Chapter 3

"Vince what are you doing here?" Korsak turned when he heard the familiar voice and felt his hackles rise.

"I'm visiting Jane like any good friend would do Maura." He couldn't hide the fact that he was angry with Maura. "The five of us have been sitting by her side so that she wouldn't be alone when she woke up."

"What do you mean when she wakes up? Are you saying Jane is in the ICU? Why? What happened?" Maura was clearly flustered and upset.

"I take it you haven't read any newspapers or watched TV over the last week. It's been all over the news. Big headlines 'Hero cop that takes down Patrick Doyle still in a coma'." Maura had to grab the counter as her knees gave out beneath her. Korsak grabbed her and led her over to a chair. "Doyle shot her in the head so she had a good reason to shoot him, she shot him in self defense."

"I had no idea. Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Because Jane made us promise not to. She said you had too much to worry about already. You turned your back on everyone who you had called a friend in favor of a criminal guilty of murder and the attempted murder of someone you called your best friend and she's still protecting you. You blamed her and never bothered to get the facts. She's been lying in that bed for 6 days, and after two surgeries she is still in a coma and Doyle put her there."

Tears were streaming down Maura's face by this time and she knew she deserved everything Korsak was throwing at her and more. He was right, she had turned her back on the only people that had treated her decently and gave her the family she'd never had. And the worst thing was not believing in Jane. Then she remembered the look Jane had given her when she looked at her before she climbed in the ambulance. It was a look of disbelief and so much hurt. And to realize that at that point Jane had already been shot and she didn't say anything made Maura's heart break. "Do you think I could visit her?" She turned to Korsak and he couldn't believe how lost she looked.

"That will be up to Angela. She's in protective mode so you'll have to convince her."

"Vince if I had known then that Doyle had shot Jane I would have been tempted to leave him laying there and let him bleed to death. I would have been at Jane's side this whole time. I have something I need to do then I will go talk to Angela. I'm so sorry I turned my back on all of you. Can you forgive me?"

"It's going to take a while to forget where your loyalties ultimately turned in a tough situation."

"What room is Jane in?" Maura asked quietly.

"37, and Angela will be there for the next 4 hours, then Frankie will come on. We're taking 4 hour shifts." He stood to leave.

"Thank you for telling me Vince. I will make it up to all of you I promise."

"Cops have long memories Doc. By the way, he also killed Agent Dean." He watched her flinch then he turned and walked away.

Maura turned and walked with a purpose back to Doyle's room her anger building as she walked. "You shot her and all this time you said nothing at all. How could you? You knew how much Jane meant to me, means to me. And you killed a Federal Agent on top of it."

Doyle looked up at his daughter and knew he couldn't say anything to make this right. "I had to Maura. She was digging and getting to close to my operation. She was so close to finding out who your mother was and I couldn't let that happen. I made a promise a long time ago and I couldn't let her get any closer."

"So you shot her! What would be so wrong about her finding out who my mother was?" Maura was no longer the cool calm Doctor Death, she was a woman who had lost everything important to her because the man in front of her had lied to her and she had never felt so much anger towards another individual in her life "You know she would not have done anything with that information. How many times has she skirted the line between right and wrong and contacted you for your help? If she tried to use what information she had she knew you could ruin her career and she would not risk that. She was in that warehouse to protect me, something she has done numerous times over the years. She would lay down her life for me as I would for her but right now she is in a coma a few rooms down and you put her there and for that I will never forgive you."

"Maura try to understand." Doyle was pleading with her.

"What I understand was you showed up at that warehouse uninvited and you shot Flynn. When Agent Dean did his job and shot you and you killed him. Did you even hear Jane yell for him to not shoot you? I've listened to the tape I made that day, yes I was wired because we wanted Flynn's confession but we got more than we bargained for. She was trying to protect you even then. She would not have shot you if you hadn't shot her first." Once again the tears were streaming down her face. "And now I may have lost the family I had always wanted because I chose you over them because I thought she was wrong. How could you just lay there this whole time, listening to me go on about how I couldn't believe Jane shot you and all this time you knew she shot you in self defense?"

"Maura I never kept my past from you, you knew who I was but you chose to ignore that. But Jane is first of all a cop and I believed that would win out in the long run and I couldn't risk that."

"What about the rest of us? We were there and witnessed you shooting those people. Flynn you may have gotten away with killing him because it was to protect me but when you turned your gun on Agent Dean then Jane you crossed the line. How did you think you would get away with that. Frost would hunt you down. Or were you going to kill him too? And what about Korsak and Frankie who had been sitting in the car listening to the whole thing?" She watched his eyes until he turned away from her. "I can't believe it, you would have killed them too wouldn't you? What about me? Would you have killed me too? You would have had to because I would not have kept quiet about this." She wasn't sure what his eyes said when he turned back to her. "Well Doyle I hope you rot in prison because that's where you are going to end up this time. Those handcuffs will ensure that." She pointed to the handcuffs locking him to the bed. "And I will be at your trial every day and I will cheer when they find you guilty. Now I will say good-bye to you, I don't ever want you to contact me again, I will find my mother on my own."

"Constance is your real mother." He knew she would never forgive him for what he has done, the least he could do was give her what she'd always wanted.

"Why would she pretend to have adopted me if she was my real mother?" Maura couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Her parents didn't like me because they thought I was beneath her. I was a thug and she was the debutant. When she got pregnant her parents sent her away to have the baby, then married her off to your father and they adopted you. Your grandparents told Constance she could never tell you that she was your real mother because it would reveal the whole story and ruin their reputation. I just thought you should know."

"Thank you for that. Now I am going to leave, I have some groveling to do with the family of the best thing that ever happened to me. Please stay away from me, and do not try to contact me. You are dead to me." She turned and walked out of the room and headed for where she should have been this whole time. She stopped at the entrance to room 37 and wept for her best friend. She couldn't believe how helpless the usually strong detective looked lying in that bed. "She hates to sleep on her back. She likes to lay in the fetal position and tuck her hands up under her chin." Maura whispered and unconsciously mimicked how Jane's hands always ended up under her chin like a baby.

Angela looked up in surprise at the doctor she'd always thought of as a second daughter until this week. "I know." She was heartbroken at the look on Maura's face. She looked so defeated and tired.

"I didn't know Angela. I didn't know she shot Doyle in self defense. If I had know she was hurt I would have been here you would not have been able to keep me away. Can you forgive me?" Tears were once again streaming down her face as she waited for Angela to say something.

Angela stood up and opened her arms. "Come here sweetie." Maura almost ran into her waiting arms. "I knew it had to be something like that. Why didn't you call?"

"Can that wait for a few minutes? I would like to see Jane. Oh they cut off her beautiful hair."

"It will grow back. At least she's still alive. Go sit down while I take a walk." Angela kissed Maura's cheek as she pushed her towards one of the chairs. "I'll be back in a little while. She's on a respirator because her Oblong Methuselah is being squeezed by the swelling."

"Her Medulla Oblongata?" Maura had to smile at Angela, her and Jane were so much alike at times.

"Yeah that's it. Now I'll leave you two alone." Angela turned and left the room.

Maura wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to gather herself together before she spoke to Jane. She stood up and read Jane's chart before she sat back down. She took Jane's hand and held it tightly. "Jane I am so sorry for not believing in you. Why didn't you tell me you were hurt? No that's wrong, this is not your fault. This was me turning my back on all that is important to me. Even if you hadn't been shot you were only doing your job and Doyle had just shot two people. You did what you should have done and I blamed you. That was wrong of me and you will never know how bad I feel about that. When I saw you sitting outside that building I almost stopped and came back to you but my father was bleeding and I thought he needed me. I was hurt, but that's no excuse for forgetting everything I know about you. I should have realized you would never have shot him if you didn't have to. I know what I did was unforgiveable but I hope someday we can be some sort of friends again. I realized we may never be as close as we were before this happened and I am deeply sorry for that but I hope we can at least work together. I love you Jane, I always have and I always will. I think I may even be in love with you and I've thrown all that away by one wrong move. I can't take it back, god knows I would if I could, I wish it were different but it's not and I'll just have to live with that."

"You're in love with me?" Came the hoarse reply from the bed. Maura's head jerked up and she looked at the woman on the bed who had a smile on her face.

"How long have you been listening?" Maura tried to pull her hand out of Jane's but Jane wouldn't let her. "I have to get your mother."

"Just sit for a second. I was listening from almost the beginning. Can I get something to drink?" Maura jumped up and filled a glass with water and helped Jane drink.

"And the part you chose to single out is the part where I said I was in love with you?" Maura sat back down and was rubbing the back of Jane's hand.

"It's the important part, the rest is just icing on the cake. So you love me huh?" Jane looked at Maura hopefully.

"Yes Jane I am hopelessly in love with you. I don't know when it happened I just know that it did. If you don't feel the same way and never want to talk to me again I will understand."

"You just tell me you love me and now you think I'll never talk to you again why would I do that? You just gave me the best news I could ever hear how could I turn away from that?

"It's good news? Does that mean you love me too?"

"Gee they don't call you a genius for nothing do they? Yes Maura I love you too."

Maura was elated for a moment but then she remembered what she had done. "How can you after what I did to you?"

"What did you do to me Maura?" At first Maura thought Jane didn't remember what caused her to slip into a coma until she spoke again. "I shot your father and in the heat of the moment you blamed me. It will take me awhile to get over that and I'm sure you have some doubts too. I thought we were closer than that but we'll work on it ok?" Maura started crying all over again. "Aw Maura don't cry, I can't stand it when you cry." She reached up and tried to wipe her tears away but she was tired and her hand dropped to the bed.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Maura. "I'm going to get your mother, she'll kill me if take up all your time and don't tell her you're awake. I'll be back in a minute."

"Maura, before you go can you do something for me?"

"Anything Jane. I'd do anything for you."

"Can I have a kiss?" Jane tried to give her her best smile. In answer Maura leaned over and gently covered Jane's mouth with hers then pulled back but was stopped when she felt a hand behind her head pull her back down. "You call that a kiss?" Jane pulled her the rest of the way until their lips met again. They both moaned when the kiss became heated and passionate.