DISCLAIMER: Rizzoli & Isles and its characters are the property of Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro and TNT television network.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
In Stereo
By The Raven
Angela Rizzoli was having a perfectly good time all things considered. Her daughter was fine, her son was fine, everything was fine. Except both her daughter and her son had been shot.
Shot.
She was pretty sure that she was never going to be able to let them out of her sight again, ever. Ever.
As it was, she was being forced to divide her time between two hospital rooms on different floors and well, Frank had been conscripted to make certain that whichever child was not graced by Angela's presence at least had that of their father.
Right now, Jane was dosing. The bullet that had pieced her body had gone through the fleshy part of her side and while there would be lingering pain and she'd need some rehabilitation, at least none of her organs or viscera had been damaged.
Thank God.
Absorbed as she was in her thoughts, Angela failed to notice the arrival of Doctor Maura Isles until she felt the other woman come to a stop beside her. "Maura." Angela said, startled and concerned at the same time.
The doctor had been under severe stress today and as far as Angela was concerned, Maura should be resting. "You should be resting." Angela said pointedly.
Maura looked at her with no little compassion in her eyes, but something told Angela that there was a very specific reason as to why exactly Maura was here. "How is she?" Maura asked as she grabbed the chart that was hanging on Jane's bed.
"Fine, I guess. She seems comfortable. Frankie has more issues, which is strange as he did not actually have a bullet go through his body." Angela said distractedly, her insides clenching up as she thought about her children.
"Medicine is often full of paradoxes." Maura murmured as they both watched Jane wake up from her dose.
"Maura, baby. You should be resting." Was the first thing that emanated from Jane's mouth.
"Don't you, Maura baby me, Jane Rizzoli." Maura hissed and Angela felt her jaw drop involuntarily. What was going on?
"How could you be so reckless? What were you thinking?" Maura continued before Jane or Angela could say a word. "You shot yourself!" Maura's voice was getting louder.
"You shot yourself?" Angela barked, despite herself.
"Yes, she did." Maura said almost flippantly. "She shot herself to take down the bad guy who was holding her. She shot herself!" Angela could practically see Maura's blood pressure begin to spike.
"How could you?" Maura asked at last.
"I had to." Jane said plaintively. "You had to?" This time it was Angela who spoke, having finally regained the power of speech.
"What?" Maura chimed in. "What about me? What about our children? How was I supposed to explain this to Angelo if you had died? And how was I supposed to get our unborn daughter to comprehend just exactly who you were if you had died? How could you?" By now Maura was beside herself and Angela was worried.
"I had to. I had to save Frankie." Jane whimpered at the onslaught of wifely lecturing from Maura. "What about us, Jane?" Maura demanded and Angela was torn in how she felt about all of this.
On the one hand, Frankie had needed urgent medical help, on the other hand, Jane could have died and then what? Her daughter's wife and children would have been left without Jane. Impossible.
"Jane, your wife asked you a question." Angela pressed her daughter, suddenly deciding that the correct answer was Maura and the children.
"He was going to shoot you." Jane finally said and Angela could see how pale her daughter was.
This was information that she had not been privy to. "I had to give myself to him as a hostage, imagine if it had been you?" Jane was crying now, big huge tears were rolling down beautiful cheeks and Angela felt her heart break at the sight.
"I couldn't let him grab you. I would do anything to protect you and our daughter" Jane whispered brokenly. "I'd die before I let anything happen to either of you." The words were spoken so low that Angela had to strain to hear them but the meaning was clear, as were the tears that were cascading down Jane's face.
This was love.
"Oh, baby. Don't cry, don't cry." Maura said, moving in to comfort Jane and Angela could not help but move to her daughters bedside.
It was rare to see a crack in Jane's normally tightly controlled demeanour.
"I know. I am just afraid. It's okay." Maura continued to soothe Jane and Angela felt Jane's hand relax where she had been holding it.
"Angelo wants to see you, he's with your dad and Frankie right now." Maura said after some silence had passed. "I love you." Maura added, though it was not an afterthought, of this Angela was certain..
"I love you, too." Jane replied and pulled on Maura, bringing them close together so that a soft kiss could be shared.
Angela forced herself not to look away. She needed to get fully used to this before one of the children noticed her slight trepidation. That would never do and Frank and Frankie did not seem to bat an eyelid at any displays of affection between the two women. Angela was not about to be undone in that department, no sir.
"Are you okay?" Jane asked after a moment of gently touching the rounded pregnant belly of her wife.
Angela decided that she needed to just observe and stay out of it, just for once. This was clearly a defining moment in her daughter's marriage and the mistakes in her own marriage had taught Angela some things, though she would never admit it to Frank, of course.
"Yes, we're both fine." Maura replied. "Vince almost carried me to have a check-up once he knew you were okay. I swear, that man is going to be more of a Godmother, than a Godfather to this child." Maura laughed as she spoke and Angela smiled her approval at Vince. She'd have to get to know him better, he sounded like just the kind f guy that her upcoming granddaughter should have as a Godmother.
"Mommy!" The voice of a small boy interrupted their thoughts and a moment later the hospital room was a riot of sound and family and Angela felt some of the tightness leave her chest at last.
Maybe she could let Jane out of her sight again, after all Maura was looking after her daughter now.
The End