Hey guys! Here's a long one this time! Enjoy.
Walking into the kitchen, Jane pulled out her cell phone and called down to the front desk to order their pizza. She then started making another call. Maura needed a doctor. No doubt her injuries were not healing properly. Waiting for her friend to answer the phone, Jane walked around the kitchen and got the glass of water and some ibuprofen for Maura. She was about to hang up when a very tired sounding woman answered the phone.
"Jane Rizzoli, you better have a good reason for waking my up at 1 in the morning." The woman said through a yawn. Jane turned to the oven clock and it was indeed 1:15 am.
"Sorry Sasha, I didn't realize it was that late. I need your help." Jane responded.
"Ugh, come on Jane. Can't this wait until tomorrow?" Sasha groaned, already getting out of bed, knowing that if Jane really needed her right this minute there was a good reason for it.
"Please Sasha, It's really important. I'll tell you the whole story when you get to the Rizz. I have a girl here that could really use medical attention. You're the only person I could think of. I don't want to take her to the Emergency room because they wouldn't tell me anything and they would call her fiancé. That's the last thing we want right now. So please Sasha. For me at least." Jane pleaded.
Once Sasha heard the words medical attention, she hurried so she could be at Jane's penthouse as fast as she could.
"Alright Jane. I'll be there in about 20 minutes. You better tell me everything once I get there. I'll see you soon. Bye." Sasha hung up and finished getting dressed.
Jane let out a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone. One problem taken care of. Now all she had to do was convince Maura that Sasha wasn't going to hurt her when she examined her. Walking back to the bedroom with the water and medicine, she noticed that Maura had fallen asleep. Jane set the water down on the nightstand. Getting ready to head back into the kitchen to wait for the food, Jane noticed Maura's eyes trained on hers. Almost as if she was calculating Jane's next move.
Jane's eyes softened as she looked into Maura's hazel one. Jane moved to the end of the bed and sat down. A good distance from Maura so she wasn't in her personal space.
"I brought you some water."
No answer.
"How are you feeling, Maura?"
Nothing.
"Are you in any pain?"
Nada.
Jane sighed. She didn't think it was going to be this hard to get Maura to talk. Usually, women felt comfortable to talk with her. She wasn't going to give up though. She would give her time and wait. Neither broke their stare down until the elevator buzzed, alerting them that someone was here.
Maura tensed when she heard the buzzing. Her eye went wide and she just stared at Jane. 'Please don't let that be real', Maura thought.
"Maura, it's okay it's just Sasha. I called her. She came over to help me. Let me go get her-"
Banging on the metal door and "Jane, open this door" was yelled from the other room was all that was heard.
Maura jumped and tried to stand, looking for a place to hide, but tripped over the long sweatpants' legs. She knocked into the bedside table and knocked the water glass over.
"Damn it, Sasha...", Jane muttered.
Not caring about the glass, Jane reached to grab Maura's arms to help steady her. Maura's mind went blank and suddenly she was brought back to being with Bryce when she felt Jane's grasp. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. She couldn't get through to the logical part of her brain telling her Jane wouldn't hurt her. In this moment, Jane didn't exist her mind went blank and all she could hear was the yelling and banging from somewhere. She tried to pull her arms away yelling, "NO! No please! Please let go! Bryce please!"
Finally pulling away, Maura stumbled to a corner far away from Jane still chanting "No. No please no.", in a softer tone. Shaking, she curled into a ball again crying. Jane stood there watching the scene unfold before her. 'How could one person have such an effect on another individual?' she thought. Of course, being a detective, she knew what happened in cases of abuse. But with every case that came in, she was always shocked by the power one person controlled over the other.
Jane was torn. She knew Sasha was at the door and she was frustrated but Maura was having another panic attack. Who should she help first? Making a quick decision, she ran out of the room and slide to the door. "Jane, come on and open the door. I have your food." Sasha said a little irritated. She had been waiting in the elevator for almost 10 minutes now. Jane opened the doors once she heard Sasha's voice. Jane pressed the button to allow the doors to open. Sasha stepped out of the elevator holding a pizza box with a very not amused expression.
"It's about time you opened the doors. 10 minutes Jane, that's how long I've been waiting..." Sasha started but was shushed by Jane.
"Give me a minute." Jane said as she ran back to her bedroom. Confusing Sasha even further. "Just put the pizza in the oven..." She called out.
"Pizza in the oven?" Sasha whispered to herself. "Jane, what's going on? Jane? JANE?" she called but received no answer. She shook her head and took off her coat and hung it on the same chair she placed her medical bag.
Jane got back to her bedroom and Maura was in the same position she left her in. The only difference was that she was now holding her side and looked to be in a lot of pain. Trying to calm Maura down, Jane walked slowly over to her. Softly saying that she was safe now and that she would never let anyone hurt her again. After a few seconds, Maura started to come back to reality.
"Ja- Ja-Jane..." Maura cried.
"Oh sweetie", Jane sat next to her in the corner. She was letting Maura dictate this pace. Maura's cries calmed a little and she turned into Jane's body. Seeking comfort and protection. Jane wrapped her arm around Maura. Maura moved so she was practically sitting in Jane's lap. Her fist gripping Jane's shirt and her head nuzzled under Janes chin. She looked like a lost child. Jane kept rubbing Maura's sides when she noticed that her hand felt wet. 'Why is my hand getting sticky?' She thought as she pulled her left hand away from Maura's body.
"Jane, what's going on in here...?" Sasha asked as she walked into the bedroom.
Jane looked up from the floor to see Sasha standing in the doorway. Calmly she raised her left hand for Sasha to see. "Sasha, can you grab your bag please?" Jane's palm was covered in blood. She looked down to see if Maura was still breathing and she was. She was still tense. She had her right hand next to her lips, rubbing her thumb nail over her cupids bow and lips. Trying to calm herself down. Sasha nodded and ran out of the room to grab her medical bag.
She was tall, an inch or two shorter than Jane but still taller than Maura. Her skin was a light tan and she had dark brown hair was pulled back into a French braid that came over her shoulder. She wore jeans with a long sleeve navy blue shirt with very little make-up on her face. Maura continued her gaze to the lady's face. Her light brown eyes stared back at Maura showing compassion and sympathy. Her lips were in a soft smile. She looked nice but Maura didn't want her here. She just wanted to be with Jane right now. She didn't trust easily but she trusted Jane and only Jane.
Even though the lady didn't look like a threat, Maura still curled into a tighter ball. Jane saw this and sighed. The sight tugged at her. Maura would be scared of new people for a while now. "Jane?" Maura whispered, looking at her with questioning eyes. She didn't know what this lady was doing here. 'Does she know Bryce? No, no Jane wouldn't do that to me. She wouldn't take me back, she PROMISED to not take me back. I don't understand.' Maura thought.
"Maura, this is my friend Sasha. She's a doctor, I asked her to come over to make sure that you were okay. I mean you look like you're in a lot of pain. She can help you. I promise she won't hurt you." Jane said.
"Can Sasha come over here to help you?" Looking from Sasha back and to Jane, Maura nodded. Sasha walked slowly over to Maura formally introducing herself, Maura replied with a soft "hello" and immediately look at Jane for her approval. Jane smiled.
"Jane, do you think we can head to the bathroom for this?" Sasha asked. The bedroom they were in wasn't bad but she knew she was going to need to get whatever was causing Maura to bleed cleaned up.
"Um yeah. Sure. Okay. I'll meet you there Sasha. Maura, we're gonna head down the hall-"
"No" a soft voice answered.
Jane moved her right hand slowly to stroke Maura's hair. "It's okay Maura. We're just gonna go to the bathroom to clean you up a bit. Okay? I will be there the entire time." Jane tried to convince Maura.
Maura reluctantly nodded but made no motion of moving from her spot in Jane lap. Finding her strength, Jane stood up with Maura in her arms and headed out the bedroom door. Maura immediately buried her face into Jane's neck, and taking deep calming breaths while her right hand went to fist the front of Jane's shirt. They walked down the hall in silence. The only noise that could be heard was the water running and Sasha moving around the bathroom. Occasionally, Maura would whimper but she would try to cover it up by pushing her face further into Jane's shirt which was still soaked because of the rain.
Stepping into the spacious bathroom, Jane placed Maura on top of the closed toilet seat. She went to give Maura space but the hand on her shirt stopped her. The fear in Maura's eyes made her want to cry. Gently, Jane grasped the hand on her shirt and slowly tried to pull it off. "Maura, Sasha is just gonna help you. I will be here the entire time. I need to ask Sasha something outside and then we will be right back. Okay?" Once Maura released her, she pulled Sasha back down the hall to her bedroom.
R&I
"Jane, what the hell happened tonight?" Sasha asked while she watched Jane run around her room changing into her own pair of sweats and a tank top.
"Honestly, I'm still trying to process everything. Fucking Lucy cheated on me. I walked her in the act. On my bed! Then I went to the bar and this girl came in. I offered to get her a drink and then everything got crazy. Something spooked her at the bar and she took off. So naturally I followed her, because why not look like a crazy stalker. And I chased her a few blocks to make sure she was okay and then she passed out. Then I decided to bring her here to see what was going on. Sash you should have seen the look on her face at the bar. She kept freaking out. I swear she was abused. And ever since we got here, I have been holding her and trying to calm her down for every single noise that she hears." Jane breathed out. She didn't know if Sasha caught any of that but she was happy to be able to tell someone else about her bizarre night.
"Oh my god Jane."
"I know. I know. But I don't know what to do now. I haven't been able to leave her alone for long periods of time, when she's conscious. The most tonight was when I stopped at my apartment before coming here and she was unconscious. I left her alone to call you and that was maybe for 15 minutes. I can't do more than that. I don't want to take her to the hospital only because when I asked her who did this to her, she said it was her fiancé. And you damn well know that the moment I take here there, they are gonna call him and I won't be able to help here. I don't care who her fiancé is. No one is gonna hurt her every again. Not while I am still on this earth." Jane walked over to the bed to grab the blanket she gave Maura earlier.
"Come on. We need to get back to here now." Sasha said and pulled Jane back towards the bathroom.
R&I
Jane and Sasha made their way back into the bathroom. Maura kept her eyes trained on the floor like it was the most interesting in the world. "Maura?" Jane asked gently as she made her way to the seated figure. Maura looked up at Jane, tracking her movement towards her and trying not to show any fear.
"Here, I brought the blanket for you." She said as she put the blanket over Maura's shoulders. She took a seat on the rug directly next to Maura and grabbed her hand. Slowly stroking it. Trying subconsciously to calm Maura down. "It's okay Maura. No one's gonna hurt you anymore."
"Okay", Sasha breathed, "Let's get started. You must be starving Maura." Maura nodded looking down at her hands. "Can I see where all of the blood on your shirt is coming from please?" Sasha asked. She wanted Maura to feel like she was in control of what happened next. Maura looked to Jane who gave her a small smile. Maura nodded her head and reached down to grip the hem of her shirt. She breathed our shakily and slowly pulled the hem up to only show the skin below her belly button and nothing more.
There was blood coming from a long laceration across Maura's mid-section, surrounded by dark black and blue and purple bruises that seemed to continue up towards her ribs. The wound looked like someone tried to stitch it up, but didn't exactly know how to.
"Maura, when did you get this?"
"Um...a few days ago."
"How?" Jane asked. Maura took a moment, "Bryce got really mad at me" she responded. "Why did he get mad at you?" Jane continued. Tears sprang from Maura's eye, she opened and closed her mouth a few times before saying, "Because I was pregnant... He didn't want the baby so, so he… he pushed me down the stairs and cut me." She was sobbing now. It was one thing living through the incident but now that it had been brought up again, it brought more pain that she didn't need. Jane and Sasha exchanged shocked glances before Sasha asked, "Who stitched the wound up?"
"Me", Maura replied still sobbing, trying to cover herself up by going back into her protective ball. She felt like she was suffocating, she couldn't breathe and her vision was fading in and out.
"Hey, pretty girl. No, no, none of that. Breathe sweetie. Like before" Jane moved from her seated position and kneeled directly in front of Maura. She grabbed Maura's free hand and uncurled her fingers. Pressing her palm against Jane's chest. "Breathe in 1...2...3...4...5... hold it 1...2...3...4...5... breathe out 1...2...3...4...5... hold it 1...2...3...4...5... and again..."
Maura did as Jane directed. "Sasha can you get me some water for her please?" she asked and redirected her focus to Maura and her breathing. Sasha nodded and filled up the glass that was sitting on the counter. "Here you go Jane."
"Thank you. Okay Maura, take a few small sips. Try to relax."
Maura did as she was asked and her vision refocused back to Jane. "There you go pretty girl." Jane smiled. Maura offered a small smile but it fell when Sasha made her presence known.
"Maura, may I get a closer look at the wound please?" she had a bad feeling that it was infected. As much as she didn't want to cause Maura anymore pain, she knew she needed to re-stitch it up. Maura nodded and her grip on Jane's hand tightened.
Sasha's gentle hands poked all around the wound. Maura tried to hold the tears back as ever area Sasha touched was more tender than the last. "Maura, I'm sorry but I really think its infected. I need to take the stitches out and clean it. I'm sorry honey. I'm gonna grab some pain meds from my bag so it won't hurt as badly."
Sasha washed her hands and went for her bag. She pulled out a small via. Opening the new needle and filling it with the proper amount of the clear liquid, she turned back to Maura. "Okay Maura, I'm gonna wipe the wound quickly and administer some lidocaine to numb the entire area. I won't start the sutures until you are completely numb in that area. How does that sound?" she tried. She knew she wasn't going to get much of a response from Maura but she wanted to give her time to object just in case she wanted to.
Grabbing a gauze pad and some warm water from the sink, she set out to clean the wound. Sasha could tell that Maura was uncomfortable but she wasn't going to say anything. Jane kept rubbing Maura back.
"Okay Maura, I'm going to administer the lidocaine now. You'll feel a little pinch and then you'll be all numbed. I just need you to move to lay on the ground for me."
Maura mutely got the laid on the soft rug floor in front of her staring up at the ceiling. Jane moved to sit on Maura right side, never letting go of her hand while Sasha moved to Maura's left side to get started. Jane and Sasha shared a look and a nod singling that Sasha was going to begin.
"Alright Maura. I'm going to begin. Just take a deep breath for me and release it slowly." Sasha pulled her gloves on her hands and pulled Maura's shirt back to expose the wound again. She gently rested her syringe free hand on Maura's bare skin. Maura jumped and whimpered. Trying to shy away from Sasha prodding hands.
"Maura, baby, focus on me. Okay?" Jane used her free hand to gently grip Maura under her chin and turn her head to the side so she could only see Jane. Maura's eyes went wide for a second when she felt the needle pierce her skin but continue to stared at Jane.
Maura squeezed Jane's hand tight. "It hurts, Jane" she cried softly.
"I know honey. But it will only hurt for a minute. Okay?" Jane responded and placed a gentle kiss on their connected hands. "Let's play 20 questions okay, Maura?" Jane tried and Maura nodded.
"Okay. Um...What's your favorite color, Maura?" Jane asked.
"Umm... I like purple a lot." Maura said quietly.
Jane smiled. "I like purple too. Okay your turn to ask me a question."
"What is your last name?"
"It's Rizzoli. Almost sounds like an Italian dish, right? Haha. My turn, um... How old are you?"
"24" Maura winced at a particularly sensitive spot. "Um, how old are you?"
"I just turned 32 last month. I am so old. But not as old as Sasha." Jane laughed and Sasha scoffed but continued to work. "What's your favorite animal?"
"I really like tortoises. Where are we?"
"We are at a hotel called the RIZZ. I own it. This is my second apartment. Where are you from, Maura?"
"Chicago. Where do you work?"
"I work at the Boston Police Department. I am a homicide detective. How did you get to Boston?"
"I um, I drove here."
"Okay Maura. I'm gonna wait a few minutes and then check if the are is numbed. I will be right back." Sasha said as she grabbed the garbage on the floor and left the room, leaving Maura and Jane to continue to play their 'game'.
Maura got quiet again, lost in her thoughts. 'Jane works for the police. What if she knows Bryce? She's going to call him and I'll have to go back. Oh, please don't let that happen.'
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Jane asked. She wanted to keep Maura out of her head as much as possible.
"I um I don't have any of the stuff I packed with me." Maura tried.
"Don't worry, I can have a friend grab them and your car. You parked it at the bar correct?" Jane asked and Maura nodded.
A loud ding was heard and Maura jumped, trying to get to her feet but Jane put a hand on one of her shoulders to keep her where she was. "Don't worry. It was just the toaster. Sasha probably got hungry. Are you hungry? Do you want some water or anything?"
"Can I have some more water please?"
"Of course, Maura." Jane reached for Maura's glass from earlier and refilled it. She helped Maura into a semi upright position to drink the water.
A few minutes passed before Sasha cam back into the room. "Jane, that pizza just gets better and better. Super authentic Naples pizza from Italy. I love it!" Sasha gushed.
"I sent my one chef over there last year. I wanted to have the real pizza here. It's amazing." Jane boasted.
Sasha smiled and returned to the task at hand. "Okay Maura, I'm gonna touch the area you just let me know if you feel anything else besides pressure." Sasha directed and softly palpated the area. "Alright, anything Maura?"
"No."
"Good. Alright. I'm gonna start removing the old sutures and clean the wound a little better and then re-stitch it up."
Maura nodded and laid back down. Her thoughts kept revolving around Bryce and if Jane would bring him here.
Sasha worked quickly but efficiently and made sure to get clean margins. She had to give it to Maura, she did a pretty good job stitching herself up in the first place. A round of antibiotics and this would heal pretty nicely. "All finished."
Jane gave Maura's hand another quick squeeze and smiled at her. "Let's get you sitting up again." Jane helped Maura over to sit again on the toilet seat and wrapped the blanket around her once more.
"Alright. Maura, can you tell me if anything else hurts?" Sasha asked once Maura was situated. Maura looked at her for a minute until Jane spoke softly, "It's okay Maur, you can tell her." Maura nodded and sighed, "Everywhere" she said quietly.
Taking it all in, Sasha asked, "Maura, are there more?", to which Maura nodded tears running down her face. "Son of a bitch" Jane mumbled under her breath. She was going to find the person who did this to Maura.