Thank you all once again for anyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited. The reviews for the last chapter made me feel like a kid on Christmas morning, you are all awesome. Here is chapter nine. I hope you all enjoy. Once again, you guys are great, you make me love writing this story. I apologize for and grammatical or spelling errors.
In the days before Maura's return, Dr. Martin came over every day to help Gia with her recovery, as well as with simple house chores which were now difficult like doing the laundry. The doctor would also call Gia while at work to make sure she was okay. Gia was appreciative of not only the help, but the company. After spending four months in Boston, the doctor was the only person she had spent time with besides Maura. During the week they spent together, the two got to know each other rather well. Gia found a certain familiarity around her that she couldn't quite place, while Dr. Martin found Gia to be someone with whom she felt completely comfortable. Their friendship was instant.
December 31st 1982 (New Years Eve)
Gia heard a knock at her door. She answered.
"Hello, Dr. Martin," Gia said cheerfully.
"Gianna, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Hope?" The doctor responded with a slight chuckle.
"When you stop calling me Gianna," Gia responded playfully annoyed.
"It's such a beautiful name though."
"It sounds like a saints name, and I am no saint"
Hope laughed. "Well, you may not be a saint, but you're a really good person."
"That's debatable."
Hope rolled her eyes. "You risked your life for a complete stranger, that's something."
"Well, what about you, you're a doctor you save lives every day?"
The two women experienced a moment of silence, it wasn't uncomfortable, but both were definitely evaluating their worth as people, examining where they felt they had failed.
Hope had brought over breakfast for Gia, and they ate together.
As Hope went to the refrigerator to get Gia a glass of juice to take with her medicine she noticed the wreath that Maura had made hanging on the fridge. She put her hand up to one of the little cut outs of Maura's hand. "Did the little girl make this for you?"
"Yeah, isn't it great?"
"Adorable, she must really like you."
"So, any big plans for tonight Doc?"
"Probably a bunch of people with alcohol poisoning and people who were hit by drunk dri-," Hope stopped herself, she remember how Gia told her about how her family died, and wondered if her casual mention of this was insensitive.
"I hope they get to you in time," Gia sighed.
Gia looked at the time. "I have to get to the airport for work, I have to pick up the little girl."
"What? Work? I don't think so, it's only been a week." Hope replied.
"I'll be fine."
Hope tilted her hand and looked concerned. "You need to rest for a few more days, her parents will carry on just fine without you."
"She's flying alone, so I don't really have a choice, and even if I did, I'd chose to see her anyway."
"Wait, I thought she was only six?"
"Yup"
"What kind of-, I would never let my child get on a plane by herself at such a young age." Hope's own words hit like a knife to the chest, and she started to tear up.
Gia noticed the pain on her friend's face, she pulled her into a hug and said nothing. She didn't know what to say, or if there was even a right thing to say. She just tried to comfort Hope in the only way she knew how.
"Thank you, Gianna, I needed that." Hope said as the hug broke and she dried the tears from her eyes. "I know you have to go to work, even though you shouldn't, but promise me you'll take it easy."
"Trust me when the little one finds out what happened, she'll make sure I do. I don't exactly plan on telling her though, she's a bit of a worrier." Gia responded.
Hope smiled. "She sounds absolutely wonderful."
"She really is." Gia responded as she grabbed a wrapped present from the table before the two left, both going to their respective jobs.
/
By the end of her vacation Maura was very excited to go home, she got up several hours before her flight and had been packed for two days. Maura looked over her flight plan talking softly to herself.
"My flight is at seven, it's an eleven hour flight, with a six hour time difference I should be back in Boston by..." She quickly did some math in her head "Noon"
When her parents dropped her off at the airport, they said their good byes and watched as their daughter boarded the plane all by herself.
The flight did not run as smoothly as they normally do, their was a lot of turbulence and Maura was scared. She buried her face into Gia's scarf and the familiar smell of her favorite person was able to calm her down as it did for the past two weeks.
/
Gia arrived at the airport on time to pick up Maura. She thought of a funny idea and wrote "Peanut" on a piece of paper to hold up for when Maura arrived like they do in the movies. When nearly two hours had passed, Gia quickly became worried. She frantically asked the employees the status of Maura's flight to no avail. Gia paced back and forth in front of the flight arrival/departure board until she saw conformation that Maura's flight had landed safely.
When Maura got off of the plane she immediately spotted Gia and ran over to her wrapping her arms around Gia's waist in a very tight hug. Gia felt a pull around her waist and realized that Maura had fallen asleep during the hug. She bent down and picked Maura up, feeling a slight pain which would have been excruciating if Hope hadn't made her take her medication. Gia carried Maura to her car, while an airport employee helped her with Maura's luggage.
Maura slept the entire car ride home, and when they arrived back at the Isles residence Gia carried her into the house and placed her on the couch. Gia sat next to her for a bit running her fingers through Maura's hair before going to the kitchen to start dinner.
/
Maura woke up two hours later to the smell of Gia's cooking. She walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. She sat at the island watching Gia prepare a salad.
"I'm so sorry I passed out, I'm a bit jet lagged I guess." Maura said in a yawn.
"No worries, Peanut, how was Brussels?"
"Okay I guess, I improved my backhand." Maura shrugged. "What did you do for Christmas?"
"Uh... I spent the day in bed." Gia said.
"Your cooking smells delicious, Gia, I am starving."
"Good, because it's ready now."
Gia took the lasagna out of the oven, and fixed two plates, as well as two bowls of salad. While they were eating Maura remembered Gia's gift.
"Can I give you your present after we clean up?"
"Yes, and I have something for you too Peanut."
After they had finished dinner and cleaned up they went to the living room to exchange gifts.
"I wanna give you mine first." Maura said. She quickly ran up stairs to her room and came back down holding a perfectly wrapped box. She handed the box to Gia and danced in front of her in excitement.
Gia unwrapped the paper and opened the box to find a Swiss Army Knife.
"Wow, Peanut. I love it, thank you so much." Gia inspected the knife looking at its various features. "A reamer! This is amazing." She pulled Maura into a hug with her right arm.
"Okay, Peanut, it's your turn. Gia handed Maura beautifully wrapped box with stylish handmade bows.
Maura carefully opened her present. It was a stethoscope. She read the engraving on metal tube on the left side. "To Peanut, with love, Gia." Then she saw the engraving on the other side. "To Mommy, love G., J., C., H., and A.
"This was your mother's?" Maura asked.
"I'm sorry Peanut, I wanted to get you a brand a new one but, something came up and I didn't have enough money. You're not mad are you?"
"No, I'm not mad, I love it, but I don't want to take it from you, it was your mom's. I feel bad."
"No, Maura please don't, I'm not going to ever use it, but I thought that you might. I should have had the other engraving erased, but I... I just couldn't. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize Gia, I am honored to have something that means so much to you." Maura answered as she kissed Gia on the scar spot at her hairline.
"May I try it out on you?" Maura asked.
"Go ahead"
Maura unbuttoned the top two buttons on Gia's shirt.
"Woah, there Peanut" Gia said stopping her.
Maura rolled her eyes. "It needs to be on your skin for accuracy. Stop being immature, we're both girls, and you're still fully clothed."
Gia complied, and Maura placed chest piece on the right side of Gia's sternum at the second rib. She listened and closed her eyes. After a few moments of silence Gia spoke up. "Peanut, is everything okay?"
"Shhhhhh" Maura responded. She listened for another two minutes then opened here eyes. "Your aortic valve sounds healthy. It's such a beautiful sound, I could listen to it all day." She smiled. "Now lets try the pulmonary valve." Maura moved to the chest piece to the left side of Gia's sternum. That's when she noticed the swelling and bruising on Gia's clavicle. Gia realized this when Maura's expression changed from being happy to being upset. "What happened, who did this to you?"
"No one. It was an accident." Gia responded looking down.
"What did you do?" Maura inquired in an upset tone, as she gently pulled Gia's shirt off of her shoulder to get a better look. "It looks broken."
"I was hit by a car on Christmas Eve but I'm fine now."
"A car?" Then Maura realized something. "You picked me up! You shouldn't have done that!" Maura flicked the spot.
The pain medication had warn off and Gia eyes rolled back slightly due to the small amount of pressure, and Maura noticed.
"You're not fine." Maura said. "Where are your discharge instructions?"
Gia pointed to her bag. "In the front part."
Maura pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from the bag and sighed.
She looked over the sheet of paper. "Dr. Hope Martin. I'm calling her and telling her you put stress on your fracture."
"Peanut, no, she's busy."
Maura ignored Gia and grabbed the phone dialing the number on the paper.
"Hello, may I please speak to Dr. Martin." Maura spoke, trying to sound older than she was.
"This is Ma- Miss Isles." Maura heard the phone being passed.
"Hello, this is Dr. Martin."
Maura froze, she felt intimidated, she passed the phone to Gia.
"Hello Hope, no, no everything is fine. I'm sorry to bother you."
"Tell her what you did or, I'll flick it again." Maura said as she tried to listen in on the conversation.
Hope heard Maura. "Is that the little girl you work with? She said something happened?"
Gia sighed and said in a low voice. "I may have lifted an object over ten pounds."
Gia had to hold the phone away from her ear as Hope loudly chastised her.
Maura tried to hang on every word.
"The arm goes back in the sling." Hope said when her tone calmed down a bit.
"I don't have it." Gia answered.
"Yes, you do I packed it for you along with some of your medication, I thought you'd might forget it."
Upon hearing this Maura ran to Gia's bag and got the items.
"Yes, Hope I promise to wear it, trust me, she'll make sure I do. Have a good day at work, and again sorry to bother you." Gia hung up.
Maura helped Gia into the arm sling. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you trusted me."
"I do Peanut, I really do but, you're only six, I don't need you to worry about me. I'm supposed to be the one who takes care of you." Gia said sincerely.
Maura went to Gia's right side and curled up next to her. "I'm allowed to care about you too, if I want." Maura said softly.
"It's not like I wasn't being careful, you know. A little boy ran into the street, he... I needed to do what I did."
Gia didn't need to go into detail, Maura knew what had happened. "I admire you Gia, you are a truly unique and kind-hearted person, and someday I hope to be just like you."
Gia put her arm around Maura and pulled her in closer. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She kissed the top of Maura's head. "Why don't we make some popcorn and get ready to watch the ball drop?"
"Sounds perfect." Maura responded.
The two enjoyed the rest of their night together happy to be in each other's company again. Maura was able to stay up late enough to watch the ball drop while Gia passed out on the couch. Maura curled up next to her and fell asleep soon after.
Thank you for reading, reviews are welcome obviously. Here is an interesting fact, there really is a Saint Gianna. And guess what she's the patron saint of... Physicians! Interesting huh? Also National Peanut day was September 13th! I hope you enjoyed. Be well and have a splendid day.