DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, the books, or these characters. I only borrow them.

Chapter 20

Maura knew that Jane was being checked out by her surgeon Monday, the same time that Dr. Isles was in a burned out bathroom. She had planned to go into the office late on Tuesday so she could go get the information about the appointment from the source, but the office called about toxicology reports finally coming back for an old case that she had been trying to close for awhile. The parents of the 27 year old pregnant woman were trying to find out what really happened to their daughter. On top of that, it was the last probable victim for a serial killer who was sitting in lock up at a nearby maximum security prison, Plymouth County Correctional Facility. Maura knew he was sitting in the same isolation wing as Charles Hoyt. Only 40 miles and a lot of barbed wire and guards keeping those two killers away from Boston, their playground of choice. Dr. Isles knew she needed to get the results written up as soon as possible so she could send it over to the homicide detectives who had worked the case last year, but also to the District Attorney to determine if there was additional information to use in the court case he was preparing against Jonathon Miller.

Between that work, numerous bodies ending up in the morgue Wednesday due to a major pile-up on I-93, and contacting Susan Walker's mother after getting the response from her dentist that the charred body on the autopsy table Monday and the house renter were one in the same, Dr. Isles was not able to get a free morning until Friday in order to stop by the Rizzoli's Revere home. It was odd for Maura and Jane not to see each other for so long. Before, at most they would go two days if they were both lucky enough to get the full weekend off and not be called in. Now it was going on almost two weeks rather than two days. Slightly past 8:30 Friday morning, Maura opened up the screen door in order to knock on the wooden one, but, before she could raise her hand, the door was being opened.

"Hey stranger, long time no see." Jane had been watching out the front room window for her friend after the quick phone call Maura made earlier to make sure it was a good time to pop in. After her mom all but dragged her out of Frankie's room nearly a week ago, Jane had been waking up no later then 7:30am. She would wake up and take a walk before breakfast. She was now able to make it down to the corner before she would be forced to turn around. She worried about trying the whole block yet, afraid that she would get halfway around before the pain would literally knock her feet out from under her. The black sweat pants and red t-shirt she was wearing were fitting better than they did when she came home from the hospital. Between her Ma's rich cooking and the increase of muscle mass as she started her physical therapy, the clothes didn't hang on her as they had; granted, she still had a ways to go before she was back to pre-shooting standards.

Jane stepped back to allow Maura to walk into the living room. After shutting and locking the door behind her, the two friends wandered over to the tan slip-covered couch. By the time that Jane had slowly lowered herself down to the comfortable seat, Maura was already seated. Jane thought Maura looked like she needed a nap more than she herself did; which was saying a lot considering the fact that she would usually end up falling back asleep in about an hour. "Are you okay? You look...off."

Maura couldn't help the grateful smile that caused her tired eyes to light up in amusement, "Isn't that supposed to be my line?" She noticed that Jane was having issues turning her torso to face her and chat, so Maura moved over to the recliner so they were at least closer to being across from each other. "It's been a really long week. Monday there was a burned body, and I can't seem to get away from the smell; as taste is effected by smell, for instance when you have a cold and you have a stuffy nose, you can't smell anything so food doesn't taste like it should..."

"I thought that was just because when your sick you get really boring and bland food."Jane couldn't help but joke.

"...even my toast this morning tasted burnt. It's even been determined that color can effect taste, but even seeing the toast a nice golden brown didn't help it not taste burnt."

Maura didn't add the fact that her stomach was rebelling, but Jane was used to the look on her partner's face to know what it was. "Ma," Jane knew that her mother was already in the kitchen starting the sauce for dinner later that night. When her mom stuck her head out the door Jane asked, "Do we have any ginger ale or 7-Up?" Jane threw her gaze over to Maura to clue her mother in.

A couple minutes later, Angela walked out of the kitchen with a glass of iced ginger ale, and handed it over to Maura.

It took Maura a second to realize the glass was pushed in front of her face rather than given to Jane. "No thanks, I'm fine."

Angela couldn't help the chuckle, "I have three children." She tried not to pause long as her mind pointed out the fact that she only had two left, "I think by now I know when one looks ill and run down or not. Granted, with Jane it was always looking fine but saying she was dying so she couldn't go to school." After Maura took the drink, Angela gazed fondly at her daughter. "My personal favorite is still when you used the red permanent marker to give yourself chicken pox."

Maura chuckled as she heard Jane groan at the memory; she was glad that she had already swallowed her drink or it would not have been pretty. She needed that laugh after the hellish week she had. The ginger ale didn't hurt either she soon realized. She glanced at Angela, "Thank you," for the drink, for the laugh...for her son. Before her mood could darken, she asked, "So this marker incident...?"

Jane mock glared at her mother, "Thanks, Ma." Her thanks had a bit more bite and also laughter behind it than Maura's had. "I had a test that I didn't study for...history, I think it was. I hated history...too boring, and hard to memorize." She raised her index finger before Maura could point out something about the brain and memorization or some such nonsense.

Granted Angela was able to interject as she sat down on the arm of the couch, "She told me she had no homework or studying to do the night before and ended up playing street hockey until dark."

"Anyway, my bright idea the next day was to play sick. I'd tried the thermometer on the light one to many times..."

"No, it was easy to figure out you were lying when your temperature came back at 108.4º once."

Maura couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her mouth almost like the soda bubbling in her glass. At Jane's questioning glance oscillating between the two women near her, Maura decided to put Jane out of her misery, "106ºF is generally the glass ceiling for fevers." Then she glanced at Angela and grinned conspiratorially, "You could have threatened to take a rectal temperature. I bet that would have quickly got her moving."

Jane looked like a fish out of water with Maura's latest comment, "Maura!" She then threw another disgruntled look toward her mother, "Now you tell me. I just thought Ma was really good at figuring out lies...or Frankie ratted me out."

"He did about you having a test that day," Angela smiled as she seemed to literally be gazing into the past.

"That little weasel. Anyway...long story short, Ma knew I was faking and so sent me to school...with the dots. I tried to wash them off before first period, but, as Ma mentioned...it was a permanent marker. Took a week to finally scrub those off, and the kids had way to much fun at my expense."

Angela cracked up, "So did I."

"Technically you didn't wash the marker off so much as the keratinised cells that make up the surface layer of your skin was replaced with the new skin cells that were developed in the deepest layer of the epidermis," Maura threw out.

With that bit of scientific knowledge, both the Rizzoli women seemed at a lose for words. With the conversation at a good stopping point anyway, Angela started to go back into the kitchen. She glanced back at the two tired girls when she reached the door. "Why don't you two wander upstairs. Get out of my hair so I can clean up down here."

"That's our clue to run before she puts us to work," Jane slowly stood up and started toward the stairs, "Okay, walk as fast as possible." It didn't matter that the house looked fairly spotless and dust free. It was Friday and so Ma's weekly once over of the house.

Dr. Isles followed Jane up the stairs so she could check out the improvements the two weeks brought about. She was pleased to note that movement was smoother and quicker than it was the last time they were together. She heard Jane breathing harder but knew that would get back to normal when she started to get her stamina back. Maura was surprised when she followed Jane into the first room on the left; she had only seen the room beyond, and the bathroom across the hall, when she had visited before. This room was decorated in many shades of blue: navy comforter on the bed, the walls made her think of the sky on a stormy day, even the curtains were the same navy as on the bed. She could tell it was a boy's room, but the color coordination was definitely created by a female.

"I like this room much better than mine. I'm blinded less in here."

Maura was curious, "How so? The window in your room faces east just as this one does."

"It's not the sun that bothers me...but the pink," Jane exaggerated a mock shudder.

Maura just shook her head wryly. Hearing the tales of trouble that Jane got into as a kid, Maura was surprised that her friend had never torn down the pink canopy on her bed. Granted, as she was getting to know Angela Rizzoli better, she knew the outcome would be much worse than Jane just being subjected to pink as she fell asleep.

Jane continued chatting, "Tommy got the best room I always thought. He got the car theme; granted, knowing now the issues he has with drunk driving, maybe that was a bad thing. Ma was happy having a girl next and overcompensated with the pink and princess stuff. I think by the time Frankie needed a room, Ma thought it was easier to go with a generic blue for a boy's room."

Maura looked around the room with a new appreciation. She quickly circled the room and took everything in. It was a good thing that both she and Jane worked in professions where noting small details quickly was needed; therefore, Jane didn't think anything was odd about Maura's perusal of the room, and Maura was able to take in the whole room in a short amount of time to not clue Jane in that she was overly interested. She enjoyed seeing this new side of Frankie through his childhood items: model cars and planes were on top of the mahogany dresser, so she knew that he was detail oriented and didn't mind long, often tedious work even as a child; a shelf on the back wall had several dusty trophies for baseball or softball based on the gilded figure on top of the larger ones; near the trophies were a series of ball caps that she assumed were from his teams growing up as the sizes were different with each team logo. By the time she turned back toward the center of the room with the bed, Jane was already sitting up against the headboard. As she went to sit down at the foot of the bed, Jane threw the pillow she wasn't leaning on at Maura. While the pillow hit her square on, Maura could tell Jane still needed to work on her strength with throwing too, probably due to the damage of the left Latissimus Dorsi muscle as the bullet exited her body. "Not fair starting a pillow fight if you're not up to it so I can't hit you back." Granted, she was happy for the reason to hold on to the pillow; she inhaled deeply but sadly all she could smell was laundry detergent and Jane's shampoo.

"What damage could a fluffy pillow do, huh? Maybe I should take one to crime scenes to bash the perps with. What do you think?" Granted she was glad that Maura didn't throw the pillow back as she knew that at night even the soft bed hurt as she tried to sleep. Not waiting for an answer, she went on, "I'm surprised you aren't demanding to see the bandages today...make sure I didn't get them wet, or that I'm not still bleeding like a stuck pig." She saw Maura tilt her head in amusement so Jane held up a finger to ward off any jabs about cops and pigs.

But Maura's amusement wasn't about farm animals, and Jane never could stop her from speaking. "No, your mother must be doing a fair job because I know you've already seen the surgeon..." She tried not to note the slight cringe that even now that word brought Jane and went on hoping that her friend might assume that she didn't see it. "...for a follow-up appointment. Plus there hasn't been enough bloodshed to land in the hospital...yours or your mother's."

Despite the momentary pause, Jane couldn't help the amused smile as she thought how close at times Maura might have been wrong about that. She and her mom had had quite a few rows in the last week. "Yeah, well, so how was your week. You already know mine: doctor's appointment, physical therapy, and painfully shlepping up and down the stairs. Riveting." The pained look that crossed Maura's face made Jane almost wish that she hadn't asked.

"Monday I had my first on-site case since, well...you know?" There was a brief pause as both women thought about what all was lost or changed in the last few weeks. "I'm still waiting for the tox report, and the final report from the arson investigator, but all evidence so far points to an accidental death. She was a healthy 24 year old. It just seems so pointless."

Jane was shocked at the morose look on Dr. Isles' face. Maura was usually good at leaving cases in the morgue...literally putting the thoughts and feelings on ice. When she would talk about emotions in relation to a case, it was always with a scientific excuse, like women were designed to feel a need to protect children and so the loss of one was bound to cause an emotional response, or some such wordy reasoning.

"I think I've worked with you too long," Maura threw Jane an unamused smile, hoping to relay that it wasn't as bad as the words made it sound. "I've gotten used to there being a bad guy that I could sic Korsak and Frost on. If not, I can usually look at a body and point out what was failing and at least think that it was bound to happen sooner rather than later. So it just seemed more tragic as it was just a freak accident of a young healthy female, combined with really bad timing of the fire starting. Wednesday didn't even seem as horrible." She didn't let herself think that maybe seeing the crime scene made Monday harder. She now knew what it was like to be in the middle of what would later become a crime scene. It made it harder, then and now, to detach when she saw more than just the bodies. "There were many young dead, with the youngest being an 18 month old baby boy. But there was at least the ability to use that accident to remind people of the perils of drunk driving, speeding, and a reminder about the benefits of wearing a seat belt."

Jane thought better of telling her friend right at that moment that Monday's accident could remind people to be careful with candles and fire. She could tell Maura just needed to blow off steam.

After a pause, Maura said almost too quietly for Jane to hear, "And I still can't get rid of the smell. All week food has tasted burnt. I tried to force myself to eat breakfast so I could take my usual multi-vitamin, but I guess I didn't eat enough. I've always had issues with being nauseated if I took it on an empty stomach. The ginger ale did help though, thank you." She felt that she needed to explain why she looked peaked this morning. She laid down and stared up at some stars stuck on the ceiling above her. Her thoughts flitted between various faces that had affected her more than usual in the last few weeks: the 18 month old boy as the youngest she had seen in those weeks, telling the father that his young son and wife had died in a car crash, and wondering if the bright headlights of the oncoming car were the last thing the mother saw as she worried for her child; the burned face and the picture of the women she had learned it belonged to, seeing another grieving mother so soon crying over the loss of their child, and wondering if the spread of the candle flame to the curtains was the last thing she saw before the fall knocked her out; the smiling face of Frankie, remembering the report she gave about how he was injured, wondering if her face was the last thing he saw before he went into the hospital to never come out alive. Then, as sleep claimed her, the information got jumbled up. It left her dreaming about another time with Frankie. The car's headlights were turned off when they reached the Italian restaurant and the flickering candles that she could see through the front window reminded her of the stars she had seen on the ceiling.

~ 11 weeks earlier, 1 months into relationship ~

After turning off the headlights, Frankie walked around the car for Maura. He oddly enjoyed opening doors for her and helping out. He wondered what speech he would get from Maura about the whys – biology to want to take care of and protect your mate? He smiled at the thought as they walked hand in hand to the little Italian restaurant. He heard it was a good place to eat, and, with the out of the way location, he didn't have to worry about anyone they knew seeing them on a date. Not that he minded. He would love the world to know that the beautiful doctor belonged to him...with him. But he knew she still worried about that fact. It even became the main topic of conversation during dinner.

The waiter refilled the wine glasses and replaced the salad plates with the main course: Eggplant Parmesan for Maura, and Fettuccine Alfredo for Frankie. The overhead lights were dimmed and the candles on the white linen covered tables were all lit and twinkling. Most of the families that had been in when Maura and Frankie first arrived were now gone, early enough to make sure that the children were tucked into bed before too many stars came out for the night. Now the few tables that still had patrons sat couples on dates.

Frankie took a large bite of his pasta. He was still a bit too hungry to care about rules of etiquette that Maura had at least slightly been trying to beat into his head. He mopped up some of the sauce with a bread stick, and waved it around as he commented about the food, "Not bad, but not as good as what Ma makes."

Maura wondered if Frankie was being totally honest or if he was just being a good son. She finally took a bite and from the few times she had tried Angela Rizzoli's food, she couldn't help but agree.

"You could join the family on Sunday for dinner. Be reminded what real home-cooked Italian food is like." Frankie couldn't help the longing in his voice, wanting Maura to join the family, but even more than that, to go as his date. "You know the family already loves you, Maura. They would be happy for us."

Silence settled around the table, and the pair tried to cover it up by eating or picking at their meal. After several seemingly long minutes, Maura finally put her fork down and stopped pretending to be interested in her dinner. Her forehead wrinkled up in consternation, "Mary Wittier." She saw the confused look on Frankie's face. "When I was in boarding school, I became friends with girl named Mary Wittier. My family was always busy during the holidays, lots of opportunities for charity functions when people are thankful for their money and feeling good will toward men." She couldn't help the loathing laced in her words. "Mary's family lived locally, they were really tight knit, and they got together whenever they could...especially holidays. My second year at the school, Mary invited me to her parent's place for Christmas dinner. After that I was there whenever she went home, her family became my family in many ways that mattered. But eventually we got into an argument, as most teenagers do...over a boy." She grinned at Frankie with that piece of information.

"Well, you wouldn't have to worry about fighting with Jane about the boy you like...at least not in the same sense." He was hoping the conversation would become lighter now, but he had a feeling she was just getting to the relevant part of her story.

"I didn't just lose my friend, but also the family I was closer to than my own."

"And you're afraid it would happen here, too?" He could see in her pained gaze that she was. "Jane's way too smart and loyal for that. Once she's a friend, you can't get rid of her so easily. She might give you the silent treatment if you jilt me, but hell, she would give me worse if I messed this up." He started to scoot around the U-shaped booth in order to get closer to his girl. He was met in the middle. "And my parents would get on my case too if I did something to hurt you. And Ma's lecture..." he didn't finish his thought, but he did shudder.

Maura leaned up against his left side as they both looked out over the few remaining patrons finishing up their meals and at the soft, slow flickering of the candles on the tables as they twinkled like stars. She believed what he said but was still too scared of repeating the past.

Not ready to leave yet, Frankie asked for coffee and a tiramisu to split when the waiter came back. He understood her fear, and knew he could wait for her...would wait for her to be comfortable. He watched Maura stare into the dark coffee when it was placed in front of her. "Don't worry. We can wait. Just see what we are together for awhile." He smiled at her when she looked up into his eyes, "We have time."

But they didn't...he didn't.

Jane finally noticed that the reason Maura stopped talking was due to the fact that she was asleep and lightly snoring. She also felt the need for a nap but knew that the twin bed would not allow her to lay down too, and anything else, like sitting up against the headboard for long, was just going to tense up healing muscles and hurt way too much. She quietly got up, tried to drape an edge of the comforter around her dozing friend, and then grabbed the cell phone off the nightstand. Walking into her bedroom, she ironically thought about the need to sleep in this frilly room. She still would have preferred Frankie to be using his own bed, but she'd graciously let Maura use it too...just this once. She groaned as she laid down, and she wasn't sure if it was due to staring up at the draped pink fabric or from the weight against her healing back...both were painful in their own way. She pushed the 4th speed dial number and waited for the well known voice. Before he answered the phone, Jane realized she could change the numbers. She wouldn't need the third number anymore...Frankie couldn't answer his phone.

"Frost."

"Hey, Frost, can you do me a favor?"

Barry Frost tried not to groan into the phone. He could just imagine what that favor would be. "I'm not seeing if you can come back to work early. As much as I would like to get rid of Korsak as a partner."

Jane could hear the aforementioned detective shout something in response. She really missed being in the office...even more so she missed being out in the field. "No, I'll at least wait until I can walk into the building, and sit for more than three hours without falling asleep to bug the lieutenant. I was hoping you could go down to the morgue and let the ME's office know that Dr. Isles is busy helping an injured friend; if she does makes it in today, it will be later than she thought." Knowing Maura she would make up the time later by staying late, and hell she probably already clocked much more than the usual forty hours of work a week that for many was the norm.

Frost would have preferred to badger Cavanaugh about Jane coming back early. "Fine, but you owe me, Jane...I hate having to go downstairs."

Jane could just picture the disgusted look on his face and the shudder that went through him, "Thanks, partner."

He beamed. That was all the payment he needed; he knew his partner would be back before too long...driving everyone nuts, but also lightening their day. "Hurry back."

After they hung up, Jane hit speed dial three. No one answered, and the call went to voice mail. She tried not to tear up as she heard the message in a voice she missed, 'This is Frankie. Leave a message.' So she did. "I miss you, Frankie." She hung up, but before she could make herself delete the number she decided to keep it...at least until the month was up she would be able to hear her little brother. Shit, she just remembered that they had less than a week left of the month in order to clean out Frankie's apartment.

AN: Changed the listed characters to Jane and Maura because the story is mainly a friend, cases, and healing story. I know there are many who would like Jane/Maura as more than friends...but I killed Frankie to not have to make this an overly romantic story. I do angst better. So I think no one would really want me to make it Maura/Jane...because that means one would have to die.

Please review...two weeks ago was holiday, last week was season premieres so close to a holiday for us Rizzoli and Isles fans...no excuses this week :D Thanks!