Jordan felt like she was drowning. It was hard to breathe. She tried to moan, but couldn't muster the strength to do that. What is happening to me? She wondered, trying to turn her head. There was an alarm going off somewhere, but she couldn't make out exactly where. Suddenly her room was filled with doctors and nurses. Dr. Barker quickly examined her and nodded to one of his assistants. An oxygen mask was clamped down on her mouth and nose. "Jordan," Dr. Barker said to her, sharply, to get her attention. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on him.
"Jordan," he continued, "Your breathing is becoming erratic. We're going to have to put a breathing tube down your throat."
She shook her head no. If she had the tube in her, she couldn't talk.
"Yes, Jordan. Just for the time being. As soon as we know what we're dealing with, we can treat you and take it out."
Jordan reached up and pulled the mask off. "You still..don't know?"
Dr. Barker shook his head. "I'm sorry. We're doing all we can. So is Dr. Townsend. You've got a lot of people pulling for you right now. You need to work with us."
Jordan managed to get out an "Okay," before the nurse slammed the oxygen mask back on her face. She was vaguely aware of Dr. Barker getting the tube ready. She knew she'd be immobilized as long as the tube was in her, so she wouldn't pull it out in her sleep. I wonder if Woody is here was her last coherent thought as she turned toward the window. Before she went under she read the message and smiled. I love you, too.
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"We've taken the plaster casts we've made from the van's tire tracks and are trying to trace them. That's about all we have to go on now, besides the fact that we've put out an APB on him and his face is plastered all over the TV. That's about all we can do right now," Eddie told Woody, as the two strode down the hall of the morgue, making their way to Nigel's office. "If he's out there, someone will turn him in."
"The question is, will he be ratted out in time enough to help Jordan?"
Eddie sighed. He felt like hell and knew Woody did, too. As a matter of fact, they all did -- no one had slept since she was found in Latham Park. He was pulling all the strings he could to bring the technician in. It just wasn't happening fast enough. "There's a reward being offered. Macy's talking about matching it. If he does that, that's going to bring the pot to $100,000. That should bring someone out of the woodwork."
"Yeah, but..." The beeping of a cell phone interrupted their conversation, as Woody flipped his phone open.
"Detective Hoyt, please," came a voice over Woody's cell phone. It was Dr. Barker.
"Speaking."
"Woody, this is Dr. Barker. I just wanted to let you know we've had to put a breathing tube in Jordan."
"When..."
"Just a little while ago. The good news is she's responding well. Her breathing has stabilized again. The bad news is that all the cultures we've ran have come back negative for bacteria. We're not looking at anything that can be treated with antibiotics, my friend. It's something else. Has Dr. Townsend come up with anything?"
"No.. not, not yet." Woody swallowed hard. "Do you know anything at all.....time?"
"No, Woody, I'm sorry. Until we know what she was injected with, I can't tell you anything else, other than she's being closely monitored. You may want to come see her as soon as you can."
"Can I go into see her?"
"Yeah, and since it's not bacterial, you don't have to wear the suit."
Woody flipped his phone shut. He turned to Eddie. "That was Jordan's doctor. They've had to put a breathing tube in her." Eddie watched his friend's face crumple. "It's not good. I need to go see her."
"Then go. I'll keep you up on everything."
"Not until I talk with Nigel."
They had reached Nigel's office. He was in there, just as bleary-eyed and unshaven as Woody and Eddie and was still working with the syringe. "Dr. Barker just called, Nige. It wasn't a bacteria that Jordan was injected with," Woody said.
Nigel looked up from the tests he was running. "I had pretty much just come to that conclusion. From the tests I've been running, it appears to be a toxin."
"Toxin? Do we know what kind?" Eddie asked.
"Riacin is the first one that comes to mind," said Nigel, as he pushed a button and displayed the results on a screen in front of the detectives. "But there's several kinds.I'm getting the doctor on the phone now. At least they'll be able to treat her symptoms until we can find out exactly what kind."
"Riacin ... that's from castor beans, right?" asked Woody.
"Yeah. Pretty common, but pretty deadly, depending on the concentration," Nigel said, picking up the phone and dialing the hospital. "If it's a weak concentration, she'll just be sick for a while. If it's a higher concentration, it can affect her central nervous system." He didn't need to go on. Both detectives knew what that meant. It could begin to shut down her other organs.
"I'm heading to the hospital," said Woody, pushing past Eddie and heading towards the door."
"Hey, Hoyt," called out Eddie. "Do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Tell Jordan I said I'm working as hard as I can for her and that she needs to not worry and just get better."
Woody nodded.
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Woody met Dr. Barker in front of Jordan's room. "How's she doing?" he asked.
"Since Dr. Townsend called, we've began to aggressively treat the symptoms. But you have to know that even if we've found out in time, the toxin can still be deadly. And if she makes it, it may be along recovery. A lot of it will depend on Jordan. But at least we no longer have to consider her contagious...you won't have to wear a suit."
"I wonder why he injected her with a toxin instead of the bacteria?" Woody wondered.
"My guess? My guess is that he wanted her to suffer longer and live with the possible consequences and handicaps she could be left withâ€.she would have a life sentence or death, just like he would.""So can I go in?"
"Yeah, but remember, she can't talk. The breathing tube is in her. We've sedated her, so she won't fight the tube, so she kind of comes and goes as far as consciousness is concerned. If she does wake up, you'll have to do all the talking, and just ask her yes or no questions ... she will be able to nod or shake her head no."
Jordan's room was a huge mangle of machines and tubes. Somewhere in the middle of all the mass of medical equipment was Jordan. She still looks so small in that bed, thought Woody, pulling a chair up beside her and taking her hand. So helpless He smiled grimly to himself. One thing Jordan would not like to be called was helpless. But she was. Even a machine was breathing for her. The hiss and pull of the pump echoed rhythmically through the room. Her eyes were closed, her hair spread out on the pillow. Even in her sleep, he had never seen her so still and quiet. "Hey, honey," he said. "It's me" he stroked her hair with his other hand. "I've got good news. Nigel discovered what was in that syringe. It was a toxin, something from riacin. He's called Dr. Barker and now they sort of know how to begin to treat you. We've still got to find him to discover how strong the stuff was, but it's a start, you know?"
He began to softly rub her arm. "Maybe, if they can get the side effects of the mess under control, they can pull this tube out of your throat and you can talk again." He'd give anything to hear her voice again – the sarcastic remarks, the jokes,.the discussions they had about cases. Her softly whispering to him as they made love .. the way she'd breathe out his name .. only she could say it that certain way that sounded so intimate .. loving. He kissed her hand. "Jo, I need to go now. I don't want to, but I need to try to go back and get some sleep so I can help Eddie, somehow, to catch this guy. Of course, they've taken me off the case officially, it's too close. But unofficially, I'm still working on it. Even Walcott said it was okay, and you know how she is." If Jordan could hear him, he knew she would laugh at that. There was no love lost between her and the DA. "I'm going back and lay down on my couch in the office. Home just seems too far away.I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" He stood, bent down, and gently kissed her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open for an instant.
"Hey, babe," he said softly, looking into her face."
Jordan struggled for a minute, then remembered the tube. She tightened her fingers around Woody's hand. "Shh" he said. "Don't try to talk." He felt her fingers squeeze his. "Nige found out what was in the syringe...the doctor can start treating you now." He saw her nod and her eyes shut, but she didn't release her hold on his hand for some minutes later. Woody stood there and simply stroked her hair until she slipped back into unconsciousness.
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Three days later, Woody strode into Eddie's office. "I'm not here, officially anyway, to ask about Jordan's case, .but if you just happen to let something slip, I won't tell a soul that you did."
Eddie looked up at his partner and grinned. "We've caught a couple of sightings of him in Maine. We're working to verify that and move on him before he tries to slip across the border. His family used to have a hunting cabin up that way, so he's familiar with the territory. The Maine highway patrol is working with us."
Woody nodded. "Thanks .. at least something is happening there. Chief still has me pushing paperwork around for the next several weeks"
"You wouldn't be able to concentrate on much else anyway .. how's Jordan?"
"Better, but still struggling."
"Still on the respirator?"
"Yeah, but breathing more on her on. I think they're taking it out soon."
"That's good. Then she'll be bugging you about the case."
"Nah. I'm giving her your phone number," Woody replied as he exited their office and made his way to the elevators. He was going back to see Jordan. Eddie grinned again. At least she was getting better and Woody was getting some rest. And he'd be damned if he let up on himself until the lab technician was caught. Nothing was back to normal yet, but it was getting better.
Woody arrived at the hospital a few minutes later. He wasn't surprised to meet Garrett coming out of her room. "Is she still better?" he asked.
"Better is a relative term with these sort of things, Woody. You know that she has a long battle ahead. We don't know yet what the riacin has done to her system. Time will tell. And until they know exactly what the concentration was, they can't even give her an antidote. But on some levels she is definitely better."
"Good .. can I go in?"
"Yeah. I think she wants to talk to you."
Woody's eyes lit up. "Her tube?"
"They took it out early this morning. She's been breathing on her own just fine since about 5 a.m."
Woody pushed open the door and went in. Her eyes were closed, but it was so good to see her without the offending tube pushed down her throat. Her lips were chapped from it, but she looked wonderful. He couldn't help himself. He leaned over and kissed her softly, trying not to wake her, but needing to assure her that she was there ... back with him ... somewhat normal again.
She opened her eyes and stared into his blue ones for a minute. How long had it been since she had seen his eyes? She groped for his hand and found it. "Hi," she said hoarsely. The tube made her sound like she had laryngitis. Woody had to lean close to hear her. "Got your message," meaning the lipstick note on the window.
Woody smiled. "Yeah. I think the nurses left it up so long just to humor me. I threatened to re-write it if they had it washed off."
Jordan attempted a grin. She could only imagine how insistant he would have been. He could be as stubborn as she was at times. She tightened her grip on his hand and weakly tugged him to the bed to make him sit down with her. Gingerly, so not as to disturb the multitude of wires and tubes, he sat down on edge of the bed and faced her, brushing a stray curl off her forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"Awful ... worse than any hangover I've ever had," she winced. "My throat ... sore."
"It's from the tube. Don't try to talk ... just let me ask some questions and you nod."
"Does your head hurt?" She nodded yes. "Arms?" She shook her head no. "Legs?" Another nod yes. "Back?" Yet another nod yes, "But I think it's from being in the bed so long," she whispered.
"Maybe they'll let you sit up some soon .. or let me give you a back rub" Woody said, trying to give her his best wolfish grin." His reward was a smile and a big nod yes. He chuckled, but he was worried. Her legs could be hurting her from the back pain she had ... or maybe not. The riacin could have affected those nerves. "It will all be better soon." She was getting tired. He could see it in her eyes, but she wasn't relinquishing her hold on his hand. "You need to rest, Jo."
She shook her head no. "Fine ... I'm fine." She tugged him closer to her.
Woody slid up as close to her as he could amid all the tubes. "Yeah, you're fine all right. Never looked better." She grinned weakly at him. He was partially teasing her, but he was partially serious, too. To him, she hadn't looked finer in a long time. Just to see her without the breathing tube, her eyes open -- she looked damn fine to him.
"Stay ... stay with me?" she asked.
"Of course. I'll stay until you fall back to sleep."
"Been sleeping too long," her voice cracked.
"Don't talk. Just rest."
"Bossy."
"Well, at least you know who's in charge," he joked, rubbing her hand with his until she shut her eyes and her breathing told him she was asleep. He stayed just a few minutes longer, taking in the sight of her. He didn't know what the toxin would do to her, but he was glad she was at least marginally better. They would deal with whatever else came there way as it happened. Bending over, he gave her one last gentle kiss and left the room.