Chapter 8

He walked into the emergency room area but couldn't find Maura. He walked up to the nurse's station and waiting until one of the nurses was free to talk. "Did you by any chance see Dr. Isles around here?"

The nurse smiled up at him and looked around before she spoke and when she did speak it was just above a whisper. "She somehow snuck by me and was able to make it into the ER and I believe she is checking on Detective Rizzoli. She is a doctor after all right? So how was I to know she wasn't a medical doctor right? Maura and I have been friends for years and I know she's really worried about Jane so I couldn't stop her. Maybe I had my back turned when she came in. I don't remember. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. She did say she'd be out as soon as she found out how Jane was doing and for you to take a seat."

Vince smiled at her and looked at her nametag. "Thank you Jan, I'll just go sit over there and wait for her while I call Jane's parents. Not a call I look forward to." He mumbled under his breath as he walked towards the waiting room."

It didn't take Maura long to find the room where they had Jane. They were trying to stabilize her before they took her into surgery. Maura was stunned by the amount of blood she saw on the sheets lying discarded on the floor. She watched from outside the room as they worked on her. Throughout her stint in surgical rounds during her residency she could never understand why they didn't just take people directly into surgery rather than waste time trying to stabilize them first. And she never got an answer when she asked. She watched the monitors and was relieved to see a steady heartbeat but if they couldn't stop the bleeding that wouldn't last long. She felt so helpless. "Ok let's get her into surgery." The attending physician moved out of the way so they could wheel the gurney out of the room. Maura got her first look at Jane she looked so pale and that frightened Maura. The doctor slowed a little when he saw her. "Maura what are you doing here? She's not quite ready for your services yet."

Maura took Jane's hand and started following him down the hallway. "James, good to see you. I snuck in here. She's a very special friend and I wanted to see if she was ok." She looked down at Jane.

James watched Maura closely then smiled knowingly. "We've got her stabilized and now I can get in there and see what's really wrong. I was able to see at least two gunshot wounds and I need to get in there and see what damage there may be internally. That's where the problems could be. I will make sure someone keeps you informed. Now I've got to go fix her up I'll come talk to you after the surgery."

"Thank you James." Maura turned and walked back towards the nurse's station. When she walked through the door she was surprised to see cops everywhere. She stopped at the desk to talk to Jan. "Thanks for turning the other way earlier. Where did all of the police officers come from?"

"I take it you've never been involved in an officer shooting."

"No I usually deal with the aftermath. So tell me what's up."

"Well when an officer is shot, the other officers all gather round and wait with the family and if the family needs anything they take care of it for them. Plus they're worried about Jane. You going to go in and talk to them?"

"Yeah I guess I should." She walked into the waiting room and looked around the room.

Angela Rizzoli stood up and took Maura in her arms. "How is she doing?" She led Maura over to the chairs and sat down and pulled Maura into the chair next to her. "Is she going to be ok?"

Maura was a bit taken aback by Angela's hug. She looked down at their hands and squeezed Angela's hands hoping to reassure her. She then looked around the room to include Frank and Frankie Rizzoli and Korsak in what she was telling Angela. "I know the doctor who is doing the surgery and he is one of the best. They just got her stabilized and were taking her into surgery when I was kicked out of the Emergency Room. It's going to be a long day, James, the doctor, said there were at least 2 gunshot wounds, none alone would be fatal but together they may have caused some internal damage. He said he would make sure that we are kept up to date and that he would come out and talk to us after the surgery is complete. Is there anything I can get for you or anyone else?"

"No, you are going to stay right here with us, if we need something someone else will get it." Angela watched the young woman next to her and could see how much this was affecting her but also saw that she was holding it all in. Angela released her hands then put her arms around her and pulled her against her chest and whispered. "Jane is a very tough girl and she has something to fight for now so she's going to come through this just fine. As long as she knows you're waiting for her when she wakes up she'll be fine."

Maura had never felt so comforted in her life. Here's this woman whose daughter is fighting for her life and she's comforting me. Maura pulled back so she could look at Angela. "I never got the chance to tell her I'll be here waiting. I hope she knows I'm here for her. Maybe I'll get her drunk so I can take advantage of her when she gets out of here."

"So she told you about that huh?"

"No she told Korsak and he told me today. I swear I had no idea she felt that way about me, if I had I would have welcomed her with open arms a long time ago. And I will be waiting when she wakes up from this and I will do everything in my power to help her through this."

"Good because I would hate to have to hurt you if you broke my baby's heart." Angela smiled at the young woman sitting next to her.

Maura saw the twinkle in her eye and for the first time in since this all happened she was able to smile then she relaxed against the back of her chair to wait. They were kept up to date as promised and things were going as best as could be expected. Maura refused to leave the waiting room, she sat and stared straight ahead.

Angela quietly watched Maura as she suffered in silence and decided she'd had enough. "This is not your fault I blame Jill. I never liked that girl. "

Maura looked at Angela and saw that she was serious. "No it's my fault. If I had been there for her this morning she never would have gone to the bank. She came down to my office and I was with Jill and Jane misunderstood what she saw."

"What did she see?" Angela put her arm on the back of Maura's chair to let her know she's there for her.

"Jill came to see me this morning and caught me shopping for dresses and she suggested that we go shopping. Jane saw her with her hand on my shoulder. I didn't know that Jill had called Jane last night and hinted that there was something going on between her and I. Then Jane saw us and her mind went into overdrive. She took off before I had a chance to stop her. Then Jill said Jane was jealous and that letting her stew for awhile would be good for her. I decided I would talk to her after lunch so I did what I always do when I'm upset. I went shopping. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong and I didn't think it would lead to this? I never got the chance to talk to her." Maura was crying by the time she finished talking.

"So what changed your mind?"

"What do you mean?"

Angela pulled Maura to her and reached up and wiped her tears away. "You said you'd decided that you didn't do anything wrong. So what changed your mind? What made you decide this was all your fault. She was the one that misunderstood and was too stubborn to stay and fight for you. She was the one that decided to go to the bank, you didn't force her to go. None of this is your fault and no one blames you. I don't blame you. Hey Frank do you blame Maura for this?"

"Of course not, this was Janie being a stubborn Rizzoli that's all." He smiled at Maura.

"Hey Frankie do you blame Maura?"

"No Ma I agree with Pops, Jane was too scared to take a chance and when she saw what she thought was someone else stealing her chance she took off instead of dealing with it. No one except those guys at the bank are responsible for this."

"Aren't you going to ask Korsak and Frost?"

"Hell no I don't care what they think and neither should you. Her family doesn't blame you and that should be all that counts. Those guys always blame the wrong people anyway."

"You have no idea how much that means to me but I still blame myself."

"Hey if you want to waste your energy on something as foolish as that who am I to stop you. But I thought Jane said you were a genius. What makes you think you can control what other people do? Jane is supposed to be a smart girl but sometimes she does really dumb things and not even you are going to be able to change that."

"But I hurt her how can I forgive myself for that?"

"Maura why are you so hard on yourself? How could you hurt her if you didn't even know how she felt about you? You more than most know she has a mind of her own and when she puts her mind to something no one is going to stop her. She saw what she wanted to see but she didn't have the guts to stay and fight for you."

"Don't be so hard on her, I didn't give her much of a reason to stay and fight and Jill planted the seed. But I promise you this, she will never have a reason to doubt me ever again."

"What more could a Mother ask for? Why don't you try to rest, we've been here for hours and you haven't relaxed one bit. Go lay down on the couch over there. Frankie get up off the couch and let Maura lie down and rest."

"No Frankie that's ok. I'm fine here with your Mother. It shouldn't be much longer. I think maybe I'll go talk to Jan and see if I can get another update before her shift ends. I'll be back soon. Thank you Angela." Maura leaned over kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. "I'll be back soon." Maura turned and hurried out of the room. She stopped when she got around the corner and leaned against the wall. She was overcome with emotions she had never felt before. The fact that Jane's family didn't blame her for everything meant more to her than she had realized. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders that she wasn't even aware she had been carrying. She let the tears fall and found herself sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor crying her eyes out.

Maura didn't see Angela as she looked around the corner and watched her. "Yup she's a keeper Janie." She turned around and walked to the nurse's station to talk to Maura's friend Jan.