A/N - I'm getting a little exhausted. :( But before I have a complete creative meltdown and go on a much needed hiatus, I will try to finish this story up.
The sirens woke Jane up before she heard anything else. All of the screaming, clashing, and rampaging that echoed through the house didn't even cause a ripple in her dreaming but, suddenly, visions of Clementine running happily through the backyard of their new home while she watched proudly were replaced with Maura's anxious cries.
"Honey, get up. Please, there's no time," she exclaimed, pounding Jane to wake up.
Hesitantly, Jane struggled to shake herself from sleep. Judging from the light coming in from the bedroom window, it was still fairly early. What's the rush, Jane thought tiredly, closing her eyes again.
"Jane! Please, the ambulance is here and they need someone to go with her. Oh God," Maura broke off as the emotion overwhelmed her, "just wake up."
Finally rousing her subconscious from sleep, Jane grabbed hold of Maura's hands. She could see the dried trails of tears that had made their way down her blotchy face, the fear in her glassy eyes, and the unusually unkempt tendrils of blonde hair strung back in a ponytail as if it was an afterthought. All of the visual signals paled in comparison to the palpable anxiety coming from Maura in waves. Something was wrong, very wrong, utterly wrong.
But still her body had yet to catch up to her mind. Jane struggled to form sentences. "What?"
"Clementine…it's Clementine, Jane."
Instinctually, Jane realized the baby was nowhere to be found around the room. She tried to listen for the familiar sounds of a child, their child, in the house but…nothing. Besides the sounds of sirens out front the house was ominously quiet. Wait…sirens out front?
She jumped out of bed and threw on some random pair of sweats and a tank that had been flung on the floor last night. It looked like Maura's given how short it was on her long legs and the BCU logo but it hardly mattered. Clementine was her main focus.
Maura ran toward Jane, desperately mumbling incoherently in scientific terms. She paid little attention, only noticing the paramedics out front who were desperately motioning for Maura to come with. Why…why would she need to come with them? There's no need for her to go with him. Right? Right?
"Jane, I'm going to ride along with the paramedics. She'll do better with a doctor on board and she knows me. I want you to follow us in the car. Okay?"
Jane felt her head nod. Even with all of her training to handle situations like this the noise and chaos had made her numb. An annoying buzzing sound started building; the world seemed to stop as her brain struggled to comprehend. Clementine. This had to do with Clementine. But…why? Nothing could happen to Clementine. We…just put her to sleep…in her room.
She turned to Maura but she was gone. The paramedics were also missing. Where had everyone gone? No matter… She had Clementine…
Jane's feet stumbled toward the child's bedroom, each step nearly taking her to ground as her legs moved with an incoordination that felt unnatural. This is nothing but a dream, she thought, trudging across the wooden floorboards like it was quicksand. Clementine's just waiting for me, waiting for her breakfast…that's it.
"Mama!"
A disembodied voice that she knew to be a lie called out to her, beckoned her forward to the crib.
Oddly, and with a level of clarity that was nothing short of amazing, Jane noticed the vase of pink calla lilies placed on the changing table near Bass's enclosed habitat. Some of the petals had been knocked off by the paramedics or Maura in their rush to… Jane's mind couldn't piece together the rest of the sentence. She knew what she wanted to say, but it was too damn difficult to find the words to say it.
"Clementine…" Jane called out, hoping for a reply that she knew would never come.
She's gone. Clementine's gone.
Jane dropped unceremoniously to the floor as the words shot through her spine, shocking her mind with their implications.
Suddenly, she clapped her hands together, issuing a silent prayer of petition to a God she had little connection to. Jane didn't even know where the words came from but they flowed from her lips as if they knew they were needed for this particular moment.
As Jane finished her prayer, she looked down at her trembling hands.
"I love you so much, Clementine," she whispered, her tears pitter-pattering on the floor like raindrops. "I need you. Maura needs you. Please, don't die."