Frost stood up. "He and I are her coworkers, and she," he pointed to Jane, "is her girlfriend."
The doctor frowned. "Does she have any relatives here?"
"No," Jane's voice was hoarse and scratchy. "No, I'm her family. I mean, I'm her contact, her person. You," she slowly stood, taking point, "can check her release forms." She began to pull her wallet out to produce an ID. "I have power of attorney in the event she is unable to care for herself." She held the ID up for the doctor to see. "My name's Jane Rizzoli."
The doctor nodded and flipped through a file in her hands. After a moment, she looked back up, turned to hand the file to a nurse that had come in behind her, and too in a deep breath. "Are you okay with these two gentlemen hearing this information?"
"Yeah, it's fine. They're family, too." Jane stood a bit straighter, steeling herself. Her gut was talking to her, and she didn't like a thing she was hearing.
"Okay." With a nod of her head, the doctor continued. "My name is Doctor Tonya Gomez. I was the lead surgeon in charge of taking care of Ms. Isles."
"Doctor Isles," Jane cut in and then winced. "Sorry. It's … uh… it's Doctor. She really hates it when people don't call her that. Not that she's stuck up about it or anything. She just figures she spent all that extra time in school, you know?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, Ms. Rizzoli. I understand. Doctor Isles had extensive damage to her chest, and there was a great deal of internal bleeding. Our team did the very best that we could, but I'm afraid the damage was just too great."
Jane swallowed the thick lump in her throat.
"I'm so sorry. Doctor Isles did not make it through the surgery."
"Okay," Jane turned to his brother. "My phone's on the table over there. There's a contact file full of all the people we need to call to get Maura's funeral in order." The detective looked back to the surgeon. "She is… was a firm believer in being prepared. Can someone come in here and help us get things started?"
The other woman nodded. "Of course. We'll send someone up here who can help you. In fact, I insist you allow us to help during this time. It's the least we can do."
"Thanks." Jane motioned to her brother to make certain he understood that she was leaving the initial planning to him. He nodded. Satisfied, she turned back to the surgeon. "I want to see her."
"Are you sure, Ms. Rizzoli? I know that, many times, loved ones feel the need to see…"
"I am a homicide detective for the Boston Police Department. I see death every single day. Maura is the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I have been with her during every autopsy she's performed during the course of our investigations, and I've seen just about every horrible thing a person can see, and I was the one applying pressure to that wound in her chest before the paramedics arrive. I know what she probably looks like, Doctor Gomez. I want to see her."
There was a brief standoff as the surgeon visibly shifted under Jane's suddenly razor sharp gaze. The doctor seemed to be trying to figure something out, but ultimately gave a sigh of resignation. "Give me a few minutes. I'll need to alert our morgue before I can allow you go down there."
Jane crossed her arms, and tried not to sneer as she replied, "Thank you."
The morgue for Boston General was far less inviting than the morgue for the Boston Police Department. There was no classical music softly playing in the background, no light smell of rosemary and mint to cover up the smell of death and disinfectant, no freshly cut flowers in the corner to add color, and no golden haired medical examiner humming lightly to the tunes playing as she made careful and calculated incisions to a body.
The morgue for Boston General was full of the smell of disinfectant and the gleam of colorless stainless steel.
'Maura would hate this place,' Jane thought as she followed a nurse toward a short, squat middle aged man with a receding hairline. 'And his scrubs fit like crap.'
"This is Doctor Stan Lim," the nurse said as they came to a stop. "He is in charge of our morgue. Doctor Lim, this is Detective Jane Rizzoli. She's here to see Doctor Maura Isles."
'It's almost like I'm coming down for a doctor's appointment or something. Life is so fucking weird.' Jane nodded. "Hello, Doctor Lim."
"Detective Rizzoli, I was told you'd be coming down." He gave a very small smile and quickly covered as if he realized how inappropriate it was to smile at that moment. "I'm very sorry for your loss. Doctor Isles was a brilliant mind. I'm afraid I don't have much time, and I can't leave you here alone, you understand, but, if you'll follow me, I can give you a few moments."
"Yeah, sure, I get it. I just need a few." Jane followed the doctor over to the rows of stainless steel doors and waited as he opened one to pull out the tray holding the body. She nodded to tell him it was fine to roll the sheet covering the body down, and then she stared at the lifeless face of Maura Isles. "She looks like she's asleep." 'Fuck, it's like I can see her breathing. Get a grip, Rizzoli. You're down here so you know. Remember, it's all about the facts.'
"Can I touch her?" She asked the question before she knew she would. 'What the fu… right, it's about the facts.'
The doctor shifted nervously. "We prefer that only the staff here actually handle the bo… erm the uh…"
"No, it's fine. I get it." Jane shrugged. "Trying to stop weird contamination issues. Maura would approve. I just… she's really gone, isn't she?"
"I'm so sorry, Detective Rizzoli." His voice was soft, mindful of the living's pain in this room full of the dead.
"Okay," Jane nodded her head as she wiped at her eyes. "Okay, I'm done here." She glanced to the doctor. "Thank you. Take good care of her."
He nodded. "Of course."
She turned to the nurse and sighed. "Let's go."
I'm so sad for Jane right now. I can't even... ALL THE TEARS!