Chapter 8

Jane was silent during the entire cab ride to Fenway. Both Frankie and Tommy noticed the distant, worried look etched in the eyes of their sister. Neither, however, could bring themselves to ask Jane what was going on. Both brothers knew to tread lightly when Jane was this quiet. They knew she couldn't and wouldn't be pushed. She would talk when she was ready.

When the cab got to the ballpark and the Rizzoli clan got out, Jane attempted to shake off her mood. She hadn't reached Constance when she phoned earlier so she felt somewhat in limbo. She left a message for Constance to return her call. Hopefully that would happen soon. Jane stared down at her hands and at the cell phone she was holding as if willing it to ring. But, it was quiet for the moment.

"Come on guys, let's get to our seats," Jane offered up. Frankie and Tommy both nodded and followed. Come on Maura, why am I at this baseball game instead of with you? Jane still didn't understand Maura's need to make Jane come to this game.

They found their seats and Jane had to smile in spite of herself. The seats were excellent. 5 rows up and directly behind home plate. Jane had never in her life had seats in Fenway this good. Jane always thought you had to have been on the Mayflower to have the seats she and her brothers were about to occupy. Tommy and Frankie were speechless, which was a definite first for the Rizzoli boys.

"Damn Jane! How did you manage to get these tickets? Did you save like the Pope are something?" asked Tommy.

"It wasn't me little brother. You can thank Maura for these tickets. They are a gift to us from her," Jane tried to smile but felt a tightness around her heart.

"Maura?" asked Frankie. "What did we do to have Maura treat us to this?"

"I'm not sure exactly. I was just given the tickets this morning."

As they settled into their seats it was immediately clear that Maura hadn't secured three tickets to this game but four. There was an empty seat in between Jane and her brothers. Staring at the seat that should have had her best friend, Jane had to fight back the beginnings of tears. You are supposed to be here, Maura.

"Is Maura meeting us here?" asked Tommy.

"No," and Jane didn't expand on that answer.

Frankie started to say something but saw the look on Jane's face and stopped. After a few seconds of silence, he reached over and grabbed Jane's hand. "Whatever is going on, it'll be ok Janie."

Jane let out a deep sigh and looked at her brother, "I really hope so."

The Rizzoli clan distracted themselves over the next 20 minutes watching pre-game warm-ups for both teams. All three Rizzolis started to relax a bit. The atmosphere at a Sox/Yankees game was infectious and it was hard not to get swept up in the moment. All three Rizzolis were life-long Red Sox fans and while they had all been inside Fenway for random games throughout the years they never got used to the sights, sounds and smells of this ballpark.

The game was about to start when Jane felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around and for a brief moment thought she might find Maura. However, it wasn't Maura who tapped her shoulder.

"Detective Rizzoli, so good to see you again," said the man seated behind her.

"Dr. Peterson. How are you?" Jane recognized the man immediately as a doctor from Mass General Maura had tried to set her up with about two years ago.

"I'm good. How are you? And it's Michael, Jane."

"I'm just fine thanks. Fancy meeting you here," she said with a grin.

"Oh, I never miss the Yankees games."

"These are the season tickets you mentioned to me that one time?"

"Yes, You should have taken a bigger interest in me two years ago. This," he gestured towards the park and view, "could have been all yours," and his grin got wider.

"You should have described the seats in a bit more detail," she teased.

Michael laughed at that comment. His eyes wandered to Frankie and Tommy and his grin got bigger as he realized they were both getting absorbed in their banter.

Jane, catching that he was eyeing her brothers, reacted. "I'm sorry Michael, these two here are my brothers, Frankie and Tommy. Guys, this is Dr. Peterson." Both Frankie and Tommy shook hands with the doctor.

"Janie, you had a shot at this and passed? You need to get your head examined," uttered Tommy. "Owww!" came next as he got punched by Jane.

Michael couldn't help but snicker. "Where's Maura?"

"Maura?" Jane asked surprised that he was asking.

"Yes, Maura. She was supposed to be here with you. Is she just running late?"

Jane, uncertain as to how Michael knew Maura was involved with the tickets almost didn't answer. "No, she's not running late. She just couldn't make it tonight." The sadness behind that answer was detected by all three men.

"That surprises me. She went through an awful lot of effort to get those tickets for you guys."

Clearly Michael knew something of the history of the tickets. He now had Jane's full attention. Maybe, just maybe Michael knew something that could help Jane out.

"What do you mean?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't. What did she tell you?"

"Well, the seats the four of you are occupying, Maura's absence notwithstanding, are Dr. Xiang's seats. When Maura told me what she wanted and why, I put her in touch with Xiang. He is the only person I know in this entire section that, for the right deal, would ever even consider parting with Yankees tickets."

"And what did it cost Maura?" Jane was almost afraid to hear how much money Maura had been roped into spending on the seats.

"I know part of the payment but I have a feeling she didn't tell me absolutely everything. Would you believe that Maura didn't have to pay a penny for these tickets?"

Jane was already shaking her head no. "If she didn't get charged then how did she manage four tickets?"

"Would you believe Maura offered to cover Xiang's medical service/on call rotation for every weekend next month?"

"What?!"

"Our good Dr. Isles offered to cover Xiang's call rotation at Mass General."

"She agreed to work on live people?" Jane was now completely confused.

"I was a bit shocked myself. I've known Maura for years and she absolutely hates treating patients. She was always better suited for pathology."

Jane tried to picture Maura covering a hospital rotation full of living, breathing patients. She could also almost see Maura breaking out in hives. Maura, why? She just didn't understand any of this. "Michael, you said Maura told you why she wanted these tickets. Will you please tell me what she said to you?"

Michael hesitated for a moment. He started to debate if he had overstepped the boundaries a bit and was about to avoid answering when he looked at Jane. There was a slight look of desperation on Jane's face and some panic too. Michael took in that look and decided to explain to Jane what Maura had told him.

"Maura came to me about two months ago and asked if I knew anyone with four tickets they would be willing to sell to her. I asked her what game and she didn't know. She asked what the absolute best game to watch would be and I told her any Red Sox/Yankees game would be like gold.

"So then she asked if I knew anyone willing to part with four Red Sox/Yankees seats. Jane, I swear I'd have given her my seats but I only have two seats and she insisted on four."

"Did she explain why she wanted four tickets?"

"She told me she wanted to surprise you and your brothers with the tickets. She said she wanted to do something that would show the three of you just how grateful she was that you had accepted her into your lives and made her feel like part of your family."

Jane let out a slow breathe. "Did she…?" she had to choke back tears that stopped her from finishing her thought.

"Did she say anything else? Jane, she told me that for the first time in her life she understood what real, unconditional acceptance and love felt like. She said your whole family took her in and made her feel like she was wanted and loved. She said she just had to try to do something special for her new found family and you had tried to explain to her what Red Sox baseball had meant to the entire family once so she thought a game with you guys would be a small way to give something you love back to you."

Listening to this Jane couldn't stop the tears from falling. She wasn't sobbing but the tears streaked down her cheeks. She turned to Frankie and leaned in. "I have to go. Promise you both will stay for the entire game."

Frankie looked at her with concern and nodded. "Sure Janie, sure. Will you be ok?"

"I will be after I find Maura." She stood up, leaned in and kissed Michael's cheek. "Thank you Michael." She then walked away without even waiting to hear Michael's answer of "You're welcome, Jane."

A/N Thanks to everyone for the reviews. I, too, have decided Maura's father is a prick. 3 years and not one appearance- so he's fair game to make into a jerk as far as I'm concerned. Sorry this is a little pieced together. I'm trying to fit in writing this as best I can with a crazy schedule. Thanks for hanging in as I work through the story. I think you'll understand and appreciate how this all works itself out and I'll try to get it out of my head and onto this as quickly as I can.