A/N - And, finally, here's the confrontation that everyone's been waiting for. You guys know what to do. Read, review, enjoy.
Blurred unfamiliar faces of homicide detectives passed by Jane with each increasingly anxious step as she made her way through BPD. The vast majority of the uniformed patrol cops and detectives on-call were members of the night-shift, all in various states of adrenaline fueled exhaustion. With her head held down, Jane managed to avoid the pitying looks and words of sympathy from faces that hardly mattered. That hardly mattered to the brunette; nothing mattered except Maura and the tumultuous emotions blazing through her soul.
Her shaking fingers punched the elevator button with the force of a battering ram. The stabbing sensation in Jane's side that had been intensifying since the drive to BPD, increased in fervor as the brunette struggled to remain upright. A calming familiarity of the binging arrival of the elevator cleared Jane's mind of the fog of pain briefly and, with a slight stumble, she rushed forward into the welcoming solitude. Time stood still as each passing millisecond pushed Jane into a further state of paranoia. If she isn't here…I think I might just keel over and die, right here in the police department. Finally, the doors closed and began the seemingly never-ending descent of the small metal box toward Maura's underground realm of death and science.
"Please," she muttered in exhaustion, aching sensations pulsating through her mind. "Please, be here."
Jane couldn't even find the strength to utter Maura's name out loud. Never had she felt this much need for another human being, her hands trying in vain to clutch against the washing tide of emotion. Each heavy constrained breath streaked loudly through the silence before echoing back into her ears.
Later that same day… Come on, really, is this elevator taking me to Mars?
The creaking mechanical sounds continued as the metal coffin descended toward the underground morgue that held her destiny. Seconds turned into endless minutes as the elevator dinged pitifully, opening slowly upon the distressing scene before her.
Jane's heart stopped as the image of Maura and a red-haired young man with a serious demeanor talked pleasantly with an obvious intimacy that murdered her with a flash of jealousy. The ground fell underneath the brunette as her back fell unceremoniously against the cool metal panels of the door as Jane's fears were proved to be a reality. I'm too late…no, I'm too late. Screams of despair ran through the slim woman as Maura's childish smile at the devilish man sitting in front of her rang a tune of disappointment in her heart.
"Maura," Jane repeated in a mantra of reverence. With a slight gasp of pain, Jane clutched her bullet-scarred side; the now un-ignorable heart-wrenching pain stabbing her nerves, leaving nothing left but what-ifs and broken promises. Breathing became next to impossible as each breath of precious oxygen her lungs managed to grab, sent boiling hot embers down through her shivering frame.
In the back of her consciousness, Jane heard the shocked response of Maura and the red-haired man in her office as the floor rushed toward her unfocused eyes. Everything hurts…why? The doctor said I was fine… Scarlet streams of life crashed from the weakened barrier of skin and muscle, flooding the sterile environment of the morgue. A strangled scream echoed in her mind as
But just as she began to give up, the feel of Maura's hands providing pressure to her side caused her eyes to creak open.
"Jane? Jane, I want you to stay with me, okay? Promise you'll stay with me, honey," Maura pleaded with wavering confidence.
She tried weakly to lift her arms to provide comfort to the blonde but failed in her attempt. "What's…wrong?"
"I don't know yet, honey. Elias went to go get some help." Maura soothed before lifting a bloodied hand to Jane's exhausted face. "You're clearly suffering from mild hypotension. I can't sufficiently say in confidence if it's a result of the reopening of your wound or the pain medication you've been taking. Certain medications used for traumatic injuries can have an adverse effect on the body… Several doctors have complained about the impossibility of creating adequate rigorous testing environments that replicate realistic conditions of the users of said medications."
Jane released a choked laugh before the pain overwhelmed her again. "Am I dying?"
"From a previous occurrence of an injury of this type," the blonde said, relief flooding her system. "Your reopened wound is just a direct result of damage that has occurred to an arterial blood vessel near the original gunshot wound. But, that would be an unfounded hypothesis based off data that is unrelated to your unique situation, Jane."
Jane's unfocused eyes swiveled around in an attempt to roll her eyes at Maura's default scientist mode that frequently drove her crazy. The slight increases in pressure on her wound pushed a strangled straining gasp from Jane's clasped lips as the pain lowered slightly.
"Maura?" Jane asked weakly as the blonde continued to comfort.
"Yes?"
Jane sighed as she willed her heart to stop beating so fast. "Last time we were like this, I never forgave myself for putting you in that position. All I could think about was saving Frankie and protecting you from harm. I never stopped fighting for you, Maura.
Jane struggled to breathe stopped her briefly. "I love you and I've just been too goddamn focused on myself and my own problems to admit it. I know I'm too late, Maura, but I just needed to say that, just in case…my luck runs out."
A beaming smile painted itself across Maura's face before she leaned down and kissed Jane's forehead sweetly. "You're hardly too late, Jane."
"What about that red-haired hunk of burning love you were enjoying?" Jane looked away briefly before watery chocolate eyes reconnected with Maura's piercing irises.
"Elias? He was here on business. He's sweet, but he isn't you. Jane, you're everything I could possibly want, now and forever."
Jane's eyes closed as her body released the tension in her heart with a booming sigh, "Make sure you tell me that when I'm little more coherent, Maura. Promise me."
"Promise," Maura managed to say before the grip in Jane's hand loosened. At the same time, Elias and the paramedics charged past the elevator door. The lifeless body was whisked away, leaving Maura and Elias alone. Oh God, please be okay, Jane. Please…