Chapter one
Jane awoke suddenly, the screams of the helpless still ringing in her ears from the nightmare. She sat up abruptly and wiped the slick layer of sweat from her brow. Light flooded her room, though looking at her clock, it would still be dark outside; she had left her lamp on again.
4.00am.
Jane rubbed her tired eyes and swung herself out of bed, a routine she was now thoroughly in. She plodded in to the kitchen and opened the tap, pouring herself a glass of water. Leaning against the counter, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Should she call Maura? Her friend did tell her to call if it happened again. However, she wasn't yet willing to admit that this routine was a frequent occurrence - even to Maura. Jane went blank, her mind filling up with memories of the nightmare that had begun to take over her life. It was only the sound of smashing glass that bought her back into the room.
"Fuck." She dove to the floor; taking cover from what she instinctively thought was an attack. The sound of glass however, came from her dropping her water glass to the floor. Once realising this, she began to shake uncontrollably. The shaking turned into crying which in turn lead to sobbing, followed by a white hot rage. Grabbing another glass of the shelf, she threw it with all her exhausted might at the wall opposite her. She stormed into her bedroom and grabbed a pillow, screaming her lungs out into it until her voice was red raw. She was losing control and she had no idea how to deal with it. Jane Rizzoli was always in control, and now that she was losing it, she wasn't sure what else was going to go out the window with it.
xxx
Her phone screamed at her, waking her from her restless slumber. Jane, laying on her stomach looked around, slightly disorientated after falling back to sleep (which was something that rarely happened these days).
"Rizzoli" She slurred sleepily, her voice more hoarse than usual. Korsak's voice rang through the receiver into Jane's pounding head, informing her of a pop and drop in the eastern suburbs. Scribbling down the address on the notepad on her dresser, Jane thanked Korsak dryly and hung up. She buried herself in blankets and groaned loudly. After a few minutes she pulled herself up and padded into the kitchen, being presented with a floor covered in broken glass. She stood shocked for a moment until she remembered what she had done just a few hours before. Trying not to picture the anger that consumed her earlier that morning, she pulled on the nearest pair of shoes and began cleaning her floor as quick as she could.
"Ah!" She exclaimed loudly, leaping up and holding her hand above the sink as she turned on the tap. Blood turned the sink crimson as it flowed from the deep cut on her hand. Rizzoli looked at the wall clock and realised that she needed to go. She reached over to the bench with her spare hand and grabbed a semi-clean tea towel, ripping it into strips using her teeth. After wrapping her hand roughly, changing into her regular work attire and brushing her teeth, she headed out the door, leaving the glass and bloody sink to clean for another time.
"Morning, Detective." Frost greeted Jane at the scene.
"What have we got, Frost?" Jane asked, getting straight to the point, putting her hand into her pocket to hide her bloody hand from her partner.
"Pop and drop. Victims name is Todd Baker." Frost explained, keeping up with Jane's long strides over towards the body.
"Was it a robbery?" Jane asked,
"All his cash and cards were on him. That's how we got the I.D." Jane nodded at this information and knelt down next to the man that lay face down.
"Ah, good morning Dr. Isles." Frost said brightly.
"Hello, Detective." Maura Isles approached, the sound of her heels announcing her arrival long before her greetings. After gloving up, Maura joined Jane kneeling over the body.
"Jane." Maura said in greeting to her colleague and best friend.
"Heya Maura. You're later than usual." Jane said flatly.
"I am having a slight issue with the water pipes in my house currently. It proved somewhat of a hold up this morning." Maura explained, taking in the dark circles under her friend's eyes. Jane nodded though her glazed eyes suggested she hadn't taken in a word of what Maura had just said.
"Victim's name is Todd Baker. Doesn't appear to be a robbery at this stage. Let me know what you come up with. I'll go canvas the area." Jane said as she got up, putting her hands on her knees to push herself up.
Maura gasped. "Jane, your hand! What happened?" Jane flinched away when Maura stood and attempted to take her hand in hers.
"Just an accident. I just didn't have time to patch it up this morning is all." Maura looked at her with concern as she removed the bloodied towel from Jane's hand.
"Jane! This need stitches. Look, once I'm done here, come back to the morgue and I'll stitch you up. Until then..." She let go of Jane's hand and opened up her medical case, taking a piece of gauze and a bandage, wrapping the wound properly. Jane was too tired to argue against Maura, although she was uncomfortable with the attention she was giving her.
"It's fine, Maur. Thanks. Let me know what you come up with. See you back at the precinct." Jane said tiredly turning to follow Frost in their canvas of the area. After hours of asking neighbours and nearby store owners if they'd heard or seen anything that could help with their investigation, Jane and Frost headed back to the station, grabbing coffee on the way. Frost stole the odd glance at his partner as he drove, noticing how tired she had been looking lately.
"Eyes on the road, Frost" Jane barked.
"What happened to your hand?" He asked, despite his partners bad mood.
"Ergh. Dropped some glass last night and tried to clean it up in a hurry this morning." Frost just nodded
"Fair enough." Frost said, leaving the conversation at that after noticing how snappy Rizzoli's answers were. Jane sculled the rest of her coffee as they arrived at the precinct, preparing for the days onslaught of work to begin, and putting away the night that had been.