Maura was working at her desk when a knock at the door drew her attention away from the computer.

"Jane!"

Her best friend Detective Jane Rizzoli came limping into her office and took a seat on the couch. Maura immediately got up and came over. Jane's pant leg was ripped open and she was bleeding from a nasty looking wound near her knee.

"What happened?" Maura asked.

"Was chasing a perp," Jane said. "We were going through an alley between some buildings. Frost was circling around to get him at the other end. Bastard kept knocking over every trash can an obstacle he could find to slow me down. I caught up to him near the mouth of the alley way and bam there is Frost and the guy barrels into Frost. I tackled him from behind, but came down hard on the sidewalk. I didn't even notice this until we had the suspect cuffed and in the car. You think you can do a quick patch job?"

Maura shook her head, not saying no, but more at the recklessness her friend often displayed. "Yes, I will clean out the wound and get you bandaged up. Wait here."

She left the room and went out to the morgue where she grabbed a first aid kit. Treating Jane's bumps and bruises had become something of a habit over the years that they had known each other. Maura was just glad that most of her wounds were minor in nature.

It wasn't like the time Jane was shot outside of the precinct.

Shaking off the feeling that the memory of the day gave her, she returned to the office and began to clean the area where the skin had torn. There were a few winces from Jane as the antiseptic was applied, but for the most part Jane was a model patient.

"There," Maura said after she placed the bandage on her.

Jane looked down at her work and then at her. "Thanks Maur," she said standing up. Maura replaced the items in the kit and threw away the wrappings for the bandage and the cloth she used to clean the wound.

"You are welcome as always."

"Guys are going out for a beer tonight, want to join?" Jane asked.

"Thank you, but I just got a new medical journal today that has a fascinating article on stem cells that I want to read."

"Sounds thrilling," Jane said. "Well if you change your mind, you know where we will be."

Jane said goodbye and Maura went back to her work but found she was having trouble concentrating. She again thought about the day outside of the precinct when she had come running down the sidewalk to find Jane bleeding out. Jane had been unconscious almost immediately and Maura had gone into doctor mode, assessing the situation. Thankfully, the EMTs were nearby, waiting for the resolution to the hostage situation. They got Jane and Frankie loaded up quickly and to the hospital. It wasn't until later that Maura had even noticed she had gotten some of Jane's blood on her when she had knelt beside her friend there on the sidewalk.

It had been a rough time for her while Jane was in a coma. Not being able to hear Jane's voice, even when it was laced with sarcasm, or being able to see the depths of eyes had made Maura come to a few conclusions. The first being that if Jane didn't pull through she would be devastated.

The second being that she would be devastated not just because Jane was her best friend, but because she was in love with Jane.

Yet even as Jane recovered Maura had kept those feelings tampered down. She refused to ruin what they had by admitting that she loved Jane. As the years passed she figured the feelings would eventually go away, but they hadn't. When Jane and Casey got closer, Maura thought that it would be the end of it, that Jane would marry Casey and Maura's mind would appropriately assess that and then the feelings would disappear.

But Jane didn't marry Casey.

Ever since then it had been harder and harder for Maura to remain silent.

All Jane saw her as was a friend and while it was hard for Maura to simply accept that role and be content, she knew she had too. She knew that having Jane in her life this way was better than not having her in her life at all.

So she would remain silent. She would patch up Jane's wounds when needed. She would be there for Jane as a constant companion during life's ups and downs. She would be the best friend because in the end she knew it made Jane happy to have her in her life and so Maura would take that and be satisfied.

Yes, she thought, I can be silent. I have to be.