DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.
Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.
Chapter 7
Jane woke up to Maura shivering into her. She looked at the watch on her wrist – almost 6AM. It was time for Maura's next dose of antibiotics.
Jane carefully untangled herself from Maura, who mumbled and shifted missing Jane's body heat. Jane came back quickly with a glass of water and the antibiotic pill.
"Time for your medicine." Jane whispered, trying to not completely wake Maura up.
Maura whimpered and groaned, and Jane helped her raise only enough to swallow the pill with the glass of water. Jane tucked her in again, and she seemed to go right back to sleep.
Jane switched back into her dusty clothes to begin the day. She unbarred the main door, to explore the farm itself. There was a little stream cutting the property way back from the house – Jane figured she could do some laundry there, and catch some fish, because she could see plenty in the water.
There was a small orchard on one corner, and although uncared for and overgrown, Jane was happy to see some fruits. For now, she collected some ripe strawberries, that she knew Maura would enjoy. Her mission today would be to make Maura eat.
As she was collecting fruits, she noticed a couple of rabbits, and she figured that could also be a source of protein to their diet without a fridge – they could consume a rabbit between the two of them in a day.
Jane never thought she would be so glad for the years her mother had made all three kids spend as scouts. She could kill, skin and stick a rabbit, and could fish, clean and stick a fish. She didn't enjoy doing it, but she was capable of doing it, and it would come in handy.
All other sides of the farm were fenced, but Jane could not see any other farm anywhere her eyes could reach in any direction – she knew from the direction she had come from the train tracks there was nothing.
Satisfied with her assessment, she walked back into the kitchen, picking the pitcher to replenish it.
She checked the supplies WitSec had provided to Maura. There were eggs, tomatoes, zucchinis, potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, pumpkins. Basically vegetables that would have a long shelf life without refrigeration – but that would require a precision with hands that Maura's impaired movement likely would find challenging to say the least. There were bars of butter in a closed box. Olive oil and seasoning. Bread. A can of powdered milk. Instant coffee. Tea. Canned beans and other canned goods. Plenty of wood for the wood burning stove, and matches, but Jane knew that matches alone were not enough for wood to catch fire, and she went out to gather some dry grass that would catch fire and then ignite the wood. And there were a few pans, plus a few plates, mugs, glasses and cutlery. It was plenty, more than enough for the two of them.
She washed the strawberries and left them in the water so they would be fresh when Maura woke up.
It was now almost 8AM. Jane moved to the bedroom again.
In silence, she could see Maura curled in fetal position, her face wet with tears.
Jane rushed to her side, sitting on the corner of the bed.
"Maura… Are you in pain?"
Maura raised her beautiful hazel eyes to Jane, surprised, moving her hand to her own forehead and neck.
"My stomach hurts." Jane assumed it was because of the antibiotics in an empty stomach. "I was sure my fever was down, but it seems my delirium is back." Maura muttered to herself.
Jane picked Maura's hands in hers, stopping her.
"Why were you crying?"
"Until my delirium resumed, I was feeling lonely…" she replied, in a small voice, deviating her eyes from Jane.
"Maura, I am not your delirium. It is me, Jane. I am here… I am really here. What do I need to do to prove to you it is really me?" Jane asked, squeezing Maura's hands gently.
"I don't know. I don't know if I am even alive, or conscious. Everything is so surreal that it could all as well be a delirium."
Jane sighed, understanding better than ever Dean's concerns.
"Honey, when was the last time you ate something?"
Maura paused for a moment.
"I don't remember."
"If you don't remember, it means for sure it has been too long. Let me make you breakfast."
"The wood…" Maura knotted her eyebrows. "It won't catch fire."
"I can fix that…" Jane gave her a reassuring grin.
Jane helped her to sit in bed, listening to her groaning, and while she changed into her day clothes, Jane retrieved the crutches from where she had left them in the living room.
"Here you go."
She watched as Maura struggled but stood with the support of the crutches, and then began her painful movement through the house. Jane would need to ask about her injuries, but that could wait until they ate.
When Maura finally made to the kitchen, Jane was blowing lightly over the dry grass, fire catching on it, and then slowly spreading to the wood.
Jane looked over her shoulder and saw a puzzled smile on Maura's face.
"So that was what was missing…"
Jane shook her head, amused.
Jane put some water to heat, while she cut the stems of the strawberries, and plated them for Maura to eat. She poured the hot water on a mug with a tea bag.
"Start with these, I will get scrambled eggs and a toast for you."
Jane opened one of the cans with vienna sausages, beat two eggs with seasoning, and put them on the fry pan. When they were done, she put two slices of bread to toast in the heat of the frying pan, lashing them with butter, on one side then the other, before plating it for Maura.
She watched as Maura ate eagerly, clearly it had been a while since she had last eaten, and Jane was satisfied this should address her stomach, for now.
Jane quickly prepared scrambled eggs for herself, and sat to eat in front of Maura.
"Are you still hungry? I can make you some more." Jane offered, when she saw Maura had finished.
Maura did not reply. Jane noticed Maura was observing her with her big hazel eyes, and Jane assumed that likely realization was beginning to dawn on her as her mind cleared.
Jane finished eating, and washed their plates and the pan. Maura, in the meanwhile, raised painfully, and with slow steps moved to the sofa, sitting in a way she could continue observing Jane in the kitchen.
Jane replenished a mug with tea, and brought it to Maura's side, before sitting in front of her in the sofa.
She watched as Maura continued to observe her.
"Let me guess… You are still trying to figure out if I am part of your delirium or not?" Jane mused, chuckling. Considering the circumstances, everything felt surreal, so she could not blame Maura for being confused.
Maura nodded, pensive, and Jane sighed.
"Will it help if I tell you how I came to be here?"
"It might." Maura conceded.
Jane sighed.
"I landed in Boston after you called me. And you were not at the airport waiting for me. I called you, but it just rang, rang, and rang. I called again, and nothing. I was walking out to get a cab when Frankie called me…" Jane stopped, re-living the punch on her stomach when Frankie told her the news.
She raised her teary eyes to meet Maura's, and noticed she was crying too. Jane kept going.
"Nina picked me up at the airport and took me to your house, where my mother was already waiting for me. Then our old nemesis Agent Gabriel Dean from the FBI showed up in your house to talk to me. I first made sure he had talked to your parents. He confirmed he had, and that they had decided there would be no service, funeral or viewing. I was… shocked… but then he showed me the video of you being shot, recorded by your car dash camera…" and Jane could not stifle a sob.
Next thing Jane noticed, Maura was by her side, hugging her tightly.
"Oh, Jane, it is really you… And you are really here…" Maura sobbed in Jane's arms.