We Will Never Part
The characters do not belong to us. Our title is part of a line from the song "Swimming Pool" by Camera Obscura, one of E's favorite bands that will later appear in parts of the story, hope you enjoy! xx
Chapter 1
Sasha was so glad to finally be home that she could hardly believe it. She wasn't in the underground, held hostage in the rogue agent experiment center or in the hospital. She was actually planning her ideal wedding with the man of her dreams, Barry Frost. It seemed as if life couldn't get any better, until it started to change.
The burning started one rainy night when she'd agreed to watch Maura's daughter, Kaylee. Maura had a difficult case and needed to stay later than usual at the morgue. Maura had only recently gone back to work and hated the late nights away from Kaylee. Overcome by pain in her chest, Sasha gripped the edge of the counter, taking deep breaths. It was as though her insides were literally burning. With a trembling hand, she reached for the phone. Kaylee let out a squeal, banging her toy against the high chair tray.
"Aunt Sasha isn't feeling well, baby girl. Hopefully your mommy can figure out what's wrong." She sank into the chair next to the high chair as the phone started to ring.
It was on the second ring that Maura picked it up. She heard her sister on the other end sounding frantic, yet trying to control it, as not to panic the baby. Maura had long ago stopped thinking of Sasha as her clone, but as her sister instead. It felt so much more natural.
"What's wrong?" Maura asked, fear rising in her body.
"I don't know," Sasha said. "It feels like everything inside me is on fire and I can't stop it, no matter what." She was nearly to crying. "Please tell me you know what this is and how you can fix it. "
"I'm coming home," Maura said. Sasha made no move to object. "Hang in there, Sash. We'll figure this out." Sasha could hear the fear in her sister's voice.
"Okay," Sasha whispered. "Please hurry. It hurts so badly."
It took Maura only a few minutes to arrive home to find her sister sitting on the kitchen floor, silently crying. "I'm here now," Maura said gently, trying to soothe both their fears.
"It won't stop and it's getting hard to breathe," Sasha said between gasps. "What's going on?"
Maura shook her head. "I don't know but, I am going to find out."
"Please," Sasha whispered.
"I think I ought to call my mother." Maura pulled out her cell phone.
From her chair, Kaylee let out an impatient whine. Maura left Hope a message, telling her to call back immediately. She lifted Kaylee into her arms, kissing her forehead. She helped Sasha to her feet and over to the couch. "Is this the first time you've experienced pain?"
Sasha nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "Pain like this, anyway. I'm sorry. I'm an awful babysitter."
"It's ok, you are not an awful babysitter," Maura told her sister with a reassuring hug. "It's most important that we find out what's going on with you."
The door opened then, followed by Jane's voice. "Maura!" She ran into the living room. "Chang said you left because of an emergency."
Maura's phone rang before she could answer. "Take the baby. I have to get this." She passed her daughter to Jane and walked into the kitchen. "Mom..."
"There's something wrong with Sasha," she explained. "Can you please come over as soon as possible?"
"Yes, of course I will," Hope replied with a lump in her throat at the thought of whatever could be wrong. She had grown very close to the woman whom she thought of as her third daughter over the past year. Thinking of Sasha in danger yet again was terrifying.
Hope raced into the kitchen minutes later and immediately knelt beside Sasha on the floor. "Maura, tell me what's going on."
Maura began to talk in her doctor voice as she described Sasha's symptoms. Hope looked more nervous by the minute. "Ok, I think I know what is wrong."
"What is it?" Sasha whispered, holding tightly to Maura's hand. "Please make it stop."
"It's from the experiment," Hope explained, "A lot of the clones in the underground got it."
Maura stiffened at Hope's grave expression. "The only option is Maura's blood. It has to be an exact match. Maura has a unique ability to recover lost blood."
"Wait," Jane cut in from the floor, where she sat with Kaylee. "You're saying that Maura's blood will stop Sasha's pain? Is that safe?"
"Yes, it is safe as long as we follow precautions. We can't take too much blood from Maura or she will be too exhausted to function, sleeping for days at a time. Or giving too much blood at a time can literally poison Sasha," Hope explained. "Now, we need to proceed." She produced a needle from her medical bag so large that Jane's eyes grew large and frightened.
"You're using... that?" Jane inquired, looking as sick as Frost did at grisly crime scenes. She had to turn her head away as Hope nodded. "Oh, my."
"This is crazy. I can't let you do this, Maur." Sasha's voice was weak. "Isn't there another way?"
"No. I'd do anything for you. You know that." Maura gave Sasha's hand a squeeze. "Jane, take Kaylee and go into the nursery. We'll be okay," she said when Jane hesitated. She waited until Jane was out of the room before holding out her arm. "Okay. Do it."
Hope tied a tourniquet around Maura's arm, rubbed it with alcohol and found a vein from which to take the blood. Maura didn't flinch as she was so focused on helping her sister.
Next, Hope did the same thing to Sasha's arm and waited anxiously for the symptoms to abate, which finally happened after a few moments.
"It worked," Maura sighed.
Hope nodded. "It did. But we will have to put PICC lines in each of you to avoid being stuck with needles each time you do this. I'll get you set up with an appointment for the procedure tomorrow. I'm staying the night in case anything happens."
"Thank God!" Maura hugged Sasha and could feel her shaking. "It'll be okay."
Sasha shook her head. "No. It's not fair. This can't be the only way. What if something happens. What if-"
"Hey, shhh. It'll be okay. Mom and I are both doctors. We'll figure this out. I won't have you in pain." She pulled Sasha into her arms again.
She was not comforted by these words, though. It wasn't long before she started to shake so violently that Maura feared she was having a reaction to the blood. But it was just sheer terror.
"It will be okay," Maura's voice did little to soothe Sasha. She looked up into her mother's eyes and mouthed the word 'help'.
Before saying a word, Hope once again knelt down on the floor with her daughters.
"Sasha, you have to calm down or you can do yourself more harm than the blood disorder is doing."
The younger woman didn't respond, only trembled further and cried so hard that she could barely catch her breath. Hope shook her head sadly before pulling a smaller syringe from her bag and injecting her younger daughter with its contents. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but you must calm down." In a moment, Sasha grew limp in Maura's arms.
Maura sighed. "A sedative was necessary," she said matter-of-factly. "Now let's get Jane to help carry her to bed."
Jane came at once and they brought Sasha to the guest room. It was the same one where Jane had stayed on numerous nights, the bedroom with gray walls and light lavender bedding.
They laid Sasha on the bed and then left Hope to change her into something more comfortable for sleeping. Maura offered one of her nightgowns and gazed with admiration at the shoes Hope removed from her sister's feet. Black strappy heels just like she wore herself.
"Nice taste," Maura said. "Good night, Sasha," she murmured as she closed the door. She and Jane went back into the living room and sat down on the green sofa. The hours passed with worry heavy in the air. Maura knew that their mother would be immense help to Sasha, but she worried because the situation had come out of the blue, so intense when she had first arrived home.
Hope sat at her daughter's bedside and kept vigil with growing anxiety. She knew that Sasha had bern lucky to recover fully from the gunshot wounds sustained in the experiment house police raid. But this development was not a good sign at all. The clones who had contracted and survived the blood disease had not been in trauma or suffered severe blood loss, as she had. While there was yet much to be revealed about the condition, Hope knew it would be an unprecedented case with her younger daughter.
She gazed at Sasha in amazement of how much she looked like Maura as she slept. They were identical in looks, but their personality differences shone through like morning rays of sun. Maura was introspective and careful, while Sasha was extroverted and fun loving, ready for new things on the spur of the moment. But without expression on her face, except that of apparently peaceful slumber provided by the sedative, they were literally impossible to tell apart. Hope grew sleepy, gently easing her body down into the queen size bed beside her daughter. Hope wanted to be close in case she needed anything in the night.
Maura paced the quiet living room. Jane was asleep on the foldout couch in Maura's study, insisting on staying the night. They'd contacted Angie, Anna and Jamie, but they had yet to reply. It was nearly midnight and Maura did not feel tired. She was even relieved when Kaylee had awakened an hour ago for a bottle.
"Maura?" Jane's voice, though a whisper, was loud in the silence. "You okay?"
"I don't know if I'm okay or not, Jane," Maura answered. "I'm so... I don't know how I am. My poor sister. She just got her life back, and now..."
"I know," she sympathized. "You can tell me about it, even when you can't talk to anyone else. You know that, don't you?"
Maura nodded as the tears began to spill down her face. "I do. You're the best friend I could ever ask for!"
Maura wiped her eyes as they sat on the couch. "She's so scared. She won't like having to depend on me. She-" Sasha's footsteps stopped her. Before she could process what was happening, Maura was at her sister's side, leading her to the couch.
"Hurts," Sasha whispered. Maura was never more grateful for Jane's presence as right now.
"Does it burn again?" Maura asked her sister. "Or is it something else?"
"Burns," Sasha whispered. She looked at Maura. "I can't do this. It's not fair. You shouldn't have to put your life on hold because of me."
Maura took Sasha's hands in her own. "You are my sister. My other half. I'm not going to sit back while you're in pain. Let me help." She looked at Jane. "Grab Hope's bag."
Jane did as she was told. In the blink of an eye, Sasha's pain was once again alleviated by Maura's blood. Sasha wasn't sure how to feel because she didn't want to be dependent upon anyone. The entire thing was confusing, at best.
Hope heard her daughters talking and got up to join them. She was clearly dismayed to learn that Sasha had recurring pain so soon, but she tried to keep a cool head and formulate a plan.
"Honey, I hate to tell you this, but I think I'd better admit you to the hospital tomorrow and run some tests. I've seen this before, but I'm afraid your case might be a bit different because of the experiments."
To her surprise, Sasha agreed in an acquiescent manner.
"Let's get everyone back to bed, ok?" Hope wasn't merely suggesting, and her daughters immediately went back to their bedrooms. As Jane walked back to the sofa, Hope stopped her with a soft hand in her forearm.
"Thank you for being here for both my girls."
"You're welcome. I wouldn't leave them for the world. I'm here, and I will continue to be here. I'm here for good, and you can count on that. I'm in it for the long haul. For both Maura and Sasha, because I know how much she means to Maura. I promise with all of my heart."
Jane's phone rang at seven-forty five the next morning. She groaned, rolling over to find Maura gone. They'd fallen asleep while talking. Jane could hear Kaylee cooing from her crib. "Hey there, cutie pie." She went to the crib and lifted Kaylee into her arms. "Let's go find Mommy. And you need a diaper change." She headed down the hall to find the guest room door closed, meaning Sasha was still sleeping. Low voices came from the kitchen. Hope and Maura. "I think I better feed you, sweet girl. It'll be lunch before your mommy has the coffee made."
"Hey little girl!" Maura lifted her baby into her arms and grinned. "Are you hungry? I'll bet you are..."
"I'll make the coffee," Jane volunteered. "I might not do it as skillfully as our resident expert here, but at least it will be coffee..."
"Jane!" Maura scolded, kissing Kaylee's cheek and putting her in the highchair. "Angie called. She and Anna have both been out of cell range. They are flying in this afternoon. I didn't tell them what's going on. Didn't want to worry them." She opened a jar of baby food.
"Maur?" Hope walked into the room, her arm around Sasha's shoulders.
"Good morning," Maura used a soft voice with her sister, not knowing how she was feeling.
Sasha rubbed her eyes sleepily and sat at the table before returning her greeting. "Sorry about last night."
"Don't be, honey, no one blames you for anything that happened," Maura said. "We just want to find a way to make you better."
"That's what we're doing now," Hope intoned, on our way to the hospital. She was acting as if Sasha were five years old, but with the state of shock and numbness she was feeling, a gentle approach was best.
"Well, have some breakfast. Angie texted me. She and Anna are on their way home." Maura held the spoon to Kaylee's lips, but the baby seemed more interested in her bracelet than eating. "Sorry, baby girl. You can't eat my bracelet." She looked at her sister. "Sash, eat something. It'll make you feel better. Studies show-"
"Stop! Stop with your google speak! I'm not one of your bodies at the morgue." Her sudden rise in volume caused Kaylee to cry.
"Actually," their mother said, "it might be better if she doesn't eat anything yet until we see what kinds of tests she's going to need."
Hope locked eyes with Maura. Suddenly, Maura understood what her mother was saying. Hope was afraid that Sasha could become so anxious that she could require sedation again, perhaps stronger than the night before.
"Ok, I'm sorry for upsetting you," she said to Sasha. "I didn't mean to boss you around or anything."
Sasha immediately started to cry again. "I'm the one who's sorry. I know you only mean to help me..."
Hope put an arm around her and gently guided her out of the kitchen. "Let's go, sweetheart."