Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Tess Gerritsen and Janet Tamaro.

Part 7

Maura guided Jane into her home and pointed the detective toward the bedroom. "Come on, let's get you settled."

"I'm perfectly fine to sit on the sofa and watch tv, Maura. I don't need to lie down."

"Doctor's orders," Maura replied sharply but with a smile.

"Bossy," Jane replied.

"I'm thinking of your health, Jane. Your body's had a scare." Not to mention scaring me, Maura thought.

"I'm sorry I scared you," Jane said.

"I know. We'll talk later. I want you to take a nap now. I have to keep waking you to make sure you're okay so you need your rest now."

Jane didn't protest. She realized she liked the idea of Maura taking care of her; she was just sorry how it came about.

Frankie looked at Frost and sighed. "How does Jane walk into situations like this?" Frost laughed.

"It could have been any one of us, Frankie. Jane just happened to be the lucky one tonight."

"True. I was glad she went home with Maura, though."

"Yeah, the doc's good for Jane, she'll take good care of her girl." Frost answered. They were both at the crime scene, seeing to the mop up operations. Frost wasn't looking forward to the mountain of paperwork, though.

"What do you mean, Frost, Maura's good for Jane?" Frankie asked. Frost froze for a moment. Oh hell, what can of worms did I just open? He thought.

"Frankie, you know as well as I do, those two are made for each other. They're each other's soul mates. If Jane isn't smart she'll wake up one morning and Maura will be in someone else's arms. Haven't you noticed how they are when they're together?"

"Yeah," Frankie answered. He shrugged. "I wish Jane would admit her feelings for Maura. I'd like to see them happy together."

Frost grinned. "If Doctor Isles has her way your sister might think she got hit by a tidal wave. I think the doc was planning to use this recovery time to get Jane to think about her feelings."

"My sister's going to love that, Frost," Frankie replied, rolling his eyes. He grinned.

Maura busied herself in the kitchen. She finished the last of her dishes from the night before and thought about what to fix for dinner. They only needed a light supper. Jane didn't need to have anything heavy on her stomach if she had a potential concussion and Maura wasn't hungry. Wiping down the counter she was about to turn around to check the contents of her refrigerator when she heard Jane coming down the hallway. After a quick moment long arms encircled her waist. Maura leaned back into Jane.

"I thought you were resting," Maura said.

"I heard you working in here. Please don't do this, Maura." She felt Maura stiffen.

"No, Maura, you're misunderstanding me. I don't want to be a burden on you. You work hard, you need to wake me periodically through the night so no dishes, cleaning or cooking. Ma will be here sometime later to drop off food for forty. Come into the bedroom and rest with me, Maura." Jane took Maura's hand and led her to the bedroom. Jane resettled on her side of the bed and patted Maura's side.

"Stretch out with me for awhile. You've had a frantic time of it, I know." Jane watched Maura exchange her dress for a tank top and shorts then join her on the bed. A comfortable silence ensued. Jane reached out her hand and took Maura's in hers.

"Jane, is the idea of being with me all that ridiculous to you?" Maura asked.

"You don't waste time, do you Maura?" Jane replied with a hint of humor in her voice.

"I apologized for kissing you in the precinct Jane, but I still feel like you're holding a grudge against me."

Jane remained silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, Jane, I guess you don't want to talk about this with me," Maura said and moved as if to get off the bed. Jane tightened her grip on Maura's hand.

"Don't go."

Maura looked at Jane. "I don't want to go anywhere, Jane, but I have to do something to get rid of these feelings for you. I can't live with romantic feelings for you if you have none for me."

"You'd leave?" Jane asked incredulously.

"Maybe."

"Do you think that's best?" Jane asked in a low voice.

"No, the best is for you to admit you have feelings for me and we can officially start the relationship we've been having for the past couple of years."

Jane thought that over for a bit. "Yeah I guess we have been dating."
"We've been dating, having sleepovers, waking up next to each other nearly every night. We quit dating men."

"Or we scared them off."

"You do, Jane. I've seen the vibe you give out when a man starts to get close. It's like a gauntlet they have to hurdle over to be with you on any level."

"Yeah, well, I haven't had the most successful dates or relationships with anyone other than you."

"My point precisely. Who do you think of when you think of spending the rest of your life with someone, Jane?"

You, Jane thought but she didn't voice it. She wasn't comfortable with where this conversation was going. Fortunately for her they were interrupted by Angela coming in.

"Hello, it's me," Angela called out. The women heard her enter the kitchen.

"Dinner's here." Jane looked at Maura.

"I'll go show her where to put everything. You need your rest, Jane, please try to sleep."

"You need your rest, too, Maura. You're the one keeping me up later."

"I'll be right back." With that Maura disappeared down the hallway.

Maura crept back down the hallway. Between assisting Angela with the food and discussing Jane's condition it was another half an hour before she made it back to Jane. She peeked at the detective and found her asleep. Quietly settling on the bed Maura turned to face Jane.

Watching Jane's features Maura was struck by just how much in love with Jane she really was. Saddened that the detective didn't return her feelings Maura began to cry softly. Trying to be quiet so she didn't disturb Jane Maura rolled over on her side.

Jane heard Maura settle back on the bed then heard her crying. Opening her eyes she noticed Maura on the far side of the bed, her back to Jane. Reaching out Jane pulled Maura to her. Maura rolled back to face Jane.

"The one I think of Maura, is you. I want to wake up next to you every morning. Whenever you start dating someone new I get scared. Scared he'll take you away from me and I'll only have memories of our time together and our sleepovers."

"I'm not going anywhere, Jane."

"I know that now. Can you settle for a homicide detective, Maura? I'm not as smart as you. You're quite beautiful you know. You can have anyone you want."

"Fortunately, Detective, you're the one I want."

Jane looked into Maura's hazel eyes. "I'm the lucky one." Reaching forward she captured Maura's lips in a kiss.

Breaking the kiss when they need to breathe Maura gazed lovingly at Jane. "We need to sleep, Jane. I have to wake you, remember?"

"As long as you're with me, Maura." Jane pulled Maura even closer and Maura snuggled into her side.

"It's the only place I want to be, Jane."

Two days later Jane was cleared of any possible concussion and she was allowed to return to work. She walked into the bullpen to find donuts and balloons adorning her desk. She smiled.

"Welcome back Jane!" Frost and Korsak spoke almost simultaneously.

"Thanks guys. Help yourselves to the donuts."

"The case file for the suicide by cop is on your desk. You need to sign the forms then add your narrative to it, Jane." Jane nodded. She knew her description of being a hostage and how it came about needed to be dictated and added to the case file.

"Did the kid's story check out, Frost? He told me he had an eight month old son."

"Yeah, Jane, he did. The boy is being raised by his mother. The baby mama is living with her parents. She's fourteen, Jane." Jane shook her head.

"How did this kid's life get away from him so quickly?" she asked. "I want to do something for the family, Frost. The kid wasn't right to commit robbery and take me hostage but he was desperate for food and diapers for his son." Frost nodded.

"Several of the other cops have chipped in, Jane. We have a couple hundred dollars ready for the family and social services were called."

Jane nodded her approval and thanks. Looking over the donuts she saw her favorite and was about to snag it when she heard Maura's distinctive heels coming down the hallway.

"I brought coffee to go with that donut, Detective." Maura smiled at Jane.

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Ah, Jane, why so formal?" Frost was disappointed. "Didn't you two have a chance to work things out?"

"Yeah, Rizzoli, one of these days someone with real balls is going to move in on your territory," Crowe spoke up. Jane cringed. Crowe always got on her nerves.

"No, Crowe, no one's moving in on my territory. So if you had any ideas of being with the doc you can keep your hands to yourself." Jane moved to Maura and took her in her arms.

"I want to do this the right way. Maura kissed me the other day and I didn't have the best reaction. I'm sorry, Maura; I've had feelings for you since we met." Leaning forward she kissed Maura thoroughly.

Maura couldn't believe Jane was kissing her in the same spot she kissed Jane, or that Jane was doing this in front of her coworkers. She heard whistles start throughout the precinct. She was pretty sure they were drawing a crowd.

Jane ended the kiss but continued to hold Maura. "I love you, Maura. I always have and I always will."

"I love you, too, Jane."

The End

A happy and healthy New Year to everyone. I hope Santa was kind to everyone last week and that good wishes and blessings follow you through 2012. Actually, I hope they chase you down and force themselves on you.