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 31

The nurse came into the room before there was light outside.

Jane blinked hard. Maura had asked her to already settle in bed from the get-go, admitting she would likely have nightmares anyway, and that at least both would be more comfortable. Twice Jane woke up to Maura agitated, before she even started whimpering, and just by tightening her hold on Maura she felt Maura relaxing and going back to sleep. It was progress.

"G'morning." The nurse offered. "I need to take you, but you can sleep a little longer." She spoke softly, addressing first Maura and then Jane.

She had a wheelchair for Maura.

"Can't I just walk there?" Maura whined.

"No. There is a long walk, and your knee is still in recovery. You wouldn't want to delay going back home because of it, would you? Besides, at this time in the morning, there is nobody in the corridors to see you on the wheelchair."

"Okay." Maura sighed.

"Behave yourself, Dr. Isles." Jane leaned in to kiss her temple. "I will be waiting for you right here."

Jane didn't go back to sleep. Instead, she took a shower and changed her clothes. She also separated the things she had brought for Maura to wear in case her release was confirmed. And she organized all their other things, to make it really easy for them to get ready to leave. She knew from her own experience how anxiously she waited to be able to go home, and she knew Maura was going through the same thing.

About one hour after taking Maura, the nurse was back with the wheelchair.

"She is all yours, for now. The doctor should be here with the exam results in a few minutes."

"How are you feeling this morning?" Jane asked when Maura sat on the bed.

"Much better. Ready to go home."

"Hopefully the doctor will agree with you. I left all our things set in case he does release you."

Maura's eyes scanned the room critically, until she stopped over the pile of her clothes.

"I completely forgot to ask you to bring clothes for my release…"

"I got you. I even picked up a nice scarf for us to use as a sling for your shoulder."

"And it even matches the colors of the clothes you picked… Thank you, Jane."

The doctor arrived with the envelope of Maura's lungs' images in his hands.

"How are you feeling today, Dr. Isles?"

"Much better. Ready to go home." Maura replied, repeating to him what she had told Jane just a few minutes earlier.

"You do look better. Let's look at these images together, shall we?" He removed the x-rays from the envelope, and moved closer to Maura to place them against the light.

"That is a relief… My lungs are practically clean."

"Yes, that was a fantastic progress. We will keep your antibiotics in oral form for another four days to close the entire cycle, but I think it is safe to say you are good to go. How has been the breathing since you woke up this morning? I take you have been without the oxygen since you woke up."

"You are correct. I feel fine. I can breathe in and out without any difficult, and I just can't go deeper because of the broken ribs."

"Good. The bump in your head is practically gone. You should keep your arm on a sling for the next two weeks, but you can begin doing small movements if pain allows it. If after two weeks you are still in pain, you should go to an orthopedist. Same thing for your knee. Keep it bandaged but start putting weight on it. I would just not recommend resuming any impact sports on it before a total of six weeks. You should be good for standing or walking without the bandage in two weeks, but I wouldn't do any running for another five at least."

Maura nodded.

"As for the ribs, a lot of people opt for a wide elastic compression belt to keep the fracture tight. But given the pneumonia, in your case, I would advise against it. Anything constraining your breathing would not be advisable. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done for fractured ribs, except let time heal it. It will take about another five weeks before the pain goes completely away. You will need to control how long you stand or sit still for the first two to three weeks, and be mindful of bending or twisting your torso for the duration of the next five weeks."

Maura nodded again.

"But if you can comply with that, I will come back in a while with your release papers and the prescription for your antibiotics."

"Thank you, Doctor." Maura replied, excitedly.

As the doctor walked away, she moved out of the bed, picking up the things Jane brought her, and moved to the bathroom.

She came back showered and wearing her normal clothes, the scarf tied in a knot and placed around her neck to sustain her arm.

Jane had picked slip-on sneakers, so Maura could feel as independent as possible to dress up on her own. Jane knew how much independence was important to both of them.

"I am all set."

Jane pointed to their bags by the side of the room.

"We are all set."

As soon as they signed the release papers the doctor brought, the nurse had the wheelchair ready.

Maura tried to get out of using it, but Jane would not have any of it.

"The corridors are long. It is pointless to overexert yourself for nothing."

Jane ordered an Uber, and when they arrived at the door of the hospital, the car moved in closer for them. Jane helped accommodate Maura on the front seat, before she moved to the back seat.

It was a short ride to Maura's home. Jane got off with their bags, before moving around the door to help Maura to her feet.

"Home sweet home." Jane offered, looking sideways to Maura.

Maura was looking at her house, tears welled in her eyes.

"Hey…" Jane took Maura's right hand in hers. "Are you okay?"

Maura sighed and swallowed hard. "There were moments I didn't think I would ever make it back home…"

Jane kissed her temple. "Well, here you are… Shall we?" Jane offered, disarming the alarm and unlocking the door, holding it open for Maura to come in.

Maura walked into her house, and smiled seeing that Jane not only had grocery shopped, but that she had stored everything on its places as Maura liked.

"Thank you, Jane."

"You are welcome. I take that you are not ready to go to your bedroom and would rather move to the sofa?"

"You know me too well." Maura smiled gently, and Jane made a point to rearrange all the pillows to make sure Maura was as comfortable as possible.

"I will get some breakfast going for us, and later I will go pick up your prescription."

"We have time. I will only need the antibiotics later in the day."

Jane shot a picture of Maura comfortably settled in her sofa, that she sent to Constance and Arthur to let them know Maura had been released from the hospital, before Jane proceeded to make sure Maura fully benefited from being home, pampering her as much as she could.