Elbow deep in an emergency c-section, Maura heard her pager go off for a third time.
"Dr Foster, could you check that for me please?" she said. Foster, as instructed, was watching the foetal heart monitor.
"It's the surgical ward. Should I call?"
Maura removed the baby, unwound the double-wrapped umbilical cord from around its neck, clipped it, cut it, and began infant CPR. The baby spluttered, took her first breath, then screamed. Maura wrapped her in a blanket and brought her to her mother, then directed Foster to close the incision.
She washed her hands, and looked down at her blood-soaked scrubs. She had already run out of black, and had switched to standard issue blue.
"This is Dr Isles, answering a page," she said into the phone in the corner of the operating theatre.
"Yes, there's a detective here to see you, she said you had a meeting scheduled?"
Maura glanced at the clock. It was 1.27PM. She had agreed to meet Jane for lunch at 1. "Please apologise to her on my behalf," she told the nurse on her ward. "Tell her I can meet her in the cafeteria in 15 minutes."
She hung up the phone, checked Dr Foster's stitches, which were excellent, and handed over to the nurses. "They should both have a full examination from a maternity doctor," Maura instructed. "But mother and baby have strong vitals and appear healthy."
Maura showered in the bathroom on that floor, and dressed in scrubs from the dispenser. They were itchy, and she had to wash her crocs and wear them without socks. They squelched as she walked.
She knew feeling attractive shouldn't matter if they were just being friends, but she wished she had more time to get ready for Jane. She took the stairs to the cafeteria, and despite being late already, found herself waiting in the stairwell, hand hovering in front of the door.
BREAK
"I'm so sorry, I know, it was work-"
Jane interrupted Maura's apology with a kiss which made her go weak at the knees, which was risky, considering they were in a restaurant. They pulled apart reluctantly, and sat down.
"See, I told you she was real," Jane said to the waiter, who presented Maura with a large glass of red wine and a menu.
Maura raised the glass. "Happy anniversary," she said. "And thank you."
"We knew the surgery placement would be intense," Jane said. "I'm nothing but proud."
Maura sipped her wine, wondering how she got to be so lucky.
BREAK
"I'm sorry, the patient was-"
A soft kiss, a squeeze of understanding. They were outside the movie theatre.
"Do you still want to go in?" Maura asked, face still flushed from running there.
Jane shook her head. "It's already started. We'll catch another show. And you look exhausted. Let me drive you home, and you can tell me about the lifesaving surgery you performed today, even though you're only a trainee."
Maura kissed her again, with a different kind of intensity. "At least I can make it up to you."
Jane raised an eyebrow. "You mean like..?"
Maura nodded.
"Anything I want?" Jane asked, already weighing up some delectable options.
Another nod, this time with a wicked grin.
BREAK
"Jane, I'm so-" Maura stopped mid-apology. Jane was fast asleep on her couch.
There was a bouquet of flowers on the coffee table, and an unstarted six pack of beer. Maura had ordered both. There was also a still-wrapped present and unopened card.
Maura slipped off her shoes, put down her bag, and covered Jane with a blanket.
"Happy birthday," she whispered, snuggling next to her on the couch. "I'm so sorry, Jane."
"Don't be sorry," Jane mumbled. "Were you really gonna drink beer with me?"
"Yes. I still am. Do you want to know what I got you?"
"As well as beer?"
"The card," Maura explained. "I got us tickets to the game at Fenway."
"You did?" Jane sat up, suddenly wide awake. She grabbed the card. "Seriously?"
"It's not that big a deal, I know you've been many times, but I realised I've never been with you-"
Jane pulled out the tickets. "Maur, these seats are incredible! You're the best, you know that?"
"I would hardly say I am the best, considering I was late on your birthday. But I'm very glad you like the gift."
Jane pulled her into a hug. "I don't like it. I love it. And I love you."
"I love you too," Maura whispered, clinging to Jane for all she was worth.
BREAK
Maura pushed open the door to the cafeteria, and there was Jane, thumbs in her belt, smile on her face, twinkle in her eyes as soon as she saw Maura.
"What are you so happy about?" Maura asked her.
"I was thinking about what you used to let me do when you were late to meet me in Boston," Jane said, grinning.
Maura grinned back. Jane had a way of making her relax, even when her insides were curdling with guilt and shame.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it," she admitted.
"Well, if you feel really bad…"
"Perhaps not in the cafeteria," Maura said, blushing a little. "But I could buy you lunch?"
Jane agreed this would be an adequate compromise for the time being.
"I was late too often," Maura said as they sat down with their sandwiches.
"You were in medical school," Jane said. "You didn't have a choice."
"We always have a choice," Maura said firmly. "And the more I think about it, the more I think I might have made the wrong one."
Jane didn't dare ask if she meant not coming home earlier, or leaving Boston.
"I even missed your birthday," Maura said.
"No you didn't! You took me to Fenway!"
"That was the weekend after. On your actual 26th birthday, I was working. I was supposed to meet you at my apartment, but I was so late that you fell asleep on the couch."
"Oh, shit, you're right! But it wasn't because you were late. I let myself in and you'd bought me beer and flowers and your couch was so comfy and I'd had a drink with the guys from work and I just passed out. But then you came home and gave me the tickets and we drank beer and you let me," Jane lowered her voice, "use that other gift, and honestly, Maur, that was the best birthday I've ever had."
"Really?"
"Really. You weren't even that late. And those seats at Fenway were incredible."
Maura bit into her sandwich, reevaluating the memory. She'd felt guilty about that day for so many years, it was both comforting and unnerving that Jane really didn't seem to mind. Had she been wrong to take it so seriously, to think it was a sign that something wasn't working?
Jane interpreted Maura's silence as being ready for a different topic, so she began to explain her discoveries from the gallery that morning.
"So my working theory is that there was an accomplice who told Smith about the faulty sensors and the smoke break trick for the fire exits, and he used this to get the victim out."
Maura adjusted her mind until it was entirely focused on the mystery rather than her relationship with Jane.
"Do you think Smith planned the murder, or only the theft?"
Jane had been thinking about this a lot.
"I reckon just the theft. Smith's a sneaky bastard, but he doesn't strike me as a cold blooded killer. I still think he did it, but I don't think he planned it. And that would explain the CPR."
"And there has to be an accomplice, because the blood was cleaned up."
"Exactly. I actually wanted to ask you about that. So, in the gallery, there was blood cleaned off the wall, but there's hardly anything on the floor that lights up with the UV. Could they have cleaned the floor better?"
"I would need to see-"
Jane held out her phone to show Maura some pictures. Maura frowned.
"I suppose it's possible. But with this type of flooring, extremely unlikely. What is far more likely is that there was very little blood on the floor in the first place."
"But how would that happen? You said the vic would have collapsed. How could he collapse without getting blood on the floor?"
Maura considered this carefully.
"How would Mr Smith have removed the painting?"
Jane tried to see the connection. "How do you mean?"
"When he went out of the fire exit. It is rather large and conspicuous."
"Put it in something, I guess."
"Something like a bag? Perhaps a waterproof bag, to protect the painting from the elements?"
Jane gasped. "So the bag was on the floor, ready for the painting, then the vic appears, Smith stabs him, he falls onto the bag, and Smith decides to keep him in there!"
"I have no evidence of this, and no reason to assume Smith was the perpetrator, but it would certainly be possible that a waterproof bag meant to contain the painting would have fitted the victim, and could have been used to transport him out of the gallery."
"You'd make a great detective," Jane said.
"I disagree. It involves far too much guessing."
"I think you secretly like guessing."
Maura flicked a salad leaf at her. "I think you like teasing me."
"And that's not a secret at all," Jane agreed. "Want to come with me while I ask Smith about his body bag?"
"I'm afraid I have to get back to A&E."
"Right, I meant to ask you, why are you wearing blue today?"
"All my own scrubs are dirty, these are standard hospital staff scrubs for the operating theatre."
"You make them work," Jane told her.
"I'm wearing disposable underwear," Maura admitted. "A child vomited on me this morning and it soaked through."
Jane had to laugh, and was relieved Maura did too. "Sounds scratchy," Jane said.
"They are," Maura confirmed.
"I kind of want to see them," Jane said.
Maura glanced around, and satisfied that there was no one in their immediate vicinity, pulled down her waistband at her hip to show off the edge of her translucent paper pants.
Jane bent forward to look at them, then leaned back in her chair.
"Would you judge me if I said I find them kind of hot?" she asked.
Maura kicked her under the table.
"Careful, they might rip," Jane said, cackling.
BREAK
Jane sat in the A&E waiting room. She'd been back to Scotland Yard, finished working for the day, then called to check on Smith. He'd been fine, but since she was already on the line with the hospital, she asked after Maura and learnt she'd been in A&E since 5.30AM, and apart from the 30 minute lunch break, hadn't left. It was 8PM now, and her shift had long since finished.
Maura appeared from a triage room, looking down at her freshly stained scrubs. Her hair was escaping from its ponytail and she had shadows under her eyes. She caught sight of Jane and blinked as if to check she wasn't hallucinating.
"I'm really here," Jane said. "But you shouldn't be. Come on Maura, it's time to go home."
"I'm fine," Maura said. "They're short staffed, I'm happy to work."
"Night shift just came in, the receptionist told me. You can go home."
"I don't mind staying. I just need to get changed."
"Do I need to use my cuffs?" Jane asked. She chuckled as Maura glanced at them. "I'm kidding, Maura. But let's go, okay?"
Maura sighed, then nodded. "I need to shower. Again."
"I'll wait for you in your office." It wasn't a question.
Maura was ready to leave in a few minutes, and found Jane sitting in her chair.
"Why are you here?" Maura asked.
"I told you I was gonna wait here," Jane said, not understanding.
"I know that. I mean, why are you at the hospital? Did you come to see Mr Smith again?"
Jane realised this was a fair question, for which she had no sensible answer.
"I called about Smith," she said. "But I came… I came for you."
"You needed to speak to me? About the case?"
Jane smiled awkwardly. "No, not really. I just, I called, they said you were still here, and I wasn't far away, so I came to… I guess I came to make sure you went home."
Maura sighed, then sat on the edge of the desk, looking at Jane with an analytical expression.
"You've taken care of me since the night we met," she said.
"You're going to tell me I shouldn't, any more," Jane guessed.
"Actually, I was going to say I've always appreciated it."
"But..?" Jane asked.
"What makes you think there's a but?"
"You have a but-face," Jane told her.
Maura giggled.
"What?"
"You just called me buttface."
Jane burst out laughing. "Oh my God, I did."
"I really don't have a but," Maura protested.
"Everyone has a butt, Maura," Jane cackled.
After several minutes of incoherent hilarity, they sat, breathless and smiling, the weight of years of tension drifting out of their bodies as they looked into each other's glistening eyes.