I own nothing Rizzoli and Isles
LET SLEEPING BLOOD LIE
Chapter 6 - mending
Hours pass and Jane has been left alone, she is too grumpy for company, Maura has checked on her twice, once but she was asleep, the second time they didn't speak. When Maura finally does return Jane decides she has to put her stubborn-ness aside and try to fix it.
"I'm sorry Maura, I'm sorry I'm so stubborn."
Maura glances at her surprised and smiles gently, "I know Jane."
Jane looks shocked, she expected Maura to have it out with her again, take her head off.
Maura sits down and rolls Jane's top up to clean the wound, her hands are steady and gentle, Jane's skin tingles at the contact.
"I know I don't need to tell you how I feel Jane, you already know. I can't help but worry when you put yourself in danger. But it hurts me when you don't tell me you're hurt."
Jane looks remorseful, "It was stupid Maur', I was stupid. He shouldn't have got the drop on me. Dunno' why I didn't see it. But that kid cut me with a puny little knife, I dunno, it was a scratch that bled a bit. I didn't want it to be a big deal." She looks sullen brow creased.
"It wouldn't have been a big deal if you had come to me Jane," Maura begins looking pained, "I know things are strained between us at times but we all have to communicate, we are a team, you and I. I do have your rear, Jane"
"Back. I have your 'back' Maura" Jane says laughing
Maura smiles gently back not offended at being laughed at, "That too"
Jane watches Maura finish cleaning the wound and patching it up.
"Jane, I would have kept this a secret if you had asked me."
"I know." Jane sighs, feeling like an idiot all over again
Maura checks Jane's pulse, it is slightly faster than normal still she puts her hand on Jane's forehead, she is hot and clammy, her fever hasn't quite broken yet. Jane closes her eyes, being taken care of is kinda nice, specially when her whole body aches.
She grimaces as the thoughts she had been trying to ignore finally infuse her mind, the real reason she has been so irritable.
"I'm so sorry Maura. I just wish we weren't here. It's all my fault, this whole thing is all my fault." She bites her lip trying to control the feelings. She doesn't feel any better saying it out loud as she had hoped she would, and no-one can help remove the guilt from her.
"Yes Jane, it is..."
"Way to make me feel better Maur" Jane chokes back a sob
"Yes it is because of you we are here, but we all chose to be here and you had no choice yourself. You did what you always do...you selflessly did what you had to do to help solve the case, crazy as it might have been." She uses a damp cloth and wipes the damp sweat off Jane's forehead, face and neck. "What you did is a good thing, it will stop young adults getting easy access to drugs that will destroy their lives."
Maura strokes Jane's forehead the lets her hand slide casually down the side of Jane's face to her collarbone the tips of her fingers caressing gently Jane's flushed skin. She checks Jane's carotid artery pulse, but really it is just an excuse to stay connected to her for a moment longer.
"It's all going to be ok, Jane" she whispers gently
"You don't know that," is the soft gravely reply laced with a hint of fear
Maura tucks her hand behind Jane's neck stroking the skin between the neck and shoulder with the pad of her thumb and watches Jane's face intently, Jane doesn't resist the touch and her breathing has evened out and her face softened
"Don't stop." Jane whispers when Maura's thumb stops moving. Her body is more relieved that Maura isn't mad at her than anything, her mind at peace. She gently succumbs to sleep. Maura rests her head on Jane's shoulder and waits by her side, afraid to move.
An hour later Jane's fever breaks and Maura leaves her alone to quietly rest.
Her mouth feels like cotton when she wakes again, she licks her lips, squints as she gathers her bearings, she is in her room, her side hurts a little still but not like it did. Things are a little blurry. After several moments, the door opens and Maura walks in, seeing Jane is conscious she grins widely.
"What are you so happy about?" Jane queries dryly, Maura passes her a glass of water and sits down on the edge of the bed.
"Your fever broke", a simple answer, mysteriously simple "we should get you cleaned up and fed."
Jane sits up and allows Maura to strip off her top and with a damp cloth gently wiping her exposed skin. She won't be able to shower for a few days anyway and the fever made her damp and sticky. As innocent as the process is and as professional as Maura remains it feels very intimate and vulnerable. Jane's eyes watching Maura's every move, she isn't even sure it affects Maura as it does her. It isn't something they ever discussed, they are friends - except when trying to get rid of stalker men, then and only then are they more, and it is only a facade.
But for Jane its a test of her will, she has never outwardly shown how much she enjoyed the little game messing with Giovanni, or at the Lesbian bar undercover having a moment or two of unrestrained permission to stare at Maura without it being uncomfortable -
"Pant's next", Maura prompts.
Jane slides on a clean dry top lifting her arm carefully to avoid the pain, before standing up leaning against Maura to steady herself.
She starts to slide her yoga pants down but the pain in her side is annoying, "I can't bend over", she moans pitifully, exaggerating slightly. It is very likely she could manage if she really wanted too.
"It's ok" Maura says and bends to pull Jane's pants down to her ankles and Jane lifts her feet one at a time to remove the garment, her hands on Maura's shoulders. Maura washes her legs gently showing no sign of interest, completely professional and then helps her into clean dry pants. Jane sits back down with Maura's help, she is exhausted, and a little saddened with the realisation that the interest is one sided. She is still grateful for a selfless caring, best friend and doctor.
"Sit" she commands Maura, Maura tilts her head and raises an eyebrow, refusing to budge
"...Please"
Maura sits beside Jane and puts an arm around her shoulders Jane rests her head on her shoulder.
"I am sorry, Maur, Thank you for taking care of me." Maura turns to kiss Jane's temple in acknowledgement and rubs her back in smooth circles.
Maura smiles to herself, a lot has changed over the years, once upon a time Jane would never have apologized to her, would never have trusted her so much. Even with all the stress in their lives they still grew closer. It's different now. They aren't just colleagues and best friends anymore...they are something more...something there is maybe no word for, something Maura would one day love to test.
Jane sighs beside her, content with the silence between them, grateful for the caring warm body comforting her, she could almost sleep again but her tummy has other ideas. Maura hears the growling and giggles, "Lets eat."
Maura helps Jane up and out into the corridor, the place is un-usually quiet as Jane hobbles to the mess hall.
"Where is everyone?"
"Nutrition first Jane."
Jane bites her lip, It's not like Maura to avoid a question like that, she feels a brick of anxiety start to form in the pit of her stomach, eating away at her appetite.
"Maur?" she tries again. Maura sighs, nothing is ever easy with Jane.
Maura helps Jane sit and brings out some food for them both and sits opposite her.
"If no-one is here I could have eaten in my room," she groans
"Exercise is vital to recovery Jane," Maura starts, about to launch into an explanation of studies done recently, but stops when she notices Jane's worried expression.
"Everyone is fine Jane, they completed the mission and took down two Boston drug dealers. And after being interrogated they gave up some names to reduce their own sentence. We can leave anytime now."
"I MISSED IT?" Jane blurts out obviously frustrated with herself. "No fair!" She almost looks close to tears as she rubs her face with one hand while swirling her fork in the pasta with the other.
"You did an exceptional job, Jane, you found and infiltrated a drug dealer, because of you the unit took down a branch of their division and exposed several others." Maura tries giving Jane a half smile.
"I lay in bed cause I was an idiot, and missed all the fun." Jane counters sullenly.
Maura reaches across the table and places her hand on Jane's, "It's not over yet, Martinez arrested Blade aka Pete Strowan and his accomplice, John Howell, and they are sitting uncomfortably in a cell awaiting your amazing interrogation skills to link them to the victim. What is interesting is school records show the three of them belonged to the same alumni at the University."
A sly smile crosses Jane's face and her eyes twinkle, "YES! All right", an air fist pump and she plows into her food hungrily.
Cavanagh welcomes Jane back with a hug, she is still sore and holds her side.
"Welcome back Jane. So..You haven't actually missed much, it's only just starting to get good now." Jane's face lights up, she takes a seat in the most comfortable chair in the room running her hand through her hair. She's hoping she didn't come back too soon but if she left it any longer then she wouldn't get to carry on with the case.
He continues "Maura found that the blood in the victims stomach was goats blood" Jane screws her face up "Yuk"
"Not entirely sure how that fits yet. However, the cocaine you got came back a match to the victim, so we have a warrant to talk to the students and search lockers which is currently underway with sniffer dogs and officers. They are looking for drugs and question students as we speak, it is a large school so will take time."
"So far the questioning of students hasn't revealed much of significance, but then we aren't 100% sure what to ask yet. But Holiday found redacted school records showing several parents complained in the last 2 years about some of the initiation tactics their boys went through in one of the schools fraternity groups. The parents all later dropped the complaints and the school won't discuss it with us. The headmaster won't even tell us the fraternity name. It maybe nothing, but being rich upper-class folks with their own lawyers, we can't talk to any families or kids without a good reason, unless we want all kinds of trouble and a truck-load of paperwork to fill in. Even the school has legal support." He pauses to catch his breath while Jane scowls at the idea of paperwork.
"Not sure if this is all related but hopefully we will find out soon. Thats where we are at so far, Pete and John are our only links so far between the drugs and the victim and the school as they both once attended. The only link...So don't blow it, ok?" He smiles gently at her.
"O-kay." she responds not as confidentially as she would like and heads towards the interrogation room...
to be continued...
This chapter is a bit slow, i am still figuring out what happened to Hamish myself so bear with me...your journey is my journey too.
plz let me know if you feel like I am spoon-feeding you details. second fanfic so I am still getting my head around what details I should say and what I should leave to the reader to interperet :)
thanks for reading