A/N: Welcome back to me! Sorry that this took over a year and a half to update! Truth be told, I forgot about it until I got a lovely message from Terri441 asking me to complete it. I've lost my original notes, and can't remember where I was actually going with this last chapter, so hopefully this one will be to your liking. Let me know. (And thank you for having faith in me). Also, this chapter may not be medically accurate but for the purposes of the story, roll with it.

[Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with the Rizzoli and Isles franchise. Any characters and/or ideas associated with the show as of 16th February, 2017, are not mine. Anything else is mine.]

Red raw and burning, Jane's throat felt swollen and useless. Maura had insisted on pushing the wheelchair, practically running Jane into the Emergency Department before she changed her mind. Not only had the attack made a mess of the skin around Jane's throat, but it had also ripped her IV out and pulled leads off her chest, but it had also torn almost all of Jane's external stitches. By the time Jane and Maura had reached the ER, her gown was a mess of blood.

Maura knew that Jane was still scared – her attacked was yet to be caught, but she couldn't think about that right now. She had to think of Jane, because Lord knows, Jane wouldn't be thinking of herself.

Asking for a female nurse and doctor, Jane and Maura were shown to a corner cubicle. It wasn't until Jane was on the bed that Maura realised how ashen she looked. Jane was shaking like a leaf.

"It's okay now, Jane," Maura soothed, hand on her left arm. "The doctor will be here soon. She'll redo your stitches, look at your throat and give you something for the pain."

Jane just shook her head, but not for the reason Maura initially thought. Jane had taken her upper arm in her hand and pulled her in close to whisper something. It was hoarse at best, and took Maura a moment to process.

"Hurts."

"Oh sweetie," Maura fussed. "The doctor will give you something for your throat, I'm sure."

Jane shook her head, which lolled to one side. It looked to Maura as if she was fighting consciousness.

"Jane, where does it hurt," Maura asked, her voice forceful.

Jane's hand shook as she pointed to the mess of blood on her stomach, and Maura delicately lifted her gown to get a better look. And what she saw, horrified her.

Almost all of Jane's hundred and thirteen stitches across her torso has been ripped out, and the ensuing bleeding was worse than what her gown showed. Maura chastised herself for not picking up on this sooner.

"Help!" Maura yelled. "I need help in here."

Nurses and doctors rushed in, more than she had ever imagined, and as they began securing Jane's airway and applying pressure to her wounds. Maura was pushed aside, and it took a few moments to realise that Jane was unconscious, the pain of pressure being applied to her wounds too much for her to handle.

"Hang a unit of blood, start an IV and push fluids. Keep bagging her," the doctor in charge said. He was a skinny man, all of twenty-seven Maura would guess, but that didn't matter as long as he was doing his job well.

Looking to Maura he asked "what happened? Wasn't she treated here earlier?"

Maura, tears running down her face, said just three words.

"He came back."

"And the bruises around her neck," the doctor said, indicating Jane's swollen neck. "Strangulation?"

Maura simply nodded, too scared to talk.

Just then, a nurse's voice cut in to inform the doctor that the bleeding had stopped.

…

It was a few hours before Jane awoke again. She had been given a mild sedative to keep her calm while the doctors redid her stitches and examined her throat. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jane was given the all clear, and sent back up to a recovery wing to rest.

And just a few days later, Jane was given the all clear to go home. Gingerly, she walked herself out of the hospital, refusing the wheelchair that was provided. She was to stay with Maura until her physical wounds healed, but everyone knew that it would be a lifetime before the emotional ones did.

Jane put on a brave face though, especially around her family, but when all was said and done, and the lights went off at night, Maura could hear her sobbing, crying herself to sleep every night.

After three nights in a row of listening to her friend's agony, Maura couldn't stand it any longer. She walked to the door of the guest room, softly calling Jane's name.

"Yeah," came the hoarse reply, her throat still healing from being strangled.

"Can I come in, please?"

The was a rustling sound on the other side of the door, and a lot of sniffling, but eventually the door swung open to reveal a teary-eyed, red nosed Jane. She stood aside, and gestured Maura in. The room was dim, the only lights being the bedside lamps. Maura walked straight for the bed and climbed in, not really considering that Jane might not want to share a bed. This, after all, was what they did.

When Jane hesitated, Maura faltered, and seeing this Jane moved towards the left side of the bed and sat down.

Obviously tired, and obviously upset, Jane asked Maura what she wanted.

It was a moment before Maura worked up the courage to answer.

"I know that you're hurting. And I know that you probably want to be alone, but, and call me selfish, I can't listen to you cry yourself to sleep alone again."

"You heard that," Jane asked, bowing her head, ashamed.

"Jane," Maura said softly. "Look at me."

Jane looked up, eyes watery, tears beginning to make tracks down her face.

"It's okay to be hurting. It's even okay to be angry. What not okay is shutting people out."

A choked sob left Jane's throat, and her eyes once again cast their gaze downward.

"Jane, let me help you. Please."

It didn't take much more pushing from Maura before Jane completely crumbled. Hands over her eyes, she leaned forward, head in Maura's lap, and sobbed, silently at first, and then heartbreakingly loud. She sobbed for what she had lost, and what had been taken from her. But through it all, Maura held her, stroking her hair, whispering to her that it was going to be okay.

And while Jane didn't quite believe her, she would come to in time.

A/N: That's it. It's finished. What a ride. First published in September, 2014. Now finished in February, 2017. Thank you for all your support. I would love to hear what you thought of it. Much love, Scotti.