Full disclaimers in Chapter 1
ALERT: If you have not watched the show yet, there might be spoilers.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.
I am not a native English speaker, and I don't have a beta. So all mistakes are 100% mine.
Enough of disclaimers and warnings – read at your own risk. Reviews are always welcome!
Season 3 – Episode 2 "Dirty Little Secret"
The initial buzzing of the collision was starting to fade from Jane's dizzying head.
"Oh, crap. My phone is wet."
"Ohh!" Maura moaned.
"What? What? Can you move your leg?"
"No, it's stuck."
"Okay."
Gunshots began to ring.
"Get down! Get down! Get down!" Jane pushed Maura below the windows' line of the car. "Maura, get out of the car. Get out of the car!" she insisted, cocking her gun, and shooting.
"I can't get my leg out!"
"Maura, get out of the car!" Jane tried to push her forcibly, impatient.
"My leg is stuck!" Maura complained, in an odd angle. Jane pushed harder and finally Maura scrambled to the forest floor, then resting back on the car body.
"Maura, go! Run!" Jane pushed.
"Stay down. Stay down." Pushing her hand on the small of Maura's back, trying to keep Maura close to the ground.
"Go for the tree line. Go! Go!" Jane pushed Maura's bottom up the ravine.
As soon as they reached the top, Jane took the lead, opening a path among branches and running as fast as she could. Maura was a few paces behind her.
They kept going in silence for hours, trying to make the least amount of noise possible, Jane following the latest rays of sunshine to keep on a straight direction. Behind her she heard the puffing and panting of someone making an effort to keep up.
Jane was getting irritated. Her side was bothering her, she was pretty sure she had bruised a few ribs. But Maura had been lagging behind. The woman run marathons but could not keep up with this slow pace through branches and foliage? Come on!
Maura was now again trailing behind Jane.
"Come on. We got to try to keep going. Come on." Jane coaxed, impatient.
"We haven't seen them in hours. I need to stop." Maura finally admitted defeat, she was panting. The last few hours had been sheer torture for her. The last hour specially, her vision had been tunnelling, darkness seeping around the sides, she had just been following the motion of Jane's form ahead of her, trying to keep up with Jane's pace without falling too far behind. She was too proud to let Jane know she needed to stop. But she had reached her limit of pain and dizziness. If she didn't stop now, she would have a vasovagal episode and simply pass out.
"Okay! What? What?" Jane looked back, concerned, finally seeing how much limping Maura was doing to simply reach her. "Did you pull something?"
Jane assumed it couldn't be a fracture, otherwise Maura would not have managed to follow her for that many hours without complaining.
"No." Maura groaned.
"Take it off."
"All right, all right." Jane helped with her boot. "Oh, my God, Maura. Your leg, I-it's hard, and it's cold. It's like a dead body."
…
"All right. All right. You ready? Okay." Jane was trying to steady herself, steady her breathing, steady her shaking hands.
She couldn't do that.
But she also could not NOT do that and let Maura lose her leg or, worse, die.
It hurt on her more than what it was hurting on Maura the first cut of the incision, since Maura's leg appeared to be insensitive to the touch.
"Use more pressure. I'm okay." Maura, brave Maura, pushing her. It went against every willpower Jane had to continue cutting, hurting her friend physically in such an obvious way.
"You're alright?"
"Ow! I'm not okay! Aah!" Maura thrashing in the ground, in pain. Maura passing out.
"Ohh! Maura? Maura?" Jesus. At least Jane hoped Maura was not feeling pain right now.
Jane measured the first incision. About 6 inches. She still had one more incision to go. Jane hesitated, her stomach churning seeing Maura pale and still, but she sensed NOT doing it was not going to improve a situation that was already dire.
So, the detective braced herself, moved to the other side of the leg, and did the same process, a new incision, 5 inches, just like Maura had instructed her.
Maura didn't even stir, at least she was out of it.
Jane then threw the bloodied piece of Gorilla glass away, and with bloodied hands started massaging the leg the way Maura had showed – or so she hoped.
As Maura predicted, the blood at first was thick and black. Jane was not particularly fidgety with blood, but maybe because it was Maura laying there and it was Maura's blood, it was quickly getting to her.
But she continued, trying to push out as much of the thick black blood she could see, until finally she started to see actual red regardless of the angle she massaged. And she thought that should be good enough.
She used her t-shirt to bind the wound tightly as Maura had prescribed.
She sat on the floor, sighing tiredly.
And then she pulled Maura's unconscious head to her lap, a protective hand across Maura's torso, gun at ready by her left bloody hand.
Only silence and the wood noises enveloped her attentive ears. It seemed for now Sensei Matta and his men have not reached them, but she knew she and Maura needed to move soon.
How they would do it she had no idea… The amount of blood she had had to massage out of Maura's wound and the state of Maura's leg was scary to say the least, and as little and petite as Maura was, Jane had to admit to herself the shock of the car crash was taking a toll on her, and she was sure she would not be able to just carry Maura. Not that she was badly hurt, except for her bruised ribs every muscle in her body hurt because of the impact. And the terrain was treacherous. She was raking her head to find a way. But Maura needed to be at least semi-conscious for them to try.
For now, Maura was completely still. Jane could feel Maura's heartbeat through the silk shirt against Jane's hand on her torso. And the heat irradiating from her, the doctor felt feverish to the touch. Jane didn't want to contemplate how worse things could turn… Infection. Shock. Sepsis. Jane felt guilty. She had no idea if having stopped earlier would have been less dangerous to Maura's leg. Jane never gave a second thought that Maura could have been hurt, she just kept pushing her to follow, and irritated when she was lagging behind. It turned her stomach to think she might have contributed to make the situation of Maura's leg even worse than it originally was by pushing her for so many hours non-stop through the forest.
Jane tried to think of the last things they told to each other. All she could come up was the horrible bickering for the entirety of the past days. To be honest, the entirety of the past weeks. They had said terrible things to each other. Jane never felt so lost, so hurt, so empty, and when she felt that way, her immediate reaction was to lash out making things worse to the point she really doubted she could go back to being friends with Maura. If anything happened to Maura, it pained Jane to even consider that their last interactions would have been so bad and distant and hurtful. She could not avoid the tears stinging the back of her eyes.
At the same time, she knew it must have been even worse for Maura. The doctor was a private and lonely person. Jane had to admit she never stopped concerning about Maura, knowing the doctor was facing her adoptive mother and her biological father in the hospital, dealing with her own daemons and memories and losses, temporarily giving up a job that was everything to her, having her house ransacked, finding out that her birth mother probably thought her dead and thus never looked for her, all at the same time not having the support network that the Rizzoli's had slowly built around her over the past two years. She recalled how Maura had melted in her arms the night she arrived at the hospital immediately after her mom's accident. How emotionally fragile she was. How "hyped" she had been on the undercover operation, feeling that she would finally DO something to help resolve what had happened. And then all that followed when Jane shot Paddy Doyle and hell broke loose.
Maura had been away on a leave of absence for a few weeks to follow up on Constance recovery, until her mother was well enough to fly back to Europe and continue her physical therapy there. Maura had gone with her for one week, to ensure the proper specialists were in place, before coming back and resuming work.
This being their first case together since the shooting, and all they had managed to do was to bicker bitterly with each other.
Jane sighed, trying to erase those thoughts. They needed to move, now, if she wanted to have ANY chance to change what would have been the last interaction she had with Maura. If she wanted to have any chance for that crappy road trip NOT to be the last interaction she had with Maura.
"Come on, Maura, it's time to wake up." She said, moving her hand slowly over Maura's torso.
"I dreamt we were camping." Maura mumbled, drowsily, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I voted for you." That brought a tiny smile to Jane's mouth and broke her heart at the same time.
"Can you turn the heat down?" so Jane concluded the doctor was feverish. Or in shock due to the blood loss. Or both.
"Come on, we got to get you out of here." Jane whispered but couldn't see the doctor in that state going anywhere. She started to assess if she could carry Maura. If she could make the doctor at least stand, maybe she could half-drag her – as long as the doctor could keep her hurt leg up.
"You won sweetest camper again." Maura continued to mumble. "I didn't win." Jane smiled again.
"My leg hurts. Why ... why does my leg hurt?" Jane felt a twinge of sadness to that. Consciousness meant pain…
She also heard the twigs snapping, and immediately picked and cocked her gun.
"Sensei Matta, I presume?"
…
"Get up. Both of you."
"My friend's hurt. She can't move."
My friend. My friend. That came so easily to Jane's mouth. She didn't need to think. Her friend was hurt. Not a stranger. Not an enemy. A friend. Her best friend.
The men reached Jane and Maura, and they knocked the gun out of her hand, and Jane winced.
"She is really hurt, she can't move." Her focus was solely on Maura.
The man said nothing, just pulled Maura by the arms as if she was a sack of potatoes and threw her over his shoulder. Jane cringed listening to Maura's whimpering – that must be far from comfortable.
"Get up."
As Jane stood and started following them, she kept looking back. She would hear Maura gasping, or moaning softly, or whimpering. Maura was in pain. Jane was not sure if she was conscious or not, but at least the guy was carrying her and no blood seemed to be dripping down her hurt leg, so Jane kept pushing forward.
…
"Come on! Come on!" Jane was desperately trying to get free of her binding so she could at least move more freely.
"Try your phone." Came the dreamy response from the doctor.
"I can't, Maura. It's busted, and it got wet." Jane explained with the last shreds of her patience. But realizing the same gorilla glass from the phone she used to make the incisions on Maura's leg could also potentially be used to try to cut the bindings. Maura's idea.
"Call your mom. Tell her we're friends again."
Oh, God. That hurt. Or didn't. Were they friends again? Had they ever stopped being friends?
Jane sniffled, fighting back tears. But if they were about to die, she would try to make sure Maura at least had the illusion she had had a chance to tell her mom.
"Okeydokey. Hey, Ma ..."
[ cellphone beeps ]
"Oh, crap, it works!"
"The microprocessor dried. Yay!" Maura seemed to be in a different dimension, but still present enough to grasp what was happening.
"Maybe just texting. Wait." [ beeping ] "Crap. No. I-I can only send symbols. Son of a..." the little ray of hope that Jane had felt rapidly evaporated.
"Type 42-point... 391... 0..." Maura mumbled.
"Okay, thank you, Maura." Jane offered, sure that the ME was losing it.
"Bing-bing. Boop-boop-boop. Bing-bing-boop-boop."
Jane was sure Maura had lost it, but then realization hit her.
"It's morse code. Nice job, Maura." Even "out of it" Maura was a genius.
Jane sent the message and decided that the water was coming too fast for her to rely on external help. She needed to continue trying to free up Maura for them to leave.
"Come on, come on." She could see the binding material on Maura's hands finally getting severed after several attempts. The water was rising rapidly around the car.
"Go…" Maura pleaded, eyes semi-closed.
"No." Jane answered, gritted teeth, forcing her way through the binding.
"Please…"
"Don't waste your energy. You will need it as soon as I finish with the binding and we get out of this car, okay?"
And she proceeded with the binding, looking back behind her to the car windows splashing water.
"That view is not okay."
"Jane? Maura, you down there?" Korsak could see a destroyed car and the water coming down.
Jane could not believe her ears.
"Korsak?! Down here! Help!"
"You okay?" Korsak scanned both in the car. Maura's face seemed peaceful, out of place.
"Yeah. We got to get Maura out of here, all right? The spillway to the reservoir is open. Hurry." Jane's urgent, clipped, and precise instructions made sense.
"Did sergeant Korsak come on our camping trip?" Maura offered drowsily when the sergeant held her to get her out of the car.
"Great job with the morse code. The coordinates put me almost on top of you." Korsak offered. Jane had no time to reply that it had been Maura's idea. Maura had saved the day.
"Watch her leg! Watch her leg!" was all Jane could think of.
"Can you walk?" Korsak asked the wobbly doctor.
"Uh, I can hop." The sergeant put one of the doctor's arms around his neck, and held her by the hip, so she could hop using him as support, but ended up having to half drag her.
He looked out in time to see the slender form of Jane escaping through the window of the driver's door, exhaling sharply, exhausted.
"You stayed with her." Korsak offered, eyeing Jane.
"I wouldn't leave her." Jane stated.
There was no way in hell Jane would have left Maura. Whatever had happened between them, whatever they have said to each other, nothing could change the fact Maura was her best friend and she loved her dearly. She just hoped they could find a way to mend their relationship the same way she hoped a doctor could mend her friend's leg.
…
Wading through the soiled water and trying to keep Maura's leg out said water had been a feat. Jane felt every tug to her bruised ribs from the car accident. But between she and Korsak, they managed it well enough to get to dry terrain.
"We need to get up this ravine." Korsak eyed it. It would be easy if the three of them were able to walk. "But I can't carry her up."
"I will go first, and I will pull her up." Jane offered, eyeing the ravine.
She followed the path of holes and roots and lifted herself up to the border of the ravine. When she firmed her feet up, she reached down:
"Put her in my arms."
"But your ribs…" He had seen Jane wincing every time she had taken Maura's weight on her.
"They will do." Jane cut, extending her arms down. Korsak turned Maura sideways, so Maura could settle in Jane's arms, who put all her will to pull her up. Jane's side was burning like hell, but she managed it. Korsak came immediately after, pushing Maura back up. And Korsak pulled his legs to the top, Jane was sitting on the floor with Maura in front of her, catching her breath.
"We need to get her to a hospital immediately, Korsak." Jane was taking in the grayish tinge on Maura's face.
"My car is a few yards from here. But it will take us at least one hour back to civilization, maybe more." He said, helping Jane to her feet and then with Jane raising Maura from the floor.
Korsak rummaged through the car, briefly. From the boot he got a blanket – that he kept there for the stray animals he was always picking up. It was worn out, but it was clean. And, most important, it was warm. He also found an energy bar and an open bottle of water.
"It is not much."
"It will do. The cooler of food Ma sent was ruined in the accident and then by the polluted water. Anything helps."
Jane was sitting on the back seat with Maura, while Korsak punched the coordinates to get to the closest hospital. As soon as the GPS system provided him the info, he called the hospital to let them know they would be arriving, and providing them heads up of the self-diagnosis Maura had given Jane before she passed out, so they could be ready for them when they arrived.
"The ETA is one hour and seventeen minutes. I will turn on the lights as soon as we hit traffic."
Jane pulled Maura to seat against the door, leaning against Jane's torso, providing space for Maura's leg's to be fully extended for the duration of the ride.
Jane tucked the blanket tightly against Maura, who had been chattering her teeth. Jane tried to push her to bite on the energy bar and she refused, but at least she took a few sips from the water bottle as Jane tilted it carefully for her.
"She seems to be going into shock." Korsak offered, looking through the rear mirror.
"Yeah." Jane held tightly to the shaking body against hers, running her hands on Maura's back and arms covered by the blanket, trying to instill some warmth into them. They would have a long ride ahead of them to the hospital.
While driving, Korsak called to provide an update to Frost, to Frankie (who would make sure Angela was informed), and to Cavannagh, and when they were out of the woods he focused on the road, turning on his lights and beelining to the hospital as fast as he could. Through the rear mirror he could see Jane's concerned expression, trying to get a growingly pale and growingly shaky Maura to remain steady.
The hospital thankfully had been waiting for them. As soon as they pulled the car up on the ER entrance, the nurses came out with the gurney and took Maura in.
Jane was following behind when Korsak reached her at the same time a doctor approached her.
"You can't go in there."
"Where are you taking her?"
"Trauma Unit. It will be a while. Why don't you let me check you out? I heard your ribs were troubling you?"
"I am fine."
"Jane?" Korsak sternly addressed her. "You are no use if you are broken. Let him check you out. I can assure you I will be here the whole time, and I promise you that you will be back here way before she is out of there."
She hesitated, then nodded, and allowed the doctor to lead her to one of the cubicles. After an hour they let her out. The x-rays showed she had no broken bones or concussions, and they cleaned and patched her other wounds, and gave her some painkillers for the bruised ribs.
"There you are." Korsak eyed her from head to toes.
"Any word on Maura?"
"Nothing yet. Are you okay?"
"Peachy." She retorted, sitting exhausted by his side.
It was another hour before the Trauma surgeon came out to talk to them.
"Jane Rizzoli?"
"That is me." Jane stood. "And you can speak in front of Detective Korsak."
"Were you the one who did the incisions on her leg?"
"Yes…" she sighed. "I hope I have not botched it up, we were running out of time and out of options, we were in the middle of the forest with dirty all around us, and all that I had was a piece of gorilla glass broken from the screen of a busted cell phone. She told me to avoid hitting a certain nerve, but I have no clue where that nerve was." Jane blurted, nervous.
"I am officially impressed. You saved her leg, and possibly her life."
Jane sighed, relieved.
"How is she?"
"She is going to be okay. She is in the recovery room and will remain there for the next few hours, but then we should be able to release her to continue care at home. We are providing her with blood, fluids, antibiotics and painkillers."
"Can we see her?"
"Not while she is in the recovery room, I am sorry."
"I understand. Thank you, Doctor."
Jane sat, heavily.
"I will take you home."
"No. You go to the precinct to provide details. You need to catch those guys, Korsak. I will call so someone can pick us up here as soon as they release Maura."
"Are you sure?"
"I am. Thank you for finding us, Korsak. I don't know if I could have removed her from the car in time. Or if doing so would have been any good, given we would need to spend the night in the forest where Sensei Matta could still find us again."
Jane knew how close she had been to loosing Maura that night. Jane was pretty sure Maura would not have survived a night in the woods in that shape, even if Jane had managed to take her from the car in time alone. It had been a close call, too close for comfort.
"I told you, the GPS coordinates you sent me put me right on top of you."
"Maura was the one who came up with the GPS coordinates idea – and the coordinates themselves."
"The Doc? But she was totally out of it."
"Even totally out of it she is a genius, Korsak… Please go. There are bad guys to catch."
…
"My surgeon was very impressed with Jane's incisions." Maura offered proudly to the Rizzoli clan. They could see how pale she was, the dark circles under her eyes, any trace of makeup gone.
"I always wanted a Doctor in the family." Angela immediately replied. Maura looked down. She knew it was not Angela's intention, but it still hurt somehow. Angela didn't seem to notice, but Jane's eyes were trained on Maura, observing.
"Well, too bad. You got two cops and... " Jane started.
"An undertaker." Frankie finished, jokingly.
"No, no, no. Not doing that ever again." Tommy quickly added, and everyone laughed.
"I got three great kids." Angela proudly looked her litter. Again, Maura had to admit it stung, but after all she had said and done to Jane in the past few weeks, she felt she deserved it.
Jane observed it all, and she knew this was the time.
"I think you got a Doctor, too." Jane offered, affectionately, to Angela, but looking intently at Maura, and sitting by Maura's side.
And it was worth it. Maura lightened up from the inside out. It was the first genuine happy smile Jane saw in the doctor's features for several weeks, and she had to confess it warmed her heart.
"Thanks." The doctor said, not sure if she could say more without crying. After a beat "And thank you for saving my leg, Jane."
"I think you two should apologize to each other."
"Butt out!" "Butt out." Jane and Maura yelled at the same time.
But they both knew it was time. After all that happened, the last 24 hours were proof enough that despite all the harsh words and misunderstandings, their bond and their connection was above it all.
"I'm sorry if you are." Maura fist-bumped Jane's arm as she had seen the Rizzoli boys do many times with Jane.
"Okay, but I'm less sorry." Jane offered after a bit, squinting her eyes playfully.
But she thought better, she would not even think about stirring a fight now.
"No, we were both jerks." She admitted, plainly.
"You were both assholes." Angela growled.
"Ma! Watch your language!" Tommy was surprised, and everyone laughed.
"And... ...I didn't really win 'sweetest camper' award." Jane confessed. It was kind of obvious, only Maura would have believed her sarcasm earlier.
"You didn't?" Maura actually seemed to have believed her, in that naïve can't lie way of hers that Jane loved. "I missed you." The doctor confessed, her voice breaking a little, her chin trembling and the tears invading her eyes.
"I missed you, too." Jane's voice broken completely, while they both found comfort in each other embraces. Together, at least. At peace, at least. It felt like home, and both wished there were not so many people around so they could have a good cry.
Angela, kind of sensing it, stood up, signaling to the boys.
"Is there anything else you need? You both had a helluva night and need to rest."
Jane and Maura broke the hug but kept sitting close together.
"Thank you, Angela, the only thing we need is rest." Maura offered in a small voice.
"Jane, don't you let her force that leg, will you?"
"Yes, m'am." Jane nodded, while Angela approached, kissing first Maura's cheek, and then Jane's temple.
"I am on the guesthouse if you need anything."
She practically shooed the boys and closed the door, leaving the two friends alone.
A few silent peaceful moments elapsed before any of them spoke.
Maura was feeling her eyes heavy with sleep. The painkillers and antibiotics the surgeon had administered while she was in the hospital were kicking in. And she was exhausted.
"There is so much I would like to talk to you about…" Maura sighed. She had missed talking to Jane, bouncing ideas, and sharing concerns with Jane.
"Ditto…" Jane admitted. "But that can wait for now… You really need to rest, Maura. You lost an awful amount of blood, and your body needs time to recover."
Maura yawned. "And the medicines are making me sleepy." She started to slide down the sofa, to find a more comfortable position.
"What are you doing?" Jane asked, alarmed.
"I don't think I have the energy to go upstairs to my room, Jane, but I am sure I can find a comfortable position in the sofa for now." Maura sighed.
"Hey, you are not alone anymore, okay? I am here for you; I can help you to your room." Jane realized Maura had quickly reverted to her self-sufficient ways in the past few weeks when she could not count on anyone. Jane would have some undoing of her own to get her friend back to trusting and counting on her.
"Right." Maura agreed, eyes full of tears as realization dawned on her. How quickly she had reverted to her old ways of 'I need to handle it all on my own'. It was scary.
Jane sat back beside the doctor, and put an arm around Maura's shoulders, squeezing the ME in a side hug. Maura laid her head on Jane's shoulder, closing her eyes, and crossing her arm around Jane's midsection.
"I am really really sorry I have not been here for you, Maura… But I am here now. And I will not leave ever again, I promise." Jane offered, her deep voice breaking with emotion, gently kissing her friend's temple.
As a response, Jane just got a sniffle and the feeling of fresh tears against the white dirty undershirt she was still wearing while Maura squeezed her harder. Jane held her friend in silence and cried a few of her own tears. But Jane knew that if they continued this path, the relaxation the crying would bring would result in them both sleeping in the sofa, what would not be good for Maura's recovery.
So, as she felt Maura's tears subside, she tried:
"Do you think you can hop upstairs to your bedroom if I help you? Or would you rather settle in the guest bedroom?"
Maura sighed deeply, trying to concentrate.
"I don't think I can handle the stairs yet even with your help, Jane. Flat surfaces are as far as I have the energy for…"
"Then guest bedroom it is." Jane disentangled herself from Maura, not before kissing her temple again. She stood up, helped to gently lower Maura's leg from the coffee table where it had been resting, and then positioned herself in a way Maura could fully lay on her to get up from the sofa.
"Here you go, easy, careful." Jane directed, her eyes not leaving Maura's leg to ensure nothing would hit the sensitive flesh.
When Maura was standing up, Jane made her put her left arm around Jane's neck, so Jane could work in lieu of her hurt leg. Jane hunched down a bit to match Maura's height, as they slowly and carefully maneuvered to the guest bedroom.
Once there, Jane disentangled herself from Maura again, pulling the comforter sideways so Maura could at least sit down, while she went to the drawers to get pillows.
Jane set up the bed quickly and noticed Maura staring down to her lap. She kneeled in front of her friend.
"What is it, Maur? Are you okay?"
"I am good. I am just debating going to bed in these dirty clothes. I would love a shower. But I don't have the energy for it now, I really need to rest, I am at the end of my rope."
"Yes, I think the shower part might need to wait for another few hours. But, for now, I can go upstairs and find something clean and comfortable for you to wear to bed."
Maura smiled.
"You don't need to go upstairs. Check the third drawer of the dresser. There are some of your old clothes there. You can grab some for you, and some for me."
Jane opened the drawer, and said looking back over her shoulder.
"I thought you would have gotten ridden of my stuff after these past weeks."
Maura raised her eyes and studied then on Jane.
"I couldn't bring myself to do so, Jane. When they ransacked my house…" she hesitated. "One of the first things I frantically looked for were your things from this drawer. I thought that while they were there, there was the remotest possibility that we could maybe find a way back to each other…"
Jane smiled, touched, and came back with shorts and t-shirt for herself, and an old oversized BPD t-shirt for Maura – Jane's oversized t-shirt would be long enough for Maura to use as a camisole without a need to dress anything over her legs.
Before Maura could ask what Jane was doing, Jane went to the kitchen and came back with a plastic bowl and a pair of scissors.
"Your pants are ruined anyway. I think the best way not to risk moving the bandages from your leg is simply cutting them off…" Jane knew she first needed Maura's permission.
"Makes sense…"
Jane put the scissors on the border of the left leg of the dark pants that the doctors had cut away in the hospital, and cut all the way to the waistband. She did the same on the other side.
Jane then got the plastic bowl full of warm water from the ensuite bathroom, and came back with two washclothes.
"It is not a shower, but at least will make you feel cleaner."
Maura smiled thankfully to Jane.
"I will give you space to do that while I take a quick shower, okay? You yell if you need anything…"
Maura shook her head, yelling being one of the things she knew she could not bring herself to do.
Jane stepped in the bathroom with the clothes she had gotten from the drawer for herself, stripped quickly, and took a quick shower.
As she was drying herself, she assessed herself in the mirror, all the bruises and cuts and small abrasions from the past two days. But she was alive, Maura was alive, and that was what mattered.
Jane had not been gone for ten minutes, and when she opened back the door, Maura was finishing pulling the oversized t-shirt over her head, the used bowl and washcloths discarded by the bedside table.
Jane smiled to Maura, collected the discarded items, threw the used water on the sink, and left the used washcloths with her towel to be washed later.
"Is there any medicine you need to take before sleep?" Jane asked, walking back in the bedroom.
Maura yawned in response. "No, not for a few hours at least."
"Is there anything else you need? I will just put this by the laundry for us to deal with it later." Jane said, picking up their discarded clothes.
"Nothing, thank you, Jane."
Jane just nodded, and quickly came back after dropping their dirty clothes by the laundry room, and drinking some water.
Maura was lying down, and Jane grabbed a few of the throw pillows to put under her friend's injured leg, scanning Maura's reaction to gage the comfort level.
"This is perfect, Jane, thank you." When Jane added one small pillow that propped her leg to a comfortable angle. Maura sunk her head back to the pillow, sighing contentedly.
Jane stood, reaching out to the light switch by the door.
"Where are you going?" Maura squeaked.
"I will be on the sofa if you need anything. You just call and I will be here." Jane didn't want to push their just resumed friendship by assuming things would continue as if nothing had happened. She knew hurt took time to heal.
Maura sat back on bed, so quickly she felt her head spin.
"Whoa."
Jane was by her side instantly.
"What? What is it."
Maura shook her head, trying to gather her wits again.
She reached a hand to hold Jane's arm and looked intensely into the detective warm chocolate eyes.
"Do you remember the first time you ever entered my house?"
Jane just nodded and continued eyeing the beautiful hazel eyes the doctor had intendedly focused on her. It had been when Hoyt had resurfaced, and Jane had come barging in searching for sanctuary with someone who could keep same sanity and rationality when Jane and her family couldn't.
"I stayed in this room with you. We were not close then as we became close since… I know we did and said things in the past few weeks that were hurtful, but… Jane, you are still my best friend. Can we please not go back ten steps in our relationship? I don't have the energy to do that dance again… Please?"
"Of course, Maura. I just didn't want to assu…" Jane said in a very small voice.
Maura put a finger over Jane's lips, silencing her.
"Shhh… I understand, and I appreciate it that you didn't take it for granted, Jane, I really do. But… it is granted, okay? Now, please, can you just get under the covers so we can both rest?"
And Jane was more than happy to comply with Maura's request.