A/N: Hi friends! I'm aware I left you all hanging for a million years, but I am eternally grateful for the comments and the desire for more of this story and I am happy to deliver you another chapter!

Jane clenched her jaw to keep from crying as she left Maura's hospital room. She found a waiting area where she poured herself a cup of coffee and found a place to sit. There was no way she was leaving. Maura could feel or say whatever she wanted, but Jane knew the bitter taste of grief. She would stay away as long as Maura asked her to, but she'd be waiting right there for the second Maura called her back.

The mediocre coffee burned Jane's throat as she gulped it down. The physical pain was a welcome distraction from the emotional. She thought of Maura alone in that hospital room, dealing with so much. Jane might not be the person she wanted in that moment, but she couldn't let Maura carry the weight alone.

Jane pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar number.

—-—-—-

Jane was fighting sleep when Angela came into the waiting room and sat beside her.

"Hi, honey," Angela said in the softest voice Jane had ever heard her use.

"Thanks for coming, Ma. She's in room 312."

"I'll go see how she's doing. You're alright?" Angela put an arm around Jane's shoulders.

"I'll be better when I know how she is," Jane sighed.

"Go home and get some rest, Janie. You look exhausted and you'll be no good to her when she needs you if you can't function."

"What if she doesn't need me anymore?" Jane asked through her tears.

"That's ridiculous. You two will always need each other. Whatever is going on between you now, your love is bigger. I know it and I think you and Maura do, too."

Angela and Jane both stood and Jane pointed in the direction of Maura's room. "Don't leave her, okay Ma?"

"You know I won't. I'll let you know how she's doing."

Jane watched her mother head through the double doors leading back to the patient rooms. She stood frozen until her phone buzzed with a text from Frost. He was there to drive her home.

—-

Maura turned over when she heard someone come in, expecting it to be a nurse with something for her pain. She smiled when she saw Angela and her aching heart found instant comfort. Maura had an adoptive mother and a biological mother, but Angela Rizzoli felt like her mom. Fresh tears filled Maura's eyes as Angela placed her hands on both sides of her face and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you for coming," Maura spoke softly, not caring about the makeup tracks on her cheeks or her messy hair or the physical pain she felt.

"Nothing could keep me from being here," Angela said, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed and taking Maura's hand. "Nothing could keep Jane away either, not even you."

Maura sighed. "I can't believe I sent her away. Is she upset?"

"Don't worry about that right now, honey. Let's worry about you. She will be fine," Angela assured her.

"I need to know how she is, Angela. Did she leave?"

"She told me the awful things she said to you about the pregnancy, but she thought you two had moved past it and you'd forgiven her, so she wasn't expecting this. But she understands and won't hold it against you. And no, she didn't leave until I got here and made her go home to sleep."

"She won't sleep," Maura said.

"No, she won't. I'm sure she's sitting in her car staring at her phone," Angela agreed.

"I didn't really want her to go. I don't know why I said what I did." Maura felt Jane's absence with everything in her from the moment she'd sent her away.

"Then tell her, Maura. But please, get some rest first. I'll be right here." Angela patted Maura's arm and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

Maura nodded and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could fall asleep for the duration of the time it would take her to get through this pain, both physically and emotionally. After a few minutes of unsuccessfully trying to sleep, she opened her eyes and turned to Angela. "Could you hand me my phone?"

Angela shook her head, but smiled and handed over the phone lying on the otherwise empty food tray.

Maura stared at her text thread with Jane, trying to form the right words. She typed and erased several things before settling on simplicity.

I love you. I'm sorry. Please come back.

Maura watched as the word 'Delivered' under her message changed to 'Read' almost immediately. No dots appeared indicating Jane was responding. After a moment, she turned on her side away from Angela and allowed her tears to fall.

"She'll be here," Angela said softly. She rubbed Maura's back gently until she thought she'd fallen asleep.

Jane was sitting on her couch, glancing around her messy apartment she had barely been in for the past month, when her phone vibrated in her hand. Part of her was surprised to hear from Maura so soon after she'd been told to leave her alone, but she was grateful. She cursed herself for letting Frost drive her home instead of taking her car and debated whether to call him to come back or take an Uber. She decided on Uber and made the request from the app. The wait time was 20-30 minutes, so she took a quick shower, unable to sit still. Her hair was still wet when the driver arrived.

Maura woke up to Jane beside her in the hospital bed, flipping through channels on the silent TV.

"Jane?" Maura tried to sit up quickly, but felt dizzy.

"Hi, baby," Jane said with a soft smile, as if calling Maura baby was the most natural thing in the world. It felt that way.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"As long as you want me, I'll be here for you," Jane replied.

"I'll always want you." Maura nestled into Jane's side and Jane put her arm behind Maura's head and shoulders, pulling her closer.

Maura shivered from the loss of warmth when a nurse came in to check her vitals and Jane moved off the bed.

"When can I go home?" Maura asked the nurse.

"Home?" Jane sounded panicked. "Doesn't she need to be here?"

"Dilation and curettage is typically an outpatient procedure, Jane," Maura said.

"Your situation isn't exactly typical, Dr. Isles," the nurse said. "Your blood pressure is still really low. Your doctor will likely want to keep you overnight to make sure you don't need another transfusion."

"I will know if I need another blood transfusion," Maura said, voice firm. "I can monitor my own blood pressure and blood loss. I would like to be discharged today."

Despite being a homicide detective, Jane felt queasy at so many mentions of blood. And serious concern over Maura not being monitored in the hospital.

Maura sensed her worry. "It's fine, Jane." She reached her hand out and Jane moved closer to take it.

The nurse nodded, said she'd speak with the doctor, and left.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to leave the hospital?" Jane asked, squeezing Maura's hand.

"I am a doctor. I can manage just fine. I want to be at home and left alone." Maura realized what she'd said. "With you. At home, alone with you."

Jane leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "Whatever you want, baby."