Chapter 9

Maura was finally able to lay her head down and relax. She was sitting in a chair beside Jane's bed at the hospital and she could see for herself that Jane was ok and she could relax. The surgery found internal bleeding as Maura had suspected, four broken ribs and the effects of the collapsed lung. She woke when she felt a hand drop on her head and looked up into Jane's smiling eyes. "Ouch! Three times in one day, that must be a record."

"What are you talking about?" Maura asked.

"This is the third time today that I woke up and you were by my side. This isn't exactly what I meant when I said I could get used to this." Maura leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. Jane puller her back for more. "Why do I have to keep pulling you back for a longer kiss?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you so I'm being careful. But if you insist on wanting more I am more than happy to meet your demands." Maura placed both hands on either side of Jane's face and looked her in the eye. "If you ever run off on your own like that again I will kill you myself." She then lowered her lips to kiss Jane. "It's one thing to promise to take care of someone in sickness and in health but don't you think this is taking the sickness part a little too far?" Jane started laughing but winced in pain. "Are you ok? I'm sorry I won't make you laugh anymore."

"In sickness and in health huh? You sure about that? Ma says I'm accident prone so I might keep you busy." She held up her bandaged hands to get a good look at t hem. "How am I supposed to do anything with my hands bandaged like this?

"Scrapes and cuts are one thing but this is another thing all together. And I think the whole idea behind your hands being wrapped up like this is that you don't use them. You don't plan to do this again do you?"

Jane pretended to think about it and Maura playfully slapped her arm. "Ouch, you shouldn't be hitting me I'm wounded."

"Oh I'm not going to fall for that. That didn't hurt and you know it." Jane smiled sheepishly. "You're not going to get away with that."

"Are you trying to tell me I'm not going to get any sympathy from you? If that's the way it is going to be I want a new girlfriend. I want someone who is going to fall all over herself trying to anticipate my every need and meet it before I even ask for it and will feel sorry for me whenever I get beat up by the bad guy. So if you aren't going to do that then I want a new girlfriend."

"Ok see you around the office then." Maura laughed and started to move away when Jane tried to grab her but winced in the pain. "Ok no more fooling around you're hurting yourself. And you would never be happy with someone like that."

"Oh so this is all my fault?"

Maura looked around the room as if she were looking for someone else to blame. "Do you see anyone else I can blame for your injuries?"

"Ok I'll give you that one, this is all my fault. No wait! Blame Cavanaugh, he took Frost away from me."

"Korsak told me you went to meet this guy by yourself." Maura carefully took Jane's hand and let it rest in hers.

"Remind me to kill Korsak when I'm out of here. When the guy called he told me he would not talk to me unless I was alone." She turned to look at Maura with a pleading look in her eyes. "You knew how important this was Maura, I had to do something. How was I to know he was lying in wait for me?"

"Jane do you have any idea how close you came to dying? Had Korsak and Frost not found you when they did you would have died within minutes. You would have drowned in your own blood." By the time she was done talking Maura was crying. "I almost lost you Jane."

"God Maura don't cry, you know I can't deal with tears. Come on don't cry. I'm sorry I made you go through this. I can't promise it won't happen again but I promise I will be more careful."

"Maura sniffled and laughed. "You know damn well you will not be more careful, you wouldn't be you if you were. I love you just the way you are."

"Do you?" Jane asked seriously.

"Yes I do, I love you very much. I think I have for a very long time but I was too afraid to tell you for fear you would run away."

"Not from you Maura, I would never run away from you I love you too much. I told you back in that cellar that I loved you and I meant it."

"I wasn't going to hold you to that one since it was said under duress." Maura kissed the bandages +on the back of her hand.

"Under duress or not I meant it. Come here." She crooked her finger beckoning Maura forward.

Maura smiled and leaned forward for a long lingering kiss. "I guess this is why you didn't like any of the men I set you up with." Maura jumped back as if she had been stung. "Too late to move away now Dr. Isles or can I call you Maura now that you're part of the family?"

"Yes please call me Maura Mrs. Rizzoli."

"Call me Angela. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, what kind of a mess did you get into this time Jane?" She turned toward the bed and leaned forward to kiss Jane on the forehead. "How are you? Are you ok?"

"My ribs are a little painful and I've got a headache but they said I should be ok." Jane tried to sit up but her ribs hurt and Maura hurried over to raise the head of the bed.

"Well then quit moving around if it hurts. You never were the smartest when it came to dealing with injuries. I guess it's a good thing you hooked up with a doctor huh? She'll keep you busy Maura." Jane gave Maura an 'I told you so' look and Maura had to smile.

"Yeah Ma I was just telling her that."

"Maura the only advice I can give you is make sure your first aid kit is fully stocked at all times. Big bandages are a must."

"Ma will you be quiet you're going to scare her off." Jane looked at Angela trying to get her to shut up.

"She has a right to know what she's getting into don't ya Maura?" Angela turned and looked at Maura who was smiling broadly as she watched the two Rizzoli women banter back and forth.

"No Ma you are not going to put her in the middle of this. Don't make her take sides."

"Jane there are no sides in this." Maura sat down next to her and carefully took her hand again. "It's just nice to know a few things in advance. I already knew that I was going to have to take care of you. Don't give me that look, you know you need someone to take care of you and you're going to love it."

"Who would not enjoy being taken care of by you?" She pulled Maura down for a kiss.

"Hello! Mother in the room! I would tell you two to get a room but you already have one so I guess I should leave."

"No Mrs…Angela you stay, I have a few things I need to take care of at the office so you can sit with her." Maura leaned down and gave Jane a quick kiss. "I'll be back in a couple of hours ok?"

"Ok I'll see you in a few." She pouted as she watched Maura leave the room.

"I never thought I'd see the day." Angela was smiling at her oldest child.

"What day was that Ma?" Jane had an idea but she wanted to see what she was going to say.

"The day that you are whipped and wrapped." Angela pulled up the same chair that Maura had been sitting on.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, for you I think it's actually a good thing. Haven't you ever heard someone say 'he's whipped'? Well you are good and truly whipped and she's already got you wrapped around her little finger. It's about time you fell for someone and she seems like she'll give you a run for your money." Angela sat down in the chair Maura had been using. "So do you want to talk about it? How long has this been going on and why didn't you tell me so I could bring my friend's daughters around instead of their sons?"

"Well Ma it actually just started yesterday." At Angela's disbelieving look Jane went on. "No Ma that's the truth. I've always been attracted to her but I didn't know until yesterday that she felt the same way. I love her Ma, I really do."

Angela smiled up at Jane. "I can tell you do and I can also tell she feels the same way about you. I never saw this coming. Does Frankie know?" Jane shook her head. "So am I the first in the family to find out?"

"Yeah Ma you are." Both women smiled an evil smile.

"We could really do a number on your Father and Brother couldn't we?"

"So you're the one I got this trait from aren't you?" Jane tried to laugh but it hurt.

"If you're talking about the 'we could have fun with this' trait then that would be me. Your Father doesn't have an evil bone in his body."

"Yeah I guess you're right Ma." Jane tried to hold back a yawn.

Angela stood up. "Why don't you get some sleep, your Dad and I will be back tomorrow. Maura will probably be back soon so why don't you just rest." She leaned down and kissed Jane's forehead. "Sleep." Jane was almost asleep by the time she left the room.

The doctor came in about an hour later to talk with Jane. "So Detective Rizzoli how are you feeling?"

"Well let's see." She held up her hands. "I have matching holes in my hands, a splitting headache, my ribs are killing me and I have this cute little cut on my neck. Just what a girls needs, a bunch of scars."

"So tell me how you really feel?" The doctor laughed as he read her chart. "We'll probably be able to release you sometime tomorrow but you're going to have to take it easy for the next week or so."

"Define what you mean by 'take it easy'. Are you saying I can't go back to work for a week?" Jane asked already knowing what the answer was and not liking it.

"At least a week, maybe more. It depends on how fast you heal. Can you even hold on to anything?" He reached for the TV remote and handed it to Jane and she promptly dropped it. "How would you be able to hold your gun?"

"Ok point taken. But if I take it easy I can go back before a week right?" She laid her head back in frustration.

"I don't expect you to be back any earlier than a week. Then you can go back once I'm convinced you are fit for duty and if you don't take it easy it will take longer to heal. So it would be in your best interest to take it easy."

"I can help her with that." They both turned towards the door and saw Maura standing there. "I've taken the next week off to take care of her."

"You did that for me?" Jane asked in a whisper and Maura nodded her head.

"Well then Dr. Isles I trust that you will be able to keep her from doing too much too soon. She needs time to heal. She wants to go back to work but I told her she couldn't." The doctor was looking between the two women.

"Well of course you can't go back to work Jane. You'd be useless."

"Don't sugarcoat it Maura tell me the truth."

"Think about all the things you need your hands for Jane." She saw the look on Jane's face and she knew exactly what she was thinking and she actually blushed in front of the doctor. "At work Jane."

"Well I need them for that too you know."

"That would be my signal that it's time for me to leave the room. Jane just take it easy. You need to make an appointment to come in next week for a follow up checkup and I will take out your stitches and determine then if you can go back to work. I'll stop by again tomorrow for one last check on you and sign the paperwork."

"Thank you doctor."

"Just behave."

"Like that's ever going to happen." Jane looked around the doctor and saw Korsak standing in the hallway.

"I can behave when I want to or in this case when I have to. I guess I owe you a thank you for saving my life."

"Nah I was just covering my partner's back. No thanks needed. How ya feeling Janey?"

"How many times have I told you not to call me Janey? But I guess as long as you saved my life I'll let you this time." Jane smiled up at her old partner. She really missed working with him.

"You still didn't answer my question, how are you feeling?"

"Well let's do an inventory shall we?" She held up her hands. "Two holes that shouldn't be there." She pointed to her head as best as she could with wrapped hands. "I have a headache like I've never had before." She turned her hand towards her midsection. "I have four broken ribs that make breathing difficult. And there are various bumps and bruises that shouldn't be there but hey I'm alive right?"

"Next time I don't care what you say, I'm following you."

"There better not be a next time where she takes off on her own. Right?" Maura turned to Jane for confirmation.

"Not if I can help it, there will not be a repeat performance of this. This hurts too much. And I can't come back to work for at least a week." She complained to Korsak.

"Well you got the Doc here to take care of you. That should make it a little easier right?"

Jane smiled up at Maura. "Yeah she's taking the week off to help me out. Maybe I won't want to come back after all." Just then Frost walked around the corner and into her room. She looked at him before he had a chance to say anything. "Thank you for saving my life, I hurt where no one should hurt, I should be getting out of here tomorrow and I don't plan on doing this again in this lifetime." She looked up at Maura. "Did I miss anything?"

"No I think you covered everything."

Frost stood there with his mouth hanging open not knowing what to say or do. "Frost close your mouth your collecting flies." Korsak loved picking on Frost every chance he got.