Jane and Jackson are on the road. Jane's somewhat intoxicated by the car. She's never thought that someday she'd be taking a ride out to the country in a sleek black Lamborghini with a rich handsome doctor. Jane can't help but think how her mother would react if she knew. Still she feels some guilt creeping in. "You know Doctor…"
He interrupts her "Jackson!"
Jane feels a small cringe; he's smooth she smiles to herself. "You know Jackson I would have been perfectly happy to see you at the hospital."
"I can't believe you called Jane; how longs it been; a year?"
"Ah I'm not sure; it's been a while."
"So have the ointments I gave you been helping" Jackson asks.
"You know what; I don't think so" Jane looks at him to gauge his reaction.
Jackson smiles; "hands are extremely complex as I'm sure you've been told. I'm amazed you got the functionality back that you did after the injuries you sustained."
"Yeah that's what the surgeons told me at the time. They said I'd never do active duty as a cop again, they didn't think I'd get the strength back to fire a weapon."
"But you've always had some pain since your hands were pinned?"
"Well, yeah I guess. No not exactly; actually it's hard to explain" Jane's frustration with her hands creeps into her voice.
"Try" Jackson encourages.
"Well they've never felt the same. I used to play piano and I still tinker occasionally but it doesn't feel right. I don't know; it's more of an effort."
"And that day I saw you, when you dropped the six-pack; is that still happening?"
"That was the first time that had happened. Remember I told you; I felt a sharp pain shoot from my hand up my arm and then it felt like everything went to water. I couldn't hold the beer."
"Yeah I remember; so obviously it's happened again?" He smiles at her.
"What makes you say that" Jane gives him a suspicious look.
"Well if you were interested in me for anything other than my medical skills I'd hoped you might have called sooner."
Oh yeah he's smooth Jane thinks to herself. "Doc… Jackson, its little things mostly. They ache when it's going to rain. Particularly gruesome crime scenes seem to invoke a reaction in my hands. In the last few months I've started to notice myself innocently dropping things. I get occasional pins and needles and yes I have now had two similar incidences where I've held something heavy and I get shooting pains up my arms before everything goes to water and I drop what I'm holding."
"Hmm; how long ago and how far apart were the serious attacks in your hands?"
He pulls into the driveway of his private practice.
"I had one about six weeks ago and another last week" Jane explains.
Jackson helps Jane out of the car as he responds "look Jane, I'm sure it's nothing that the right sort of treatment won't fix."
Jane scans the surroundings. Dr. Hughes private practice is almost in the Green Mountain National Forest. The building is eighteen hundreds and classic in styling. Jane guesses they are about ten minutes from Brattleboro. The trees and scenery are quite beautiful and Jane admits it feels nicer to breathe here.
"Your practice is really lovely" Jane announces.
Jackson hasn't noticed; he's taking some supplies from the car. He stops and looks around. "It's deliberate Jane; hands are where many people express their many fears and anxieties. Treating complex hand injuries, in my professional opinion, works better in a stress free environment."
As they enter the house/homestead; Jane can't figure how she would describe the building; it changes from a country retreat to a modern sophisticated medical practice. "How long have you been a hand specialist" Jane asks.
"I started out wanting to specialise in hands but these days I'm more renowned as a dermatologist." Jackson sees Jane frown. "The skin" he adds.
"Oh" Jane responds.
"That's why I had all the ointment in my car when we met that day. I've been doing research into scar minimization treatments. The creams I gave you weren't really meant to cure you from pain but I thought they might make your hands more comfortable and I hoped they'd reduce your scars. As I didn't hear from you again I thought they were a raging success. It seems based on what you're telling me now; my research is a terrible failure."
Jane looks at her hands and then back at Jackson "I'm afraid so; sorry!" They both laugh.
"Would you like anything before we get started Jane" he asks.
"No I'm fine, what's first" Jane is keen to get to work. Deep down she's been worried about things since that second time her hands went to water. When it happened last week; on the job, the truth is it really frightened her.
"OK, I want to start with X-rays." He takes Jane into another room. When he does they are greeted by a nurse. Jane's not surprised when the nurse could pass as a playboy bunny. "Jane this is Melissa; she'll be assisting us today."
"Jane smiles thinly "hi Melissa; I'm Jane."
Melissa greets Jane as Jackson leaves. She puts two plates on the table and sticks some metal tags on them. She asks Jane to take off her jacket and remove her watch. She places Jane's hands on the plates and spreads out her fingers. As Melissa is about to leave to take the X-rays she asks almost as an afterthought. "Oh Jane; is there any chance you're pregnant?"
"No; no I'm not pregnant" Jane assures Melissa.
When the X-rays are done Melissa takes Jane to another device. "Jackson wants me to do an ultra sound on both your hands Jane" Melissa explains.
"Oh; that's a first" Jane smiles "sure; no problem."
When that's completed Melissa takes Jane into another room. "Jackson's just going to have a look at the images. He'll be along shortly" Melissa explains before leaving. Jane sits and waits in Jackson's office rubbing her hands.
Doctor Isles is having a frustrating day. It had started so well. She woke to the sultry sounds of Adele on her radio this morning. The latest singing sensation from the UK was an artist Jane had put her on to and Maura was captivated by her music. She'd showered and dressed humming 'Rolling in the Deep'. As she entered her kitchen for breakfast, Angela had left freshly brewed coffee and a fruit salad and yogurt there for her; she'd obviously had an early start at the Division 1 Café this morning.
While Maura never welcomes murder, when she got the call to head straight to a crime scene, she knew she was going to have a busy day and she had to admit to herself she liked to be busy. Her day had gone downhill from there. She's still annoyed at Jane. Her most unusual behaviour keeps distracting Maura from the task at hand. She doesn't like this sort of imbalance in her life. What's more this autopsy is proving a difficult one. She's actually missing having Jane in her ear badgering her for answers. The thing is, despite having fully completed her analysis of the Jane Doe she still has no idea of the cause of death.
Maura is still waiting for a number of reports and results from external analysis to come back. The thing that's really annoying her is that on almost every occasion; while she never admits this to anyone, not even Jane, she usually knows the answers before the results confirm her findings. This is one of those rare times when she has to admit she has no idea what's killed this otherwise perfectly healthy young woman.
If she were to guess; the thought of that thought makes Maura shudder. She is thinking poison. The thing that has Maura torn however is, the stomach content was normal in so far as the digestive process was not unusual. Poisons often upset digestion. When poison had first crossed Maura's mind she double checked the body for needle marks and was not able to find any. When she dissected the liver and the kidneys she didn't find any obvious evidence of poisoning. The young woman's heart was in good condition. Her lungs were healthy. Her brain showed no signs of cause of death.
Maura knows the rape would have been extremely traumatic and painful and unfortunately the victim was still alive when it happened. Yet Maura knows it's not what killed her. Yes today was proving to be a bad day. As she starts to pack up she knows she won't get any more information until tomorrow. She hasn't phoned Jane to fill her in and she's more than a little annoyed that Jane hasn't called her yet. Maura is pretty resolute; if Jane wants information on this case she's going to have to ask for it. It wasn't Maura who begged off to spend the day with Dr. Jackson Hughes.
When Jackson enters he looks at Jane and smiles. "Well the images are pretty much what I expected Jane." He turns on his computer and turns the screen so Jane can also see it. He shows and explains to Jane the findings from the X-rays. Jane has heard all this before. He then goes on to show Jane the images from the Ultra Sound. This is a little more interesting because it is all new to Jane. None of the information however is terribly helpful and she finds this disappointing.
"Jane, all is not lost" Jackson feels compelled to say when he sees the look of disappointment that's covered Jane's face. "In fact I'd say its good news. There's no further deterioration and nothing in these images says there's a problem."
"But we both know there is" Jane states flatly.
"We" Jackson looks at her.
"Jackson that day I dropped the beer, you didn't know me from a bar of soap. Something caught your attention; you're a hand specialist and you saw something that made you stop to help me; didn't you" Jane questions him directly.
"Jane, that was over a year ago! Look I saw a beautiful woman carrying beer that for no reason, just dropped out of her hand; yes it caught my attention. It wasn't until I actually saw the scars that my curiosity was piqued though."
"Huh" Jane looks at him.
"Hey you called me Jane. You think there's a problem and I hope I can help you. It's as simple as that. Besides you're a fighter I can tell; don't give up yet."
Jane takes a deep breath, "OK; what's next?"
Jackson pulls out some tools and starts to test the muscles and reflexes in her hands. They are strong despite her injuries. He does a number of stimulation tests using needles; again Jackson's impressed with how well she responds. He then spends an hour with Jane getting her to exercise her hands and he wraps up the session by giving her a hand massage. After completing the massage he leaves Jane to get some treatments he wants her to start using.
Jane finds herself looking more critically around his office. Not that Jane spends much time in Doctors' offices, but she finds herself comparing it to Maura's. It seems lonely to Jane. There is nothing personal in the room. Maura's by contrast is a real statement of who she is. Jane finds it interesting; she knows what a lonely life Maura's had and yet her space speaks for her. Jackson on the other hand has probably never had a lonely day in his life; especially if Melissa is anything to go by and yet his space seems so empty. People rarely surprise Jane but she finds everything that makes them unique, fascinating.
Jackson returns "I have a new hand cream I want you to use. Stop using the others OK?" He hands Jane a package.
"Jackson you gave me enough of the others to last me a life time; what should I do with them?"
"Throw them out Jane, as I said at the time; they were samples and clearly they haven't worked as I'd hoped."
Jane smiles at Jackson. "Ah… sorry; no!"
Jackson catches the humour and smiles in return. "This is a night cream; apply it before you go to bed. Just put a dab on each hand and rub it in. I also have a new anti inflammatory I want you to use. Take one capsule once a day. No matter what's happening; never take any more than that. If you get more stabbing and shooting pains, use a regular pain-killer for immediate relief. Most importantly Jane, call me if you're concerned."
"Jackson you will keep this to yourself; won't you. If word gets out that I'm having problems with my hands I'll be assigned to a desk." Jane's look is quite desperate.
Jackson looks at her; his expression is serious. "At this stage Jane, there is nothing in this examination that says I should stop you doing your job. If you hadn't told me about the symptoms nothing that we've done today would suggest you have any problems."
"Thanks" Jane's sighs with relief.
"I haven't finished" Jackson stares at her. "Jane, I hope I can trust you to be honest with yourself and me. You do a very dangerous job and people depend on you. I won't hesitate to report you if I think you are putting yourself or anyone else at risk. Do you understand?"
Jane nods.
"OK let's get you home. Just remember Jane; stay in touch. Let me know how things are going."
When Jane gets home she rings Maura. There's no answer. She goes and showers and changes into her favourite sweats and then grabs a beer. She takes the tube of hand cream and dabs a little on each hand. She starts to rub it in. Damn you Hoyt she thinks; damn you! When she's finished her beer she tries Maura again. Again it goes to voice mail. Jane leaves a message; "I'm guessing you're mad at me. I'm sorry about today. I'll see you in the morning. Oh, it's me Jane." She hangs up.