CHAPTER THREE

Jane

My hands trembled as I handed the phone to the kid with the gun. Paddy's jacket was pressed against the hole in my chest. My own hands were covered in blood, making everything I touched tacky and uncomfortable. I was leaning against the furthest wall in the place, facing the window.

I'd been shot before, I'd shot myself before. But it was nothing like I'd been going through right at that moment. The bullet hit me in the chest, exiting out my back. By that time, my body had slowed the bullet down enough that Paddy had a chance to get out of the way. The only thing was that now I was having trouble breathing. I wasn't losing too much blood at a fast rate, but it was still oozing pretty good.

"You're a surprisingly good liar, Rizzoli." Doyle said, adjusting his jacket on my bullet hole. "But what I don't understand is why you lied." I chuckled weakly, pushing myself up higher, closer to the wall.

"If Korsak, Frost or Maura found out I was the one who was shot, they'd freak out and break into attack mode. If they think I'm okay, that I have some control over the situation, they're more likely to handle this rationally." I quickly wiped away the tear I felt rolling down my cheek. What if I died and Maura was still mad at me? What if she never forgave me even though her father had? The pain of that thought, of knowing one of the most important people in my life hated me and would feel that way after I was gone was worse than the bullet in my chest. "Besides, it's easier this way."

"Are you crying?" I shook my head and sniffled.

"No. I'm just allergic to being shot is all." He shook his head at me the same way Maura did.

"You're a complicated human being, Jane."

"Tell me about it." He smirked slightly and I closed my eyes, swallowing hard against the dizziness that was starting to make my head spin.

"You truly care for my daughter, don't you?" Doyle asked and I took a second before nodding.

"Yes I do." I smiled gently. "Just last week I bought her this BB gun and helped her set up a shooting rang in her backyard."

"Yeah?"

"She wanted to learn to shoot a gun, I figured it'd be safer to train her with a non lethal gun first."

"How'd that go down?"

"She ended up shooting my brother Frankie in the foot. He had to put ice on it for a month. Weirdest part was, he was standing right beside her." At that point, Doyle cracked up, planting one hand firmly over his mouth to keep himself from laughing. I laughed once and then winced when my insides screamed.

"She's something special, that Maura."

"Special is the keyword." He chuckled again. "No, but she's really the most genuine person I've ever met."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I remember when I got to the hospital when Charles Hoyt got me the first time…"

I was laying in the hospital bed, curled up on my side, my hands wrapped in gauze, IV tubes dripping fluids into my veins, multiple blankets packed around me to keep me from going too far into shock. I was scared out of my mind. I kicked Korsak out of there. I didn't want my partner to see me so totally destroyed, so broken. I just wanted to be alone.

I could still feel Hoyt's hands on me the same way I still felt the scalpels stuck through my palms. It was like his hands had burned me like acid. I felt them everywhere, on my wrists, on my chest, his finger tips running across my throat. I felt dirty. Filthy. His touch had done that to me. His touch made me feel like a victim. Like prey.

I felt the blankets behind me lift up and a body gently get under. The tapping of heels hitting the floor told me exactly who it was. I felt Maura's arms wrap around my waist, holding me tight to her, her perfume washing over me, calming down but making me bawl like a baby at the same time.

She didn't say anything to try and make me stop crying. She just held me. No judging, no hesitation.

"She was there for me, she stayed by my side, visited every chance she could." He smirked and nodded.

"Sounds like my daughter."

I looked at the thugs talking in the corner. "Who are these idiots anyway?"

"Young members of a different mob. They're probably here without their boss's permission, trying to shoot through the ranks. Literally." I nodded.

"How should we handle this?" He sat down next to me.

"Well, it would be easier to—"

"Wait, wait wait, hold up!" the larger thug snarled, the phone pressed to his ear. "What do you mean you want to talk to Detective Rizzoli?" My heart stopped in my chest. "You mean Boston's hero Rizzoli?" I swallowed hard.

Oh no.

Oh no, no, no.

"Shit! Dude! You shot a cop!" they turned to look at me, lifting a paper with my picture on it, comparing it to me. A loud curse burst from his lips and he tossed the paper at me, just narrowly avoiding my chest. The phone hit me next. I picked it up.

"hello?"

"Rizzoli, it's Frost, Crow just blew it."

"I noticed." I eyed the two kids warily as they began pacing the floor, the panic starting to set in. My chest contracted painfully as I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself down. The phone dropped from my hands, my body curling in on itself. I took a second before picking it back up. "Sorry about that." I panted. "Just stubbed my toe."

"How are the punks reacting?" Frost asked and I sighed.

"Not good. What do they want?"

"They want everyone to leave, us, feds and meds."

"Like that's going to happen."

"Exactly."

"I heard them say 'you shot a cop', is there another officer up there?" I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Put Maura on the phone." I said, clearing my throat and adjusting myself, Doyle replacing his jacket with a towel a waitress gave him. Things were about to get really intense. I knew it, and I was sure as hell that everyone else in the room could sense it. If things took a turn for the worst, I just wanted to clear the air between her and I, so at least I could go without her hating me completely.

Maura

I put the phone to my ear, mixed feelings starting to swirl in my head and my chest. On one hand, I was still undeniably furious with Jane still, but the part of me that cared about her was terrified. Never the less, I answered.

"Jane?"

"Hey. We need to talk." I rolled my eyes.

"Jane, you want to talk about our personal issues now?"

"Uh, yeah. Looks that way."

"Now's not the time."

"When is the time, Maura? When you stop avoiding me and finally let me apologise?"

"There's nothing to apologise for." The phone seemed to be taken out of her hands and shuffled until it was set against someone else's ear.

"Maura." Patrick Doyle's voice echoed through the receiver. I froze and blinked. "Maura, you need to listen up."

"Patrick," I hissed, trying to keep my voice down. Frost and Korsak looked at me like I'd just stripped down in front of them. "What are you doing up there?"

"I asked your friend Jane to meet me for lunch." That would explain why Jane didn't tell anyone where she was going. A detective making a lunch date with an Irish mob boss wouldn't sound good to anyone. "She's a good person, Maura."

"She shot you!"

"Because I nearly shot one of her team members." I casted a quick glance at Frost, who was trying to act like he didn't know I was talking to my biological father. "Had the roles been reverse, I would've shot me too. It was a logical move, Maura."

"I asked her not too—"

"Where has this sudden personality change come from? You throw away one of the strongest relationships I've ever seen because she was doing her job?"

"It's not that simple."

"Really?" the phone shifted back to Jane.

"That sounded…intense." I pinched the bridge of my nose as the mixed feelings I had just got more stirred up.

"What do you want, Jane?"

"Just to say that, even if you hate me, you'll always be my best friend. LLBFF's all the way right?" I could've smiled if I didn't notice the pain in her voice, or the trembling of fear. Something was definitely wrong. Something Jane didn't want me to know.

"Jane, what are you doing?"

"Sitting on the ground."

"What're you planning on doing?"

"What I always do, Maura. Save the day."

"Jane—"

"Bye Maura."

"Jane!" the phone beeped as she hung up on me. I tossed the phone on the table, my head suddenly pounding. A curse slipped between my lips and I started pacing. In that moment, I hated Jane. I hated her so much because she scared me so much. She was going to do something incredibly stupid. Something incredibly brave. Something incredibly Jane.

"What happened?" Korsak asked, alarmed by my outburst. I looked at him for a second and sighed.

"Jane happened."

I finished my Spanish speaking final and didn't fail, so I figured I owed myself a little creative writing.

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