DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, the books, or these characters. I only borrow them.
Chapter 5
The next two days were touch and go, more for the visitors then the patients it seemed with the long days of waiting for words of improvement and for the patients to wake up. Within hours of learning that both Frankie and Jane Rizzoli should be okay as they were in ICU after surgery, Barry Frost and Vince Korsak wandered a few blocks away, back to headquarters at Schroeder Plaza. They both knew they could do more for their partner and her brother as cops then as the doorstop Frost felt he was becoming, or Korsak as the barista handing out cup after cup of coffee. That night and early into the next day Maura waited with the parents, both because she felt they could use some support but also for any chance to hear more on Jane and Frankie.
The day after the shooting, both patients were monitored and taken down to the diagnostic imaging suites. Seeing no blockages or bleeds in the various images that were run, and noting that the patients stats seemed to be holding better then the night before, both patients were finally placed in a room together. Out of ICU, the family was able to stay with the patients. But Maura was not family so all she could do was visit during the normal visiting hours. So 30 hours after the gunshot that started this whole torturous race, Maura found herself back in her own home wondering what to do until visiting hours the next day started. She called the vet and learned that Bass was doing better after needing some antibiotics for some reptilian cold. She might have cared more about the technical terms two days before, but now she was just numb and passing the time. She payed for the bill for the stay and the treatment until the next day, and then contacted a pet sitter she knew to pick up both Jo and Bass the next afternoon and to watch them until further notice.
Next Maura decided to check in with Frost and Korsak to hear how their day at work went and to give them any additional information they might not have been able to glean from the nurses station.
After a couple rings she heard a weary bark, "Frost."
"Hi, Barry. It's Dr. Isles."
"Hey, Doc. How are the patients?"
"They are stable. They were both moved into the same room tonight. Their mom is thrilled that she can camp out in the hospital chair and see both of her kids now."
She heard a slight chuckle even though no real humor was behind it, "Yea, I'll bet." The voice became much more serious, "By the way, guess who is just rooms down from Jane and her brother."
Maura could only think of one other person who was shot and maybe not fatally. "Shit." She didn't curse often as she felt there were always better words to say what you mean, but right now that seemed to be the best word her foggy brain could think up.
"Marino's still in critical condition. He has a guard on the door. I'm thinking more to protect him from other cops and probably from Angela if she learns he's there, than to make sure he doesn't miraculously heal and try to run out of the hospital."
Maura knew that the Boston Medical Center was the nearest level 1 trauma center to police headquarters, so it made sense that all of the wounded were taken there. She almost wished Frost would have kept that information to himself though. She would be at the hospital the following morning, and she knew she might be tempted to stop in and speed up his arrival at her place of work. She shook her head at that thought. She might hate the guy, but she was still a doctor and the words 'first do no harm' filtered into her brain and spoiled her images of revenge. After a steadying breath she asked, "So how is the clean up and work coming along back at headquarters?"
"The rookies still are jumping at shadows. Hell, most of us are. All of the bodies are down in your neck of the woods. Crime scene clean-up came in last night and so everything looks back to normal... but the feel is all wrong."
Maura could understand the last statement. So much felt wrong since yesterday. "Did Korsak file the statement I gave you both?"
"He transcribed it all early this morning. He finally left the office a couple hours ago as he looked like he was going to pass out at his desk. And yes, I made him call when he got home since he wouldn't let an officer drive him. Stubborn." He chuckled again, "but I think you need to be stubborn to ever be partnered with Rizzoli and not go nuts."
"You should probably go home and get some rest too," Maura stated as she didn't feel close enough with Barry to joke about which he was...stubborn or nuts.
"I was just about to leave when you rang and as I'd already be pushing it driving tired, I knew better then to try to add talking to the picture."
She was glad to hear that as she saw too many car accident victims in her morgue due to cell phone usage. "I'm sorry. I should let you go. Just keep me apprised of the investigation."
"Will do. And keep Korsak and I in the loop about Jane and her brother." As almost an afterthought she heard a mumbled, "Sleep well, doc."
She had a feeling no one would sleep well for awhile, but she replied, "you too," before she hung up.
All that seemed to be left to do before visiting hours began again tomorrow was sleep. She did try to sleep as she knew her body and mind needed it after the horrible ordeal at headquarters the day before and then the hours of waiting for news. It was anything but restful. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the pain-filled, pale face of Frankie gazing up at her from the autopsy table. When she would toss and turn the images shifted and she heard the echoing gunshots as the men broke into the evidence lockers, but this time she wasn't lucky. She didn't bend down at the right moment to check on Bass and so one of the men saw her. She saw the gun turn on her and heard the sound of the bullet being fired and she shot up in bed. She scrubbed a hand over her face and eyes as if trying to wipe the image away. She knew she didn't want to close her eyes again, even though she felt sleep pull at her, so she wandered out into the kitchen to start the coffee machine.
Her mind flitted from one thought to another as she smelled the strong aroma start to fill the room. She thought about the patients lying in beds at the hospital, and how close she came to losing both of them. She hated being away from them as they were still in serious condition. She asked Angela Rizzoli to call her at any time if something changed. But the 15 minute drive from her house in Brookline to the hospital, assuming no traffic, could be too long. She knew the parents had an even longer drive if they would go home to Revere to get a night's sleep or to shower and change. She pondered the issue as she got up to grab a mug from the cupboard and poured the strong, steaming dark liquid into it. As she added the right amount of sugar and cream into her cup, an idea started to blossom. She grabbed her cell phone and called for information. Driving by the hospital she noted a Hampton Inn on Massachusetts Avenue. It would be perfect for both her and the Rizzolis. A place to sleep, shower, and get a hot meal, and still be within walking distance from the hospital.
With the number to the hotel in hand, she debated her decision for a few moments. She knew that Jane was always proud of her father's work ethic as a blue collar worker. She knew from Frankie that his family was a proud one and didn't like hand-outs when they could just struggle to make an honest living. She wondered how they would view her paying for a hotel room and extras like food. Nervously tapping her fingers on the counter top, she quelled her worries and dialed the number. Even if they didn't want to use the room, she knew she needed to be closer to those she cared about.
Forty minutes later, just after 1am, Maura Isles walked into the lobby of the hotel with a travel bag of easy to wear jeans and pant suits in case she needed to stop in to work. She knew she would miss the dresses and heels the next few days, but it was an easy price to pay for the nearness and quickness of getting over to the hospital. She checked in to the suite she purchased for a week, knowing that with the injuries to Jane and Frankie that they would probably both still be in the hospital for that long. Over the phone she requested for a fruit basket and some sandwiches and water to be supplied in the suite's fridge, and extra coffee fixings and travel cups to be placed in the kitchenette. She picked up the 2 keycards she asked to be made, one for her and one for the Rizzolis if they decided to use the room at all. She also asked for two parking passes as she paid for three guests. At least if they didn't want to use the room, they could use the parking and take the hotel's free shuttle to the hospital or just walk, rather than struggle to find a spot at the hospital and pay a large fee.
She opened the door to the room. The suite came with a king sized bed, and a sofa bed. She knew it was unlikely that the three would ever be in the room at the same time as the Rizzolis or Maura, or some combo thereof, would be at the hospital so it didn't bother her that it was all in one big area. She left the king sized bed alone for the couple if they ever deemed to use the room, and she headed to the turned down sofa bed that she had asked be prepared. And ironically, this new environment did not impede her ability to sleep as she had the curtains peaking open and could see out to the brightly lit hospital nearby.
At 8am the prearranged wake up call rang into the room. Maura got up and prepared for another long day of sitting in the hospital until she was kicked out again. She got a quick shower and pulled on a pair of designer jeans and a navy blue satin shirt as she loved the feel, and Frankie loved the color. She applied just enough make-up to not look too scary if Frankie would wake up and look at her. The circles under her eyes weren't as prominent as the night before but they still made her eyes look a bit sunken in without the make-up. She left her hair down today, slightly curling over her shoulders. A quick slip into her black flats and she was ready to walk out the door 30 minutes later.
On her way out of the hotel, she stopped and grabbed three free on-the-go breakfast bags and bottles of water to take breakfast over to those awake in the Rizzoli room of the hospital. When Maura got over to the hospital she was surprised to walk into the room and see only Angela Rizzoli sitting with her kids. She watched from the door for a moment. Watching the mother carefully holding on to her daughter's hand and looking for any signs of movement, even through her daughter was still in a medically induced coma. She guessed she wasn't as hidden from view as she thought when she heard a tired voice say, "It's nice being able to hold her hand this time. The last time I was in this situation her hands were too bandaged up. All I could see were the tips of her fingers." The weary face of Angela Rizzoli glanced toward the door as Maura finally walked over to join the older woman.
She wondered at this woman who had to put up with so much. Her oldest son's brush with the law. Jane's capture and injuries by Charles Hoyt, and now her two youngest children lying in the hospital yet again. "I don't know how you do it. Being a mother."
"It has its good points and bad. Just so happens to be in the bad moments currently," Angela gave a slight humorless smile. "Luckily there are more good times than bad. Just have to remember that at times like this."
Maura watched the mother brush an errant strand of hair off her daughter's forehead and felt a longing for her own mother. But both of her adopted parents were already long dead and she missed the random demonstrations of love and support that they so seldom showed to her. She sighed as she pulled the breakfast from her over sized purse. As they both started to eat, Maura tried to think of something to fill the heavy silence. "So, where is Frank? I was surprised I didn't see him here." She glanced to the third bag of breakfast that stood as proof.
Angela finished the bite she was on and placed the sandwich down on her daughter's tray table. "He was almost finished with a large job when we took off the day to celebrate Tommy coming home." She tried not to sound too bitter as she thought about the joy that two days ago was supposed to bring. "Frank's not taking any new jobs, but he needed to finish this one. Luckily a couple of his buddies heard about what happened and offered to help out so he can finish quicker and get back to us." She took a deep breath and look between her two children. "He hated leaving, but the doctor's say they might take Janie off the sleeping meds today so she might wake up tonight or tomorrow. He's rushing to try and finish today...or tomorrow at the latest."
Maura could just image the speed at which Frank Rizzoli might be rushing to finish this job. She remembered watching him with his children in the Dirty Robber when they were all helping with the plumbing job there. He was a wonderful father both from what she saw then, and from the stories that both of his younger children had told to her at various times.
The silence again blanketed the room as both of the ladies finished off their meal. Maura was glad to hear that Jane might be woken up soon. She had a feeling that had to do with the doctors' needing to figure out from a lucid, or at least semi-awake patient, if Jane was able to breath on her own as it was always better to learn as soon as possible if the patient needed to go back in to surgery to fix anything that might still need repairing. She glanced over at a sleeping Frankie though and pondered why he might still be asleep. She knew the body would often put itself into a healing sleep, but she knew he wasn't in a coma as he scored high enough on the Glasgow Coma Scale the day before. She watched as the doctors asked him to wiggle his fingers and as he responded to painful stimuli. She just wished he would respond to his parents and the doctors asking him to open his eyes. She wanted so desperately to talk to him.
Maura took up a chair that was slightly closer to Jane than her brother, and watched for much of the day as the two patients slept. Angela wandered back and forth between them. She got up and stepped closer to Frankie's bed as a nurse came in to change his bandages and record his stats on his chart...purely as a medical professional she tried to tell herself but knew the lie to those words as she grimaced seeing the dark yet healing bruises littering his stomach from where the bullet impacted his vest, and even the bruise on his chest that she caused as she forced the needle through his skin and muscles two days before. The cut she had made to insert the drainage tube was now blending in with the surgeons' incisions. She stayed at his side when the nurse finished with the brother and moved over to do a similar treatment on Jane. She thought it would give Jane privacy as the nurse bared her chest and abdomen to get at the two different incision sites the surgeons used to patch up her friend, but she reveled in this chance to hold Frankie's hand and gaze at his peaceful face as his mother was glancing at the nurse and asking various questions about when the doctors might let her daughter wake up, and why her son wasn't waking up yet.
Later Maura was back in her usual chair. She mused that is was sad that she already had a usual chair as she watched various cops and crime scene techs that the two had worked with before stop in to pay their respects. Frost and Korsak walked in the room together around 4pm.
Korsak walked over to chat quietly with Angela who was sitting next to Frankie at that current moment. He thought it was only fair that Frost talk to Jane first as he was her partner now.
Frost looked a bit nervous as he walked over to the bed containing his partner. As the middle child he was good at coming up with words to help pacify tense situations, but he didn't seem to know what to say to pierce this new challenge. "Hey, Jane." He took a steadying breath, his grip on the bed rails so tight his knuckles were turning white as if the death grip on the rail kept him from reaching in and shaking his partner in an attempt to wake her up. "You have to get up and at 'em soon. Korsak is driving me crazy. I'm not sure how you handled being his partner for so long, but lucky you as you got me after that."
He tried to sound cheery, but Maura couldn't help hearing that he sounded like he was seconds away from breaking out in full blown sobs. She thought about leaving the chair and stepping out of the room, but she knew that any movement would catch the eye of the talking detective. She tried to sink more into chair and out of view. She thought she must have done a better job of closing her ears and blending into the background than she thought as the next thing she noticed was a lumbering hulk pass by her as Frost and Korsak switched sides of the room.
Korsak started off as blustery as usual. "Jesus Jane, you have got to get out of this damn bed and back to the office. I don't know how you handle being partners with Frost, he's too...cheery...well when he's not puking his guts out at a crime scene." This statement brought one of the first real laughs in a lot time. "You so downgraded Janie when you asked to switch from yours truly. Oh. and by the way, no other detective will have you," he chortled as he could imagine the frightened looks on the faces of the other homicide detectives if they would be forced to partner with this brash cop. "So don't try to pull the same stunt you did after your last stint in a hospital. Neither Frost nor I will let you try and switch again. You're stuck with us."
Maura heard the wistful quality to Korsak with the last line. She knew that he still regretted losing his partner after the Surgeon case.
"Well we need to get back to the office. I think you're only still sleeping to get away from the mounds of paperwork over this whole fiasco." He leaned in to conspicuously whisper, "I don't blame you." He straightened back up and as he was just about to pass the chair Maura was huddled in, he turned to her and said, "Can I talk with you a minute outside?"
The look she saw on his face was a mask of composure. With this man that was never a good sign. She stiffly stood up from the chair and tried not to shuffle out of the room too much as her right leg had gone numb from pinching the sciatic nerve as she sat too long. They stopped just outside the door, and Frost came out soon after to join the duo.
"I just wanted to warn you, Doc." Korsak stated. "IA will probably be contacting you for their own interview sometime soon."
"Why would Internal Affairs need to speak with me?" She had a few ideas, all were making her tone toward the messenger a bit more hostile then she would have liked.
Frost, as the mediator interjected calmly, "It's mainly formality. Most everyone in Boston has seen the footage broadcasting the shooting. They always look over the case whenever a cop's gun is fired though. But you are the only witness that isn't lying in a hospital bed. They want to get a better idea of the actions the media cameras didn't pick up. But it's pretty evident from the tapes that Marino was rouge."
"God damn it, he is a dirty cop." Korsak nearly shouted. Even his toned down voice still earned him glares from the nearby nurse's station. "They want to make sure that Jane wasn't involved somehow. They asked us how she was as a partner, and if she might have been in with Marino. As some duo of bad cops and lovers, and she played the hostage to help them get away. And when that looked like it wouldn't happen, she tried to step in and play hero so she could get away from the incident scot free." His face was red with anger that he tried to hold back, not wanting to get banned from the hospital. "With Marino dead there would be no one left to implicate her. I hate IA! All they do is try to ruin the names of good cops, and we already have one blemish to our name with the asshole sleeping down the hall."
Maura had gone pale as Korsak had painted the ugly image of who IA was wondering if Jane was. She wondered if she was going to have another fight on her hands over this dreadful situation: first trying to fight to save Frankie's life, and now a fight to save Jane's reputation. She was so tired of all the bumps that this journey was dragging them through. "When do you think they will contact me?"
Frost could hear the new weariness in Maura's voice and hated that they had caused her even more concern. "They are checking all the stuff they can in the office and on the computer for now. The lieutenant actually was helpful for once. He told them you were out of the office for a few days and so to 'leave you the hell alone'. Granted knowing IA that means you might have a day or two before they try and contact you. But by then most will just be follow up. As a good cop, Jane's bank records should show next to nothing." Frost tried to chuckled to lighten the mood a bit, but it didn't seem to help.
Maura turned to look in the hospital room, she glanced at two of the biggest fighters of justice she knew, and they were being unjustly attacked when they couldn't fight back. Frost seemed to understand Maura's thoughts, or he just had a very similar idea as she got a comforting pat on the back and heard him say, "We'll just have to fight the battle for them since they can't. Get it all straightened out so they don't have to deal with recovery and IA at the same time."
Korsak tried to help with cheering the group up by adding, "Yea, IA isn't known to help as it usually impedes recovery...of anything."
"Oh big word, I'm impressed," Frost grabbed at the chance to change the serious topic into something a bit lighter.
"Shut it, BBK" Korsak retorted.
Forst hated that nickname. He was forever known as the Barf Bag Kid at the office thanks to Korsak. He tried not to think that it was thanks to his queasy stomach...nope it was all Korsak's fault. But he would put up with it as he noticed a very slight smile grace Dr. Isles' face. He was glad for that even if it was at his expense by thinking of all the times he'd lost his breakfast in her morgue sink. "Anyway, we just wanted to give you the heads up. Keep us in the loop about what goes on here. The whole office appreciates it."
"Thanks for the warning." And Maura shook her head as the two started off down the hall. She could still hear them bickering back and forth as the elevator doors closed them from view. Since she was already up, she decided to take a quick stroll to the cafeteria. She stepped back into the room long enough to grab her purse and to ask Angela if she wanted anything. Order and cell phone in hand she detoured slightly to step out into the sunlight and place a needed, yet worrisome call. She hoped he took her suggestion well.
The night before Maura and the two awake Rizzolis exchanged phone numbers to be able to check in about the patients. Now she was calling Frank Rizzoli for a different reason. She heard the phone ring a couple of times before she heard a recorded 'This is Frank Rizzoli. Please leave a message about the job and location and I'll get back to you.' She was slightly relieved to be able to leave a message. She heard the tell-tale beep and she quickly tried to fit her words into the allotted time. "Hi. This is Maura Isles. Your kids are fine...still asleep." She rushed to say as to not worry him needlessly. "I got a hotel room down the street from the hospital as I wanted to be closer to my friends. I was wondering if you would feel comfortable using the room...get some sleep, and shower and change. I know Angela doesn't want to go far either...anyway, I just thought I would throw out that option." She was relieved of dragging the oddly tense, one-sided conversation out by the phone hanging up on her. She breathed a deep breath of fresh air. Well at least the idea was out in the open now, and she turned and headed back into the chilly filtered hospital air to get the desired coffee for herself and Angela.
AN: Please review. I have lots of places I want to take this story, but currently lots of 'filler' chapters to set things up and not rush in to the major stuff too fast- and these chapters seem really hard to write without some words of encouragement or constructive critique. I thought of doing an extra long chapter here as I missed last week, but decided to let the readers decide about the length of the next one...will I get to Jane waking up or no :D as I have about the same length of this chapter leading up to it, it will be extra long if I write the wake up scene too. Thanks rutgers for the few reviews I do have... and my mom who I make beta this monster lol.