"Maura, when have I ever been wrong about a reddish-brown stain? Honestly even PeeWee Herman can state the obvious."

Jane was desperately impatient as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, being careful not to alter her sarcastic expression. She had been standing for the entire day, and Maura's fixation with certainty never expedited the burning desire to find answers. The case put her on the edge of her feet, but this one in particular was damping everyone's morale.

-"Detective, you know particularly well that I do not guess. It's a reckless means of inquiry throughout the investigations, not to mention it has an overbearing toll on my consistency - I'll let you know after I run the samples by the crime lab." Maura's breathing quickened as she spoke. Her words were competing with her lung function in an odd sort of way. Her heart ran sprints every time she took a single step forward, and a discomforting vibration tickled her chest upon exertion. Everything was pounding - the whole world as she knew it seemed to revolve around the demanding thumpety thump of her seemingly faltering biological engine. Her serious gaze fell from the detective back to the victim on the autopsy table. Jane shrugged. She was accustomed to the usual logical retort. Maura continued to stare at the victim with a fixed, lifeless expression. She raised her right hand gently and placed it right on her chest, breathing deeply but quietly in the process.

"Really, Yoga at work Doctor Isles?" Jane rolled her eyes. They had been especially cold with one another following Dean's surprise entrance into Maura's undercover scheme, but today was unimaginably slow, not to mention the heated emotions brewing inside and out.

The moment of silence was interrupted by the rough strides of Korsak and Frost, both anxious for any clue pertaining to the victim's cause of death, the announcer of which would have to be Maura at some point. "Anything?" Frost asked with a hint of discomfort, as he strode around the autopsy table, careful not to fall in the hands of any sort of reverse peristalsis. This part of homicide wasn't his strong suit.

-"Not yet," Maura answered rapidly.

-"Well what about the bullet Doc? Were you able to remove it?" Korsak was standing next to Jane with his head tilted.

-"Would you excuse me." Maura's gaze relaxed in a mask of determination, and she left the crime lab with a hint of repugnance.

-"Okay then," remarked Frost. "We'll wait for her to finish up. It's not like we have anything else to do, right?" Sarcasm was filling the air.

Jane chased after Maura to find her behind her desk in her office, typing casually."What is up with you, Maura? Letting your person life get a hold of your professional one, are you really going to let a matter between you and me affect the entire workplace? The investigations!?"

- "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're referring to, Jane," the doctor answered with a strained attempt to remain calm.

-"Okay. Okay fine. I just didn't think you would stoop so low as to let these victims suffer from your sudden inability to separate between your heart and your brain. That's really an all-time low for you Maura. Not only is Paddy a serial killer, the thought of the man in a hospital is acting on you at the expense of -"

-"Please stop, I will not discuss this here," Maura said quietly. She seemed strained. Her expression was in a subtle frown.

-"You want to be mad at me for protecting you, that's fine, but do your job like the rest of u-"

The sound of Maura's chair screeched against the wooden floor of the office as she stood up, rigid with anger."PROTECTING ME? Protecting me by telling Agent Dean everything I told you to keep to yourself? Between us? I suppose getting in bed with someone would have that effect on you wouldn't it?" It wasn't like Maura to speak from such a dark place - it came out raw and bare. Ferociously cold.

-"Oh OKAY, so now we have to sympathize with a murderer all of the sudden!? Maybe we forgot to formally introduce ourselves - Hello, I'm Jane Rizzoli and I'm a homicide detective, Maura. Do you know what I do for a living or have you forgotten what we both do every single day? We're supposed to catch the bad guys in case you've forgotten."

Maura's glare became icy. "I will have you know that any insinuation that I am not doing my job correctly must otherwise be directed towards a higher authority. My intention to be cautions throughout investigation has absolutely nothing to do with you and your need for instant gratification in figuring out quick and easy answers to these cases. Maybe you're losing your touch detective, or should I guess on all the evidence that we obtain?" Maura stopped short of another furious piece of dialogue and frowned. Her hand rose again to her chest and hovered. She swallowed and held a look of uncertainty. Underneath her eyes were dark circles of concern, which contrasted heavily with her bright outfit.

Jane was on the rebound when she realized that the doctor seemed unnaturally still. "What Maura. What is it?"

Maura slumped back into her chair with a look of severe discomfort. She opened the drawer slowly. Exhaustion hit her like a smack in the face. Pulling out a small plastic device she breathed in deeply.

"Maur-" Jane hesitated.

-"Just go, Jane This is childish enough as it is. Take up an analysis of my so-called 'deteriorating' work ethic with someone else who has the position to relieve you of my less suitable skill set. In the meantime, I will continue to do my job as it should be done."

"God, Maura - what the hell! You're not acting like yourself!" Jane's rough stance seemed to dwindle with every word. She was never any good at holding grudges at people she truly cared for.

-"Well perhaps I've changed," Maura retorted angrily.

-Perhaps? Perhaps? Meaning that you're unsure. Meaning that you're just guessing? Suppose that makes a hypocrite out of two of us then, Doctor Isles," Jane replied, drowning out her words with the slamming of the office door on her way out.

Maura sat still for the next ten or fifteen minutes with the base of her finger on a heart rate monitor she had obtained just two weeks prior. Funny she would have one in the lab, seeing as she would never be able to use it on anybody who ever came in. The monitor read 147...149...145. Why so high? For the past months she had been having these recurring episodes. Her resting heart rate would rise even at the smallest of exertions, sometimes so high she felt she lacked sufficient oxygen. Her chest would send out a warning. Her breathing would deepen and increase in rate. She exercised on a regular schedule - there was nothing abnormal about her health. So why this? An EKG and echocardiogram had revealed normal outcomes. Stress, she thought quickly. With her ongoing feud with Jane - which by itself was taking a heavy toll on her well-being - and the piling workload, there wasn't much time to recuperate. The daily hassles were accumulating and she felt increasingly fatigued with each passing day. 120...119...110. She put her hands in her arms and waited patiently, focusing on her breathing in the process. 103...100. How long had she been waiting like this? Half an hour? An hour? It certainly felt that long. 98...92. A bit high, but low enough to function at the very least. She relaxed slightly, got up slowly, and resumed her day.

Jane was abruptly called from her afternoon workout to an associated crime scene. This wretched criminal was targeting middle-aged women, and ones whose absence would make an impact. They were mothers, sisters, aunts, nieces. They were involved in the community. They were someone's family, meaning they would be missed. Her throat ached. She rushed to the change and hurried to the scene, as soon as she had called Tommy to take Jo Friday out for a walk. "Please, just tonight," she had begged. "Tell Ma that dinner can't wait on me." Her voice was getting weaker - everybody was tired.

Maura was just heading out of the station when she received the same call. So desperately did she want to ignore it, pretend it was frivolous and reject the call. So desperately did she want to return home and just recollect herself. Yoga perhaps. Multiple studies have identified yoga as an excellent means of controlling heart rate, one of the few autonomous functions in that somewhat-controllable category. But work never called too soon or too late - work was an all-encompassing entity for her. Sometimes it acted as the only form of stability in her life. The crime scenes never went away - they were consistent, and only variable in the degree of severity with which the crime was performed. It was odd to find a pleasantry in such a morbid thing as crime. She felt uncomfortable. She would often talk with Jane about her feelings. Perhaps that's why she never ended up in a psychiatrist's office, she mused. But now, with the distance growing between them, it's not a surprise she had been feeling so confined to her own thoughts. She breathed deeply, acknowledged the necessity of maintaining her stance as the chief medical examiner, and head out. We as humans tend to measure control in our ability to diffuse variability to an ultimate minimum. To a large degree we are creatures of habit, more so than we may like to believe.

Jane arrived at the crime scene to find Frost and Korsak huddled around Maura, who was stooped over examining the latest victim. She was dictating softly, appearing lethargic. Not even a matter of dress could cover that up today. Jane approached cautiously, wondering about their earlier encounter. Was she alright? What was she hiding?

-"Victim was female, mid-thirties, no evidence of a struggle - some lacerations present on the arms and neck...hepatic temperature indicates the victim died about 12-13 hours ago." Maura looked up, noticed Jane, and looked back down quickly. There was no expression - no sadness, no anger - she simply looked fatigued. "There is a blunt force trauma on the chest, appearing to have been caused by a heavy, rounded-like object."

-"Any sign of the immediate cause of death?" Jane asked, trying so very hard to feign a superior stance.

-"I don't know Detective, would you like me to guess or provide a professional statement? I'm not sure what we're doing nowadays," Maura asked, with her hand on its subtle journey up to her chest, as if to control her breathing. She appeared strained and weaker than before.

Jane scowled. "We could hear both, and then maybe call in Dr. Pike for a second opinion..." she muttered. Korsak and Frost stood frozen in their place - the two had never seen the women quarrel out in the open, on the job. It was bound to happen - but this was not the typical reserved quality the two women typically had in the workplace or in a crime scene.

-"Well, by all means Detective, go right ahead. From what I know, you're rather used to the process of obtaining second opinions with your male colleagues, aren't y-" Maura was weak on her feet. She gasped slightly. Her world was swirling in place as she reached out desperately for something to lean on. Her eyes closed slightly as she collapsed in the arms of Jane and Frost, who were quick to the catch. Maura looked as pale as a sheet - beads of sweat were beginning to run down her forehead. Her chest heaved. She groaned and winced as she brought her hands up to her chest. "I can't..." Maura rasped. She was running on the line of consciousness, vacillating between darkness and the light.

-"Doctor Isles, Doctor Isles...Doctor Isles! Stay with us, we're getting you help." Frost was trying to balance Maura's head on his lap. Everything in her body had gone limp.

-"Maura! Maura, can you hear me, stay with me, wake up Maura! Oh God, what's happening?" She pulled out her phone. "This is Detective Rizzoli - we have a medical examiner who has collapsed on site, send an ambulance now." She shoved her phone in her pocket and reached out to Maura, whose breathing had become shallow and strained. Jane had ignored all the signs. They had been so evident - Maura had been acting strangely for the past few days, and not only out of anger about the Dean incident. Not meeting with her throughout the workday had played its part in Jane being so oblivious to Maura's change in character over the past few weeks. Shoving away all the calling signs that something may have been wrong was only inevitable because of the ongoing quarrel between them. "Maura...stay with us okay?" Fear. Fear from losing someone dear. Fear was casting a dark shadow.

The ambulance arrived within five minutes, with the EMTs hurrying out with a gurney. Maura was in shock, shaking in the daze, breathing with a force incompatible with her vital capacity. "Over here, she's still in and out of consciousness," Jane gestured over to them, her voice cracking every time she spoke. What if something happened to her? The last thing the two best friends did was argue. She had been cruel. Guilt swarmed her - she needed to apologize for everything. The worst brings it self out with catastrophe, it seemed. The emergency team quickly hoisted Maura up and into the truck. The deafening sirens blared. The police squad had sheltered the area from the street. Aside from the crime, news of a medical examiner's collapse would only cause more problems.

"Only one individual may ride with her..." the driver said, with an air of precaution.

-Jane will go," Frost stated rapidly, "they're best friends." He glared at Jane, "Supposed to be," he muttered to her softly so that only she could hear.

-"Yes, I'll go. Frost, tell Frankie to let Ma know where I am okay?" Jane hauled herself into the ambulance. They closed the doors. She looked at Maura as they began to adjust all the medical equipment. The ambulance moved quickly - they had gone to a crime in the more distant areas of the city, the hospital was well over 15 minutes away."

"Pulse is 170. Blood pressure is 80/60. She's not breathing well, get an oxygen mask going." The oxygen monitor read 89.

The oxygen mask was on in an instant. Her breathing became less labored. Within five minutes, her breathing had become less labored. Her eyes were halfway open. She fidgeted with discomfort, attempting to pull the mask off her face, gasping loudly in the process. "No! Jane..." She breathed. The monitors were beeping. Jane's words were lost in the cacophony, and Maura was clearly distressed. Jane reached out to hold Maura's hand.

-"Shhhh. Maura, you need to relax and breathe with me, okay? You're not breathing. I need you to focus with me okay? Forget work. Just relax."

-"What happen -" Maura inhaled quickly through the mask. She was working against any supplemental oxygen, trying to act alone to improve. She stared at Jane with a look of agony as she squeezed her hand, arching forward in the process. The EMTs restrained her movements. Jane understood. This was a woman who was always in control, now under the commanding step of her body. This was a woman who planned everything, a woman who was independent and healthy, who now could not speak without gasping for air.

-"Maura, look at me. Maura. Just look at me. You're okay. You collapsed at the crime scene. You're going to be fine okay? I'm not leaving you. I'll be with you the entire time. You're going to be...Maura! Look at me, would you just.." Maura's gaze was drifting. She wasn't listening. She was panicking.

-"Am I.." Maura gasped.

The EMT was quick to reassure her of her surroundings. "Doctor Isles, you're in an ambulance on your way to the hospital. You are going to be just fine." On that account, he stated, "possible dehydration, let's get an temporary IV up now." He looked at Jane with calm eyes. "Her BP is low and her heart rate is very high. It's not a surprise that she collapsed. We're getting her stabilized."

Jane looked at Maura, who was crying silently and squeezing Jane's hand.

-"Maura, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry Maura. This is all my fault -I need you to just get better, okay? I'm right here with you. God, I'm so sorry." Jane was almost talking to herself.

Maura's grasp tightened in Jane's hand once more. She breathed a forced "Jane" as she was hoisted out of the ambulance and into the sterile, working world of Massachusetts General Hospital. Maura's world went black.