Author's Note: I tried to give you guys a faster update. I hope enjoy this chapter. A little humor, but more angst.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
CHAPTER 7: The Necklace
She was sleeping peacefully when he arrived to her room that evening. The team was gone. Back the office, he assumed. Lisbon's brothers were there, however. Tommy and Luke were snoring in their chairs. James, who was reading a novel of some sort, looked up when Jane entered the room.
"Look," Jane began right off the bat. "I know that I have a tendency to be..." He trailed off, thoughtfully searching for the right word.
"An ass?" James finished for him.
He smiled. "I suppose. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I am truly sorry for the way I treated you."
James shrugged it off. "Forget about it," he insisted. "Hell, it isn't like I was being generously civil either."
Jane extended a hand. "Truce?"
James shook his hand. "This is like one of those cheesy movies Teresa watches on TV."
Jane cringed. "They are quite awful, aren't they?"
"Extremely," James agreed, grinning.
The raspy voice came from behind. "They are wonderful stories that teach inspiring life lessons. So screw you both."
They turned. Teresa's eyes were opened, glaring at them.
James chuckled. "They are quite cheesy and a bit unrealistic."
She sarcastically batted her eyelashes at her brother. "And those bloody, gory horror movies you watch with your girlfriend aren't unrealistic?"
"You're with the CBI. You tell me."
She rolled her eyes.
"James, would you mind terribly if I had a moment alone with your sister?" Jane asked him politely.
"Not at all." James smiled at Teresa. "In fact, I was just about to head back to my hotel. Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course. It's been a long day." She glanced at the sleeping forms of her other two brothers. "Take them, too. You all need rest, and I mean real rest."
"Yes, ma'am." James gently woke Tommy and Luke, explaining that visiting hours were nearly over and it was time to go back to the hotel for the night. Jane had begun to notice that the three brothers were actually getting along better now that their sister was awake and okay.
The brothers said their goodbyes to Teresa and left, leaving Jane alone with her.
"You were gone for a long time," she commented. "Nearly all day. Did your walk really take that long?" There was an unmistakable accusing bit to her tone. The tone she used with suspects while she was interrogating them.
"I also had a few errands I needed to run," he explained. He dug around his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box, handing it over to her. "I got this for you a few weeks ago. I just never had the chance to give it to you."
A flicker of amusement crossed her face, but then she looked at him uncertainly. "Is this a trick?"
He shook his head.
Although she seemed doubtful, Lisbon lifted the top of the box with her free hand and had to stifle a mesmerized gasp. She looked up at him with that happy sparkle in her eye and he couldn't help but smile at her. That was all he had really wanted, that look in her eye.
"Jane," she breathed, holding the necklace in her hand. "It's... gorgeous."
"It's nothing," he insisted.
"Of course it is!" She grinned. "This is so wonderful. I... I can't accept it."
"Yes you can."
She shook her head. "I really shouldn't."
"The color looks lovely with your eyes," he told her, quoting himself from a few years ago. He winked.
She blushed. "I really shouldn't..." she repeated.
"Please, just accept it," he pleaded in a half-teasing tone.
She beamed. "Wow. Thank you so much, Jane. I absolutely love it."
"My pleasure," he replied sincerely, smiling.
"You said you got it a few weeks ago?"
"Yes."
She cocked her head to the side curiously. "What was the occasion?"
He chuckled to himself. Ah, the million-dollar question. "You know, there wasn't really an occasion," he confessed. "I was actually searching for a suspect with Rigsby one day. We found the suspect in a bar downtown, and next to the bar was this little jewelry shop." He pointed to the necklace. "I saw that in the window and it reminded me of the jewelry I gave you a while back. I thought it looked good on you. So I got you this." He shrugged sheepishly. "At the time, there was no occasion. But now, it's kind of like... a token."
She raised an eyebrow. "A token?"
He nodded. "Of my apology."
"Oh, Jane. Don't worry about it."
"I lost my temper, and I am very sorry about that."
"If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I mean-"
"It's okay," he said quickly before she could bring it up. "Let's not talk about it."
"Sounds good to me" She held the emerald necklace out to him. "Would you mind helping me put it on? It's kind of hard one-handed."
He walked to the side of her bed, taking the necklace from her and securing it around her neck. "Perfect."
She touched the jewel with her fingertips. "Thanks."
He smiled and nodded. "You're welcome." Jane looked around the room nervously." I wanted to ask you something."
Lisbon took a small bite of the applesauce that sat on the tray next to her bed. "Okay."
"I was thinking," he began, cursing himself for fidgeting. "Maybe I could stay with you for a while, just until you get back on your feet. Literally." He smiled.
"Oh." She set her cup of applesauce back onto the tray.
"Yeah. I mean, I could go grocery shopping for you and drive you to your appointments," Jane offered. "I could help with your laundry and cooking."
"And you could help me with my showers!" Lisbon went on, seeming unnaturally enthusiastic.
His eyes widened a bit and his throat caught. He hadn't exactly thought of that. "Uh-"
She laughed at his terrified expression. "Relax. Van Pelt already offered to stay with me." She gave him a grateful smile. "I just wanted to see you freak out a little bit. But thank you for the offer, Jane. That's very... thoughtful of you."
"Grace already offered?" he asked, surprised.
Lisbon nodded. "This morning."
"Oh," was all he said.
"But thank you," she said again. "It really means a lot."
"Don't mention it." He quickly changed the subject. "So, when are they letting you out of here?"
She sighed. "I think Ellis said something about tomorrow morning."
"That's great news."
"Yeah." Her face fell a bit as another thought came to her. "But my brothers leave tomorrow. That's kind of a bummer."
"I'm sorry."
She shrugged. "What can you do? They do have lives."
"Mr. Jane?"
He turned toward the doorway and suppressed an irritated groan. Caroline placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jane, but visiting-"
"Visiting hours are over. I get it." He turned back to Lisbon. "I have to go now. Will you be okay?"
"Yes, I will be fine."
"I'll be back tomorrow," he promised.
The journey to the hospital parking lot took a good fifteen minutes, mostly because the entire facility was so huge but partly because he was so distracted he got lost a couple of times. When he finally reached the parking lot, his phone began to ring. He fished it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"
"Hey, Jane," Grace chirped. "I need a favor."
"Okay."
"I talked to Wainwright about taking care of Lisbon," she informed. "Of course, he understood completely and agreed we could work something out. But there is a meeting tomorrow morning, and every agent's attendance is mandatory."
"So you need me to take Lisbon home because I am not an agent," he finished.
"It would help so much," she gushed. "I know it's a huge favor to ask, but-"
"Grace, please." He chuckled. "Don't worry, I will take care of it."
"Thank you so much, Jane! I owe you one!"
"You owe me nothing, Grace," he said, climbing into his car. "I'm happy to help."
X
He hadn't thought of how difficult it would be to load Lisbon and her wheelchair into his tiny Citroen. He realized this as he was pushing the wheelchair through the parking lot. She was thinking the same thing, because she said, "How exactly are we going to approach this?"
"Let me worry about that."
The first thing Lisbon suggested was hobbling on one foot and throwing herself into the seat. He laughed and said, "Yeah, because that would end well."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"I do, in fact." He smirked. "You are going to have to hobble. Just a little, though, and I will be supporting you the entire time. I swear."
She nodded. "This ought to be fun."
"Hush. Now, you are going to have to trust me."
"Fine."
"Good." He smiled. "Lean forward."
To his surprise, she did as he said without an argument or even a smartass comment. He knelt beside her chair and wrapped on arm around her torso. "Okay, I'm going to help you out of the chair. Adjust yourself a little so you are facing away from the car door. Then, I am going to lower you in. Sound okay?"
"I guess."
"On the count of three."
Lisbon nodded. "One."
"Two."
"Three!" they said together. In one motion, Jane helped her from the chair, and she was now balancing on her one good foot. "Adjust yourself," he told her. Teresa shifted her foot so that she was facing him. Never letting her go, he slowly eased her into the passenger seat. When she winced, he stopped abruptly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she insisted.
Jane slid his arm to the back of her legs and carefully rotated her body so it was facing the windshield. "Is that okay?"
"Actually, yes," she replied, surprised. "I can't believe we pulled that off without killing me."
"Is that leg okay or do we need to prop it up with something? Because I might have-"
"Jane, I am fine. Thank you."
''Would you tell me if you weren't?"
"Yes."
He closed her door, folded the wheelchair and set it in the backseat. Then, he walked around to his side of the car and got in.
"Don't break the speed limit," Lisbon requested.
He scowled playfully in her direction. "You do know me, right?"
"Jane, please!"
"Well, okay." He smiled innocently. "Since you said please."
She closed her eyes and sighed.
"I'm just kidding," he said as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot. "If it makes you feel better, I will go the speed limit."
Her eyelids opened in alarm. "Seriously?"
He nodded.
"Wow, Jane. I didn't realize I had that sort of effect on you," she teased. "I don't think I have ever come across anyone who could make Patrick Jane change his mind." She grinned.
He just smiled.
"What, no witty comeback?" she asked.
"Not today."
"Why is that?"
Jane shrugged nonchalantly.
Her smile faded and she turned her gaze to the window. "Okay then."
He detected the hint of annoyance in her tone. "Oh, so now you want a smartass comment from me?"
"I just want to know why you are treating me like this."
"Treating you like what?" he demanded.
"I don't know. Differently."
"You want me to be a jackass? Because that is exactly the way I treated you."
"I just want things to go back to normal."
Jane pulled over to the side of the road and turned to her. "I don't," he said. "Because something about normality drove you to..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
He could feel her analyzing his facial expression. "Oh, I get it now," she whispered. "You blame yourself."
He sighed, resting his head on the back of the seat.
"Jane." She was still whispering. "You can't save everyone from everything."
"I could have saved you." He met her emerald eyes, which matched her necklace perfectly. Not that it was relevant to anything. "I could have listened to you more. I could have followed orders. Maybe you wouldn't have been so stressed out."
"Jane, I-"
"Even if it wasn't my actions that drove you to jump, something did," he interrupted her. "I should have noticed if something was bothering you. I should have tried to help. I am your best friend. It's my job to keep you safe."
"Wrong," she barked. "I am a cop. It's my job to keep you safe. I am not your responsibility." She touched his arm. "So please, Jane. Don't beat yourself up. I hate that!"
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." He started up the car again. Then, he met her gaze. "I won't speed. I promise."
Author's Note: So, what do you think? I tried not to make it too cheesy, though it is always a bit of a challenge when Jane and Lisbon are arguing like this. I hope you liked the chapter, though, and I would LOVE to hear what you are thinking. So, review! :)