Forgiven (Rizzoli and Isles)

Chapter 8

 

 Maura's POV

Tequila. Lots and lots of tequila. If I keep going like this, I'll be in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Oh, wait. Nobody is here to take me to the hospital. I guess I'll be here with alcohol poisoning.

"Maybe I should call Jane!" I spoke aloud. "No no. That's a bad idea. Melissa might answer and wonder why I am calling her girlfriend at three in the morning, drunk off my ass."

Her girlfriend. Ha! My wife.My best friend. We were married. We have a child and a grandchild. Her life and her family is with me, whether she is or not. Melissa isn't going to take that from me! I still have Jane wrapped around my little finger! She'll do anything I ask her too...I think. No, I'm calling her. I need her more than Melissa does right now.

I picked up my phone and dialed the number I memorized as soon as it was given to me.

"Hello?" I heard Jane's husky voice.

I couldn't speak. I felt hot tears roll down my face.

"What the hell? It's three in the morning." Jane said.

"Jane." I choked out. "I need you."

"Wh-Maura? Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

"J-Jane. Please."

"Maura, what happened? Calm down and tell me what happened."

I sobbed some more.

"Emily left, Jane. She left with Zoey a few days ago, and I thought I would be okay, but I'm not. I'm not okay, Jane. I just finished my second bottle of tequila and I need you."

There were a few moments of silence before Jane spoke.

"Where did they go?" She asked.

"B-Back to Boston." I said, shakily. 

"Are you still in LA? Are you at home?"

I nodded and then kicked myself for being stupid. She can't hear me nod.

"Yes, I'm still at home in LA." 

"Okay." Jane said. "Melissa is going to be pissed." I heard her mumble.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because Maura, I just left a note for my girlfriend saying that I was going to L.A. and climbed into my fucking car. Who is in L.A.? You are. Who are you? My ex-wife. She's gonna be pissed that I'm at your beck and call."

"Jane, I didn't ask you to come."

"You said you needed me, so I'm coming. Sit tight, Stay away from the alcohol. I'll be there in a little over an hour. Traffic shouldn't be too horrible at three in the morrning. I'll see you soon. Love you, bye."

"Bye."

Did she just say 'Love you'? Like, as a friend. Yeah, that's what it was. A friendly love.

---------------------------------------------------

I was asleep on the couch when there was a knock at my front door. It took me a few moments to actually get up to and answer it, but I answered it nonetheless. As I walked to the door, I glanced at the clock. 4:47 A.M. I opened it to see Jane, her mouth hanging open.

"You look like you were hit by a freight train."

I squinted my eyes at her and gasped in surprise.

"Well, at least I don't look like I'm about to go to a photo shoot." I replied back.

"It depends on the kind of photo shoot you're going too..." Jane said with a smirk. "If you're going to a sexy photo shoot...Your hair is just perfect for that." 

"Shut up!" I said with a laugh.

"And the fact that you are half naked kind of helps too. My point is, you look like you were hit by a freight train, but you're still totally sexy."

I looked down at myself before replying. BPD T-shirt, no bra, lace underwear. Totally see through.

"Jane, stop it. You're in a relationship."

"I can't think you're sexy?"

"You can think it. Just Don't say it out loud."

"I can say what I want. I can think what I want."

I glared at her.

"I miss my daughter." I said sadly. "I miss our family."

Jane looked down to her feet.

"So do I. I guess things don't always work out as we plan them."

"Of course they don't! Everyone always thinks that if they make plans, and stick to them, that nothing bad will ever happen. That is wrong! Life is not supposed to be a shiny diamond from the start. It's supposed to be a rough carbon, waiting to be heated with joy and love, and happiness, as well as anger, sorrow and grief. These emotions shape us, they become us, every bit of them." I bit back. "I did this to us, Jane. Now, my daughter is gone, and who knows when I'll see her, or my granddaughter again. I'm probably ruining your new relationship. I haven't talked to Rob in over a week." I said as I put my head in my hands.

Jane walked over to me and put her hand on my arm.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, dear. Have you tried calling my mother?"

"God, no! Are you crazy? If I call her, she will rip me a new one. I can hear it now; 'Maura, what the hell were you thinking, taking my grandbaby and my great grandbaby away from me? I can't believe you moved to California!'. Then she'll probably throw in something about how I tore our family apart. I can't deal with that right now."

"Actually, I talked to her the other day and she wanted to know why you haven't been answering your phone. She was about to fly out here. She hates flying. Oh, and she wanted to know if you knew that Emily is the new Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massaachussetts. She took your job." Jane said, rubbing my arm. 

"She did?!" I said with a smile. "I am so proud of her!"

My smile faded.

"Maybe Emily was right. Maybe we shouldn't have come out here. I should've stayed in Boston. I still have that offer from BCU. You know, the teaching one. Maybe I should tell them I'm interested."

"You just moved out here, Maura. You're going to go back?"

"My life is there, Jane. Unlike you, I had no reason to move out here. I had already taken the job out here before I knew you were moving out here and the only reason I took the damn job is because I wanted to create some distance between us."

"Fate is..." Jane started.

"Silly. Stupid. Irritating." I finished.

"I was going to say mysterious."

I nodded, then realized how tired I was. I stumbled over to the couch and pulled the blanket up over my body and closed my eyes.

"I'm going to sleep." I said to Jane.

She chuckled and lifted me off the couch to carry me to my room. She gently placed me on the bed and flopped down next to me. 

"Goodnight, Love." I heard, and I felt a soft kiss on my forehead before I fell into a deep slumber.