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 15
"Mon ange…" Constance gasped, her eyes wide, one hand covering her mouth, the other hand flying to her heart.
"Mon Dieu, you are alive…" Arthur said at the same time.
"Mother, Father…" Maura looked from one to the other, tears spilling from her beautiful hazel eyes.
Both stood with more agility Jane would have expected from their age, and they covered Maura in a loving embrace, sobs and sniffing in abundance, and Jane was not immune to it.
Jane gave them some time, but she knew Maura needed to sit.
She cleaned her throat.
"Hmmm… Maybe we could settle Maura down, since she is still recovering, and then we can explain…"
"Of course." Constance replied, coldly, to Jane. Jane knew that until Constance understood Jane also had not known Maura was alive, Jane would be Constance's Dean.
Jane ignored Constance for a moment, helping Maura to navigate the carpet with the crutches, before settling in a firm chair that helped with her posture, and sitting by her side.
"Mother, Father… Before I begin, I need you to know that Jane also didn't know I was alive. I was put under witness protection while I was still in a coma, by the decision of the FBI. And Jane, just like you, had no idea I was alive. She grieved for me the same way you did…"
Jane watched Constance's expression soften, and was impressed by Maura's ability to diffuse the situation.
"Why don't you tell us what happened from the beginning, Maura?" her father asked, gently.
"Hope, my biological mother, was murdered. I found out when I was called to a crime scene and saw her…" Maura began, closing her eyes to the pain of the memory.
"After calling my half-sister to let her know, and excusing myself from the case, I called Jane in DC. Jane immediately jumped on a plane to Boston, and I set to pick her up at the airport, so she could go with me to talk to the ME and to the detectives assigned to the case. Unknown to me then, Paddy Doyle and his father were killed the same night they killed Hope."
"I was almost at the airport to pick her up when a man entered my car, and shot me in the back of my head. I woke up several days later in a sterile hospital room, circled by men in dark suits, informing me I was under Witness Protection services."
"So when they called me…" Constance began, in horror.
"When the FBI called you, she was alive, in a coma, on a respirator, under Witness Protection. Like you, I and my family also received the news of her death. We were informed of your decision to have her cremated without a service or a funeral…"
"But that was only because they told me the shot…" Constance was crying now, and she sobbed, looking at Maura. "… that the shot had blown her head up…"
"I don't doubt you, Constance. They showed me the video recorded from the camera on Maura's car dash, and it ended with an explosion in red." Jane shuddered to the memory.
"It took me another ten days before I could move with the crutches, and by then WitSec moved me to a farm, in the middle of nowhere. They would come every few days to bring me supplies. But this farm had no electricity, was cut out of any communications or roads, and was hours away from anything."
"But how could you be left alone in a place like that if you can barely move around even now, two months after the shooting?" Arthur asked, baffled.
"After I knew Maura was dead, I applied for an immediate leave without pay. For three weeks I was in my apartment, drinking myself to death, unable to handle the pain and the grief of Maura's loss." Jane admitted, quietly. "Until an FBI agent, who both Maura and I worked with before, practically banged my door down to admit to me Maura was alive, and that WitSec, in their eagerness to keep her alive and safe, was endangering her health and her sanity. And given I was already in an unpaid leave without a return date set, he helped me to get to Maura."
"Under the condition nobody could know. Jane had to pay everything in cash, had to ditch her cell phone, her computer, and travel by bus or train only, not to be tracked. She had to walk the last two hours of the trail on foot to reach out to me."
"When I finally found Maura, she was alone in the farm, fighting an infection on her wound, and having trouble to cope with the manual labor that was totally incompatible with her impaired mobility." Jane was still angry at that. Jane knew how closely she had come to lose Maura all over again. If she had not arrived when she did, she wondered if Maura would have made the three additional days it took for WitSec to come back.
"Jane arrived just in time to save me, as usual. She helped me in the farm, and hid during every visit of WitSec, because if they knew someone had found me, they would move me again. Jane… She fished, she hunted, she cooked, she carried me around, she did everything for me… I would not have made it this far if it was not for her." Maura squeezed Jane's hand by her side, while Jane lowered her head and blushed. She didn't like the attention.
"Finally, yesterday, we were informed that the heads of the mob factions involved were all arrested or dead. But since this is the mob, and there is always a third-removed cousin to pick up where the others left, and given for all purposes I am the rightful heir of the Irish mob in Boston, for now I am keeping the temporary identity they assigned me, and the first thing we did was to fly here."
"Maura still needs rehabilitation care, as you can see. We tried to do our best in the farm, but the faster she can have a proper physical therapist specialist helping her, the faster she will be back on her feet. This will give her a chance to be closer to you after this ordeal, and away from any remnants of danger in Boston. I plan to fly back to DC in a few days and return to work, if they will still have me. And while you have Maura here, you can also please figure out the best way to revert the execution of her will."
"This is the most surreal history I have ever heard..." Arthur shook his head.
"I realize my biological origin caused you pain and stress once more, and I am sorry for that..." Maura apologized, lowering her eyes.
Constance immediately stood and moved to sit by Maura, passing an arm around her gently.
"Don't you ever say that again, darling. You have no idea how happy we are that you are alive and well. Nothing else matters, do you hear me? Nothing else matters."
Maura nodded, lowering her head to her mother's shoulder.
"You both must be exhausted if you just got back home yesterday and spent today travelling all day after so long in a farm in the middle of nowhere."
"The only thing I ask is that you keep Maura's return as quiet as possible. For all purposes, Maura Dorothea Isles is dead, and this is Dory Selsi." Jane added, knowing that there were at least two strangers in the house.
Constance tried to stifle an inappropriate laughter. "Dory?"
Maura rolled her eyes.
"Maura, you know where your bedroom is. Your father and I will talk to Francis, so we can keep only him aware, you know he has been working with us for more than thirty years now. And I will be right with you to set up your room so you can rest. Jane, if you could help her in the meanwhile…"
"Of course." Jane stood, helping Maura to stand, and handing her the crutches. Constance and Arthur left to find Francis, while Jane helped Maura maneuver carpets and statues.
They stopped by the bottom of the stairs, and Maura sighed, preparing to climb. But Jane had other ideas. She picked the crutches from Maura and put them aside, and passed an arm bellow her knees and another behind her back, slowly ascending the stairs.
"Which way?" Jane asked when they reached the top of the stairs.
"Second door to the right." Maura instructed.
Jane opened it with one hand, and then placed Maura sitting in bed. She was about to turn around to go grab the forgotten crutches, but Constance was right behind her with said crutches.
"I apologize for making your carry her, Jane. I forgot about your predicament, Maura. We will set up another room downstairs for you tomorrow, don't worry about it now."
Constance moved to the drawers, and passed Jane the clean linens that Jane placed on the bed. Francis had retrieved their luggage from the car, in the meanwhile.
"Francis is setting up the room to the right of this one for you, Jane." Constance indicated.
"Thank you, Constance." Jane approached Maura, kissing her head. "Good night, Dory." She teased. "Good night, Constance." And she moved to the adjoining room, leaving mother and daughter to catch up.
Constance waited for Maura to freshen up for bed, and helped to tuck her in.
"It is good to be home, mother." Maura offered with a smile on her face and tears in her beautiful hazel eyes.
"You have no idea how good it feels to have you home, darling… Je taime, má chérie." Constance offered, wiping Maura's tears with her thumb, and stroking Maura's temple gently for a few minutes, until she fell asleep. Then she stood, turning off the lights, and closing the door behind her.
Hearing Jane was still moving around quietly in her room, Constance knocked on her door.
"Please, come in." Jane answered. And Constance entered, closing the door behind her.
"Is Maura already asleep?" Jane asked, concerned.
"Like an angel, Jane. Thank you for saving her life, again. And thank you for bringing her home."
"Of course, Constance, you don't need to thank me for that."
"I have best friends, Jane, but none of them would pause their lives for two months to go on a quest for dead me..."
Jane chuckled, and shook her head. "You wouldn't know that until you put them to the test, Constance." Jane tried to deflect, and was surprised when Constance hugged her.
"My daughter was always very lonely… And it seems that some divine intervention decided she would be compensated with all the devotion and loyalty she didn't find along her entire life concentrated in a single person: you. Merci beaucoup, Jane, I really mean it."
"You are always welcome, Constance."
"Good night, Jane, sleep well."
"Good night, Constance."