Recovery sucked, he wasn't going to lie. It was painful and eh was clueless on most of the details on why he was there. He knew he got shot, that part he remembered distinctly. That, and the pain that followed.

Other parts, though, were gone. What case had they been working on? Was Jane okay? Did they solve the crime? Was th cop who was "helping" Jane dirty like he kind of remembered? He might never know these answers.

One thing he could never forget, however, was Maura Isles telling him she was in love with him. At the time, he had thought it was his mind playing tricks on him, to distract him from the pain.

But she was there the day he woke up in the hospital, dazed and confused. He remembered freaking a little bit, but she had just said in that calm, soothing Maura voice of hers, "Frankie, it's okay. You're okay."

Naturally, he had asked about Jane and his parents, not fully registering that his dream girl was next to him and waiting for him to wake up from his unconscious state.

"Your parents were worried, naturally. But now that they know you're okay, I'm sure they're relieved." Was her response.

"And Jane?" He asked, happy to know that his parents knew he was fine. His happiness stopped when he saw Maura wince.

"Jane's in ICU. She shot the 'cop' that took her hostage through her. They're working on her but everyone says she's gonna be alright. Jane's a fighter."

That stunned Frankie into silence. His sister was hurt and there was nothing he could do to help her. It wasn't supposed to be like that. He was supposed to have her back. Always.

The silence lulled him back to sleep and he went willingly, grateful to not have to think about Jane, his parents, his condition, or his love for the woman next to him.

He woke up hours later to find Maura was still there, almost asleep herself. He looked around, trying to gauge what time it was. All he saw was dark.

He turned his attention back to the tired woman in the chair a few feet from him. "Maura, what time is it?" He asked, sleepily.

She looked at her watch. "Almost eleven-thirty." She replied, also tiredly.

"You should go home. I don't want you losing sleep cuz of me." He said, concerned.

She shook her head. "We have to talk first. Forgive me, I'm not usually this confrontational, but we need to talk about what I said to you That Day."

Frankie looked at her, shocked and amazed. He nodded. "Yeah, I guess we do."

She nodded and said, "Everything I said was true, obviously. You'd know if it wasn't." She paused, trying to gauge his reaction, he gave away nothing, so she continued. "I guess what I want to know is if you feel the same way about me."

He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Yeah. Yeah, Maura, I do. But I don't want us to be together. Not when I'm so… like this. I don't know if I'll ever be the same as I was before I was in the hospital, and I don't want to disappoint you and I don't want to be disappointed." He looked at her, and she looked about ready to cry.

"You're going to be fine, Frankie. And you'd never disappoint me. I really wanted to give this -us- a shot, but I understand that you don't want to."

"No, Maura, that's not what I'm saying. Yes, I want to give this a shot. I've wanted to for awhile." Maura smiled and walked over to him before kissing him quickly on the lips.

After that, she helped him on his road to recovery. He got good news when he learned Jane was okay. That, along with the amazing woman always encouraging him, gave him motivation.

Months later, Jane had taken him back to the hospital for a Final Analysis. Maura was in the waiting room. He talked to the doctor about how he was feeling and if he still experienced paint that could threaten to send him back to how he was before his recovery.

Finally, he walked out of the room, Jane following. Maura stood up and waited expectantly.

"We've got the results." Jane said, evenly, not giving away anything.

"And…?" She asked, clearly worried.

Frankie broke out into a smile. "I've made a full recovery."

A huge, relieved smile broke out on Maura's face and she ran over and hugged him. He picked her up and spun her around before setting her down and kissing her.

Yes, recovery sucked. But since it brought him to Maura Isles, the girl of his dreams, Frankie Rizzoli couldn't complain too much.

Another Frankie/Maura oneshot. I can't help it, they'd be AMAZING. Companion to "Hope". I hope you guys liked it. R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli & Isles, if I did, Frankie and Maura would be together