Hey guys, here's something a little lighter for you. I hope you like it, it's a little different from my other chapters, at least I think it is. Let me know what you think, I love hearing from all of you.
"So how have you been Charlotte?" Dr. Pollack is Char's therapist and today is their first formal session. They met briefly before. She is friends with Maura and offered to take her on as a client despite her rather large existing roster.
"Fine."
"Your mother told me that you've recently started having nightmares again?"
Charlotte instantly tenses up and sits back into the overstuffed armchair, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Do we have to talk about that right now?"
Dr. Pollack gives a warm smile which strangely calms Charlotte's nerves a little.
"No. We don't have to talk about anything you don't want to talk about. This is your time to relax and to unwind in a safe environment. We can talk when you're ready, or not."
She observes the woman in front of her. She is somewhere in her mid-forties, absolutely beautiful and elegant. She has short blonde hair and she is wearing a charcoal grey pantsuit, similar to the one her mother usually wears.
"Do you like to play cards?" This question takes Charlotte by surprise. "If you don't want to talk I figure we could at least fill the time with something." She pulls a deck of cards from its box and starts to shuffle them on the coffee table.
"War?" Charlotte's voice is soft but she gives a soft smile when Dr. Pollack hands her the deck and she starts to deal them out. "Do you like what you do?"
The doctor looks at the young girl and can feel her nervous energy. "Yes, I do. I like the idea that I get to help people. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know." She shrugs as she throws a card down. "I just think it would be hard to listen to people complain about their problems all the time."
"People don't come to me to complain about their problems, well most of them don't." This elicits a soundless laugh from Char. "They come to me for guidance, or an open mind. I'm a sounding board for people who don't have anyone else to talk to, or if they don't feel they can talk to the people that are in their life."
"Like they feel like they're bothering the people they love when they talk about their issues?"
"Sure. Do you feel like that?"
"Sometimes. I just feel like my mom has so much else going on that I don't want to bury her with my own feelings."
"She's worried about you. I think you opening up and telling her what you're feeling is exactly what she wants."
Charlotte opens her mouth but realization washes over her face before she speaks. "You're good." She slaps another card down and smiles. "How'd you do that?"
"You wanted to talk, or else you wouldn't have."
"They teach you that in therapist school?" Her voice is sarcastic, yet positive and nice.
This gets a laugh from the doctor. "No." She takes the cards off the table after throwing a queen to Charlotte's ten. "I see a lot of kids like you. You feel like you've gone through something no one else has. I'm here to tell you that there are people out there that understand; your mother for one. She was hurt by someone in a similar way that you were."
"How did you know about that?" Charlotte rubs her hands, thinking back to when her mother was attacked by Charles Hoyt.
"She saw me for years after that incident. If there's anyone in this world that will understand what you've been through it's her." Dr. Pollack throws another winning card. "I see a lot of similarities between the two of you. That's what makes me so certain that you'll be just fine, eventually. But Charlotte, this isn't a short healing process. It will take a long time to come to terms with what has happened, what Mark Walker did to you."
"But you think it's possible to get there?"
"Absolutely, and if you'd let me I would love to help you." She throws her last card down. "I win." She says gently as Charlotte realizes she is completely out of cards.
"Yeah, I guess you do."
After her therapy session Charlotte has to go to Boston Children's for her first physical therapy session for her wrist. Jane is stuck on another case so Maura has to bring her. Charlotte has been excused from school for the week to focus on her health. She will be expected to make up the work she's missing but her mental health comes first, the school recognized that when Jane called and explained the situation.
The car ride over is relatively quiet until Maura decides to ask.
"How did you like Dr. Pollack?"
"She was nice." Charlotte fiddles with the heating vent.
"Do you think you're going to see her again?"
"Yeah, sure."
Maura looks over at the young girl, not recognizing who she has become. She desperately wants the happy little girl back that she helped raise. She knows that she will never be the same and that breaks her heart. She would never want to change Charlotte, knowing that everything happens for a reason, but she can't help but wish for a good thing to happen for her. Just to see her smile a genuine smile again.
When Charlotte's name is called she stands up and looks at Maura who is still sitting, reading a National Geographic.
"What are you doing?" She asks and Maura looks at her confused. "You're coming with me right?"
"Oh. I can." Maura says getting to her feet quickly and following the nurse into the room where they will meet the doctor.
Charlotte sits on the table, nervously shifting her weight left to right. The doctor, a tall man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes walks into the room wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants. He doesn't look like any doctor Charlotte has ever seen. His eyes light up when he sees her and he extends his hand towards her.
"Charlotte Rizzoli, I'm Dr. Cain, it's nice to meet you."
"You too." She says shaking his hand lightly. He turns towards Maura and he repeats the gesture.
"You must be Charlotte's mom."
"Actually no, I'm the stand in today. Jane is stuck at work. I'm Dr. Maura Isles."
His eyes widen at the mention of her name and he stands up straighter and clears his throat. Charlotte smirks at the instant awkward tension in the room, and even more so at the obliviousness of Maura at this man's fascination with her.
"The Dr. Maura Isles?" She nods. "I've read all of your publications, your work is truly amazing."
"Thank you very much. I could say the same to you." She signals to Charlotte's wrist. "I am eager to see what approach you'll use for treatment."
"Yes." He says, realizing that he should be working.
If he hadn't already addressed her Charlotte would have thought that he didn't know she was even in the room. He sits on the rolling stool, nearly falling off of it.
"Dude, smooth." Charlotte whispers to him. He gives her a shocked look but quickly smirks when he sees she has a smile on her face.
"Well, Charlotte, first I would like to start with something called TENS, otherwise known as,"
"Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation." Maura cuts in.
"Yes. I will apply electrical impulses into your arm and wrist with this little machine here. I'm just going to place these little stickers on your arm." He gently places them on her skin.
"Is this going to hurt?"
"Not at all, it might just get a little hot." She nods again, allowing him to start. As the machine starts to work he turns back to Maura. "I was fascinated by your most recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine. Do you really believe your findings will be proven effective within the next five years? That seems awful fast."
Maura smiles at the man in front of her.
"I do. With the way the medical field and the equipment used in it are advancing, I don't see how five years would be too small a time frame for what I proposed."
"Immunotherapy is a great alternative. I think that it may just be too soon to change so quickly to a treatment we know very little about; especially if they're planning on using this treatment for children. The risks seem too high. I think there is a lot more research that needs to be done first."
Charlotte is intrigued by this man challenging Maura, mostly because she knows how flustered it usually makes her. However this time she simply smiles and nods her head, a reaction Charlotte has never seen from the doctor in an argument about her work. Before Maura can defend herself, the stickers on Charlotte's skin get hot and she winces.
"Too hot?" She nods "Alright. We'll take a break. I want you to ice your wrist for a little for me." He rolls over to a small freezer in the corner of the room and pulls out an ice pack and wraps it in a towel. "Here you go. I'm going to go check on another patient really quickly and I will be back to finish up, okay?" She nods again and he quickly leaves the room.
"That happened." She says, looking to her Godmother.
"Yes. Wait, what do you mean? What happened?" Maura gives a quizzical look to Charlotte who laughs.
"He's totally obsessed with you. Have you ever had a guy talk to you like that about your published articles before?"
"Yes." Maura answers defiantly.
"One that wasn't eighty, or like, gross?"
Maura seems to think this over. "No, I suppose not." She laughs "He's a doctor Charlotte. Of course he has interest in these things."
"He's a physical therapist, why would he be interested in cancer treatments? Unless of course, he's only interested because you wrote about them."
"My interests in the medical field don't pertain exclusively to my career."
"All I'm saying is, I saw the way that dude looked at you. Obsessed."
"Do you think so?" Charlotte can't help but giggle at the side of Maura she has never seen.
There was very little about Maura she didn't know, but why she was still single was definitely something she never understood. Maura was one of the kindest, warmest, genuinely trustworthy people she had ever known. Maura had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the world when she talked to you. She was beyond intelligent, which she supposed could intimidate most men. As far as role models go, no one could ask for a better one than Maura Isles.
When Dr. Cain walks back into the room he sits back in his seat and gives a warm smile to Charlotte. He looked a little tired but incredibly happy which gave Charlotte the sense that he had a pretty good life. He didn't have a wedding ring on which gave Charlotte the even stronger sense that he was single.
"How's that wrist feeling now?"
"Good." Charlotte smiles and uses her eyes to signal to Maura to look at his left hand which was now pressing gently on her wrist.
"Good. Okay, I want you to ice it for fifteen minutes tonight, apply heat for fifteen, then ice again before you go to bed. That will help with the pain tomorrow. I'll see you on Friday for your appointment." She nods, puts her brace back on, and hops off of the exam table. As she walks by him, she whispers "Ask her out."
He clears his throat and runs his hand through his hair and down the back of his neck. She stands in front of the door so no one could leave.
"Um, Dr. Isles-"
"Oh, please call me Maura." There was that warm smile again.
"Maura, I was wondering, um, would you be interested in getting coffee sometime? Maybe this weekend, I would love to talk more about your research. As a pediatrician I am fascinated by your work."
"Pediatrician?" Charlotte asks, shocked out of her thoughts by his words. "Thought you were a physical therapist, if not what just happened here doctor?" Charlotte answers smartly, only half joking.
"I am, part time. My main work is as a pediatrician here. I mostly only work on surgical cases now though. My daughter likes it when I can be home for dinner."
Maura sneaks a look at Charlotte who bites her lip, a little embarrassed by her assumption that this man was only after one thing.
"Anyway, I would love to pick your brain."
Maura takes the prescription pad he is holding and writes down her phone number.
"I would like that." She hands it back to him and follows Charlotte out of the room.
"See you on Friday Charlotte, and Maura, I will call you about that coffee."
"You were saying?" Maura says snidely as the elevator doors close.
"Alright. No need to be snarky. I get it, I jumped the gun."
Maura takes Charlotte back to the precinct where she basically runs up to the homicide unit.
"Hi Mama." She greets Jane
"Hi baby, how was everything today? I'm sorry I couldn't be there."
She waves her off, "It was fine. How's the case?"
"We're stuck where we started. It's just hard without Frankie here."
At the mention of her uncle Charlotte sobers a little.
"How's he doing?"
"He's alright. He says he's actually feeling a little better, the chemo is kicking his butt but he'll get through it. Just like last time." Jane gives the best smile she can muster. "Anyway," She starts trying to change the subject almost immediately, "I'm going on my dinner break soon. What do you say to a little Tasty Burger?"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, you deserve something greasy and a little gross after the day you've had."
"Okay!"
"Before we go though, Nina wanted to show you something in the other room. Go check it out."
Charlotte skips off to the room filled with computers and screens. Once she is sure she's out of earshot Jane looks over to Maura.
"How do you think it went?"
"It seemed to go well. Her physical therapist was very nice. He was great with her and he was actually interested in my work as well. He was very pleasant to talk to."
"Is that so?" Jane looks suspiciously at her friend and Maura can tell where Charlotte gets it from.
"He asked me to coffee, but he has a daughter."
"So? What does that mean?" Jane asks, her smile creeping larger on her face.
"That he's probably married."
Jane clears her throat and points to her chest, "Um, excuse you. Seems like the doctor is making presumptions on unfounded evidence."
"You know what I mean."
"I don't think I do. All I'm saying is, don't knock it until you know for sure one way or the other. If he asked you out he's probably interested in you."
"Or in my research."
Charlotte saunters back out into the bullpen. "You tell her about the doctor?"
"Yes I did and I told her the same thing I told you. It's not a date."
"It might be a date."
"It's probably a date." Mother and a daughter say in unison.
"Alright, alright. Go eat your unhealthy food and clog your arteries. I have some work to finish up here."
Jane wraps her arm around Charlotte's shoulders as they walk out of the office to the car.