We checked in with the front desk and at the nurse's station on my floor. Maura walked with me to my room, which looked largely untouched since I'd left it on Friday. Maura hung up my coat in the closet and I plugged my cell phone in to charge. A nurse came in to make sure I'd already taken my evening medications, and to ask if there was anything I needed. When I responded in the negative, she left.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" I asked Maura hopefully.

"I can't Jane. I'm so sorry. I have to be at work really early tomorrow. I'm certain Dr. Pike left me a mess to deal with." Maura sounded as disappointed as I felt.

"I'm sorry that you had to call him in for the weekend," I said, looking down, saddened that I'd taken her away from so many more important things.

"I'm not. It let me spend the weekend with you. If you get into bed, I'll stay with you until you fall asleep."

"You should go home and rest, Maura. I don't want you driving tired tonight or exhausted in the morning."

"Nonsense," she argued. "Come on."

She lifted the blankets for me on the bed, and I crawled in. She tucked me in and gave me a kiss on my forehead.

"This bed is not nearly as comfortable as yours," I complained.

"I know. I've slept on it with you, remember?" Maura said with a smile.

"How am I going to ever fall asleep again without your arms around me?" I complained again.

"Shh. Close your eyes, Jane." Maura sat on the side of the bed and pushed a hand gently through my hair. "Close your eyes and imagine a day at the precinct. You're feeling much better and your injuries are healed. You get a call to a scene and it's your case. I meet you there and we go over the body together, and you start processing the clues."

"Mmm," I smiled with my eyes closed.

"Imagine later on you develop a lead and go in pursuit of your suspect. A foot chase ensues, and all these months of therapy pay off, because you're faster and stronger than you ever were before."

"If only…" I murmured.

"After a while, your suspect begins to tire, and you tackle him, cuffing him and reading him his Miranda rights. You haul him back to the station and drag him into an interrogation room. Your skills are sharper than ever before, and you break him in record time. He confesses to the murder, and my autopsy collaborates his confession. It's a solid case that will result in a solid conviction."

I actually found myself drifting off to sleep while Maura held my hand and softly told me a bedtime story. It was ridiculous, but it was wonderful at the same time.

"Imagine afterward you and I go out to dinner to celebrate."

"Which restaurant would you choose?" I whispered.

"Shh… just try to sleep, Jane. But we'd go where we always do after breaking a case. We'd go to the Dirty Robber. We'd have a few drinks, you'd have a burger with extra pickles, and I'd nag you about the lack of healthy vegetables on your plate."

I smiled.

"And afterward, we'd head home, and if our spirits were still running high, we'd celebrate in a way we haven't celebrated before."

"Mmm," I mumbled again, letting my imagination run wild.

Maura was quiet for a few minutes as I drifted off. "Good night, beautiful," she whispered when she thought I'd fallen asleep.

She stayed with me awhile longer, just to make sure I fell asleep, then she left, kissing me softly on the forehead before she went. I slept straight through the night, and even though I woke up feeling well rested in the morning, the lack of Maura's presence was devastating. I couldn't wait to go home again.

I sent her a quick text before breakfast.

Did you get home okay last night? Are you all right?

I'm fine. I miss you terribly. I'm already at work and it is as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I'm sorry I took you away from work this weekend. Thank you for taking the weekend off to be with me.

It was more than worth it, Jane. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get there tonight though, and I'm sorry.

I understand. Get settled back into work, and we can make plans for later in the week if you're available.

I love you. Will you text me today when you're done with therapy?

Absolutely. Will you text me today when you have a few minutes between Pike clean up tasks?

Absolutely. Have a good day, Jane. Work hard.

I will. You don't work too hard.

I'll try. :-*

I sent her a kiss back, and put the phone back in the drawer next to my bed.

I made my way down to the dining room for breakfast.

Breakfast was oatmeal and fresh fruit, a meal I knew Maura would be glad I was eating. It struck me that barely a month had gone by since I'd first arrived here. I was now free to eat essentially whatever I pleased. My tracheostomy had healed, and I no longer had to keep it bandaged. The same for my feeding tube incision. I was walking more and more every day, and in the course of just over a week, I'd left my wheelchair behind and was using crutches. Sure, I limped terribly and my pelvis sometimes had a mind of its own, but a month ago I was stuck in a wheelchair and using the toilet on my own was a challenge.

I'd come so far.

I still had a long way to go, but I was better than I was a month ago, and was alive and breathing on my own, which is more than I could say for three months ago. And I had Maura now, too. Life really was beginning to turn around. For the first time in years, I felt like I had blessings to count.

Derrick asked me about my weekend, and instead of being proud of me for not using my crutches to walk around the Common on Saturday, he lectured me on the importance of using them and the dangers of re-injuring myself. He was angry with me for being so foolish, and proceeded to work me extra hard on the treadmill. We were going to work on gait training in earnest starting today, and according to Derrick, I had a lot of time to make up for from my weekend at home.

Sara was waiting for me when I got back to the room. She was happy to see me. She had my bath set up and waiting for me, and when I came back out, I told her how I had been able to shower at Maura's house.

"It sounds like you had a really successful weekend," Sara said.

"It was great. It was terrific to feel so much more independent. I still needed Maura's help with some stuff, like going up and down the stairs, but otherwise I was amazed at how much I could do on my own," I said proudly.

"That's spectacular, Jane." Sara was genuinely happy for me.

"I'm pretty thrilled," I said honestly.

"That's great news, and it's really good actually. I haven't spoken to Dr. Isles yet, but if you're doing this well, you probably don't need me anymore."

"But what will happen to you?" I asked, realizing that my growing independence would mean I wouldn't need Sara for much longer.

"Well, this is actually rather fortunate. Depending on your needs and what Dr. Isles says, there's another patient that's going to be starting rehab soon, at another facility. It's possible for me to go work with them."

"Oh," I said, slightly saddened at the idea of losing my afternoon companion.

"But it depends on your needs and what Dr. Isles says," Sara said gently.

"Well, it's good at least, that you have another patient lined up. I would feel bad if I put you out of work."

Sara smiled at me. "Not at all. There are almost always new patients, sadly. But the most rewarding part of my job is seeing you regain your independence and get back on your feet."

"I couldn't have done it without you," I answered truthfully.

"No, you did it all yourself, Jane. You have every right to be proud."

Sara walked with me back to the dining hall for lunch, and we chatted more about my weekend at home. Although I was still using my crutches, I was surprised at how much less I was relying on them to support myself. It was more like they were there if I lost my balance, rather than to keep me upright with each step I took.

I had a big lunch, which was good because I was starving, and then it was time for my follow up with Dr. Grossberg. Sara came downstairs with me, and we waited outside of Dr. Grossberg's office for her to call me in.

Dr. Grossberg did a thorough physical exam, and had me walk the length of her office several times, both with and without the crutches.

"Derrick told me that you ambulated a bit this weekend without your crutches," she said neutrally, not at all as angry as Derrick had been.

"I did, but I had Maura's arm around my waist the entire time. I don't really seem to need the crutches as much to support me. I do have times though when my pelvis seems to give out and I lose my balance. I couldn't walk without either Maura holding me or the crutches to balance me for any length of time," I answered truthfully.

"I'm impressed that you're not relying on the crutches to support you as much, but I'm concerned that you might be taking things a bit too quickly. You have to be careful, Jane. I know Maura is a doctor, and I have no doubt that she took excellent care of you, but you must avoid falling or re-injuring yourself. I'm also concerned about that limp. I'd like to do some x-rays to make sure the hardware they placed in your hip is seated properly. Do you have any pain when you ambulate?"

"No, not at all. I mean, sometimes after therapy I have soreness, but I think that's just overworked muscles."

"That's good. Any pain when bending, sitting or squatting?"

I thought back to the weekend, after Maura and I had fallen asleep on the floor of the guest room. My pelvis had ached terribly after that, but that had been an extended period of time. "Nope," I decided to answer her. That issue had been the exception, rather than the rule, over the weekend.

"And you're able to ambulate for long periods without the crutches?" Dr. Grossberg looked very concerned.

"I didn't use them for about 3 hours on Saturday when my girlfriend and I walked the Common together, and did not use them for a short time yesterday while I was at home, except to go up and down the stairs. But during all of that, I had Maura physically support me. As confident as I'm becoming, I know I still need some form of support when I walk."

"It's good that you're using caution. However, I'd rather see you keep the crutches with you, for now. It's impressive that you're already starting to not use them, but you're still in therapy and you still have weaknesses. Could you humor me and at least carry them with you? Even if you feel strong enough not to need them?"

"Okay," I said with a shrug. If I didn't need the crutches, I wasn't going to use them. But if it kept people off my back, I'd carry them around with me.

"How was your weekend at home?" she asked, changing tactics.

"Wonderful!" I effused before blushing. "I, um, I have a question. It's rather personal. I'm a little embarrassed."

"I'm your doctor, Jane. You don't have to worry about being embarrassed," Dr. Grossberg reassured me.

"Okay, well, I went home and my girlfriend and I were talking, and the topic of sex came up." I was blushing furiously. I couldn't even look Dr. Grossberg in the eye. "And I was just wondering how long I have to wait before it's safe for me to have sex?"

"Well, based on the type of surgery you had, I would say that physically, at least in a gynecological sense, you're healed enough. In a musculoskeletal sense, I would say that you're probably okay as long as you don't try to do any kind of highly exertive activities or unusual positions. Without any testing, I'd venture to guess that you could engage in sexual activity whenever you feel most comfortable, within the constraints I just mentioned. If you'd like, we could schedule a visit with a gynecologist for a checkup. That might be a good idea, it would give you a more definitive answer."

"Is there a gynecologist on staff here?" I asked.

"No, we'd take you over to Mass Gen and you'd have your appointment there. It would be beneficial because I'm sure they'd want to do some imaging studies to make sure you're healing well internally."

"That seems like a lot of effort," I said, thinking about the time and expenses involved in going back to the hospital.

"Well, sooner or later it will need to be done anyway. We might as well get that set up, so that way if you need any kind of testing or treatment, we can do that for you before you head home to outpatient therapy," Dr. Grossberg encouraged.

"Okay," I said. "Do I need to ask Maura to bring me over to Mass Gen?"

"No, we'll arrange for an ambulette to bring you in the morning and return you here after your appointment. We'll schedule it for you and let you know when it's set up."

"Do you know how long it's going to be before I'm released to outpatient therapy?" I asked, already eager to go back home.

"I'd say anywhere between two weeks to a month. Probably closer to a month. I'll know more after we x-ray your hip, which we'll do quickly before you go back upstairs. If we can clean up your gait and get rid of that limp, maybe less than a month. But I would say our goal is one month."

"That seems like forever," I said, disappointed. I had really been hoping for the two week mark.

"It's good you've gone home, it'll give you something to remember and keep you focused on your therapies," Dr. Grossberg said, understanding where I was coming from.

"I can't wait to go home permanently."

"Well, keep working hard. The harder you work on all of your therapies, the sooner you'll be able to do that. I'm going to see if we can get you to Mass Gen on Thursday. We'll have them do a gynecological exam and I'll set up an MRI of your hip, since you'll be there anyway and that will give us more information about why you're limping. Until then, continue your physical and aqua therapy with Derrick and your psychological therapy with Dr. Gilfried."

"Okay," I acquiesced. I didn't want to show how disappointed I was at the prospect of it taking an entire month for me to reach outpatient therapy, but Dr. Grossberg could sense it.

"Jane, your recovery thus far has been nothing short of remarkable. You're doing far better than most other patients would be in your situation. Don't be discouraged by the time frame I've given you. It could change. It could be shorter, it could be longer. We just need to be patient and work hard, but also not overdo it."

"I understand," I said sadly. I did understand, but that didn't make it any easier.

"Sara will take you over to x-ray and we'll run some films to check your hardware. I'll have my staff let you know about Thursday. I'll see you back in a week for another follow up. Keep up the good work and the good spirits, Jane."

"Thanks, Doctor."

I left and Sara and I headed over to the x-ray room where they did some follow up x-rays of my pelvis and hip. After that, we returned to my room on the fifth floor.

"Everything go okay?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, it's just a little disconcerting to realize you're going to be stuck here for another month, at least."

"You don't know that for sure. You're having weekly follow ups with Dr. Grossberg. She could send you home at any point. You just need to keep working as hard as you have been."

"I guess," I mumbled.

"Jane, do you realize how quickly you've made progress? People with your injuries, even with the initial prognosis you were given, don't normally recover this quickly," Sara pointed out gently.

"Sometimes it just doesn't seem fast enough," I said, the frustration evident in my voice. "Especially now that I've been home. I really didn't want to come back here."

"You still have a lot of work to do. You're progressing really well, but you've still got to work on your physical therapy. I'm not even going to ask you about your psychological therapy," Sara said with a grin.

"Yeah, let's not go there," I said, but I smiled at Sara. "I'm really going to miss you if you leave. Who will keep me company during the afternoon?"

"Well, it doesn't really make sense for Dr. Isles to continue to pay for my services if you're doing this well. And if I could be of more assistance to another patient that's not doing as well as you are, well then it just makes sense for me to go work with them. But nothing is written in stone yet, so don't worry," Sara reassured me.

"I won't. And you're right, if you could help someone else, it makes sense to go help them." It would have been selfish of me to ask Maura to ask Sara to stay, but part of me was dreading long afternoons there with no one to talk to.

Sometime before dinner, a nurse came in to let me know that Dr. Grossberg had gotten me an appointment at Massachusetts General Hospital for a gynecology exam and an MRI of the pelvis and hip. Thursday morning an ambulette would bring me over to the hospital. I'd have my exam and my MRIs, then the ambulette would bring me back the same day. I didn't really give it much thought. It would be at least two weeks and probably closer to a month before I could go home again, which meant that I had that much time to work on whatever it was that was keeping me from letting Maura make love to me. It wasn't physical concerns that bothered me as much as it was emotional ones. I didn't know what I could do to make myself feel desirable, even though Maura had told me a thousand times over the weekend that she thought I was beautiful. It occurred to me that this would be something I should talk about with Dr. Gilfried, but the idea of discussing my dilemma with anyone mortified me.

Sara walked down to dinner with me and I ate by myself in one corner of the dining room. I had a lot of thoughts to sort out. I never thought that coming back to rehab after a weekend at home would leave me with this many things to deal with, but it had.

After Sara left for the night, I took out my phone and called Maura. She picked up on the first ring and sounded exhausted.

"Hey, Jane." The smile was in her voice, but I could tell she was tired.

"Hey, beautiful. You sound exhausted."

"I am. It was a rough day. Dr. Pike may have ruined a DNA sample, and it was our only one. It might jeopardize getting a conviction on a murder case," Maura said, the frustration evident in her voice.

"That's terrible. Is there any other evidence?"

"I hope so. I'm going over the body once more, just to see if there's anything else I can find," she said before stifling a yawn that I could hear anyway.

"You're still at work?"

"Yes. And I am probably going to be here all night," Maura said morosely.

"Oh god, Maura. That's terrible. I'm so sorry that you had to take this weekend off to be with me. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be in the position you're in now," I said, anger tinging my voice. Was there ever going to come a time when I didn't put people out?

"Jane, I wouldn't have traded this weekend for anything. I loved being with you, but more than that, I think we needed this time together and all the talking we did. I feel like we cleared up a lot."

"We did," I said. I left off the part where I thought we still had a lot to work through, especially me, but Maura picked up on it without me saying anything.

"Did you talk to Dr. Gilfried about this weekend?"

"No, I didn't see her today. That was actually one reason why I was calling you. You know, other than needing to hear your voice," I said. "I had a follow up with Dr. Grossberg today. She's concerned about my limp and thinks it may have something to do with my hip. The x-rays came back okay so the hardware isn't the issue. She's sending me to Mass Gen on Thursday for an MRI."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Maura asked right away.

"No, I wouldn't ask you to miss more work, especially in light of everything that happened while you were out this weekend. They're making transportation arrangements for me. I'll go, have them do what they need to do, and will be back at the rehab by the afternoon. Dr. Grossberg also arranged for me to have a gynecological exam. She sort of cleared me for sex."

"What do you mean, sort of?" Maura asked, somewhat amused.

"Basically, I think she was saying nothing too rough and nothing too kinky."

Maura let out a laugh that made my heart soar.

"Were you mortified?"

"Of course," I said, blushing at the thought.

"Does that mean that you're thinking about having sex? With me?" Maura clarified when she was done laughing.

"Maura, you don't always have to do that, you know. The only time I picture myself having sex, it's with you. And yeah, I agreed to have the gynecological exam because I think if I get that full clearance, and they tell me that I'm healed and that I'm healthy enough for that, it'll help me realize that the only thing stopping us is me, and I can get over it faster."

"I don't want you to feel pressured, Jane. I also don't want you to feel like this is something we have to do, like a chore. When the time comes, I want it to be spontaneous and romantic and full of love," Maura said adoringly.

"Me too," I said. "And the only pressure I feel is my own. I don't like feeling so unsure of myself, and I keep telling myself to get over it, but it's easier said than done."

"I understand. And I'll do anything I can to make sure you get back to feeling confident and badass," she reassured me.

"You're pretty badass, you know that Maura?"

"I learned it from you, Jane," Maura said proudly.

It amazed me, how easy it was for her to make me feel loved. "I hope that one day, I can make you feel as loved as you constantly make me feel, Maura. More than anything else, I wish I could show you just how wonderful you make me feel, and mirror that same love so you can feel the same way too."

"I already do feel the same way, Jane."

"I love you. You're exhausted. Will you sleep on the couch in your office tonight, so I don't have to worry about you driving home while you're this tired?"

"I just might have to do that," Maura said glumly.

"It broke my heart, waking up here without you this morning."

"I had a hard time falling asleep last night," Maura said. "And waking up without you didn't really help my mood this morning, either. My poor interns."

"Oh no, what did you do, Maura?" I asked, amused at her apparent guilt over mistreating her staff.

"Oh, they'll survive. They're all just going to be a little more careful when it comes to things like accuracy in language. I may have gone off on them about speaking in complete, coherent, and concise sentences. I may have even coined the phrase 'the three Cs' to get the point across. I may have also made them repeat 'complete, coherent, and concise' before I dismissed them all."

"Oh my god, Maura that's hysterical," I laughed.

She laughed along with me. "I still think they prefer me to Dr. Pike, anyway."

I laughed. "Of course they do. Everybody does. You can't compare yourself to that incompetent troll."

"Ooh, he is troll-like. Though given his tall, thin stature, troll isn't really the mythical creature I'd associate with him."

"Yeah? What would you call him then?" I challenged.

"A bumbling asshole," Maura said succinctly before we both cracked up, laughing hysterically.

"I can't believe you just said that. Also, if you're going for clarity of language, I do have to point out that assholes are not necessarily mythical."

"You're right, and I can't be hypocritical. But I can rearrange that to say that he is 'an asshole of mythical proportions'."

"That's much better, Dr. Isles. Complete, coherent, and concise."

We both cracked up again.

"I should apologize to those interns tomorrow," Maura said as she sobered.

"Nah, don't bother. If they want to work for you, they need to get their acts together. But you could bring in bagels in the morning and smooth things over a bit. Just don't keep the butter in the dead fridge," I suggested.

"Cold air is cold air, Jane," Maura quipped.

"Yes, but even interns that want to be medical examiners don't necessarily want to eat out of the same fridge that someone's entrails were stored in."

"Point taken," she said. "I should go, Jane. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. Just be safe, and text me when you can, okay? I'll be thinking about you. Oh, and tomorrow I need to talk to you about Sara," I said quickly.

"She called me earlier, so I think I know what you need to talk to me about, but we'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Absolutely. Good night, Maura. Be safe. Don't work too hard. Get some sleep," I said lovingly.

"I will," she promised.

"I love you, Maur."

"I love you too. Good night, Jane."

A/N: I hated sending Jane back to rehab.

Thank you, Charlie, for the edits on this chapter and the 10 or so others I sent to you over the last week. You're the best.