It's been a while, so...hi. I finally managed to do some writing...yay!
~0~
'You know you really should think about getting a full time maintenance guy in Maur...ugh, what the hell..?'
Jane was perched on the top step of the ladder, reaching across to the last stretch of guttering at the front of Maura's house - and while clearing them had been her suggestion, after almost two hours of climbing ladders and clambering to reach the awkward nooks and crannies, she'd pretty much had enough of sludgy leaves and moss.
"How the hell did this end up in your gutters? Maur, you missing a sock by any chance? Watch yourself...' she said as she threw down the offending, and somewhat odd looking, sock, mixed in with the sludge - Maura dodging to her left as the filthy mix whizzed past her right ear.
"And if you are, care to explain how it got all the way up here?"
Maura gripped the unsteady ladder as Jane manoeuvred awkwardly to reach the last part. Allowing Jane to clear her gutters had been against her better judgement, but the 'helpful' detective had been so insistent that it needed doing, and that it was an 'easy job that any fool could do.'
Now, two hours later, Jane was recommending she get a professional fool in to do it...
"I have no idea how that sock got up there Jane" she replied as she looked at the unfamiliar item. "in fact I don't even recognise it as one of mine...but would you please be careful, you're getting tired and the last thing I want is for you to fall." she said as she dodged more filthy leaves hurtling past her left ear.
"I'm nearly done Maur, and then I'll help you clear up the mess...okay?"
Maura nodded while looking around at the state of the paving.
They'd laid out a ground sheet to catch the leaves, but Jane's aim was a little off sometimes and there were brown patches where the sludgy leaves had landed. Maura had rubber gloves and a hose pipe on standby, much to Jane's amusement. The detective had already made reference to colonic irrigation which made her chortle to herself every few seconds, but just made Maura more nervous as the ladder wobbled precariously - Maura tightened her grip.
With a final clump of leaves, and what appeared to be the remains of a dead bird landing with a quiet thud, Jane climbed back down the ladder and threw her gloves onto the ground sheet with a satisfied, almost smug grin. She wiped her sweaty hands on her 'lived in' jeans, the ones she used whenever she did any manual labour for Maura.
"See Maur, it was easy, and a whole lot cheaper than getting some guy in to do it..." she said to an exasperated Maura, who stood with her hands on her hips, giving Jane her best 'you're about to get Maura'd' stare. Jane stopped short of an actual flinch, but raised her eyebrows and took a subtle step back in readiness...
"Jane Rizzoli" Uh oh..."not two minutes ago you said, and I quote, 'you know, you really should think about getting a full time maintenance guy in Maur...' she mimicked Jane's throaty voice, but with an added 'whine'.
She glanced down at the little brown heaps scattered around, while Jane looked back at her like a hurt puppy. Maura instantly felt bad for admonishing her eager - to - please best friend.
"I know you like to help out around the place, and I appreciate it, I really do." she said in a much warmer, Maura - like voice, "but honestly, I'd feel much happier if next time you let me call a specialist for something like this. If you'd slipped and fallen I'd never have forgiven myself."
Jane seemed happier with the friendlier tone, but even so, she still had to have her say, even if it wasn't quite the last word...
"Maur, I don't do things that I don't think I can't do, and I'm careful, you know that." Maura tilted her head at that, and her eyebrows were distinctly raised. Jane ploughed on, as if she'd had a plan all along...
"And besides, it's supposed to rain tonight, and those gutters would've overflowed, and then you really would have had a problem, so it's a good job well done I'd say. And I don't take risks if it's dangerous..." she said in all seriousness to the Medical Examiner, who stared straight at her in amazement...and incredulity.
"You once shot yourself Jane, just how dangerous does it have to be?"
Maura Isles was definitely going to have the last word, because for once, Detective Rizzoli didn't have an answer.
~0~
The next hour or so was spent clearing up the mess that Jane had left with her misfiring aim - the damp piles of sludge had already begun to dry and were in danger of leaving unsightly brown stains behind. Maura donned her stylish rubber gloves and an apron and daintily picked up each pile, holding each handful at arms length and depositing them into a recycling bag.
Jane happily followed behind with a jet wash, blasting each stain as if she were wielding a weapon - approaching stealthily, (presumably to keep the element of surprise) then blasting each one into near oblivion.
Tellingly, they each found the other's contrasting styles both endearing and strangely comforting somehow, though neither woman was aware of this fact.
Two very different styles, from two very different women, but somehow, as usual, they got the job done, and eventually the doctor and the detective happily flopped onto Maura's couch, tired, but pleased to have got a particularly laborious chore out of the way for another season.
And all without calling on a professional...this time.
Maura had promised to fix them both some lunch as they'd worked so hard all morning, so after showers and a change of clothes Jane set the table and began unconsciously picking some bread apart. She hadn't really eaten anything since last night's burger which was wolfed down on the run between two separate call outs. Now, of course, she was ravenous and whatever Maura was making smelled so good it was making her stomach rumble even more.
"Angela's lasagne, in case you were wondering." she said to Jane. "She brought it over yesterday, I thought we could do with something more substantial than rice crackers and tofu, just this once." She smiled at Jane who's face had lit up at the thought of 'real' food. "It'll be ready in five minutes, so don't eat all the bread..."
Jane hadn't even realised she'd picked her way through three large chunks already.
"Sorry Maur, I don't think I've eaten properly since Monday!" she replied sheepishly, discreetly popping another piece into her mouth when Maura wasn't looking.
Just as Maura was taking the lasagne out of the oven her cell phone beeped, and Jane instinctively reached down to check hers as well - she was so used to hers buzzing at the same time telling them they were both needed at a crime scene. This time though, her phone wasn't there...
"I'm sorry but we have a body Jane...lunch will have to wait I'm afraid...have you lost something?" she asked the confused looking detective.
"Yeah, you seen my phone anywhere? I know I had it when we were outside..." She asked, as she went to look in the shower room and then around the sofa before suddenly remembering where she'd left it.
"Dammit, it's up on the roof!" she said with an annoyed sigh.
"You've put the ladder away now, we haven't really got time to go back up." Maura said as she gathered her things and put her jacket on. "You have a spare somewhere don't you, can't you just use that until tomorrow?"
Jane sighed heavily again. "No, I left it work I think...where is the scene anyway?" she asked, hoping to be able to call in to BPD first.
Maura read her mind, so in tune with her friend's thinking pattern.
"Fairmont Heights, it's the other way I'm afraid. Do you really need it? I have mine..." Jane cut her off with a sigh.
"I know, but I feel lost without my phone. Like when I don't wear a watch you know? And you never know when you might need it, it has my CI's and contacts on it...besides, I feel naked without it."
Maura raised her eyebrows, but declined further comment, especially as an image of a naked Jane Rizzoli flashed across her mind. Almost blushing - and hoping Jane hadn't noticed - she tried to hurry the detective up. Punctuality was important and they were wasting valuable time - forensic evidence might be compromised the longer they delayed getting to the scene. But she also knew that she was fighting a losing battle, Jane wasn't going to be put off, as she again muttered about leaving it out in the rain..."you know, like the cake in that song..."
Ten minutes later a flustered Maura was again holding on to a ladder as Jane stretched to reach for her phone. It was lodged in the gutter and had taken a few minutes to find. "Got it!"
Maura would regret leaving the front door open though...
~0~
It all happened so quickly.
One minute Jane was on the top rung about to make her way down, the next Jo Friday was scampering out after spotting a cat on the driveway. Jo's excitement to catch the cat sent her running straight at Maura who sidestepped to avoid a collision, which wobbled the ladder which in turn had Jane looking down to see what was happening, which led to her losing her footing on the step and sending both her and the ladder falling ten feet to the ground, knocking her out cold.
"Oh my God, Jane!" Maura cried out as the stricken detective lay motionless on the ground next to her. She calmly, but quickly checked Jane's vital signs, and after establishing she was still alive called 911. There was a small amount of blood beginning to pool by Jane's ear, and Maura knew her friend needed to be checked out urgently.
Jo Friday had abandoned the fruitless, and strenuous chase with the cat, and was now loyally sitting by her Mistress's side.
As Maura gently cradled Jane, being careful not to move her, Angela came rushing towards her from the guest house. She'd heard the clatter of the ladder and Maura's anguished cry, and when she saw Jane laying prone on the floor her first thought was that she'd been shot again.
Maura calmly filled her in with the details, and then took the reluctant Jo back in the house and locked up.
"Jane, baby, can you hear me? Baby, it's your Ma, open your eyes honey, please!" she said, her voice thick with emotion.
Jane didn't respond, but Angela kept trying until she heard the EMT arriving.
"It's okay honey, the paramedics are here now, and you'll be just fine...okay honey? Just fine..."
Neither she, or a very worried Maura were actually convinced of this, but neither of them would have told the other. Their love for Jane was too strong to even voice that they might lose her, even if they were thinking it. Though Maura's love for Jane was more than in just a best friend way, and she certainly wasn't going to say anything that might give that secret away.
~0~
In the ambulance on the way to Boston General, Maura gently held Jane's hand, her thumb rhythmically stroking, back and forth, not even aware she was doing it. The EMT's tended to the detective, who had still shown no signs of coming round.
Angela followed behind with Sean, who'd called Korsak to fill him in and let him know that they'd need Dr Pike to go out to the crime scene with him instead of Maura. Korsak was thrilled at the prospect.
As the ambulance approached the hospital Maura felt Jane squeeze her hand, and as she looked up Jane's eyes were flickering open. Maura smiled warmly at her friend in relief when they opened fully.
"Maur..." she groggily said, "what...where...where am I?"
"Sshhh...you're in an ambulance Jane, but don't worry, you're going to be okay...do you remember what happened? You being up on the roof?"
Jane tried to move, but her head was pounding, and she could feel what seemed like a bump the size of a goose's egg on the side of her head. She also felt a little nauseous. Maura gently pushed her back down.
"The roof? Whose roof? Why was I...?" Jane was struggling to understand what was happening.
"Don't worry, we'll be at the hospital soon and they'll take your headache away. You fell off the ladder when you were clearing the gutters for me, do you remember that?" Jane shook her head, nothing was coming back to her yet.
"Oh...okay. Was it for the wedding?" Jane asked matter of factly. It was Maura's turn to look confused.
"Um, the wedding, Jane?" she tentatively asked. "Who's wedding?"
Jane looked at Maura and thought she must be kidding.
"Whose wedding? What? Really Maur? she snorted, and took Maura's hand again and kissed it. "Ours of course!"
If Maura hadn't already been sitting down she'd have needed resuscitating.
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Hope to see you at chapter 2.
PS. It's good to be back.