"I know you're there," she takes her goggles off, "Have you thought about it?"
"I've given some thought to it," the voice sends chills down her spine, cutis anserine or as it is more commonly known, goose bumps, form along her skin, but she's not afraid, "Enlighten me though, Doctor Isles, why are you willing to do this?"
She looks at the body on the autopsy table.
She had to keep the goggles on; she has to remember that she has evidence to preserve, an autopsy to carry out.
She looks at the body on the autopsy table.
The sheet still covered up to her chin.
She looks at the body on the autopsy table.
An hour had passed and still, no Y-incision had been done.
She looks at the body on the autopsy table.
The reason is simple - the body is not that of any Doe.
"She's been through so much," she looks at the body on the autopsy table, "She deserves better, she deserves more time, she deserves to be happy."
"And you don't?"
"A meaningful and purposeful life," she puts aside her goggles, "That's all I ever wanted to have. She gave me that already," she touches the body's cheek, "She gave me a best friend. She's my best friend."
"Are you hers?"
"I don't know," she touches the body's hand, "But it doesn't matter," she turns around to face the cloaked figure, "What matters is that she's there, lying on my autopsy table." She closes her eyes to steady her breathing, to hold back tears.
"Take my offer," she removes her gloves, "Take it, please."
"If I take it, there's no going back," the cloaked figure glides across the morgue towards her, "It will happen exactly as you've listed and," the hooded head turns to look at her, "There will be no retraction."
"I know what I'm doing," she takes a step closer to the cloaked figure, "I know what I'll lose," she takes in a deep long breath, "But I know what I'll gain."
Her hand unconsciously reaches out for the body's.
"It's a big price Maura Isles."
She looks at the body on the autopsy table, at the body that isn't just any Jane Doe.
She looks at the body on the autopsy table - her eyes closed, unmoving, and her smile, not forming.
She looks at Jane Rizzoli lying on the autopsy table, and she knows.
"Jane," she says as she holds onto the token she keeps constantly in her pocket, "Jane's worth it."
She shakes the skeletal hand of the cloaked figure.
A/N: Hi there, thank you, for the time~
This story's a re-upload, with some minor style change. One day, more chapters will probably come to be. Apologies.
Thank you, for the time=)