Chapter 10

A little filler to get back into the swing... I hope fall or autumn (depending on which part of the country/world you are in) is treating everyone well!

"Ma, I feel bad enough as it is. Please, we are working on this around the clock. Once things calm down a bit, we will celebrate her birthday."

"I know Janie, its just that you know how I am about celebrating birthdays and holidays. Now that Maura is one of 'mine', I just want to give her what I would give any one of you." Angela was now standing with her hand on her hip, a towel hanging from her firm grip, having the tenseness of the last couple of weeks manifest itself into her rigid demeanor. She knows her girls are working hard at this mystifying case. There it was again, that thought, 'her girls'. She released the stranglehold she had on that towel and gave Jane a sympathetic look. For all the years she has seen Jane move in and out of relationships, she has never seen her so 'taken' with someone else. Sure she is always protective, but to an outsider, her interactions with the Doctor go beyond protectiveness. She couldn't even really put a definition as to what the Detective and the Doctor had. Best friends, of course. She knew it was more. As much as she pestered Jane about just about everything, she decided to sit this one out a bit, and let things pan out for themselves. A mother could only hope.

Jane secretly loved the fact that her mother had taken Maura on as a daughter, into their family, crazy and obnoxious family, nonetheless, her family. It was just a natural progression that Jane didn't really think about anymore. Dinners, holidays and birthdays were spent with one more addition. Maura was usually gracious enough to host many of the gatherings like she would her own family. Jane had always been in awe of the perfectly put together Doctor and her seamless foray into everything Rizzoli. She noticed the sympathetic look coming from her mother at this point and just gave a small smile back. The tired look didn't go unnoticed by her mother. Without another word, there was a steaming cup of coffee in front of the Detective.

"Thanks Ma. I really could use this today."

"Why don't you at least bring her some flowers or something." Angela began her retreat to the back of the cafe without any further comment, only hearing, "What? Ma!"

Her feet were suddenly thudding onto the floor after Korsak slapped at her shoes to get her attention as she was sitting with her feet propped up on her desk.

"Shit, what was that for old man?"

"Wake up Rizzoli, we have actual work to do today." Korsak was now standing looking at the many facts, pictures, and other details that this case had offered them so far. They hadn't heard from the ME this morning and he was getting antsy just sitting around waiting. What were they missing? They had more information on this case than any other that he could remember. This time, no real answers were being gleaned from the mass quantity in front of them.

Jane rubbed her eyes a bit and stood next to Korsak. They both had the same look. Thinking the same thoughts. How could they have all of this in front of them and not be any closer to solving this case.

"Lets change things up a bit. I'm thinking we should send Frost down to the morgue to see if there are any test results back. I am sure Maura will be happy to see him." Jane and Korsak were now looking at the Detective who was barely peeking up over his computer screen to acknowledge what was being said.

"Isn't that your job Jane?" Frost wasn't a fan of the morgue, even if there was no body at the moment, if he could avoid it, he never went down unless absolutely necessary.

"You work here just like I do, so sack up and get down there and start doing your job."

Korsak had turned his back a bit and was chuckling but could resist the 'accidental' "chicken-shit" that came out as Frost passed by, trying to cover it up with a coughing sound.

The morgue was quiet. Maura was nowhere to be seen. Frost continued his way through the morgue noticing the light coming from her office. He tapped on the door quietly, keeping the reverence about the room in check. His unease was assuaged due to the lack of physical evidence in the room. He took a deep breath and opened the door when he heard the ME say "come in."

"Dr. Isles, I was wondering if there were any new results?"

"I'm sorry Barry, the lab is a little backed up at the moment. I was assured that the results would be in by the end of the day." Maura had only glanced in his direction before her reply. She took a moment to wonder why Jane hadn't come down to check for results, check in, or otherwise just be in her space. Her mind and body have been in overdrive as of late, her ability to compartmentalize has been watered down in the presence of the Detective. In some ways she was glad to see Frost, this was the break in which she needed. To get her thoughts in check even for mere minutes, something to remove the off kilter feeling of late.

"Doc, I know you don't guess, but since you have been working this case much longer than any of us do you think we are on the right track in solving this thing?"

The ME let out a small sigh, gripping the pen in her hand a little bit tighter, just wishing that she could just use this pen to write down a name, pointing toward the person who was responsible for the untimely deaths of these victims. She couldn't though, she couldn't say it, write it or simply happen upon a guess at the moment, even with all the data available to her. She was at a loss. Of course she had her own theories, now on pinning her hopes on this one last test. She knew that 'hope' and 'theories' weren't part of her normal vernacular, but what else did she have?

"No Barry, I don't like to guess. I am looking for answers from the latest tox screen. That is what I am focused on at the moment. I wish I could give you a different answer, but at this moment I cannot. I will let you know as soon as I get the results if we have anything more to go on."

Frost noticed her tense as she was speaking. It was subtle, but his job was to notice the subtleties of any person or situation. He felt pressure to solve the case, but probably nothing like the ME felt considering her past in dealing with this case. He soon realized that this was not going to be a lengthy conversation and made a move to leave.

"Thanks Doc, don't worry, we will figure this out. I will see you later."

"Goodbye Barry."

The door clicked shut. The ME dropped the pen and moved to rub her temples. She knew she had no control over the hands on her watch moving ahead any faster. She wished for that control at this moment. She was suffocating. She wanted out of the office, the morgue, the building. She didn't want to see anyone. At this point, not even Jane. She tried to put the doubt out of her mind. Again her compartmentalization skills have waned in the recent events and she was letting the questions and doubts set in.

She began her ritual of meditation in moments like this. It only took her a few minutes, but once she put her head down, sleep overtook her body but her subconscious was ready to pay her a visit.

The cold air hit her face like sheet of ice. She pulled the drawer open to stare at his face again. It was like all the rest. Pale, lifeless, eyes closed, and jaw slack. She willed him to speak, just one more time, to retrieve something, anything that could lead to the person that sent him on his journey to this drawer. "I feel like I know you, just from what I deduced by cataloging all of your injuries, the condition of your organs and the contents of your stomach. You seem like a nice gentleman and I hope someday we can bring closure to your family." The ME had pulled the drawer all the way out at this point and was about to pull the sheet back a little to look back over the Y incision, well, just because she took pride in her work. She had just raised the edge when she heard, " It wasn't painful. I just felt kind of dizzy and weak all of a sudden and then, well, went to sleep." The Doctor dropped the sheet from her now trembling fingers and put her hand over her mouth to stifle the scream that was already part way out of her mouth. She looked down into deep blue eyes that had only moved toward her direction, the rest of his head and body still. She blinked a few times, squeezed her eyes shut hoping she was seeing and hearing things at this late hour. "Please Maura, please find her. Please stop her. You are the only one with the answers, please keep looking. They said you were the smartest. They said if anyone could solve this its you. Why haven't you figured it out yet Maura, all the answers are here, right in front of you. You should have caught her by now, why, why, why... The ME was shaking her head and backing away from the drawer, hand still over her mouth. She was starting to sob as her hand fell away. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry." The sobbing was wracking her body enough that her words were jumbled together at this point. She kept backing up and was now bumping into another drawer. When she turned around another set of eyes were looking at her. Each time she moved, another drawer was open, the occupant staring in her direction. She crumpled to the floor, the weight of incompetence pushing her down, sitting on her heels head in her hands. "I'm sorry" she whispered to the room. She felt a hand on her shoulder and her name being said over and over. She couldn't look up in fear of who it might be. It continued and she willed herself to look up. The eyes were familiar but the voice sounded like Angela.

"Maura, honey, wake up!" Angela said a bit more forcefully now. She brought the ME lunch seeing how she hadn't seen her all day and considering the state her daughter was in, she figured Maura would be worse for wear as well.

"Oh!" Maura said abruptly. Still not quite sure where she was.

"Honey you were having a bad dream, are you alright?" Angela's concerned voice reminded the ME of the dream she was just having which brought her back to sitting up quickly.

"Thank you Angela, I , I must have fallen asleep while meditating."

"Here I brought you some lunch. I hadn't seen you all day and figured you were really busy."

"Thank you so much Angela. I really appreciate it."

"Your welcome dear. Is there anything else you need? You look like you could use some more rest. I know this case is draining all of you. Janie and the boys are walking around like zombies." Angela was trying to lighten the mood a bit, noting the look still fixed on the ME's face.

"The origin of the concept of zombie-ism stems from Haitian Voodoo culture. The word zombie in Haitian it is zombi-means spirit of the dead. Voodoo folklore contends that Bokors, Voodoo priests that were concerned with the study and application of black magic, possessed the ability to resurrect the deceased through the administration of coup padre-coup padre is a powder that is issued orally, the primary ingredient of which is tetrodoxin, the deadly substance of the notoriously poisonous fou-fou, or porcupine fish. According to legend, a zombie is someone who has annoyed his or her family and community to the degree that they can no longer stand to live with this person. They respond by hiring a Bokor..to turn them into a zombie. It is just folklore. I know there are many movies on the subject, I just can't...

The Doctor was interrupted by Angela saying, "Wow, Maura, that's fascinating. I will leave you to your lunch. I need to get back to the café. Please get some rest and will you get my daughter to do the same. You both work too much."

Angela patted the Doctor on the shoulder and gave her a small smile. She left without saying another word and shut the door behind her.

"Bye Angela." Maura's words fell on the door that was already shutting her off from the rest of the morgue. She had started to wonder what Jane was doing at the moment. Was she eating lunch also? Was she avoiding her for some reason? Was she asleep at her desk as well? She tried to ignore the pull to get up and get in the elevator to get an answer to her questions when she heard a knock on her door again. "Come in."

"Dr. Isles, I have the tox screen results for you."

A/N I wish I had Maura's retention for facts... Less research that way... :)

TBC