Thanks for all the reviews. I'm having a blast writing this story. I do apologize profusely for the errors. As some of you pointed out, I started spelling Jane as Jayne in the third chapter and had Cavanaugh listed as a Captain rather than his correct rank of Lieutenant. Through the magic of editing, I believe I corrected the errors. Shows that you should not post your story after Midnight. Nor should you post without triple-checking your story.
CHAPTER 4
Maura stared at her image in the mirror of the woman's bathroom in Boston General, immediately noticing the blood that had splattered her dress as she tried to keep the officer from bleeding out. Her success would be answered over the next few hours as the surgeons tried to repair the damage done to the officer's femoral artery.
Blood was definitely one of those substances you could taste the smell. Many people describe a 'coppery' smell to blood; it wasn't copper, but iron. Maura could taste it on her tongue.
She turned on the faucet, getting it as hot as her skin would allow and begun to scrub, knowing it would be several days before the staining of Officer Knight's blood would be completely gone.
Even though it was her job to discover the reasons behind peoples passing, whether natural or man-made, senseless acts of violence always shook her to her core. This time, she was twenty feet away. It could have been Jane, or even her. A slightly different trajectory made all the difference. She tried to shake the thought from her brain.
Maura cleaned herself up as best she could. She'd borrowed a pair of surgical scrubs from the surgery area. She took one last glimpse of herself before she went out of the bathroom. While there was still some staining on her hands, she had managed to get most of the blood washed off. She couldn't say the same for her dress. She had been worried Jane would vomit on it, little did she know that would be the least of her worries.
As she stepped out of the bathroom and back onto the surgical wing, Maura could see people through the glass waiting room gathered around the television set. Hospital staff as well as family members of patients crowded around, watching the flat screen TV with a look of shocked disbelief. Boston had been through so much in the last several months. Maura wasn't sure how much more this proud city could take.
She quietly opened the door and stepped inside, immediately recognizing Brian Williams' voice saying "If you are just now joining us". She watched with the others as Brian reported that several officers, firefighters, and civilians had been wounded in a shootout that was becoming all too familiar on the nightly news.
"Please turn it up!" Maura shouted as she heard the reporter on the ground tell Brian that a female Boston police officer had been wounded.
Someone turned up the volume so Maura could hear. She heard the reporter respond to Brian's question on the identity of the female officer. "Brian, we only know at this point that there are two dead, and eight wounded. Boston Police are not releasing the names of either the dead nor the wounded until next of kin have been notified. Nor has Boston Police disclosed what precipitated today's events. We do have eye witness reports there was an explosion that occurred right before the shooting began. The police are releasing very few details."
Brian asked the reporter a few more questions, but Maura had stopped listening. She was trying to remember if Cavanaugh had mentioned if there were any wounded female officers before she and Jane had gotten there. She couldn't remember.
She immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jane's number. By the eighth ring, panic was beginning to set in. "Please, Lord. Don't let it be Jane."
Maura immediately dialed Angela's number.
She answered on the first ring. "Jane?"
Maura's heart sank even further. "No, Angela, it's Maura. I was hoping Jane had called you to tell you she was okay." She tried to keep her voice even.
"No, I haven't heard from her. Was she there, Maura? Was she there? Why isn't she with you?" Angela's words spilled out so quickly, Maura was having a hard time understanding.
"I had to go to the hospital. One of the officers was wounded." Maura choked out the next few words. "I left her behind with Lieutenant Cavanaugh."
"Look, my daughter's tough, tougher than anyone I know." Angela must have seen the newscast. Maura didn't know if she was talking to her or convincing herself.
Maura was about to reassure her when the loud speaker cut into her conversation. They were paging the trauma team. Gunshot victim. ETA four minutes.
"I've got to go Angela' she said, hoping she had not heard the loud, booming voice, as it called available personnel to assemble in the Emergency Department.
"Maura, find Jane! Find my daughter!"