„Hey, babe." Jane softly said after reaching for one of Maura's hands. Cables and machines were dominating the room and made Maura look small. Her face was pale. For a moment Jane closed her eyes, letting a gush of panic pass over her. Then she listened to all the beeps and the sound of the breathing machine before looking back at Maura.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope so." She swallowed hard wondering how much of the five minutes the nurse had given her had already passed. Her hand squeezed Maura's which was cold. "I love you so much." She said, unable to hold back the tears any longer. "Please, don't leave me." Pleading…

A nurse entered the room to change an IV, glancing at the monitor to check in routine. "I think she feels your presence." She whispered, pointing to the heartrate which had gone up slightly since the brunette had entered the room. Jane didn't know if this was just a hoax or anything, but in her desperate state she hoped that the nurse was right.

"If you don't tell the doctors you can stay a bit longer." The nurse added with a wink before leaving the room again. It made Jane relax instantly because now the time pressure was gone. Jane refused to think that these could be the last minutes she spent with her wife.

Her wife? Where was Maura's wedding band? It wasn't on the blonde's fingers anymore as she suddenly noticed. She decided to ask the nurse once she came back. Meanwhile she took hers off and put it onto a small table which was close to Maura. She started telling her about the day, how everything had been easy and fun with Amber and Frost. How she had missed her when going to bed earlier.

Tears were flowing freely, but she didn't care anymore. This was Maura, her best friend and wife. If she couldn't be weak with her, she could be with no one. "The doctor said that you suffered 7 stab wounds and that you fought all the way to the hospital. Keep fighting babe. I know its hard. But I also know that you can do it. I promise not to let my stuff lay around the house anymore. It will all be fine."

Her eyes kept alternating between the monitor showing the heart rate and Maura who seemed to become smaller with every minute. Another rush of adrenaline and panic came over her and for a moment she thought she was going to get sick.

The brunette swallowed hard and continued talking to the blonde. She told her about whatever came to her mind. She kept talking until she had nothing left to say. "I love you, babe."

The nurse came back into the room, signing that it was time for her to leave. Jane asked for the wedding band and the nurse informed her that she would get Maura's personal belongings at the nurse's desk. "Is it okay if I leave mine here?" she quietly asked pointing to the ring on the table.

There was a sad smile on the nurse's face which made Jane wonder about how hard the job must be. How often they had witnessed goodbyes from loved ones. "Sure." The nurse replied, walking Jane out of the room. The brunette felt lost, taking the bag with Maura's personal items numbly out of one of the nurse's hand. She started walking down the corridor, her sneakers making the same noises as they had done when she had been there the last time to talk to Constance.

This event seemed to be so far away now, but it made her think about Maura's parents. Had somebody informed them? If yes, would they allow her to see her wife again?

When meeting Korsak she just threw her arms around him and her entire body shook as she cried. "Hey, she's a fighter. She ll get through it. Okay?" he silently spoke his reassuring words, while rubbing her back. "Its going to be okay." He added with a sigh.

R&I

After declining Korsaks offer to come with her she drove home. By the time she walked into the house she only felt numbness. She slumped into the couch after informing the academy that she had to take the day off. Sleep came somewhere during the noon, while she was watching some replay of a Sox game on TV.

Jane was startled by the ringing doorbell around midday. Amber, Frost and Katie stood on the porch with Pizza and beverages. "We thought you might need some company." Amber said with a crooked smile. "We heard it on the news this morning." Frost explained. Everyone of them pulled her into a hug.

Jane wasn't really hungry but grabbed a piece of pizza because she knew that this is what Maura would want. Her internal Maura forced her to take one bite after the other. "Shit!" she suddenly exclaimed when recalling that she hadn't checked if Maura's parents knew. Well they probably did now if they watched TV or listened to the radio.

She grabbed her phone to dial Constance's number. Maura had given it to her once. "Just in case something happens to me." She had said with her typical smile that Jane loved so much. "You will probably never need it."

How wrong she had been, Jane thought as she waited for her wife's adoptive mother to pick up. "Dr. Isles." The voice on the other line said, and Jane cringed in fear. She cleared her throat and explained who she was. "Oh, you again. What do you want this time? Give me another lesson about how to treat my child?" Constance sounded snobby as always.

The brunette ignored the tone and explained what had happened. Despite all efforts she couldn't hold back the tears. There was a gasp on the other end of the line which let her know that the family didn't know yet.

"I'm sorry." She said apologetically, knowing that none of this was her fault. But she felt sorry for Constance whose daughter's life was in danger.

There was a long pause on the others woman side and Jane wondered if the elder Isles had fainted. Then she heard muffled sounds and a male voice – Constance probably talking to her husband Arthur. "She is at Mass general, in ICU." Jane said, not knowing if someone listened.

There was suddenly the beeping which told her that Constance had hung up without saying thank you or goodbye. "You're welcome." She mumbled and was glad for Frosts hand touching hers reassuringly.

The doctors had told her that she could come back for a visit at 6pm after they had finished their exams. Jane and her friends – who had insisted on coming – arrived at 5pm. Constance was discussing with a nurse as they walked into the station, while Arthur was sitting in the waiting area. Jane greeted her with a nod and him with a handshake. She introduced everybody and when he raised a questioning eyebrow Amber simply said: "We are all Maura's friends."

"Its really a shame that we can't see our daughter before 6." Constance stated when coming to join the group. "After all the donations we make, one would expect that we get a better treatment!"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Look honey. These are all Maura's friends." Arthur said calmly and Constance seemed to notice the small group for the first time. Her eyes mustered them from head to toe. Jane bit her lip, knowing that they didn't fit into Constance's picture of adequate friends for her daughter. But for god's sake, they were just a group of students. Everybody was in jeans and shirts, some crumpled and some bore marks of their lunch.

"We know that we can't all see her, but we want to be close." An intimidated Frost mumbled.

The elder Isles seemed to be at a loss of words, which was new. "I'm sure Maura appreciates it." She finally said, a small smile touching her face. Before Jane could even start to wonder what the hell was going on, she felt Constance's arms wrap around her. "I spoke with a doctor. He said that it doesn't look as bad as it did at the beginning. They say that the first 24 hours aren't over, but they are quite optimistic." Constance said in a notion of unknown kindness. "They say that you sat with her for almost the entire night."

Jane swallowed. "Yes, I did." Now the elder woman thanked her. "I didn't know that Maura had so many friends." She whispered to the brunette. Jane gave her a proud smile. "Maura is a great person." She bit back the like I said when I saw you last time but kept on smiling.

"She is, isn't she?" Constance reflected the proud smile. "Well, I think we started off the wrong foot and I'm sorry. Maybe it was just too much of information when we first met." Her hand came forward and she presented herself by her first name. Jane quickly thought about rubbing her hands against her Jeans but thought better of it. If this woman tried, she could too. She only hoped that her palms weren't half as sweaty as she presumed, they were.

If they were, Constance was a lady and didn't mention. The scene was interrupted when a nurse finally walked in, clearly surprised by the amount of people and their diversity but she regained the control over her mimics quickly and announced that the exams were done and that Maura would be ready to welcome visit in 10 minutes. She hadn't been woken up from her medical induced coma though.

Jane glanced at Constance, offering her to go and see her daughter. This was very difficult for her as she had longed to hold Maura's hand for the entire day. But she didn't want to be selfish and it was probably good for Maura too to know that her mother had cared enough to come immediately to see her.

Therefore, she felt that this was the most reasonable thing to let Constance go and see her daughter. Her hand formed a fist around Maura's ring which she wore on a necklace and she smiled at the elder woman. Constance already returned after five minutes, her face pale but determined.

"She needs you too." The adoptive mother stated, quickly squeezing the brunettes hand who gave her a grateful squeeze back.

"Hey there." She greeted the blonde softly. "The doctors are saying that you are hanging in there. But they will let you in coma for another 24 hours as your body needs more time to heal." Jane sniffled a bit and the first tears began to show.

Jane went on to tell Maura about her day and how Amber, Katie and Frost had fed her pizza. "I know its not the healthiest food, but at least I ate something. They are here you know. To support me… us… they are so sweet."

She stopped when a nurse came into the room and cleared her throat. "I have to go know. Hang in there. We are all thinking about you. We all love you so much. Okay?" With that Jane let go of her hand and pushed one lost strand of her out of Maura's forehead to place a kiss there.

When she had reached the door, she turned around once more to take a look at her wife. Despite all of the machines she looked peaceful. At least she seems to have no pain. Jane thought and walked out into the arms of their friends.

Once back in the parking lot, Jane threw the keys of the Mustang towards Frost who blinked twice. Without any further explanation the brunette slid into the passenger's seat, feeling drained and exhausted.

She dreaded the night and the thoughts which would come during the darkness. What she hadn't expected though was how the queen size bed made her feel lonely and helpless. All three of her friends had offered to stay. Amber and Katie were in the guestroom while Frost slept on the couch.

If it would have been for Jane, she would have sent them home, but as they had insisted to stay they were in the house. "Are you okay?" Frost asked from the bedroom door. His body a silhouette in the moonlight.

No, she wasn't. Frost understood the silence and padded further into the room to sit on the opposite side of her in the bed. Jane thanked god that he had had the mind not to sit down on Maura's side. This would have sent her off the edge.

His feet were tucked under his body in meditation style. "I don't want to talk about it. I have talked so much." The brunette spoke into the silence. "Its okay Jane. I understand that."

His presence was soothing, her heartbeat which had been high due a nightmare, slowly calmed down until she fell back to sleep. When she woke in the morning Frost was gone. The sunlight was flooding the room and she checked her phone for any calls from the hospital.

No calls, which meant that nothing had changed. Finding some decent clothes, she padded downstairs into the kitchen to make some coffee. Jane sat on the deck and called the hospital for news.

Nothing had changed, Maura was still in an artificial coma. The nurse she spoke to informed her that she could come to visit her around 2pm. After hanging up, the brunette dialed Constance's number to give her the news.