A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting, these next two chapters I wrote together and the ending took me longer than I anticipated.
Again, just want to give a shout out to the ever supportive, Rhiannon, who always pushes me to write. And to my new writer's group who talks to me about sex, you guys are awesome!
Let's go get Jane!
Hope you all enjoy!
"It's actually due to Sir Martin Frobisher that tattoos became popular in the United States. His was the first expedition to the passage of China when he kidnapped and brought back a man and his pregnant wife who had tattoos on her chin and forehead. It was such a spectacle for the people of England that every voyager after Sir Martin brought back reports of "tattooed savages". It became quite a hardy industry, once reserved for warriors and heroes who were thought able to withstand the pain."
Maura was enlightening the Rizzoli family on the history of tattoos, Tommy had come home with TJ and Sarah's names etched forever upon his skin. Angela was less than thrilled but Sean clasped her hand tightly, saying there were worse things he could've had done than his children's names. Korsak had agreed, telling stories of all the dirtbags he'd arrested with stupid, meaningless tattoos. That's when Maura had started.
"But of course we've refined the process quite revolutionarily since the medieval times. It used to be done with a blunt knife and hammer, I believe that practice is still in effect in Samoa, that's why so few of them get tattoos. Their relatives actually look down on them if they get an Americanized version of a tattoo. We also have less infections and better quality ink these days though. I assure you, Angela, based on the penmanship I can see and the lines, Tommy picked quite a respected shop from which to get a tattoo."
Tommy smiled at Maura while forking large mouthfuls of pasta down his throat. "Actually Maur, I had it done in my prison buddy's garage. He got a new gun and wanted to try it out, didn't even charge me." Maura was shocked by Tommy's revelation and watched as Angela became furious with her younger son.
It hadn't helped that Frankie had gone undercover for the past couple of weeks to the same drug dealer suspected in killing Jane. That her idiotic new husband had allowed it, that Maura and Vince supported both their decisions. But now Tommy was defiling his body with an irreversible choice. While she agreed that Tommy had used his best judgement to get something respectable in their family's opinion, tattoos were still against Angela Rizzoli's nature.
Sean tried to deflate the situation as Maura and Lydia cleared the table, Vince taking shelter behind the children. They barely heard the front door fly open until a filth covered Frankie, still in his undercover clothes burst through the door. He was covered in grime and what Maura realized was blood. There was a time she would've called it a reddish-brown substance but she'd made Jane a promise the next reddish-brown stain she would call blood.
They all stopped at looked at him. Lydia ran to her daughter as Vince picked up TJ and they removed the kids to Angela's home. Angela was standing up, propelling herself over the table to smack Tommy on the the arm where a plastic bandage covered his bicep, Sean holding her waist to stop her. Maura dropped the plate she's been washing in the sink and heard it break into pieces. But slowly they all made eye contact, whose blood did Frankie wear on his skin? Was someone dead? Had it been Keegan? Jane?
"I found her." It wasn't more than a whisper but it sparked life into the family. Vince had appeared in the open doorway at the precise moment. He looked from Frankie to Sean who nodded imperceptibly.
"Tommy I want you to take your mother and go check on Lydia and the kids." Sean said, releasing his grip on Angela. She began to protest but the look in her husband's eyes were cold. Tommy numbly drug his mother from the home, closing the door firmly behind them. The remaining detectives and Maura looked at Frankie. "Tell us everything."
Maura was still reeling from Frankie's confession. Jane had been alive the whole time, they hadn't been wrong. But upon hearing the news she'd collapsed on the kitchen floor sobbing. And then she heard that the blood on him was Jane's, that she had given birth to that scumbag's child, to Jane's daughter. He said her name with love in his voice, Isla Marie. Of course he already loved her, she was half of Jane and belonged to their family. Despite her conception, the Rizzoli's would love and cherish Jane's bastard child.
But no one commented on her choice of names. Isla Marie.
Frankie showered as Sean and Vince planned the rescue operation. They had to prepare quickly, Keegan would not waste time now that he'd been given a daughter instead of a son. The birth of Isla guaranteed her death and Jane's. So they talked strategy, how many officers they'd need, a SWAT team, snipers. Frankie joined later, giving them a floor plan where Jane was currently being held. They decided to go in at dawn.
The trio disappeared once the decisions had been made, each with his own part to organize in the grand scheme of things. None of them once looked at Maura or tried to offer solace, they were on a mission to bring Jane Rizzoli and her daughter back home alive and they only had one chance to do it.
Angela came and joined her on the kitchen floor not long after, the looks in their eyes almost identical. They needed her to come back to them in one piece but they had no control over the outcome. So instead they gripped each other's hands for strength and waited for the phone to ring.
Jane hadn't slept well, she was still in a lot pain from childbirth. Isla slept happily in Jane's arms, wrapped securely in her sleeping bag. She stared lovingly down at her daughter's peaceful face, while motherhood had never been something Jane had wanted, now that she had it she'd do whatever it took to keep it safe. She understood now why some women went through such extreme lengths to conceive children, to hold the life you had created in your arms, the familiar weight.
She understood how you could get a woman to withstand immeasurable pain and tear apart her body. You promised her a baby at the end, her own baby. And you hoped and prayed that the baby you tore your body over would come out alive and healthy. So Jane counted each of Isla's fingers and toes, she felt her warm and soft skin, counting each breath she made. It helped lull her to sleep, counting her daughter's breaths even through the pain.
It wasn't long that she had been asleep when a hand brushed across her cheek. She opened her eyes cautiously, afraid of who she would find but was greeted by the kindest, sweetest golden hazel eyes on earth. They were framed by golden blonde hair falling in soft curls around her face and squared off with an innocent smile. Maura.
"Are you really here, Maura?" Jane whispered hoarsely, her throat still sore and stiff from the screaming Isla had drug out of her.
Maura smiled, cupping Jane's chin. "I'm really here my beautiful girl." She removed her hand, looking down at the bundle Jane protected fiercely. "And who is this?" Maura's smile was wide and shone bright like Jane imagined the sun looked like after nine months. She was so happy to see the detective's newborn.
Jane struggled. How do you introduce a baby named after the woman you love whom you haven't seen in years to the woman you love? "This is Isla." Maura forced the detective to look her in the eyes where she found nothing but love and understanding in the hazel ember. "You're not mad?"
"Oh, Jane. Why on earth would I be mad?"
"I thought of you the whole time, Maura. You kept us alive and when she was born, she had your hazel eyes. And she was just so peaceful and innocent, she didn't even cry. She just reminded me of you instantly. So I named her after you."
"That's the sweetest thing you've ever done for me." Maura said, leaning forward to kiss Jane's forehead. She reached out and grabbed Jane's hand. But that's when Jane noticed she was wearing her favorite blue dress and tan suede heels in the filth of her cell.
"Maura, you need to stand up, get out of here. You're going to ruin your dress and shoes."
Maura simply shrugged. "You mean more than they do."
"Maura, please come get me." Jane pleaded, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. She now had a child to think about, a woman to get home to. Maura leaned in to press her forehead to Jane's.
"I just need you to hang in a little longer, beautiful." Maura said, cupping Jane's cheeks and wiping away the tears with her thumb. They made eye contact, the sadness and desperation finally showing in Maura's eyes. "Just a little longer." And then her lips met Jane's after four years apart, the soft supple lips of Maura Isles met Jane's and part of her soul reconnected. Their lips parted and Jane could feel Maura's breath upon hers.
And then she was gone. Jane snapped her eyes open and Maura was gone, never having really been there. But that's when she heard the subtle sounds happening around her. The familiar sound of boots moving quietly around the perimeter. She imagined the officers out there, the SWAT team and the snipers across the roofs. She knew they wouldn't move in until the snipers took out the targets they could. Frankie was coming for her.
Frankie was pressing his body against the wall outside the warehouse housing Jane and her baby. Sean Cavanaugh and Vince Korsak were armored up beside him in their kevlar vests and brandished their weapons. While Korsak was retired, Cavanaugh couldn't say no to having his friend there, to save the partner he'd been working with since she transferred from Vice all those years ago. He'd saved her from serial killers and fracking compounds, he'd save her from this too.
Ten men stood around them, aware that those three were going in first, responsible only for Jane and her baby's safety. The rest of them were to round up the remaining drug dealers, most of them would return to the precinct in body bags. Cavanaugh had given them strict orders to bring Keegan in alive, he had every intention of prosecuting the bastard to the fullest extent of the law.
They all waited for Cavanaugh to get the orders in his ear and they didn't have to wait long. Their breaths were shallow and cold in the early morning air of Boston. While it was Summer, the temperatures at night dipped devastatingly and everyone hoped Jane was holding on. But they heard the snipers say they had eyes on five bodies sleeping in one room, three in another, and four in the last with three people walking the perimeter. Jane's cell had one guard. Sixteen people to get through and Jane was free.
Cavanaugh gave them the order to take down the guards and they heard the familiar crack of the glass in the warehouse. Soon everyone else would begin to stir and see what the noise had been. They moved in quickly, the ten men yelling at the hostiles now pouring through the doors with guns. Cavanaugh, Korsak and Frankie moved quickly to Jane's cell, taking the guard out effortlessly. Frankie threw open the door to see a bloodstained, shivering skeleton of his sister.
Cavanaugh went to pick her up but she thrust Isla into his arms. "You get her out now. You hear me? If I don't make it out, that's fine, but she survives." He nodded and clasped her tightly with his left arm, making sure not to jostle or wake her from her slumber, extending his weapon in his right. Frankie and Korsak quickly hid into her cell when Keegan and his bodyguard ran toward her. "Frankie, you get Keegan. Korsak will get me out." She whispered, knowing the arrest would be personal for him.
Frankie nodded and waited for Keegan to open the door, aiming behind him and shooting his bodyguard. Keegan tried to run away and Frankie shot him in the leg, slapping handcuffs on him through his screams. Korsak bent down to lift Jane up, surprised to see a pool of blood beneath her, her filth stained pants dripping with blood. "Jane..." He began to protest but she just held her hand up, silencing him.
She weighed nothing in his arms, a good forty to fifty pounds lighter than she had ever been. Jane had always been athletic and skinny, but now she was just a pile of skin and bones. Korsak had given her his weapon, hoping she would still know how to fire it. He didn't want to give Keegan's men any opportunity to test Jane's skills so he ran as fast as could from the building, gently setting Jane in Frankie's unmarked and speeding off to the hospital. They had just barely escaped the gunfight currently taking place. Jane wondered absentmindedly how many officers she would have to bury because of her. But as soon as the thought happened she blacked out.
Maura was still Jane's emergency contact, nothing had happened to her in those four years to give her reason to change it. So when the hospital called her home and informed them Jane had safely arrived, she ran to the car with Angela in tow. The cruiser that had been placed at the home made their path with sirens and lights, no speed limit would stop or impede Maura from getting to Jane Rizzoli.
At the hospital they were met by Sean and Vince, who assured them that mother and baby had made it to the hospital and were in good hands. Maura called Hope to oversee the care of baby Isla and she arrived within twenty minutes. Since Hope had privileges at the hospital it was easy for her to gain access to Isla's case. Not long after Hope had left to attend to the baby a new doctor came out to see them.
"Maura Isles?" She said to the nervous family. Maura stood up and walked over to her. "Hi, my name is Dr. Stedman, I've been assisting Dr. Radcliffe on Jane's case. She had a retained placenta during birth which caused her to have a severe postpartum haemorrhage. We've rushed her into surgery now to stop the bleeding as much as possible, she had lost almost half her blood volume and was severely dehydrated and anemic. I'll come back periodically to inform you of progress but it's going to be a long night."
"Thank you, if we're not here one of us will always be with the baby." Maura said kindly, shaking the woman's hand. When Dr. Stedman left, Angela looked questioningly at her.
"Maura...I'm not a doctor, I don't know what any of that means." Angela began to cry, Sean holding her tightly. Maura steered the three of them towards the chairs in the waiting room, sitting beside Angela and holding her hand tightly.
"Jane was very dehydrated, she hadn't been getting the proper nutrients and water that her body needed, especially since most of it was going to the fetus. It didn't help that she had been kept at extreme temperatures with little more than a blanket. She also lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. I'm assuming she developed anemia shortly after becoming pregnant, probably an iron-deficiency. Her body wasn't producing enough red blood cells that carry oxygen to her organs, she's probably been extremely fatigued and weak in the last few weeks of pregnancy."
Maura paused, these were the easy things. Dehydration and anemia were easy to explain, alone they weren't enough to put Jane on that operating table. And yet she could see the pain and confusion in Angela's eyes, it had always been Jane who simplified Maura's google-mouth and now she needed to simplify her colleagues and peers.
"We don't always know why after birth some women don't deliver the placenta, in Jane's case, it never detached from her uterine wall. She or Frankie probably tried to remove the placenta and it didn't come out. This struggle probably caused a small tear or rupture in the placenta and uterine wall causing Jane to bleed internally. Since she had just given birth, the blood pooled and then spilled out. In waiting to save Jane she lost a lot of blood, half of her blood volume exactly, this is called severe postpartum haemorrhage. They took her to surgery to remove the placenta safely and repair any damages and stop the bleeding before Jane dies."
I love leaving you on cliffhangers! But I won't be mean tonight. Since I have both chapters written and beta'd look for the next one soon! Hope you liked it!