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Maura's internal clock woke her early the next morning and she found herself still wrapped in Jane's embrace. She smiled as she felt Jane's breath tickling her neck but her smile quickly disappeared when she opened her eyes and was greeted with darkness. Her heart sank when she blinked her eyes rapidly to no avail and was hit with the realization that her blindness was not a dream.
"Jane," she said gently, her voice hoarse from not being used.
"Hmm?" came the response from behind her.
"Can you tell me what time it is?" Maura asked. "I didn't call Lieutenant Cavanaugh yesterday and I would like to let him know I will be out of the office with enough time left for him to call in Dr. Pike."
"It is…" Jane trailed off, lifting her head to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table next to Maura. "It's just before 6," she finished. "I'll call Cav for you," Jane said as she reluctantly pulled away from Maura and sat up. "Then I'll come back, help you with the eye drops, put those gauze things Frankie got you on, and catch a few more hours of sleep. Sound good?"
Jane didn't hear a response from Maura and looked down to see that Maura's eyes were closed and her breathing had evened out, indicating sleep. Shaking her head, Jane grabbed her cellphone and walked out of Maura's room to not disturb her.
Jane called Cavanaugh and let him know what had happened. He told her that Maura would need to fill out paperwork in order to receive pay for her medical leave and Jane offered to come pick the paperwork up once he had it available. He also subtly told Jane that she had more unused personal days than any other BPD employee and that she should focus her energy on being there for Maura.
Walking back into Maura's bedroom, Jane grabbed the eye drops and gauze pads from where Maura had set them on her dresser. She softly walked to Maura's side of the bed and sat down near Maura's legs.
"Hey, Maura?" Jane said softly, brushing a bit of hair away from Maura's face. "Maura?" Jane repeated a bit louder.
"Huh?" Maura asked, opening her eyes and lifting her head a bit to look in the direction of Jane's voice.
"Eye drops and gauze," Jane smiled.
"Oh, right," Maura said as she moved to sit up.
"Hey," Jane said, placing a hand on Maura's shoulder. "You can stay lying down. It'll probably be easier for me to get the drops in if you're horizontal."
Maura simply nodded her head as she relaxed onto the bed, her head resting on pillow as she lay on her back.
"Crap," she heard Jane mutter after a bit of rustling from what sounded like the grocery bag the drops and gauze pads were in.
"That doesn't sound promising," Maura chuckled.
"Frankie didn't get any tape to hold the gauze onto your eyes. But since you're you, I'm guessing you've got plenty of that somewhere in this house," Jane said. "Bathroom?" she asked.
"Under the far left side of the sink there is a first aid kid with medical tape," Maura smiled. The bed shifted as Jane rose to grab the tape and dipped back a minute later when she returned.
"Ready?" Jane asked as she uncapped the small vial of eye drops.
"Yes," Maura said softly as she opened her eyes and willed her pupils to look directly at the ceiling to make Jane's job easier.
"Want me to give you a countdown or just do it?"
"Um," Maura said, not sure which she preferred. "Countdown, I think."
Jane inhaled deeply and poised the vial above Maura's face. She tilted the vial slightly in preparation.
"Alright," she said softly. "One…two…three," Jane said before tilting the vial more and squeezing, a single drop falling into Maura's left eye. "And the next eye in one…two…three," she repeated as she allowed a drop to fall into Maura's right eye. "Feel okay?" Jane asked, not sure if the drops would cause Maura any pain.
"Fine," Maura said as her eyes blinked a few times. "Going to put the eye patches on now?"
"Yeah," Jane said as she capped the vial and set it aside. "Should I be wearing gloves or something for this?" she asked, suddenly nervous that she might cause Maura more problems.
"If the gauze eye patches are what I think they are, they should be a bit of a concave design which means that they won't actually be touching my eye. Is that correct?"
Jane opened the box of eye pads and pulled one of the plastic packets out that contained a pad. "Yeah," she said. "They're like a pirate's eye patch, only white and without the skull and crossbones," she laughed.
"Then you shouldn't need to wear gloves," Maura confirmed. "Just handle them as little as possible and around the edges and you should be good."
"Kay," Jane said as she opened the packet and pulled out two eye patches. She placed it over one of Maura's eyes and felt the doctor jump slightly. "Sorry," Jane said, instantly pulling back.
"You're fine," Maura said, knowing Jane's fears of hurting Maura. "It was reflex. I felt something on my face and instinct kicked in. You didn't hurt me," she soothed.
"You sure?" Jane asked, still not sure that she hadn't harmed her friend.
"I'm positive," Maura smiled as she reached a hand out to feel for Jane. She felt her leg and rubbed soothing circles over the flannel.
"If you say so," Jane said as she picked the eye patch up again. "I'm gonna put it over your left eye now," Jane let Maura know to avoid startling her again. Maura remained relaxed as she felt Jane place the patch over her eye and affix it with a few small pieces of tape. "Now the right eye," Jane said as she mimicked the same actions over Maura's other eye. "Beautiful," Jane stated as she looked down at her handiwork.
Maura laughed when she heard Jane announce her as beautiful.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jane," Maura scoffed. "I am certain that I am everything but beautiful."
"You're always beautiful, Maur," Jane said, her voice laced with honesty. "Lemme throw this stuff back onto your dresser and grab your camera. I'll take a photo of you to show you when you get your vision back that I'm not being ridiculous."
"But-"
"No buts," Jane interrupted as she grabbed a packet of eye patches before setting the box and vial on Maura's dresser. She grabbed Maura's camera from its case and crawled up onto the bed to lay next to Maura. "Smile," Jane said as she aimed the camera at Maura, a warmth filled her body when Maura smiled in the direction of Jane. "Lovely," Jane said after snapping a few candid shots of Maura.
"Take one with me?" Maura asked.
"You wanna take a selfie?" Jane laughed.
"Yes," Maura laughed as she heard the rustling of plastic that Jane was obviously trying to mask. She didn't ask what Jane was doing and smiled when she felt Jane scoot closer to her, placing their heads next to each other.
"Alright," Jane said. "I'm gonna hold the camera up in the air so look up and say cheese." The click of the camera signaled that the photo had been taken. "Now make a goofy face," Jane instructed, contorting her face while Maura did the same and snapping another photo.
"How do they look?" Maura asked, turning to face Jane.
Jane smiled and began to look through the photos of her and Maura. Their hair had sprawled out on their respective pillows but mixed together where the brought their heads together. The photo of them smiling was a bit blurry but the one where they were both making faces was clear and Jane smiled when she saw the photo. It wasn't the most attractive but what Jane loved most was that the gauze pads that were protecting Maura's eyes could also be found covering Jane's eyes. They matched and Jane couldn't wait for Maura's sight to return so she could show her the image.
"They look great," Jane said with a smile as she set the camera down on the bedside table along with the eye patches she had worn for the photo. "I can't wait for you to see them," she added as she once again molded her body to Maura's back and pulled her into her arms for a few more hours of sleep.
Maura awoke when she heard music coming from her kitchen. She turned to ask Jane if she knew if Angela was at work or had the day off when she realized she was alone in her bed. Maura slowly set up and ran her fingers through her hair, taking a few deep breaths to wake herself up. She stood up and slowly walked into her bathroom. She grabbed her fuzzy robe that Angela had bought her for her birthday and wrapped it around her and placed her hand on the wall to guide her to the kitchen.
When she reached the kitchen, heard music coming from what she assumed was Jane's laptop and soft singing coming from the brunette.
"I didn't know you could sing," Maura said, removing her hand from the wall to cross the room to where the island was she could sit at.
"Jeeze!" Jane said, nearly dropping the spoon she was mixing batter with when she heart Maura's voice. "You scared me, Maura. Don't you know never to sneak up on a cop?"
"Sorry," Maura said with a soft laugh. "Didn't know that I was capable of frightening the big, bad Detective Rizzoli."
"Ha, ha," Jane said sarcastically as she resumed her actions since her heart stopped pounding.
"You're cooking," Maura stated as she sat down on one of the barstools across from where Jane was cooking.
"Correct," Jane smiled as she continued to maneuver around the kitchen.
"What are you making?" Maura asked.
"Guess," Jane said with a smile.
"You know that I can't guess, Jane," Maura said.
"Well, then," Jane sighed. "You're gonna have to use your scientific reasoning to deduce what it is I am cooking."
Maura shook her head at her friend but decided to play along. She inhaled deeply, trying to decipher the scents that filled her kitchen. While trying to sort through the scents she also began to listen for sounds of what Jane might be doing.
"Pancakes," Maura smiled as she heard the flip and sizzle of pancakes.
"Chocolate chip ones for me, blueberry for you," Jane clarified when Maura identified the first part of her breakfast. "What else?"
"I smell sausage," Maura said with a smile. When she heard a clink, she added "And you just cracked an egg into a bowl."
"You are correct," Jane said as she began to whisk the eggs. "I've also got the toaster out for your raisin bread but that'll get done last since it only takes a minute."
"Coffee?" Maura asked, noticing a distinct lack of coffee aroma.
"Yeah, about that…" Jane laughed as she poured the scrambled eggs into a hot pan to cook. "I still have no idea how to work your coffee machine. I got everything set up but I have no idea which buttons to hit or anything like that."
"I can do it," Maura said as she slid off the barstool and moved to her coffee maker. After years of making coffee for her and Jane, she was able to press the buttons in the correct order without thinking about it or using her sight. "I can feel you staring at me," she said softly as the machine whirred to lift and Maura moved to once again sit on the barstool.
"You're amazing," Jane laughed. "I can see and couldn't figure out how to use that contraption. You can't see and did it in .7 seconds."
"Years of practice," Maura quipped.
The two made idle chit-chat as Jane finished her and Maura's breakfast. Jane made up a plate for Maura, remembering what she had searched on her laptop the night prior.
"Alright," Jane said as she brought Maura's plate to her friend and placed it in front of her. "At 12 o'clock you've got two slices of toast, three o'clock is where your scrambled eggs are, six o'clock are your pancakes, and nine o'clock is the sausage. Knife and fork are on the right side of your place and coffee mug is right above those."
"Jane…" Maura breathed, hearing how Jane had arranged her plate so she could easily eat her first meal without vision. "Thank you," she said, suddenly filled with emotions.
"It's no problem," Jane smiled as she kissed Maura's head as she set her own plate down and sat on the stool next to Maura. "Now dig in! I'm used to generic brand pancake mix so using your fancy pancake stuff was odd and I'm not sure they turned out all too well."
Picking her knife and fork up, Maura located the pancakes on her plate and cut a small piece of them. She lifted it to her mouth and tasted them, smiling as she did so.
"They're great, Jane," Maura smiled as she began to cut another piece of pancake. "You're great."
"It's like Frankie said last night," Jane said, her mouth filled with eggs. "That's what family is for."
Maura smiled and continued to eat, each of them enjoying the occasional bird chirping from outside.
"Oh!" Jane said suddenly. "I'm gonna run to headquarters later today to pick up some forms Cav says you need to fill out for medical leave and also grab some case files so I don't get too far behind and can still help the guys out."
"Jane," Maura said as she set her fork down and place a hand on Jane's arm. "You don't need to stay with me longer than a day. I should be fine. Really."
"Too late," Jane smiled. "Cav already told me I've got more personal days that anyone he's ever seen and that he'd be cool with me taking some time to be with you. So, you're stuck with me. Sucks, huh?"
Maura gave Jane a soft shove, laughing as she did so.
"Being stuck with you might suck for others but for me it is lovely. I don't know how I got so lucky to have a friend like you," Maura said.
"I wonder the same thing every day," Jane said. "But enough of this mushy gushy stuff this early in the morning," she laughed. "You done?" Jane asked.
"Yes, thank you," Maura smiled as she heard Jane rise from the barstool and collect her plate. "If you leave the dishes in the sink I can wash them while you're out."
"I won't say no to that offer!"
"When are you heading out to headquarters?" Maura asked.
"I was thinking I'd throw on some jeans and shirt and head out now. I look semi-presentable and I'll only be there for a couple minutes."
"Could you maybe help me with something before you leave?" Maura asked.
"Anything," Jane said.
"Since I cannot read to keep myself entertained, could you perhaps find me something to play on television while you're gone? Or a movie?"
"I can totally do that," Jane replied. "Do you wanna watch it in the living room or your room?"
"Living room, please," Maura answered.
After picking up Maura's forms and her case files from headquarters, Jane made one last pit stop before heading back to Maura's house. She used her spare key to enter the house, smiling when she saw Maura's blonde hair over the top of the couch.
"Hey, Maur," Jane said as she placed the small bag with her purchase on the counter and took her shoes off.
"Hi," Maura smiled as she turned her head to face Jane. Maura had removed the patches from her eyes shortly after Jane left so that she would notice if any amount of her vision began to come back.
"The guys and ma said to tell you hello," Jane told her as she began to silently move around Maura's kitchen with her purchase.
"That is sweet," Maura said. "Perhaps we could ask Angela if inviting Vince and Barry to Sunday dinner is okay? I know it is usually for family but since I won't get to work with them for a while I'd like to see if we can invite them."
"That sounds like a stellar plan," Jane said, finishing her work in the kitchen. "I'm gonna run upstairs and throw some sweats on real fast," she said as she quickly walked up the stairs and into Maura's room. She pulled her sweats on quickly and went into Maura's bathroom with her purchase, making a few adjustments with it before heading back down to join Maura.
"What were you doing in the kitchen?" Maura asked when she heard Jane walking back down the stairs.
"Did you get supersonic hearing when you lost your vision?" Jane asked with a laugh. "I thought I was being sneaky," she added.
"Some studies suggest that when you lose one sense the others are heightened, although there are no real scientific studies to back that claim up," Maura said simply. "But you're deflecting."
"It's what I do," Jane smiled. "But if you take my hand and come to the kitchen with me, I'll tell you what I was doing."
Maura reached out and took Jane's hand, lacing their fingers together as she stood up and allowed Jane to bring her to the kitchen.
"Feel your oven," Jane said with a smile.
"Pardon?" Maura asked, not understanding Jane's command.
"The top of your oven where the clock is," Jane clarified. "Feel it and tell me what you feel."
Hesitantly, Maura ran her fingers over the part of her stove where the clock and function buttons were. She felt a small raised dot, then another, and two more.
"Jane?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "What are those things I'm feeling?"
"They're these little craft store rhinestone stickers I read about blind people using," Jane said. "The dot on the far left is the button you'd press to turn the oven on. Going to the right you have the button to start the over or the timer, then the timer button, then the up arrow to adjust the time or temperature. If you hit the on button on the far left then the button right next to it, the over will be automatically set to 350 degrees. But you can use the arrows where the last dot is to adjust the temperature. That way you can reheat stuff or cook meals if I'm sleeping or not here."
"What do you mean you've read about them?" Maura asked, still running her fingers over the small rhinestone stickers.
"Last night while you were washing your face I started looking up ways I could help you. That's how I knew to arrange your breakfast plate using the face of a clock and find these rhinestones. Oh, and speaking of washing your face, come upstairs!" Jane said, eagerly taking Maura's hand and guiding her up the stairs.
When they reached Maura's bathroom, Jane let go of Maura's hand and stood by the sink with a smile.
"Grab the bottles you used last night for you face washing deal and tell me if anything feels different," Jane said.
Nodding, Maura reached out and felt her fingertips brush a bottle. She took it and ran her hands over it. She felt no difference until she felt a rhinestone sticker on the cap. Setting it down, she grabbed the second bottle and felt three stickers on the top and, when she felt the cap of the last bottle, she felt two stickers.
"The wash has one sticker, the toner has two, and the moisturizer has three," Jane said, even though Maura had already figured that out. "Since that's the order they go in, right?"
Maura found her throat closing as she fought back tears at the kindness Jane was showing her so she simply nodded affirmation to Jane's question.
"I also put a sticker on the pump for your shampoo so you can tell the difference between that and the conditioner since they're the same size and shape," Jane added. When she noticed the tears forming in Maura's eyes, she suddenly felt uncertain of her actions. She was proud of herself for taking initiative to help Maura but suddenly doubted if Maura was appreciative. "Hey," she said as she took Maura's hands in each of her own and squeezed them softly. "If you don't like 'em or they're tacky just let me know and I can get rid of them."
"No," Maura said as she shook her head and willed the tears to go away. "I love them, Jane," she managed to say.
"You sure?" Jane asked, noting the way Maura's voice cracked.
"I'm positive," Maura nodded. "I'm just feeling very overwhelmed at the moment," she said. "My sudden blindness is obviously very worrisome and has me realizing many fears. Your kindness and dedication to helping me is also quite overwhelming. Plus I am finding myself with feelings I never thought I would have." A tear escaped Maura's eye and rolled down her cheek.
"I can totally start acting like a sarcastic ass if that'll be easier to deal with than kindness," Jane joked as she let go of one of Maura's hand to wipe the tear from her friend's face.
"Start acting?" Maura asked, raising an eyebrow at Jane.
"Hey!" Jane laughed, taking her hand from where it cupped Maura's cheek and giving her friend and playful shove to the shoulder. "I find that statement offensive!"
"You know I'm kidding," Maura laughed. "You are one of the most kind hearted people I have ever known, even if you don't always show that side of you to others."
"Thanks," Jane said softly as she once again grasped Maura's hands in her own. "What did you mean when you said you were having feelings you never thought you'd have?" Jane asked.
Maura's heart skipped a beat as she realized she would soon have to tell Jane about the feelings she was having for her. Although she herself was blind, Jane wasn't and would surely notice the hives that would appear if Maura attempted to lie about what she was feeling.
"Um," Maura said, trying to figure out how she could answer Jane's question. "I am simply…The feelings I have encountered since losing my vision…I suppose they are not new feelings," Maura stammered, "But they are feelings I have tried to ignore and deny."
"Maura," Jane said, her voice soft yet firm. "Are you safe?"
"What?" Maura asked, her head moving to look away from the floor and at Jane's face. "Oh, yes!" Maura quickly said. "I'm safe, Jane. I would never cause myself any sort of purposeful bodily harm."
"I just had to check," Jane said, breathing a sigh of relief. "You don't have to tell me what you're feeling if you don't want to," Jane added. "But know that I'm here for you for anything and everything. You're never gonna get rid of me," she laughed.
"Do you promise?" Maura asked, her voice soft.
"You know I do."
Maura took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she took a step towards Jane. Their hands were still connected so Maura guided her and Jane's intertwined hands to rest on her hips. Jane remained silent as her own heart began to pound at the lack of space between her and her best friend. Maura moved her head forward and rested it in the crook of Jane's neck between her head and shoulder. Taking one last calming breath, Maura pressed her lips to Jane's skin.
Jane's breath hitched when she felt Maura's lips make contact with her skin and she automatically pulled the honey blonde closer to her, their hands still intertwined on Maura's hips. She missed the feeling of Maura's lips when Maura pulled her head away but was relieved when Maura pressed her forehead to Jane's, both of their eyes closed and breaths mingling.
"Maura?" Jane whispered, afraid to speak at a normal volume for fear of bursting the bubble she and Maura had just created.
"Yes, Jane?" Maura responded just as softly.
"I think I'm gonna kiss you in about 5 seconds," the detective admitted.
"I think I will kiss you back in about 5 seconds," was Maura's response.
Longest chapter yet but I had to leave it here! Gotta give ya'll a reason to come back for the next chapter!
Personally I think the idea of Jane wearing the gauze eye pads for her photo with Maura is really funny and sweet and cute. Something goofy that Jane would do. But will Maura ever see the photo and know what Jane did? Hmmm. Good question.
The using the face of a clock to describe where food is on a plate and the rhinestone stickers are things that my family uses quite a bit with my dad! They work really well! Haha
I'd love to hear your thoughts!