Series title: Whumptober 2023

Chapters: 1/1

Characters: Jane Rizzoli

Trigger warnings: Blood, Description of a birth

A/N: The characters and universe don't belong to me. All rights go to TNT, and everyone involved in the production of Rizzoli and Isles, as well as Tess Gerritsen. Everything else belongs to my twisted imagination.

A/N2: Second part of "All the lights going dark, and my hope's destroyed."

All of these stories are only meant to be one-shots, but many have asked for more. They are written as part of the 2023 Whumptober challenge. I'm following the list of prompts and didn't intend to write second parts for any of the one-shots. That's why they're all posted separately.


"If you are joining us now, here's a quick recap of the latest news. I'm currently standing in front of the building that houses Detective Jane Rizzoli's flat. Rizzoli is a Homicide detective here, in Boston, and is well-known for her part in the arrest and death of Charles Hoyt, known as the Surgeon. Rizzoli was last seen leaving the police station as shown by the video footages of the street. Dr. Maura Isles, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Chief Medical Examiner and Rizzoli's best friend, reported her missing earlier today. According to our source, Rizzoli is nine months pregnant and is due to give birth in the next few days. Her baby might be the reason why she was taken, but Sergeant Vince Korsak, Rizzoli's former partner, who's leading the case, refuses to make any comment."

Jane's eyes fluttered open to the gruff voice of Korsak declaring that he wouldn't make any comment on the case. She didn't remember passing out. Had he drugged her again? He hadn't moved her. She was still in her uncomfortable and painful position. She couldn't feel her hands anymore. It was unusual. Even on the good days, she could feel the faint pain where the scalpels had pierced through her flesh to pin her to the ground of that basement. She couldn't feel her feet either. Lately, she had felt them all too much with the extra weight she was carrying. She had even accepted her mother to massage her feet so she could get some relief. But right now, she could feel nothing, and it was worrying.

She squirmed as the television was displaying images of the police working around her building, of her leaving the precinct the previous day, of her career's history on a loop. Something sharp jabbed her wrists and ankles at the same time. She let out a cry of pain, and the baby kicked hard in response to her distress. Now she remembered. He had left her alone for a long while. She had managed to loosen her restraints. He had caught her before she could free herself completely. Everything was a blur after that. He had drugged her for sure. The man couldn't handle a heavily pregnant woman without drugging her. That was laughable. He had tightened the restraints around her wrists and ankles and added a sharp object to prevent her from moving too much. The bastard was sadistic and had no care in the world for her. He only wanted the baby.

He was there with her, silently observing her reactions to the television, to her new restraints. She wanted to rip the smirk off his face, but she was in too much pain to think about any sarcastic comment.

"Do you like your new restraints, Jane? I made some improvements."

He stepped closer to her. His large hand cupped her belly. The baby kicked hard again. She breathed through the pain the movement had caused her. Every part of her body ached and moving, even slightly, was increasing said pain.

"I had to be creative. I couldn't take the risk of you running away with my baby."

"This is not your baby."

The burning sting of her face and the metallic taste on her tongue told her that he had slapped her hard enough to crack her chapped lip. Tears welled up in her eyes. She glared at him. He laughed.

"They're looking for us, baby. But they'll never find us there. I won't let them tear our family apart."

"There is no family of yours! That baby is mine and won't ever be yours!"

He slapped her with the back of his hand. The blow was so violent that she saw black dots dancing before her eyes. She shouldn't provoke him that way, but she couldn't help herself. That baby was hers. She had been carrying it for nine months now. She wouldn't let a psychotic take it away from her.

"You're lucky that I have to keep you alive, Jane. I want my baby to see the light of day properly."

He pulled out his knife and watched the reflection of the light on the blade. She recognised it. That man was a soldier. He was or had been in the army. A colleague of Casey maybe? Or a complete stranger?

He pushed her shirt out of the way. She shivered at the cold air stroking her exposed abdomen. The restraints cut into her skin. Blood tricked down her skin. He tenderly ran the blade down her swollen belly, following the curve of it.

"I could have cut you open to get it faster, but it would be traumatic. And I'm not supposed to hurt you."

"That's a bit late for that."

"You're irritating."

"Thanks. I'm doing my best."

Her heart dropped in her chest when a warm fluid flowed down her skin. Her face turned pale. Her kidnapper smiled. He put the knife back in its holster on his belt. He washed his hands and pulled on latex gloves. He was humming a song as he approached her. She had to swallow a wave of nausea when his fingers touched her most intimate part that was on display for the sick pleasure of that bastard. She squirmed, ignoring the pain in her wrists and ankles, ignoring the blood trickling down her arms and legs.

"Don't move, Jane. Your water just broke. You're gonna need all your energy from now on."

He left the room again. She fought against her restraints but only managed to hurt herself. She let out a cry of frustration and pray for her friends to find her. She didn't want to give birth here. She didn't want her child to be taken away from her.

x

"Labour is divided into three steps. First, you have the dilatation step. It happens after the water breaks. Your body gets ready for the expulsion of the baby. It's the longest step of the three. You'll have mild and irregular contractions. It takes a few hours to a few days. Since it's your first, it's gonna be longer than if it was your second because your body has never experienced it. It's like putting on shoes for the first time. You need time to get used to them. The cervix slowly dilates and effaces of around half a centimetre per hour to allow the passage of the baby. Usually the first six centimetres are the slowest. Past them, it gets faster. But every woman is different. It might be longer for you, or shorter. That's when things get serious. The contractions are now 45 seconds long and are closer. They're stronger and more painful. You're then considered in active labour. Your cervix dilates from 6 centimetres to 10 centimetres with an average of a centimetre per hour. Then comes the expulsion step. The force of contractions combined with you pushing will help the baby out. It can take between 30 to 60 minutes. Once the baby is out, you're left with the placenta step. You'll have contractions that will help you to expulse the placenta out of your body, but they'll be less painful. Your uterus will contract until it returns to its normal size."

"Maur, what if I can't do it?"

"You can do it, Jane. Us, women, are built to give birth. It's a tough moment to go through, but there's medical process to help with the pain. You still want this child, right?"

"It's too late to change my mind now anyway."

"You could put it up for adoption."

"No, I wanna keep it."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Being alone. I haven't thought it when I told Casey that I would assume it alone. He was so relieved that I wouldn't ask for anything from him. But now, I'm terrified."

"You're not alone, Jane. You've got your family. Your mother will be delighted to be there for you and-"

"You, Maura. That's you that I want with me when the time will come."

"I'll be there."

Maura hadn't hesitated in promising her that she would be there when she would give birth. She had touched by her friend's loyalty and care for her, and she wished fate wasn't so cruel with them. She had been taken away from her family at the most critical moment of her pregnancy and she was now gonna have to give birth to her baby without any medical assistance, without any friend or family by her side. She was terrified and in pain.

"Shh, my dear," he whispered to her. "You don't have to worry yet. The moment hasn't come yet."

He had released her arms from the restraints but refused to free her legs. She was still stuck to that obstetrics table, in the perfect position for him to check the evolution of the dilatation. He was bathing her brow with a wet cloth and talking almost tenderly to her. She placed a numb hand on her belly. The baby wasn't moving anymore. It hadn't been since the water broke. Maura had told her that it was normal. It was preparing to get out of the bubble it had grown in and that required a lot of energy for the both of them.

Her other hand was griping the edge of the table. Or so she thought since she couldn't feel it after being restrained for so long. Her arms and shoulders were sore and stiff. But it was nothing compared to the pain of the contractions that were slowly getting closer and more painful. She was breathing through the pain like Maura and all those courses her friend had taken her to taught her. He wouldn't leave her alone and give her a chance at escaping now so she was praying, more than she had ever prayed in her life, that her team and Maura would find her before she was forced to push her baby out…