much happier with this chapter, thank you for all the encouragement - means a lot to me and you successfully brought me out of my funk x sorry this wasn't done yesterday but i had to take a break away from it and come back stronger (i hope anyway!)
i wish I had a muse which someone mentioned but I don't all I have is a Dennis :/ and no Jane to help me out :(
Maura stared at the deep purple colour in front of her for what felt like years. The cold hard fingers were still digging into the back of her neck serving as a constant reminder of the situation she was in. She could smell the metallic tang of the gun hovering close by. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears and yet it felt the weakest it ever had, like it too had given up. Somewhere she could hear birds chirping in the trees; at odds with the terrible fear ravaging her insides. An overwhelming urge to laugh bubbled up from inside her. Her rational logical scientific mind was telling her that she could be slipping into some sort of shock whilst the other side of her mind was babbling nonsense at her. As she opened the lid to the dish the malodorous stench wafted up to her nostrils and took her back to that night so many years ago. She could feel her conscious slipping away from her again and her mind desperately clambered for some kind of anchor to hold onto, eventually it found her trusty old companion; science. Amorphophallus is toxic if not prepared properly as it contains calcium oxalate crystals. Calcium Oxalate CaC2O4. Even a small dose of calcium oxalate is enough to cause intense sensations of burning in the mouth and throat, swelling, and choking that could last for up to two weeks. In greater doses it can cause severe digestive upset, breathing difficulties, coma or even death. Recovery from severe oxalate poisoning is possible, but permanent liver and kidney damage may occur.
She could see the thoughts turning inside in the medical examiner's mind. She tightened her grip on the back of her neck and tapped the side of her had with the butt of the gun as a less than gentle reminder of her options.
Maura could barely control her shaking fingers as she reached out and gathered a pinch of the dark purple matter between her fingertips. She looked up into the cold hard eyes that were studying her. She gasped slightly as she saw the pure unadulterated joy that lay within the blackness of those eyes. She had met some disturbed people in her life and had had her life threatened before...Hoyt...the mere thought of his name made the scar under her chin tingle and begin to burn. He was a highly disturbed man with an obsession with Jane like nothing she had ever seen before...Jane...and yet when she looked deep into his eyes there was a glimpse of humanity still there...but these eyes? There was no empathy, no regret, just joy. In that moment Maura gave up all the tiny remainders of hope that had lodged themselves in her heart. It's over.
The smile that spread across her face, as she watched Maura place her fingers inside her mouth and pull them out clean, almost hurt as it spread from ear to ear with glee.
As Maura's mind sank down into the inky blackness that claimed her once again it couldn't focus clearly, she didn't know if the burning sensations in her mouth and throat were real or simply an hallucination her mind had concocted because she knew all too well what should be happening to her, and what would happen eventually. She clamped her eyes shut against the truly evil laugh that escaped the other woman's lips.
"Come on Princess, a little more."
There was a small part of Maura screaming at her to stand up, to fight, to not die in this submissive way. As she focused on that little voice she discovered it was coming from near her intestines and she smiled internally as she realised who it was. Jane. Of course it was Jane who was lodged in her gut begging her to listen. A little giggle escaped as she grasped another pinch of the dust. Jane is inside me. Jane is a part of me. I'll never have to leave her, she's coming with me.
The giggle shocked her completely but not as much as the resounding click of a gun that echoed around the otherwise empty graveyard. Time seemed to slow right down as she hoisted Maura up by her neck and swirled them both around to face the barrel of a gun. She held the ME as tight to her as she possibly could and hid behind her wavy hair as she held the gun flush against the medical examiner's head. "Too late."
The sing song tone of her voice snapped any resolve Jane had left inside her. If only she didn't have Maura clasped to her this bitch would be full of holes and bleeding everywhere. She forced herself to not focus on the gun or the gleeful bitch holding it but instead on Maura. She felt physically sick as she looked at her; something's not right...why isn't she opening her eyes...why is she smiling? Jane shook her head slightly At least she's alive. That thought made her heart pound twice as fast and she had to remind herself they weren't safe yet. "Maur?"
Jane's still talking to me. Maura giggled again. I hear you little Jane.
"Maur?" The laugh that ripped out of Maura's captor was almost a cackle, it clawed down Jane's spine and she felt her whole body tense up. "Maura!"
No need to shout little Jane I can hear you, I always hear you, you're a part of you, I can feel you.
"Maura look at me! please Maur? Look at me!" Jane didn't care that she was begging, she didn't care that the bitch was howling with laughter. Come on Maur tell me I'm not too late.
Look at you? I can see you. I see you every time I close my eyes. My Jane. Maura felt something churn in her stomach and she poked her head out of the blackness for a brief moment. "Look at me!" Something reached down into the darkened abyss and pulled her up toward the light and she blinked her eyes open in pain. "J-J-Jane?"
Her voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper but she might as well have screamed her name for all Jane heard. Her heart soared and her spirits lifted. "Yeah, yeah Maur, it's me, I'm here I made it."
The happy look on the detective's face made her feel sick, she swung her gun out from Maura's head and levelled it at the brunette. "Actually detective, you're a little late." She looked pointedly at the container in the ME's hands and revelled at the drop in the detective's expression.
"No. No...no...NO! Maura tell me you didn't take any of that? Maur?"
"Amorphophallus is toxic if not prepared properly as it contains calcium oxalate crystals. Calcium Oxalate CaC2O4. Even a small dose causes intense sensations of burning in the mouth and throat, swelling, and choking. In greater doses it can cause severe digestive upset, breathing difficulties, coma or even death. Recovery from severe oxalate poisoning is possible, but permanent liver and kidney damage may occur. Medication administered at the emergency room may include diphenhydramine, epinephrine, or famotidine, all intravenously."
Jane's heart sank at the information that Maura had just given her. Certain words echoed around her mind; Coma...death...permanent damage...emergency room. That last thought spurred Jane back into action. Good girl Maura, tell me how to save you. "it's ok Maura I'm here now. Everything's gonna be ok, I'm gonna save you ok?"
"She won't save you. She doesn't care about you. She doesn't have what it takes to save you."
Maura's mind battled between the demon whispering in her ear and the heavenly husky voice of Jane trying to anchor its place in her heart.
"I'd do anything for you Maur, you know that, I'll kill anyone who hurts you, just like I did before."
"She shot your father, the only one who knows your real mother, she tried to kill your flesh and blood."
Maura frantically shook her head trying to banish the demon from her mind but she could feel it's hot breath against her ear.
"I'd never hurt you Maur, you know that, you know me."
"Open your eyes Princess."
Maura struggled against the glaring light and she squinted against its power until it softened and Jane's beautiful face came into focus and she smiled affectionately at the brunette.
Jane beamed at Maura and felt all the tension leave her body. Atta girl, we can get through this together. Her happiness vanished as she saw Maura's expression drop as her eyes focused on the gun Jane was holding. "No, Maur..."
Jane is pointing a gun at me. Tears streamed down her face and she frantically shook her head as two halves of her battled; her rational mind knew that Jane wasn't pointing the gun at her but her irrational mind that was being manipulated by the demon was screaming at her. She wants to kill me.