'If I Had It To Do All Over Again

Chapter 9

Maura wouldn't let go of her hand until they stopped her at the door to the emergency room.

"Maura you can't go any further but I promise I will update you as soon and as often as I can." Maura turned and looked into the understanding eyes of her friend Jan, who was also the head trauma nurse at Mass General.

"Please take care of her ok?" Maura pleaded with Jan.

"We sure will, now go wait." She turned and hurried into the emergency room.

Maura turned and headed to the waiting room and was met in the hall by Frankie, Korsak and Frost. "Where's Angela?"

"I sent a squad over to pick her up. How's Jane doing?" Korsak helped Maura to one of the chairs.

"She's doing pretty well under the circumstances. Most of the wounds are wounds they can most likely stitch up so those will just require time for healing. They will set her shoulder and put her in a sling, for all the good that will do, for a couple of weeks. The ribs will take a bit longer to heal but that's only if we can get her to let them heal. But for the most part I think she's going to be ok."

Angela walked into the waiting room after Maura had finished speaking. Frankie jumped up and ran to her and enveloped her in a hug. "Ma I'm so sorry I said those things to you back at the station. I didn't mean any of it."

"Frankie what did I tell you about lying to your mother? I've had time to think about some of the things you said and have decided that you were right. Jane is a decorated officer and I am proud of her but I worry every day about the two of you." She took Frankie's hand and walked over to the chairs and sat next to Maura.

"Ma we take every precaution possible. The other reason I didn't die that day was because I was wearing my vest. Both Jane and I wear them when the situation warrants them. The situations where Jane has gotten injured are not normal everyday situations most cops face."

"And that's what scares me. But I think I saw today that she's a fighter, always has been and always will be. But she can take care of herself, if she can't she has Maura to take care of the rest." Maura did a double take at Angela's words. "What you didn't think I knew? I knew a long time ago."

"But we only just started dating recently how could you have known?"

"You just have to watch the two of you to know how you feel about each other. The two of you were the only ones who didn't know. Ask anyone." She looked around the waiting room at Jane's closest friends and they all nodded. "See everyone agrees. And I already love you as if you were my own so deal with it sweetie." Angela wrapped her arm around Maura's shoulders and pulled her into a hug which Maura awkwardly returned.

She wasn't used to being hugged by anyone but Jane but she found she liked it. The Rizzoli's were a very tactile family and Maura knew she'd better get used to it. "Thank you Angela that's very nice to know. The Rizzoli's have always treated me as part of your family and have made me feel more welcomed than my own family ever did."

"So are you and my Jane going to give me those grandkids?" Maura gasped.

"Ma leave the woman alone, her and Jane haven't been together long enough to get to that point in their relationship so leave her alone before you scare her off." Frankie sat down next to Maura and draped his arm across the back of her chair. "Maura it looks like the Rizzoli's owe you again for saving one of us. Jane would be dead right now if you hadn't helped her."

"No that's where you're wrong. We never would have found her if it weren't for Frost and the GPS. So this one is his." She turned and smiled at Barry.

"No this one is all Jane's. She knew the GPS in her watch would come in handy someday and she took the time to tell me about it. Then even though she was being tortured she remembered to give me the hints so that I would figure it out. Jane saved herself the same way she always does, with grit and determination."

"She did didn't she?" Angela asked with a sense of wonder. "She's always been a resourceful girl but I never realized how smart she was. I guess she can take care of herself can't she? That doesn't mean I'm going to stop worrying about you two." She looked pointedly at Frankie.

"Wouldn't have it any other way Ma." Just then they all looked up as Jan walked in.

"She's in surgery right now. It appears as though the rotator cuff bore the brunt of her weight and it was torn to the point where the orthopedic doctor felt the only way for it to repair properly was to surgically repair it. She'll be in surgery for about 2 hours then she'll be moved into the ICU for overnight observation. They'll probably move her to her own room day after tomorrow and kick her out of here shortly after that. But so far things seem to be going good. Maura can I talk to you for a minute." She then turned and walked out in the hallway and waited for Maura.

"What is it Jan is there something else you didn't want them to know?" Maura asked worriedly.

"Nothing bad. Jane told me to pass something on to you and I wasn't sure if you wanted everyone to know." Jan walked toward Maura and took her in her arms and gave her a big hug. "I told her that was where I draw the line when she also asked me to give you a big hug and a sloppy kiss on the lips." Jan knew that Maura was in love with Jane and had been for a long time but the last time they had talked she hadn't mentioned anything about Jane returning those feelings. "Anything you want to tell me?"

Maura smiled at her friend. "As you know she'd been avoiding me since the incident with Hoyt at the prison, well it turns out she thought the best way to keep me safe was to stay away from me. I forced her hand at my house then we got called out on another murder but then she came back to my house afterwards and we ended up expressing our feelings and found out we both loved each other and one thing led to another and you know the rest."

"I have a feeling you are leaving out quite a few things but we can talk about that later. I'm happy for you Maura, I hope it works out for you, you deserve it. Now I have to get back in there so I can keep you updated. See you later."

"Ok thanks Jan." Maura smiled as she watched her friend walk away. She and Jan had been friends for years, not as close as she and Jane were friends, but she was the one Maura would go to when she needed to talk about Jane or anything else she couldn't tell Jane. She was there for her when Jane shot herself and she listened to her cry whenever she worried about Jane and her risk taking. She had a feeling that those nights are going to be few and far between from here on out. She turned and walked back to the waiting room with a smile on her face.

Angela stood up and left the room telling Maura she'd be back in a few minutes. Maura wondered about the sly smile on her face. She came back a few minutes later with an even bigger grin on her face. She sat next to Maura and took her hand. "I went to the desk and told them you were family and that they should let you visit Jane anytime you wanted to. I know you have connections here and you would have found a way in but I thought I would make it easy on you."

Maura turned to Angela with tears in her eyes. "Thank you. You have no idea what that means to me. And you are right I would have found a way in there." She gave Angela a sly smile of her own.

"I know you would because you did it after she shot herself. I knew you were here every night and you'd sneak out before you thought any of us saw you but I saw you here late at night. You would spend your nights here then go to work in the morning then do it again the next night."

"I did go home and get a couple of hours before I left for work. I just wanted her to know I was there for her if she needed anything." The tears finally started falling from her eyes. "I felt so helpless. I'm a doctor for god's sake and I couldn't do anything to help her."

Angela moved her chair so she was sitting directly in front of Maura. She reached up and placed a finger below Maura's chin to raise her head so she could look her in the eyes. "How the hell can you say you couldn't do anything to help her? From what everyone told me at the time not only did you just save my sons life but you did enough to stem the flow of blood long enough for the medics to get there before they took over. At the hospital one of the medics came to check on her the next day and he told me if it hadn't been for you she would have bled out there on the sidewalk. So from my point of view you did more than most people that day and saved both of my children. Never think you don't do enough Maura."

"Thank you Angela. Today when Frankie was talking to you about him and Jane and their jobs I realized he could have been talking to me too. I used to think she took too many chances in her job but your son and Clair, the woman Hoyt had taken hostage, would both be dead if she didn't do what she did. I never thought about it that way until Frankie pointed it out today. I watched them today as they prepared to enter that building to rescue Jane and as Frankie said they take every precaution and they know what they are doing. I'll always worry about Jane but after today I won't worry as much."

"I guess it's my turn to thank you. Frankie and Jane have always tried to tell me that but it never sank in, now I think it has. Like you I'll always worry, it's a mother's job to worry, but like you said I don't have to worry as much." She leaned forward and gave Maura a hug and Maura returned it fervor. Angela moved her chair back beside Maura and took her hand and they both sat back and waited.

Jane woke 3 hours later and smiled up at her Ma and Frankie then turned to her right and her smiled turned up a notch when she saw Maura holding her hand. "Hey."

Maura leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey back at you. How are you feeling?"

Jane blushed at Maura's open display of affection and looked over at her Ma and Frankie and saw that they were both smiling. "So you guys are ok with this?" She gestured between her and Maura.

Angela decided she was going to make Jane squirm for a little bit. "Ok with what Jane?" She turned to Frankie and winked.

"Yeah Janie what ya talkin' about?" Frankie said innocently. Maura tried to hide her smile as she watched the family banter.

"Come on guys you know what I'm talkin' about." Jane gave them a pleading look.

"All I saw was a good friend kissing someone on the cheek to let them know they are glad they are ok. Frankie is that what you saw?"

"Yeah Ma that's exactly what the evidence suggests. Maybe we should ask Maura what she meant. So Maura was there more to the kiss than the evidence suggests?"

"I defer to Jane." She turned to Jane and smiled at the frustrated look on her lovers face.

"Ah come on! I'm lying here injured and you guys are messing with me." She looked at her mother and Frankie. "You've even got Maura involved in your deceitful ways." She turned to Maura. "And don't think I didn't notice you avoided lying by 'deferring to me'." She did the imaginary quotes in the air. She then turned back to her mother. "Did you know she almost passes out if she lies? She literally cannot lie. Damn I'm tired." She closed her eyes and was immediately asleep.

The three of them looked at each other and laughed. Maura settled in the chair for the long night and Angela and Frankie decided she was in good hands so they headed home for the night.