It had been ten days since the encounter with Maura in the hallway, and Jane was more and more surprised for each day that passed that she had kept it to herself. She had not told anyone about it, not Danielle, not Heather or Nicole, but when she arrived at the rink for practice that Monday, she knew she had to tell at least Nicole. So Jane was early, mostly because she was bored and figured she might as well be early than pace around in her apartment doing nothing.
She ran into one of the accountants right inside the door and smiled as she greeted him. A few more steps and she automatically turned her head to the left and looked down the hall that lead to the ice. Maura's office was there, but the hallway was abandoned that morning. So she stepped further and opened the door to the locker room on her right.
"Good morning, Jane."
The familiar voice made her turn around before she had even stepped inside. Across the hall, in one of the treatment rooms, was Maura, kneading and massaging a pair of legs. "Hey, doc."
A head slowly peeked out from behind the doctor. "Wow, what are you doing here so early?" Heather asked.
"Obviously interrupting your spa day" Jane teased, and got a tiny smirk from Maura. "Is this why you're always here long before the rest of us?" She focused back on Heather. "Getting free massages?"
Heather lowered her head again with a smile. "Yeah, the captain needs some benefits to keep your asses in check all the time."
"Sure, cause that's all you do" Jane laughed while she turned around and entered the locker room.
Jane looked up for every person to walk through the door as she was changing, even though she knew Nicole was always one of the last to get there. When Nicole finally showed up, Jane stopped what she was doing and leaned back while she glared at her.
"Hey guys" Nicole smiled and seemed pretty much unaffected by Jane's glaring.
Jane slowly shook her head, trying to appear mad. "You've got some nerves to just waltz in here like that." She could feel Heather turning to her.
Nicole shrugged and stopped in the middle of the room. "Nah, you're not gonna kill me now. Too many witnesses" she winked before going over to her spot.
"Smart ass" Jane chuckled.
"Okay, have I missed something?" Heather asked and looked from one to the other.
Jane turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, but I can't tell you here…" she whispered.
"Ah, okay. I get it…" Heather smiled.
Despite being one of the last ones to arrive, Nicole changed pretty fast that day and caught up with Jane and Heather out on the ice, curious to find out if her plan had worked or not. "So…" she casually said and stopped next to the other two.
Jane rolled her eyes while Heather focused on Jane. "Okay, tell me, please."
"Alright. So Nicole asked me to meet her here last night for some help on her god awful shooting… And so I did, only to find a certain doctor here as well. This little brat here" Jane punched Nicole in the shoulder, a bit harder than just playfully, "had told Maura to meet her as well, without neither of us aware of it! And Nicole decided to not show up at all."
Heather laughed and looked at Nicole. "You tried to set them up on a blind date?"
Nicole grinned. "Yeah! Come on, someone has to make a move here! And it was kinda funny when Jane left a message on my voicemail, from Maura's phone, threatening to kill me! That one was worth it alone!"
Jane let Nicole have her moment, and was instead dreading her next words. "Yeah… well, here's the twist: there's something you guys don't know…"
Both Heather and Nicole looked at her and smiles were gone. "Crap… has something happened?" Heather asked.
Jane noticed coach Landers had arrived and realized she didn't have much time. "Last Friday, or whenever we were in Carolina, I pretty much told her that I wasn't over her and wanted to try again." She ignored the shocked looks and stared down at the ice. "She said she needed time to think. She thinks I'm too young and that it's too complicated because of the team and work. And I get it. So it was pretty bad timing for your plan." She looked up at Nicole and barely smiled.
"No… shit! I'm sorry. So what did you guys do last night?"
"I was about to leave right away, but she asked why I was avoiding her and I had to tell her why I can't be alone with her because I don't trust myself around her. So thanks a lot!" Jane knew she sounded mad, but was pretty sure Nicole knew it wasn't really true.
"I'm sorry… but… she said she had to think about it? So she didn't rule out anything?"
"No, I guess not."
Nicole smiled again. "Well, that's something! Right?"
"Yeah, absolutely" Heather agreed.
Jane smiled before they were told to move by coach Landers who was setting up cones around the ice. "Look, I didn't tell anyone about that chat for a reason, so… please just ignore it for now" she said and looked at Nicole. "And you better not pull any more stunts like that until I'm too old and weak to chase you!"
Nicole laughed and nodded. "You have my word. And I'm sorry, again. And I will ignore what you just told us."
"Yeah, me too" Heather chipped in and put a glove on Jane's shoulder. "But when she's done thinking…"
"I know, I will let you know" Jane smiled.
"Good." Heather nodded. "See, all this drama is the reason I need those spa days!" She slowly skated away from them with an extremely exasperated sigh and shake of her head.
Jane burst out laughing.
Two days later and Jane woke up in a new city. This time it was Washington and the first of the last two road games before they were ending the season with two games at home. Despite sharing a room with Heather all through the season, Jane still couldn't get used to the early wake up calls. Heather was always up earlier than they had to. So when Heather grabbed Jane's foot that was hanging outside the bed and woke her up with a scare, Jane buried her face into the pillow. "Oh come on!" she growled and pulled her foot safely back under the sheets again. "Why do you always do stuff like that?" She slowly rolled over on her back and opened her eyes.
"I can't resist" Heather smiled at the end of Jane's bed. "And it's much funnier than softly stroking your cheek and whispering your name."
"Please don't ever do that either" Jane rushed before stretching.
"Don't worry, we're not that close yet!" Heather laughed. She opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water before sitting down on her bed. "Can you believe it's freaking April already? Ten more days and we're done. And it still feels like you joined our team last week."
"I know" Jane sighed and slowly sat up. "It's like I blinked and here we are."
"Yeah… What are you gonna do this summer?"
Jane shrugged. "No idea. The only thing I know I'm gonna do is sleep as long as I want every day."
Heather chuckled while she twisted off the bottle cap. "I figured you'd say something like that. I'll make sure to call you every morning then…"
"You could try…" Jane warned her and glared at her.
"Or maybe not…" Heather took a sip of her water and stood up. "But if you're up for it, I play field hockey with a bunch of girls as soon as the weather allows it. You're welcome to join in case you get restless." She went over to the window and pulled back the curtains, revealing dark skies outside. "It's really just for fun, but it tends to get pretty serious…"
"Yeah? Sure, that sounds fun. How many are you?"
"Many" Heather smiled as she turned around. "We have enough teams for a tournament, so there's some competition."
Jane smiled and slowly got out of bed. "Sounds perfect… Count me in." She reached for her phone on the nightstand. "When's breakfast?"
"About now. I was about to head downstairs."
"Alright, I'll catch up with you, need a shower first." Jane picked up her bag from the floor and started looking for clothes. At least there was one good thing about the off season; she didn't have to live in a bag most of the time.
Heather, Nicole, Maura, the assistant coach and coach Landers sat around a table in one of the corners when Jane came downstairs after her shower. She took a round at the buffet before finding a seat between Nicole and the assistant coach. She knew the girls at the table noticed that she ignored the closest seat which was between Heather and Maura.
"Morning, Rizzoli, how are you feeling today?" coach Landers asked.
Jane rolled her eyes and looked at him. "You still haven't learned not to ask me that until after breakfast?"
He chuckled and nodded. "Oh believe me, I have! I just do it to mess with you."
"Well, just know you're on thin ice every time, coach. No pun intended." Jane smiled for herself before she started eating.
Coach Landers turned to Heather on his left. "I'm sorry you got stuck with her" he teased.
But Heather waived it off and smiled. "I know how to handle her, and I actually think she's the one suffering on our road trips. I get very creative every time I wake her up."
The guys laughed while Maura sent a sympathetic smile from her seat on the other side of the assistant coach. Jane smiled back before she stared back down at her breakfast, hoping they would find something else to talk about. The change of topic came as Nicole grabbed her empty glass and stood up. "I need a refill. Anyone need anything, coffee?" She looked around the table before stopping at Maura. "Doctor Isles?"
Everyone knew Maura needed her coffee in the mornings, so she smiled and accepted. The coach accepted as well, and Nicole walked away. While Jane ate, the others started to talk about how the end of the season was already here, a topic Jane knew would be a popular one during the next few days. It was usually the same everywhere; as soon as you could count the remaining games on one hand, the topic emerged.
Jane barely listened and only looked up from her plate when Nicole returned with the coffees for Maura and the coach. The conversation went on, and Jane finished her plate and leaned back in the chair. She could see Maura behind the assistant coach's back and kept glancing in that direction now and then. On the third glance, Maura was lifting the cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip. The reaction made Jane burst out laughing.
The cup was on its way back to the table when the doctor leaned forward and spit the coffee back in the cup, all the while making a tormented face and her left hand covered her mouth. "Oh my god!" Maura put down the cup and started wiping her mouth, knowing everyone was looking at her, smiles and giggles all around the table. "I am so, so sorry, but that was awful coffee!"
Jane kept giggling in her seat while coach Landers looked down at his coffee.
"Really?" He decided to try it and took a sip, only to spit it out just like Maura. "Holy sh…" He put the cup down and shoved it away from him. "Did they drop a salt shaker in this or what?"
Maura was pleased to see his reaction while the others kept laughing. Everyone looked at each other, but as the laughter slowly died, a low snicker was heard from Jane's left side. They all turned to Nicole who sat there with the biggest grin on her face.
"Happy April fool's day, guys!"
It dawned on them all and coach Landers sighed. "Crap, you're one of those?!"
Nicole laughed and nodded. "Best day of the year!"
Jane looked over at Maura and when she made eye contact, she returned the sympathetic smile from earlier.
"Blame yourself for this one, coach, cause you told her to stay on the team" Heather teased.
"Oh, I know…" coach Landers nodded and looked at her before turning his focus back on Nicole. "Hey, kid, you want to play tonight?"
"Of course" Nicole replied.
Landers looked at the two cups of coffee on the table. "Then you know what to do!" he smiled.
Nicole sighed but got up to get new coffees. She chuckled all the way.
After the incident at breakfast, Jane was suspicious about everything Nicole did or said, but everything went smoothly. After preparations at the rink, Jane was so focused on the game that she had forgotten all about the prank. Coach Landers went through the game plan before they started changing in the locker room. The mood was cheerful and Jane was laughing and joking with Heather while they got dressed. She had just tied her skates and grabbed the gloves from the shelf above her. She put them on just to make sure everything was okay, the right one first and then the left. She froze in her place when the fingers on her left hand sunk into something wet inside the glove. "What the…"
Heather turned to her just as Jane pulled her hand out of the glove, revealing fingers covered in something white and creamy. Heather didn't know if she should laugh or be disgusted and decided on both. "Okay, what the hell is that?"
Jane scrunched her nose. "Shaving cream…" She was just about to ask the question why when it hit her. She slowly looked across the room, and just like she thought, Nicole was looking at her and laughing. Jane didn't know what to do and just sat there, holding up her hand. The laughter increased as the rest of the girls noticed the prank.
"Rizzoli? What exactly are you doing?"
Of course coach Landers had walked in at the perfect moment. Jane looked over at him and saw Maura and the assisting coach behind him. She got up and shook her head. "This is what you get for bringing in a teenager!" she complained. "If we lose tonight, it's all her fault!" Jane knew it was all for fun but she still couldn't help being a bit mad. It was her favorite pair of gloves. She wasn't as superstitious as most players, but when it came to the gloves, she needed the right ones.
Coach Landers looked at the hand she was holding up and then at Nicole. "If Rizzoli doesn't have an extra pair, you will be sorry" he said with a smile but everyone could sense the seriousness in his voice.
"I made sure, coach. I'm not risking anything…" Nicole smiled back.
"Good…" He turned back to Jane. "Now… are you gonna wash your hands or are you waiting for a razor?" he grinned.
Jane groaned and walked over to the sink by the door. She mumbled some ugly words on her way but silenced when the assistant coach came over and took the gloves from her.
"I'll get you the other ones" he smiled.
"Thanks" Jane mumbled and turned on the water. When she had gotten rid of the cream, Maura was by her side and held out a towel for her. Jane smiled and accepted it.
"I am sure you will make her pay some day" Maura said.
Jane nodded before she chuckled. "Yeah, although I should've known…" She dried her hands and gave the towel back. "Thank you." She made sure to smile at Maura before going back to her seat. Heather was still chuckling, and Jane looked over at Nicole. "Asshole" she mouthed clearly, but only got a satisfied smirk back.
Hanging By a Thread
Boston's playoff hope is still alive despite a 2-3 loss to Washington tonight. Maine, who currently holds the last spot, lost their game against Los Angeles Suns and are still five points ahead of Boston. However, the odds are not in Boston's favor as they need to win their remaining three games and Maine lose theirs for the Devils to claim the spot. And with teams like San Francisco and Texas left for Boston, it will be a tough battle. They have lost both previous games against Texas this season, who has been strong since the Christmas break and are currently in third place, one ahead of San Francisco.
Rizzoli was finally back on the scoreboard after going three games without a goal, the longest since a four game stretch in mid November. With the goal tonight, she set a new personal best in goals (27). And with still three games left, she is guaranteed an average of one point per game, making her the only Devil to achieve that this season.
After the game in Washington, they headed down to Miami for the last game on the road that season. Jane never cared for the times when they had games with just a day apart, especially not on the road. It was too stressful, and not enough time to unwind and prepare for the next game. So when they finally were leaving the locker room and headed towards the ice, Jane was anxious to get out there. As usual, Jane was one of the last in line and as she walked down the tunnel, she could see Maura at the end of it, standing behind the bench like she usually did during games. Jane watched her all the way through the tunnel. As she was about to pass the doctor, Maura caught her eyes and took a step towards her. A hand settled on Jane's lower back.
"Make me proud" Maura smiled.
Jane couldn't stop and had to tear her eyes away from Maura when she approached the open door. As soon as she was on the ice, she looked over her shoulder and saw Maura staring down at the floor and shaking her head. Jane smiled and felt pretty good as she skated around. Even if it looked like the doctor wasn't too happy about her own saying, it was certainly a nice motivation for Jane.
After assisting on Boston's goal late in the first period, Jane started the second with a lot of confidence and guts. She knew they could win the game, should win it, and she was gonna do everything she could to make that happen. She gave her all in every battle and simply decided that she was gonna be a huge pain in the ass for the Miami defense that night.
On her third shift, she chased a puck behind the Miami goal and ended up fighting for it with their defense. She used her skate to lock the puck against the board while she waited for help from her team. A second Miami player got there first and Jane was constantly pushed and shoved against the board and glass. Just as she used her stick to poke the puck towards Nicole who came down the left side, something hit her in the upper arm and the pain was sudden and intense. She grabbed her arm and tried to keep going. But when she tried to make a play for the puck and she couldn't even hold her stick, she quickly skated to the bench and stepped off the ice. She dropped her stick and gloves and made eye contact with Maura before going down the tunnel, removing her helmet as well.
Maura followed her right away and caught up with her at the end of the tunnel. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Jane was already taking off her jersey and the protective gear. "My upper arm" she replied and dropped the shoulder pads to the floor. "Cramp." She started to stretch her arm as soon as the gear was off.
"Okay, let's fix that." Maura looked up at Jane before she smiled. "And you're one step ahead of me."
Jane barely smiled back while holding her position. After a while she sighed and gave up. "It's not working."
Maura grabbed her elbow right away and pulled her to a chair. "Sit" she ordered, and Jane obeyed. Maura pushed the sleeve of the shirt out of her way and started to massage Jane's arm.
It didn't take long before Jane started to feel the most intense pain leaving and her arm coming to life again. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but it turned out to be almost impossible. When the pain disappeared, all she could feel was the touch on her skin and how close Maura was. She tried not to look, but failed several times, her eyes making their way up to Maura's face until the doctor's eyes looked back at her.
"What I said earlier, before the game, I didn't mean that I am not already proud of you" Maura said with her eyes glued to Jane's arm. "I was simply referring to what I said about the article, and I am in fact very proud of you. It came out sounding differently than in my head. I suppose that's what I get for improvising and trying to-"
"Maura." The name efficiently silenced the doctor, and Jane smiled as she looked up. "It's okay. I know what you meant, and I actually liked it." When she heard her own words, Jane looked away. "It seemed to work too, I already got an assist so…"
"That is true" Maura agreeed. "And the game is still young."
Jane focused back on Maura when the fingers stopped moving on her arm.
"How does it feel?" Maura nodded slightly to the arm.
"Much better" Jane smiled. She closed her fist and flexed the muscles, testing the arm. "Yeah, much better." When Maura took a step back, Jane stood up and started putting the shoulder pads on again. "Thank you" she smiled down at Maura who had picked up her jersey and held it up for her.
"I am your doctor, Jane, you don't have to thank me for doing my job, although it is very polite of you."
Jane chuckled and put on her jersey. "I guess I was raised right then."
"Apparently" Maura smiled before Jane walked down the tunnel and returned to the game.
It had turned out to be a great game where Boston won and Jane had scored her third hat trick of the season. But it was the way she scored the last one that was the reason she was smiling on her couch back home, at almost 1 am. They had flown straight back to Boston after the game, and even though it was late and Jane was exhausted, she couldn't find the will to go to bed yet. She stared up at the ceiling while thinking back on the last couple of minutes of the game.
Miami was down 3-1 but had pulled their goalie to get an extra skater on the ice. Their net was empty and it was basically a power play. Jane could see the empty net behind the Miami defense and she knew she had a chance. Nicole was out there with her and when she had read the play and got in a battle on the left side, Jane was nervously gliding around on their blueline. When Nicole managed to tap the puck out into the neutral zone, Jane took off.
She knew she was faster than most of the players out there, and was about to reach the puck first. The problem was a tiny notch in the ice and Jane tumbled and fell on her stomach. She didn't care as she was sliding along the ice, the only thing on her mind was getting that puck into the net. She managed to take a swing with her stick and hit the puck before she crashed into the board. It didn't matter. She lifted her head and from ice level, it looked even better when she saw the puck come to a stop in the goal.
Jane jumped on her couch when her phone buzzed on the table, pulling her out of the sweet replay. She blindly reached for the phone and unlocked it. A new text, and while she opened it, she thought for herself that she really needed to save that number soon.
Everything happened so fast tonight, I never had the chance to respond to what you said to me after the game. Did you really mean that? If so, then I am honored, Jane. However, I don't understand why you would say that. I know it's late, and I hope I didn't wake you… Just needed to say it.
After each goal, Jane had taken the time to look back at Maura on the bench and smile, imagining herself saying to Maura how she scored just for her. After the game, Jane had said it out loud. She had passed by the doctor and said it was all for her.
You didn't wake me, I'm still up :) I meant what I said. And still do. Making you proud is without a doubt the only motivation I need. That's why I said it… I wanted to make you proud.
Jane lifted her thumbs from the screen and looked away. The words felt dangerous, but she couldn't stop herself from pressing 'send'. Maura had said she needed time, but Jane was getting impatient. Or crazy. Maybe a mix of everything. The season was ending, and Jane didn't know what to prepare for. The thought of not going to the rink and see Maura almost every day was terrifying. At the same time, she felt sick whenever she thought about the two possible answers she was waiting for. They both scared her.
I am already proud of you. If you score 5 goals in a game or none at all won't change that.
You know what I mean…
I do.
She sighed as she stared at the conversation ending two words on her screen. What was she supposed to write back now? She didn't want to stop texting with Maura. She didn't want to go to sleep with even more frustration than before. Her hands fell to her stomach, still holding on to the phone. It seemed so easy to just type a question, get it over with, but she had promised herself to leave the ball in Maura's court. After all, that was what the doctor had asked of her. When the phone buzzed again, she couldn't unlock it fast enough.
I know this will sound very… selfish and perhaps a bit mean, but I'm glad whenever something minor happens to you, like the cramp today, or just a sore shoulder. It won't keep you away from games, it's easy to fix but the most important part is that I get to touch you. One of the few good things about being your doctor right now.
So this is how it felt when someone gave you a ton of hope and made your stomach do a dozen somersaults? Jane was grinning and biting her lip at the same time while her fingers started to type back. She had to take a chance now.
You don't have to be my doctor to do that.
Jane kept staring at the screen, waiting for the response. She was obviously not very good at this waiting game. Her eyes roamed over the screen, from the number on top of it to the time up in the corner. 1.14 am and she should've been beat by now. The screen dimmed, and Jane flicked a finger over it to keep it on. 1.14 turned to 1.17 and 1.20, and she was starting to wonder if she had somehow analyzed everything wrong. Like always. Then 1.21 saved her from her doubts.
I want to be able to be around you and not worry about everything and everyone around us. I want to get to know you, Jane. I really do. There's nothing I want more than to explore whatever we have. Because it's clear that we have chemistry. I am just worried about work and that I won't be able to deal with two different relationships with you. This is such a complicated situation and I don't want the rest of the team or the staff to know anything. I hope you understand. I just honestly don't believe I can go on a date with you one night and then see you at work the next day and pretend nothing has happened. Maybe it's best if we talked about this face to face?
No, you need to continue, or I'll be at your door in ten minutes. Seriously. I'm confused… what are you really trying to say?
I am trying to say that I would love to have you over for dinner one night. Or a movie, take a walk in the park, anything. But I want to wait until the season is over. It can just be you and me, and not Dr. Isles and Jane the hockey player. If that makes any sense.
I'd like that. Very much. And it does make sense, I can wait another week.
Good. Then… we have a date. Now you better go get some sleep. I know you have the day off tomorrow, but you still have a couple of games left. You need to be on your best.
It caused Jane to giggle. She could almost hear Maura's strict voice saying the words. Then her eyes found the previous words and everything melted in her head. They had a date.
Okay, I will. Good night, doc…
Good night, Jane.
