Author's Note - Well I've been working on this for a little while and I've decided to post it up. Its not a song-fic nor is it a continuation of either The Sound of White or All For Believing but a separate story entirely. Its set after 'When the Gun Goes Bang Bang'. Reviews/Comments/Suggestions are welcome. Flames not so much but constructive criticism is alright by me just be polite about it.
Disclaimer - I don't own Rizzoli and Isles, they belong to Tess Gerritsen and the wonderful people at TNT. I'm merely borrowing them for a while.
It had been a few weeks since the incident at the precinct and things were slowly returning to normal, or at least as normal as things could be. Maura had spent her days at work and her nights at the hospital by Jane's bedside, not wanting to leave her best friend alone for too long but even she had to admit that burning the candle at both ends was draining to say the least. After a particularly long day at the office she arrived at the hospital looking a little worse for wear, which caused Jane to glance at her with concern,
"Maura, you look like hell. Go home, eat something and get some sleep. When was the last time you actually slept a full eight hours?" Jane almost regretted speaking those last few words out loud when she saw Maura stiffen, in hindsight it would have been better had she engaged her brain before actually uttering those last few words.
"The night before the shooting despite the fact that Bass was unwell its the last time I recall getting a full nights rest, since then I've either been at work or here." replied Maura rather sullenly, before rising from the chair she'd been sitting in, "I didn't want to leave you alone, I almost lost you Jane and when I think about that I..." a fresh wave of tears started despite all of Maura's efforts to the contrary and Jane's face fell, "I'm sorry." she spoke softly reaching to hold Maura's hand that was still resting on the bed, "I appreciate you coming to visit after work Maura but you have to take care of yourself too, I'd hate to be the cause of you getting sick because your exhausted." she smiled softly hoping that her best friend would see the concern written across her features as she gently ran her thumb over the back of Maura's hand. A soft sigh escaped from Maura's lips as she turned to face Jane, seeing the concern on her best friends face she allowed her disappointment to melt away; as she smiled in return, "You're right, Jane and as long as you promise me to stay put and not antagonise the nurses I'll head home and get some rest." the glint in Maura's eye was unmistakable as she chose in that moment to tease Jane slightly, the returned pout from Jane was enough to make her giggle slightly, "I'll take that as a yes then Jane, I'll drop by after work tomorrow but don't hesitate to call me if you need anything." she smiled at Jane before heading out of the room, "Good Night, Maura" Jane managed before allowing her pain medication to take over as she drifted off to sleep.
Arriving home, Maura unlocked the door and entered before re securing all the locks. She walked slowly through the house to the kitchen, greeting Bass on the way to the fridge as she got out vegetables for his dinner and placed them down for him before fixing a salad for herself along with a glass of Chardonnay. Draining the glass, she rinsed it out and placed it on the draining board before switching off the kitchen light and heading through to the bedroom. She stripped out of today's clothes, changing into one of Jane's faded BPD t-shirts and silk pyjama bottoms before climbing under the sheets and switching off the bedside light.
Sleep however didn't come easy, the nightmares of that fateful day replaying in Maura's mind even as she tried to sleep. The confusion of the phones going dead and the lighting failing, trying to comfort Bass who she'd brought to work that day and then nerves as she tried to save Frankie at Jane's request; everything seemed to snowball until she was outside the front of the precinct trying to stop Jane from bleeding out. She woke with a start, her heart hammering in her chest and a light covering of sweat as she tried to calm her breathing; the memories and emotions of that day still at the forefront of her mind and something else she couldn't rationally explain. As her breathing slowed the realisation of what she was feeling slowly dawned on her, the reason why she hadn't wanted to leave Jane's side since the shooting and why she had been willing to burn the candle at both ends; Dr Maura Isles was in love with her best friend Detective Jane Rizzoli. This realisation brought a smile to her lips before her thought process continued on to the ramifications of this recent development, whilst happy at the realisation telling Jane would be an entirely different story and Maura wasn't sure if it was worth risking their friendship. Content for the moment with this knowledge Maura sank back onto her pillows and fell quickly back into slumber.
At Massachusetts General Hospital the pain medication was gradually wearing off and despite the late hour Jane Rizzoli was waking up from her medicated induced sleep. The pain from the gunshot wound had gone from excruciating to a dull throb thanks for the high dosage of pain medication but that didn't explain another dull ache that was working its way through her. Closing her eyes for a moment she thought back on her earlier conversation with Maura and how her best friend had gotten so upset at the suggestion she leave Jane and go home, it hadn't gone unnoticed by Jane that her best friend had been with her almost if not every day since she was admitted after the shooting at headquarters and for that Jane had been grateful as it allowed her respite from her mother but maybe her subconscious mind had been doing a little detective work without her knowing it.
The only question that needed answering was how long had her subconscious mind decided it wanted to be with Maura in more than just a friend capacity, was it that disastrous date with Jorge or when they went undercover at Merch; or did it stretch as far back as their first case. She couldn't be sure but somewhere along the line Detective Jane Rizzoli had fallen in love with Dr Maura Isles, but telling your best friend that you have more than friend feelings for them was going to prove a little difficult; losing Maura's friendship was the last thing Jane wanted. Sighing deeply and pinching the bridge of her nose Jane let out a slow breath before closing her eyes and willing herself to sleep, there was nothing to be done at this hour about how she felt so sleep would have to suffice.