The unusual visit of Maura Isles to her office, meant Jane's afternoon went very smoothly. As Maura had requested a new patient slot from the secretary, she had been scheduled for sixty minutes but the meeting between Maura and Jane had only taken fifteen. Which left Jane an unexpected forty five minutes to catch up on the corrections of her dictated letters, and complete some repeat prescriptions. The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, Jane seeing follow up patients, all of whom were, unsually, doing okay.
Her secretary was surprised to see her come out of her office on the dot of 5:30pm in her coat.
"Jane, do you have interesting plans for tonight?"
"No Sarah, just for once, I am actually on top of my work, so I thought I might leave at a sensible time"
At this point her colleague came around the corner, "hot date more like Sarah, she's off home to pretty herself up"
"Frost!" Jane sighed in exasperation. "I wish. Reckon texting my brother to see if he wants to grab a beer is as good as it gets for me, and if he isn't free, it will be Jo Friday and the Red Sox on the couch"
"The whole team, on your couch Jane. That would be quite a night"
Frost suddenly ducked as Jane quickly grabbed a pen from the holder on Sarah's desk and flicked it at speed towards his head.
"Night Jane", Sarah sympathetically smiled, as Jane headed for the door.
Sarah turned to Frost "It is nice to see her leaving on time for a change Barry, she does work so hard"
Frost smiled back "It would be nicer still to see her going on a date".
Jane flicked a quick text to her brother Frankie to ask if he was keen to meet for a burger and beer. An hour later she wandered in to his choice of the Dirty Robber, finding him waiting in a booth.
"Janie, it's been too long" as he stood to hug her warmly
"Frankie, I saw you on Sunday, at Ma's for dinner!"
"I meant too long since we just caught up together. Hard to talk with Ma around"
"ooh little brother, something I should know"
Frankie blushed and assured her not.
They passed the evening talking of nothing much. Recent games they had seen. Frankie's colleagues at BPD homicide. Ma's latest ideas to match make for them both.
…
Jane arrived at her office at 730am next morning. She liked to get in whilst things were quiet and prepare herself for the day. She sat at her desk and her eyes fell upon the card she'd been left the day before. She'd been so busy discussing baseball stats with her brother she'd not thought more about her unexpected visitor. But now she sat down and looked at the card, her mind flicked up an image of those amazing legs and…well a sense of curiosity. For sure, Maura Isles was an attractive woman. But she was also interesting, if seemingly bookish. And her request was unusual. Jane rubbed her fingers over her eyes towards the bridge of her nose, trying to think. Putting aside any thoughts about the lawyer, appropriate or otherwise, was it ethical to take the case? Parents asking her to see an adolescent clinically = easy. Being asked to act as an expert witness and clearly explain to the young person the limits of that role = not something she personally had a professional interest in doing, but if you did those things, relatively straightforward. But what was this? Seeing a young person at their request of their lawyer, to see if they needed help, or to see if they had clues to the case. How did that fit in? Who was she responsible to, when the lawyer seemed to be the one paying the bills?
She played with the business card. Flipping it over. Nothing on the back. Just a standard professional card. Should she google the lawyer? Why would she google the lawyer? Should she not google the lawyer? Deciding she really didn't want to think any more about her motivations, she put the card aside, and started looking through the referrals for the new patients she was due to see that morning.
...
The day quickly passed, and Jane was clearing her desk to leave for the day when she found the card again. She impulsively dialled the cell. After a couple of rings there was a business like reply
"Maura Isles"
"Ms Isles, Jane Rizzoli'
"Dr Rizzoli, how lovely to hear from you'
"I'll take your case, on the following basis, 1. I see him weekly, until I decide I don't, 2. I don't tell you anything unless he and I decide to, I don't work for you, 3. You don't ask me anything, 4. You don't ever ask me to do this again" by then end of this, Jane was nearly barking in to the phone.
"that sounds fine Doctor" Maura replied sweetly, 'but"
"But what?" grumped Jane
"I just, ah, wondered how you actually get adolescents to talk Doctor? Do you grumble at them too? I mean I have heard there are a range of clinical approaches that one might take, and that…"
"we're not all fluffy hand holders in mental health you know Ms Isles"
"I meant no offense Doctor, I am just curious about how you best engage young humans who are still in a rapid phase of neurodevelopment?"
"Actually, adolescents tend to just respond to being honest, genuine, up front and consistent. No magic to it. And, well, I am probably at my best when not talking to lawyers Ms Isles"
Maura laughed. Jane wondered what would make her laugh again.
"Well doctor, I hope I can endeavour to remedy your impression of the legal profession. What could I do to give you a better feeling about us?".
Jane coughed. None of the things that came to mind seemed appropriate to share. She managed to splutter out "Don't mind me, Ms Isles, my bark is far worse than my bite"
"Really Doctor? Have you bitten lawyers in the past?" came the surprised reply.
"Figure of speech, Bark, bIte…..really, you've never heard that?' there remained an odd silence. Jane finished with 'I've never bitten a lawyer before, I promise"
Maura sounded perplexed and ever polite as she replied "well I'll have to make sure I don't give you cause to bite me".
Jane made a quick decision this conversation needed to finish before it got any odder, or she said something she really oughtn't. Who knew how the very literal lawyer might respond to some of the thoughts passing through Jane's mind.
"So Ms Isles, I will be in touch, and my secretary will deal with the practicalities in the meantime"
