Jane opens his eyes slowly, wondering why it is so wet and cold. He closes his eyes again. His mind is trying to figure out where he is and why his side hurts. He opens his eyes again, looking out of what used to be the van's windshield. With a start he looks over to the driver's seat where Lisbon was, sees her. Her head is leaning against the steering wheel. He reaches over to check for a pulse, and exhales deeply in relief when he feels a pulse. He gently holds her head and pulls her back against the head rest. He takes out his phone only to be disappointed: No signal. He reaches over and takes Lisbon's phone and frowns when he again fails to get a signal.
Lisbon moans and opens her eyes, she suddenly sits up, alarmed as she remembers the car plunging down the hillside. She looks over to Jane and sees him looking at her with a small smile. "Are you okay?" she asks anxiously, examining what she can see of him carefully.
"Right as rain, no pun intended." Dismayed, he realizes rain is coming into the van through the shattered windshield, spattering on the dash and dripping on them. Jane starts to ask if she is all right when she shifts her leg and yells in pain.
"What is it Lisbon, where are you hurt?" Jane moves closer and looks for anything that can give him a clue to her injuries.
"My ankle…I'm not sure if it's broke or not." She puts her head back against the headrest and takes a deep breath. Jane gets out of the van and rushes over to the driver's side. He opens her door and kneels down to look at her ankle.
"Your ankle's starting to swell, I can't tell if it's broken and I don't want to move you, sweetheart," surprising her with the endearment. She looks down at the man who always seems to surprise her.
"We need to get out of this rain and someplace dry." They look around and see nothing that will help them, then look back at each other.
"Our phones!" she says, but then sees him shake his head no. She tries the van's horn, but it is quiet. "Maybe someone will see us as they drive by?" she says hopefully looking up the hillside towards the road.
"Don't think that's going to happen, Lisbon. The rain is coming down hard and it'll be dark soon. I think we're stuck here at least for the night." He stands and looks into the car, rushes to the back of the van and opens the hatch. He climbs in and pushes down the back seat so it lies flat. Looking around he sees a bag, opens it and finds a tarp, blankets and first aid kit.m He smiles when the nearby tool box yields a roll of duct tape.
"What are you doing, Jane?" Lisbon calls back to him.
"Becoming MacGyver." He yells back. Confused, she cranes her neck, trying to see what he is doing without jostling her injured leg.
He clambers into the van getting close to the front seats while holding onto the tarp. He squeezes her shoulder comfortingly. "I'll have us high and dry in no time…I hope." He tears off some of tape and opens the tarp. He lifts the edge of the tarp to the ceiling and begins taping it. He goes across from behind Lisbon to the passenger side, putting up the tarp. Success! He sits back and smiles when the rain doesn't make it into the back of the van. He backs up and spreads the emergency blankets and pushes up the back hatch. Blessedly, the rain drains off to the sides, keeping the van's floor dry. He rushes back to Lisbon.
"Okay, I need to get you to the back and out of the rain. I'll help you with your ankle while you turn around. Lean on me so you don't have to use your bad leg."
By this time she's chilled and damp from the incoming rain; Jane's dripping wet. He gently holds her bad leg and has her turn slowly. Her face crumples in pain as she manages to do as he asks. He's upset it's causing her a great deal of pain, but has no better idea. When she is turned around she stands on her good leg. Jane puts his arm around her waist and her arm around his shoulders. She awkwardly hops to the back of the van, one agonizing step at a time. He seats her on the sill of the hatch and grabs her bag that Grace had loaded seemingly ages ago. He opens it and takes out a long night shirt.
"You've got to get out of those wet clothes. I'll turn around till you get your night gown on. Let me know if you need help." He can't help but grin, "Now isn't the time to be shy, my dear." He turns around. She takes off her shirt and bra, and slips on the night shirt. She unzips her slacks, but can't pull them down. Every time she moves her leg her ankle flares with pain. She moans softly, knowing he can hear her and knowing what he'll say. "Jane, not a word! Just help me get these slacks off." Her face is blushing furiously.
Jane turns around and looks at the problem. "Lay back for me a bit." She does and he manages to gently pull the slacks down first off the bad leg and then completely off. He decides against commenting about the red panties he glimpses. Now was not the time seeing how embarrassed she already is.
"Okay, see if you can move back a little and get under the blankets. I'll get out of my clothes." She moves back slowly, each movement causing her ankle to hurt. She gets almost to the back seat and quickly gets under the blankets. A few minutes later the hatch slams shut and Jane crawls towards her wearing his blue pajamas. He sidles under the blankets joining her. Both are shivering from the cold and damp.
"Well if we are rescued tonight, it will look like we're having a small pajama party," Lisbon says with a small laugh. Jane moves closer till they almost touch.
"Just trying to share some body heat, Lisbon, at least until we're a little warmer." Without saying anything she moves closer. He tucks the blankets around them both.
"This is going to be a fun weekend," she says with a sigh. He is quiet for a few minutes then sits up and looks out the window at the hill they came down. "In the morning I'll climb the hill and hopefully flag down a car. We'll be fine for tonight."
"I'm sorry about the accident," Lisbon says quietly as Jane again settles down next to her.
"Accidents happen, my dear."
"Stupid deer." She says grumpily.
Jane looks at her. "A deer?"
She closes her eyes and sighs. "Yes, it dashed in front of the van. I guess I reacted wrong and now we're down here and the deer is somewhere dry."
Jane laughs at that. "You let dinner get away, Lisbon. How about some dinner?"
She looks at Jane as if he is a bit crazy. "I don't think we can get delivery here tonight," she snarks.
Jane gets out from under the covers and grabs his away bag. He takes out a candy bar and bottle of water and gets back under the covers. "Dinner is served," he says breaking the candy in two. He hands her one piece.
"Jane, I didn't know you were such a boy scout." He takes a drink of the water and passes her the bottle.
"Boy scouts are always prepared," he says with a laugh.
They finish their small meal. "Want to play a game, Lisbon?"
Lisbon is used to Jane always wanting to play a game on road trips. At least now it would help pass the time.
"Okay, what game?"
"Question and answer. I get to ask one and you have to answer, then you can ask me a question."
Just another way for Jane to learn more about her she thought. "Okay, Jane…"
"Yes, I'll go first…." He thinks for a couple of minutes. "What is your favorite color?"
"Blue." She says quickly. "Now I ask you a question, right?" Jane nods.
"What is your favorite cereal?
"Easy…Frosty Mini Wheaties, but not the ones with strawberry flavor."
"What is your favorite type of books…fiction?" He knew the answer to that since he saw the stack of romance novels on her nightstand.
"Well almost every time I like -you already know, right?" she frowns. He nods. "Okay, its romance books," she admits, her face growing red.
The rain is still coming down hard and it's getting very dark. They continue to play.
"I have one for you, Jane…You're going to have go back in your memory palace for this one. What movie from your childhood brings back a memory of who you were with?" Maybe she'll find out a little about his childhood. Jane is quiet for awhile, and his smile disappeared. Lisbon notices the change and reaches down and takes his hand.
"Jane, is something wrong? Did I ask a bad question?"
Jane takes a deep breath before he speaks. "I went with my mother to see Dumbo. I thought I was too old to go see that kind of movie. I was more into adventure type movies. I knew my mom must have been saving that movie so we could go together. She always bought ice cream on the way back. It was a really fun day. I really liked the movie…and Mom was so different away from my dad.. She smiled more and had a beautiful laugh. The next day was set-up day for the carnival. I got to ride with the owner into town to make sure everything was in order with permits and stuff. He always picked one of the kids to go with him. It was a treat for us. After he got things settled we would go to McDonald's. That was really special since most of our folks didn't have money to go out to eat. When I got back I went to our trailer to tell my mom. I saved one of those apple pies for her from my lunch. She wasn't there. I searched the whole carnival, asked everyone if they had seen her. They just shook their heads and went back to setting things up. I went back to the trailer. My father was there and he looked angry. I asked him where Mom was….He came over, grabbed my arm and pushed me into their bedroom. He opened the closet and all her clothes were gone. That's when he told me she left us. He said she had a boyfriend she met at the last stop.…He told me never to ask about her again."
Lisbon isn't sure what to say. It was awful when her mother died. But having his mother run off and leave must have been worse, must have left him believing she didn't love him. She's surprised when Jane starts talking again after a short break.
"When Angela and I had Charlotte we got a package in the mail, no return address. Inside was a pink baby blanket and some small toys. There was a card inside signed by my mother. When Angela and Charlotte were killed…" Jane pauses before he begins again. "There were some flowers delivered to the funeral home. The card just said 'Mom.'"
"She must have been able to follow where you were, I'm sorry she never contacted you." Lisbon says quietly. Jane doesn't answer, but just rolls on his side and is quiet. Later she wakes in the middle of the night. Jane is lying close but his body heat isn't enough to keep her warm.
Dim, watery light wakes her at daybreak. Waking slowly, Lisbon opens her eyes and groans to see it still raining. She hears rustling at the end of the make shift bed, looks and sees Jane. He is wearing his wet clothes from yesterday and is about to put on his shoes. Hearing Lisbon, Jane turns and gives her that smile he seems to reserve just for her.
"I have a great breakfast plan, my dear." He tosses her a granola bar and a bottle of water. "I found Rigsby's overnight bag. He must have forgotten to move it to the other van. Did you sleep alright?"
"Yes, thank you." She blushes remembering how closely they slept. "Did you eat anything?" Jane holds up an empty wrapper. "Now I know where to look when we're in the same van as Rigsby and get hungry."
Looking out the window concern floods her face as she turns back to Jane. Finished putting on the wet shoes he makes a face. He clearly hates to wear wet socks and shoes. "Maybe you should wait until it stops raining, Jane."
He turns to her. "I don't want you to stay here another night, Lisbon. Nobody can see the van from the road. The team has the weekend off so they won't be looking for us. I heard a truck earlier, so when I get to the top we can get help now. There should be other cars going by. We could be home in time for a hot lunch if I start now."
He smiles at her as he opens the hatch and gets out, closing the hatch after him. He goes over to her window and puts his hand on the window. She puts her hand up to his.
Jane moves away from the van and looks up the hill. It looks higher than he thought. Mud and water are coming down the hill. He walks closer to the hill and looks at his shoes, making a face as rain and muddy water make their way inside his shirt. "These shoes aren't going to survive this," he mutters gloomily. He walks to the slope and grabs a bush and pulls himself up a little bit. Every bush he grabs seems to cut his fingers and hands. After a half hour of serious climbing he hears a car go by and this inspires him to climb faster. I'm going to join a gym, he thinks. Every muscle in his arms is killing him and he feels every one of his forty years of age. He clutches the base of a larger bush, when his shoes loosen some rocks and he suddenly starts slipping down the hill. He grabs for anything he can reach, but there's nothing he can hold onto. He slides down the hillside, gathering speed as he falls, and finally comes to a stop lying on his back. He closes his eyes and tries to calm his breathing while he tightly holds his side.
Inside the car Lisbon sees Jane careen back down the hill. She holds her breath when he lies still at the bottom. What if he's hurt, could she even reach him to help? She's limp with relief when Jane slowly gets up. He turns and waves at her. He looks down to see himself covered with mud, head to toe. He waves again and she waves back and smiles. All she could see of his mud covered face were the white teeth showing with his smile.
Once again Jane turns to face the hill. He takes a long look then chooses what he hopes is a better way up. He grabs another bush and starts pulling himself up. Taking a deep breath, he wishes his ribs didn't mark every breath with stabbing pain. He is about half way up the hill and takes a short break. "If only this damn rain would stop I get up faster," he mutters, breathless. A grin breaks over his face as the rain surprisingly slows and then stops. He snorts, knowing what Grace would have would have said - "Miracles still happen."
After what seems a lifetime he finally reaches the top and crawls up onto the road. He wearily stands and looks around. He turns and waves to Lisbon, then starts walking down the road. He looks down at his suit and laughs. He looks like a character from a scary movie. A noise from behind announces traffic. He turns around to the welcome sight of a delivery truck, and runs to the middle of the road waving his hands. The truck comes to a quick stop, sliding a bit on the wet pavement. The driver hops out and rushes to Jane.
"You okay, mister?" The driver asks, looking at the mess Jane is.
"We were in an accident last night. My friend's still down there and she's hurt. Can you call for help? My phone isn't working," he says in a rush. Jane takes a few steps toward the side and points toward the van.
"No problem. I'll get on my radio and we'll have help out here fast." The driver runs back and gets into his truck. Jane waves, giving Lisbon the okay sign.
A short time later police, fire trucks and an ambulance arrive lining the shoulder nearest the van. Jane watches as the firemen make it down the hill with a stretcher for Lisbon. He ignores the police officer trying to get him to the ambulance to be checked out. There is no way he'll leave until Lisbon is brought up the hill. He watches as they lift her onto the stretcher, cover her and strap her securely on. What had taken him forever took the firemen only a few minutes to reach the top of the slope. He approaches Lisbon lying on the stretcher and takes her hand as the firemen carry her to the ambulance. He leans down and kisses her on the forehead, straightening slowly. "How are you feeling?"
"I am so happy to be up here now, thank you, Patrick." He looks surprised at her use of his given name. He reluctantly moves aside so they can load the stretcher into the ambulance. Finally, he stumbles over to the second ambulance and cooperates with the paramedics' examination.
It had been a long day, and Lisbon is glad to finally be in a warm, comfortable bed, even if it is in a hospital. The doctor who treated her in emergency gave her the good news that her the ankle wasn't broken, just badly sprained.
She hears a familiar voice talking loudly in the hallway. A nurse enters her room pushing a wheelchair occupied by a very tired looking Jane.
"I could have walked! I'm only three doors down." He twists around to frown at the nurse.
"Mr. Jane, the doctor said you should take it easy for the rest of the day. With the medication you got for your broken ribs, you shouldn't be walking anywhere," she responded, completely unfazed. She wheels him next to Lisbon's bed and leaves.
"Well, I guess I know how you are…getting the nurses upset and disobeying doctor's orders." She shakes her head at Jane.
"Meh. Obedience is highly overrated, Lisbon. Besides, I can walk. No bum ankle like you have, my dear." He asks more softly, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. I'll be off that foot for a week or so...You have some broken ribs?" she asks, worry surfacing only for his injury.
"They taped me up like a mummy. Then they gave me a small pill that seems to be working," he answers through a yawn. "Guess I should go back to my room. I'll rest easier now that I've seen you."
"Jane, maybe you should stay with me tonight? I'd rather you not go to your room if you're not gonna sleep." He looks at her in surprise and she points to the other bed in her room.
"Sure, but I'm certain to sleep if that pill continues to work like it is now." He slowly rises from the wheelchair and heads for the bed. He turns the covers down and gingerly climbs in. He gives a sigh and closes his eyes, asleep in no time.
The room becomes quiet. Lisbon looks at Jane and smiles. She wonders how many times he had to wash his hair to get those blonde curls free of mud. She watches him sleep and realizes the man is getting closer to her heart every day. She isn't sure where it will lead, but tonight Patrick Jane is her hero.