A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait for this update. So much going on in my life right now that it's hard to find the time to write. This is the penultimate chapter, so the next one will be the big finale! Enjoy, and please review! x

Chapter 10 - It's all for you

I try to be strong for her, try not to be wrong for her
But she will not wait for me anymore...
She is the one, and I have to fight this
The villain I can't knock down

I see your face in every punch I take
And every bone I break, it's all for you
And my worst pains are words I cannot say
Still I will always fight on for you

Their first full day of being engaged was spent at San Diego Zoo. The fiancées walked hand in hand, smiles on their faces, as they admired the many species of animal.

"Jane, look!" Maura tugged Jane over to the enclosure housing the giant Galápagos tortoises. "Chelonoidisnigra." Maura said. "They are very endangered."

"Maybe if they moved a bit faster they wouldn't be so endangered!" Jane laughed. "C'mon Maura lets go see some other animals."

"Tortoises are cool!" Maura said, peering at the pair of humongous tortoises who were busy munching on dandelion leaves.

"Ok, ok. Yes, they're cool...but all they do is eat! And move around so slowly!" Jane spotted a sign pointing to the arctic enclosure. "Polar bears!" She said happily. "Now that's where the action is!"

"Ursus maritimus." Maura informed Jane, as they linked arms again, and made their way over to the large white creatures' enclosure.

Several times throughout the day, Jane caught Maura staring at and fiddling with her engagement ring. Jane was serenely content now.

It seemed as though a huge burden had lifted from her shoulders the moment Maura had accepted her proposal. It was a strange feeling.

Jane's heart felt lighter with the unloading of the burden of the impending proposal that she had carried around for the past weeks, but now her heart also felt fuller, a pride swelling within her chest every time she caught Maura admiring her ring.

Maura noticed a change in Jane. She was lighter somehow, more jovial and funnier than usual if that was possible.

That was the effect that love, confidence and reassurance had on the detective, and Maura knew it now.

She gripped Jane's hand tightly as they wandered around the zoo, caressing Jane's fingers as they stood and marvelled at the beauty of the zoo's pair of white tigers.

Maura had succeeded in reassuring Jane of her desirability and of her own all-encompassing love of her, and now she could concentrate all her efforts on the thought of them becoming wives.

Maura had asked Jane to pinch her that morning, saying that it all still felt like a dream. Jane had gladly obliged, a smirking grin on her face.

"Win me a prize Jane..." Maura cooed, clutching Jane's arm and pointing to a shooting game.

"Ok. I'll try." Jane led the way over. "Which one do you want?"

"The big cute tiger, please!"

"Oh, that's a lot of points to get..." Jane handed over some dollar bills to the man, who handed her a shotgun. She raised the weapon and took aim.

Maura leaned up to whisper in Jane's ear, gently touching Jane's shoulder.

"I have every faith in your abilities, Jane." She whispered, pressing her body into Jane's side.

"Ok Maura, keep that up and my aim will be worse than a drunk cowboy's!"

Jane fired her shots, hitting the yellow centre of the target every single time.

"Wow!" Maura breathed as the man handed her the giant tiger toy. "Thanks Jane!"

The end of their vacation suddenly seemed to arrive far too soon.

They carefully packed up their luggage, Maura taking much longer than Jane, and headed down to the hotel restaurant for one final breakfast before their flight back to Boston.

"Are you sad to be going home, Maura?" Jane asked, adding a copious amount of sugar to her coffee.

"Yes and no." Maura smiled contentedly. "But the sooner we're home, the sooner I can marry the love of my life..."

"Who's that then? Do I know him? Or her?" Jane grinned, now pouring loads of syrup onto her pancakes, and for once in the history of all their breakfasts together, Maura was too distracted to stop her.

Maura just smiled and said, "Her name is Jane Rizzoli. She's my best friend, and she's amazing..."

The alarm clock blared from the nightstand and Jane jumped awake. It took her a long moment to realise that she was back at home.

Maura sat up in bed beside her and leaned over to kiss Jane's cheek.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Morning." Jane mumbled, rubbing her face. "But what's good about it... We have to go to work!" She stood up from the bed. "It kills me to think that this time yesterday I was still asleep in a comfy hotel bed in California! And now I'm back here, and I have to go and look for murderers all day..."

Jane tugged her pyjama top off over her head and headed to the shower. Maura got up from the bed and followed Jane into the bathroom.

"I know something that will make you feel better, Jane."

"What?" Jane called over the running water inside the already steamy shower.

"You and I are going to be the centre of attention all day!" Maura beamed.

Jane rolled her eyes, but smiled.

Jane and Maura walked into the bullpen an hour later. Jane had a tray of coffees in one hand, and two bags of souvenirs in the other.

Maura had suggested that Jane wear the new grey boots she had bought in L.A, so she swaggered confidently into the room where Korsak was already at his desk.

"Morning, guys!"

"Look who's back!" Korsak beamed. "Show us the rings then!"

He hurried over to Jane and Maura, who both held up their hands. "Very nice!" Korsak inspected Maura's diamond ring. "Congratulations you two!"

Korsak kissed Maura on the cheek and then kissed Jane before hugging her. "Way to go, Rizzoli!" He whispered into her ear.

Maura's phone buzzed. "Well, an autopsy calls!" She announced. "I'll see you guys later." She kissed Jane's cheek and headed out of the room.

"No rest for the wicked." Jane said, going over to her desk.

Frost entered the room a few minutes later, and spotted Jane.

"Oh you're back! How's Detective Mrs Maura Isles this morning?" He said with a grin sitting down in his chair.

"Fine and dandy!" Jane said, coming over and perching herself on the edge of Frost's desk.

"Ooh, nice boots!" Frost wolf-whistled. "Better watch yourself, Jane! Maura is really starting to rub off on you!" He mimed a whip cracking and made the accompanying sound effect. Jane punched his shoulder playfully.

"No really, I'm so happy for you Jane." Frost smiled genuinely. "Congratulations."

"Thanks!" She picked up the souvenirs. "If you were going to be mean, I'd have had to have kept these for myself."

Jane handed a bag each to both Frost and Korsak."Here, these are for you."

Maura was bent over the body of a middle aged man when Suzie Chang entered the room.

"Dr Isles..." Suzie smiled. "We're all glad you're back! Pike was driving us all insane!"

"It's good to be back Suzie. Although, I didn't really want the vacation to end!"

Maura smiled as Suzie held out a folder to her. "Blood results are back."

"Good work." Maura pulled off her purple gloves with a snap, and threw them into the trash. "Thanks."

As Maura took the folder from her, Suzie noticed the diamond on Maura's left hand as it flashed in the harsh light of the morgue.

"Maura..." Suzie pointed at the ring. "Should I be saying congratulations?"

Maura looked up with a bright smile. "Yeah... Jane and I are getting married."

"Congratulations! Wow, what a ring!" Suzie let all her professionalism slide as she grabbed Maura's hand to get a closer look at the pristine diamond ring.

When lunch rolled around, Jane met Maura in her office before they proceeded to the cafe to see Angela.

"Jane! Maura!" Angela ran from behind the counter and over to them, grabbing them both in a huge hug. "I am so happy for you!"

"Thanks Angela. We're pretty happy too!"

"Pretty happy, Maur? I'm super happy!" Jane laughed as Angela let go of them and hurried back around the counter. "How are you doing, Ma?"

"Oh I'm fine now, Janie... and I'm going to fix you both my Brides-To-Be special!"

"Great! I'm starving!" Jane and Maura sat down at a table and waited for Angela to return with their food.

"I wonder what the Brides-To-Be special actually is..." Maura pondered, slipping her hand into Jane's across the table.

"We'll just have to wait and see, but knowing Ma it's probably a peanut-butter and fluff sandwich cut into the shape of a heart..." Jane smiled. "She loves to embarrass me!"

"Rizzoli! Dr Isles!" Cavanaugh came over to their table. "I hear congratulations are in order!"

"Yes sir."

"Well, congratulations. On behalf of the whole BPD I'd like to wish you two all the best."

"Thank you, sir." Maura beamed.

"And may I say that you two are doing us a great favour with the equal opportunities crowd..."

"Ok, sir." Jane quickly tried to change the subject to avoid this awkward conversation with her boss. "Have you had any leads on the guy who mugged my mother, sir?"

"Yeah. The guys upstairs have got a few leads. We'll get him Rizzoli. Don't worry."

"Here we go, girls!" Angela approached the table with two plates of food.

Cavanaugh smiled at her then looked back to Jane and Maura. "Anyway, enjoy your lunch, and congrats again."

"Two Brides-To-Be specials!" Angela announced putting the plates down in front of her girls, and to the surprise of both Jane and Maura they were presented with two very normal, and very delicious looking, plates of Angela's famous cannelloni.

"And if you're good, Janie, there's Tiramisu for desert...I know you're alwaysgood, Maura."

Jane looked affronted, but then she smiled widely and started to laugh.

The afternoon at work found Jane at her desk catching up with the paperwork and emails that had accumulated while she was away.

It was dull and tedious and Jane couldn't wait for it to be done so the fresh work could begin again, and so she had an excuse to visit Maura in the morgue.

Korsak and Frost were distracted from admiring their souvenirs, by asking Jane for an account of the vacation, and how she actually proposed.

"Well, it's a long story, boys. You better get comfortable." Jane said fondly.

Maura finished up the autopsy of the man from the morning, frequently being interrupted by Suzie and the other female criminalists dying to get 'just one more' look at her ring and hear the proposal story.

She happily told them and they obliged with many 'oohs' and 'awws'.

When Maura had finished telling the story for about the 6th time, she noticed that it was time to pack up for the day.

Jane was waiting for her in the lobby.

"Busy afternoon?" Jane asked, taking Maura's hand.

"Yes. You won't believe how many times I told our proposal story."

They headed out to the parking lot and Maura's waiting Prius.

"Tell me about it! Korsak and Frost really are worse than a couple of giggling schoolgirls!"

They rounded the corner to the alley, and headed down the ramp to the parking lot. A man in a baseball cap stepped out from behind a large parked SUV.

"Hello ladies."

Jane frowned suspiciously as the man glanced at Maura's purse and jewellery and down at the ring on her finger.

Jane was quick to react, and pulled out her badge.

The man moved quickly and snatched the necklace from Maura's throat before grabbing her hand roughly. Maura shrieked and dropped her purse to the ground.

"Stop, right now! I'm Boston Police." Jane said fiercely, about ready to pull her gun.

The man ignored Jane and continued to pull the ring from Maura's finger. She was too shocked to fight and let the man take her ring.

"No you don't!" Jane leapt forwards and grabbed at the man's hands.

They tussled for a long moment, both struggling. Maura stood with her hand to her mouth.

"Jane, be careful!"

Jane growled loudly and managed to wrestle Maura's ring from the man, but he managed to punch her hard in the stomach.

Jane was shocked by the blow, and the man took his opportunity to flee.

"You should've just let me have it!" The man called over his shoulder as her ran up the ramp, out of the parking lot and onto the street.

Jane was bent over, winded.

"Oh my God... Are you alright, Jane?" Maura rubbed a shaking hand over her shocked face.

"I'm always alright..." Jane took a step forward and handed Maura back her ring.

The doctor began to pick up her bag and belongings which were now strewn on the ground.

"I'm fine, Maur. I just got the wind knocked out of me. Are you okay?"

Maura nodded.

Jane reached into her jacket and placed her hand to her abdomen, where the mugger had struck her; it was hot and wet. Jane sat down heavily on the floor.

"Oh shit..."

She pulled her hand from the jacket and Maura turned to see fresh blood covering Jane's hand.

"You're not fine!" Maura sobbed, rushing to Jane's side. "He stabbed you!"

"I thought he just hit me hard..." Jane's voice and body trembled as she began to go into shock.

"You're losing so much blood!" Maura cried, holding Jane's hand to the wound, and grabbing her cell phone. "Keep the pressure on it!"

Her voice was little more than sobs. "Jane, stay awake! Keep your hand on the wound!"

Maura grabbed her phone, and called for an ambulance, explaining that an officer was down.

"Maura..."

Maura turned back to Jane, seeing the deep red blood now spreading out from under her hand, through her shirt and staining onto her jacket.

"Jane!" Maura cried.

She stumbled back to her knees at Jane's side in a heartbeat, her hands fumbling. She smothered her hands in the blood pouring from Jane's abdomen in a desperate effort to stifle the flow.

"Jane!" Maura's bloody hand felt at Jane's neck for her pulse point, and she choked back a sob.

Jane was tachycardic and would soon go into hypovolemic shock if the bleeding wasn't stopped. Her face had gone blank, and with a final gasp of Maura's name, Jane lost consciousness.

"Oh Jane!"

Maura cushioned Jane's head as the detective collapsed, flat onto the concrete.

The ambulance sirens blared as it came to a halt nearby, but all Maura could hear was her own raging heartbeat and the blood pounding in her ears as she spoke her fiancée's name again and again.

"Jane."

I had only just given Maura that ring, how could I let that guy take it?

But I know I should have just let him take it! It's not that important...but I was protecting Maura. I should have been concentrating more on protecting myself too.

I saved the ring, and Maura was safe. She was calling an ambulance for me.

Though my pulse was thundering in my ears and my head was threatening to burst, I could hear her calling my name. "Jane!"

Then she was beside me again her hands fiddling at my stomach, clutching at the wound I could not bear to look at.

My eyes flicked to Maura and I must have spoken to her because she caught my gaze.

"Oh Jane!" She breathed again, and I saw tears running down her cheeks, before my eyes could no longer focus on her face and I lost consciousness.

It all went blank.

A female EMT helped Maura to her feet, as her male colleagues tended to Jane, and put her head in a head-brace, before getting her onto a gurney and into the ambulance.

"Dr. Isles, there is room for you in the ambulance..."

Maura nodded, and the EMT led her to the ambulance where she hurried to Jane's side and grabbed her hand.

"Jane, please don't leave me. You can't..."

"She's unconscious from the blood loss." The EMT said, pushing the gurney along the corridor and into the ER. "Pulse is very weak..."

Maura wondered how her legs were still able to carry her down the corridor, when her whole body felt like it was about to collapse.

Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder firmly and a nurse in blue scrubs was looking at her.

"I'm sorry Dr. Isles, but you can't go in there." His voice was gentle yet firm.

"Please... I'm her fiancée!" Maura showed him the ring on her finger, and pulled her badge from her jacket pocket. "And I'm the Chief Medical Examiner!"

"I know who you are, Dr Isles. But I still can't let you into the OR. You know we'll be doing everything we can..."

"Jane." Maura whispered resignedly.

Her tears started flowing again, and she was powerless to stop them as the nurse helped her into the waiting room and sat down with her.

"Maura!" Angela burst into the waiting room. "Maura!" Angela had tear tracks streaking her cheeks, and she embraced Maura hurriedly.

"Jane..." Maura breathed.

"I know Maura..." Angela was also sobbing now.

Maura didn't know how long she and Angela had been sat in that waiting room.

Maura had replayed the incident over and over in her head, and had told Angela what had happened. Angela had gripped Maura's hand tightly and together they had cried.

They always seemed to cry together when Jane was in peril, which seemed to be disgustingly often, but this time it was different. It was so much worse...

A doctor scrubs entered the room, and both Angela and Maura leapt to their feet.

"Dr Isles...Detective Rizzoli is in a coma brought on by the blood loss. We've stopped the flow, but she's still critical. She lost a very large amount."

"Janie! Oh, Jesus!" Angela cried.

"What are you doing to save her? A transfusion?" Maura asked, wrapping an arm around Angela.

"Yes. We're doing a transfusion right now to replace the blood in her system."

"Ma? Maura?"

Suddenly Frankie burst through the door, still dressed in his uniform. He ran over and hugged his mother and Maura tightly.

"I'll update you very shortly." The doctor said, turning to leave. "And after the transfusion's complete you'll most likely be able to see her."

"Thank you doctor." Maura said.

"She's in a coma." Angela wailed. "Frankie, she's in a coma!"

Apart from the large bruises on her arms from the scuffle and the transfusion, and the bandages around her chest, Jane looked like she was just peacefully asleep.

Frankie had taken Angela home, but Maura had refused to leave Jane's side.

"I want to be with her when she wakes up."

'Ifshe wakes up', her mind had screamed.

Jane's clothes and new grey boots lay, bloodstained, in a bag by the bed.

Maura held Jane's right hand, stroking the back of it with her thumb.

A large cannula had been stuck into Jane's left hand, and the doctors had removed the ring from Jane's finger and given it to Maura in a clinical plastic baggie.

Maura held the bag tightly in her fist.

She lay her head down on the bed beside Jane's hip and closed her eyes, blinking rapidly as she tried to stop the tears from falling.

She failed, and let herself sob into the sheets draped over her comatose fiancée.