The days fell into a pattern. Jordan would get up, do the exercises her physical therapist told her to do for her legs, shower, eat breakfast, and try to make it through the day without giving into the pain that continued to plague her legs and hamper her mobility. Woody, Garret, Nigel, Lily, or someone from the morgue would drop by about lunch time to check on her. The evenings Woody didn't have to work, he would put her in the whirlpool bath Max had installed a few years earlier when he converted the screened in back porch into a sunroom.

While Jordan was grateful for being at home, away from the hospital, she was frustrated with her legs. Some days, her lack of mobility kept her pinned to the couch. On these days, someone stayed with her constantly, making sure she could get to the bathroom, get something to eat, that she didn't fall. Lily was often the one chosen for this duty. Her patience made her the prime candidate. Jordan began to have a new appreciation for her friend. She even let Lily teach her how to knit, in order to have something constructive to do to pass the time away.

On better days, she sometimes could talk Nigel or Garrett into taking her back with them to the morgue. She still wasn't cleared to do an autopsy, but she did finally get caught up on her back log of paperwork. When that was done, Nigel began to teach her more about ballistics and computerized trace programs. Woody wasn't crazy about her coming back into the morgue, but he understood. Staying in the house for days wore her emotional state to a frazzle. Even though at times she was physically able, Jordan was hesitant about going out. For the first time in her life, she didn't feel safe. She didn't know where the lab technician was...if he could still get to her. So her home or the morgue or the hospital seemed the safest.

The hospital. Jordan was still in and out of there so much she told Dr. Barker's staff that she was going to apply for her own parking slot. Twice Woody had to rush her back to the emergency room because the pain in her legs became so excruciating she couldn't stand it. They admitted her into the emergency room and put her on an IV drip of pain medication. Then she was in and out of there four times a week for physical therapy. While Jordan never complained, not once, about her situation or condition, she was growing alarmed at the lack of feeling in her legs. She was on four types of medication to combat the side effects of the riacin. These often left her nauseous, suffering from either fever or chills, or exhausted. Dr. Barker told her not to worry, as soon as the sheaths grew back over her nerve endings, the pain would stop and the feeling would come back in her lower extremities. But his reassurances were doing little to combat her worse fear – that the feeling would never return to her legs and she would be left helpless for the rest of her life. Confined, at best, to a walker or cane, and at worse, to a wheelchair. So she doggedly worked with her therapist, religiously took her medication, and began to pray to a God she thought had abandoned her that she might be normal again for herself and for Woody.

Now that was another concern. Woody. She watched him day by day grow more aggravated that the Boston PD and the Maine State Police had not tracked down her assailant. He knew that Jordan could not accurately be treated medically for the riacin until the doctor knew what concentration she had been injected with. And only the lab technician knew for sure how much she had been given... or if it was riacin at all. Right now, Dr. Barker was shooting in the dark...not being totally sure if what he was giving Jordan was the correct amount or even the right antidote. The worry lines grew increasingly predominate between his eyes and his shoulders often sagged beneath the weight of worry and concern he was carrying. Jordan knew he wasn't eating right and wasn't getting enough rest. She was beginning to feel guilty about asking him to stay with her. Quietly, she began to inquire with Dr. Barker about assisted living facilities or the possibility of keeping a nurse with her at night.

She didn't tell Woody about her concerns....what she was feeling, knowing how much pressure he was under to help deal with this case as well as solve the other case load he was carrying. She kept it inside her until one Saturday morning. She woke up to find, as usual, Woody was holding her close, her back to his chest, his arm snuggly wrapped around her waist. She turned slightly in his arms to look at him as he slept. Even at rest, his face carried a worried tone...he looked tired. Jordan wished there was someway she could ease his burden, make it lighter. It had been days, maybe even weeks, since she had heard him laugh...or seen him smile...a real, full, Woody smile...dimples and all. Maybe she could do her exercises this morning by herself...let him sleep in.

Quietly, she eased from his arms. He didn't wake up. She softly walked to the bathroom and changed into her workout shorts and a t-shirt. Pulling her hair back in a ponytail, she went into her father's room, shut the door, and flipped on the treadmill. Starting slowly and gradually increasing the speed, she was doing okay. Finally, she thought, I can do it by myself...

Woody had heard her get up, and had watched her through half-closed eyes make her way to Max's room. He had just as quietly gotten up behind her and walked to the bedroom, pushed open the door a couple of inches, and watched her from the doorway. She had no idea he was observing her, as her back was to the door and she had her headphones on. He stood behind her and watched her as she walked her mile on the treadmill at a quick pace. Suddenly her left leg began to drag a bit and the next thing she knew she was being thrown backwards off the exercise machine into Woody's arms.

Jordan took a second to catch her breath, then turned to Woody. "Thanks."

He smiled at her. "You're welcome...you were doing pretty good...what happened?"

"Damn leg...didn't want to move again."

"At least it looks like it's getting better, Jo."

She nodded, still in his arms, "Did I wake you up? I wanted you to sleep in this morning."

"Nah. I was awake when you got up. Just enjoying the morning." He pushed a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ears. "Wanna get a shower?"

Jordan swallowed hard. Other than a passionate kiss or two since the accident, Woody hadn't touched her, realizing that the pain she was dealing with made it impossible for her to be intimate with him. She had missed him, more than he even knew. Pushing any hesitation aside, she grinned at him and nodded. "That would be nice."

He helped her to her feet. "Yeah, it would. It's been a while since we've had any time together, you know?"

A few minutes later Jordan found herself in the shower, wrapped once again in Woody's arms. It was nice...just the two of them, the warm water sluicing off their bodies. Woody gently kissed her, gradually deepening the kiss as he felt her respond. "I've missed you," Jordan whispered.

"I know...I've missed you, too."

"When will this all be over, Wood? Will we ever get back to normal?"

Woody sighed. "Soon...the Maine State Police are working hard. There's just a lot of ground to cover in those backwoods....he wasn't at the cabin. He could be anywhere. They catch signs of him here....then there....They're following him as closely and quickly as they can." He ran his fingers through her hair...now a slick, dark curtain falling down her back. "Turn around and I'll wash your back and hair."

Jordan obediently turned her back to him, grateful for just a moment that he couldn't see the frustration on her face...or the tears in her eyes. She felt guilty...guilty for putting him in this position, of having to take care of her. Guilty for the burden he was bearing about this case. Drawing in a deep breath, she said. "Woody...I know you've been here with me for a while now...and I know I'm really not getting a whole lot better. The doctor doesn't know when I'll be able to go back to work...or live fully back on my own. This is really not fair to you...to put your whole life on hold waiting for me to get better when I may never do that...and may even get worse. It's not right to ask you to stay with me...So I was thinking...maybe I should look into moving into the hospital's assisted living quarters for a while...at least until you and Eddie catch this guy and Dr. Barker can really figure out how to treat me."

"No," Woody responded quietly, but with force.

Jordan turned back to him. "But Wood..."

"I said no." He washed the shampoo out of her hair and worked in the conditioner. "And I mean no. I will take care of you and further more, I want to take care of you." He rinsed out the conditioner, turned off the water and helped her out of the tub. Wrapping a towel around her and one around herself, he walked her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom and sat her on the bed. "Jordan, I love you. I couldn't rest at night knowing you were there...and I would be here. I would worry about your safety....and if they were really taking care of you. Wondering if you were lonely...Why did you even mention this?"

"I just don't want to burden you, Woody." She reached out her hand to him and pulled him down on the bed beside her. "I can see how hard you're working, and how this case is eating at you. I just thought that if I did go there, it would help you out...make your load easer." She gently trailed a finger down the side of his face. "It worries me....how tired you look....You're not sleeping or eating right."

He caught her hand and kissed each finger, and then pulled her to him and kissed her deeply again. "Jordan Marie Cavanaugh, I love you. And I also know you...and I know that if it was me in your position...you'd be doing the same thing for me. So just settle down. We'll catch this guy. And don't worry about me so much."

Jordan chuckled at him, and ran her fingers through his hair, which was sticking out in a million different directions after the shower. "You're right...I'd do the same for you."

"And why is that?"

"Because...I love you."

Woody grinned against her lips. "I know...can't live without me, can you?"

Jordan shook her head. Although they hadn't been "dating" long...or together even for a shorter amount of time, her best friend had come to mean more than anything to her. She loved Woody in a way that she had thought she would find impossible to love anyone. He was her best friend...her soul mate...her lover...so many things and more. The wall was down...he had her heart in the palm of his hand. She gently ran her fingers down the side of his neck and down his chest. "I just wish we could...."

He caught her hands. "I know, sweetheart. I do, too. Soon...we will be able to soon."