The first two days of Jane and Maura's isolation passed quickly. Jane spent much of her time sleeping or resting as her body began to heal. Maura encouraged Jane to begin to regain some weight by regularly eating small meals and snacks that were delivered to the door by Angela. The two women spent time catching up and regaling each other with stories from the past year. At the end of each day they would turn on a movie, climb into bed, and drift off to slumber. Both comforted by the knowledge the other was near.
Jane woke up on the third day feeling surly. Apparently, Maura had decided they had done enough catching up on sleep and set her alarm for 7am. It went off with an obnoxiously loud sound that instantly offended Jane. The blaring noise felt like a ball was bouncing around inside of Jane's skull. Groaning she flailed around looking for the source of her irritation. Jane felt Maura sit up in the bed next to her and turned to glare at her. "Good morning Jane," Maura stated sunnily with a happy smile, while she stretched her arms over her head.
Through clenched teeth Jane growled, "turn off the alarm before I shoot it. That noise is killing my head."
Jane watched the smile crumple on Maura's face to be replaced with a worried, almost embarrassed look. "I am sorry Jane," she began. "I didn't think about the loud noise exacerbating your head injury." Quieter, almost unintelligibly Jane heard her mutter, "some doctor I am. Loud noises when she is suffering from the effects of a concussion. Could I be anymore inconsiderate."
Deciding that she had been ass, Jane sighed. She reached out and placed her uninjured hand on Maura's bicep. "No, Maura, I am sorry. You know what a grump I can be when I first wake up. Is there a reason the alarm is going off so early today? Do we have somewhere to be that I forgot about?"
"No Jane, we don't have to be anywhere," Maura replied. "I just felt we had probably caught up on enough rest and should get back on a normal sleep schedule. There are numerous studies that proclaim consistency in sleep is important to overall health. Not just consistency of duration, but also a set wake-up and bedtime routine. Otherwise, we can be at increased risk for obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar."
Jane flopped back onto her pillow with a grimace. "Maura, it is too early for Googlemouth. Why don't you get in the bathroom first, I will get up when you are done in there. I think it is time I attempted a shower. The washcloth spot cleans really aren't doing the trick anymore."
Jane watched as Maura bit her bottom lip with a pensive glance at Jane, almost as if she was afraid of Jane's reaction to what she was about to say. "Jane I am concerned that the combination of your broken wrist and multitude of sutures that cannot get wet you are going to have difficulty bathing or showering on your own. Maybe you should shower first and I can assist you, then I will shower when you are done."
Jane looked belligerently at her best friend. "Maur," she whined. "I really don't want help in the shower. That's weird, friends don't shower together. I am sure I can manage myself."
"Jane," Maura huffed. "Stop being an infant. Should I have left you in the hospital so one of the nurses could help you shower? Maybe I should call your mother to break our quarantine to come in here to help you? In case you forgot, I am a physician. It's not like you have anything I haven't seen before."
"Baby! Maura it's don't be a baby, not an infant," Jane exclaimed in annoyance. "Don't get my mother. You can help me cover the cast and stitches, but I am showering myself."
Pursing her lips at Jane's unwavering stubbornness, Maura acquiesced. "Fine Jane. Shower yourself. For your safety, I will sit in the bathroom while you are showering. The heat of the water combined with your head injury could combine to cause feelings of vertigo. I do not want to risk you falling in the shower."
Jane got out of bed and threw a hand in the air in exasperation. "Fine Maura. Knock yourself out."
"Jane," Maura replied, "why would I knock myself out? That is exactly what I am trying to prevent you from doing."
"Uuuuuuugh! Just come on already." Jane practically shouted the words over her shoulder at Maura, as she tried to stomp her way to the bathroom. Realizing her stomp was much more of a limp, Jane slowed down to walk as normally as possible.
Once in the bathroom, Jane removed her pajama pants and stood awkwardly, trying to hide her near nakedness while waiting for Maura. After gathering her medical bag, Maura walked into the bathroom to join Jane. Biting her lip to stifle laughter at Jane's prudish behavior, Maura began rummaging through her bag for the necessary supplies. She decided to leave the old bandage in place on Jane's thigh and to wrap a second one around to seal out most of the moisture from the shower. Once Maura found the gauze bandage roll and tape she intended to use, she walked over to Jane and knelt down on the floor in front of her friend. Maura then began carefully winding the bandage around Jane's leg.
Jane watched Maura as she knelt in front of her to tend to her wound and felt a surge of a strange emotion she couldn't quite place. It was a very odd visual, Maura kneeling in front of her with the doctor's hands on her upper thigh while she stood there half naked. Maura finished with the bandage and placed enough tape to hold it in place. Looking up at Jane with a soft smile she said, "there that should keep your wound dry."
Jane felt another surge of an unnamed emotion while looking at her friend's smile. She reached down a hand to help Maura up, almost whispering, "thanks Maur."
Once she was on her feet, Maura turned her attention to Jane's left shoulder and bicep. "Remove your shirt please," she chirped at Jane.
Jane blanched at that statement but then attempted to comply with the request. With her right hand in a cast, Jane struggled with the buttons on her shirt. Realizing her friend's predicament, Maura intervened just as Jane was about to tear the shirt open in frustration. "Here Jane, let me help you with the buttons."
Maura walked right into Jane's space and slowly began opening the buttons for her friend. Jane gulped with a feeling that was similar to fear but definitely was not fear. When the last button was undone, Maura removed Jane's shirt completely and began to work on bandaging the wounds on her arms. Maura gave Jane a cast cover for her right hand. Then Maura bandaged Jane's right arm. She applied the last piece of tape to the bandage on Jane's bicep and then tipped her head down to place a brief kiss on her friend's arm. "There, much better," she stated."
Jane's eyes shot up to her friend's face with a look of confusion and apprehension. "Um, uh, thanks Maur. I guess I am going to get in the shower now. Can you turn around until I am all the way in?"
As soon as Maura was facing the other way, Jane stripped off her undergarments and stepped into the shower, firmly pulling the curtain closed. Once Jane was settled in the shower Maura remembered the stitches and staples in her head and face. "Jane you can't get your head or face wet while you shower."
"I know Maura, I will be careful," Jane grumbled from behind the curtain.
The rest of Jane's shower was uneventful and once she was done, Maura retreated to her bedroom to give Jane privacy to dry off and get dressed. Eventually, Jane shuffled out of the bathroom holding a brush and an elastic band. Looking at Maura she asked, "would you mind helping me do something with my hair? I can't seem to even be able to brush it on my own and I would really like to get it out of my face today."
"Of course I don't mind," Maura replied. "Come over here and let me see what I can do with it."
Jane sat in Muara's desk chair while Maura worked diligently and extremely carefully to brush out the matted knots in Jane's hair. She took special care to avoid the staples and other injuries on Jane's scalp. Then Maura hummed in satisfaction as she finished tenderly unwinding the last knot in Jane's hair. Then she gently pulled and twisted those unruly curls into a loose French braid and secured the elastic band on the bottom.
Jane looked in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised at the improvement she saw. Maura's handiwork upgraded Jane's appearance from 'half dead' to 'tired and injured but okay'. "Thank you Maura," Jane said with sincerity. That is much nicer than anything I could have managed on my own, even without these injuries."
"You're very welcome Jane. Come now, let's eat some breakfast. Your mother prepared French toast and fresh fruit for us today. She also brought a whole pot of coffee for us to share."
