Jane tapped her finger against the coffee mug on her desk. It was yet another day she was going to spent sitting at her desk, because there had been no new crime for her in the last 48 hours. Boston had a lower crime rate than New York, which wasn't that bad per se. But it was bad if you thought that you had something to be worried about.
And Jane wasn't sure if she was just overreacting, but she had a bad feeling in the gut. Maura had been mad at her for no reason two weeks ago. Jane hadn't given much thought when they hadn't talked for a few days, thinking that the reason for her wife's strange behavior had been due to their local separation. It was funny how Jane who had worried about it a lot beforehand was totally fine with it now. And how Maura who had been fine before was stressing out a lot about it recently.
But there was this little thing that occurred only occasionally at the beginning and which had gotten worse over the past week. Nothing important really if it wouldn't have come from Maura and reminded Jane of the time the blonde had been shot by Allison Sanders.
The brunette searched her mind for occasions it had occurred before her leaving New York. There must have been times which she didn't notice because of the rareness. But fact was that Maura recently started to mix up facts. Like when google mouthing her and Will about the difference between a turtle and a tortoise.
If Jane hadn't had that lecture a thousand times before she wouldn't have noticed how Maura swapped facts. She had smiled thought instead of correcting Maura which she probably should have done. But again she had found the excitement of having Bass back as a good enough excuse. Which now seemed to be a dull explanation.
Dr. Isles brain had always functioned perfectly. Always! And this got her worried. More tapping of her finger as she recalled Maura beginning to look for medical terms. Terms which usually slipped over her lips like as if the swear words over Janes lips.
She wondered if Maura had noticed herself. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong with the doc and it scared the shit out of her. It took her a while to realize that Frankie who was sitting on the desk opposite of her had called her name.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something." She excused himself and he gave her a gentle smile.
"Trouble in paradise again?" he asked, and she shook her head. At least she was not ready to talk to him about her worries. "We're fine." She mumbled. Only three more weeks until her family would be here. She would fly to New York over the weekend and she was going to watch Maura. If the signs kept popping up, she would have to talk to her about it and she wasn't exactly looking forward to it.
Frankie asked her if he should bring her to the airport and Jane thanked him. "That would be great!"
"Sure." He smiled again. Jane thought that he was the best brother one could imagine.
R&I
Approximately six hours later, Jane turned the key to their New York home. The loud voices from inside already warmed her heart and made her smile. Like the previous weekend there was a lot of hugging and cheering before they sat down to the table to eat dinner.
The brunette glanced around, already feeling a bit like stranger to this home which made her shudder. In these weeks she kept being reminded constantly how quick things and habits changed. She caught a loving smile from Maura across the table and mirrored it. She found the doc very silent tonight which didn't exactly help with her assumption that something was wrong.
Never had she thought about either of them getting seriously sick. Despite already being confronted with Maura's subdural hematoma and its operation. She had never doubted that Maura would come out of it alive.
She silently shoved another bite of fish into her mouth, smiling weakly. Her appetite was gone but she knew that she needed to eat. After dinner the girls busied themselves to clean the kitchen and the plates in order to give their parents some alone time.
Jane grabbed Maura's hand and walked them into the living room where they sat on the couch. "Do you want some wine?" she asked and went back to the kitchen to get herself a beer and pour the doc a glass of her favorite wine. When she returned she sat down again.
"How was your week?" the brunette asked, placing her left hand onto Maura's thigh. The doc cupped it and smiled. "Long. But fast at the same time. How was yours?"
It wasn't as if they hadn't talked on the phone daily. But Jane felt a bit nervous and hadn't known how else to start. "Same." She gave a small smile and her eyes darted to the doc's lips. Bending over she brushed them gently, tasting the sweetness mixed up with the wine.
They smiled against each other's lips and Maura hand reached behind Janes neck to deepen the kiss. Hearing an "Ewwwww, they are making out on the couch." Sophies voice made them break the kiss and giggle against each other. By now Jane knew that it was Sophies way of teasing them.
"Go get a room!" Julia yelled and they broke apart.
"We might actually do that." Jane murmured, glancing at the sparkling hazel eyes. When Maura agreed she picked her wife up bridal style and carried her upstairs under some cheering of the kids. "Go Ma!" Sophie yelled behind them and they chuckled.
Once in the master bedroom, Jane let Maura down onto the bed before crawling up next to her. Gently she stroke over Maura's face and covered it with kisses. "God, you are so beautiful." She mumbled with a smile.
The doc cupped her face with the palm of her hand in return and they locked eyes. "You are gorgeous too Jane."
The past years had added some wrinkles to both of their faces, but they were still looking younger than their age.
Their mouths found each other again for a long and gentle kiss.
"What is wrong with you Maur?" Jane gently asked when they broke apart and continued caressing each other. Her voice was deep and firm, but Jane was trembling deep inside.
She watched how a lonely tear left Maura's eye and trailed down the cheek. Maura bit her lip and gazed at Jane with desperate eyes. The brunette wiped the tear away and placed some more kisses onto the face.
"Tell me." She whispered into Maura's ears.
"I don't know." Maura slowly stated and Jane believed her. It was obvious though that Maura had also noticed that something was wrong.
"I'm scared." The doc said while grabbing Janes hand which rested on her belly. "I'm so scared."
"I know baby." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "But we need to find out okay?"
Maura gave a faint nod. "I made an appointment with a neurologist for Tuesday." She spoke.
"I'm coming with you. I'll call Cavanaugh. He'll understand if I told him that I had to stay for an emergency."
A rush of relief passed over Maura's face about the fact that Jane was going to stay with her. They snuggled into each other's arms and Jane only raised after Maura was deep asleep. She headed back into the kitchen to check on the kids, but they seemed to be gone. So, she grabbed a beer and slumped onto the couch realizing that the girls must have brought Will to his bed.
There was a game which she watched until she saw Amanda and the other two rounding the corner. They looked scared and Jane tried to give them a reassuring smile. "what's up?" she tried to sound nonchalantly and felt Sophie move into her arms. Julia and Amanda basically also snuggled into each other on the other side of the couch. One of the rare moments they showed affection in front of one of their parents.
"Something is wrong we Mommy. She has been acting weird." Sophie stated after pulling herself out of Janes arms. The brunette muted the TV and sighed.
"Yes, I know. We are going to see a doctor on Tuesday."
"Is it bad?" Julia asked in a scared tone.
"I don't know baby. We will have to wait for the exams. Have you asked her?"
"NO!" Amanda stated. "We wanted to ask you first. She has been looking a bit scared the last days. Hence, we tried to help her and take over chores."
Janes heart melted. "She got angry with us. Stating that we make her feel disabled." Sophie spoke again.
"I'm sure she didn't mean to be mean. She's got angry with me too. But she is simply scared." Jane paused. "Maybe it's nothing bad. Who knows?" She spoke the truth. No one really knew. They just had to wait for the exams.