Wedding plans and preparation came hard and fast. Casey felt he had waited long enough for this time in their lives, and felt no reason to postpone their union any longer. Jane was a perpetual bundle of nerves, and stressed in a way that Maura had never seen before in the detective.

"Maura, I need you."

The medical examiner's eyes darted up from her computer with wide hazel eyes, brows arched.

"I need your help." Jane had dark circles under her eyes again. Her raven hair framed her face with wild tangles, its dark shade contrasting with her unusually pale face. Maura wondered if all this new stress was causing her detective's subconscious to revisit old nightmares.

Not my detective, she admonished herself. She was never mine, nor will she ever be now. Quelling the heaviness that had settled in her abdomen, Maura wheeled her computer chair away from her desk. "Anything, Jane. What's this about, what can I do?" She took a couple of steps toward Jane, looking her in the eye, hoping to ground her. She only briefly allowed herself to entertain the idea of having Jane stay the night so that she could sleep.

Jane looked like she didn't even know where to start. She drew herself up a little, straightening regal shoulders and lifting her chin ever so slightly. She held that posture for a second or two, clearly ordering her words before opening her mouth – a process she wasn't in the habit of engaging in. Abruptly, she relinquished any semblance of calm and cut to the chase. "I need – that is, I would like very much if you would…" she let out a breath, struggling.

Struggling with what, Maura couldn't even begin to speculate.

"If I would…what, Jane? I'll do anything you ask." Oh dear, that sounded desperate. "I want to help."

Jane continued to hesitate, drawing a breath and then faltering and letting it out. Maura was at a loss as to what Jane was grappling with that made it so difficult to ask. When Jane began twisting the engagement ring on her finger, Maura nearly seized her hand to make her stop fidgeting. It was making her nervous.

"Jane, whatever it is, I am your best friend and it couldn't possibly be above or beneath my ability or willingness to help you. Just tell me." Her brows drew together in concern, and she resisted the compulsion to take Jane's hand in both of her own. She looked closer, wondering again what it was that Jane found so hard to give voice to. "What can I do?" she whispered.

Jane took a minute step back from the medical examiner but maintained eye contact. Another moment passed, and she finally opened her mouth. Her voice cracked endearingly when she spoke, and Maura again felt an impulse to touch her, reassure her. "Maura, would you be the…maid of honor?" Then she huffed almost imperceptibly and corrected herself. "My maid of honor?"

Synapses fired in rapid succession and an intensely tangled knot of thoughts and emotions tumbled about and bumped every wall within Maura's psyche. Of course Jane would ask her to be the maid of honor in her wedding. She needed help with all the planning, and…I am her best friend. Who else would she ask? Then, a moment later, But why was that so hard for her to say? Maura tilted her head quizzically to one side, an involuntary quirk of movement that prompted Jane to elaborate.

"It's just," Jane ran her fingers through the tangled mess of her hair, "Ma's been driving me nuts trying to get stuff planned and prepared." Jane held up a hand to qualify. "And she's been a world of help, don't get me wrong, but she – I'm going crazy with her constant – "

Then Maura couldn't resist reaching for Jane's wrist, slowing the tide of words. "She only wants to help, Jane. She's your mother and she loves you." Maura nearly gasped when she realized how cold Jane's hands were. Her circulation patterns had undoubtedly altered in her body's efforts to cope with exhaustion.

The detective nodded. "I know. But she gets – she's been driving me up the wall for the past forty-eight hours. More so than usual." Her eyes flew wide in exasperation and flitted about the room. "When we fought last night –"

"You fought with Angela?" Maura was aghast. Jane and her mother frequently had disagreements, but they rarely dissolved into intense confrontation.

Jane's speech pattern accelerated as she explained herself. "Yeah, we actually got into a fight about it, Maura." She grew quiet for a moment, and added almost as an aside, "I said some things –" then she regained momentum, "but I apologized for them later. "Which is why I'm asking you now; she brought it up, demanding to know why in the hell I hadn't asked you yet because if I don't want to deal with her, then the next best person to help with wedding plans is my best friend – the maid of honor always helps the bride plan and stuff." She slumped with a heavy sigh, exhausted from getting riled up all over again.

The unflappable Chief ME was reeling inside. She couldn't determine whether, given the circumstances, standing next to Jane at the altar was the best or the worst alternative to standing face-to-face with her, exchanging rings and vows.

And with the woman she loved more than anything standing in front of her now, exasperation on her pale face and an anxious question in her eyes, Doctor Maura Isles flat had no idea what to say.