Chapter 5
Rating: PG-13
Not mine ~ they just use my head for a playground sometimes.
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About 9:00 Garret heard the elevator doors open and looked out of his office door. Sure enough, he saw Max guiding Jordan past the reception desk towards his office. It was hard to tell what she was feeling from the look on her face ~ she wasn't glazed over, but the spark that he knew in Jordan just wasn't there. At once he chastised himself for thinking that ~ after all, one of her best friends, someone she'd let into her life and her heart, had just been brutally murdered. Of course she wasn't going to be the Jordan she'd been the day before. Max saw Garret and nodded, moving into his office with Jordan walking just ahead of him.
"Hey sweetheart. How're you doing?" Garret pulled Jordan into a hug and gently kissed her temple.
"Ok, I guess. I. . .I'm not used to being on this side of things. When Mom. . .I didn't have a lot to do with things then, didn't understand a lot of what was happening." She looked around the office and saw Howard sitting on the couch. "Hi, Howard."
"Hi Jordan." Stiles knew better than to try one of his usual comments. This was not the time or the place.
"Where is he?" Jordan looked at Garret, pain-filled eyes pleading for honesty.
"He's in the crypt. Do you want me to. . .?"
"Yes. Please, Garret?"
"Sure. Do you want. . .?"
"Will you be ok if I stay here and talk with Dr. Stiles, Jordan?" Max didn't really want to go into the crypt, but if his baby girl needed him, he would.
"Yeah. That's fine." Jordan moved towards the door where Garret was standing. He put his arm around her shoulders and together they moved towards the crypt.
The rest of the staff gave them a wide berth. While Jordan understood that they were giving her some space, she really wished someone would say something. Anything. At the door, Garret took a deep breath, then pushed it open.
Bug had been filing some paperwork, but quickly closed the folder. He nodded at Garret, squeezed Jordan's shoulder, and left the room in order to give Jordan the space she needed.
Garret moved towards the locker he knew held Woody's body. As he placed his hand on the latch, he looked at Jordan. "You sure about this?"
"No. But I need to. . ."
"Ok." He opened the door and slid the slab out, praying that they'd both have the strength to get through this.
"Wait." Jordan put a hand on his arm as he was about to draw the sheet back. "I need a minute."
She swallowed hard and took a couple of deep breaths, willing herself to be strong. Like the others, she's seen these gang beatings before. Did she really want to see Woody like that? But could she not? Could she believe that he was really dead if she didn't? No. She needed to see him. As hard as it would be, she needed to see him.
"Take all the time you need." Garret instinctively understood what she was struggling with. They'd pieced as much of his face back together as possible after he'd left Jordan's apartment, but it was still gruesome.
After a couple of minutes, Jordan moved closer to Garret, as if trying to draw strength from him. "Alright. I'm ready."
Taking a deep breath, he pulled the sheet down, revealing what was left of Woody's face and head. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Jordan to know without a doubt that it was Woody lying there on the slab. Jordan started to gag, and he grabbed her to give her support. She swallowed hard and took some deep breaths. Tears filled her eyes, but stayed there, quivering on her lashes. She didn't speak for a few minutes. When she did, the words came tumbling out.
"Oh my God. Woody. . . I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm so sorry I never told you how I felt. . . I. . ." Her voice cracked, then returned with anger. "What the hell were you doing down there, anyway. You were supposed to come over and we were going to have a birthday party. You said you wanted me to finally have some happy memories connected with my birthday and then you go and get yourself killed in random gang shit in an area of town where you never should have been. I should hate you right now Woodrow Hoyt. I really should hate you. But I can't. I just can't. . ."
Feeling her turn towards him, Garret pulled her into probably the tightest hug he'd ever given anyone. As he felt her hot tears on his shoulder, he realized that he was shedding tears of his own. They were all going to shed plenty of tears before this nightmare began to clear. After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, he pulled back slowly.
"Are you ready to. . .?"
"Yes. You can cover him back up now. I've seen enough."
Garret shuddered at the double meaning in her words. Whether intentional or not. Jordan certainly had seen enough in her life. Enough senseless death. Enough people she loved dying or disappearing from her life. He wondered angrily at God just how much one person was supposed to take in her lifetime. He pulled the sheet back over the body and slid the slab back into the locker, closing the latch securely. Together, he and Jordan walked back to his office.
Max and Stiles stood as they entered the slightly darkened room. Crossing to the door, Max pulled Jordan into a hug.
"You alright, baby?"
"No. But I needed to do that."
"I know. I'm. . .if it's ok with you, I'm going to go over to the precinct and talk with a couple of the guys there. . ." Max was hesitant. He didn't want to leave Jordan if she needed him, but he didn't want to push himself on her either.
"It's ok, Dad. I'll be ok." She tried to offer a reassuring smile that didn't quite work. "Garret and Howard are here to make sure I don't do anything crazy."
"Alright. I'll be back later on to pick you up. Call me if you need me before then."
"Ok. Thanks Daddy." She hadn't called him that in years, but it seemed right at the moment. She reached up and kissed his cheek as he moved towards the door to leave.
"Jordan, I'd like to talk with you for a while, if that's ok." Stiles needed to get a sense of how she was doing, from her own mouth and without the "good face" she was trying to keep up for the rest of them.
"Sure. Do you want to go to my office or. . .?" Jordan wasn't sure if Garret would be open to letting them use his office. At this point she really didn't care. She just wanted to sit down.
Garret was torn as well. Jordan's office was familiar and was away from the crypt. He wasn't sure she needed to see Woody's father when he got there. But at the same time, this office felt a little more comfortable. Finally he looked at Howard. "If you'd like to stay here, that's fine. I can use Jordan's office for today."
Stiles looked around. The area with the couch and chair would be better suited for the conversation he was going to have with Jordan. "If that's alright with you."
"Sure. I'll let Emmy and the others know what's going on." Garret left, pulling the door shut behind him.
. . .to be continued. . .
