Since I posted the first chapter already when I contemplated this story being just a one shot and hadn't changed anything and because several of y'all asked nicely that I please hurry and post another update soon, I thought I'd oblige. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: She Wouldn't Be Gone
Her eyes were puffy and swollen. She had no idea how long she'd been on the floor of the kitchen crying, but she knew she had become stiff a while ago from sitting there for so long. The tears were gone now. She had cried them out and if she cried anymore she felt like she might pass out; probably from dehydration. That was possible wasn't it?
Jane slowly turned her body and grabbed a hold of the island above her to give her some support while attempting to stand. She rose slowly. All of her muscles were tight and her joints ached. She felt like she'd been hit by a bullet train.
Then the thought hit like a bullet train. Maybe Maura wasn't really gone yet. Surely she couldn't have gotten that far yet. She had been at work earlier. Maura couldn't have been gone too long by the time she had made it to the house. Jane sprinted for the front door. She didn't bother turning off any of the lights she had turned on as she entered. She slipped back into her boots and jacket, grabbed her gun, badge, and keys from the side table and relocked the door. She ran for the car, sliding in behind the wheel and quickly cranking it over.
Jane flipped the lights and siren on as she backed out of the driveway. At this point she could care less if they took her job for using them in what they would consider a nonemergency situation. To her this was the biggest emergency of her life. She had to get to her best friend and she would do anything to make that happen.
She pulled up to BPD, making it there in record time, and parked in the garage. She didn't see Maura's car in the garage in her normal spot, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't have parked somewhere else. She knew there had to be a chance for Maura to be there. It was where Maura would try to hide out if things were going wrong. It always calmed her because in there everything had an order and procedure and that would lead to the answer. Maura always did best with things that had a definite order and procedure.
Jane raced through the lobby and rushed through the door leading to the stairwell. She didn't want to have to wait on the elevator. She reached the basement and pushed through the door leading her to the hallway outside of the morgue. She peaked inside, but didn't see anyone around. She looked across the hall. The lab was right across the hall, but when she looked inside she found no one there, just like in the morgue. She slowly made her way down the hall to Maura's office door. The door was closed and there were no lights on inside the office. Even the blinds in the windows were pulled so she couldn't see inside.
She couldn't resist, she had to try the knob. She knew it was a long shot to find the door unlocked, but she couldn't leave without trying. She slowly lifted her hand to the knob and tried turning. It didn't budge. When it refused to turn she let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. The fact that Maura was possible really gone sunk in a little deeper at that moment and she had to fight to keep more tears at bay.
She couldn't give up yet. There were still a couple of other places where Maura might still be. Jane walked out of the front of the lobby at BPD to head back to her car. She stopped at the top of the steps. She couldn't help but look over at the spot where she knew it had all taken place. It was hard to believe that someone could fall in love in a moment like that, but she knew from experience that it could happen anywhere at any moment. Especially when it seemed like it was least likely to happen. She inhaled deeply trying to calm herself and continued to the car.
Jane slid into a parking spot at The Robber and pulled the key from the ignition. Although it was unlikely that Maura would be here there was still a possibility for it. It was the closest place to BPD. Maybe Maura had decided she needed one more glass of their Red before she took off. If nothing else maybe someone in there could pinpoint the last time they had seen her that day and it could give her an idea of how far behind Maura she was at this point.
She walked through the door and her eyes immediately landed on their usual booth. To her surprise there was a woman with honey blonde hair sitting there with her back to the door. She stopped for a moment. It couldn't have been this easy. Fate wouldn't allow for that would it?
The woman turned at that moment and she realized right away that it wasn't her honey blonde sitting there. This woman she had never seen before, and by looking at the profile of her Jane could tell that the woman didn't look anywhere near as beautiful as the honey blonde that would normally be sitting in that booth.
"Jane?" she heard her name called from somewhere over near the bar, but it was a little crowded and she couldn't tell exactly who had called. She decided it was best to head in the direction of her name.
Once she was a little closer to the bar she realized it was her former partner who had called her name. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at the Doc's house tonight?" Korsak asked.
"I was, but she wasn't there when I got there. I thought maybe she was here," her voice sounded raw and a little harsh from the crying. She hoped he wouldn't notice.
"I haven't seen her here. I know she picked up some tea in the café earlier in the day, but that was the last time I saw her. She was going to get started on the autopsy of our professor," he said. "Is there something wrong? I can't imagine her not telling you where she was at."
"No, nothing's wrong," she lied. "I think we just had a miscommunication about where we were meeting tonight and we'll get it all straightened out later." Jane turned to leave. She had other places to look.
"Thanks though Korsak. I'll talk to you later," she threw over her shoulder as she headed towards the exit. She wasn't really sure if he had heard her though since the bar was crowded and she was moving rather swiftly across the room so she could get to her next stop.
She got lucky when she pulled up outside her building. She found an empty spot not too far from her steps and maneuvered into it quickly. Although she had stopped using her lights and sirens to try and make it around faster she knew Maura would have scolded her for all of the traffic violations she had made tonight. She hopped out of the cruiser and took the steps two at a time until she reached the door of her building and inserted her key so she could get inside to her apartment. Jane walked over to the elevator and hit the button to wait for a car. She was starting to feel exhausted.
She walked into the waiting car once it came and hit the button for the third floor. As it made its slow ascent she once again wondered how any of this could really be real. Mainly she was hoping that she would wake up any moment to find that she had fallen asleep next to Maura on her couch while they were watching one of those animal documentaries Maura loved so much, but always made her fall asleep. She knew that would never happen though. This was real.
The doors slid open on her floor and she trudged her way over to her apartment door. She stopped in front of it. She didn't know what her next move was if she opened the door and found out that Maura wasn't sitting there waiting on her. She didn't want to imagine her life without Maura.
She took a deep breath in to steel herself and plunged the key into the lock and turned it. She pushed back the door. The only light on was the one she had left on earlier. Nothing in the apartment stirred. Not even Jo came in to greet her. Frankie must have worn her out when he took her to the dog park earlier.
Jane walked further into her apartment. This was insanity. How does someone just decide that they are going to walk out of your life because they are in love with you but too afraid to tell you besides leaving a note for you to find? In a million years she never thought Maura would be the person to blindside her like that and then walk away all at once. Her anger started to take over now. You just don't do that to someone you love. She looked over and saw her workout dummy. She hauled back and hit it one time for good measure to release some of the building frustration she felt. Then she turned and headed back out of the apartment to her car.
She decided she needed to go back where it all began. She needed to find out if there was anything there that could tell her where Maura had gone. There had to be something there. "Dammit Maura!" She screamed as she hit the steering wheel with her fist. She was flying down the road again, but she didn't care. She had gone every place she could think of and hadn't had any luck.
Jane started to wonder if she couldn't have just avoided this whole situation in the first place. The problem was she thought she was the one secretly pining after her best friend who would never feel the same way. She knew she had feelings other than friendship for Maura for a long time, but she knew that she couldn't live without her the day Hoyt had attacked them both. It was why she fought so hard that day and had killed him. She wouldn't have been able to live if he had killed Maura. It still hurt to this day to think that he had left a scar on her. But you can't tell your straight best friend who constantly has a parade of men through her bedroom that you love her in more than a friend should sort of way. If she had though, maybe she wouldn't be gone.
Thanks for reading! And as always, I'd love to hear from you!