Thank you for your patience. The previous chapters had been outlined so it was easier to write on a daily basis. I took time to review my notes and decide how the following chapters would flow, so the updates between each chapter should not be delayed like this in the future. I hope I didn't lose anyone over a cliff while waiting for updates.
Chapter 7 Ripped Asunder
Maura woke just before the alarm was to ring. She reached her hand out from under the covers to silence it, so Jane wouldn't be awakened. Burrowing back under the blankets Maura's exhausted mind began to worry, once again.
She hadn't slept in several days. Jane didn't know; Maura was managing to hide the dark circles under her eyes with makeup. It couldn't last, she knew Jane might start to realize Maura wasn't sleeping, but not yet. Maura didn't want to confide in Jane, didn't want her to know how truly terrified Maura was of Hoyt's return.
When she saw the photo in the newspaper Maura knew that Hoyt was no longer just after Jane; it became real for her, too. In the quietest way possible Maura began to sob. Jane awakened to the feeling of the bed slightly shaking. She glanced at Maura and noticed Maura's shoulders quivering.
"Maura? What's wrong, honey?" Jane slid over and pulled Maura to her. "Did you have a bad dream?"
"No, Jane, I did NOT have a bad dream!" Maura yelled and jumped out of bed. Without a backward glance she went into the bathroom, locking the door.
"What the hell?" Jane muttered to herself. Had she said or done something wrong in the last day or two to upset her wife? Jane knocked on the bathroom door.
"Maura, what's wrong?" Jane called. She could hear the shower running but if she listened intently she could hear Maura crying. Jane grabbed the doorknob but it was locked. She pushed at the door, calling to Maura.
"Maura, sweetheart, what's wrong? Please open the door," Jane called. But Maura did not respond. Jane rested against the door, her heart thudding. What could be upsetting Maura so badly? Jane felt herself near tears herself, only hers were tears of frustration.
The shower stopped. After a few minutes the door opened and a completely dressed and made up Maura Isles emerged. Her face looked like it was set in stone.
"Let me by, please. I don't want to be late for work," she said without meeting Jane's eyes.
"Maura, what's wrong? Why are you pushing me away?" Jane pleaded. Maura walked to the door. Picking up her purse and keys she looked back at Jane.
"Perhaps we made a mistake," she said and disappeared through the door. Jane looked after her in disbelief then collapsed on the bed, sobbing.
Jane walked into the bullpen, two hours late for work. Frost looked up at her and started to open his mouth. He shut it quickly when he saw the stormy expression on her face. She sat down at her desk, turned on her computer, and buried herself in paperwork. Korsak looked over at her but Jane kept to herself. Korsak motioned to Frost to meet him at the coffee machine.
"What do you suppose is going on this morning?" Frost asked under his breath.
"My guess is this case is starting to cause problems. Dr. Isles' parents' being threatened probably brought Hoyt into their relationship like never before," Korsak replied.
"Anything we can do?" Frost asked. Korsak shook his head.
"Just keep working your computer magic, Frost. We need to bring Hoyt back into the fold of the prison system. Only then can they put their relationship back together."
Lunchtime came and went. Jane remained at her desk. Maura didn't come up to ask her out. Korsak noticed Jane kept checking the time and surmised Jane was waiting to see if Maura came looking for her. After fifteen minutes Jane's face turned into a mask of indifference. She pulled her paperwork closer to her, if possible, and became engrossed in justice reports for the files once again.
After half an hour Korsak couldn't stand the tension anymore.
"Come on, Jane, let's go to lunch. We've been working intently for half a day and I need a break," Korsak said. Jane didn't look up, just shook her head no.
"You sure?" he asked. "I think you need a break, too." Jane didn't respond and Korsak reluctantly left the precinct alone. Frost decided to duck out as well. Jane was left to herself in the bullpen.
Ten minutes later she heard the elevator door open. Jane's heart leaped in her chest. She listened for the familiar click of Maura's heels as she rounded the corner. Instead Jane heard a soft shoe scuffling along the floor. She looked up in time to see Maura's assistant handing her a file. He nodded and smiled at her and disappeared into the elevator once again.
Jane put her head in her hands and began to cry. She didn't know what the problem was between her and Maura, but if she had to guess her choice would be their current case. As she cried Jane was torn between running downstairs to see Maura and fix this problem between them or running to see her mother. Jane mulled her options in her mind. After a couple of minutes she knew the urge to see her wife topped any others. Jane ran down to the morgue.
She saw Maura's assistant disinfecting the autopsy tables but she didn't see Maura. He looked up when Jane entered and smiled.
"Can I help you with something, Detective?"
"Is Dr. Isles here or in her office?"
"No, Detective, she isn't. She said she had some errands to run this afternoon and she left early."
"She did?" Jane croaked out. Why is she shutting me out like this? Jane wanted answers.
"Yes, but oh, Detective, she did leave something behind for you, in her office." The assistant nodded toward Maura's private office in the back. Jane fairly ran into Maura's office then stopped in amazement.
Sitting at the end of Maura's desk was Jane's luggage. A small note was taped to the top of one of the bags. Jane pulled the note open and saw Maura's crisp, feminine handwriting looping across the page.
"Jane, I think it's best you moved back to your apartment or to your parents'. I need some space. Maura."
Jane grabbed her luggage and put it in the back of her car without thinking of what she was doing. She was numb. Sitting in the driver's seat Jane thought over her options. She pulled out of the precinct parking lot and headed the car toward her mother's home.
Jane was grateful that traffic was light at that time of day. She drove on automatic pilot, not able to think coherently about anything. Only when she parked the car in front of her childhood home did she notice she was shivering.
"Jane, what are you doing here?" Angela asked when she her daughter step through the front door. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked. Jane flew into her mother's arms and began crying on her shoulder.
Over tea and coffee that afternoon Angela heard the story. "You're sure you didn't say or do anything Maura might have taken offense to, other than this business with Hoyt?" Angela asked. Jane shook her head.
"I thought everything was okay, then of course Maura freaked out when she saw the newspaper photo of Hoyt and her parents. I just don't understand why she's frozen me out."
"Well, until we have a better idea of what's going on in Maura's mind, why don't you take your things up to your old room, Janie. Take a nap, have a chance to unwind this afternoon."
The next two days passed in a blur for Jane. She rarely saw Maura; if any reports needed to be sent up to Homicide either Maura's assistant brought up the reports or they arrived in the interoffice mail delivery.
Jane wasn't sleeping. She spent the nights tossing and turning, alternating between wondering what she could do to repair her relationship with Maura and how to catch Hoyt. He kept eluding their grasp. Even with the investigation into the homeless John Doe's death and Hoyt's message carved into the man's chest, no clues of Hoyt's whereabouts were in their possession.
Angela watched Jane with a growing concern. She hoped when Jane showed up on their doorstep this would be a temporary glitch in a marvelous love story that was just getting started. Now, it was beginning to look like an end. Angela didn't know how Jane would survive a breakup with Maura, if that was about to happen. Angela woke these days with a terrible sense of foreboding. Like waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop, Angela thought.
Angela's sense of overwhelming dread didn't have long to fester before it broke open. Four days later Jane went to work. As she entered the precinct she heard Cavanaugh's voice calling her. She went into his office.
"Rizzoli, I don't know what's going on in your personal life but it's making a mess all over my precinct. Get your crap patched up with your wife so I don't have to process her request for a transfer." Jane stared at Cavanaugh.
"T-transfer?" she choked out. Cavanaugh looked at her keenly.
"Yes, she put in for a transfer to South Division. You didn't know?"
Jane shook her head. "Well, take care of things, Rizzoli. I like having Dr. Isles as our medical examiner and I don't want to lose her. Since she's chief this is actually nothing more than a formality. She has the chance to work at any of the precincts."
Jane stumbled out of Cavanaugh's office and dropped into her chair. She buried her head in her arms and cried.
Korsak came over and put his arm on her shoulder. "Hey, Janie, come on. No more of that. Go down and talk to her, kid. She loves you and you love her." Jane popped her head up. She stared at Korsak for a long moment then shook her head.
"I've lost her, Korsak. She's transferring. She packed my bags for me last week. Suggested I move back to my place or to my parents'. It's over. She doesn't love me anymore." Jane cleaned up the tears on her face. She took a deep breath.
"Go home, Janie. We'll call you if we catch a case."
Jane grabbed her jacket and phone and left. Korsak watched her leave.
"What are you going to do, man?" Frost asked.
"I'm going to go downstairs and talk some sense into a pretty young blond," Korsak said grimly. He waited until he couldn't see Jane anymore and then headed downstairs.
The morgue was a bustle of activity. Maura was in the middle of it all. Packing boxes were piled in a corner and Maura was putting her personal effects into them. At the same time she was reviewing files with her assistants and reviewing the contents of her desk drawer. She looked up when Korsak approached.
"Hi, Doc. Can we talk?"
"I'm pretty busy, Vince. The new m.e. should be here tomorrow morning and I'm trying to get my personal things packed, files organized. I don't want the new m.e. to be sitting down here not knowing how to find things."
"Uh huh. Why are you leaving?"
"I need a fresh start. I'm not leaving the department, just this precinct. I'll be over at South Division, Vince. Maybe we can still get together sometimes."
"What about your wife, Maura? Jane's torn to bits over this." Maura glanced up at Korsak.
"I can't help that, Vince. I told Jane I needed some space. She'll be fine."
"LIKE HELL SHE WILL!" Korsak bellowed. "Jane may live to be ninety but she'll never get over you. The two of you were meant to be together, Maura."
"I'm sorry, Vince, I'm busy. I'll come up and say goodbye before I leave."
"I sent Jane home, Maura. She isn't here. She came out of Cavanaugh's office looking like death warmed over. She can't sit up there and cry all day long. So I sent her home."
Maura's heart leaped when she heard Korsak describe Jane's crying at her desk. She knew what she was doing was wrong but she couldn't stop herself. Vince headed out to the elevator. He stopped at the door to the morgue.
"When everyone was calling you Queen of the Dead, Dr. Isles, I ignored it. I saw the warm person underneath the cool exterior. Now, I don't know. You have a coldness, a hardness I never saw before. You really are like Hoyt." Korsak disappeared into the elevator.
Jane stretched out on her bed. She was alone in the house. Her mother had a charity lunch to attend that afternoon and her father had a three day plumbing job going. That's it, she thought. I'll become a plumber. Daddy taught me a lot when I was growing up. When he gets home tonight I'll tell him he can change the company name to "Rizzoli and Daughter." Jane started to laugh then the tears came again. She rolled over and clutched the bedspread with her fingers. Her mind called out for Maura, which broke her heart and caused her to cry all that much harder.
If her tears hadn't stopped momentarily she wouldn't have heard the doorbell. Jane hesitated for a moment. Lifting herself off her bed she peeked out the window. Maura's Mercedes was parked at the curb. Jane ran downstairs and threw open the door.
"Maura? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"May I come in, Jane?"
"Of course, Maura." Jane stepped aside and allowed Maura to pass by. Maura saw the puffy eyes and skin. She could tell Jane had shed many tears over these past days. Jane's eyes were threatening to swell shut from the puffiness.
"I wanted to talk to you, Jane. I heard you pounding on the door that morning, trying to get into the shower to comfort me. I convinced myself it was for the best that we separate."
"But why, Maura? After all we went through to be together? That's what I don't understand."
"I know. I had a nightmare the night before, Jane. Hoyt got to me. I dreamed of attending my parents' funeral, then yours. At the end of the dream I'm leaving the cemetery and Vince and Barry are talking about how alone I am. When I woke I couldn't shake the feeling of being totally, utterly alone in life. I decided if we separate then Hoyt couldn't tear us apart."
"Don't you see, Maura? If we separate Hoyt has what he wants. You're out of the picture. He thinks I'm all his."
"I finally understand how terrifying Charles Hoyt can be. I now know firsthand the pain and nightmares you've lived with. I have them now. I am not going to live my life this way, Jane." Maura hesitated. "I've decided we should divorce, Jane. Go our separate ways." Jane froze. Maura turned and walked out of the house.
TBC
