garlic
3 bougainvillea "flowers"
a handful of eucalyptus leaves
honey to taste

The resultant tea hardly tasted good, but it was the best cough medicine and decongestant we have ever tried.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Yes there is more than one stem 2 plants.
thanks for the cough med recipe! Might just come in handy one day.
Luckily (fingers crossed ) we've not had any sickness this winter.