Taking The Escape Route

"I love you Woody."

Woody smiled and took her gloved hand in his.

"I love y-"he was cut off by the rapid swirling noises coming from above. He quickly stood up and helped Jordan to her feet. His eyes meandered to the sky, drifting up over the mountain top, "Jordan-i-is that what I think it is?!" he almost yelled.

Jordan gasped "Oh my gosh!" she said grabbing on to him. "We are going to be ok! Kate, Nigel, Bug!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

The helicopter topped the mountain bringing a sense of peace to the deserted place and putting it into the hearts of all mankind. Its dark blue color glistened in the light dancing in the plain white color of the snow. On the ground cries of joy could be heard and running footsteps coming after it all. The trees even seemed to sense their joy as they lifted their branches higher. The sun made this, what had seemed to be ugly land, beautiful.

Woody wrapped Jordan into a hug and held her close as the others came running. The helicopter began its slow descended upon the baron ground.

Kate came running followed by Nigel and Bug. When she saw that they would really survive for her own eyes she was shocked but threw her arm into the air out of triumph. As she turned around she came face to face with Nigel and she suddenly knew how she had really been feeling and almost on complete impulse she placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled it into hers. Their lips met in the middle causing fireworks to fly. She could feel her face burning but couldn't feel Nigel resisting as he kissed her all the more in return. When Kate finally released him she found him staring into her eyes.

"I didn't see that coming." He whispered quietly as he wrapped her into his own body. Kate buried her head into the nape of his neck and shoulder as he swung her around. When her feet made contact with the ground again she felt as if she were floating on air.

"Hey Nige! Help me with Dr. Macy!" Bug yelled, "Quit foolin' and come on."

"Hmmmph. Foolin'" Nigel said looking down at Kate. Kate felt herself blush for the first time in a very long time as he smiled at her before disappearing into the torn apart jet.

A little bit later Woody climbed onto the helicopter and extended his hand to Jordan. She smiled as she rested her hand in his for only a moment longer, their eyes lingering upon one another. Woody gave Bug and then Nigel a hand up and then returned to a small place between Bug and Jordan where he would sit.

Nigel extended his hand to Kate and smiled as she took it without too much hesitation. He quickly turned around to find that there was only little room for one more person on the seat.

"You may have to double up." The pilot in the front seat said.

Kate looked awkwardly at Nigel before being completely saved by Jordan as Woody scooted over and she plopped down on his lap leaving more room. Kate was dreading the take off even though she wanted out of this place so bad."I hate flying." She stated quietly.

"It will be ok."Nigel whispered taking her hand in his.

Kate felt as if vibes were running through her bare hand as she allowed her hand to rest in his. She felt so out of sync like she was living in someone else's body and not her own. It felt to her as if she was being loose, but it had changed her. The whole experience had changed her whole attitude and she couldn't stop herself from being overly happy about something actually worth her time.

As the helicopter hovered to mid-air they all became hushed with pretty much the same things' on their minds. Would Dr. Macy be ok? Was this really real? Could this be possible? Could this really not be a dream?

Jordan watched as Woody traced invisible curly qs on the top of her thigh. Dr. Macy was sound asleep in the back and she couldn't help but worry about him. She relaxed her body into the side of the helicopter allowing its motor and Woody to lull her to sleep. As her eyes fluttered shut she felt Woody pull her closer to his body.

"Careful! Be very careful! We don't want to hurt him!" came the doctor's orders as the unloaded Garret Macy at the big hospital. "Get him into room 102 and get him prepped for surgery. We have a very short amount of time on our hands here people!" came the voice again.

"Jordan wake up," came a soft whisper from the kind voice Jordan knew so well. She allowed her eyelashes to flutter as she slowly begin to wake up from what felt like a dream. When she opened her eyes she found that the sun had not traveled with them and the busy town was filled with a gray colored sky.

"Jordan?" came the soft, sweet voice again.

"I'm awake." She groaned groggily.

"Come on. We got to get out of this thing." He said.

"Bout time," She whispered.

"Yeah I know," He replied.

Jordan struggled to stand on her own two feet. Woody braced her with his hands and helped her easily to her feet. Once he had stood up beside her he walked to the door on the helicopter and jumped to the ground. After regaining his own balance he extended his hand to Jordan and helped her gently down.

Kate shivered a little as she walked beside the others into the hospital. She had never thought of herself as weak until now. She also had never expected what had happened on the mountain to happen.

"You're kind of quiet." Nigel said bending over to whisper in her ear.

"And? You have a problem with that," she said shortly.

Nigel was taken completely aback, "Geeez. I was just asking."He said stopping in mid-stride.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have," she said curtly.

"Whoa. Whoa you don't mean to tell me that everything that happened on that up on the mountain didn't mean anything?"He asked or more less begged her.

"My priorities weren't in line," she said before pushing past him to catch up with the others.

Later Jordan, Woody, Kate, Bug, and Nigel sat on five lined up tables being examined by nurses and then doctors. Nigel relaxed as his nurse began to tie the finishing touches in his stitches. He managed a quick glance at the table next to him and noticed Kate's doctor looking up and smiling at her every few chances that he caught her looking in his direction, but Kate was most definitely showing she could care less. He still couldn't understand what had happened between them, it was like she was running, running and hiding, running from what he wasn't quite sure he completely understood himself.

Jordan breathed in and out as the doctor commanded and rolled her eyes as he began to talk again.

"Ms. Cavanaugh I seem to remember you." He said politely.

"Yea, I could see why seeing as I was only in here a while back to have surgery," she said trying not to show her irritancy.

"And how did you manage to get stuck up there on that mountain?" he asked.

Now Jordan could feel her face burning as she gave him the 'DUH how do you think look'. "Well try this on for size. Plane. Bad weather. And I think you can pretty much figure it out from there." She said now not caring what the young doctor in front of her heard her say.

"Easy Jordan," Woody said quietly.

Jordan didn't even look Woody's way as she spoke, "Well I've just about had enough," she said. "I think we are through here," she added hopping off the table and swinging her extra button up shirt over her back.

Even though she didn't show it Woody could tell she was shivering in her small tank top as she made her way over to him. He watched as the doctor shook his head and walked over to see Bug.

"Boy she is a riot," the doctor said as he started to examine Bug.

"You don't even know half of it," Bug chuckled.

The doctor laughed a little before continuing his examination, but he was soon interrupted when the door swung

wide open. There in the door way stood a frantic Lilly, her eyes scanning the whole place until she finally found Bug.

"Lilly," Bug said hopping off the table and rushing towards her. He wrapped her tight into a hug allowing his hand to slide up and caress the back of her head running his hand gently underneath her hair.

"I thought I had lost you for a second there," She whispered.

"Me? Never," he stated quietly. As he released her she realized that Jordan, Woody, Nigel and Kate had all made their way over to her.

Lilly quickly wrapped Jordan into a hug, "Are you ok?" she questioned.

"I'm fine Lilly," Jordan replied.

Lilly continued to hug Woody and the Nigel but when she came to Kate she only hesitated for a moment before hugging her also. Kate seemed a little shocked but hugged her back all the same. Then came the dreaded question, "How is Dr. Macy," Lilly asked.

Everyone grew silent but almost as if right on time the head honcho or main doctor came walking in. He stopped in his track at the sight of all the people which immediately surrounded him.

Jordan was the first to speak, "Is he ok?" she questioned.

The doctor nodded, "He is stable, but absolutely no visitors at this time. My advice for you is to go home and get some sleep, we will call you when we are allowing visitors," the doctor stated. He pushed past them and walked over to the other doctor where they begin their own discussion.

"Bug, let's get you home ok." Lilly said breaking the silence. Bug nodded and waved goodbye to everyone as he followed her out.

Once outside the door in the quiet hallway Bug wrapped Lilly into another hug pulling her close to him. "I didn't think I would ever see you again," he stated.

Lilly buried her head into his shoulder, "Me neither," she said.

When Jordan and Woody finally had made it to her apartment she opened the door for them to walk in. Once inside the closed door Woody dropped his coat and pulled Jordan into him with his hand he tilted her face up to his. He lowered his mouth to hers and they found themselves lost in one another's touch. When Woody finally stepped back he took her hand in his and led her over to the fridge. "You hungry?" he asked smiling at her.

Jordan smiled back before saying, "No, you think?"

By this time Nigel had made it to his own apartment and was boring himself by switching aimlessly through the TV channels. When he had finally settled on the late show he heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?" he asked as he struggled to get back off the couch. There was no answer which made him all the more curious. As he opened the door he came face to face with Kate and he couldn't hide his shock.

"Ka-"he started but she quickly cut him off.

"Nigel no, let me do the talking," she said quietly, "I didn't mean to be that way. I actually really do care for you and I didn't want to hurt you, you mean too much to me."

Nigel was flabbergasted at her notion, "Are you telling me that you are sorry?" he asked.

"Well something like that," she said quietly. "Well I have to go." She said as she turned away.

Nigel reached out and caught her arm before she could leave and drew her in close to him and this time he kissed her. He bent his face closer to hers and tugged her in closer to his body. When he let go Kate was still standing there in front of him so he knew it couldn't possibly be a dream. He picked her up and carried her in through the door way and over to the couch where he sat her down. He sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her and relaxed as she laid her head against his shoulder. Nigel kissed the top of Kate's head and she soon was falling asleep.

Jordan plowed down the hospital hall with Woody gnawing close at her heels, "C'mon Woody! Hurry up."

"Yes mam," he said rolling his eyes.

Dr. Macy was now about done with rehab after a total of almost a week since returning from the top of the mountain. Everybody had decided to join him in the hospital for Christmas Day and Woody had been chosen as the carrier to handle all the presents.

Jordan opened the door wide enough for Woody to get through as she rushed him with her eyes and laughed as he almost dumped all the presents on the ground."Nice," she mumbled.

As they entered the room they found Lilly standing by the portable Christmas tree stringing lights. Presents wrapped around the underneath side of the tree adding the much needed touch to the plain room.

"Jordan!" Garret cried from his bed, "Come here."

Jordan gave him a wry grin, "What?" she asked leaning over his bed side.

"Get this dang iv out of my arm," he hissed in her ear.

Jordan stood up again and smiled, "What? So you can say you weren't the one to do it?"

"Well I have to have someone to blame don't I?"he asked.

Jordan smiled and hastily pulled it out of his arm, "Better?"

Garret smiled at her "Much."

Soon everyone had fallen deep into conversation as they ate and opened gifts. Jordan looked away for a moment as she watched the snow falling to the ground through the window. It reminded her of everything they had and shared. Blood related or not they were the best kind of family one could have.

-Horsewhisper

Thank you lots for reading! Please review…oh yeah this is the very much so revised version of Forever In Your Arms…Hope you liked it!!