Maura has always hated hospital waiting rooms. She looked around her, seeing faces of sorrow, grief, and anxiety on people all over the room. The way her stomach dropped whenever someone in scrubs entered the room made her feel sick. She stood up, deciding to pace instead.
As she stands, she catches Frankie's attention, who offers her a sad smile before he goes back to messing with the zipper on his jacket. Angela sits in the corner of the room crying and the usually loud and energetic mother was uncharacteristically quiet. Maura knew how much it hurt Angela to see her daughter's life being jeopardized constantly due to her position on the force. She felt that same pain and worry whenever Jane left for work. However, they both knew how this job was Jane's soul. Maura had always supported that, even at the expense of her own emotional well-being. They had been in this position too many times before, when Jane shot herself, when she jumped off that bridge to save Paul, that prosecutor. A complete stranger.
That was one of the characteristics that made Maura love Jane so much, but it also became something that made Maura hesitant to fall any deeper for the dedicated detective. She walks over to the coffee machine and finds relief in the warm liquid as it fills the cup. A surgeon walks through the doors, still dressed in his scrub cap. He looks around the room as everyone stands. Angela pushes to the front, walking up to him, and searches his face for any answers. Maura stares at the interaction and forgets about her coffee until the liquid spills over the top and burns her hands. She wipes her hands off and walks over, mentally prepared with a list of questions to ask the surgeon.
"She's stable right now. The bullet punctured her lung but the paramedics were able to fix that temporarily in the field. She's lost a lot of blood and it was touch and go for a little bit, but she's out of surgery now and her vitals are stable at this current moment. We were able to remove the bullet and it just barely missed her spinal cord."
Maura opens her mouth to ask a few questions when Angela interrupts. "When can I see my baby, doctor?"
The doctor nods, expecting this question, and holds his hand out towards the hallway. "Follow me".
The entire group follows and the surgeon lets out a small smile, saying "I apologize. I can only take back two at a time".
Frost, Korsak, Tommy, and Frankie communicate without a single word being exchanged as they come to a mutual agreement. They stand in place, letting Maura and Angela be escorted out of the room and into the hallway with the other doctor. Maura prepares herself for whatever condition Jane may be in and feels her knees wobble as they approach the room. Jane, who normally towers over her, even when Maura is in heels, looks small and weak in the hospital bed. She is dressed in a standard hospital gown, which Maura knows Jane would hate. Jane's face is pale and her eyes are closed, with a steady beeping of the monitors behind them as the soundtrack to this grim moment. Maura walks over, checking the vital signs on the monitor, and finds comfort in Jane's heart rhythm being displayed on the black screen.
Angela sits on the chair closest to the bed, stroking her daughter's hair, and whispers, unable to resist the urge to lecture her hot-headed daughter.
"Ma, I just got shot and you still can't give me a break?" Jane says through chapped lips. Maura turns, seeing Jane with a half-opened eye and her signature smirk.
Angela slaps Jane's other shoulder lightly as she dabs at the tears in her eyes with an already-soaked tissue. "You scared me, Janie. Why you always gotta worry your mother like this?".
Jane smiles and looks in the direction of Maura as they hold eye contact for a few seconds. Angela quickly senses the shift in the room and stands. "Well, now that you're up, I should let your brothers know. Korsak and Frost are here too. I'll be right back."
Maura watches Angela leave, trying to avoid a conversation for Jane as long as she can.
"Maur, get over here," Jane says, her voice a few octaves deeper than normal. She shifts in the bed, trying her best to sit up straighter so she can look at Maura. Jane can almost see Maura's guard returning as those walls go right up. Maura focuses on her breathing, struggling to find the right words.
"They didn't catch the shooter. All they saw was a white van taking off from the crime scene after shots were fired. A single inch to the left and you would have been paralyzed", Maura says with zero warmth in her voice.
Jane grimaces, imagining how poor that outcome could have been. "Well, I'm here now," Jane says as she looks down at her hands.
The scars on her hands have faded and lost the pink color that they used to have when she first got the injury. They were darker now, almost blending in with her tan skin. Her fingers trace the scars, relieved that the ever-present ache had been dulled by the cocktail of pain relief medications she was currently on. Maura turns away at the sight of this, choosing to stare out of the window at the traffic below.
Before she can say another word, Frankie and Tommy barge into the room and envelop their sister. She hears Jane complain about their hugs and watches as Jane keeps her eyes on the honey blonde, despite the two brothers demanding her attention. Maura leaves and forgets that she is still grasping tightly onto Jane's jacket until she sees the stares from people who walk past her. She stuffs the blood-soaked jacket in her purse. As she walks out of the hospital, she calls someone who she hopes can distract her. Olivia's cheery voice answers the call and Maura breaks down, telling Olivia the details of her morning.
"Stay right there, Maura. I'll come pick you up", Olivia says gently before hanging up the phone. Maura texts Olivia her location and lets out the breath that she had been holding in.
Jane is glad to have some alone time after the family and coworkers had made their rounds through her room. She spins her phone in her hand, thinking about Maura and wishing she could hear her voice. The pain medications catch up to her and her head feels heavy as she falls asleep to the thought of Maura comforting her. She drifts into her dreams and lands on the memory of that time Jane taught Maura how to hold a gun.
Jane's laughing at the way Maura holds the gun, with her arms too stiff and her hand angled wrong.
"I think we have been watching too many action movies, Maur. Relax your grip a bit".
Jane puts her hand over Maura's arms, correcting her form and ignoring the blush that climbs up Maura's neck.
"In fact, stand up. Let me show you something", Jane says as she places both hands on Maura's shoulders.
She steps behind the shorter woman, moving her hands down to Maura's hips as she steadies Maura's stance.
"Okay, see how this feels different? Like you're more in control?", Jane asks. Maura nods, focusing on committing this to muscle memory instead of thinking about Jane's hands burning a hole through her tight dress. Jane nods, approving of Maura's technique, and says, "You got it. Now you're a certified badass".
Maura laughs, rolling her eyes slightly before dropping the gun. She hands it to Jane, who places it back into the box that it came in. That's where the memory ends. However, Jane, in her dream state, decides to add on things that she wishes would have happened. She wishes she would have brushed Maura's hair to the side while she stood behind her, placing soft kisses next to Maura's pulse point. Maura's moans would have encouraged Jane to place her hands on the front of Maura, pulling her closer to the front of Jane's body. Jane would have turned her around, holding Maura's face with her hands before kissing her with every ounce of love that she had. They would have fallen back on the couch, where they would spend the rest of the night showing each other just how deep their feelings were for one another. Jane would have taken her time, enjoying the way Maura tasted and how simple things were. No responsibilities, no consequences, and no interruptions as they kissed until their lips were swollen and their eyes full of desire. As Jane falls deeper into sleep, she makes a promise to herself that she will finally confess her feelings to Maura as soon as she can. She would find the nerve to kiss Maura this time and would spend the rest of her life making it up to Maura.
Five miles away, Olivia and Maura are walking in the park. Olivia listens to the other woman tell her about what happened and as they walk, Olivia realizes that her feelings for this woman have deepened. She wants Maura, and she will do anything she can to make this woman fall for her. As they stroll through the trail, hand in hand, Olivia decides to set a plan in motion as she thinks about how to woo the woman next to her. She is thankful that Maura came to her for comfort in the middle of a stressful day and any doubts that she had about Maura's feelings dissipate as Maura leads her into bed after their walk together.