Thanks to everyone who reviewed or added as a favorite or asked for an alert notice. More chapters in the future, I promise. Hopefully at least one a week until the story is done. Please continue to review - reviews are my guilty pleasure.
The next day Bobbi and Jane were on the softball diamond coaching the kids on the game that was in progress. Both of them were dragging from a combination of staying out to late and the hot, mid-day sun. One of the girls hit a grounder in between second and third base. She saw Brittney, the shortstop, crouching down to catch it. But after years of playing softball, Jane could see that the ball had too much bounce and Brittney was too low to the ground. As if in slow motion, the ball bounced up and smacked Brittney in the mouth. Jane rushed over to the little girl. She was holding her mouth, the game having ground to a halt.
"Hey, hey, Brit, its okay. Here, let me see. C'mon, it's okay," Jane cooed, trying to coax Brittney's hands away from her mouth. There was blood, and Jane could see that the accident was made worse because little Brit had braces. Of course, Jane thought sarcastically but had the grace to keep this thought from making its way to her facial features. On the outside, she remained neutral and tried her best to be soothing. The last thing she wanted was for the girl to panic, and she knew that children read adults like signposts. If she hinted that she was worried, Brittney would erupt into tears. "Why don't we go visit the first aid cabin and have you looked at."
Brittney was doing her best to be brave, but between the pain in her mouth and lips, the taste of blood, and then the suggestion by her coach to go see medical help, her tears spilled over. "Is it bad?" she managed to mumble out, though Jane had a hard time catching the full question.
"No, no! I don't think so, but they have ice at the cabin, and that will probably help you feel better. It's so hot out here and its nice and shady back by the cabins. And it would be good to get you cleaned up a little, too," Jane reassured her. This made sense to the girl and she started to move back to camp. Jane turned and shouted at Bobbi where they were headed and Bobbi gave her the thumbs up. Jane knew that Bobbi would have to change their plans with the kids since you couldn't have a game with only one adult to supervise. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Bobbi was pulling the kids in to run some practice drills.
Within a few minutes Brittney and Jane had arrived at the first aid cabin. Jane knew Maura was working today and couldn't help feeling excited to see her again. Once they entered the cabin, Jane saw that another EMT was working with Maura but she didn't recognize her. Both women turned when they heard the wooden screen door pop against the doorframe.
"Hey guys, I've got someone here who could use a little help," Jane announced conversationally to Maura and the other EMT. Maura couldn't help smiling at Jane once she recognized who was accompanying their next medical charge.
"I've got this," Maura said to the other medic, eyes still locked on Jane's. Remembering that she had a job to do, Maura broke eye contact, and looked down at the little girl. "Now, let's see what we have here. Why don't you come with me over to this chair and we can take a closer look."
Jane followed as Maura led Brittney to a nearby seat. The tall brunette watched closely as Maura spoke to the girl calmly and gently lifted her lips to get a better look at the damage. She couldn't help but notice that Maura had bags under her eyes and she didn't seem to have the same glow that Jane always saw in the honey-blonde. After further poking, Maura stood up from her crouching position in front of the girl.
"You'll be fine. I'm going to get you a cold pack to hold against your mouth. This will help the swelling go down. You're actually in luck. The mouth is one of the fastest healing parts of the body, so though you'll probably be uncomfortable for a couple days, the cuts inside your mouth from your braces will heal quickly. The cold pack will help minimize any bruising or discoloration around your lips." Brittney looked worried about the 'discoloration around your lips' part, and looked at Jane in a panic. Jane decided to jump in.
"See there champ? You'll be fine. You'll just have to stay away from the lemonade for a couple days, okay?'' This light banter seemed to relieve Brittney and she visibly relaxed. "That'll teach those softballs to mess with you. Givin' 'em the ol' one, two," imitated a boxer's shuffle with her fists up, causing Brittney to laugh out loud. Maura watched mesmerized as Jane easily made the young charge forget about her concerns.
Maura told the little girl that she should rest in the first aid cabin for the next hour or so, with the ice pack. "You can pick whichever bed you would like." Brittney went to a bed near the door and laid down on her back with the cold pack pressed against her mouth.
Jane turned back to Maura once Brittney was resting. The circles under Maura's eyes seemed more pronounced now that Jane could get a better look at her. Maura's fatigue was further underscored when she rubbed her eyes with her hand.
Now safely out of Brittney's earshot, Jane asked Maura if everything was all right. "You look so tired. I know we didn't get in until late last night because of the movie, but are you okay?"
Maura returned Jane's concerned look with a watery smile, and sighed. "I'm fine. Jus had a tough time sleeping." Though she hadn't known the medic very long, Jane sensed there was more to the story.
"Really? Why was that?"
Maura broke eye contact with Jane, wanting desperately to find something else to do. "Um, you know, just sometimes people don't sleep well," she tried feebly and began to fiddle with picking up the wrapping from Brittney's cold pack. Jane wasn't buying her answer.
"Yes, that's true. Sometimes people don't sleep well. But why didn't you sleep well last night?" Jane pushed.
Maura gave up. She couldn't lie, and this newfound friend of hers seemed to have a unique ability to ask her questions she couldn't sidestep. She replied, softly, mumbling the response. Jane tried to catch what she said, but couldn't make it out. Maura was still turned away from her, reorganizing the already meticulously tidy medical supplies on the counter.
"What was that, Maur? I didn't catch that," she replied softly. Standing near Maura, she gently took Maura's hand to get her to stop re-organizing band-aids and gauze and look at her. Maura quietly turned toward her friend, and brought her eyes up to Jane, helplessly.
"Why did you have a hard time sleeping last night?" Jane repeated, running her thumb along the back of Maura's hand.
"I had nightmares," Maura replied, embarrassed that she had to admit such a silly thing to someone else.
"Oh!" Jane was relieved it wasn't something more serious, and worked hard to keep a grin off her face. She also was trying to keep her mouth in check from saying a sarcastic comment, which she would have done if anyone else had admitted such a thing to her. However, even knowing Maura for a short time, she had the feeling that Maura was a little sensitive and didn't want her to feel self-conscious about having bad dreams. Unfortunately, she was not entirely successful at keeping at least a partial grin off her face, and Maura saw it and pulled her hand away.
"I know. It's stupid, that's why I didn't want to say anything. But that's why I didn't want to go to that movie. Horror movies scare me, even just the sounds of them. And then being left alone with my imagination to fill in the blanks of what I didn't watch on screen…I think it just made it worse," she finished, deflated.
Now Jane felt like a jerk. She had dragged her to that stupid movie. But they also hadn't stayed very long. "But we left after, like, twenty minutes," Jane tried to defend herself.
Maura shrugged. "I guess you're not the only one with an active imagination," she replied, referring to the night they met in the showers.
"Aw, sweetie, I'm really sorry." Jane felt terrible. Why am I always bad news for this girl? she thought to herself. She pulled her into a hug. "I didn't realize it would have such an impact on you." She smelled Maura's shampoo and was relishing the feel of having the young medic in her arms. Keep it together Rizzoli. If you hold her too long, it will look suspicious, and you aren't the only two people in this cabin. At this thought, Jane released Maura, but placed her hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
"Tell you what? Since this is my fault since I dragged you to that movie, if you have nightmares again tonight, just come to my cabin. You can bunk with me and I'll chase the boogiemen away."
"Really?" Maura seemed very touched by the idea that her friend would let her sleep over to help her get a good night's sleep. "You'd do that for me?" she asked shyly.
Jane swallowed. Shit, this may have been the worst idea I've ever had. But visions of having Maura show up at her cabin door, and then leading her into her twin bed flashed into her mind. Or best ideas. Maybe it was her best-worst idea. God, I hope I can keep my hands off her. "Um, yeah, I'm sure," she replied nervously, dropping her hands from Maura's shoulders, and hoping that she was covering the slight tremble in her voice. "I'm the reason you didn't sleep well last night." Realizing that her last statement could be misinterpreted (I wish that were the reason she couldn't sleep well last night, she thought briefly to herself), she quickly added, "because of the movie."
Maura, oblivious of course to Jane's inner dialogue, was still hesitant to take her up on her offer, thinking that Jane was just being kind or polite. "It wasn't your fault. I agreed to go to the movie. I'm an adult. I should take responsibility for my actions. Plus, wouldn't it bother your bunk mates?"
"Maura, this isn't about responsibility. You're scared, and I don't want you to be scared. If I can help, I want to," she said earnestly. "And my bunk mates won't care, either. Tonight is one of those camping trips, so Gemma and Lotti have to go chaperone. Bobbi's been called up to go, too. So really I'll just be alone in the cabin anyway." Jane quickly replayed back to her best-worst idea. Maybe Maura's a little uncomfortable being so close to me? Sharing a bed with someone is pretty intimate, even if I would totally not do anything. She still has the bruises from our fight, after all. Guilt washed over Jane's face as she realized this.
"Since no one will be there, you can sleep in Bobbi's bed. I'll check with her, but I'm pretty sure she won't mind. Or, um, if you don't want to be in my cabin, since it would just be us, but you still want a friend around, I can come to your cabin." Jane could hear herself and thought she sounded pathetic. Quick, Rizzoli, don't look like a total wuss. Say something else, anything else! Jane shrugged, trying to down play her offer. "But if you don't get scared, that's okay too. Maybe it was just a one-night thing?"
Maura couldn't help but smile at Jane's thoughtful offer. Her friend really did seem to genuinely want to help. Maura shook her head, sadly. "The last time wasn't a one-night thing. I had nightmares for a week. I was getting so little sleep that I started falling asleep in class and hallucinating." She sighed, remembering the brief, though frightening sleep-deprived week long ago. "It was bad."
Jane gave her a half-smile. "Well, in that case, we can't have one of our medics going through that again. If I can help, you know where to find me. Got it?" She briefly took Maura's hand and squeezed it. Maura nodded. "Got it," and squeezed Jane's hand back.
"I've got to get back to the diamond," Jane admitted reluctantly. "When Brittney's rested, will you send her to the next activity that she's scheduled for?" Maura nodded, glancing over at the bed where the little girl was still resting.
"Of course," she replied. "And I'll see you at dinner?" Jane nodded, and then reluctantly headed out of the cabin to return to Bobbi and the next gang of girls they'd be herding through the great game of softball.
Dinner was a madhouse under normal circumstances. By dinnertime, everyone was wide-awake. The girls were always wired from the day's activities, telling each other what they'd done or made earlier or what they were going to do that night. The madhouse atmosphere was only compounded with the camping trip that was embarking that night. Since many of the girls were going on the camping trip, some girls were in the mess hall eating, others were outside trying to get all of their gear together, while still more girls were in their bunks trying to pack everything they needed for the trip. Sprinkle in counselors trying to corral different girls into groups and get them moving, and it was chaos of the highest degree.
Things were so crazy that Jane didn't even see Maura at dinnertime. With all the commotion she wasn't surprised. She was disappointed, but she surmised that Maura would find her if she wanted to, once the camping trip had headed out. She was a little surprised that Maura hadn't been pulled into going on the camping trip. Jane knew that the camping trips usually took at least one medic, depending on the size of the group.
Finally the campers headed out, and the campground became much quieter. Realizing there wasn't much for her to do now, Jane decided to head back to her bunk and read a book that Frankie had recommended to her. She'd brought it with her to camp but hadn't had much downtime, and certainly even less quiet time, to read it. No time like the present, I guess, she thought glumly.
The book turned out to be much more interesting than Jane thought it would be. She was quickly engrossed in the characters and plot, and the hours between dinner and bed flew by. When she looked up next, she could see that the sun had set long ago, and the clock read nearly 11 o'clock. Between the camp's schedule and not having many distractions (no television, no laptops, no video games), Jane usually found herself going to bed around 9 o'clock. Staying up until eleven felt like she'd stayed up until 4 am. She rubbed her eyes and went about getting ready for bed.
With teeth freshly brushed and clad in a t-shirt and loose fitting cotton shorts, she looked out her screen door to check if Maura was coming toward her cabin. Seeing no sign of anyone, she hit the light switch and crawled into bed.
Jane had only been lying there for about five minutes when she heard a whispered voice.
"Jane? Jane, are you awake?" It was Maura. Jane disentangled herself from her bed sheets and went to the cabin door.
"Hey there. Did you have a nightmare?" she asked casually, as she opened the screen door for the medic. Maura was a site. She was wearing a dark colored satin looking robe tied loosely around her waist. Her long legs were bare where the robe ended, until they reached her little inside-outside slippers.
"Yes. Did I wake you? I saw your light go off as I was walking over here, so I thought you might still be awake." Jane confirmed that she was still awake. "May I still stay with you tonight?" she asked quietly, entering the door that Jane was holding open, speaking the question mere inches from Jane as she passed her to enter the cabin.
Jane swallowed. If I didn't know better, I swear she knows what she does to me, she thought feeling her pulse escalate as Maura passed by. "Yes, of course you can. I'm sorry you had another nightmare. Do you want to talk about it?" Jane tried to refocus, to act like a friend instead of someone who wanted to make the moves on the person who just entered her cabin. Friend, friend, friend, she repeated like a mantra. Be her friend.
"No, thank you. But I really appreciate that you'd let me stay with you. I've never tried this, so I'm curious to see if it works."
"Well, it can't hurt to try, right? That's my philosophy. And you like all that science stuff, so it seems like you'd be game for an experiment." Maura grinned at Jane's response.
"Yes, I'm always up for a good experiment," Maura replied saucily.
Jane stood dumbfounded for a moment. I think my mind goes way to quickly to the gutter. I swear that sounded like she was flirting with me.
"So, where would you like me to sleep?" Maura asked innocently, taking in the four beds in the cabin, only one of which was unmade.
"Oh, uh, right. Well, Bobbi's bunk is that one over there," Jane pointed. "I checked with her and she doesn't mind you sleeping in her bed, just like I thought." Maura's back was to Jane, so she couldn't see the honey-blonde's disappointment as it crossed her features. Always graceful and polite, Maura quickly put her mask back in place.
"Thank you Jane. I really appreciate it." She made her way to Bobbi's bunk and took off her robe. As Maura hung her robe on the edge of the bed, she revealed the matching set of dark colored satiny shorts and sleeveless top to her robe. The tall brunette remained rooted to the ground, spellbound again. So much skin. Jane swallowed hard, feeling her body hum in reaction to the vision in front of her. Her eyes roamed freely over Maura's legs and up to her ass, lusting after her beautiful friend.
Maura looked back at Jane, as she was pulling the corner of Bobbi's comforter down. She was still standing in the middle of the room, watching her. "Jane, are you going to go to bed?"
Jane whipped her head up at the sound of Maura's voice. Shit! So busted. "Um, yes, uh-huh," and quickly made her way back to her own bed. Ugh, how much of that did she see? Jane fumed silently to herself, frustrated that she couldn't seem to keep her emotions in check around her friend.
"Good night Jane," Maura cooed into the darkness.
Jane turned on her side, directing her voice toward Maura. "Good night Maura. If you have any nightmares, you can come climb in with me. Okay?" Jane inwardly groaned at herself, especially knowing this invitation was coming on the heels of having probably gotten caught by her friend eyeing her ass. Maybe you should just run over to her bed and stick your tongue down her throat, she sarcastically fumed at herself.
Maura grinned, excited about this thought. "Okay." She tamped down on the temptation to ask Jane what she should do if she was scared right now. Don't ruin a good thing, Maura she self-coached. This was the first time she had ever gone to sleep hoping to have a nightmare.
Not very much time had lapsed when Jane heard rustling at the side of her bed. She grunted.
"Jane, Jane, its me." Jane felt as if she was trudging up from dark, murky water, finally breaking through the fog of sleep she had recently slipped into.
"Maura?" Jane's eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness and being awake. She could sense a figure nearby, at the edge of her bed.
"Yes, its me. Um..I had another nightmare, so I…" she trailed off, hesitant to put Jane's offer from earlier into words. Luckily for her, she didn't have to. Jane threw back the covers and scooted over in the twin bed to make room for Maura. Jane was still working through her sleepy haze, but had the good grace to remember that Maura was staying in her cabin.
"C'mere," she slurred and felt the bed dip as Maura snuck under the sheets. Jane was on her side, holding up the bed covers, and she felt Maura move closer to her.
"Thank you Jane," she whispered. Jane lowered the bed sheets over the two of them and lightly rested her arm on Maura's side.
"Of course. What are friends for?" With Maura so close, Jane's sleepy haze was quickly burning off. "I'm sorry there isn't much room, but I think it will be okay." She could feel her heart speed up and her temperature begin to climb. "Uh, are you comfortable?" At the moment they were both lying facing each other, trying not to touch much of each other, for fear that she might make the other one uncomfortable. This is a very difficult task in a twin bed.
Unable to lie, Maura admitted that her position wasn't very comfortable. Jane smiled.
"Yeah, it wasn't for me either. Let's try this," she said, and skimmed her hand down Maura's arm to find her wrist. God, she is so soft, Jane admitted, wishing that she could stroke her skin with abandon and without suspicion. She found Maura's wrist and carefully pulled the medic to her side as she rolled onto her back. Maura snuggled closer to Jane, realizing the position she wanted to try. With Jane's guidance, her arm was slung across Jane's body, and she nestled her head into Jane's neck. For better comfort, she readjusted her leg so that it was in between Jane's two legs, falling at about her athletic friend's mid-thigh.
"How's this?" Jane asked, loving this new position much more than the previous one.
"Mmm, I like this." Jane had slipped her other arm around Maura's shoulders. As Maura was now wonderfully positioned against Jane, Jane let go of the hand that she had used to guide Maura over to her. She gently brushed the hair out of Maura's face.
"Good, I like it too." With the reassurance of Jane's admission, Maura burrowed a little closer to her, reveling in the feel of being so close to Jane.
"I can hear your heartbeat," Maura sighed contentedly.
Jane chuckled. "Well, at least you know I'm not a vampire," she joked, though inside she was struggling with not letting her friend know how incredibly turned on she was. God, she is so soft, and she feels amazing against me. How am I ever supposed to fall asleep? I need to relax…calm down. Oh, she smells so good. C'mon, let's everybody -libido!- calm down. Jane released a deep breath. "Good night Maura," she whispered.
Maura yawned. "Good night Jane. Thanks for chasing away my boogiemen."