In the morning, Jane and I are called to a crime scene right after we finish breakfast, and that causes Jane to get rather irritated. She dresses in a black flak jacket and matching pants with a white v-neck underneath. I, on the other hand, put on my favorite pair of wedges that have chevron along the sides, colors alternating between teal, olive green, light pink, and the majority being white. I also have on black skinny jeans, a patterned shirt containing all the colors of the heels, and a white over shirt that I leave hanging open with a black belt around my torso. Jane compliments my "God-given beauty," as she calls it, kissing my lips lovingly before messing with my freshly curled hair. I can tell she put on her boots with the higher heel; her pride cannot stand it when I'm taller than her.
When we arrive at the scene, I wait until the last possible moment before I realize I'm going to have to release her hand. I do so sheepishly, hoping that no one else saw it. That wouldn't be the proper way to announce our new relationship to the majority of Jane's colleagues. I wouldn't do that to her.
"The body's behind the house in the garden, ." I thank the crime-tech assistant for coming in so early before heading over to the described area. Jane is whisked off to look for the murder weapon in an alleyway connecting to the street we came in on. When I reach the body, I kneel down with my medical bag to begin my usual examination done at the crime scene. I look at the stabbing wounds scattered all over the torso and briefly catch a glimpse of the victim's face. I gasp, standing up as my breath is taken away. I back up, unable to process what I had just seen. Surely I'm just imagining things...
"Maur! Hey, Maura! We have something you need to-" Jane stops, looking at the expression on my face and how my hand is over my mouth in astonishment. I simply stare at the victim lying at my feet. Her voice becomes more personal and quiet as she walks over, putting her hands on my forearm out of concern. "Maur, baby...What's wrong?"
I raise my hand to briefly brush tears out from under my eyes that I hadn't realized were there. After all this torture I've gone through in the past month...now my first day back starts with this. "Jane...I know who the victim is...Amalthea Isles...She's my aunt." I run my hand through my hair shakily, not understanding what anyone could possibly have wanted with my beautiful, sweet aunt. Then it hits me, and just as I feared, it hits Jane too.
She states my exact thoughts, looking suddenly very defensive and protective. "Marino had to have done this...And he sure as hell wouldn't hesitate to kill you, either." I sob sadly as Jane gathers me into her arms. Over my shoulder, I can sense she is signalling patrol to bring a unit here, probably to get me because of the discovery that I'm not safe. When have I ever been safe?
"Jane, I can't just stay locked up in my house 24/7!" Now, standing around us are Korsak, Frost, and Frankie. We moved away from the body...I just couldn't stand to look at her anymore.
"Maura, it isn't your decision to make! This is a direct threat on YOUR health and well being! We're required as police officers to keep you SAFE-"
"No, Jane, you FEEL like you're required because you love me. The worst thing that I could go through right now would be to stay safe at sound at home and just twiddle my thumbs while you all risk your lives to save mine! I'm going to work this case, and I don't care if you want police cars to tail me until the day I die, but I AM going to work this case! That's final!" I sound very harsh and snappy, but I know it's the only way to make Jane listen. I need to find the bastard that did this to my aunt. I look over at the crime-tech assistant. "The body is ready to be taken by the morgue van. Thank you." I stride away from them all, radiating anger and also a really thick layer of fear, though I don't let that show. I open the door to get into my car, and in that process I catch a glimpse of Jane's forlorn face. She looks like a sad puppy who just got kicked in the face. My heart goes out to her, but I know that I cannot cave now if I want to have a part in this case. I slam the door and drive to the precinct to perform the autopsy. I check my mirrors multiple times, buried beneath the dreadful thought that someone is coming for me. And coming soon.
"God, she's so upset." I shake my head in disbelief as I drum my fingers on the steering wheel of Frost's car. Even though I had to bum a ride with him since Maura left, I still am not in any way going to let another person drive.
"Jane, you have to remember how strong she is. She's just mad because, well, A. Her aunt was murdered and she's probably scared out of her wits, to tell you the truth. And B. you basically forgot everything that she has went through in the past month and belittled her. She's not incapable. She's strong, Jane." Frost replies with what seems to be years of wisdom. I grip the steering wheel tighter.
"Frost, she cannot risk her life just for this case. That's insane."
He pauses for a moment, coming back with a powerful response. "Or is it, Jane? Isn't that what we do everyday? Isn't that what you're doing right now? You're asking her to be the weak one."
"Frost, that's NOT what I meant at all. It's MY JOB to protect her!" I yell this at him, accidentally. He takes a moment before responding, trying not to yell back at me because he senses my anger is not towards him in the slightest.
"You have to let her deal with her grief the way she knows how to. She'll come around, Jane, and you can still protect her, just don't make her feel inadequate to you. That's probably the last thing she needs right now."
I sigh deeply, knowing he's right. "I guess I'll give her space, if that's what she wants." We pull into the precinct and head up to the bullpen, looking for any leads that we could possibly find. I send Korsak down to observe the autopsy, for Maura's sake.
After changing in my scrubs, I take a moment to get into my autopsy-mindset before heading into the morgue. It's just a victim...You still have to speak for her. I continue my deep-breathing as I walk over to the body, getting out my surgical tools to begin the y-incision. By instinct, I stick to examining the outside of the body until one of the detectives comes, but given my outbreak at the scene, I doubt that anyone will show up.
To my surprise, a few moments later Vince walks in. I must have really upset Jane for her not to come..."Hey Doc, you ready to start?" He's eating potato chips as he walks over, totally ignoring the gruesome aspect of an autopsy that most fear.
"Yes I am, Sergeant. I just wish you would make healthier food choices. You know that those are bad for your cholesterol." Though this is a normal response for me as I begin to cut open the chest cavity, I cannot help but sound off my game...One reason being that I am performing an autopsy on one of my dearest family members, and the other being that I have officially pissed off one of the people who matters most to me.
Just as I feared, Korsak senses this. I was never really good at masking my emotions. "Doc, I'm sorry that your day has sucked. I really think you should bring in Dr. Pyke for this autopsy, but since it isn't my place and I know you won't anyways, I won't push."
"Thank you, Sergeant...I'm sorry for snapping earlier at you all..." I look up briefly at him to show my sincerity before getting back to the task at hand. If I get distracted, I know that I won't be able to desensitize.
"Hey, it's fine. We understand..." He pauses for a moment, as if considering his response carefully. "Jane understands, too. She's just very protective...It's again not my place to say this, but she truly cares about you. She isn't meaning to make you sound inferior, it would just kill her if anything happened to you...Heck, I would be even more worried if she wasn't so defensive. That's just Jane." He takes another handful of chips and eats them, totally oblivious to the fact that I've begun handling the internal organs of a human.
"Thank you, Sergeant..." I meet his gaze again, truly grateful for what he's saying. It makes me feel better, but I still wish that I could approach Jane and talk about it. That's just not who I am, though. I sigh, going back to work to finish this autopsy. My driving force is still to find the killer who has now become the focus of all of my hatred and the source of all of my fear.
"Autopsy results are in: has found a sample of DNA that she is being ran through the system for any hits. She also determined the murder weapon to be a knife that has a hilt with a serrated edge." Korsak walks across the bullpen, handing me the file before going over to his desk to grab his keys.
"Woah, where are you going?!" I stand to my feet, walking over.
" informed me that her aunt had a boyfriend that she was living with. I'm feeling that we should go interview him."
"Alright, I'll get my coat." I try to ignore the urge that I should go to the basement and be with Maura since I know she's hurting, but it is still paining me as I step out of the precinct and head to the victim's house.
"One Caesar salad with dressing on the side for the most beautiful Chief M.E. that has ever existed." Angela deposits my order on the place mat in front of me, along with a diet Green Tea.
"You're too kind, Angela. Thank you." I sadly begin to eat, though I try not to radiate it to her.
She places her hand comfortingly on my shoulder, rubbing up and down gently. Her voice is uncharacteristically small when she speaks. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Is there anything that I can do?" I shake my head no, looking down to hide the tears that resurface from this morning. I am so pathetic. "Oh honey..." Also uncharacteristically, I let her pull me into a loving embrace and place a kiss on the top of my head. I even hug her back, longing for some comfort that Jane would normally give me. "It's alright, honey. It's alright."
"No it's not!" I sigh sadly. "I lost my aunt and my girlfriend in one day."
"What?! What makes you think that you've lost Janie? I swear, she's incredibly loyal...Especially to you. She's probably even more faithful to you than she is to me...She loves you, dear."
I blow my nose before looking into her eyes to show how wrong she is. "You didn't see the look she gave me after I yelled at her...I was so rude, and sh-she was just trying to help." I sob louder than I expect, and I'm sure it causes people to look my way. Luckily, they all know what happened this morning, so they don't question my broken shape
"Maura...I promise you, Janie understands. She's dealt with those who are grieving before...Heck, I'm sure you were easier to deal with than I was whenever I found out Frank was having an affair..." She strokes my cheek. "It'll be okay. You just gotta have faith. Jane said she is in love with you. True love cannot be reversed that easily, believe me."
I wipe my eyes, feeling somewhat better from Angela's words of wisdom. "Thank you, Angela...Do you think I need to go see her or wait for her to come see me?"
She rubs my back and gives me another short squeeze. "Well, right now she's probably fueled by the rage for whoever did what they did to try and hurt you. I say let this case get solved, then she will come to you, I promise. She's not going to let you get away that easily.." She kisses my forehead before going to serve her other customers. I finish my food before heading down to the crime lab, hoping that this case gets solved very soon.
"Hello . We're so sorry for your loss. May we come in?" I try to mask my hurting soul to speak with Amalthea's boyfriend. I don't want to add fuel to the fire.
"Actually, I was about to go outside and tend to the garden. Feel free to follow." The boyfriend closes the door behind him, walking past us and out behind the house. I look at Korsak, and he senses my confusion. Oddly unbothered for someone who just lost their significant other. Nevertheless, we follow him.
"Sir, what can you tell us about your girlfriend? Had she been any different for the last few weeks?" Korsak is the one to conduct this interview. I walk around to the other side of the house, honestly just looking around to not be focusing on the man. I still process the questions and answers that I hear, but they seem fuzzy to me. I look through the trash cans set up beside the house and the flowerbeds. Some of the flowers look familiar to me. Oh, that's Lily of the Valley. Maura always talks about how that's her favorite flower and the flower of her birth month. My heart drops when I think of Maura. I replay in my mind how she yelled at me this morning and how she left the crime scene so upset. She's probably done with me completely, now. I didn't mean to make her sound incapable. I realize there's nothing I would give more than to simply be held by her right now. Maura...I pull out my phone, unable to take it anymore as I open up a new text message and select her number.
Suddenly, my phone is thrown to the ground and I'm knocked down from behind. What the hell?! I turn over, punching and thrashing at a body that is holding me down, a hand over my mouth. I cry out, kicking the man off of me briefly. I catch a glimpse of a gun. All the hairs on my body stand up. I scream loudly, not knowing what else to do as I stand and take a swing at the man. "KORSAK!"
The man knees me harshly in the stomach, bringing his elbow down on my shoulder blade after I hunch over. I cry out, attempting to punch him once more, but he clearly has special training. He roundhouse kicks the side of my head, sending me into the rose bush. I cannot count how many times the tip of his steel-toed boot comes into my side. I curl into the fetal position, trying to block out the pain as I close my eyes. I pass out.
In the Forensics lab, we are running every test known to possible on my aunt. There's got to be something here.
" , nothing turned up in the wider panel test." Susie informs me of this while I'm searching through the toxin text.
I sigh, running my hand through my hair. "Alright. Thank you, Senior Criminalist Chang." I stand up, going through the lab door and heading to my office, wishing more than anything to be away from the stress of this seemingly-unsolvable case. Just then, Frost comes running out of the elevator with a look of panic on his face. He sees me, running over immediately.
" ! Come quick, you need to ride with me to the hospital." He is out of breath, gripping my forearm to bring me along.
"What?! What happened?" I immediately feel nauseous, cringing as I ask.
"It's Jane. She was attacked. Now come on, we have to GO!"