Author Note: Thanks again for reading, commenting, etc. Apparently I have a little more of this written than I thought I did. So maybe the next chapter won't be so far away.


"I don't know how to help you," Maura said, climbing into her spare bed beside Jane. The champagne bottle lay on the floor, bubbles soaked into the carpet. Jane turned to face her. Her cheeks pale, streaked with red; her eyes vacant. "I worry."

Scooping her into her arms, Maura held Jane close. Hair fell down across her face. She brushed it aside. Her eyes locked with Jane's, and she froze. Every emotion she felt in recent weeks was encapsulated in that moment of intensity. It took a lot of willpower not to kiss her, not to give in to every feeling she tried to push aside through their grief.

"I'm fine."

"Fine." Maura scoffed. "You haven't been fine since it happened."

"I'm fine," she repeated. Lifting her fingers up to Maura's face, she trailed her fingertips across Maura's lips, and along her chin. "I'm better with you here."

Maura sighed. She leaned forward, until their foreheads pressed together. "Are we ever going to talk?"

"There's nothing to say," Jane said.

"There is a lot to say."

"Stop trying to talk," Jane said, rolling onto her back. "I don't want to talk."

"Well, I do."

"You can't make me."

Maura rested her elbow on her pillow and held her head up. "Don't be so petulant, Jane."

"Don't tell me what to do."

The day had been hard enough; she didn't need Maura's questions. She needed peace. She needed freedom. She needed to let go of the pain handcuffed to her life.

"Something's changed between us and I don't know how to get back."

Jane grunted loudly, pushing herself up in the bed. Her voice was rough, angry. "I told you, I need you to stop asking me about it. Stop making me talk."

Climbing out of the bed, Maura took her nightgown from the floor and slipped in an arm. She placed the champagne bottle back on the nightstand and retrieved a towel from the drawers behind the door, pressing it down on the liquid. She headed for the door.

"You don't have to leave," Jane said, dropping her legs down the side of the bed.

"I'm not sure that I don't," Maura replied, tightening her nightgown and standing in the doorway, her eyes fixed on Jane's. "I'm tired, Jane. The grief is too much, and you're not helping me."

"Welcome to adulthood." Jane stood up, her arms out at her sides. "Nobody's helping me either."

"Nobody?" Maura stared at her, holding her gaze until she blinked and her eyes filled with tears. She fled the room, repeating the words loud enough for Jane to hear. "Nobody is helping you."

"Maura!" Jane shouted, rushing around the edge of the bed. She caught her arm in the hallway, wrapped her fingers around her elbow.

"No!" Maura span round, fury burned in her eyes. "Leave me."

Stepping in front of her, Jane blocked her path.

"No. Jane." Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her heart broke and mended in unison. It made little sense.

Tightening her grip around Maura's shoulders, Jane pressed her lips to Maura's. She resisted, but the eyes stared down at her, demanding her attention; the lips forced her to respond. She gave in, weakened by comfort, for the feelings she tried to deny.

"Don't go," Jane whispered, her voice small, almost useless.

Maura tried to push her away, to tell her that it was too late, but the day had taken its toll. Her head said no, but her heart raced with every touch of Jane's skin on her neck. Her body temperature increased and despite fighting it, her breath became laboured. She needed it. She needed Jane.

Jane tangled her fingers around Maura's hand and tugged her back towards the bedroom. She hesitated, then gave in to her desires. "Okay."

x

Waking up a few hours later, the bed was empty. Goose pimples covered Maura's bare skin; a cool draft tickled her body. She pulled the sheets up across her breasts and stared at the empty space. She shouldn't have been surprised. They were not in a relationship; she couldn't expect anything from Jane.

She left the bedroom, wrapping her nightgown back around her body. The house was empty. The back door stood ajar, a small waft of smoke floated past the gap.

Maura, narrowing her eyes, slipped through the gap of the doorway. She followed the smoke out into the yard, where she found Jane perched on a bench, a cigarette in hand. The fruity smell of marijuana surrounded her.

"What do you think you're doing?" She stopped in front of her.

Jane shrugged. "I dunno."

"Where did you get that?"

She twiddled it round in her fingertips. "Found it at Frankie's."

"What was he doing with it?"

"No idea."

"Move over," Maura said, perching on the bench beside her. She took the spliff out of Jane's hand.

"Don't be like that."

"Like what?" Maura placed the roll up between her lips and breathed in. Jane stared at her, like she'd never seen her before.

"Cannabis can aid difficulties sleeping. Besides, it's a one off. Grief is overwhelming, I think we can both catch a break. It won't cause any long term damage."

She handed it back to Jane, who took it into her mouth and breathed in slowly until she coughed and spluttered.

"Why didn't you cough?" Jane asked, resting a hand on her chest and fighting with the influx of smoke on her lungs.

"It's not my first."

"It isn't?" Jane stared at her, confused. "But I thought you'd know the damage."

Maura smiled and took the spliff from her, taking another drag. "I also know the benefits. It's not like I do it every day."

"Only every other day?" Jane asked, laughing.

Smirking, Maura leaned against Jane's arm and took the roll up. "A couple times in life, that's all. I thought you'd have tried it before."

"I have." Jane shrugged. "A friend baked it into cake in high school."

x

Fingers twitched against her palm. The briefest brush of skin against skin. Jane jumped up, her knees locked into place as she stood over her brother. She clutched his hand tightly, desperate to feel the movement again, to feel the hope spread faster through her. She watched his eyelids move, watched the ripple of the skin, anticipating the possibility that he could be about to open them.

"He's awake," she shouted, spinning around. A nurse walking past the doorway stopped and entered the room. She picked up his chart, checked the machine beside the bed, and walked back out without so much as a word. Jane stared, dumbfounded, at the empty doorway, then back at her brother. She slouched into the plastic chair, both hands around one of his. "Come on Frankie, please just wake up."

When the doctor came in a moment later, she was ushered out of the room and away from his side. She stood in the doorway, her fingers wrapped around the frame, digging into the wood like her life depended on it. She chewed on her bottom lip, conscious of the fresh blood she drew quickly. Maura returned to her side, and handed her a plastic cup of fresh coffee.

"What happened? Is he okay?"

She stared into her eyes, desperate to find the words to explain, yet the words wouldn't come. She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times.

"Is he okay?" Maura asked again, her eyes frantic inside of their sockets.

"I think so," she said, her lips wide, her teeth on show. She tried not to look too enthusiastic. Fear still housed in her heart, mixed with a massive dose of hope. She felt the crease of her eyebrows tugged together, then nursed her coffee. "They need to check."

Side by side, like a matching set, they watched through the doorway. Eventually, the nurse left, and the doctor motioned for them to enter. Jane placed her coffee on the small table at the side of the bed.

"He's awake, we should call Nina," Jane said, her heart flipped. She stepped toward Frankie and stared down at his open eyes. He stared back at her, confusion etched across his face. She reached for his hand but he tugged it away. Her heart ached. Fear spread across his brown orbs, so familiar, and yet clouded in such sadness. "It's okay Frankie, it's me, Jane."

"Jane," the doctor said, his voice slow, methodical. She could hear the sound of apology in his voice long before he continued. She knew the tone. She'd used it too often. "Please take a seat."

Maura reached for her hand. She perched on the edge of the chair, swallowed a lump that settled uncomfortably at the back of her throat. She clutched Maura's hand, though she knew that even Maura's comforting touch would not soften the inevitable blow.

"He's awake," she said, staring up into the doctor's grey-blue eyes. They were cool, but friendly. Soft, yet hard. She opened her mouth to repeat the words, but allowed the silence to consume her instead.

"Jane, Maura," he said, stepping a little closer. He turned to Frankie, then back to Jane. He sighed. "I'm sorry. We've carried out the tests, we still have to do some scans, but I am certain that the results will not be any more conclusive than what we already suspect."

"Which is?" Maura asked.

"Frankie lost a lot of blood. He was deprived of oxygen for longer than is acceptable. His brain function is considerably lower than that of a full functioning adult. It's doubtful that he will be the person he was before."

Maura gasped and covered her mouth, her hand dropped from Jane's. Jane stared at the doctor. "His eyes are open, he looked at me."

"He has some brain function, but he appears to have no ability to form words, to even try. He cannot follow basic commands. There are things we can do, but it's highly unlikely he will improve enough to consider it recovery."

"So, his body works, but his mind doesn't," Maura said, her voice drifting off into the silence.

Jane stood. Maura rested a hand against her shoulder, which she brushed off. She raced from the room, stopping only as she reached the corridor. She clutched the doorframe again, and crumbled against it. She gasped for air, yet her lungs wouldn't fill quickly enough. A pair of arms tucked around her back and she allowed them to guide her back onto a chair beside the door.

"I'm here," Maura whispered against her ear. Jane rocked against her, tears flowed freely, her heart beat at a pace so fast she wondered how she was even still functioning.

x

The car ride was silent. Maura focused her attention on the road ahead, as the late evening grew dark. She flicked on the headlights. The road lit up. She turned a corner and slowed at a stop light, glancing across at Jane. The light changed to green and they set off again.

"Turn here," Jane said.

Maura put on her blinker. "Why?"

"Just do it."

She drove them along the road through the entrance to a park, the road stopped as it hit an empty parking lot. Maura turned the car around and slowed to a stop, unsure.

"Pull up," Jane said.

She rolled the car back into a spot and switched off the ignition, putting the car into park. "What are we doing?"

Without so much as a word, Jane unbuckled her seatbelt and moved across the central reserve. Taken aback, Maura's lips responded quicker than her brain. Shifting across the space, Jane settled one knee beside her and attempted to move her other across. The horn blared out.

"Fuck," Jane snapped, returning to her seat. She breathed in quickly, every breath harried, her shirt disheveled. Maura reached her hand across the space, she tugged her seat back and climbed over Jane until her knees settled against each thigh.

"Is this what you want?" Maura asked, trailing her lips across her mouth.

Jane nodded, capturing her lips, tugging at the fabric of her dress until it settled around Maura's middle and she was tugging down her underwear. She panted rapidly, her hot breath on Maura's cheek, matching the movement of her fingers against Maura's body. Watching Maura's muffled moans spurred her on. Jane turned her over until she sat over her, she flicked the handle on the seat and they moved backward. Her mouth travelled across her collarbone. Maura's hands retraced steps across Jane's body until she bit down on her neck, desperate to scream but conscious of the less than private space around them.

"We should go," Maura said, lifting the arm of her dress up across her shoulder and rezipping the back. Jane leaned back against Maura's knees and the dashboard, her heart raced.

"Yeah," she said, opening the car door. Maura gripped her wrist, but Jane shrugged it away, running off through the park without a second thought.

"Wait, Jane!"

x

Maura put her car into drive and turned it around, driving a little too fast down the entry road. She took a right at the main road and continued on round the edge of the park towards the far entrance. She pulled up, her eyes fixed on the darkness, watching for Jane to appear in the distance. She waited ten minutes before she gave up and drove home.

She stopped outside Jane's house, but the lights were off. When she finally arrived home, she went inside, her heart racing.

"Jane? Are you here? Where are you, Jane?" she pulled out her cell and dialled Jane's number.

"Sorry I can't take your call right now..."

She tossed the cell down on the couch and groaned loudly, lowering herself down beside it. She sighed. In the blink of an eye everything had got worse. She'd been so hopeful after the funeral that Jane would finally be able to start healing, despite the pain of her brother and father not being there to support her. Now Maura wasn't sure Jane would ever get better. Tears skirted down the edges of her cheeks. She leaned back in her seat and sobbed loudly, her chest ached with every gasp.

After a while, once the tears had subsided, Maura picked up her phone again. She tried Jane's number one more time. When it went to voicemail again, she dialled Nina's number. "Hi, Nina, I'm sorry to call you late."

"It's okay," Nina said, sniffling on the other end of the line.

Her voice wavered. "Have you been to the hospital today?"

She sighed, her voice small and weak. "I went this morning."

"Has Jane called you?"

"No. I haven't heard from her."

Maura nodded her head, despite the fact Nina wouldn't be able to see her. Something clattered outside. Maura walked to the back door and peered out into the darkness.

"Is everything okay?"

A small cat raced across the yard. She pushed the door closed again, forcing her voice to become level and sympathetic. "Yes. No. I, I need to talk to you about Frankie."