Sorry for the wait... hope you enjoy. And thank you for all the lovely reviews.
Maura finished the autopsy by which time Jane needed to leave to get to the hospital. The pair got into Maura's car and made their way to the hospital. "Jane, what happened to your arm?"
"I already told you that I slipped and fell, I had a few too many beers at yours last night."
"No you didn't, you had one glass of champagne and a bottle of beer, we both know that's not enough to make you even slightly tipsy, it's not even over the recommended daily allowance, I've seen you drink more than that, and after that you were fine. What really happened Jane?"
"You have to embarrass me don't you, it was dark last night and I slipped on Jo's chew toy when I got out of bed"
Maura chuckled at Jane's clumsiness, and to think, she was one of Boston's finest. Jane smiled, relieved that Maura had bought her lie. She could never let her best friend know what had really happened the previous night, no one could ever know. Casey made her feel so powerless; the same way she had felt when Hoyt had pinned her down years before., what good was being a cop when she couldn't protect herself from this. If Maura found out she knew exactly how the honey blond would react, and she would feel pitied every time she saw her, and she couldn't have that. Not that she would ever admit it but Maura's opinion mattered to her, a lot. She valued what her friend said, not only because it was always honest, but because it was almost always true, and while most people would avoid saying things like that, Maura was brutally honest because she didn't always know when her words would hurt someone. She had known Casey since high school, she had always been drawn to him, and him to her, and he could never intentionally hurt her, could he? No. It was just the side effects of too much alcohol, she was sure of it.
The pair pulled up at the hospital and Maura parked the car before they both wandered into the building. The ER was a lot less busy and the doctor who had seen Jane in the early hours of that morning was still on call. He greeted her and led her to an exam room. He conducted a physical exam, before doing another x-ray, which showed that the cast was holding her wrist in place. No it was just a waiting game. Jane was let back out to the waiting room, so she sat down next to Maura, and told her the news. Maura was relieved that Jane would be alright, and as soon as Jane's medication was given to her Maura would drive the two of them back to the precinct, as Casey's words still loomed over her head.
Both women were silent on the drive back and once Maura's car was parked the doctor went back to her office to complete her autopsy report. Jane headed upstairs, and sat down at her desk where she began to fill out paperwork and go through cold case files as she had a lot of spare time on her hands.
Maura was sat in her office filling out her autopsy report when a voice at the door startled her. The distinctive British accent sent a chill down her spine. HE walked into her office as if he owned it and began to inspect her various tribal masks. Maura felt this was a violation of her personal space; Casey's voice interrupted her anger and turned it to fear. "Do you remember what I told you about staying away from my wife Dr. Isles?"
"Yes, about two weeks before the wedding you came in here and…"
"Very good doctor." His tone was patronizing and Maura felt a shiver down her spine. "This is why I'm puzzled as to why you were with her in the hospital today."
"I…uh…I…" The normally composed Dr. Isles was at a loss for words, he had been watching her, to ensure that she stayed away from Jane; he did have a lot of time on his hands.
He stormed over to her desk and slapped her across the cheek. "You're a filthy little spoilt brat… even so, there's no easy way to say this but I think you have a right to know" She could feel her cheek reddening where his hand had made contact with her cheek. She knew Casey hated her, he always had, but he loved Jane. She saw the way her behaved when he was with her, and her with him. She was finally happy, and that's all she really wanted, for Jane to be happy. "I'm just going to tell you. I'm going to tell you the plain and simple truth. You need to back off, no more movie nights, drinks after work none of that. We both know Jane, and she's too kind to tell you this herself but she had confided in me on numerous occasions, because she tells me everything. She doesn't want you spending so much time with her, she just wanted someone to go to the bar with after work once a week, but you started suffocating her, still are, and she hates it, hates you. To quote her exactly she wants you to 'find someone else's time to waste'. She doesn't want to spend her evenings watching boring documentaries, or listening to your endless list of 'fun' facts which she fins, and again I quote, 'boring as hell.' So find someone else's time to waste."
""D-did she r-really say that?" She felt herself beginning to crumble, and she knew Casey could sense it too so she finally let the tears that she had been holding back escape from her glassy eyes.
"Jane's right, you are pathetic." He turned to walk out of the building, he had said what he needed to, and he couldn't risk being caught. He was gone as quickly as he came.
Suddenly Maura wasn't in the mood to see anyone, living or dead, so she decided to call Dr. Pike to fill in for her. She told her staff that she was feeling unwell, and that wasn't a complete lie, Casey's words had left her feeling sick to the stomach. Jane didn't really feel that way, did she?
Jane walked down to Maura's office so that they could go to lunch together but she was greeted by Dr. Pike. "Why are you sitting in Maura's chair?"
"Dr. Isles asked me to give you her autopsy report if you came down." He handed her the file containing the paperwork and then stood to walk out of the office.
"Thank you Dr. Pike, but where did you say Maura was?"
"I'm afraid she went home earlier. I hear she wasn't feeling well and I believe that she went home."
Jane raced out of Maura's office before Dr. Pike could make a snarky comment. She ran up the stairs to her desk as fast as she could and sat down and dialed Maura's cell. She got her voicemail, and decided to try her home phone. No answer. "Frost, Korsak. Either of you seen Maura?"
"Not since she left the crime scene."
"I thought you just picked up her autopsy report."
"Dammit. Damn. Dammit."
"Jane is something wrong?"
She noticed the mountain of paperwork on her desk, before she realised she would have time to finish it all while she was confined to desk duty. She grabbed her keys and took off.
She stepped out into the late September breeze, thankful that it was cold enough for her to get away with wearing her jacket which covered up the bruises that she had received the night before. She climbed into her car and sped off towards the doctor's house. Her thoughts were running wild, all her emotions were a jumble and she couldn't think clearly about anything. She pulled into Maura's driveway and stepped out of the car. She walked up and rang the doorbell, once. Twice. Then she knocked, again, again and again. She finally decided to use the key that Maura had given her. She checked each and every room, whilst calling out her friend's name, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Come on Jane, think, where would Maura go? Suddenly something clicked and she jumped back into her car and drove to the Dirty Robber. It was nearing 6 o'clock and the bar was just starting to fill up, but no sign of Maura. With no idea where to go next, and not wanting to head home just yet, Jaen figured that Maura would have to go back home at some point, so she decided to drive back to her house and wait there for her to return. Halfway there her phone rang, without bothering to check who it was – she presumed that it was Maura calling her back – she pressed the answer button and practically screamed "Maura!" down the line.
"Nope, Guess again." His British accent rang down the phone.
"Casey." She sighed, disappointed that her friend still hadn't made any effort to contact her.
"Are you on your way home? And why did you think I was Maura?"
"Yes I'm on my way back." She turned her car around and began to head home, knowing exactly what Casey meant when he had asked her that question. "And Maura left work early today and she hasn't been returning my calls. She's not a t home either; I can't help but think I've done something to upset her."
"Oh." He said, making his voice sound sympathetic, but letting a smile spread across his face because he had won. Now he had Jane all to himself. "How long until you get back, baby?"
"About 5 minutes, I'll see you soon."
"I love you Jane." And then she heard him end the call. She knew that she had to get home; after all she could call Maura after Casey had fallen asleep, and she needed to mentally prepare herself for the night ahead because this time she knew what was coming. Casey hated to be kept waiting.
She pushed open the door to her apartment. She was met by a small table, which was candle lit and had a single red rose lying across the middle of the white table cloth. The table was set for two and Casey was sat facing her. She saw passion in his eyes, not lust, which made her begin to think that she was right. The alcohol had gone to his head before because sat before her was the man she knew, and loved. He stood and walked around the table to pull out the other chair for her and allowed her to sit before he brought out the starter.
"What's all this for Casey?"
"I want you to be happy Jane; I want to make you happy. I also owe you an apology, for last night, and this morning, I was drunk and I really wasn't thinking straight. I'm so sorry Jane. I never meant to hurt you. How's your wrist?"
"Oh Casey." She felt drawn to him again and found herself believing everything she said. "My wrist is feeling much better now thank you. How was your day?"
"I'm glad to hear that." He placed his hand onto hers whilst they ate. "Pretty boring, I'm thinking about going back to work at the Truce Veteran center. How's the food?"
"Really? Wow. Did you make this? It tastes amazing!"
"I did. I'm glad that you like it." There was a comfortable silence whilst the couple ate, but Casey soon spoke up again. "Don't worry about Maura Jane. You two have fought before, it's only natural, we'll fight now and again, it happens. You'll be friends again in no time."
"I just can't help but feel that it's my fault that she walked out today."
"Jane, I'm sure it's not you. Maybe she just needs a little bit of space, you two do spend a lot of time together."
"She is my best friend."
"Maybe she's giving you some space to get adjusted to married life." He proposed in an attempt to keep Jane and Maura apart for a while, which he knew would eventually drive them apart for good. He walked back to the kitchen and dished up the main meal.
"I suppose you're probably right, I'll leave her be for a couple of days."
Casey set down the main course of a simple beef chili with rice and a side salad. The couple talked until they had both finished desert, by which point they were laughing and having a good time.
"Thank you Casey, for an amazing evening with delicious food and great company."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Casey replied whilst putting the plates into the dishwasher. He took Jane's hand and led her to the bedroom, once inside he pushed her up against the wall again. She was physically weaker than the previous night, due to her injuries and so the nightmare began again.