Chapter Text
It was a foggy morning in San Francisco, of course it is foggy about 100 days a year, as Dr. Maura Isles drove her mother, Constance Isles, to the airport. Maura had been feeling indifferent lately and reached out to her mother who she had not been that close with. Her mother had rearranged her schedule and caught a flight out from Paris for a four-day visit with her estranged daughter. They did not have the greatest relationship so when Maura had called, Constance felt a strong desire to make the trip.
Constance knew that her meetings could go on without her. For once in her life she was going to make her daughter her priority. She knew she had missed out on so much over the years with regards to her daughter and she wanted to make sure she would be there for her daughter now, especially since Maura had put forth the effort and reached out. The lack of time she had spent with Maura over the years has been her biggest regret in her life. She vowed she would change that. She saw this trip to San Francisco as an opportunity to be a better mother, to be worthy of the title of Mother.
Maura was adopted by Constance and Arthur Isles when she was a few months old. It was a closed adoption and Maura never knew the identity of her biological parents. To the best of her knowledge her parents did not know their identities either. Constance had tried to have a baby but found out she would be unable to get pregnant. She and Arthur decided adoption would be a great option for them. Within a few months of making the decision to adopt a child their lawyer contacted them about Maura. They were in heaven once they met Maura and knew she was the child for them. Within a week Maura was their adopted daughter.
Five Days Earlier
“Mother, I am having some issues here in San Francisco. Is it possible for you to come out here as soon as possible to assist me” Maura asked her mother.
“Darling, I can catch a flight out tomorrow morning, or if needed I will grab the foundation’s jet. Will that be, okay? Can you tell me anything about your issues? Are you okay? Is there something medically wrong with you? Do you need your father to come out as well?” Constance asked her daughter.
“Yes, tomorrow will be fine. It is not necessary for father to come out, just you please. I would rather not discuss my issues over the phone. So, if you would be okay with me telling you when you arrive. I promise I am okay, there is nothing medically wrong with me. I am just having some issues that I need to talk with someone who knows me. I know we have not been that close but I truly believe talking to you will help me tremendously. I love you so much and would like your assistance.” Maura stated.
“Of course, darling, anything for you. How long do you want me to stay or should I leave my return ticket open? I can stay as long as you need me, you are my daughter and I love you very much, just let me know.” Constance said.
Maura told her mother “3 or 4 days should be sufficient if you can handle that. It is a complicated matter that will require some explanation and maybe some research so I would like to make sure we have enough time to discuss the matter in great detail.”
“Okay, I will make it for 4 days. I will see you tomorrow darling. I will text you my flight information as soon as I have it. Can you pick me up or should I hire a car service?” Constance said with a smile on her face. She was happy to be able to see her daughter.
“Thank you so much, I will pick you up, au revoir mère” Maura said.
“You are welcome ma fille, au revoir.” Constance said as she disconnected the call.
With the foundation jet she could leave right now. She placed a call to the foundation’s pilot, Karen, to get her thoughts on the matter and see if she was up to a trip to San Francisco. Karen loved to travel so she might be game for a few days in San Francisco.
After 5 minutes, Karen called Constance back to let her know that she and the jet would be able to fly her to San Francisco. Her husband and copilot, Dan, was more than happy to consent to a trip to San Francisco. Karen and Dan loved working for the Isles Foundation. They had worked for the foundation for over 10 years now and had helped Constance and Arthur through two plane purchases as they upgraded planes over the years to meet the foundation’s changing needs.
The foundation now owned a 12-seat Dassault Falcon 900LX that was capable of longer flights while being fuel efficient. With the foundation’s headquarters based in Paris there was a need for a jet that could fly longer distances as Constance frequently had to fly to the United States to conduct foundation business. They also had a Bombardier Global 6000 for shorter flights.
It was just over 4,800 nautical miles from Paris to San Francisco and the Dassault was just shy of that ability only being able to fly just over 4,700 nautical miles without refueling. They would need to refuel once before completing their trip. Karen and Dan would work out those details probably arranging to use Teterboro Airport in New York as they have done in the past. Teterboro operates 24-hours a day and weather permitting it would be open and available for a quick customs and refueling stop. Constance wasn’t worried about the flight arrangements she trusted Karen and Dan to handle that while she worried about getting herself ready for the trip.
Constance ended the call with Karen so she could file their flight plans and make sure that the jet was stocked and serviced for the journey. They would meet at the terminal in one hour. They were leaving tonight. Constance was excited she would be in San Francisco early afternoon tomorrow. She called Maura and let her know that she would be using the foundation’s jet and would be flying tonight and that she would be there early tomorrow afternoon. Karen would make sure to give Constance a more accurate arrival time once they got ready to depart Paris. Plans were still being made and were not finalized yet as this was a short notice flight.
When Constance used the foundation’s jet for personal business, she always made sure to keep receipts of all expenses so that she could reimburse the foundation. Karen knew that Constance was very strict on this matter and to assist with the bookkeeping Karen kept very meticulous expense records which made the reimbursements easier for Constance. Constance was a firm believer that the foundation should not pay for her personal travel.
Constance informed Arthur of what was happening and then called her work assistant and told her she would be unavailable for the next week and to reschedule whatever needed to be rescheduled. She would be out of the country and cannot be disturbed until her return. She was not sure what was going on with Maura but she did not want her office contacting her while she was with Maura. She did not tell her assistant where she would be just that she would be out of the country and would be back in a week.
Constance decided she was going to turn her cell phone off once she arrived in San Francisco. She told Arthur that so if he needed to contact her, he could call Maura’s phone. However, Arthur knew that if Constance needed him for anything she would call him so he was not worried. He was however concerned about Maura and what was going on with her. He knew if he was needed Constance would let him know. Constance ordered the car service to pick her up in half an hour and continued to packed a suitcase.
Maura sunk back in her chair in her home office thinking she should take this time to write down everything she wants to talk to her mother about. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a yellow legal pad and a pen and started making a list. She also made a pros and cons chart. The next several hours were dedicated to writing down all of her thoughts. She was really surprised she had not thought to do that sooner.
After writing her thoughts down Maura decided she did not have any real close friends or love interests in San Francisco so it would be easy to uproot herself and return to her home in Boston. Boston was a place she had always felt comfortable. It is where she was born and spent the first few years of her life before going off to France for boarding school at the age of 10. She felt her mother would agree with her.
After completing her studies in France Maura returned to Boston to attend Harvard University Medical School before moving to New York for her residency. Upon completion of her residency, she joined Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and spent one year in Ethiopia and another year in Kenya. Upon completion of her time with MSF she accepted a position at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) in California.
She had spent the last three years of her life in San Francisco. She loved the city. The weather was nice but she did not feel at home in the city by the bay. She needed a change both in location and career. Although the hospital was nice, one of the nation’s top hospitals. She was not fulfilled. She dreamed of becoming a medical examiner and had trained for that. When she was hired in San Francisco she was hired as an Assistant Medical Examiner. However, with a shortage of doctors her services were needed as an Emergency Room (ER) doctor so she spent a majority of her time working in the ER with occasional shifts in the morgue, maybe one shift a week if she was lucky. She did not plan on spending her career as an ER doctor. That was not why she went to medical school.
Maura knew she was not good with people. She was shy and did not have the social skills needed to deal with people. She spoke a great deal of facts and figures and was very clinical in her speech. Many people were not receptive to that type of speech and talking with people made her nervous. She was an excellent doctor and knew how to diagnose patients, she just did not know how to express herself verbally. She relied heavily on her fellow doctors and the nurses to assist her with patient relations.
MSF worked well for her because often her patients did not speak English so she was not talking directly to them. Everything had to be translated and the nurse that translated for her, Emily, had her permission to put the information in layman’s terms for the patient. Emily was a lifesaver for her. Emily enjoyed working with Maura and when Maura agreed to go to Kenya Emily requested to follow her and MSF allowed her to continue to work with Dr. Isles. Emily knew Maura was a great doctor and knew that her social skills should not diminish her abilities to assist others. Emily saw it as her mission to help the good doctor.
Maura took every opportunity she could to further her goal of becoming a medical examiner. She attended seminars and took online continuing education courses. The medical examiner, Dr. Allen Fischer, at SFGH was very impressed with her however, the needs of the hospital came first. He put her in the rotation every chance he got in an effort to help her out. She was thankful for that. It was the highlight of her week when she got to work in the morgue with Dr. Fischer. Maura realized that might seem odd to some people but that is where she wanted to work.
Constance and Maura talked a great deal and went over all the thoughts Maura had written out with all her notes she had added after reading her thoughts over and over again. They discussed each of Maura’s concerns and Maura felt better by the time she dropped her mother off at the airport. Maura with her mother’s assistance had made a life decision. She went back to work and typed out her letter of resignation, giving the standard two-week notice. She was going to make some changes in her life and she was going to do that right now. She would need the two-weeks to pack up her house and get herself ready for her move.
They researched market prices for houses in San Francisco and met with a realtor before Constance left. Maura did not care whether the house sold before she left. The real estate agent could handle all of the details for her and she could sign any paperwork needed when the house sold. Maura was leasing her car so because the lease was up in the next few weeks, she arranged for the leasing company to take the car back. Maura met with a representative from the leasing company at the airport and she picked up a rental car while she was there that she would return in two weeks when she left San Francisco.
Boston would provide that change for her. Boston would be her savior. She remembered the city fondly from her youth and college years. She knew very few people there, just friends of her parents. Her family still had their house there and she had the means to be able to start over and rebuild herself in Boston. After her talk with her mother, it was settled, she devised her plan for Boston and two-weeks later she was on a plane headed home to Boston.
Maura arranged for the family house in Boston to be opened up and planned to stay there until she found her own place. The family house was too big for her and she did not want to stay in the house all by herself. She figured within her first few months back she would find a smaller house for her. She had a long list of things to do the first was get herself a car. Sure, she could use one of her family’s cars but many of them were collector types and she did not feel comfortable driving them. She did not want to face her father if she damaged one of his prized possessions. Besides she had different tastes then her father and was eyeballing a new Mercedes. This was the perfect time to pick up a new car. Moving back to Boston was as if she was starting over in all aspects of her life. A new job, a new house, and a new car. A new redefined Maura Isles. She just hoped she was making the right decision.