After a handful of reviews suggesting I continue this story, I decided to keep going. I have a general idea of where this story is going but if ya'll have ideas, please do not hesitate to let me know!

Enjoy!


Jane kept a protective and guiding hand placed in the small of Maura's back as she helped Maura walk down the stairwell and towards her front door. Once Maura had said the word 'blind,' Jane began to rush around to get everything done Maura had requested of her. The two had only spoken a few words since the word was uttered, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

Jane helped Maura into her car before sprinting to the driver's side, practically throwing herself into the car in a rush to get Maura to the hospital. She held on to a hope that if she got Maura to the hospital quickly enough, there would be some sort of miracle the doctors could perform. Yet after merging onto the highway, Jane was met with rush-hour traffic. Her car was barely inching forward and Jane was itching to jump from the car and carry Maura to the hospital.

"Do you know if the nurses were able to page Doctor Gao?" Maura asked as she fiddled with the long sleeves of her zip-up hoodie.

"I, uh," Jane stammered, running a hand through her hair as she tried to remember the words the nurse had spoken to her while Maura got dressed. "I'm pretty sure the nurse who I talked to said she would page him. I gave her my cell number and told her to call me if she couldn't get a hold of him so we could be prepared or whatever."

"Thank you," Maura whispered as she turned her head to face the window, only to remember that she could not see the Boston cityscape no matter how hard she squinted her eyes or willed her optic nerves to work. She felt the car begin to move forward at a steadier pace and summoned her memory to create the vision in her mind where she and Jane were. She continued to do this for the next 10 minutes of silence.

"Do you have any idea how this could have happened?" Jane asked, her nerves unable to handle the silence any longer.

"I'm trying to remember," Maura said, turning her head to face Jane on instinct. "I left the morgue at 4pm, drove home, and went right to draw a bath. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to you calling my name. Except when I opened my eyes I couldn't see," Maura thought aloud.

"Did anything happen in the morgue today? Anything funky with an autopsy or anything?" Jane inquired, hoping that there was a clear explanation for what Maura was experiencing.

"It was a fairly slow day, as you know," Maura said. "A vast majority of the day was filled with paperwork," she shrugged.

"So nothing out of the ordinary?" Jane asked again, desperately wishing she could help Maura remember any small detail.

"I am trying to think, Jane!" Maura snapped, instantly regretting her tone. "I'm sorry," she added softly as she clenched her eyes shut. "It's just…The hogweed," Maura said softly, realization hitting her swiftly.

"Hog what?"

"Hogweed," Maura repeated. "It is the plant that I mentioned might have played a part in the death of the teenager from last week. Greg Smith. Just before leaving I helped Susie extract sap from the stem. I wore gloves because I know that the sap is dangerous but the sap…It must have seeped through my gloves. And…" Maura trailed off, realizing what she had done.

"And what?" Jane asked, finally exiting the highway and pressing on the gas pedal to make up for lost time.

"I rubbed my eyes," Maura said softly. "I took the gloves off and then rubbed my eyes because I was exhausted. I did not think to wash my hands because I had the gloves on but I should have known the sap might have seeped to my skin."

"Is this hogweed thing super dangerous? Like, are you blind forever or is it something we can fix? You're always talking about advances with medicine. There's gotta be an advance to counteract this stuff," Jane insisted.

"I am not as familiar with botany as I should be. I only recently began to subscribe to the American Journal of Botany," Maura admitted. "Hopefully Dr. Gao will be able to offer assistance," Maura said softly.

"Yeah," Jane said non-comically as she pulled up into the first available parking spot and quickly shut the car off, hoping out and jogging around to Maura's door. She opened it and took Maura's extended hand, helping her stand balanced before once again placing a hand at the small of Maura's back and guiding her into the hospital, fear inching its way into her.


Jane was growing more concerned for Maura by the minute. Since saying goodbye to the ophthalmologist and dropping a prescription off at the pharmacy, Maura hadn't spoken a single word. She tried to engage Maura in conversation yet it failed every time. By the time she helped Maura into her home, Jane felt as though her heart would break if she didn't see Maura at least try to smile. Jane shrugged out of her coat and turned to the coat closet, kicking her shoes off into the closet as well. When she turned around, he saw Maura with her hand on the wall slowly feeling her way towards her living room.

"Want some dinner?" Jane asked, praying that Maura would respond.

Maura had found her way to the couch and sat down with her back against the arm of the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Bass gets three of his strawberries around this time," Maura said softly.

"And you?" Jane asked, moving Maura's fridge to pull out the tortoise's nightly snack and placing them in the bowl reserved for the pet.

"I am not hungry," Maura responded.

"Well, a brilliant friend of mine once told me that, even if you aren't feeling hungry, you should try to at least eat something small after going this long of a time without food. And this friend is the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts so I think she's pretty reliable," Jane said with a soft smile.

"Was," corrected Maura. "She was the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

"Maura," Jane said, crossing from the kitchen to the living room to sit opposite of Maura. "You heard that doctor. He said that there is a chance that this is totally temporary. That the eye drops I'm gonna have Frankie pick up will get rid of whatever crap got into your eye and you'll have your vision back."

"But that means there is also a chance that it is permanent. That the drops will not be able to fix my eyesight and I will be blind for the rest of my life. All because I made a stupid mistake and rubbed my eyes," Maura said. "What am I going to do, Jane?" Maura asked, lifting her head to look in Jane's direction.

Jane reached out to place a hand on Maura's knee, rubbing it softly to provide some level of comfort to her friend who was in obvious pain.

"I have total faith that you're gonna get your sight back, Maura," Jane admitted. "But if my gut is wrong, then you have so many other options. You could teach all sorts of things at BCU. You could teach the next Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who'll give you a run for your money or something," Jane said, giving Maura's knee a squeeze of encouragement.

Maura laughed at the idea of teaching the student who would one day take her job but tears quickly became more prominent than the laughter.

"Oh, Maura," Jane said as soon as the tears began to fall from her friends eyes. "Come here," Jane added, opening her arms up to invite Maura in a hug.

"It won't be the same," Maura said softly as she tried to stop the tears. "You'll still be a detective and will get caught up in cases and since I won't be in the same building, we'll start seeing each other less and less until we're nothing more than friends who only know what the other is up to from the occasional text."

"Really, Maura?" Jane asked. "You think that just because you get a new job that our friendship would be over?"

"It could happen."

"I'm gonna tell you something," Jane said, her arms still held open. "And you better listen to me. You, Maura Dorthea Isles, are stuck with me, Jane Clementine Rizzoli, until we're old and senile. Got it?"

Maura simply nodded, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her hoodie.

"Now are you going to give me the hug I've been offering or are you going to continue to make me hold my arms out until they fall out of their socket?" Jane asked.

"Jane," Maura said. "Your arms cannot fall out of your socket from being held in the air for any amount of time. In fact-"

"Maura," Jane interrupted, trying not to laugh at her friend. Hearing her name, Maura leaned forward, not entirely sure where Jane was sitting. When she felt Jane's arms begin to encircle her in a hug, she pressed herself against Jane's torso, allowing the taller woman to fully embrace her.


I know that this chapter is super short but I've already started the third chapter and will hopefully get that up within a day or two!

Love to hear your thoughts!