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.
Full disclaimers on Chapter 1
Chapter 18
Maura closed shop, weary.
That had been a very long week.
Since the previous one, when she had a heart to heart with Jane that ended up nowhere, she had been distracted.
At least this week Jane joining her in autopsies had been successful and led to a closure. Jane had been able to hold her ground, although Maura knew it was still a burden to her. But she thought something she had tried have helped.
"Why are you turned at me with this scalpel in your hands?" Jane looked at her with wide terrorized eyes.
It had dawned on Maura one potential solution.
"Detective Rizzoli. I will NOT hurt you with this scalpel. This just happens to be my tool of trade. The same way I never fear when you approach me with a gun on the holster or on your hands, you don't need to fear when I am around you with a scalpel in mine." Maura spoke intendedly. "Do you understand me?" Maura insisted.
Jane nodded, slowly, exhaling a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
"Any of the other ME's, or I... We need our scalpels to do our job. A job that helps you catch the bad guys. This is just a tool, Jane."
Again, Jane nodded.
"Why don't you grab one?" Maura offered.
Jane's eyes went wide again.
"Grab what?"
"A scalpel. Yourself. Grab it. Any one from the tray." Maura pointed casually at the tray by her side.
Jane swallowed hard, but she understood Maura's logic.
She struggled a bit to put on the gloves, her fingers still awkward but Maura could detect the high level of dexterity Jane had achieved. Jane approached the tray slowly, as if every inch closer to the scalpels was costing immensely.
"Don't overthink it, Jane. Just pick one in your own hands. Or two, one in each hand." Maura incentivized.
Jane gasped as she picked one scalpel, and Maura could observe the trembling of Jane's hands.
"This is really good, Jane. It is just an object. That cannot and will not hurt you when yielded in this environment. Okay?"
Maura saw Jane holding the scalpel hard at first, then tweaking it carefully in her hand, before she finally raised her eyes to Maura. "Okay."
From that point on, it became easier. And Jane had considered that phase of her rehabilitation completed, what meant Maura had only had Jane's companion for autopsies earlier that week.
She should have felt relieved, because being close to Jane and not being able to be close to Jane was killing her. It had been a bit over a year since the incident with Hoyt. A bit over a year that they had been apart. And Maura felt she was not one single inch closer to moving on.
She sighed. It was a Friday night, for Pete's sake. And this month her strategy for the mandatory date had changed. She thought that if she could find someone who somehow reminded her of Jane it might be easier to get past dinner. So she had decided to go to a place Jane had introduced her too: a small Italian restaurant, simple and unassuming, but that had really delicious food. Maura didn't have a date. She was betting on her infallible power: whenever she seated alone anywhere, someone would always approach her. If she was sitting alone in an environment Jane appreciated, maybe someone like Jane might be hanging out there and approach her as well. Worst case scenario, she would have comfort food, that she certainly could use.
Maura thought she had miscalculated her plan. The little Italian restaurant was packed. And she had not made reservations – not that they accepted reservations in the first place. It was small, family owned, all things Jane had praised and value.
Maura sighed, inhaling the delicious smell of well-prepared Italian food, and ready to turn around and go home, when she spotted a known profile in the small table by the corner, where she and Jane had seated all the times Jane had took her there before.
The hostess smiled noticing the recognition in Maura's face.
"If you have a friend that is already in, you should have said so. Please go ahead."
Maura didn't contradict her, just walked through the packed tables, resolution in her. This was a perfect chance to have a definitive talk to Jane. Out of work. In a neutral territory. In a relaxed environment. If even this didn't work, Maura would need to make some decisions of her own. But she would not do so before giving it a serious, solid try.
"Hmmm, a Montepulciano…" Maura's mouth almost watered as she looked at the bottle by Jane's table, that Jane was carefully sipping from by holding her glass with both hands. "May I ask what is the occasion?"
Jane was startled, and she put the glass carefully back on the table before she took in Maura's figure from head to toe, swallowing hard.
"I did my requalification today." Jane stated quietly. "And I got the score needed to be reinstated to regular duty."
Maura smiled sincerely. "Congratulations, Detective Rizzoli. You did all the hard work, and it did pay off."
"Thank you…" Jane offered a small smile.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Maura asked, uncertain. The same way she had gone there hoping to find a date, maybe Jane was in the same quest: for moving on.
"No… Were you?" Jane asked, hopeful.
"I should say I found way more than what I was hoping for…" Maura answered, cryptically. "May I?" she pointed shily to the small chair by Jane's side, the same one Maura had seated on closer to her partner in the few months they had been together.
"Be my guest…" Jane finally offered her a small smile, gentlewomanly pulling the little chair for Maura.
The waiter showed up magically with another glass, and poured for Maura, who raised her glass and waited patiently for Jane to raise hers.
"Congratulations, Jane, you more than anyone I know deserves it!"
They clinked glasses, and Maura closed her eyes to appreciate the velvety taste of the Montepulciano in her tongue. It was delicious, exactly what she needed in that Friday evening. And with Jane so close to her she could feel the heat irradiating from her body? This was heaven.