Chapter 11 – Seeing Double

Trigger warning: Talk of gunfire

Jane and Frost were in pursuit of a suspect. They had been working on the case for over a week. They were both exhausted. When this lead came in close to quitting time, they looked at each other and grabbed their coats, they knew they had to work the lead.

It didn't take them long to find the suspect. Of course, he ran, they always ran. They both pursued the suspect. When the suspect felt cornered her pulled a gun. He shot Jane before she could shoot him. He hit her in the left shoulder causing her to drop her gun as she fell to the ground. She landed in a strange position and hit her temple on some debris that was on the ground.

The suspect tried taking off but Frost shot him center mass. Frost had looked at Jane and when he saw the suspect attempt to flee, he just shot. He was not going to let the suspect get away, not after shooting his partner. He needed to stop the suspect before he could check on Jane. Jane would want him to get the suspect. He knew that, even though his first thought was to check on his partner.

The suspect was out cold. Frost called it in and reported, "Officer down, bus needed. Repeat officer down, bus needed at my location." He put his walkie talkie down and preceded to take in Jane's condition. He knew from his training that you didn't want to move someone with a head injury. The shot to the shoulder was a through and through. He could see where the bullet landed so he stayed with Jane while keeping an eye on the suspect.

It didn't take long before help arrived. Korsak hearing the call over the radio also responded. Knowing that Frost was making the call he feared that it was Jane that had been shot. He was concerned so he went to the scene. He needed to be there for both of them. Anytime an officer got shot it was not a good situation but when it was an officer you worked with so closely, well, he just had to find out for himself.

Korsak was the ranking officer at the scene so he took charge. He instructed the uniforms as they secured the scene. Frost was in shock as he sat with Jane. Korsak was impressed that the young detective did not attempt to move Jane. He knew that his own first instinct would have been to pull Jane into his arms and comfort her. Frost was comforting her without moving her.

Korsak had to pull Frost away from Jane so that the EMTs could work on her. Korsak was worried about her blow to the head. The shoulder should be fine after possible surgery and some physical therapy but the head injury from the fall might require more and that concerned him. Frost would probably have to be sedated. Matter of fact, the EMT asked him and he consented. He needed to look after his young detective as well. Having your partner shot in front of you was a traumatic experience.

Frost was placed in the same ambulance as Jane and rushed off to the hospital. A second ambulance took the suspect who was cuffed to the gurney. Korsak had a uniformed officer ride with the suspect. He instructed the officer to stay with the suspect at all times unless directed by medical personnel to step aside. Korsak would check in with him later. Once Jane and Frost's ambulance had left, Korsak turned over control of the scene to the next ranking officer and made his way to the hospital.

Korsak called Cavanaugh and Maura on the way to the hospital. He asked Cavanaugh to take Maura to the hospital. He didn't want Maura driving while she worried about Jane. Cavanaugh understood as he knew how close the two women were and he didn't want anything to happen to Maura while she tried to get to Jane.

Maura demanded to see Jane. She was told that Jane was in surgery and that she would have to wait. Maura wanted to know what was going on and what her condition was. A young doctor had to tell her that he didn't know anything at this point except that she had a GSW to the left shoulder and a severe cut to her left temple area. He would find out how the surgery was going and let her know as soon as he found anything out.

In less than an hour, a doctor came out to talk with Maura. Maura was listed as Jane's next of kin. An action that pissed off Angela, Jane's mother, at first but after Jane told her that Maura is a medical doctor and if anything happened to her Maura wouldn't be allowed in to see her because she wasn't family, Angela understood. Then she learned that Maura had also listed Jane as her next of kin. She had a feeling that these two women cared more about each other than they were letting on but she didn't want to concern herself with that.

The doctor told Maura, "I surgically repaired the damage to her left shoulder while the neurologist was evaluating what course of action, she wanted to take to alleviate the swelling of Jane's brain and further evaluate what her next course of action would be. It might be hours before we hear from her. She is the best neurosurgeon in the region, she just happened to be here consulting on another patient. I will try and find out more and keep you updated."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Dr. Isles, you do have privileges at this hospital if you would like to be in the surgical observation room, you can watch Dr. Sheppard yourself."

Maura turned to Angela who had joined her in the waiting room along with Korsak, Frankie and Nina. Angela motioned for her to go. "I would love that doctor, thank you."

"I will have the nurse take you." The doctor stepped over and asked one of the nurses to show Dr. Isles to the surgical observation room. Within minutes, Maura was observing, world renown neurosurgeon, Dr. Amelia Sheppard at work. Several of the doctors observing looked at her when she walked in. Maura found it interesting that Dr. Sheppard talked to the doctors in the room as she performed her surgery. It didn't seem to phase her that she was being watched.

Maura watched for over an hour as Dr. Sheppard operated on Jane. When the operation was over. She heard Dr. Sheppard ask, "Dr. Isles can you please meet me right outside the operating room. Maura would have had to scrub up to enter the room and Dr. Sheppard did not think that that was necessary. She could talk with Maura while Jane was being moved to post-op. Maura rose and went downstairs to meet with Dr. Sheppard.

"Dr. Isles, I am sorry to meet you under these circumstances. Your friend is doing quite well. I repaired internal damage to the nerves in the left eye. We will not know if she will have any vision damage until she recovers from the surgery and opens her eyes. She is lucky in the fact that the debris that penetrated her left temple was slightly off center and missed some major portions of the temporal lobe. The penetration was not that deep but it did cause some intracranial bleeding, which I was able to repair. She may have some memory lapses. If she does, I believe that they will only be temporary and after some time, maybe a few weeks, her memory will return. Same with her left eye. She might experience some eye problems, such as blurred vision or double vision. I would like to keep her in the hospital for a few days for observation."

Amelia paused as she could see that she was overwhelming Maura. "If you would like to gown up you can go into the post op room with me and stay with her as she is moved into the recovery room and then her private room. I know that this is not customary but I hear that your detective is quite the hero around here."

"Oh, please don't mention the word hero to Jane, she hates it. She will tell you that she was just doing her job and that is all."

"I will take you to the post op room and then I must go check on my other patient. I will be back to see Jane once she is in her room. I understand her family is in the waiting room, would you like me to talk to them while you stay with Jane?"

"That would be great. Please let them know that I am with Jane."

"I can do that. If you need anything please let the nurses know and they will assist you."

"Thank you again, Dr. Sheppard."

"Please, call me Amelia."

"Only if you call me Maura."

"I can do that Maura, I will talk to you later. Jane should be waking up within the hour. She may not be able to talk right away. Please try to comfort her and let her know that she is going to be okay."

"I can do that." Amelia left to go talk with Jane's family and then see her other patient.

About an hour later, Jane woke up and looked right into Maura's eyes. Maura smiled at her and Jane smiled back. Jane attempted to talk but wasn't able to. She had no way to tell Maura that she was seeing two of her. Her shoulder hurt and then she remembered that she had been shot. "Frost!" see was able to say.

"Barry is fine. He was in shock after seeing you shot but he is fine. Korsak had them give him a sedative at the scene and they have him in a room for observation. He should be in here as soon as he is released."

"What hap …" Jane was not able to finish her sentence but Maura knew what Jane was trying to say and she told her what she knew. Korsak had filled her in.

Maura wanted to know about Jane's vision so she asked, "How is your vision?"

"Two of you."

"You see two of me?"

Jane nodded her head slightly and then felt pain. She winced and closed her eyes. "I will let Dr. Sheppard know. She is your neurosurgeon. She said you might have vision problems so this is not surprising. Please do not worry, okay? Don't shake your head." Jane squeezed her hand, letting her know that she understood.

"Keep your eyes closed Jane and just try and relax. You are going to be okay and I am going to stay here with you. I know that you are in pain but you are going to be okay, I promise you that and you know that I cannot lie.

Jane tried to scoot over and motion to the spot on the bed beside her. "Here." She said and Maura understood, Jane wanted her to climb into the bed with her. Maura took off her shoes and climbed up onto the bed and laid there with Jane. They both closed their eyes and Jane held onto Maura the best she could.

Maura had taken out a notepad and had written down that Jane was seeing two of her. She left the notepad on the table by the bed and when Amelia came in a little while later, she didn't disturb the sleeping women. She did see the note that Maura had written saying that Jane was seeing two of her and that she had asked Jane to close her eyes and relax. Amelia left the room to think about a course of treatment for Jane and to update Angela on Jane's condition.

Jane woke up to find her right arm asleep. It was under and around a sleeping Maura. She flexed her arm and Maura stirred awake. "Hey." Maura said as she sat up. "How are you feeling? Are you still seeing two of me?"

Jane remembered that she shouldn't nod. She attempted to speak and a quick "yes" came out. Maura noted the time and annotated what Jane said on her notepad.

She noticed a note from Dr. Sheppard on her notepad. She told Jane, "Dr. Sheppard came by about an hour a go and it says that she will be make in about half an hour." Maura tried to leave the bed but Jane held onto her. She squeezed Maura's hand and mouthed, 'thank you.' Maura knew that Jane was thanking her for staying with her.

As promised, Dr. Sheppard came in half an hour later and reviewed all of Jane's readings. She checked on her eyes and Jane was still seeing double. She was having trouble talking, but was able to get some words out, enough to let Dr. Sheppard know the answers to her questions. Dr. Sheppard and Maura talked and occasionally Maura reworded phrases so that Jane would understand. Jane appreciated that as she wanted to know what was going on. Her biggest question that she wanted answered was when her vision would go back to normal.

Amelia put Jane on some medication that would help with her eyes. She knew that Jane didn't want to stay in the hospital but Amelia explained and Maura agreed that it was the best place for her to be for the next few days. Maura saw to it that Jane was in the VIP portion of the hospital and she had round the clock private nursing care. Jane tried to fuss about it but she knew that there was no arguing with Dr. Maura Isles.

Maura liked that the bed was larger than the bed in the ICU or the normal hospital rooms. She easily fit onto the bed with Jane. Maura didn't plan on leaving the hospital as long as Jane was there. She had called the Governor and requested a leave of absence for one week. She was going to take care of her detective when she was released from the hospital.

Amelia informed Jane and Maura that she would be leaving Boston the next day to go back to California where her practice was. She would check in with them before she left and make sure that she introduced the local doctor that would be monitoring Jane for her.

Maura was sad to see Amelia go as she knew that Amelia was the best doctor and Jane deserved the best. She was also easy to talk to and was not put off by Maura's somewhat awkward personality like so many other doctors.

The medication helped and Jane's double vision went away two days later. He gunshot wound was healing nicely so Jane was discharged from the hospital. Jane was happy to go home. Well, she went to Maura's house. Jane spent so much time at Maura's house she almost felt like it was her house.

Jane fussed when she found out that Maura was taking the week off. "Jane, it is either me or your mother. I was kind of hoping that you would like to spend the time with me."

"Oh, Maur, that is great. I would rather spend the time with you. The one of you that I can see so clearly now. I mean I didn't mind seeing two of you. You are so beautiful. I don't know if I would be able to handle two of you at the same time though, especially if we were in a discussion and both of you were google-mouthing me." They both laughed.

"So, is my stuff in the guest room?"

"No Jane, you stuff is in my bedroom. I am not letting you sleep downstairs alone. I have been sleeping in the same bed as you for the last few days and I sleep better when you are near. Plus, you are still going to need me to change your bandages and help you get dressed and such. You can't move your left arm."

"I couldn't move my left arm if I tried. The arm is strapped down to my body."

"I had them use that type of sling because you truly cannot move your arm. It needs to heal and I know you. you would try and do things with it so I had them put this wrap around sling on you to help you heal."

"I guess, I shouldn't complain."

"You are right, you shouldn't complain. I am the doctor and I know what is best for my detective."

"Your detective, huh?"

"Yes, you are my detective."

Jane reached her right hand over and pulled Maura in for a hug. "Well, I guess that makes you my doctor then." Jane gave her a kiss on the cheek and sensing it would be okay, Maura turned her face and kissed Jane on the lips. Jane did not back away she pulled Maura in tighter and deepened the kiss. She had wanted to kiss Maura for so long, she didn't know how Maura felt. They would have to talk about this new development in their relationship but for now she would just continue kissing her doctor.