DISCLAIMER: I do not own this show, the books, or these characters. I only borrow them.

Chapter 8

"Maura, Earth to Maura," a whispered voice pulled her away from the article in the Journal of Forensic Science that had so captured her attention. Maura's head shot up, hoping to see those warm brown eyes twinkling at her. Well she did, just not the ones she had been hoping for for the last few days. She looked over to see Jane struggling to sit up and not let out too many expletives under her breath as the pain gripped her. Maura marked her spot in the journal and then hurried over to Jane's bedside to help position the bed at a slight angle so that her body could still relax against it rather than doing more painful work by physically keeping herself sitting upright. She knew that one of the muscles injured by the bullet was the rectus abdominis muscle which helped with sitting and walking, so she knew that even this little bit of effort on Jane's part could not have been pleasant. She fluffed the pillows behind Jane trying to make the bed a bit more comfortable.

"Okay, okay, I'm thoroughly fluffed. So what were you reading that made me have to phone up to the Mother Ship?" Maura tilted her head confused for a moment at the comment. Jane had to stifle a belly laugh as the head tilt reminded her of her dog, Jo, when she was contemplating something... usually how to best attack her chew toy.

"An article on Arsenic Poisoning Caused by Intentional Contamination of Coffee at a Church Gathering—An Epidemiological Approach to a Forensic Investigation. At first the authorities thought the people were getting sick due to the sandwiches they were all eating when they had fellowship, but it was actually a church member poisoning the coffee." Maura started to see the glassy look that appeared in Jane's eyes and wondered briefly if she was already going to go back to sleep.

"Sounds riveting," a sarcastic sneer graced Jane's face for a moment before switching to thoughtful. "Actually, on second thought, can I have the article when your finished?" At a questioning look from Maura she continued, "I want to wave that in Ma's face the next time she tries to drag me to church. Where is Ma anyway? I'm surprise she hasn't become stuck to the chair."

"How would she? there's no glue around." Maura said this straight-faced. "Oh, you mean stuck from sitting too long. The body does tend to tense up in that situation but she wouldn't really be stuck to the chair, more just stuck in a seated posture."

"Great reasoning skills there, Sherlock."

"Did you hit your head when you fell after you were shot, Jane. My name is Maura." Jane saw the humorous glint in Maura's eyes that informed her of the joke rather than Maura'a just not understanding the conversation. Sometimes it just wasn't clear with the woman.

Jane just rolls her eyes and decided to switch topics. "So what's been going on while I've been lazing about?"

"You mean healing."

"Same thing. Come on, give me details." Jane all but whined and stuck out her bottom lip in an exaggerated pout.

Maura just shook her head at Jane's antics but decided it was easier to just give in to her demands. "I don't know anything first hand mind you, as I've been hanging out with your mom or standing guard when your parents would go sleep. Your dad's been in and out due to a previous job commitment which he finished up last night. So now he can stay around more."

Jane tried not to tear up. She knew it was a major thing for her father to turn down jobs, especially now with how bad the job market really was. Trying to hide her feelings as usual, she again steered the conversation in another direction. "That's good. So how's it going at work?" She didn't ask more than that even though she was wondering if the blood smears were cleaned up, including her own on the sidewalk out front and if all the perps were killed or at least under lock and key in the jail.

"Korsak and Frost have been keeping me in the loop. They are buried in mounds of paperwork or so Korsak keeps complaining about." Maura decided to leave out the information that IAB might be after her badge, or that Bobby Marino was just down the hall cuffed to a similar bed as Jane and Frankie. She knew that would not be good, and she could just imagine Jane fighting the pain to walk down the hall and try to finish the job that the bullet didn't. Before she could stop herself from that line of thought though she did mention one bit of gossip she heard from Korsak, "There is a bet on at work. Crowe started it. He thinks you shot yourself on purpose."

Jane was dumbfounded. She was a cop for Christ's sake and saw too many gunshot victims...usually in Dr. Isles' morgue. She knew about bullet ricochet and all the bits and pieces in the body that kept it going. She knew how precious and fragile life was, and even wanting to get help for her brother she wouldn't do something so foolhardy as shooting herself...putting herself in danger as she did trying to wrestle the gun away sure, but not shooting herself. Well no, she could see shooting herself in the leg to slow an abductor down or so a sniper could get a better line of sight. But shooting herself in the chest at close range was paramount to suicide...and her Ma's wrath if nothing else would scare her from ever trying that. She didn't need Maura to tell her how 'lucky' the shot was to actually pass through her abdomen and chest with as 'little' damage as it did. She wanted to rant and rave but knew that Maura was only the messenger so all she said to this new bit of information was, "Crowe's an ass."

The comfortable silence of two good friends settled lightly on the room until Jane started fidgeting. Maura watched as Jane kept reaching her hand up to swipe at her nose, and then glanced at her hand as she pulled it away. Finally Maura's curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help but asking, "What are you doing?"

"This nose thing makes me feel like my nose is bleeding." Jane said as she again reached up and lightly brushed at her nose to made sure that she was not in fact bleeding.

"Nasal cannula. And it's needed as your taking shallower breaths. Most patients with rib and lung injuries do as it minimizes the pain somewhat. That 'nose thing'," Maura tried not to roll her eyes at Jane's technical term, "will make sure your blood gets the right amount of oxygen."

Jane glared at the other thin tubes running to her body. "Why can't they pump it in with all the rest of the crap." Okay she knew there were many things with that statement, starting with the fact that the pain meds going into her body were really helpful so should not be classified as crap, and ending with that fact that an air bubble would have been even more deadly than the bullet that pasaed through her.

"Oh, yes, because an air embolism would be preferable to feeling like you have a bloody nose. Why didn't the doctors think about patient comfort?"

Wow, Maura was on a roll with sarcasm today."Just how much sleep have you gotten lately?" Jane asked, curious and a bit worried about her friend.

"Less then you and Frankie," Maura said hoping to keep the upbeat, cheerful friend persona up a bit longer but Jane kept staring at her as she would the worse suspect she was interrogating and finally Maura couldn't withstand the pressure. She let out a weary sigh as she stated, "enough." And it was enough sleep as she wasn't anywhere close to the delusion and death stage that she remembered explaining to Jane during 'The Dominator' case.

Jane could tell that Maura didn't want to talk about important stuff, like how she was faring with all the shit that happened less then a week ago. She could talk with her later when things started to get back to normal. She rolled her eyes, glad that her face didn't hurt as she had been rolling her eyes at people a lot lately. "Fine, I'll wear the nasal cannoli." She finally got a real smile from Maura from the butchered word. It always did. Now she just needed her brother to wake up and give his boyish smile to make her day truly perfect. She glanced across the room at his still sleeping form. It helped her breathe better, at least figuratively she mused as she sucked in another pain filled breath of air. Yep, smaller breathes really hurt less.

Jane was thinking about taking another nap when she noticed a nurse walk into the room with an armful of towels and clean bedding. Even liking the idea of getting clean, Jane flushed a bit thinking about not only Maura in the room, but her brother even if he was still asleep. Knowing how he loved to annoy his big sister, she could just see him pick the most embarrassing time for her to wake up.

Maura was so tempted to call Jane on the flush. It wasn't like they hadn't seen naked bodies before, granted they were usually dead either at the scene of the crime or on her autopsy table. Any other day she probably would have, but so close to the time when it could have been Jane on that autopsy table made her swallow her words. She closed her eyes as that train of thought was not one she wanted to go down again so soon. She needed some air and knew that would also help Jane out, "I need to stretch and get a cup of coffee... before I become stuck to the chair," she added the last with a slight chuckle both at the absurd conversations she and Jane had, but also because of the look on Jane's face that seemed to say 'thank God'. Maura stood up and stretched. She heard a few bones pop back into their proper alignment and, as she walked out the door and as she shut it, she mentally determined where the bone creaking came from and why. It helped her think about the living over the dead as she felt compelled to do more often these days.

Jane marveled at the efficiency of the nurse. She was given a sponge bath and the sheets changed all within a five minute span. There was a bit of painful movement as Jane needed to roll slightly from one side of the bed to the other as the clean, crisp sheets were fitted to the mattress without her needing to get off it. She gave the nurse major points as she knew just tossing and turning at night and she was often so entangled in the sheet that she would trip out of bed in the mornings. But there were no tangled sheets, or even tangled IV lines, and so she was very impressed, however that soon wore off as the efficient nurse carried that quick, brutal, get it finished attitude over to washing her hair in the annoying pink tub. The wash wasn't so bad, but the brushing...well at least she could say that the pain in her scalp made her forget for a moment that she had a bullet hole in her body. She wished she could move enough to wrench the brush from the nurse's fingers and continue to get the knots and tangles out of her mass of dark curls. She was grateful again with Maura's timing as she came in and sweetly asked the nurse if she could help and took the torture device from the nurse's hand much more gently than Jane wished.

Maura had come back in the room in time to see Jane flinch in pain. Briefly she wondered if the pain was from the surgical incision sites or from the damage from the bullet's path until she noticed another grimace as the nurse nearly tore the bristled brush through Jane's hair. Before she could see the pained look on her friend's face again she asked, " Can I do that?" She was tired of seeing her friends in pain if she could help it. She took the brush and started to gently work out the tangles, starting at the ends and working upward bit by bit. She let her mind wander. She thought about her mother brushing her own hair. One hundred strokes each night will keep it pretty and shiny. She loved the attention as so often her mother was busy and it was a nanny, or babysitter who would help her get ready for bed. She found herself mentally counting as she continued to try and tame Jane's wild hair. She reached twenty one when she heard the nurse speak from the curtained off area.

"Hey Frankie. I'm Nurse Reeves. I brought some clean sheets, and I'm just going to give you a nice warm sponge bath, okay?"

Maura had read many journal articles about how coma patients could hear, so she understood the principle of the nurse talking to her patients and telling them what was going on since they couldn't see to process it for themselves, but that didn't mean that she wanted to hear. She really didn't want to think about anyone taking care of Frankie like that. She didn't realize that her grip on the brush tightened, or that she had started pulling the brush with greater force then before.

"Oww"

"Sorry, nasty tangle." And it was a nasty tangle. Maura wanted to go rip the washcloth out of the nurse's hand more then she wanted to get the brush from her when she was hurting Jane. That little green eyed monster wanted so badly to come out and play. Frankie was her's... to see, to take care of, but that would be an odd way of informing his sister that they were seeing each other. Sorry, I can't finish brushing your hair as I need to go stake my claim. Yeah, real subtle. She clenched her teeth and continued her mental count as she brushed... twenty-two, twenty-three. She continued past 100 in order to keep her hands busy and away from any damage she might think about delivering to the nurse. She counted out one hundred forty seven as the nurse finally left the room. She set the brush down and looked at the peaceful sleeping face of Jane Rizzoli, much better then the painful grimace from before.

Maura reclaimed her journal and chair, and sat down to finish reading the poisoning article. After two more articles, Angela and Frank joined her in this routine of keeping busy while the kids slept. She informed the pair that Jane was awake for awhile. She didn't say anything about the sponge baths though as her thoughts and feelings were still whirling over her new found emotion of jealousy that she wasn't sure if she could explain the basic situation without those emotions bleeding out in her tone and mannerism. So the trio settled into the familiar: Angela and Maura reading and Frank shifting his gaze between the window and his kids.

Jane woke back up just a few hours later. Her naps were getting shorter but still just as frequent. She reached up a hand to wipe the crust from around her eyes and saw her father first as he walked towards her. "Hey Pop." She smiled at him as she thought of the sacrifice he was making to be here rather then working.

"Hey Princess, so how you feeling?"

She let him off the hook for using that childish nickname that he was fond of on occasion. "Better." At his continued questioning gaze she added, "I hurt." She hoped her voice didn't sound as childlike and whiny as she thought it did. She tried not to glance past her father to see her brother, or even Maura, especially Maura. She always felt comfortable and safe telling her father the truth, but to others she was always afraid of being seen as weak.

And as usual her father didn't try to make the situation seem better than it was or give false hope. He just said, "I'm sorry. I wish I could take your pain and your brother's."

"That'd just be cruel, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy," she smiled up to him to let him know she appreciated the sentiment though.

Her mom stepped forward then. Jane was actually surprised she restrained herself that long, but was glad her Ma let them have that brief moment. "The nurse popped her head in just a few moments ago to see if you were awake for the lunch tray."

Jane glanced at the clock and noticed it was only ten minutes past 11am. It seemed odd thinking about lunch that early considering it was usually an on the go, whenever she could find the time, kind of moment for her.

Maura didn't leave the chair as the bed area was already crowded, but she did pipe up, "It would be smart to try soft foods sooner rather then later. Make sure your body processes everything correctly. Plus it smells pretty good."

Angela and Jane just looked at her like she was nuts. They knew what good food smelled like, and it was not the odd smells drifting in from the hallway. Jane just assumed since Maura went to med school and worked in the hospital for awhile that she must have gotten acclimated to the greasy, lumpy hospital food. Angela just thought that the poor girl needed to come over to dinner more so she could get a better appreciation of 'good food.' Angela went and flagged down the nurse who was passing out the lunch trays.

The same nurse who gave the baths and brushed hair earlier came in. She didn't seem to notice the glare that Jane leveled on her, or even the fact that Maura decided to sit on her hands and occasionally glanced her way in an even more menacing glare. The nurse set the tray down on the tray table and swung it around closer to Jane. As she lifted off the cover she said in an overly cheery voice, "Doesn't this look yummy?" She sounded more like she should work in the pediatrics unit, or even more appropriate, the nursery.

Jane thought it looked anything but 'yummy'. She thought of all the words she could call it: shit, crap, not fit for human consumption, but she knew her mom would call her out on most of them. So she just grimaced a smile and made a noncommittal grunt.

The nurse must have taken it as a positive as she smiled brightly as she helped angle the bed and Jane to be able to eat better before she left.

Jane looked down at the mess and wondered aloud, "Why couldn't they have kept me on saline permanently? It tastes much 'yummier' then this." Her father snorted a laugh at the disgusted tone she used on the nurse's word of the day, yummy. There was a piece of...she guessed chicken in a congealing clump of gray that was supposed to mimic gravy. She let a glob of runny, boxed, mashed potatoes slide off her spoon and plop back into the bland colored mess on the tray. It was sad when the only thing that she was sure about what it was were the peas and the orange cup of jello.

"Saline solution technically has no taste since it doesn't go past your tastes buds," Maura couldn't help but supply that bit of information.

"Exactly," Jane made a disgusted face, "and this stuff has to." Jane ate a few bites of the fake meat and potatoes, making faces as each bite slid down. It was awful, not just the food, but having an audience watching her. She hated eating when no one else was. Maura could see all the 'rules' she was breaking, her father was just having fun watching his girl complain and make faces, but her Ma was watching her like a hawk to make sure that Jane didn't hide any of the food as she was already told once, 'Eat up, it will make you stronger.' She looked again at the tray and seriously doubted that. She moved on to the peas, at least she liked them, and she didn't see how anyone could mess up peas. She changed her mind quickly as the hospital limited the used of butter and salt on the food so there was nothing to bring out their sweet flavor.

As the third spoonful of peas neared her mouth, a few rolled off the spoon and of course plopped down the front of her hospital gown. Great, slit up the back, and food down the front. She tried not to hear the small tinkling laugh that she heard from Maura before she covered it with a slight cough. Or the laughter that her father didn't even try to cover up as her mom berated him, "Frank, stop laughing at Jane," but she could her the laughter in her Ma's voice as she said it. Why would hospitals serve peas? She thought of her grandfather in the months before he passed away. His hands constantly shook, and she bet that many in the hospital also had similar afflictions. Or like herself and couldn't yet sit up all the way, and so the reach from the tray to her mouth was just asking for trouble. Plus if peas weren't cooked well there was only one thing they were good for, and she remembered some great food fights she and her brothers had gotten into. She always tried to flick a pea into the spot between their eyes. She was pretty good at it too...she wondered how far she could flick a pea.

She quickly snatched up the two runaway peas and then glanced out the window for a moment. As usual her mother just had to know what had grabbed her daughter's attention and so she turned her head to look. The minute her back was turned, Jane turned back, took aim, and shot the pea across the room. She was impressed with herself and her talent.

She might have gotten away with it if not for the increase in volume of the laughter. Maura didn't even try to cover it up this time. Nor could she help herself from wandering over to Frankie and getting a good look at him before she saved him from the stray missile that had hit his chest and then slid down toward his hand. She hid the gentle caress and squeeze she gave his fingers as she fished out the pea.

"Janie," Angela scolded as the situation became clear to her.

"Be glad you were an only sibling, Maura, they wouldn't have liked the tattle-tail," Jane joked. All humor was gone though when her mother just pointed to the tray and told her to eat the food, not play with it. What fun was there in that, especially when the food was so awful.

Eventually Jane had eaten enough that her mother would let the nurse remove the tray. Jane had a new appreciation for eating though as she started to realize how many muscles worked together to make eating happen. After awhile, every swallow hurt and she finally realized her stomach muscles would clench. At least the jello wasn't too bad as it just slid down. She wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep, so she leaned back and listened to the various bits of small talk: her father's last job and the challenges it brought, especially working with a few friends that knew next to nothing about the plumbing business, her Ma talk about the room they all rotated in sharing just a block away. Jane smiled a thanks over to Maura. All of the talk however was brought to a screeching halt though as a horrible sound filled the air.

"Frankie," Jane sat up quickly and painfully wanting to see what was wrong with her brother. She saw a nurse rushed into the room, and then quickly called out over the intercom. Jane understood 'code blue,' 'crash cart,' and 'STAT' and her struggle to get to her brother intensified. In her haste and only caring about her brother, she didn't notice as she ripped the IV line out of her hand and blood started to trickle down it. She didn't hear the crash of the IV stand as her tugging on the cords caused it to topple over. "FRANKIE!" She wanted to get out of her bed to go over and beat some sense into her younger brother to breathe if she had to. The pain that flared in her side and chest was nothing in comparison to the hurt of seeing her brother dying before her eyes.

There was pandemonium in the room as nurses and a couple doctors flew in and toward Frankie's bed. One nurse however was trying to figure out what to do with all the people in the room. Usually she would usher the family out of the room, but one of those family members was in the other hospital bed. She rushed over to make sure the patient stayed in bed. The patient was stronger than she would have assumed. Even the massive pain that she could see painted across the worn face did not stop her struggles. Finally an older gentleman who she assumed was her father rushed in to help, and trapped the girl in a bear hug. So the nurse couldn't really ask him to leave as he was doing a better job of keeping the still struggling patient in her bed than she was able to do. Another women joined the hug, and the remaining visitor in the room slowly backed out of the room. Not feeling needed on this side of the room anymore, the nurse hurried over to the other patient to see if there was something she could be doing there.

In beat with the shrill alarms were the slight hiccuping sobs of Angela as she watched two of her children struggling: one with a nurse and one to survive. She watched as her husband took over the task of keeping Jane still, well at least from leaving the bed as she saw him rocking her as he did when she was much younger. She needed in there too, and so she pushed her way into the hug. Her arms slipped around her much too thin in her opinion daughter as one of Frank's strong arms came around to pull her tighter into their huddle of sorrow. She watched as her son was shocked once...twice...three times. She looked on hopefully as the alarms stopped their horrible screaming.

Frank couldn't stand watching his daughter struggling with the nurse, so he nudged her out of the way so he could pull Jane into a hug. She still struggling a bit so he found himself rocking her and saying whatever came to mind as he did when he was trying to quiet baby Jane down. He wasn't sure what he was saying. He knew it wouldn't really bring comfort because he could feel his own heart being torn apart. While trying to send strength to his son through his intense gaze, he felt his wife push her way into their hug. He put an arm around Angela, and pulled his two girls close to him, at least this way he could keep them both out of the way of the medical professionals so they could do their work and save his boy. He tried to stand stoic and strong, but he felt a tear flow down his check and into his wife's hair.

One minute Maura and the others were just talking and enjoying each other's company, and the next minute everything changed in their world. Maura heard the alarm go off on the nearby machine and knew instantly what was going on. She threw a frightened look over to Frankie's bed as she heard Jane call out to him. His chest was still rising, but she knew at that moment it had more to do with still being hooked up to the ventilator. Before she could think about rushing over to try and help, as she knew she could as a doctor, a nurse ran in and called for backup. Now with all the incoming nurses and doctors Maura knew she wouldn't be permitted anywhere near the patient and shouldn't really be in the room. She stood on shaky legs and started to back up out of the room. Hoping with everything she had that the miracles of medicine would be able to save Frankie. She glanced toward Jane's bed as she heard the crash of metal hitting the floor and heard her friends piteous wails for her brother. She saw Frank's arms engulf Jane as he struggled to keep her still. She saw as Angela pushed her way into the hug as Jane's thrashing started to tapper off. Between the pressure in the room due to the number of people and because of the serious situation, Maura stepped into the hall in order to give the family some privacy.

Maura could still hear and see a bit of what was going on from her out of the way location. She heard the annoying and heart stopping alarm cease and she turned to look, hoping that it meant that Frankie's heart was beating again. She saw one of the nurses removing her hand from the machine; she had turned off the alarm as if that would help soothe the family on the other side of the room as they watched their son and brother dying.

Maura felt that her heart had stopped with that alarm, but she knew better as she could hear the rushing of blood in her ears as it pulsed through the common carotid artery. She heard from the doorway the doctor call the time of death. At 12:27pm the death knell rang out, shattering the hearts of so many who loved him. The quietness of the room without the alarms was soon replaced as Angela's sobs became a wail that would have moved even the hardest of hearts. Maura heard a broken voice screaming "No, no, no, no, no" and still calling for her baby brother until it was muffled as if buried. She peaked into the room, careful to keep her gaze on Jane's side, and saw the family clinging to each other for dear life... a dear life that just passed away. It wasn't her place to join the family in their time of grief. She had wanted to wait and tell Frankie yes before telling the family her part in his life, and so now neither was possible for her.

Frank pulled his wife and daughter tighter to him. He needed the comfort as much as they did at this moment. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and his gaze shifted toward the door. He saw Maura peaking in at the family huddle before slowly backing away and out of his sight. He wanted to go comfort her too, as he knew she at least lost a friend. But his hands were full of the two women in his life to go trailing after a possibility, and if his suspicions were correct, then he wouldn't know how to comfort this third woman or what to say. So he closed his eyes and let his tears fall for his dead son, and for all those hurt because of it.

Maura walked away from the hospital room numbly. She wandered through the hospital and out the main doors without really seeing. The gray sky outside seemed to match Maura's mood much better than the sunny cloudless day when this all started. The rain came down in torrents like the tears she wished she could shed for the loss of a dear friend, passionate lover, and her almost-fiance. She stepped out of the cover from the hospital overhang and slowly walked to her car a block away in the hotel parking lot. She didn't care that she was getting soaked as the rain pelted her. She didn't care that she got water all over her leather seats when she squeaked into the driver's seat. She watched through the window as the rain doubled in magnitude, and she wondered how many corpses the morgue would receive today because of careless drivers. She pushed all the personal feelings and thoughts from this nightmarish day away, just as the windshield wipers pushed the falling rain out of her view. She should get to the morgue...it was going to be a busy day. Death always seemed to have a voracious appetite.

AN: Thank you, thank you for the wonderful reviews—they made my day. Now going to run and hide before I'm tracked down for this chapter. Was the only thing that fit into my storyline really.