9am arrived as Doctor Davis walked into Maura's room. He explained some things about the sedative and, pretty soon, Maura was passed out. At 9:30, she was wheeled into the operating room.
The surgery had taken about three hours, but it felt like three days to Jane. She hated hospitals in the first place and now she had to sit and wait in one. Going to the vending machine and pacing up and down the hallway just made the hours move slower. She was grateful that her mom had called to say she would make it over after her shift at the café. Jane didn't know if she'd be able to handle the pressure if her mom was there.
"Family of Maura Isles?" Jane heard being called from the waiting room.
"Right here," Jane said running to meet the nurse.
"How is she?"
"I think the doctor would like to talk to you…uh…Detective Rizzoli." The nurse said.
"Oh god, no. No. Tell me she's all right, please. She's not… No, right? No." Jane began to panic.
The thought of Maura dying on that operating table was just too much to take. The nurse put her hand on Jane's shoulder and spoke softly.
"I'll take you to Doctor Davis, alright?"
Jane nodded, trying her best not to cry.
"Go on in," the nurse said as they came to Doctor Davis' door, "he's waiting for you."
Jane nodded again, not trusting her words at the moment. She knocked lightly on the door, waiting for a reply.
"Come in," the doctor called.
"Detective."
"Doctor, just tell me Maura is all right… please," Jane begged.
"The surgery was successful and Doctor Isles is in recovery," the doctor explained.
"Oh, thank God. Why wouldn't the nurse tell me that? She had me worried sick," Jane groaned.
"I'm sorry, Detective. We didn't mean to scare you, but we did discover some things during surgery that I need to discuss with you."
"What kinds of things?"
"Well Doctor Isles' condition is further along that we originally thought, therefore it will be harder to get rid of altogether. We were able to remove the three tumors in her stomach, but there are several more growing at rapid rates. She'll need two more surgeries to remove all of the tissue that we can. In basic terms, Doctor Isles has a fifty fifty chance here. We're going to have to fight it with everything we've got."
Jane just stared at the floor. Taking in the doctor's words. It was worse than they thought. What was she going to do? And Maura…God. It was just becoming harder and harder to stay optimistic.
"When can I see her?" Jane finally spoke.
"She should be waking up sometime soon. I'll have the nurse take you to her. We'll do everything we can, Detective."
And for what felt like the hundredth time that day, Jane nodded again.
An hour later, Maura began to stir in her hospital bed.
"Jane?" she whispered.
Clearing her dry throat, Maura spoke a bit louder.
"Jane."
"Maur, I'm right here," Jane said, getting up from her bedside chair and grabbing Maura's hand.
"Glad you're finally awake, Sleeping Beauty," Jane joked and smiled.
She was glad though. It was an amazing feeling to see Maura awake and just… there.
Maura smiled at the comment.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Jane whispered, kissing Maura's temple.
"I'm fine," Maura said, squeezing Jane's hand, "But it hurts like a bitch."
Jane faked gasped and stepped back from Maura's bed.
"Maura Dorthea Isles, language!"
Maura tried her best to control her laughter. The pain was intense, but she couldn't stop. It was times like these that she was the most thankful person in the world to have a best friend like Jane.
"I can't thank you enough for being here with me," Maura said, suddenly becoming serious.
"You don't have to thank me, Maura. Ever. I'm with you through this whole thing, whether you like it or not." Jane smiled proudly.
Her face changed immediately as Doctor Davis' words from earlier ran through her mind.
"Maura, the doctor wanted to talk to me after your surgery."
"Oh no," Maura said, "What happened? Jane… tell me. Please."
"Well, nothing happened really. He just… he said that they removed the three tumors fine, but they found a couple more. You're gonna need two more surgeries to get rid of the rest of the cancer tissue."
"So, I have a fifty fifty chance is what you're telling me?" Maura asked.
"I…I guess." Jane said, staring at the floor.
"Okay."
"Okay?" Jane asked, shocked.
"Jane, I said that before. I knew that when I was diagnosed. I'm a doctor too, remember? Just because there is some more tissue doesn't mean that I'm going to stop fighting. I'm going to beat this. You and I. We're going to beat this."
"You're very brave," Jane stated, repeating Maura's words from a previous case.
"I have you. That's all I need. "
The next couple of weeks had passed without any incident. Maura's doctor had scheduled the last of her surgeries two weeks apart and Jane had basically moved in to Maura's guest room. She was thankful for the company, to be honest. Not being able to work upset Maura more than she thought it would. She loved what she did, but the next time she took a vacation Maura figured it would have been to some tropical island somewhere…But Jane!
Jane was always there when Maura needed her. When there wasn't a case, Jane would come home and bring Maura one of her favorite takeout foods. They spent the weekends together, watching movies on Maura's couch. When Sunday rolled around, the girls were forced to get up and get dressed for the Rizzoli family dinner. There was no skipping that. Angela wouldn't have it.
News spread through the precinct about Maura being sick, but Jane put a stop to the rumors right away. The last thing she needed was to hear people talking about Maura's health at work too. The only people who knew what was really going on were the girls' families. Maura strongly enforced that no one was to treat her any differently than they did before, so no one did. The worry never left anyone's head though. To the Rizzolis, Maura was family.
Once the last two surgeries were complete, the doctor let Maura know that they believed the tumors had been removed to their fullest extent. Now, it was the beginning of chemotherapy.
Jane leaned over and grabbed Maura's hand from where it laid in her lap.
"If you got through three surgeries, you're going to kick ass in chemo," Jane smiled.
The doctor nodded for Maura to make her way into the hospital room.
"You'll be here when I get out?" Maura turned to ask Jane.
"I promise."