The characters do not belong to us.

Chapter Fifteen

"Thank you, Jane. I know making oatmeal at four am isn't exactly on your list of things to do. Maura needs sleep. I didn't want to wake her." Sasha gratefully accepted the bowl in Jane's hands. "Maura says I'm hungry because I'm healing."

"I'm a homicide detective. Murders happen at all hours. Trust me, oatmeal at four am is nothing." She helped Sasha settle under the covers again. "You good?"

"Yes. Thank you, Jane." Sasha squeezed her hand. "Get some sleep."

Jane kissed her forehead. "I will. You too. Wake me if you need anything else."

She left the room and crossed the living room to the kitchen to rinse out the bowl. But as she passed the front door, she froze. It stood wide open, the evening air drifting in. Throwing the bowl on the counter, she ran for the nursery. "Maura," she called into the darkness. Maura slept in the nursery with Kaylee on some nights as part of her otherapy for her PTSD. "Maura!" When no answer came, she scooped the baby into her arms and barged into Hope's room. "Hope, wake up," she whispered loudly.

"Is it Sasha?" Hope asked groggily.

Jane shook her head. "It's Maura."

"Maura?" Hope was alarmed.

Jane swallowed hard before speaking. "Maura's outside."

"What? Why?" Hope checked Sasha's pulse ox. "Calm down, honey. She probably couldn't sleep."

"She wouldn't leave the door open," Jane said. She passed the baby to Hope. "Stay here."

Jane crept outside and her heart stopped when she saw Maura standing in the grass.

"Please Gina," Maura pleaded. "I'm no good for anyone here. I mess things up. My sister nearly died twice because of me."

Jane covered her mouth to keep back a cry of her own. "Maura?" she asked slowly approaching her friend. She laid a hand on her shoulder but Maura didn't budge.

"It's beautiful. It's so beautiful. I want to stay here forever," Maura whispered.

Jane could nearly not contain her horror. "It is not true."

Maura continued to drift further into her fantasy world. "I want to stay, Gina. With you and never go back. This is the place I belong, here with you at the lodge."

Maura lay down on the wet grass as though she was relaxing on her favorite sofa. Jane knelt down. "You're sleepwalking, Maura." She lightly touched Maura's shoulder. There was no response. The way Maura's body felt so cold alarmed her. She had to be contracting hypothermia.

Hope joined her outside, having put the baby back into her crib. "Can you hear me, Maura?"

But she lay there without any acknowledgment of either of the women. Hope felt her pulse and checked her breathing. "She's barely with us," she said. "Without alarming Sasha, we'd better get her to the ER now."

Jane looked at the doctor. "Surely a few minutes outside isn't-"

"It's been more than a few minutes, Jane. She could've been out here for hours. Did you notice anything when you got up to make Sasha a snack?"

"No. Nothing. Just please help her. Help her." Jane was frantic. "Call Elise. Someone needs to stay with Sasha." She was used to situations like this, but when it came to Maura, she became totally unglued. Maura was her everything.

"I'll call Elise." Hope pulled out her phone. Within minutes, Elise was there and taking care of Sasha and Kaylee. Hope wasted no time in enlisting Jane to help carry Maura to the car.

"You stay with me, you hear me?" Jane sobbed as Maura lay in her lap. "I need you. We need you and want you here with us." She pressed Maura to her. "I'm here, Maura. I'm here and I'm not leaving. Not ever."

"Gina," Maura said softly. "Want to stay here."

Jane stroked her hair. "She's cold. She's so cold." Tears ran down her cheeks. "You're making me cry, Maur. You know that? I never cry. So you gotta come back so I can stop crying."

Hope turned into the ER parking lot and turned the ignition off. Two doctors pulled up beside them with a gurney. They helped take Maura out of he car and whisked her away so quickly that Jane and Hope had to sprint to keep up with them.

Jane barely got to say goodbye to Maura before she was rushed through a set of double doors. The person that was her rock was currently lying unconscious on a gurney.

Jane felt totally alone. All she wanted was for Maura to tell her she would be okay-for her to spout off her scientific stuff Jane only understood one word of. it was an agonizing hour before Jane was allowed to see Maura. She looked so small and pale under all those blankets.

"Jane?" The word was so soft that Jane almost missed it.

"Yes, I'm here," she squeezed Maura's hand. "Do you know what's going on?"

Maura shook her head and started to cry. "No," she whispered with fear in her every syllable.

Hope strode into the room with concern etched into her features. "How is she?"

"I don't know. Confused. I don't know what those numbers mean." Jane pointed to the screen next to Maura's bed. "It's okay, Maur. You got a little-okay, a lot cold but you're fine now."

"Kaylee," Maura said, more alert then she'd been a few moments ago.

Jane did not have a chance to answer before a terrifying thought came to Maura's mind. "Sasha!" She nearly screamed her sister's name.

Hope immediately tried to calm her. "She's with Elise. Kaylee, too."

Maura shook her head. "But she won't sleep. Not without me."

Hope was confused. "I'm not sure which one you're talking about, but Elise is taking care of them both."

"Sasha!" Maura screamed. "She won't sleep and she'll die."

"No, she won't," Hope tried to reason with the sobbing woman. "Do you think you'd feel better if I called Elise right now and checked on her?"

Maura nodded mutely.

Hope got Elise on the line in two rings of the telephone. When she was done, she relayed the information to Maura that both her baby and Sasha were sleeping soundly, due to a warm bottle in Kaylee's case and a shot of sedative in Sasha's situation. What she did not reveal to Maura was that Sasha's oxygen saturation had been compromised by the shock and Elise had traded out the nasal cannula for the full mask. She would have to tell soon enough, but not yet.

The doctor walked in and announced he wanted to keep Maura overnight for observation, which set off a new bout of sobbing uncontrollably in Jane's arms.

"Why am I here? What happened?" she asked through her tears.

Jane stroked her hair. "You were sleepwalking. I found you in the grass, talking to yourself-to someone named Gina." Jane's voice broke. "I couldn't get you to respond. Y-you said you wanted to stay at the lodge and not here with us."

Alarm passed over Maura's face. "I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it, Jane."

Jane held her tightly. "I know. Shh. I know. But from now on I'm keeping a better eye on you. On all of you."

"I want to see my baby," Maura whispered. "I want to go home, Jane."

Hope put a hand on Maura's. "You need to listen to the doctors. It's best for you to stay overnight with the scare you gave us tonight."

"I'll stay with you," Jane promised. "I won't leave. I promise." She wouldn't dare leave.

Maura was discharged around eight the next morning. The car ride was silent, as Maura fell asleep two minutes in and when they arrived at Sasha's, Maura went straight to Sasha's room. Kaylee laid next to her, surrounded by pillows, cooing. Maura scooped her up.

"Since when does the great Dr. Isles sleepwalk?" Sasha said sleepily. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't-"

Sasha grabbed her hand. "Shh. It's okay. We're okay. Kaylee's fine. She was so good and stayed right here."

"She loves her Aunt Sasha," Maura whispered.

"She loves her mother," Sasha said. "We both couldn't wait for you to come back."

Maura teared up. "I don't know anything anymore."

Hope joined them. "What we need to concentrate on is being thankful that everyone is ok."

Maura startled at one particular word her mother had used. "Everyone? What went in here last night?"

Hope and Elise exchanged a look of indecision regarding telling Maura the truth about Sasha's plummeting numbers of the night before. Elise was still keeping a careful watch over her niece for any after effects. It had not yet been enough time to consider the problem over.

"I'm okay now. Nothing to worry about," Sasha spoke up. "I just got a little over excited last night. It wasn't your fault, Maura."

"Of course it was. Everything is my fault." Maura moved off the bed with Kaylee.

Sasha wished so badly that she could follow Maura into the next room and wrap her arms around her sister to reassure her that it wasn't her fault. But she could not and sighed. With the sigh came a deep congested cough that caused pain all the way through her body.

Elise and Hope looked alarmed. "That does not sound good," Elise said. She exchanged glances with Hope.

"It's ok," Sasha's statement was cut off by a worse coughing jag. "I've been feeling weird or a couple of days."

"I wonder why you didn't say anything! You know what damage infections can do to you," Hope admonished.

"Gee, I didn't. Thanks for the update." The sarcastic remark was not lost on Sasha. "Sorry. That was rude. When will this end? When will I be normal again?"

"You are normal. Don't ever think you're not." Maura was beside Sasha in an instant. "I should've seen it. I'm your sister. Your twin. I should've sensed something."

"Hey, no more blaming yourself. It's that danged blood disease, not you. We'll figure out how to get through this together."

Maura refused to leave Sasha's side except when Sasha insisted she bathe Kaylee and put her down. The sound of the baby laughing filled the room, as Maura wanted to use Sasha's bathroom.

"That sound right there is why I didn't tell you I wasn't feeling well," Sasha said to Hope. "I don't want to miss a moment of Kaylee's life."

By mid afternoon, Elise watched Sasha even closer and was jarred by her declining numbers and decided to put her back on the mask. Hope inserted a third IV to deliver antibiotics. They did all they could for her at home because they knew the stress of going to the hospital was likely to cause a relapse. Sasha slept on and off through the day, and by nightfall it seemed she was turning the corner.

It was one of the coldest nights of the year, so their mother decided that Maura should sleep with Sasha because it would hopefully decrease the tendency to sleepwalk if she was kept as relaxed as possible. Hope and Elise went to bed that night with assurance that the twins were safe. When the sun rose, however, their theory was completely wrong.

First, Maura's side of the queen size bed was empty. The covers were uncharacteristically messy. Second, when Hope tried to rouse Sasha to inquire about her sister, he received no acknowledgment. Sasha was breathing, but shallowly. When Hope lifted her eyelids and shone a pen light inside, she found herself looking at eyes glazed with extreme fever.

Just then she heard Elise's shouts from outside. Jane and Elise were soon inside the bedroom, carrying an unconscious Maura.

"She was outside, curled up in a ball in the grass. It was sleeting most of the night and she is soaked." Jane panted as she laid Maura on the bed on top of a thick towel that Elise had hastily brought from the attached bathroom to avoid getting the bed wet. Maura's skin was nearly blue and her lips were absolutely cyanotic.

Hope checked her pulse and wept at the lack of an obvious heartbeat. "But hypothermia victims can appear..."

"Dead," Elise whispered. "We have to warm her up. Jane, call an ambulance."

Hope had taken her eyes away from her other daughter just long enough to glance at Maura. Sasha was growing sicker by the moment.

"Make that for two. This infection has become uncontrollable from here." She prayed Sasha could not hear the news she dreaded.

Her prayers were answered, for in the night, both sisters found themselves in a familiar place far from home.

Gina found them sleeping in the woods. "Look who decided to drop in," she said glibly as she bent down to look at each one. "Wake up! It's a beautiful day in paradise."

In the brownstone, Gibbs walked in to make good on his promise to Kate about checking on Maura. When he entered the bedroom, he thought his heart was about to stop as he observed two motionless forms identical to his fiancée lying on the bed with their frantic mother, aunt and best friend buzzing around them.

Jane took him aside and briefed him in the situation.

"Sasha as a pulmonary infection and Maura was found sleepwalking again. In the sleet. Elise cannot find a pulse."

Gibbs turned white as a sheet. "How can I help?"

Elise took over immediately, knowing her future son-in-law better than anyone else. "Get some blankets or bedspreads out of the linen storage and pile as many as you can on Maura. If you can, hold her close to your body to warm her. Thank you, Jethro."

Gibbs did as Elise asked and held Maura close while wrapping her in the linens. After what felt like hours, the ambulance arrived and tore down the street with sirens blaring. Gibbs, Hope, Elise and Jane followed them, having left Kaylee with Angela.

Sasha was still unresponsive as they lifted her onto the gurney in the trauma room. A friend of Hope's from medical school spoke gently to her in case her fevered brain would be able to discern anything that was going on.

"Ok, we're going to help you," she said softly. "It looks like your mom knew what to do, but we have to get you on some monitors and help you breathe better. I know you don't like the tube, but you need it, sweetheart." She stared at Sasha's temperature reading. "We need to cool you down, too."

Maura was in the opposite situation. The team of doctors working on her knew they had a limited amount of time to bring her temperature up. Hope had insisted she be put on bypass to warm her blood immediately to lessen the chance of icy blood in the extremities flowing to her heart and killing her instantly. Within minutes, her blood was being warmed via the combination of bypass, heated oxygen and warmed IV fluids. Hope was frantic and did not know which daughter to keep an eye on more, so she and Elise alternated between rooms.

Jane and Gibbs felt powerless as they watched everything unfold.

"What are you going to tell Kate? She must know. I understand it's going to bother her, but it would be so wrong for her to be kept in the dark about this." Jane was crying in Gibbs' strong arms.

"Gina!" Maura lunged at her clone but immediately linked arms with Sasha. "Everything will be okay now. No more guilt. No more blame. No more illness."

"Maura-" Sasha started but stopped. Maura was right. Here it was beautiful, safe. They'd never have to part. Sasha was free. "Take us to the lodge, Gina. I know what it means but right now Maura and I both need peace. It's not our place to decide whether we go back or stay here."

Gina grinned. "It's not. You're right. Not everyone in the lodge will stay here forever. Come on."

Sasha held tightly to Maura's hand. "This is not your fault," she whispered. "We're both-"

Maura put a finger to Sasha's lips. "Shh. Let's enjoy our time here. Being together in peace." Her arms came around Sasha in a tight hug.

Sasha leaned into the embrace. "Don't leave me. Please don't-"

"No one is leaving," Maura whispered when Gina opened her mouth. "We'll be together for always."

"Are you two done being all mushy?" Gina asked when an eye roll. "I want to introduce you to my friends."

"Come on," Maura said, pulling Sasha along.

They followed Gina up the hill and into the lodge. The lighting was nothing but candles and a fire in the fireplace. Wooden furniture occupied most of the room and people occupied the tables and couches. Now it was Maura's turn to latch onto Sasha. She hated new social situations.

Gina was more than social enough for all three of them, though. As they went from table to table while meeting Gina's friends, Maura and Sasha both became more determined to stay here. In this lodge, nothing could touch them.

Back in Boston, Gibbs and Jane had decided that it might be best to call Abby and tell her about the sisters. She could sense what Kate was able to handle and take it from there.

"Abbs," Gibbs said gently into the phone. "Are you with Katie right now?" His vulnerability had emerged after what he'd witnessed that morning and caused him to lapse into calling Kate by her pet name.

"No, she's at a therapy session."

Abby was concerned at Gibbs' tone. "What's wrong?"

Gibbs sighed. "Kate's cousins are in the hospital in really bad shape. I don't know what to tell Katie. There isn't much news yet. Maura has hypothermia from another sleepwalking episode and Sasha's infection is out of control. We don't know if they are going to make it," Gibbs continued.

Abby gasped. "Oh, that's just -"

After the conversation was over, Gibbs turned to Jane.

"I think I'd better head over to the rehab center. Kate's going to find out sooner or later and I need to be with her when she does."

Jane nodded. "I will keep you posted."

"Thanks."

Twenty minutes later, Gibbs was walking toward Kate's room when her voice stopped him in his tracks. He tried to appear normal and not stressed. There was no way she could already know, and he didn't want her to find out just yet.

"Gibbs?" Kate said from behind him as a nurse wheeled her into the room. She looked exhausted but happy. She must've made progress. "I did-it. I-" she bit her lip. "I-"

Gibbs takes her face in his hands. "Breathe, Katie. Let the words come. What did you do?"

"Surprise," Kate answered and pressed her face into his neck as she stood up for the first time in seven years.

Gibbs kissed her hair and gently helped her onto the bed.

"I want Maura and Sasha to see," Kate continued. "Can you call them? Please."

Gibbs sighed. "I can't, Katie. I can't call them." Gibbs held her close. "There is something I need to tell you," he began. He swallowed thickly. "They are both in the hospital right now, sweetie."

Kate looked at him with eyes of shock. "What? How? Please tell me."

Gibbs stroked her hair. How could he tell the woman he loved that the cousins she'd recently met might not make it through the next few hours? But he explained it as best he could and held her as she cried.