Chapter 15

Maura was sitting with Jane when the lights went out.  The transition to the generators went
smoothly, so there was no noticeable interruption in the machines monitoring
Jane, but Maura was so startled by the sudden change in lighting that she
squeezed Jane’s hand tightly.

“Owww…”

The sound was barely a whisper, but Maura was so attuned to
the sounds in the room, she heard it.

“Jane??”  After
squeezing her hand earlier in the day, there had been more and more indications
that Jane was waking but she hadn’t as of yet.
And she certainly hadn’t made a sound, until now.

Squeezing her hand again she increased the pressure slowly, “owww”

“Jane!  Come on Jane,
honey open your eyes for me please.  I
need to see you open your…”

The dim lighting couldn’t hide the fact that Jane was
staring at her.

“Maur?…” voice scratchy and hoarse, it was barely more
than a whisper.

“Jane…yes it’s me honey…you…you gave us quite a scare…”
Maura swallowed the lump in her throat as body flooded with relief hearing Jane
say her name.

“Maur…thirsty.” Closing her eyes Jane struggled against her
body’s weakness.

Grabbing a couple of ice chips that hadn’t as yet melted,
Maura placed them against Jane’s lips.

“Thank…you” she said breathlessly, Jane looked at Maura in
earnest and saw the shadows under her eyes and the overall tiredness she tried
to hide with her smile.

“How long?” Maura’s questioning look put a ghost of a smile
on Jane’s face. “How long…since you…found us.”

“Almost a full day” she answered quietly.  The shock in Jane’s eyes was reflected in the
ominous beeping of the cardiac monitor. Leaning in, “its okay Jane, just relax
please…”

Jane closed her eyes angrily, “A day, she had lost a day.  She
felt like a train hit her.  Every breath
hurt but this pain was different, the weakness was different.  What the hell did that ***** do to her?  She could remember feeling her ribs
break.  She remembered JJ picking a fight
with Rodriguez.”

Jane’s eyes snapped open, “JJ?  Is she okay?” she was getting worked up and
she knew it. Her breathing was more labored.

“Jane…Jane please honey you have to relax, you can’t…you
can’t get excited right now please.” Maura’s tears and her plea reached her as
she realized she was getting lightheaded.

Turning her head from side to side, she felt the tears start
to fall, “Maur…please…is she okay?”