Flameout – Chapter 9
Maura
Maura felt weird being home with her children for lunch when she was supposed to be at work. She felt she warranted a break. She needed to mentally relax and being in the presence of her children relaxed her.
Maura was also curious to hear about what her children had been up to. Bella told her all about her gymnastics class and how she was selected for a part in the after-school program's next play, Cinderella. She was selected to be the understudy for Cinderella.
She knew that it wasn't as important as being selected to play Cinderella but Maura told her, "Please, Bella, being selected as Cinderella's understudy is just as important because if something happens to the young lady playing Cinderella, you will be expected to fill in for her." This seemed to brighten Bella's spirits and she hugged Maura and then went to get her script so she could start memorizing her lines.
Maura asked Charlie what he had been up to. "Just playing with my friends and our toy rockets."
"Can I see your toy rockets?" Maura asked as she wanted to see how realistic they looked.
"Sure, mom, let me go get one." Charlie went to his room and brought out three different toy rockets that he and his friends played with. "These are the rockets we play with, although we modify them so that they can really fly."
"You what?" Maura was surprised. She had no idea that her son was modifying his rockets.
"We modify them. We found some instructions online for modifying our rockets and have been working hard at trying to get them to go as high as possible. We thought we had everything in the right place on our last rocket but it went up and then out of nowhere it turned and we couldn't keep up with it. I have no idea where it landed. That was Saturday. We worked a new plan that we were hoping to shoot off this afternoon. I came home from Billy's to grab some lunch and then we are going to try and see if our new modification will help our rocket fly higher."
Maura just stood there. She was conflicted. She didn't want her son to get into any trouble but she knew that she had to let the authorities know that her son and his friends had shot a modified rocket into the air on Saturday. She had continued to ask her son questions and figured out the approximate location of where they shot their rocket.
Maura didn't know who to call so she called Jane's hospital room and asked to speak with Gen. "Chief Booker, this is Doctor Isles."
"Hello, Doctor Isles, how can I help you? And please call me Gen." Gen was curious as to why Jane's doctor was asking to speak to her.
"Okay, Gen, only if you call me Maura. I just had an interesting conversation with my ten-year old son. He stated that he and his friends shot off a modified rocket into the sky Saturday and it went off course and they lost sight of it. They fired their rocket off in the vicinity of where Jane's plane was shot down. I didn't know who to talk to and I was hoping that you would be able to assist me.
"Of course, Maura, I will help however I can."
Gen and Frost
Gen was surprised to get the call from Maura and wrote down everything Maura told her. She promised Maura she would take care of things and not to worry about Charlie. She would see to it that he was treated with care. She asked for Maura to bring Charlie to the Syracuse Police Station and she would meet them there. Maura agreed and they ended the call.
Frost wasn't sure who Gen was talking to and thought it was strange that they called on Jane's hospital phone but he let it slide and just kept looking out the window trying not to listen to what was going on with the phone call.
When the call ended Gen told Frost that she needed to leave for a little bit and that she would be back. Frost gave her the keys to his cruiser before she even had a chance to ask if she could use it. She took the keys and thanked him and then walked over and gave a sleeping Jane a kiss on her forehead and left to go meet Maura and Charlie. As she walked out of the hospital she called Paul, the Syracuse Police Chief and asked if he could set up a meeting with Detective Johnson, the detective in charge of Jane's accident.
Frost stayed with Jane knowing that Angela, Frankie and Tommy would be there soon. He didn't mind that Jane was sleeping, he knew that she needed her rest to heal and he wanted his friend to heal as quickly as she could. With her past injuries she had always healed faster than the doctors had said she would.
Jane
Shortly after releasing the pain meds into her body, Jane was fast asleep dreaming of Maura. All of her dreams lately were of Maura. She didn't sleep for long when she slept, but she woke up with a smile. If Frost was asleep, she quietly recorded her dream. Sometimes she also recorded other thoughts that she had.
She looked over at Frost who was sleeping in the chair across the room. No one else was in the room. She wondered where Gen was. A few minutes later, Frost woke up and she asked him, "Hey Frost, where's Gen?"
"She got a phone call shortly after you fell asleep and had to go take care of something. I am sure she will be back soon."
"Ya, she seems to always get calls, no matter where she is. The life of a Police Chief, right?"
"Yes, and she loves being the Chief and she misses you when you are away. You are her right-hand woman."
"You know that phrase sounds funny right?" Jane kinda laughed as she said that to Frost.
"What, right-hand woman?" Frost asked.
"Yes, right-hand man sounds better." They shared a laugh.
"Okay, anyways she relies on you and she is a little worried about you right now, she doesn't want you to know because she thinks she is being selfish worrying about the department when you are injured."
"Frost, you know I don't think she is being selfish. It is her job to worry about the department and all of her employees. She knows I will be out of commission for a bit and she has to come up with a plan to cover for my absence. That is not being selfish at all. The smiled at each other and then Frost told her, "It was strange, she got the call on your room phone not her cell."
"I wonder want that is all about." They both pondered as Jane looked at the clock knowing that her mother would be there soon. She hoped Doctor Sheppard would be back soon with some possible answers for her.
Angela, Frankie, Tommy
Angela was pacing in the hotel room, she wanted to be with Jane. Frankie told her repeatedly that Jane needed her rest and that she needed to abide by Jane's request. "Ma, if you don't let Janie rest, she will have to stay in the hospital longer. You heard her doctors and nurses, she needs her rest."
"I know, Frankie, but that still doesn't help. I am her mother, I need to be with her. You will understand when you have children one day. A mother's place is with her babies, no matter how old they are."
"Ma, we cannot stay for more than two hours today. I think we best make plans to go home. You can set up a time to call Janie from home. It might be a few weeks before she can be moved home."
"Frankie, that is worse. I don't want Janie to be here all by herself. She needs someone to look after her."
"Ma!" Frankie exclaimed.
Tommy came out of the restroom right then and said, "Okay, let's go already." With that the three headed to the hospital. Enroute to the hospital then grabbed a few snacks as the food in the snack machine and the cafeteria didn't really appeal to them.
They barged into Jane's room. Well Angela did and Frankie and Tommy followed, wishing that their mother would be quiet. A polite knock on the door would have better. Jane might have been sleeping. But that wasn't Angela's way and both of her sons and Jane knew that. Luckily, Jane was awake and the doctors were not examining her.
"Hey Ma." Jane greeted her mother and then her brothers, "Hey, guys."
They all smiled at her and Angela went over to hug and kiss her daughter. Jane was so happy that no one was in the room with her. Her mother embarrassed her at times and this was one of them.
"So, how are you feeling Janie?" Angela asked looking over her daughter. Jane didn't even get a chance to reply when Angela continued, "You look tired. Aren't you getting any sleep?"
Jane enjoyed the visit with her mother and brothers. Angela was mellow and Jane appreciated that. She closed her eyes a few times but didn't fall asleep. Angela kept talking to her when she had her eyes closed. She held her hand the entire time she was visiting Jane.
Two hours had passed by quickly. As soon as her mother and brothers left, Jane let her eyes close and she fell asleep. Frost had gone back to the hotel to take a nap on the bed. He arrived back about half an hour after Angela, Frankie and Tommy had left. Jane was asleep when he arrived so he sat in the chair beside her bed and just closed his eyes. He knew the nurses came in every hour to check on her.
He also knew that Jane would wake him when she woke up. Jane hated hospitals and Frost knew she hated being alone in her hospital room, that was another reason he stayed each night with her.
Accident Investigation Team
With further examination the team members discovered initials that were not part of the toy rocket. The initials CSI were engraved on the lower part of the rocket. They were not sure what the initials meant yet but it was a clue.
After briefly talking with Gen and Maura, Detective Johnson called Ace and the team chief of the Accident Investigation Team to the police department. He wanted them to be in the meeting. They arrived about thirty minutes after Gen, Maura and Charlie. They spent the next hour going over all the details that Maura presented them with. Ace shared the fact of the initials CSI being engraved on the lower part of the rocket. Maura turned to Gen, she was in tears. She was now positive that her son and his friends had a hand in Jane's plane crashing.
Detective Johnson asked Charlie for the names and addresses of his friends. While Charlie was writing down the names of his friends, Maura turned to Gen and asked her, "I know you don't know me that well but can you stay with me."
Gen could see how frighten Maura was and told her, "Of course, Maura, I can stay with you."
Maura called her supervisor and asked to take the rest of the day off as she needed to attend to a personal matter. She only had a few patients and her supervisor would make sure that her patients' needs would be taken care of.
Amelia
After Maura left to have lunch with her children, Amelia used Maura's office. She needed to do some research. Amelia was a brilliant neurosurgeon. She knew from a young age that she would follow whatever path her older brother, Derek, took.
When he said he wanted to be a doctor, she did also. When he chose to be a neurosurgeon, she did also. She idolized her older brother, who was the leading neurosurgeon in the country. She strived to be like her older brother. She completed her National Board Certification with a score just two points below her brother. Derek was so proud of his younger sister.
She was hard to work with and thus she couldn't work in the same hospital as her brother. She was close with Addison, Derek's ex-wife, and chose to work with her in her private practice in California. She often ran her theories by Addison when Derek wasn't available. Addison kept her sane. Amelia was a workaholic and Addison kept her accountable. Their closeness didn't change just because Derek and Addison were divorced.
Amelia had a few theories about Jane's condition and she researched all of them. She needed to figure out why Jane was having her 'dreams.'
After hours of research, Amelia felt that the best explanation for what Jane is suffering from is a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) with hallucinations. There are a few medications that she can start Jane on while they waited to see if the situation straightens itself out. She had a call into Derek and he replied back to her. They spent an hour going over everything and Derek agreed with her diagnoses.
Amelia was excited that her brother agreed with her. She ordered the medications and after hanging up with her brother, she went to Jane's room to explain what her course of treatment would be.
Stella
Stella's boss was furious when Steve told him that Stella basically walked off the job after Jane's plane crash and that she didn't report for her assigned shift on Sunday. Stella had several writeups against her already and was told if she acted up again, she might lose her job.
Her boss now had no choice but to put her on an unpaid suspension. She would have to have a hearing before she could return to work. He filed his paperwork with HR and attempted to call her again. He received no answer. He left a voice message and sent her another email. She was now on an unpaid suspension until further notice.
When Stella listened to her voice message and heard what her supervisor said, she was pissed. She fired off a text message to Steve, "Thanks for having my back." She knew Steve had called her supervisor. She and Steve had covered for each other before and she thought that he would have her back but apparently, she thought, 'I thought wrong.'
She neglected to recall that covering for half an hour or so was one thing but a day and a half that was too much for Steve to cover for. He needed a second EMT in the ambulance with him. Steve text back, "We were okay with Saturday afternoon, Stella, but not Sunday. You know I have to have help on the truck."
She quickly replied back, "Whatever, I guess you will get a second person it just won't be me."
Steve thought better and didn't reply. He put his phone away and went back to suppling the ambulance with his new temporary assistant.
Nikki
Nikki sat in the holding cell at the precinct. She was not a quiet individual. The officers within hearing range were not very happy with her. About every twenty minutes or so they were telling her to be quiet and she was not following their orders. They couldn't wait to get her out of their hair. They knew that depending how her case went Monday morning would depend where she spent the rest of her time. If the judge remanded her, she would go to the county jail with all the other inmates.
If she kept persisting on shouting out and misbehaving, they would move her to the county jail. The Police Chief had already given his permission. His officers didn't have to put up with such a fouled mouthed individual. No one should have to put up with such obscenities.
Within two hours, Nikki was transferred to the county jail. Brian and Scott tried to object to the transfer but they all had been told that if Nikki didn't behave she would be transferred. She didn't behave so she was transferred.
One of the county jail guards was a friend of Stella's and called her and told her, "that bitch that you warned me about, just was transferred to the county jail. Do you want the 'Welcome Wagon' to pay her a visit tonight?"
Stella smiled, she had talked with her friend in case Nikki was transferred there Monday but Sunday was better. After a visit from the 'Welcome Wagon' Nikki's bravado would be knocked down a few pegs.
"Oh yes, that would be great, thank you."
"No problem, I know quite a few individuals that would love to take care of a cop lover in here. She will look rather pretty for her court appearance tomorrow."
"Thank you. I will slide your fee into your account in a few minutes."
"It is my pleasure to help you out, my friend. Talk to you later." With that they ended the call. Stella was pleased, her plan was coming along. Nikki would soon be out of the picture and hopefully on her way back to Boston.
Jane and Amelia
Jane was happy when Amelia entered her room with a smile on her face. "Jane, hello, how are you feeling?"
Jane smiled at her and said, "Okay, I must admit I had to hit the pain med button and I was able to sleep some. My mom and brothers were here earlier and I was able to stay awake the full two hours that they were here. I haven't seen Dr. Isles since all three of you were here earlier. Dr. Holiday has not been by either."
"Doctor Isles and Doctor Holiday are both off duty right now." Amelia informed Jane who looked at her puzzled.
"Doctor Isles stated she would check on me later is everything okay?" Jane was concerned.
"She had to attend to a personal matter, so she took the afternoon off. I am sure she will be back to see you in the morning or maybe even later tonight. Right now, you are stuck with me. I hope that is okay?"
"Oh, yes, I am sorry Doctor Sheppard, I did not mean to offend you. I just know that Doctor Isles in my doctor of record and she seems like the type of person that would keep her word if she tells you something."
"I am not offended Jane, I am just teasing you. As long as you are checked on by one of the three of us, you are okay. Plus, I happen to know that you have an excellent nursing staff looking after you. It is not every day that they have such a highly decorated police officer to look after. There was some discussion amongst the nurses as to who would be on shift to take care of you. You seem to be popular with the nursing staff."
Jane smiled, she was trying to be nice to all of the medical personnel. She knew they had a tough job. In the past, at the Boston hospitals, she had been a horrible patient. She didn't want to continue to be a horrible patient. She would try her best to be a good patient.
Amelia told her what her plan was and Jane agreed, "that sounds totally feasible. I must admit though I am going to miss my dreams of Maura and her children." Amelia smiled, she felt that Jane truly would miss her dreams but she needed Jane to be better, she had her real life to live. Whether anything happened between Jane and Maura was up to them and only time would tell. Amelia knew that Maura was struggling with her feelings regarding Jane. Maura wasn't one to fall for her patients and Amelia knew that Maura had never shown any interest in women before. Amelia also knew that Jane was not your standard everyday woman.
Maura
Maura felt guilty for not seeing her patients that afternoon. She was curious to know if Amelia had found out anything. She hadn't heard from Amelia. She felt maybe she should send her a message. Just as she was about to send a message her phone chimed with a text message from Amelia. "Hey, thought you would like to know that I have a diagnosis for Jane."
Maura waited for a minute to see if Amelia would say what the diagnosis was. When after two minutes she hadn't received another message she sent a text. "That is great, what is the diagnosis?"
Amelia didn't text she called Maura. Maura answered, "Hello, Amelia."
"Hello Maura, I thought it would be faster to call you rather than texting. After confirming with Derek, we believe the best diagnosis is a mild traumatic brain injury with hallucinations."
"Derek, you called your brother?"
"Yes, I called him and while I looking up the medications that could help her, he called me back. We spent an hour going over all the data and he confirmed her diagnosis. I have explained everything to Jane and she concurs with my treatment plan. I thought you should know being as you are her primary doctor of record."
"Thank you, Amelia." A few minutes later then ended their phone call. Maura looked at the time and then went to the nanny's room and told the nanny that she was going out.