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 9
Jane picked Maura's dirty clothes on her way out, and moved to the river. She put one of the fishing rods she had spotted earlier on the wall of the house in the water, with a big beetle that was lying dead by the shore as bait. While the rod was there, she used the stream current to help wash out some of the dirty from Maura's clothes, that clearly had not been washed for several days and were caked with fever sweat and dust.
When Jane felt the clothes were clean enough, she rinsed them and put them on top of a branch of a small tree by the stream, so they could dry by the sun.
She saw the rod moving, and hoped the fish would not escape. It didn't. It was a good-sized fish, and she could see she would be able to get two lean fillets for their lunch from it.
Using the swiss-knife from her boot, and a stone, she opened the fish, throwing away the guts back in the water to avoid attracting any predator, then cleaned its scales, and then walked back to the house.
She had left the embers in the wooden stove earlier, so now it was easy to rekindle it. She seasoned the two thin fillets with salt and pepper, and they were quickly done. She removed the wood to save fuel, and prepared the table for them, heating a can of beans. Protein. Maura needed protein after self-starving these past few days.
Jane was about to check the bedroom when she heard the slow steps from Maura shuffling to the kitchen.
"Something does smell good."
"I caught a fish, and although fish and beans are probably not a famous combination, you do need protein after so long without eating… You can help me figure out a menu if you feel like it later."
"This is really good, Jane."
They ate in companiable and hungry silence, and Jane was pleased to see that Maura's appetite was back.
When they finished and Jane cleaned the pans and plates, she joined Maura in the sofa.
"Maura… WitSec cannot even dream I am here... When they come, I will disappear while they stay. Otherwise they will move you out where I won't find you."
Maura nodded her understanding.
"But, while they don't suspect I found you, I am here to help you. Food wise, besides the stream for fish, I saw rabbits I can get, so we can grant a fresh source of protein for you every other day or so. You need to get your strength back."
Maura nodded again.
"And I want to help with your recovery…" Jane had been meaning to ask Maura about the collateral of her injuries since the previous day, and she could not delay it any longer. "Do you know exactly the extent of your injuries?"
"I was lucky it didn't sever my spine, because otherwise I would be a tetraplegic for life. But it did damage nerves and muscles, some of them beyond repair. For the others, I will need physical therapy to recover my strength and my motricity."
"In layman terms?" Jane begged, unsure if she was following. "What do you feel?"
Maura swallowed, hard. "I don't have any strength on my legs or feet. It is a heavy feeling of pins and needles all the time. That is why I have been dragging my lower limbs around with the crutches. My arms and hands are in better shape, the pins and needles are much more subtle, the problem there is that it hurts terribly when I move anything, what I understand is a combined result of the muscles and nerves that are still wounded, and from the unusual effort I have been putting on my arms to drag the rest of me around." Maura assessed.
Jane nodded her understand.
"I know you are not a PT, neither am I. But if there is anything we can do in terms of exercises to stretch or strengthen you, and that you can explain me how to help you, I can do them."
"How long do you think we will be stuck in this farm, Jane?" Maura sighed, looking up.
"I honestly don't know, Maura. May take a few more days for them to catch the perp, might take a few more weeks, or a few more months. Might take years. It is not something you can control."
Jane watched Maura biting the inside of her cheek and her eyes welling with tears.
"What is it, Maura?"
"If I don't start PT soon, some of the damage will become permanent."
"Well, then Jane Rizzoli is your PT, my friend. Tell me what we need to do. It is not like we have anything else to do while we wait, so we might as well get you literally back to your feet." Jane tried to cheer Maura up. "It will be okay, Maura… And whatever we can't fix, we will learn to live with…" Jane gave her a half smile, showing up the palms of her scarred hands to make her point.
Maura nodded.
"We should use the surface of the kitchen table. It is perfectly flat, since I cannot run the risk of doing a wrong movement and making things worse."
"Okay." Jane stood, and removed everything from over the kitchen table, and helped Maura to hop onto it and lay down on top of it. Maura groaned loudly when her back was placed completely straight against the wooden table.
"Are you okay?" Jane asked, concerned, by Maura's side.
"Yes… Just give me a moment to adjust…" Maura's eyes were squeezed shut, from where two tears had escaped, and she was breathing shallowly.
After a while, she relaxed, and opened her eyes. "That hurt…"
"Are you sure you are ready to begin this?"
"I am sure I am already late, Jane. It would not be hurting this much if I had begun it the moment I woke up in that hospital bed."
"Okay, Doctor Isles. So what do you need me to do next?"
"Could you please help me fold my legs up?"
Jane gently picked both of Maura's legs, and folded them, placing her feet flat on top of the table.
"Like this?" Jane asked.
"Yeah…" Maura groaned, clearly in pain, counting under her breath to five using the thousand-one, thousand-two method. "Now, can you push it a bit higher, so the angle is a bit steeper?"
Jane obeyed and saw Maura gasping.
"Aren't you going too fast, Maura?"
"No…" she panted. "I am good." And again Jane heard her muttering her count.
"Now, please hold one leg in place, while you help me push the other leg down, slowly, until the knee touches the table. I might ask you to stop in the middle if it hurts too much."
"Okay." Jane held one of Maura's leg folded up, and gently pushed the other knee, keeping the leg folded, down. When she was about five inches from the table, Maura asked her to stop. "That is as far as I can go without hurting myself today, Jane. Please hold it in place, don't let me pull it back, until I tell you so." And Jane saw her counting again.
"Let's do the other leg." Jane pulled that leg back to be folded up, and then pushed the other knee slowly down, until Maura asked to stop more or less on the same angle. This time, Jane was the one counting, and Maura smiled at her, noticing she was paying attention and learning at the same time.
When Jane finished counting, she pulled the leg back up.
"Now please help me extend my legs straight, slowly."
Jane did so, and heard Maura's sharp intake of breath.
"Okay…" Maura panted. "Enough of legs for today."
Maura then opened her arms in cross, groaning and counting to five. Jane moved to be behind Maura's head, so she could be closer.
"Can you help me raising my right arm to be vertical?"
Jane slowly helped Maura to raise her arm in a straight line until it was vertical.
"Gosh, it burns…" Maura hissed, while Jane counted, before lowering it down.
Jane paused for a moment, but proceeded to do the left arm the same way as she had done the right.
Maura was panting again.
"Now, help me move my arm in an arch, close to the table, until it is parallel to my head. I might ask you to stop if it is too much too soon."
Jane nodded, and slowly moved one arm up. When she was about eight inches from Maura's head, Maura gasped her to stop. Jane stopped, keeping the arm in that position to the count of five, before moving it back to the cross initial position. Then she did the same with the other arm, and this time Maura gasped her stop six inches from her head.
Maura moved her arms to be closer to her body, in a more relaxed position.
"Could you please help me sit up?" Jane offered her hands, and Maura pulled herself up in a sitting position, groaning.
"I feel someone sucked my soul through my neck." Maura panted. "The last thing I need to do are my hands, Jane. Can you please offer flat resistance with your hands?"
Jane did as instructed, and watched fascinated as Maura made an effort to push her hands palms up, and then palms down against Jane's hand, counting to five each time.
Finally, Maura smiled tiredly at Jane, and took Jane's hands into hers.
"I am sorry you put your life on pause because of me. But I am really happy that I am not alone any longer. Thank you, Jane…"
Jane replied with her 1000-megawatt smile back to Maura, helping her out of the table.
"Should you rest some?"
"Yes, I will lie down in a more cushioned surface for a while." Maura admitted.
And Jane could only imagine the amount of pain Maura was still on to accept the resting suggestion without a fight.