A/N: As promised, the next chapter.
[Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I offiliated with the Rizzoli and Isles franchise. Any characters and/or ideas associated with the show as of 22nd September, 2015, are not mine. Anything else is mine.]
TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, MENTIONS OF CHOKING
'Maura,' Jane rumbled, her normally gravelly voice even rougher.
Tears sprung to Maura's eyes, relief washing over her body. 'Thank God,' she murmured.
'I thought,' Jane began, speaking in gasps. 'That you…didn't believe…in God,' she finally got out.
Maura chuckled at this, not missing how much effort it was taking Jane to talk, but relieved that her sense of humour seemed to be intact.
'I don't, but that didn't stop me praying,' Maura answered honestly, and slightly embarrassed. Eager to change the topic of conversation, the blonde asked 'do you want some water?'
Jane's response was a nod, and she gingerly pushed herself up off the pillows at her back to receive the straw Maura was holding. It took a lot more effort than she thought it would, and she couldn't help but to slump back against the bed once she'd had a few gulps of water.
'Are you okay,' Maura asked, knowing the answer but still feeling compelled to ask the question.
'I'm fine,' Jane mumbled, eyelids slipping closed.
Maura took up her position next to the bed again, taking Jane's hand into her own.
They did this dance a number of times before became able to stay awake for longer.
And when she was awake, she found herself telling Maura about what had happened.
'He surprised me, Maur,' she began, quite out of the blue.
Maura almost asked who she was talking about before remembering the reason that they were in the hospital.
'I think he tased me.'
'The doctors found burns on your back consistent with a taser gun,' Maura interjected, not really knowing what else to say but wanting to validate her friend.
'It hurt. Like I never really thought about it, but it hurt a lot. I hit the deck, hard. I guess I blacked out 'cause next thing I knew I was restrained and he was on top of me.'
Maura bowed her head at this, knowing what was coming next, but still wanting to deny it had ever happened.
Seeing Maura's reaction, shame bubbled in Jane's chest. 'I fought, Maura,' she promised. 'I really did try.'
At this, Maura's head snapped up to meet Jane's gaze, and she realised that her friend was apologising to her.
'Jane,' Maura said, voice strong and sure. 'This, this was not your fault.'
'No, but,' Jane started, but was cut off by an emphatic Maura.
'No, Jane, no. This was NOT your fault. Not even a little bit.'
'Okay,' Jane conceded, looking sullenly at her hands in her lap.
Maura moved to take one between her own hands.
'I got away, though. I thought I had won,' Jane said quietly. 'But then I couldn't breathe and he was on top of me again, this time hitting me, and I couldn't see anything, I could just feel him, pressing against me. And then…then he…he,' Jane stumbled, tears beginning to cascade down her cheeks.
'It's okay, Jane,' Maura said. 'It's okay. It's over.'
'No, but that's the thing,' Jane jumped in suddenly, remembering the sneering threat. 'He said he would be back; said he would come back to get me.'
'Oh, Jane,' Maura sighed, looking into her friend's wild, frantic eyes. 'We'll keep you safe.'
…
After a few hours of this dance, Jane finally fell back into a deep sleep. Maura took the chance to step outside and stretch her legs, intent on delivering a message to Jane's family – go home. Jane didn't want them to see her like this.
Both Maura and Jane knew that her family would go nowhere without seeing her, but that they would respect her request for now.
It was the smell that first alerted Jane to his presence – a musky odour that took her straight back to her attack.
Her weary eyes shot open, noting the cop standing by the door, watching as he flipped the lock on the door and glared in her general direction.
Shit.
'I told you I'd be back,' he leered, sending panic shooting through Jane's body.
It happened in an instant. One second he was there, standing by the door, and the next he was looming over her, pinning her arms to her sides. He climbed on top of her, straddling her bruised form.
His large, calloused hands found their way around Jane's throat and, without warning, began to squeeze.
It was the worst pain Jane had ever felt in her life, the inability to draw in oxygen only intensifying her panic. Her stitches pulled, and ribs protested, but she would be damned if she wasn't going to fight.
She scratched, and clawed, and gouged, and hit, but nothing would move the great weight from atop of her. Flailing about, Jane could see her vision begin to cloud over, could feel her body starting to give up the fight.
Jane could feel it – the life, slowly leeching from her body.
And then, as if a light had been switched on, oxygen filled her lungs, and she found herself on the floor, cowering under the hospital bed, gasping for air.
…
Maura was sure she had not closed Jane's door on the way out of her room, and no sooner had she remembered this did she hear the shattering of glass from inside the room.
Running the rest of the way down the hallway, Maura was terrified to find the door locked from the inside, the sounds of a struggle evident through the thin wood.
'Help!' Maura screamed, frantically looking for anyone with a set of keys. 'Help me!'
It took all but ten seconds for a nurse to round the corner, and only another few moments for Maura to get her to open the door.
And when she did, the sight before them made Maura's blood run cold.
Atop a struggling, wide-eyed Jane was a burly man, his huge hands wrapped tightly around her friend's throat. The scream that was ripped from her lungs was animalistic, and she found herself running toward the pair, using all her might to push the man off balance, watching as he and Jane fell off the bed. The man jumped to his feet, quickly retreating from the room, but Maura could care less about him.
Scrambling over the bed and onto the floor on the other side, Maura was met by a pale-faced Jane, holding her bruised throat in her hands, panic flooding her features.
She reached out to touch her, but Jane saw nothing, blindly fighting off her hand, a rasping whimper coming from her throat.
'Jane,' Maura began, speaking in what she hoped was a soothing tone. 'It's just me. It's Maura. I'm just going to sit here, okay? I'm not going to touch you. I'm just going to sit here until you're ready.'
And sit she did.
While security came and went, pursuing the attacked, while nurses came and stayed, waiting to get close to Jane, and while onlookers wandered by, Maura just sat there, gently talking to Jane, until finally, she came back to herself, calm enough to focus on the voice talking to her.
'Jane?' Maura asked gently.
Jane just nodded in response, throat too sore to try to speak.
'We need to get you to the Emergency Room. You've pulled some stitches,' Maura said, gesturing to the specks of blood on Jane's hospital gown, 'and we need to get your neck check out,' she finished.
Jane nodded once again, trying not to recoil too much as Maura reached out to her, leaning heavily on her arms as Maura basically lifted her out from under the hospital bed and into the wheelchair.
'It's okay, Jane,' Maura kept saying. 'You're okay.'
A/N: A longer chapter for all of you lovely readers. Hope you enjoyed it. Only one more to go before this story is finished! Please R&R.