"Sooo do you want to come in," Maura asked as Jane pulled back from the kiss.
"Yeah," Jane chuckled looking down at her feet suddenly getting a little shy. "Yeah I think that would be a good idea."
Maura stepped aside and invited Jane in. They walked into the family room and got comfortable on the couch. Both girls were a little awkward at first not really knowing where to start.
"So that happened," Jane summarized.
"It sure did. I get it though."
"Get what," Jane asked a little confused?
"Why you did it? It's been a long day…I know you were dealing with whatever is going on in Connecticut. It's ok that you just needed some comfort."
Jane was momentarily frozen unsure how this got off tracks. She needed to clarify this immediately.
"Maura, I have a lot going on in my life…there are still a lot of things you don't know about and I come with a lot of baggage right now. Really not much in my life is clear but I want to be crystal clear one thing…I did not kiss you because I had a rough day."
"Why did you kiss me?"
"Gonna make me do it the hard way huh," Jane tried to infuse some humor to dispel her own discomfort.
Maura just looked at her confused.
"Ok, I kissed you because I like you. I'm not going to lie and say today had nothing to do with it, it did. Today made me realize I need to stop pushing people away…I need to let the people into my life that want to be there. I want you in my life Maura and not just as Frankie's friend. You are the most genuine person I think I have ever met. When I came back from school I really didn't know what was going to happen but through it all you have been there in whatever capacity I needed. If you want, I want to explore something more."
Maura tried hard to keep the tears at bay. Out of all the ways she thought tonight would play out this was never on the radar.
"But if you just want to be friends…that's cool we can stick with being friends," Jane quickly added not wanting to put pressure on the young blonde.
What no! Maura wanted to scream that out but her voice didn't seem to be working at the moment. Fearing Jane would get the wrong idea at her silence Maura leaned over and kissed her.
"So just to be clear, this is something you want to explore," Jane asked pulling back from the kiss?
Maura just smiled and leaned in again to kiss Jane.
"Yeah, this is something I want to explore."
"Cool."
"Yeah cool," Maura laughed.
"God I feel like I'm 14 in my first relationship and I have no idea what to do," Jane laughed at her own unease.
"You know nothing has to change Jane…we can just keep getting to know each other."
"You're right we should continue to get to know each other and if we are really going to do this…if we have any chance of actually working out I think the first thing you need to know is what happened at school."
"Oh Jane…so much has happened today. You don't have to get into that right now."
"But I do Maura….I have to tell someone this story because I just need it to get out of me and I am going to need the support when I go and tell Frankie."
Maura scooted a little closer and took Jane's hands in hers. A lot had happened today but if Jane really wanted to do this she was going to be there for her. She had a general idea of what happened but Maura knew she was about to get the unabridged version.
"I was studying criminology at school…I wanted to be a police officer…actually a homicide detective. I didn't need college to make that happen but I am a woman ya know…I figured having a college education would give me an advantage in trying to move up the ranks."
"That was a smart decision," Maura supported.
"Yeah, look where it got me."
"Jane don't…"
"I know," she cut her off. "So studying criminology and as one of my electives I was taking forensic pathology. It's more medical based than I would have liked but I wanted to learn more about the process a body goes through what type of information that can provide. I cracked some stupid joke the first day of class…I don't even remember what I said but it had the class laughing. The professor, Charles Hoyt, he seemed to take an almost immediate interest after that. At first it seemed like he was just being a hard ass always calling on me to answer questions and trying to trip me up."
"Let me guess, you never stumbled," Maura asked rubbings Jane's hand in hers.
"That would be correct. During that first class he called on me a few times and from there I made sure I always had all the homework done, read chapters in advance and anticipated what he might try and get me on. I wasn't going to let him win…but it really just became too weird. There was a period I could have dropped that class but it passed and by the time the real issues arose I would have to withdraw which requires the professors signature."
Jane sighed thinking back about how things could have been so different if she just dropped the class or stopped showing up. Failing a class would have been better than her current situation.
"What other issues were you having with him?"
"In the beginning I would see him all around campus. I didn't think much of it because I mean he works there but it was too much. God I thought I was going crazy but I started looking into it he was around my classes where he didn't have any classes, he showed up at the gym the same time as me, he was in the library and floating around the dorms. I also started getting emails…I had no idea who they were from but his hints became less subtle. I went to campus security but they couldn't prove the emails were from him and he worked on campus so him showing up at the same place as me was written off as a coincidence."
"That a lot of coincidences."
"You're telling me. I had a meeting with him after his classes so he could sign the withdraw forms but he never showed."
Maura had a pretty good idea why this professor never showed but she remained silent and gave Jane the time to gather herself so she could continue.
"I had given up on waiting for him to show. His room is on the second floor so I took the stairs down to the first and I was about to head out when I heard a noise in the basement. It sounded like a crash almost and I knew no one should have been down there. The whole basement was getting renovated after it flooded. I went down to the basement to see what was going on…to make sure no one got hurt. I wasn't expecting….I didn't even think," Jane started but couldn't get out the words.
"It's ok…take your time," Maura whispered.
Jane took a few deep breaths knowing she needed to get through this.
"I didn't know what happened at the time, I just woke up in the basement and I was chained to a pipe. No one was in the room when I came to but there was a broken chair not far from me with my blood on it…even with a killer headache I could piece together what happened. I was afraid to yell for help knowing it could alert whoever had done this to me that I was awake…plus I was gagged I couldn't yell loud enough. I was scared, but when he walked in to that room, that smug controlled smile on his face…I literally thought my life was over."
Maura couldn't imagine the fear just must have felt in that moment. Being alone and vulnerable with a psychopath…no one should ever have to feel that fear.
"The first couple hours he just taunted me, he used the Taser to keep me controlled, slapped me around a little but then he knocked me out again. Something about him having to leave me over night because they locked the building at night and the only way out would be to swipe out meaning there would be a trail. I bounced in and out of it for most of the night. He came back it must have been around 6am the sun was coming up but it wasn't bright yet. He brought a bag with him, I guess it was a medical bag I don't know. Every time he came near me I would kick him and flail about so he used a Taser on me a couple times. He made a couple cuts on my torso one with his finger nail, one with a broken piece of glass and one with a scalpel," Jane lifted her shirt slightly to show Maura the still healing wounds.
Maura tied not to gasp at the sight of the three distinctly different lines marking the tanned skin. She gently ran her fingers over them hoping to ease the pain if only for a moment.
"He explained that you never want to cut someone with your bare hands because there would be DNA on the body. He said the glass was also a bad idea because fragments could be left behind and traced. The scalpel was the perfect instrument to leave no trace and people guessing what could make such a clean cut. Doctors use the tool all the time but never see the potential it truly has. He then proceeded to pour either alcohol or peroxide over my wounds."
Maura couldn't help but gasp knowing the pain she was in at that moment.
"I'm not going to lie, I had never been in so much pain in my life but I refused to react which only pissed him off more. He took the scalpel and deepened the one cut and as it turns out punctured my gallbladder which was later removed. I was going to die down there but I guess he lost track of time…spent too much time taunting me… because a bell went off and he had to rush off to class. He left the scalpel there and it took be a couple hours but I managed to pick it up with my feet, twist to get it to my hands and was able to unscrew the vise of the pipe. From there the pipe came apart and I was freed. I grabbed the scalpel and ran out of that building and straight to the infirmary."
"Jane," Maura wasn't sure what to say her heart was breaking.
"So now you know… want to run yet?"
There were no words that were going to make this better. Tears were streaming down her face and all she could do was pull Jane to her body never want to let go.
"The only place I am running is to you," she whispered in Jane's ear.
The two remained in an embraced for what felt like hours but really was only 20 minutes. Even though they were alone in the house they whispered softly back and forth to each other not wanting to disturb the peace being with each other brought them. However, that peace was disturbed when they were a noise upstairs.
"Maura what the hell is that."
Maura was wracking her brain trying to think but after the evening she had nothing was coming to her.
"I'm calling the cops," Jane said quickly grabbing her cell phone.
"No, wait," Maura said quickly. "What day is it?"
"Umm Friday."
"It's Frankie."
"What do you mean it is Frankie?"
"Frankie…he comes over on Friday's."
"From the helipad?"
"No, through my window," Maura said knowing she must have sounded nuts.
"He knows you have a front door right."
"He has been doing this since we were little kids…I don't know probably 10. That is when my parents really started leaving me alone on a consistent basis. I mean the housekeepers and maids/butlers would be around but that's it. So he would come over on Friday nights so I wouldn't be alone. By the time he would get here the alarm would be set and I didn't know how to turn it off at that point so he would climb the fence the ivy was wrapped around and stay with me."
"Man that kid," Jane smiled proud of her little brother. "But that was when you were little…he can use the door now right."
"Oh yeah he has a key but he likes coming through the window on Fridays. I am usually upstairs by now anyway he probably is wondering where I am. He will just wait in my room until I get there."
"I am glad you two have each other. It is good to have someone that will always have your back. I should get going so you can have your Friday night slumber party."
"We don't sleep together," Maura blurted out.
"Maur…I am not worried."
"Are you ok?"
"No, but I am getting there. You have fun tonight and I'll call you tomorrow."
"Sounds good."
Jane stood up and kissed Maura gently on the lips.
"Thank you for listening to me tonight."
"Any time about any thing. Text me when you get home?"
"I will….night Maur."
"Night Jane."
Mura watched Jane get into her car before shutting the door and setting the alarm. She looked up the stairs and took a deep breath to clear her mind for her Friday night movie. Frankie would know something was up but would respect her enough to let her come to him. She clearly had a very soft spot in her heart for these Rizzoli kids.