Chapter Nine

Boston, Massachusetts

Following her revelation from the night before, Jane had to tackle a day that included the fussing of her mother and a mandatory interview with Internal Affairs. While it was a mere formality for Detective Frost, given that there was no doubting he had no choice but to shoot, the process was a difficult one for Jane. The last thing she wanted was to relive her final encounter with Charles Hoyt.

When she finally emerged from the IA interview she was shaken to the core. She wanted to be able to throw herself into another case but mandatory leave prevented her preferred manner of escape. She would have to attend multiple psychiatric appointments and gain clearance before she could see active duty again.

She didn't want to go home and face the loneliness of an empty apartment, her only company the tortoise that painfully reminded her of whom she missed the most. She didn't want to go to the Dirty Robber and potentially have to face Kelly either. She just wasn't ready for that. She had embarrassed herself enough for one week in front of the Olympian the night before.

She knew that she had several voice mails from Maura on her phone and several text messages and had no doubt that her best friend would be worried given that she hadn't reached out yesterday, but she still couldn't bring herself to make that call. She didn't want to talk about Hoyt and she especially didn't want to talk about her feelings and she knew that Maura would read her like a book. She would know there was something wrong and Jane really didn't want to deal with that.

Bereft of desirable options, Jane parked near the Boston Common and took a walk. She walked past the carousel, which was closed for the winter, and sighed wistfully. Between April and October that area of the park would be bustling with children eager to ride the colourful horses, and the patient parents that accompanied them. It felt like just another reminder of how lonely life had become now that Maura was half a world away.

She continued walking past the Frog Pond, which would in the coming days be open for seasonal ice skating. She smiled briefly thinking of her ice skating memories as a child and how she had in fact hoped to bring Maura there for a lesson or two, but like many things it was something she hadn't quite gotten around to and now she was gone. The smile disappeared and she huffed, jamming her hands in her pockets as the sky began to darken.

They didn't get too much snow in November but the pain emanating from the scars in the palms of her hands told her there was some much colder weather on the way. Maura would no doubt have given her a spiel about barometric pressure or some other explanation as to why it was possible for her scar tissue to detect impending cold weather.

She kept walking for a while, trying to appreciate the tranquillity of the park, but in the end her thoughts just kept returning to Maura and wondering what she was doing in that moment. Based on the time difference she figured her best friend would be teaching a class and she wished she could be there to see that. She may have often made fun of Maura's braininess but the fact was she admired the way with which she could just pull random information from thin air like it was common knowledge. It had certainly made life more interesting.

Somewhat reluctantly Jane turned around and returned to her car. She didn't want to be caught outside when the rain came. The wind had kicked up and the storm clouds had rolled in quickly. She was barely inside her vehicle when the skies opened up. She sat contemplatively whilst the rain slammed into her windshield. The weather mirrored her mood; wild and tempestuous.

As the minutes ticked by she realised that there was nothing to be gained from avoiding the women in her life. It was too early in the Tasmanian day to call Maura, so in an attempt to avoid any further run-ins with her mother she decided to spend some time at the Dirty Robber. The sooner she saw Kelly again, the sooner they could resume their new friendship. Decision made, she pulled out into traffic and set a course for her desired destination.

Launceston, Tasmania

An eagle soared across the sky, drawing Melissa's attention to the gathering storm clouds. She watched the bird, enraptured. It dove and skimmed along the surface of the river before once again soaring and disappearing into the distance.

Melissa stood on the boardwalk and felt an unexplainable shiver shoot through her body as the bird faded into the horizon. The sky was only growing darker, but she couldn't leave yet. She was waiting for someone.

She crossed her arms and rubbed vigorously in an attempt to warm up, turning to search her surroundings further as she did so. The green grass of King's Park made way for a concrete flood levee and at the bend ahead on the boardwalk people were disembarking from a river cruise.

They soon disappeared around the bend and she was left alone, waiting. She turned to look in the other direction beyond the public barbeque towards the parking lot, but still she remained alone. Just as the sky was clouded over, so were her thoughts.

The wind picked up and chilled her to the bone, but still she didn't move. She searched the sky in the hopes the eagle would return, but was left feeling empty when the majestic bird was nowhere to be found. "Where are you?" She asked helplessly, spinning round in circles frantically searching.

"Right here," a familiar voice floated across the wind.

The voice brought a sense of calm and Melissa turned instinctively in its direction. It was then she saw her striding purposefully across the grass, decked in her navy slacks and jacket. The golden shield pinned on her chest reflected wondrous colours that danced across Melissa's eyelids. "There you are."

"Here I am," Gabby said softly, coming to a stop in front of Melissa.

Melissa stepped closer and wrapped her arms around her love. Warmth emanated through them both as she brought her chin to rest on Gabby's shoulder. "I missed you."

"I know you did Missy," Gabby soothed, wrapping her arms tightly around Melissa.

As the moment wore on the embrace brought with it a terrible feeling. Melissa stepped back, one hand finding Gabby's hip and the other coming to rest against her cheek. She closed her eyes at the sensation of Gabby leaning into her hand. Swallowing thickly she said, "You promised you wouldn't leave."

"I won't ever really be gone. You'll carry me in your heart." She replied comfortingly. She took a step back, drawn by a magnetic force.

Melissa opened her eyes and reached out, "It's not enough. Don't leave me."

"I'm sorry Missy; I never thought it would happen like this." She reached out, her fingertips grazing the outstretched hand of Melissa's as she continued to be drawn away.

With superhuman strength, Melissa pushed through the force pulling them apart and fell into Gabby's arms. A golden light danced around them as Gabby helped Melissa to her feet and brought their foreheads together. They danced in slow motion as tendrils of light snaked around their entwined bodies.

"I'm lost without you," Melissa begged. "Please hold on."

Gabby smiled sadly and pressed a tender kiss against Melissa's forehead. She then stepped back and half turned away. "I'm out of time."

In the blink of an eye Melissa found herself alone, cold and broken. Her eyes turned to the sky, she watched an eagle soar.

Melissa's eyes snapped open. Her chest heaved under the stress of the emotions that had bombarded her during her dream. She rolled off the couch and used the armrest to help her rise to her feet. Her stomach lurched unkindly as she reached her phone where she had left it on the mantelpiece.

Right on cue, it rang.

Gabby's eyes flew open. Panicking she tried to sit up, however between the firm hand on her shoulder, the pain in her chest and difficulty breathing, she gave up quickly. Her breathing shallow and rapid, she sucked greedily at the oxygen pushed through the mask covering her face.

To her left she recognised the white shirt with the blue shoulder mark as that of a paramedic. A quick glance at his face and she didn't recognise him, he must have been new. She rolled her head to the right and recognised the police officer who stared down worriedly at her. She pushed at the oxygen mask in an attempt to remove it.

Sergeant Alec Morris gently took her hand and pushed it back down to her side. "Don't, you need the oxygen Gabby." They had come through the academy together and had worked together a lot early in their careers, before he moved into forensics. They had, however, remained good friends and when he had heard the call come into the station regarding an officer involved accident and their identifier, there had been no holding him back.

Gabby closed her eyes as a wave of pain rocked her body. She felt so sleepy and longed for the warm embrace of the darkness, but she recognised she was in a bad situation and forced her eyes open once more. She looked imploringly at Alec, the mere fact he was with her indicated how bad it was.

He took her hand and squeezed. "You're going to be fine," He reassured in an effort to keep her calm.

She didn't feel fine. "How bad?" She mumbled through the mask.

Alec sighed. "Bad, but you're in good hands." He had every confidence in the paramedic team that was transporting them to the hospital. They had already brought her back once, releasing the pressure from a tension pneomothorax and restarting her heart, which had stopped under the pressure of the air that filled her chest cavity.

She felt so drained of energy that the pain barely registered. She felt darkness encroaching quickly and her thoughts moved to her loved ones and panic set in once more. Her eyes wild and desperate she clutched at Alec's hand, "M… M…"

"Nate's already notified Melissa, she'll be at the hospital." He advised, "Conserve your energy, we're almost there."

Gabby wanted to correct him, but she didn't have the energy. He didn't know about Maura. Several tears rolled down her cheek. Her eyes closed and she welcomed the peace the darkness brought.

Maura had just returned to her position in the living room, curled up with her historical fiction when her phone rang. A quick glance at the screen had her letting out an involuntary shudder. She swiped right and brought the phone to her ear. "Hello Jane," she hoped that her greeting had been pleasant and hadn't given away her trepidation. The sense of relief she felt knowing that Jane was finally calling had clashed with the sense of disappointment she still felt that she had to hear about Hoyt from Detective Frost in the first place.

"Hey," Jane rasped; her voice a little throatier than normal. "I got your messages. Sorry I've been slow to return your calls."

For the first time in a long time Maura did not know what to say. Her immediate instinct was to tell Jane she knew that Hoyt had returned for one final attempt on her life, but she knew that would undoubtedly put Frost in an uncomfortable position. She didn't want to cause him trouble with his partner until she could be there to smooth things over. She also didn't have it in her to pretend that all was well either. She found herself frowning as she opened her mouth only to close it. She repeated this process several times before settling on, "I am glad to hear from you." It was, after all, quite true in spite of the other more negative emotions that Jane currently stirred within her.

Jane could tell that Maura had been hurt by her absence, and internally she kicked herself. She jammed her phone between her head and her shoulder so that she could reach forward to pour herself a whiskey. This was going to be a tough conversation. "I've missed you," She offered honestly, while unscrewing the top from the bottle. "It's just been a tough few days."

"I see," Maura said, hoping that perhaps Jane would at least acknowledge that something had occurred.

After successfully unscrewing the bottle and pouring a generous portion of whiskey into her tumbler, she returned her phone to her hand. She swallowed a mouthful of the harsh liquid that burned on the way down. "There's a lot we need to talk about."

"I'm listening," Maura responded, a little harsher than she intended. It appeared her churning intestines were not prepared to go down quietly.

Jane winced a little at the tone, if she hadn't already been aware before she was beyond certain now that she had caused Maura great concern. Not returning the call on her birthday had probably filled her friend with dread, and she had to choke back a sardonic laugh at the fact that her best friend would have been beyond right to be going out of her mind. "I dunno if I'm up to going into details right now Maura…"

"Then why did you call?" The level of vitriol in her tone caused Maura to double take. She was not at all used to her emotions being out of her control. She hurriedly added, "I'm sorry Jane. I've been very worried, but that does not excuse my tone."

Jane quickly swallowed down the rest of the whiskey in her tumbler and placed it on the coffee table. Her hand then immediately went to her right temple as she attempted to massage away the headache that was building up a head of steam. "Don't apologise. You've every right to be pissed and I know that you're gonna be even more pissed when we do talk about it, but just know I'm okay and I just really needed to hear your voice."

Feeling overwhelmed by the contrasting nature and sheer number of differing emotions that flowed through her, left Maura unsure how to continue. She felt a warmth in bloom in her chest just knowing that Jane felt like she needed her in some capacity, but she was still pissed as her friend had suggested, and hurt too. Not to mention the fact that she was deliberately holding back her travel plans.

"Gabby will be here soon," Maura blurted out, having been unable to think of anything else safe to say. Of course after her utterance she felt like one of the cartoon characters she once caught Jane watching while eating cereal, that would exaggeratedly bury their faces in their hands and shake their heads after doing or witnessing something terribly juvenile or idiotic.

Just hearing that name sent ripples of emotional pain shooting through Jane's gut. Nearly allowing Hoyt to kill her, it seemed, was actually the least of her worries after finally acknowledging her feelings for Maura. There was nothing she could do about it, so there was definitely no point bringing them up to further strain their friendship as it was; but it was sure going to hurt like hell for a while. "Oh? I can call back at another time if you'd prefer."

"Don't be silly," Maura responded, "I'm glad you called." She knew she was merely repeating herself, but she couldn't stand the thought of letting Jane go too soon and she knew that once Gabby arrived she would have no qualms with entertaining herself for a short time.

Jane managed her first genuine smile since the incident with Hoyt. "Good. How was your day?" She figured just going about some normal conversation might help them push through the initial awkwardness of their conversation.

Maura thought about the fact her day entailed preparing for a surprise trip to Boston and then started thinking about the walking on egg shells idiom and agreed that it was definitely a group of words where the established meaning had very little relevance to their intended meaning. Because while she felt the rumblings of discomfort at having to delicately manoeuvre around the truth, there was no comparison to stepping on potentially sharp shards of calcium carbonate crystal composites. Following course with the entire conversation, once again her mouth decided to act without her brain's approval when she said, "I really don't see the logic in the walking on egg shells idiom."

Jane's immediate response was to laugh, and then to wonder what it was that had caused Maura's strange question. Still she attempted to elaborate, "Eggshells are fragile, so to walk on them you would need to be incredibly careful…"

"They would break." Maura said, "So whether you were careful or not they would still break."

Jane chuckled some more, "True Maura, but the whole point is they're fragile, you need to tread carefully."

"I imagine 'walking near egg shells' would be a more accurate attempt at drawing correlation between a physical act and the mental gymnastics required when dealing with emotionally sensitive situations."

Jane rolled her eyes. This woman, who had no understanding of many idioms and often questioned them, had no problem when it came to using the term mental gymnastics. She laughed again, it felt good. She realised that this was one of the reasons she loved Maura. The woman just knew how to make things feel a little bit better.

The detective in her started to wonder though if there was something that Maura felt the need to avoid. She supposed there may have been further developments in her relationship with Gabby, but they had handled that and as much as it pained her, Jane knew that Maura wouldn't hold back there. Her brow furrowed and she held back several choice curse words. Her mood darkened exponentially. "Who told you?"

There was no mistaking the tone in Jane's voice. The detective had clearly put a few things together. Of course Maura wanted to protect Frost as well as she could and was quite thankful when the doorbell rang out. "That's the door…"

"Don't you dare put that phone down Maura," Jane growled. She had no intention of letting her friend escape interrogation.

Maura kept the phone to her ear as she navigated from the living room into the front foyer. "I'm right here Jane, I just have to let Gabby in."

"Okay," Jane conceded. It wasn't Maura's fault that one of the men in her life couldn't keep his big mouth shut. Mostly she wanted to throttle whoever it was for the absolute hell the Hoyt news would have put Maura through.

Maura opened the door intent on waving Gabby inside and mouthing that it was Jane on the phone only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw a uniform she had seen many times before, but this time the wearer was not an athletic, attractive redhead. Her eyes locked onto the face of a man who must have been in his early twenties. Apprehension coursed through her body as she brought the phone to her chest and asked, "How may I help you constable?"

"Are you Doctor Maura Isles?" Constable Nathan Grundgeiger asked softly.

"Yes. What is this about?" Her facial expression remained calm, however a deep sense of dread clawed at her insides.

"Senior Constable Wilson has been involved in an accident," he began; his own emotions barely in check with the knowledge one of his colleagues was in critical condition. "It's quite serious."

Maura's phone slipped from her hand and clattered against the ground. An anguished mewl escaped her lips as her heart began to thump out of her chest. "I must see her," she said emotionally.

"I'll take you to the hospital." He said, under strict instructions to offer as much. Maura was important to Gabby, and as such she would be offered all the support the Tasmanian Police could muster.

"Thank you." She said, "Just give me one moment." Maura ducked back inside to grab her purse and house keys.

Constable Grundgeiger knelt down and picked up the phone, hearing a rather irate woman on the other end he brought the phone to his ear and said, "Doctor Isles will be with you in a moment."

"Who the hell is this?" Jane bellowed, already worked up with her own issues, the sudden disappearance of Maura and now some guy was on the line.

"Constable Nathan Grundgeiger, Tasmania Police." He looked up apologetically when Maura stepped outside and sent him a questioning look. He handed her the phone and said, "I was just advising the woman on the line that you would be back in a moment."

Her eyes softened at his thoughtfulness. She took the phone and indicated he should lead the way to the patrol car. Bringing the phone to her ear she said rather tremulously, "I'm sorry Jane, but I have to go."

"What's going on Maura?" Jane's instincts had kicked in after the policeman had identified himself.

"Gabby has been in an accident."

A/N: You didn't really think I would make it that easy for Maura to just fly back to Boston, did you? ;) Thanks to all who read and review and I hope you have all had an enjoyable holiday season with family and friends. I wish you much joy and success for the year ahead.