"I paced around for hours on empty, I jumped at the slightest of sounds."

Chapitre 1

"Detective Rizzoli, I need you to confirm your position."

The voice came from somewhere on her right. Her ears were ringing. Ashes were raining down on her. The smell of burnt skin and chemical residues hit her nose. She grimaced in pain. She reached for the crackling walkie talkie.

"Detective Rizzoli, what's your position?"

The voice was insisting. They needed her to respond but she couldn't grab the small black device through which they were calling her. It was so close and yet so far. She couldn't get it. Every movement was a torture. Her head hurt.

She closed her eyes. She needed to rest. Even just for a few minutes. Just for the headache to disappear, for the pain of her body to vanish.

"Detective Rizzoli, can you hear me?"

It should have been an ordinary mission. Burst through the door brandishing gun and badge. Catch the murderer. Handcuff them. Bring them to the precinct. Except they weren't alone in that house. She had chased down their accomplice through alleyways. She had followed her guts, ran into that warehouse and suddenly, she was blown away and hitting the ground hard. Her gun and radio were out of her reach. She was on her own, and she couldn't ask for backup. She was so tired.

"Rizzoli!"

She jerked herself awake at the distorted sound of Korsak's voice through the radio. She gritted her teeth together in response to the excruciating pain crashing on her body in relentless waves. The Sergeant was worried about her radio silence, especially after hearing that their murderer had an accomplice that was making bombs on their free time. She already knew that. One of those bombs had exploded a few feet away from her and sent her flying for a short moment.

She reached for the radio, stretched her arms to the maximum, biting her tongue to keep from crying out in pain. Her grazed fingers brushed the device but couldn't get a good grasp of it. Bracing herself for the pain to come, she rolled on her side and grabbed the radio.

A white flash of pain blinded her for a moment. She couldn't hold back the cry of pain that time. She had knocked her head hard when she fell but it wasn't the only injury she sustained. She must have been closer to the bomb that she thought.

"Rizzoli," she gasped. "Badge Victor 8-2-5."

The position was uncomfortable and painful. Said pain was taking her breath away. Silent tears were sliding down her cheeks as she tried to communicate her position for her colleagues to find her. She could only imagine Korsak's face at hearing her struggling that much.

"The suspect ran away. Followed him. Lost him in a warehouse. Set off a trap."

She released the button and waited for Korsak to be done giving her a piece of his mind for running alone after a dangerous suspect. She pressed the button again when he stopped speaking.

"I forgot to say... Officer down."

Those were her last words before the dark swallowed her whole. In the walkie-talkie, Korsak was asking her to hold on, to not die on him or he would have to bring her back to lecture her on how reckless she could be and on how worried she always got him when they were out on the field. Sometimes he reminded her of her mother. In a good way.

She heard indistinct voices all around her. She recognised Maura's. Her lips twitched upwards. Dear Maura, always by her side when she found herself in troubles. She was talking to someone else. Her doctor maybe. She heard words such as 'lucky', 'second-degree burns' and 'concussion'. She would be fine after a few days of rest. Maura promised them that she would made sure her friend was resting for as long as needed. Had she been fully awake, Jane would have protested that she didn't need a babysitter. She could take care of herself very well. But she wouldn't complain about spending time with Maura, it was better than having her mother on her back until she could get back to work...