From One-shot,. the story has been promoted to multi-chapter, although I'm not quite sure how many more you'll have; Many of you asked for a sequel, and so, I thought about giving Annie a bit more or space (even if she is not mentioned once in this chapter)... and, of course, I've decided to gie a way more space to the marvelous Jisbon romance, even if I have to say, I apologize for the short chapter.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who wrote a review and/or added the story on fav and/pr alert... you guys are amazing, and, as always, I wnat you all to remember one thing and one only: I don't own it!
After that first date, both Lisbon and Jane built a particular routine; they kept behaving as always at work, having little arguments, Jane being Jane, annoying each other, bickering and so on (apparently, they'd become quite good at acting, since they had denied their feelings for so long),and Jane even come to put on his wedding ring to not alert Van Pelt's inner alarms; but, sometimes, they glanced at each other when no one was looking, they had lingered touches while walking side by side, there were times when Jane went on Lisbon's couch, or allowed his precious girlfriend to sit on his own; on a couple of occasions, he had dared to come into her office, close the blinds and ventured to her desk, stealing few passionate kisses…
Then, at the end of the day, they waited for each other to leave, and they went somewhere to dinner, or at her place, and talk, and talk, and talk, telling each other everything, opening up utterly and completely.
That, until a month after the first date, when the mess hit the fan: that day, everything changed.
For the second time in more or less a month, Lisbon find herself in the same hospital, even if this time the occasion was different, as different was her mood; last time, waiting for news of the baby, she'd been ecstatic, now, she was mad behind description, and with Jane, of all.
Standing in front of his bed at crossed arms, she looked as the doctor finished to put together the cast that covered a good half of his right leg; he was incredible: how dared he to look at her like a kid, when he had been the one who didn't listened to her orders in the first place? She had told him to stay in the car, that the guy was dangerous, but he didn't listen to her, and he had decided to go to check on the sick SOB on his own (because apparently, the fact that she'd been in Police for more than 10 years meant that she wasn't able to look after herself, especially when she had a vest on!), obtaining, as a result, that the guy had decided to run over him in order to slow them down, which resulted in Jane being hospitalized with a broken legs and one month of crutches (that, if he got better, otherwise, the doctor had already described to them the necessary surgery).
"Mr. Jane will need help for a while; his right leg will not have to touch the soil for 20 days, as long as he have the cast; he'll have to use the crutches for a month or so, and, as soon as he'll be free, if he doesn't want to risk the muscle, he'll have to do a bit of physiotherapy, I'd say from 4 to 5 hours each week.- the doctor, a blonde man in his early forties, Jesse Travis, looked at Lisbon, giving her a piece of paper – those are the drugs he'll have to take; it's an injection each 24 hours, preferably at evening, to help the blood circulation. It has to be done on the stomach, so he could even ménage that on his own, for 3 weeks – Travis paused, as he saw her speechless and confused – I thought that…he said…"
"Yeah, she is my girlfriend. I'm her man, you know? She is mine, mine, mine, all mines, my Terrie! Aren't you, Lisbon? You're my personal Terrie!- rumbling like a drunk, he turned to face the doctor, pointing at him – you know, I'd like to escape to Vegas and elope with her, but I know that she'd freak out if I'd ask, so I'm taking it for me…"
"Good Lord, how many painkillers did you get him? - As soon as she understood the situation, she calmed down a bit, and started to have a different kind of freak-out, the one where she was usually worried about him, and run to his bed, massaging his forehead, like he was a sick baby, until she realized that he was too relaxed in her arms, and moaning a bit too much in her arms, to be a relax inducted by drugs- Jane! All you had to do was asking me to help you out for a while!"
"Well, I couldn't risk it not working, so I preferred a different kind of approach, and, since I knew you weren't going to mind it…" he smirked at her, as she moved away from the embrace, and, murmuring an "you're unbelievable" she took the piece of paper and left the room, joining her co-workers at the other side of door.
"How is he doing?" Van Pelt asked concerned.
"He has a broken leg, and he'll need to move in with someone for few weeks, and, apparently, his doctor has decided to it's up to me to take care of him, as always – fuming, she gave Grace the prescription, before to turn to come back in – Van Pelt, do you mind taking it for me? Rigsby, go to his hotel room, and take all his things."
"Yes, boss, but, where are we going to…- the poor man seemed oblivious to what Lisbon meant, and, true to be told, he wasn't helping, exactly; of course, she loved Jane (even if she was acting as she didn't, with them), and, even before to become his secret girlfriend she cared a lot, but now she was going to have him in her place, living under her roof, for a whole month, having to take care of him… and she wasn't sure if she was that comfortable with this idea; they even hadn't reached that level of intimacy yet, and now…why was Rigsby looking at her that way, and why was he going to touch her forehead?- Boss, are you ok? You're red all over the face… are you sure you're not running a fever?"
"Rigsby, I don't need you to be worried about my wellbeing! – she calmly stated with that hint of calm rage that was almost usual for her, normally directed at Jane, as she removed the hand that was a way to close to her – if there's someone to be worried about is Jane, since he'll be the one in danger of ending with a bullet in his head. Now – she crossed her arms, looking at them, as calm as possible, trying to not think about the next days – would you like to do as I asked you to?" Looking a bit scared of her boss, Grace and Rigsby left, turning their heads in her direction every now and then, to make sure she was still looking at them with that expression; just Cho was left at her side, looking with his usual neutral expression at his boss. He sent a last glance at her before to leave to go help Rigsby, and told Lisbon just two words in his usual tone, two words that made her froze, and shivering while sweating: "About time".
As she came back in, still in shock, Jane lifted, quizzically, his eyebrows at her, as soon as he saw his dear Lisbon in such a state; smiling at him, she scrolled her shoulders, murmuring a silent "No" in her head "So, ready to go home? If you'll behave, I'll let you stay on the couch!"
"Nah, you love me too much for forcing me on the couch. – He said sure of himself, the so hatred Jane-tone back on, as if someone was looking at them – you'll give me the spare bedroom, or maybe, if you'll feel brave enough, you own. Obviously, in this case, we'll share the bed. But don't worry, I'm still a gentleman with few antics, and I'm not going to force you into anything, although I'm not sure that you could resist me any longer. Or that you'd not force me into having sex with you." as he looked at her with that mischievous and malicious grin, she couldn't help but froze again, shivering again inside; or maybe, it was just the effect of his low, and lusty voice, added to the lines his finger was drawing along her arm…
Instinctively, Teresa knew that she was going to live the 3 longest weeks of her life, 3 weeks that, she was sure, were going to be unforgettable, and change her life, turning it upside down- maybe even in a good way.
