A/N: Sorry the update took so long. I had to write and rewrite almost every scene because it just wasn't turning out right. Also, this is definitely going to be longer than two chapters. I'm not sure how long at the moment.
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"Why do you sound surprised? I love my wife." Maura said to her father who was sitting right beside her.
"Wife?" He asked himself softly, not really wanting her to hear. She was obviously confused and he didn't want to cause any undue distress. "I'll be right back, Maura. I need to go talk to the doctor about… something."
She watched him go, confused as to why he seemed off-put by her words. It's not like he didn't know she was married. After all, he walked her down the aisle at her wedding.
The M.E. – or in her mind, resort owner – waited a few minutes before getting up. In the process she had a few sensors tugged off of her, causing a few alarms to go off and a nurse to rush in.
"Dr. Isles, is everything okay in here?"
"My father's not a doctor. And he's not in here."
"I was talking to you."
She laughed. "I'm certainly not a doctor."
"Uh…" Figuring that was just the effects of the pain killers, she changed the subject. "You can't leave. You just woke up from a coma!"
"I need to find Jane."
Her brows furrowed. "Rizzoli? She's down the hall with Agent Dean."
"Agent?" She only knew one person with that name and he was a janitor. Nevertheless, she shook that off and focused on the more important thing. "Can I go see her?"
"How about if I go tell her to come here?"
Maura sighed but nodded and, after the nurse left, waited patiently… for a few minutes. As soon as she thought she should go out there and look for herself, Jane walked in.
"Hey, Maura…" She started out nervously. "I know why you called me here and I'm sorry. I will talk to Cavanaugh tomorrow but… I was just thinking. Do I really have to quit completely? I can just switch back to the drug unit. I'm sure my old team will welcome me back."
The bedridden woman looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? And who's Cavanaugh?"
"Who – Cavanaugh's my boss…"
Maura sighed. "Jane… I really don't like it when you tease me. We went through this before, remember? And I remember everything now."
"You do?" She gulped. "Even… even how you got here?"
"Well, I was most likely unconscious during the trip here but, as for what happened that's a little fuzzy. I'm assuming that I had a concussion that went undiagnosed."
"It was a bit more than a concussion."
"Really? I don't have any brain damage do I?"
She shook her head. "Not that I heard, no. Just… a three day long coma is a bit more than a concussion, that's all." Jane looked at her for a moment before continuing. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"You asking me that question." She joked.
"Okay… what's the last thing you remember before waking up today?"
"Going to bed with you."
Jane's eyes widened. The last time they fell asleep in the same bed was quite awhile ago. "Really? Okay… I, uh… need to go talk to your doctor."
The Irish woman tilted her head but let her go. Minutes later Jane returned, Dr. Cooper in tow.
He knelt down at her bedside. "Maura, I hear you are having a bit of memory problems."
"I am…?" She looked at Jane who then spoke.
"Maura, you lost maybe a good few weeks of memory. We haven't been in the same bed together for awhile."
That caused her to frown.
The doctor spoke up again. "Is it possible you had a dream where that happened?"
Maura shook her head. "No. I don't remember any dreams."
"That's alright. But I do want to run a few more tests just to be sure you're okay." He stood up straight. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He said before leaving.
Jane took a seat next to the bed and was surprised when the hazel eyed woman took her hand. She just figured she needed some extra comfort and stroked it tenderly with her thumb.
The other woman thought for a moment about what to discuss but then decided to settle on something safe. "So… how's work?"
"Um…" The detective wasn't sure how to respond. She certainly didn't want to say anything about Doyle. "Well I haven't been back the whole time but if you're talking about the memory loss I'd say it was, uh… busy. Really busy."
Maura smiled at that. "That's great! I was worried for awhile but it's good we're getting more business."
Jane's eyes widened. "Since when is that a good thing?"
"Since we opened." She said matter-of-factly.
"Are we talking about the same thing?" The taller woman questioned.
"The resort?" She said slowly, worried about a possible head injury that Jane might have gone through.
"What resort?"
"You know… the one we built after college?"
Jane heaved a deep sigh, not sure how to respond. A moment later she decided that she should stick to her usual strategy – bluntness. "I've never even been to a resort, Maura… unless that spa day we had counts."
Just as Maura was about to respond, the doctor came back in. "Jane, can I speak to you outside for a moment?"
She nodded and, after a glance to Maura, went out into the hallway.
"So after talking to a few people, plus overhearing the conversation you two just had, I'm thinking she had a very vivid dream and her mind is only letting her remember what happened in that world and not this one. It's most likely for protection of her psyche considering what happened during the past week."
Jane nodded. That certainly made sense. "So how do we fix it?"
"There's nothing we can do. It has to undo itself. I'd say the only thing you can do is bring her to familiar places. If you try to force it you might cause harm."
She frowned at that. What if she snapped back to reality and remembered everything? Would that mean she would hate her again? "Can't we just hit her on the head again?"
"That only works on television and would more than likely make things worse."
She sighed. "Oh. Well, thanks for the info anyway, doc."
"No problem." He motioned for her to go back inside and followed. "So, Maura. We're going to give you another brain scan right now just as a precautionary measure." He turned to Jane. "Sorry, you're not going to be able to follow along."
She nodded. "That's fine. I'll just go back down the hall." She said before leaving to do so. As she sat in the chair next to the still sleeping Dean, she thought about what had happened. It was certainly odd, to say the least. But, hopefully, maybe all that happened was that Maura had a bit too much morphine in her system.
She sat there for a while longer until she fell asleep.
By then, Maura had been returned to her room. She was slightly upset when she saw that the woman she loved was not there waiting for her but figured she would be back soon. When an hour passed with no sign of Jane, she decided to take matters into her own hands and find her on her own. This time she tinkered with the machines before getting up so that the alarms would not go off. She wasn't sure how she knew which buttons to push but didn't think on that too much.
As her leg had been injured when the ceiling attacked her – though she had no recollection of that event – she had to limp her way down the hall to where she thought her love was. After peering into a couple rooms she finally found the right one.
She smiled when she saw the sweet sleeping face but furrowed her brows in confusion when she saw whose room she was in. Chalking it up to Jane just falling asleep while checking in on her employee, she made her way over and took the adjacent seat. The sound of her collapsing into the chair, however, startled the detective from her sleep.
"Maura? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed?" She asked, sleepy-eyed.
Said woman shrugged. "I didn't know where you were and if you were ever coming back. I wanted to see you."
Jane smiled and wrapped her left arm around the shorter woman's shoulders, gently pulling her in closely.
Maura snuggled in closely and smiled. Though it had only been a few hours that she had been awake since they have done this, it felt like an eternity for her and she was glad to be back in her love's arms. After a few moments she could no longer curb her desire for something else. "Jane?"
Said woman turned and was surprised at what came next. The M.E. leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. The sensation sent her mind reeling but she was worried more about the sudden action then the pleasant reaction she was currently experiencing.
When they pulled away, Maura was confused at Jane's facial expression. Before she was able to question her, someone beat her to it.
"Jane?" Gabriel Dean – now awake – whispered hoarsely. "What the hell is going on here?"
"Uh…" She wasn't sure what to say. If she told the truth – that she had no idea – she would risk hurting Maura. If she went along with whatever the hell it was her best friend was doing she would hurt Dean. Just as she was about to go for a third option – that is, running away – Maura spoke up.
"Don't talk to her like that! And you shouldn't be so surprised. You've caught us kissing dozens of times." She paused as those fabricated memories came rushing to her.
He looked at her blankly before turning his stare to the currently befuddled detective. "What the hell's she talking about, Rizzoli?"
She just shook her head slowly as her expression stayed resembling a deer caught in headlights. It seemed someone was on her side, though, when a nurse walked in and clucked her tongue at the bandaged up woman.
"Dr. Isles, I thought you were firmly instructed to stay in your bed!" She motioned for her to get up and come with her but, when she refused, physically dragged her out, leaving Jane and Gabriel behind.
"So?" He asked expectantly.
"I have no idea what just happened. Honest."
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.
"Really! Just hours ago I thought she hated me and now that! I – the doctor thinks she had a dream and that's the only thing she remembers as being real. That might have something to do with it."
"So you're not cheating on me with your best friend?"
"No! Of course not!" Though, she couldn't help but think, she would definitely dump him in a heartbeat if the circumstances surrounding Maura's sudden love for her were different.
"Good." He smiled. "You know what you should do?"
"What?"
"Prove that to me with a kiss." His cheeky grin indicated that he was slightly joking around but also a bit worried about the turn of affairs.
She did so and noticed something peculiar. While the kiss still had the same spark it did from before it wasn't as strong as before – when she locked lips with the M.E. She pulled away and gave him a slight smile. "I, uh… should get going. I'll see you later, Gabriel." She stood and walked out of the room.
Her first instinct was to leave the hospital completely and maybe spend some quality time at the Robber. However, she took a turn and headed into another wing. Walking a few more feet she stood in front of a drawn curtain.
"Mrs. Isles? Are you awake?"
"Jane? Is that you, darling?"
"Yes. Can I come in?"
"Of course!"
The detective pulled back the fabric and stepped into the area. The older woman looked pretty much the same as the last time she saw her, which isn't surprising since it wasn't that long ago. Her face and arms were still badly cut up but she seemed to be healing.
"Is everything alright?" Constance asked, noticing the look on Jane's face.
She looked up suddenly but tried to keep a stoic look. "I was just coming to see how you were doing."
The artist gave her a skeptical stare. "I know something happened, you cannot fool me. Is there something wrong with Maura?"
Jane sat down and measured her words carefully. "Maybe not… wrong. But she's not acting like herself."
"How do you mean?"
She explained to the older woman what had happened the last few hours. After she was finished explaining she let it sink in for a few minutes before continuing. "What do you think I should do?"
Constance thought for a moment before coming up with the simplest answer in the world. "Just keep doing what you've been doing. You're her best friend even though that's a bit complicated right now."
"Yeah…" She looked down at her hands and ran her thumb along the scars in the center of her palm and remembered Maura being there for her when Hoyt was after her. This was a different kind of battle, she knew, but she had to help her through it.
They continued talking for a few minutes until Dr. Cooper came in.
"There you are, Jane. I wanted to let you know that Maura has been discharged and is ready to go home. The tests we ran didn't find anything so the only thing to worry about is the amnesia. I want you to keep a close eye on her."
Jane's heart sunk. She kind of hoped she would have a bit more time to herself but nodded, ready to take on the responsibility. It didn't take too long to pull the car around and help the M.E. in.
The ride home Jane was ill at ease due to the fact that the whole time, Maura had her hand covering hers. That didn't bother her as much as the implications did. She had spent a large majority of the time away from the other woman today in deep thought about this and soon came to realize she wouldn't mind a relationship with the M.E. The thing that worried her most was the fact that this wasn't the same Maura she knew but some altered version that could change back at any moment. If she went along with the dream that the doctor was in then she felt like she would be taking advantage of her best friend. If she didn't she risked hurting her. It was a lose-lose situation, really.
"Jane? You okay?"
"Huh?" She broke away and glanced briefly at her passenger. "Yeah, fine. I'm just focusing on driving."
"Oh."
The detective could barely keep back a sigh at her main concern at the moment: being alone with the other woman when she gets to their destination.
A few minutes they arrived at the immaculate home of Maura Isles.
"I thought you said we were going home?"
"We did. This is your house."
Maura stared at the unfamiliar building in confusion. "No… we live further away. At the resort."
She thought of something on the spot that might help her get out of this. "This is a home you bought as an investment. It's closer so I figured we could stay here for the night."
"Oh. Good idea." That seemed to mollify her for now.
Jane exited the car and went around to the passenger side to help the other woman into the house. When the door closed, the detective was a little nervous about the look in the M.E.'s eyes.
"Good… now we're alone." She said with a flirtatious grin.
"Y-yeah, we are… and there was something I wanted to talk to you about…" She said, backing away from the approaching woman.
"Yes?"
Her brain worked furiously to come up with anything to say until something popped up. "Well, uh… Maura. Tomorrow is your… is Patrick Doyle's funeral. Did you want to go?"
"Why would I? I have no idea who that is."
"Just… I think you should go. When you do get your memory back, you're going to regret not going. Just trust me on this."
She nodded. "Okay. I trust you more than anything. If you think I should go, I'll go. But… will you come with me?"
"Of course." When she saw her starting to walk up to her again, she said something she thought she never would. "Can you help me decide what to wear?" She pointed back towards the bedroom where she knew there was a closet full of acceptable clothing.
This caused a smile to appear on Maura's face. "Of course!" She grabbed the detective and started to drag her away but paused. "Are there clothes in this house?"
Switching positions, Jane pulled the shorter woman in the right direction – already regretting her decision.
