Chapter Five
They were able to pump her stomach to get rid of the poisonous food, and Jane knew she was going to have to provide Regina's lunches with her father for the rest of the week. She didn't blame him in the slightest, it really wasn't his fault that the waitress poisoned her daughter. Alan was going to ruin this woman in court and sue the ever loving crap out of her. While they were waiting for Regina, Jane received a phone call. "We arrested that woman Tawny Reynolds and went to the restaurant to get the security tapes as well as the food for evidence, Maura is testing it now." Frankie told her. "Thanks Frankie, I appreciate it." Jane said to him. "How's Regina doing?" he asked his sister. "She's getting her stomach pumped, we don't know anything more." Jane replied. "Man that kid has terrible luck." Frankie told her. "Yeah, she just can't seem to win." Jane replied. "Alright keep me posted...wait Frankie...can you see if this is just a coincidence or if that woman is connected to Hoyt in any way?" Jane asked, having an idea. "You think she might be connected to that guy James North?" Frankie asked her. "I just want to be safe rather than sorry. It seems a bit too weird to just be a coincidence." Jane replied. "Yeah, we'll look into it." Frankie told her before he hung up.
"So you might think that woman was in on this?" Alan asked her. "I don't know, maybe? It's just a hunch, but I don't trust this to just be a coincidence. It seems too odd, too..." Jane started. "Coincidental? This do seem to be lining up that way yes, and it seems as if it's an effort to hurt us both. I turned him down as a client after I found out about Regina, and he seems to be connected to you. Hurting us both would be like killing two birds with one stone." Alan told her. "Could the kidnapper and her second husband also be connected?" Alan asked her, thinking for a moment. "You think that North could have made a deal with Russo and her husband?" Jane asked him. "It would explain why they chose Regina and why she has this horrid luck." Alan told her. Jane thought for a moment before sending him a text to investigate Marina Russo and her husband to see if there were any connections to Hoyt as well. Even beyond the grave Hoyt was still giving her a run for her money.
Soon they were able to see Regina once more and she was able to be released, the hospital gave her another refill on her epipen and she was able to go home. "What about my Switch?" Regina asked. "I'll tell you what, why don't I get it for you and I'll bring it over?" Alan told her. "Okay, thank you daddy." she said as she hugged him. When Alan got to the office he unplugged the Switch and grabbed everything so that he could return it to Regina. "Did she forgot her game?" Denny asked him. "Regina was poisoned at lunch, I intend to sue, will you take our case?" Alan asked. "For an accidental poisoning?" Denny asked. "No, for an intended one, the waitress knowingly told us that they did not fry seafood in the same baskets as the chicken tenders and fries, and that they used sunflower oil, neither was the case. She's been arrested for attempted murder, assault, and battery." Alan told him. "Sounds like a case I could win, sure, I'll represent you and the tyke." he told Alan. "I'll be back shortly, I'm going to run this to Regina." Alan told him as he took her switch to her, by the time he got there Regina had gone to sleep. "Thank you, I'll make sure she gets it." Jane said, which Alan took as a hint that he was to leave.
Regina spent the rest of the week with her father during the day, but once it was time for school to start Regina had to go. Jane had purchased all of her school supplies and had spoken with her teacher beforehand about her allergies. "Please do not let her near any of her allergens, she's already been in the hospital four times in two weeks, I do not want a repeat, but she has her epipen with her in her backpack if she does get into contact. Now Regina has seizures so if she has one she will need to be timed. Regina will also be picked up by her father, his name is Alan Shore, do not let her go with anyone not on the family list, someone is after her, make them show ID as well. Please do not let her out of your sight." Jane expressed. "I will do everything in my power to prevent this." the teacher said to Jane. She was a young woman, about 20 years old, she had red hair and was very kind.
When Jane brought Regina to school she introduced her to the teacher. "Regina, this will be your teacher, her name is Ms. Mayfair." Jane told her. "Hi." she told her. "Hello Regina, I will be your teacher until you graduate high school. Here we use the same teachers throughout your schooling years." Ms. Mayfair told her. "Alright Regina, be good and make friends, daddy will be picking you up after school." Jane said as she kissed her daughter's forehead. "Okay mommy." she said. Jane left Regina with her teacher and Ms. Mayfair carried her bag into the class. "Alright class settle down, today we have a new student. Her name is Regina Rizzoli and she will be joining us for the rest of the year. Regina, would you like to tell the class about yourself?" Ms. Mayfair asked her. "No thank you." she said quietly. "Alright, you don't have to if you don't want to." the teacher told her. Regina found a seat for herself at the front of the class.
"Alright class we were reading about Greek mythology last time we were in class. Who can tell me who is the Greek God of the hunt?" Ms. Mayfair asked, but no one raised their hand so Regina did. "Yes Regina?" Ms. Mayfair asked. "The Greek god of the hunt is the goddess Artemis, who is not only the god of the hunt, but of animals, vegetation, chastity and of childbirth. Her twin brother is the god Apollo who is the god of archery, music, dance, truth and prophecy, as well as sun and light, among others." Regina answered. "Very good Regina, I take it you studied Greek mythology in your last school?" Ms. Mayfair guessed. "No, I learned it from my grandma...well she's not really my grandma...not anymore..." Regina explained. "Well in any case, very good job. Do you like reading?" the teacher asked her. "Very much so yes..." Regina answered. "Why don't you read up on Roman mythology from this book so you can tell us the differences between Greek and Roman mythology?" she asked Regina. "Okay." Regina said as she took the book and started to read while the rest of the class studied Greek Mythology.
After school a man showed up to pick up Regina. "Daddy!" Regina said excitedly. "You must be Regina's father. My name is Katherine Mayfair, I'm Regina's teacher." Katherine introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Alan Shore." he introduced himself. "Oh, Detective Rizzoli asked that I see the ID of anyone trying to pick up Regina. Do you mind?" Katherine asked him. "Not at all, I completely understand." he said as he got out his ID, he handed it to her and she examined it. "Alright everything checks out. Goodbye Regina, have a good night." Katherine told her. "Goodbye Ms. Mayfair." Regina said as she limped towards the door. Alan followed Regina once he got his ID back, but made a note of her teacher to express interest towards.
Over the next month and a half Regina continued to amaze her teacher, speaking with her during recess since she couldn't exactly play outside. Once Regina got her cast off and was able to play, she decided not to. She liked spending time with her teacher, this concerned her teacher. Even though Regina was brilliant and seemed to memorize things immediately in exact detail, she still hadn't made any friends and preferred to be with her instead. So Katherine decided to speak with both of her parents to learn what she could.
"Thank you both for coming, I know your time is valuable." Katherine told them. "Has Regina done something wrong?" Alan asked her. "No, nothing like that, she's a delight in fact." Katherine informed him. "Then why are we here Ms. Mayfair?" he asked her. "Your daughter is a brilliant student, in fact I believe she may have an eidetic memory, what used to be known as a photographic memory. She is able to memorize things instantly with only a glance, this makes the work far too easy for her and she gets bored in class, but that's not why I called you here. I am concerned that Regina is not making any friends here in class. Before she got her cast off I could understand why she'd want to just stay in class with me while monitors watched the kids play and led them back in after recess, but now with her cast off I'm rather worried. She still spends time either drawing, reading, or working on school work. Did Regina make friends before she came here?" Katherine explained. "When I saw Regina in the park she did play by herself, she didn't even play with the girl she thought was her sister. It might have to do with her abuse." Jane replied. "Abuse?" Katherine asked her.
"Regina was kidnapped as a newborn, right out of the hospital, I just got her back about two months ago. She was being raised by a woman she thought was her grandmother, while the kidnapper who played her mother got visitation, the woman's husband was molesting her for years, and by the time I got to the apartment he had raped her and the woman had broken her leg. She pretends to be okay, but the night terrors she has say otherwise." Jane informed her. "So Regina has night terrors too. I'm afraid she got that from me Jane." Alan admitted. "Maura suspected that." Jane replied. "I see, so you think that the reason Regina doesn't wish to make friends is because she doesn't wish to be hurt again?" Katherine asked her. "Precisely, she trusts you, and she really loves you as her teacher." Alan told her.
"You mentioned that Regina was getting bored in class due to the work being easy. Shouldn't you bump her up a grade level or two?" Alan asked her. "Unfortunately our school does not do that Mr. Shore." Katherine admitted. "So I am paying for a specialty private school for Regina to get the best education I can and she can't even go to a grade that might even challenge her?" he asked the teacher, he was getting a little angry. It was true, there was no way Jane could afford the tuition herself, and Alan had offered, wanting Regina to go to a private school because he felt the same teacher would help Regina open up a bit more and that the education would be better than a public school, besides with James North and his possible accomplices being on the loose, Alan felt that his daughter would be better protected in a private school.
"I am willing to spend time with her after school so that she may get more advanced help, especially one on one help. She will be doing special lessons that are more challenging than what the regular class receives." Katherine informed them. "She will also be able to take more advanced electives. We have a wonderful art program that would suit her artistic needs, and a wonderful music program. Regina has informed me that her other grandmother taught her piano at a young age, and she does have a wonderful voice. She could learn to play other instruments to get a more challenging experience here, as well as learn advanced art techniques." she added.
"I think that will be fine, agreed Alan?" Jane said. "Fine, yes that will be great." he reluctantly agreed. "Perfect. Well thank you for your time Detective Rizzoli and Mr. Shore." Katherine told them. They gathered their things, said their goodbyes and left. Alan took Regina to his office to spend time with her while Jane returned to work. When it came to bring your kid to work day Regina chose to go with her father because her mother said it was too dangerous to go to work with her. She loved spending time with her father. When her father left to use the restroom a blonde haired woman followed by a blonde haired girl went into her father's office. "Oh hello. Do you know where Alan Shore is?" she asked her. "Daddy went to the restroom." Regina replied. "Daddy?" the woman asked.
"Is it so hard for everyone to believe I have a child?" Alan asked her. "Denise, this must be young Bradley, she's a beautiful girl with such an unfortunate name." Alan remarked with a hint of sarcasm as usual. "Making fun of a child Alan, mature Alan, real mature." Denise replied, quite irritated at his behavior. Denise examined Regina once more. "Mommy, that's the girl from my class...she's a weirdo. Such a teacher's pet. Who wants to be friends with a teacher?" Bradley told her mother. "Bradley, that is not nice." Denise scolded. Regina started to cry at being called a weirdo. Denise yanked her daughter by the arm, handed Alan the papers he asked for and left. "Don't listen to her Regina, she's a bully, like her father. Do you know how we defeat bullies?" Alan asked her. "With our wit?" Regina replied. "Precisely. You know how to use sarcasm yes? Well use that combined with big words to confuse Bradley and make her look like a fool next time she bothers you. I will teach you some things to say to her." Alan added, he then taught Regina some colorful things to say, that were both truthful, but sarcastic.
While Alan was out grabbing his lunch. Bradley had stopped by. "Oh look at the nerd, reading again huh?" she asked as she took the book from Regina. "Give it back!" Regina said as she tried to take it back. "Or what? You gonna cry for your daddy? Wah! Wah! Daddy save me!" Bradley mocked her. "You could never read it anyway you ignoramus." Regina told her. "What did you just say to me nerd?" Bradley asked her. "You are the moral equivalent of a leech. I bet you couldn't poor piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel. I will never get over the embarrassment of belonging to the same species as you. Your life is a monument to stupidity." Regina told her. She knew what she said and what it all meant, and she meant every word of it.
Bradley didn't know what half of those words meant, despite both of her parents being smart, Bradley was the opposite, but she did know what stupid was. She ran at Regina and started punching her and kicking her. Regina tried to defend herself, but was failing. Finally something in her snapped, she was done being a punching bag and Regina fought back. She used all of her anger to push Bradley off of her and punched her so hard that she broke her nose. Alan came in and saw the fight as he tried to get the girls apart. Bradley ran back to her mother, Regina had a few broken ribs from Bradley's kicking. "Regina are you alright?" Alan asked her.
"My chest hurts..." she said. Alan lifted up her shirt part of the way to view her chest where it hurt, there were bruises already forming. Regina coughed and blood into her elbow and Alan saw it. Regina was having a hard time breathing as well and kept coughing up more blood. "We need to get you to the hospital." Alan told her. "No...I don't...want to...go..." Regina said as she wheezed. "Regina, we need to, you're coughing up blood." he said to her. Alan grabbed Regina's things and drove her to the hospital, but on the car ride there Regina had a seizure. Alan tried to check on her, but the next thing he knew someone had struck his car, a drunk driver on their way back from lunch. Their car flipped upside down and Regina was unconscious, but out of her seizure.
The car had mostly hit the back seat on the passenger's side, the door pinning to Regina. Both Regina and and Alan were knocked unconscious, but the driver of the car that hit them got away. A bystander had called 911 and there were ambulances on the way. Once they arrived the EMT's were able to pull Alan out of the car easily, but Regina had been pinned in. They took longer to get her out of the vehicle, quite a bit longer, but they were able to get her out. Regina had far more damage done to her, while Alan had damage to his shoulder. They rushed them both to the hospital, Alan had shards of glass embedded into his shoulder and was worked on separately. Regina was in critical condition and the doctors had noticed her broken ribs had punctured her lungs, but the worst damage was to her right arm and leg. Usually they would try to get consent before doing what they were going to do, but in this case they had no choice.
Jane was busy eating lunch at her desk when she heard quick footsteps of heels entering the room. "Turn on the news Jane!" Maura said in a panic. Jane saw the look on her friend's face and did as she was told. "A nearly fatal car accident has sent two people to the hospital while police look for the hit and run driver. Alan Shore, a lawyer at Crane, Poole, and Schmidt, was hit in a hit and run accident with his ten year old daughter in the back seat. While Mr. Shore's injuries are said to be relatively minor, his daughter's injuries leave her in critical condition..." a woman said on the news. Jane dropped her sandwich and stood up. She grabbed her things and ran out the door with Maura following behind her. "I'll drive." Maura told her as they headed for Maura's car. They both rushed to the hospital as fast as they could legally go.
When they arrived Jane ran in while Maura parked. "I...I'm looking for my daughter, Regina Rizzoli? Is she okay? Where is she!" Jane panicked. "Ma'am you're daughter is in surgery, someone will be out to speak with you soon." the receptionist said as she pointed to the waiting area. Maura came in and followed her to the waiting area. "Jane, Regina will pull through, she's a strong girl, just like her mother." Maura told her. Jane hugged Maura, she needed some comfort since her daughter's condition was critical and she didn't know what she would do if she lost her daughter again.
Several hours had passed and both Regina and Alan made it out of surgery, "Ms. Rizzoli?" a doctor called out. "How is she?" Jane asked about Regina, worried out of her mind. "She's stable right now, but she's in PICU. Unfortunately due to the extensive injures to her right arm and right leg we had no choice except to amputate them." the doctor informed her. "You chopped off my daughter's dominant arm and her leg?" Jane asked, quite ticked off. "I was not consulted at all in this, don't you have to ask the parents permission?" she added. "Your husband was not able to consent." the doctor told her. "He is not my husband." Jane answered. "Jane, they are allowed to amputate under extreme conditions without consent if it is the best interest for the patient. Regina's injuries must have been severe." Maura informed her. "Your daughter also had some broken ribs puncturing her lung, we reset them as well. You may see her if you'd like, but she might not wake up right away, if she wakes up at all." the doctor informed her.
"What do you mean if she wakes up at all?! You said she was stable!" Jane's voice cracked. She placed her fist on her head and couldn't help except cry. Regina had been through so much and now she might die? Maura hugged Jane while she broke down and the doctor led them to PICU. Regina was hooked up to lots of machines that were keeping her alive, her arm, or what was left of it was wrapped up in several bandages. Jane sat down beside her daughter and cried. "This is all my fault, if I had never brought her back none of this would have happened to her." Jane said. "Jane listen to me, this is not your fault, if you hadn't brought her back those people would have killed her." Maura told her. Maura's phone then began to ring. "Isles." she answered "Hey Maura, Jane's not answering her phone, we got some news about that hit and run driver, mind putting me on speaker?" Frankie asked her.
Maura put the team on speaker. "So that hit and run driver wasn't just some drunk, he was paid by North to hit their car on purpose. Guys name is Victor Morrison, he's a construction worker and North paid him a hefty sum of money, about 500 grand to be precise." Frankie told them. Jane sat up. "So the guy is connected. What about the waitress at the restaurant?" Jane asked him. "She too was paid by North, but she has been trying to mess with kids for years because she just hates them." he replied. "Okay, anything about Russo or her second husband?" Jane asked as well. "Nothing yet, we're still looking into it." Frankie answered. "Alright...please...keep me posted." Jane said before they hung up.
"I hear Alan's awake. Why don't you go see if he has any other information, I'll stay here with Regina." Maura told her. Jane nodded and stood up, going to visit with the father of her child and learn about what lead to the accident in the first place.
