After a relaxing weekend watching movies and eating junk food, Monday morning rolled around. Jane and Maura were both dreading the day; Jane because she had to go back to work, and Maura because tomorrow was the day of her surgery.
Luckily, it was a slow day at work for Jane, so she came home early enough to drive Maura to the hospital for her overnight stay. She helped Maura pack a bag with all of her necessities, being that she was going to be in the hospital for about a week after the surgery. The longest week of Maura's life, she assumed.
"I think I have everything. Are you ready to go, Jane?" Maura asked.
"Yup. Let's get going."
They arrived at the hospital and Maura was immediately put into a room. She was instructed to change into her hospital gown and to rest until the doctor came in to see her.
Jane took her usually seat in the chair next to Maura's bed and watched as she tried to rest. She could tell by Maura's face that there was no way she was sleeping any time soon. Her brain was on overdrive and Jane could tell, even if she was pretending to sleep.
"Tell me," Jane said.
"Tell you what?" Maura responded, still pretending to sleep.
"Tell me what you're thinking."
Just as Maura was about to speak, the doctor knocked quietly on the hospital room door.
"Doctor Isles," he greeted, "How are you feeling?"
"Terrible, to be honest." Maura expressed.
"We will do everything we can," the doctor continued, "but right now I need to discuss tomorrow's surgery with you and your chemotherapy options."
Maura nodded, once again, so the doctor continued.
"Tomorrow's surgery is not one hundred percent guaranteed to remove all of the cancer in your body, as you know. We will do what we can to get the most of it, but there can always be complications. This surgery is also not risk free. There are several things that can go wrong in a surgery like this, which are all listed on this consent form that I have here for you to sign. Again, we will do everything we can to make sure that everything goes smoothly," The doctor finished, handing the clipboard over to Maura for her to sign.
She took a minute to read the whole piece of paper before signing her name on the bottom, listing Jane's number as her emergency contact.
"Next order of business is chemo," the doctor began after retrieving the clipboard. "My recommendation is about a four month program. You would come into the hospital two times a week for about two hours. That, if all goes well, should be enough to kill all of the cancer cells in your body. It will cause more pain and certain other ailments, but we'll put you on a couple different medications to help with the pain."
"Alright," Maura said, "That sounds fine."
"Any questions?" the doctor asked.
"Yes," Jane intervened, "Are there any other chemo options that will keep Maura pain free?"
"I'm afraid that's not really possible, Detective. The cancer has reached the point where pain is inevitable, but the sooner we get Doctor Isles into chemo, the faster we can start beating this."
"Okay," Jane said reluctantly.
"Well Doctor Isles, rest up. I will see you tomorrow morning at 9am to give you your sedative and we will then proceed with the surgery. Sleep well," Dr. Davis said, exiting the room.
About five minutes passed before Maura spoke again.
"Jane?"
"Yeah, Maur?" Jane questioned.
"You asked me what I was thinking before—"
"Maur, what is it?"
Maura paused, unable to decide the right words to say.
"I'm scared."
Without a word, Jane got up from her chair and crawled into the bed with Maura. It felt like déjà vu as Maura snuggled into Jane's side and started to cry. Jane just held her, running her hand through Maura's blond curls and kissing the side of her temple. That was all that she could do. She feared that, if she talked, she would lose it too and that couldn't happen. Right now Maura needed Jane to be a rock and that's what she was going to be.
Both women were silent for what felt like hours, just grateful to feel each other's presence, when Jane finally spoke.
"Maur?"
"Yes?"
"You are the most incredible person I have ever met. You're brilliant and you're funny and you're beautiful. You're so beautiful, Maur, and there's so many things that we still need to do, so everything is going to be fine. I know it, because you're a fighter. I know that you will fight this with everything you have and I'll be right by your side the whole time. I love you and we're going to get through this together, okay? Just remember that."
That was all Maura needed to hear to make her feel like she was the most important and loved person in the world, as she fell into a painless sleep.