Sickness and Health (Part One)
A Crossing Jordan/House Crossover Fanfic
Chapter Eleven: Tied in a Neat Bow
Rating: PG-13 (I think)
Word Count: 1,367
Disclaimer: I own House. Um, right. That was a lie. I don't own anything. Except seasons 1 & 2 on DVD and my own insanity. I can't even claim to own DVDs for Crossing Jordan.
Summary: Bodies in the Boston Morgue have ties to dying patients at Princeton Plainsboro Hospital.
Author's Note: This is my first Crossing Jordan fanfic & my second House fanfic. The characters may be very, very OOC. It is possible. I have no medical or forensic experience, therefore anything I write is probably very wrong. In fact, I'm almost positive it is wrong. But I wrote it anyway. This is set somewhere after season 2 of House and season 5 of Crossing Jordan, written without seeing any of season 3 or 6 respectively, so... It's not canon... no siree... This has also not been beta'd...if it's not perfect, that's 100 percent my fault.

A while back, Huddytheultimate requested more Wilson and more Cuddy in this story. I couldn't find a place for them sooner, and I don't write them well, but I gave it a shot.

Originally, all I had for the ending was one scene, a Woody/Jordan scene that didn't do much to resolve the loose ends in this story. I tried to fix that with this version. I'm not sure I succeeded. But I'll call it complete for now.

Chapter Eleven

Tied in a Neat Bow

"It must be fascinating," Wilson observed, propping open the door to Cuddy's office.

She set the paper down on her desk and tented her hands. "House's proposal to the FDA for his 'miracle drug.'"

"Very fascinating," Wilson nodded. He shut the door, standing just inside the doorway while she went over a budget report. She signed her name to the bottom of the page and stopped, looking up at him. "Why are you still here?"

"Why are you?" he countered. "Seems to me there's a party upstairs."

"Seems to me hospital policy restricted Detective Hoyt's visitors to family only. According to the records, Hoyt has only one living relative. His brother." Cuddy stacked her folders and set them aside. "How many people are currently up there?"

Wilson smiled. "Twelve. But there's still room."

Cuddy shook her head. "I already congratulated Detective Hoyt on his recovery."

"And he invited you to his get-well party," Wilson reminded her, coming over to sit down across from her. He studied her again. "You don't have to be the administrator all the time. Woody—he asked all of us to call him that—has two hours before his surgery. He asked you to come by. Maybe you should."

The doors bounced open before Cuddy could answer. House poked his head into the office. "I ordered strippers for the G-Men. Just thought I should let you know."

Startled, Cuddy blinked as the door shut behind him. Wilson frowned. "He was just kidding."

Cuddy got to her feet. "I'm not sure he was."

Wilson followed her out of the office. "Are you sure he didn't just say that to get you to leave your office?"

"And what have you been doing for the past ten minutes?"

Somehow, miraculously enough, the Albanian mob never found Cal. It might have had something to do with House's creative patient naming system, maybe something to do with the rumored connection House had with a different mob, but the operation went successfully.

Well, almost successfully. Cal came out fine. Woody spiked a post-op fever and went in and out of consciousness. That was how Cal was forced to say goodbye, during one of Woody's lucid moments. Then agents rushed Cal back to the witness protection program.

When Woody fully regained consciousness, he wasn't happy. Jordan was there to placate him. She took his hand in hers. "He'll be okay, Woody. And you did say goodbye, even if you don't remember it."

"Yeah, I guess," Woody agreed. "But I don't know if I'll see him again. He's in protection. Even if he testifies, he may not be able to come back."

"And both of you knew that when you went into the deal," Jordan reminded him. "Woody, he will be okay. And the good news is, you won't need to pull him for a liver transplant. Your liver is healing. And your body accepted the kidney. You should be out of here in no time."

"Yeah, I know. I already asked for leave. Soon as I'm out of here, I'm heading for a nice, sunny beach," Woody smiled at the thought. He closed his eyes, picturing it with a dreamy expression on his face. Jordan watched him with a smile of her own.

She looked at him, trying to find the right way to start this conversation. "Any chance there's room for someone else on that beach?"

He looked back at her, eyebrows raised high. "You mean, as friends?"

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "No. Not just as friends."

He gripped her hand tightly. "You really mean that? Before I got sick… We weren't even speaking. We were fighting. I was angry at you for things that weren't your fault. And even beyond that, Jordan… You've changed. Grown up. And, as my brother reminded me, I don't deserve you."

"Well, as apologies go, it's a start," she said with a smile.

He laughed and then his face sobered. "You were right, though. You grew up; I didn't. I pushed you away, blamed you for things that weren't your fault. When you were ready to let me in, I backed off. I ran because I was scared. When you didn't break things off with Pollack right after the Inn, I was afraid that we were back to square one. I didn't want to be hurt again, so I left before that happened. I ended up hurting you and Lu. Can you forgive me?"

"Eventually," she teased. He looked at her. She laughed again. "Okay, so I've got some things to apologize for, too. I don't blame you for being afraid or for running. Me kettle, you pot, kind of thing. We could spend days placing blame, Woody, and it wouldn't do us any good. Maybe my timing sucks…but I know now I don't want to do this anymore. I love you. I loved you then, and I love you now."

He touched her cheek and pulled her towards him until their lips met. "I love you, Jo. I loved you all along, even when I tried not to, when I didn't want to…"

"You know, Woody, maybe we should try calling it even."

"A blank slate?"

"For you?" Jordan asked softly. "Or for me?"

He shook his head. "For both of us. Call it a second chance, a fresh start, call it whatever you want. Just promise me we'll do it together this time."

"Promise."

"I am not getting in that thing," Woody protested immediately. He backed straight into Jordan, stepping on the toe of her boot. He knew it was hospital policy, but he was not getting into a wheelchair again. Ever.

House smiled at him. "Oh, come now, Detective. You know the rules."

Woody rolled his eyes. "A man who was willing to throw out the rules on transplant surgery, a man with a history of breaking the rules, is trying to insist that I sit in a wheelchair?"

"Come on, Woody, you know he's just trying to get a rise out of you," Jordan said, touching his arm gently. Nigel, Bug, and Lily had gone back to Boston, and he was glad they weren't here to see this. Everything in Jordan's body language told him he was being a big baby about this.

"I'm sure we can skip the wheelchair this time," Cameron said quickly.

House sighed. "Fine. So, Hoyt, your G-Men got this case all wrapped up?"

Woody decided not to correct House. He repeated what Seely had told him earlier. "Princeton P.D. found Williams' lab. It was full of chemicals and more notes. They also tested the spray in her mace bottle. It wasn't mace. It was a short-term knockout gas that she used to stun her victims in order to inject them. It also sped up the progress of the drug, but you know that."

"So it's all over?" Chase asked softly.

"Not entirely," Jordan corrected. "There will be a civil trial, I'm sure."

"Civil?"

"Williams is dead. No one can prosecute her," Woody explained. "But she had a trust fund that she hardly touched. Families of the victims will probably sue for everything in it and more."

"But not you?" Cameron asked, curious.

He shook his head. "I should have stopped her. And I lived. I'm the lucky one."

Jordan squeezed his hand, stepping up to kiss him. "Very lucky."

"Make sure you keep in touch," House said. "I want to know how you're doing."

"He's got a bet with Wilson," Foreman added, causing everyone to roll their eyes. Woody knew that House wouldn't be the only one. He was sure the precinct and the morgue would have their own betting pools.

"Thank you," Woody said finally, shaking each doctor's hand in turn. Cameron hugged him, to his surprise. Jordan smiled at him over Cameron's shoulder.

"If you're ever in Boston," Jordan began, about to tell them to look her up, but Woody pulled her away first. He was indebted to House and his team, and it wasn't like Woody wasn't grateful for everything they'd done for him, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be reminded of this anytime soon.

"I'm coming to visit," House called after their retreating backs.