Suspicions:

"Hey, Maura, are you coming to see me later?" Jane asked, sitting by the window in the 'community visiting area' as she spoke into her cell phone. The section of the hospital that Maura had paid for her to stay in was really ritzy. It was definitely more expensive than she could afford and far fancier than she wanted, but she didn't have the heart to tell Maura no. Besides, there were some perks... she was really enjoying her private recovery room.

"Once I finish up this au – I mean, yes, in a little while," Maura answered from the other end. The medical examiner avoided talking about work around Jane even though the stubborn detective liked to hound her for details. She knew that Jane missed being busy with work, and the subject usually made her feel depressed.

Unfortunately, she didn't correct her sentence quickly enough. "You're talking on the phone while doing an autopsy?" the brunette squawked, sitting a little straighter in her wheelchair and causing several people just entering the room to glance at her in surprise and curiosity.

Jane could almost hear Maura roll her eyes. "Of course not, that would be unsanitary, distracting, and counterproductive. You called while I was transcribing my autopsy notes from my tape recorder to my computer."

"Don't you have assistants to do that sort of thing?"

"I've already been overworking my assistants lately," said Maura. Jane frowned, feeling a little guilty for usurping so much of Maura's time. She knew that her... friend? Maura was more than a friend... but definitely not a girlfriend. Jane wasn't ready to go there. Yet. Well, whatever Maura was, Jane knew that she had a very busy and important job – one that the detective had been keeping her away from too much over the past few weeks.

"You know, you can visit me tomorrow instead," the detective offered. She was sincere, but unable to keep a note of sadness from her voice. Jane was feeling lower by the second. First she was stuck in this stupid wheelchair, and now she was becoming a burden on everybody she cared about...

"Of course I'll come visit you tonight, Jane. In fact, I'm finishing up right now."

Even though she hated herself for being so needy, Jane was pleased to hear that Maura was coming to see her. "Thank you... I hate being a prisoner in this damn place." The brunette glanced over at Mr. Heissman, an older gentleman who visited the hospital on most weekdays to spend time with his wife. He was speaking to one of the nurses on duty with a peculiar expression on his face.

Maura's sigh redirected her attention back to her conversation. "It isn't so bad. You need to stay at the hospital to rest and recuperate."

"I know," Jane grumbled. "That doesn't mean I have to like it." Suddenly remembering that Maura was the one financing her stay, she hurried to add, "I mean, this private wing is really nice... I'm glad to be staying here. It's just not home."

"And I'm sure your lack of mobility is particularly frustrating."

Jane decided not to respond to that comment. Instead, she continued to watch Mr. Heissman as he sank into an available chair. The nurse, one that Jane recognized from the day shift, put a hand on his shoulder.

They were a good distance away, but between the inflection in their speech and Jane's ability to lip-read, she put together pieces of the conversation.

" – so sorry for your..."

"The doctors said she – it's such a ..."

" – not sure how... died –"

Jane's eyebrows raised as she tried to fit together the broken phrases. Suddenly, she remembered that Maura was still on the other end of the line. "... and you should be able to try crutches in a week or so," she was saying, trying to pass some of the cheeriness in her voice on to Jane.

Even though talking to Maura was one of her favorite things to do, especially recently, Jane's curiosity had gotten the better of her. "That's good. Listen, Maura, I'll let you go finish up the rest of your paperwork. Then you can be done faster... See you later, right?"

Maura said something in acknowledgement, but Jane wasn't really paying attention. When she heard the medical examiner say 'talk to you later', Jane mumbled a quick goodbye and hung up the phone.

"I can't believe she's gone..." Mr. Heissman's voice became clearer now that the phone conversation wasn't distracting her. Jane had never been very good at keeping up with two conversations at once.

"It's just so strange. The other nurses and I were all so pleased with how much progress she was making."

Jane began searching her memory for all the information she knew about Mrs. Heissman. She was currently staying – or was it 'had been staying' now? – in the room across the hall and one door down from Jane. From what she could recall, her first name was Rose, she was in her early sixties, and she was finishing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Thinking back, Jane remembered the last time she had seen Rose Heissman. The older woman had been using a walker, but moving on her own, and her hair was beginning to grow back. She had smiled at Jane as the detective was being wheeled past for physical therapy and, as usual, greeted her with a cheerful 'Hello, dear.'

On the other side of the room, Jane could still hear Mr. Heissman speaking. "Do they know if she was in any pain? The doctors haven't been able to tell me much. She was doing well when I left yesterday."

The nurse sighed. "I wasn't on duty, but from what I've heard, she was complaining of chest pains. You would have to talk to Susie if you want to know more."

Jane recognized the name. Susie was the short, plump morning shift nurse that came to check on her around breakfast time.

"Will there be some sort of – I don't know... test? To see what happened?"

"I'm not sure."

"The doctors haven't explained things very well..."

Seeing her opening, the detective began wheeling herself over to the two people. "Excuse me, Mr. Heissman," she interrupted as politely as possible. "You might not remember me, but–"

The sad gentleman's eyes narrowed a little as he studied Jane's face, and then brightened with recognition. "Jane? Jane... something. I'm sorry, young lady, I can't remember your last name... In fact, I'm not sure if Rose ever mentioned it." Jane felt strange after being called 'young lady', but decided to let it slide. "My wife told me you were moving in down the hall. Aren't you some kind of policewoman?"

Jane offered him a small smile. "Yes sir, I'm a detective with the BPD. I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you," she lied, "but I overheard part of your conversation. I'm very sorry about your wife."

"It's... certainly a shock," he said, frowning.

"Of course," Jane murmured sympathetically. "I wouldn't have bothered you, except that my good friend is a medical examiner. Since your wife passed away very suddenly, maybe she could help answer some of your questions if your doctors weren't much help." Silently, the detective prayed that Maura wouldn't be angry with her for volunteering her assistance with such a 'speculative' assignment. The ME usually preferred cold, hard facts along with cold, hard bodies, and unless she had access to both, she was generally reluctant to draw conclusions. Still, at the very least, she might be willing to translate some of the 'doctor language' that Mr. Heissman had been unable to understand.

Mr. Heissman looked up. "Really?" he asked, looking hopeful in a tired sort of way. "Rose's death was just so sudden, and her attending physician only confused me more. The way he explained it didn't make sense to me."

"Yes. I just spoke to her on the phone, and she's coming over to visit me in a little while. If you want to hang around here for about thirty minutes, she could try to clear up some of the confusion."

. . .

"Jane, I'm really not sure about this," Maura whispered. "I hardly know anything about this particular patient. There's no way I can determine her cause of death or explain it to her husband."

The detective, who had been expecting Maura's reluctant attitude, was prepared to argue her case. "Listen, just talk to the guy for me, will you? His wife died suddenly and he only wants some answers."

"That's the problem," Maura muttered. "He wants answers, and I don't have any. It would be unprofessional, not to mention inaccurate of me to make conjectures about his wife's medical problems."

Jane sighed. "Maur, his wife's already dead. What harm could it do? Just listen to what he has to say and explain some of those big medical words you people use."

The ME raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her breasts. Jane tried valiantly not to look down. "You people?" she repeated.

Realizing that she was losing ground, Jane stared up at Maura from her wheelchair and gave her a pout. Inwardly, she grimaced at using such an underhanded tactic. If Korsak or Frost saw her using a puppy face on Maura, they would never let her live it down...

But then Maura smiled, and Jane knew that she would get her way. "Thanks," she said, not even waiting for the medical examiner to agree with her out loud. "I owe you one."

"I'll talk to him, but I can't make any promises other than that. Medical problems can be very complex and unique to each patient..."

Sensing that Maura was about to go on a tangent, Jane briefly touched the medical examiner's hand, causing both of them to jerk with surprise as a strange spark shot between them. The blonde doctor blinked, surprised that the contact had summoned such a strong reaction. Then again, Jane's touch had always been 'electric' to her...

"Excuse me." A masculine voice interrupted the strange moment hanging between them, and both women turned. "Are you Dr. Maura Isles?"

"I am." Automatically, Maura extended her hand. "You must be Mr. Heissman. I'm sorry about your wife. Jane told me that she had a very pleasant disposition." Although the words were somewhat clinical, the feeling behind them impressed Jane. Obviously, Maura's condolences were heartfelt even though she had not known the deceased.

"Thank you," said Mr. Heissman, equally touched. "Everything's still settling in. The worst part is that her doctors can't seem to tell me what went wrong."

Maura nodded thoughtfully. "Sometimes it can be difficult to tell. The only way to know for sure is to do a full autopsy. That's what my job is, actually."

Mr. Heissman looked disappointed. "I asked about that. Dr. Ferrell – that's the breast cancer specialist – he told me that it would cost several hundred dollars. I can afford it, if you think it's a good idea –"

Instantly, Maura's expression changed from sympathetic to annoyed. "Legally, they should have told you that you have the right to request a free autopsy. It might not necessarily be done at this hospital, but it's still federal law."

"How much do you charge?"

Mr. Heissman seemed slightly uncomfortable asking, but Jane couldn't really blame him. She knew that if she were trying to settle Maura's affairs after the doctor passed away, she would be just as bewildered and confused... – wait, where had that thought come from? Why on earth would she be the one managing Maura's affairs? 'Slow down, Jane,' the detective thought silently. 'You're getting way too far ahead of yourself.'

"I work for the police department, so nothing. I do autopsies on people that have died in unusual circumstances."

"Rose did die in unusual circumstances. She had breast cancer, but they said she was complaining of chest pains and throwing up before she died."

"What stage of breast cancer?" Maura asked, pressing for more details. Jane noticed that she avoided using Rose's name, keeping the questions purely clinical.

"She was diagnosed in stage II and moved to stage III. The cancer had spread to her upper lymph nodes... but the chemotherapy was working. Dr. Ferrell said that, hopefully, they had caught it before it spread to her other organs."

"So there wasn't any further metastasis yet?"

As Mr. Heissman shook his head, Maura noticed his pale complexion and became concerned. "Why don't we sit down in the chairs over there?" she said. "Jane can pull up beside us. All right?"

"Yes, thank you," he said, relieved for the short break.

Jane tried not to be too disappointed that she couldn't walk over and sit in a chair like her companions. "Metastasis is when cancer goes into the rest of the body, right?" Jane asked for clarification. Maura nodded. "So she was getting better?"

"That's what we thought."

The medical examiner sighed, shifting in her seat to face the tired looking man. "Mr. Heissman, vomiting and pain are normal symptoms of cancer and also side effects of the drugs used to treat it, but sudden onset like you've described sounds like an overdose of multiple chemotheraputic agents. Of course, without access to the body, medical history, or toxicology reports, I can only speculate. "

Both Jane and Mr. Heissman stared at Maura. "You think she ODed on her medicine?" the detective asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes."

"Why do you think that?"

"The mention of abnormal chest pain could mean that her heart was strained by an overdose. Again, this is just a rudimentary guess. You shouldn't assume anything until the body has been examined."

"Isn't the hospital supposed to make sure things like that don't happen?"

"Yes," Maura said again. "In this case, Mr. Heissman, I would recommend a full autopsy and lab report. If your wife's toxicology results are abnormal, you'll have your answer."