Chapter 15

Jordan pushed the swinging doors to the crypt open with force. "Nigel....Nigel...I need you."

"Oh, love, do you know how long I've waited to hear you say that?"

"I'm not joking, Nigel..."

"Neither am I.." he replied, giving her a smirk.

Jordan sighed and pinned him with a look. "I need your help...please."

"Sure, love....anything," Nigel said, catching the urgency in her voice and eyes. "What is it?"

"Could you be my computer jockey one more time? Please..."

"What for?"

"I need to find out what kinds of eye treatments there are out there for Woody's condition...where the nerves have been fried by either chemicals or light...his eyes are not better..."

"What has the doctor said?"

Jordan choked back her tears. "There's nothing else they can do." She looked quickly away, so Nigel wouldn't see them...or her fear. He reached over and ran his hands down her arms.

"Don't worry, Jordan. I'll look...and if there's anything out there, I'll find it."

Four hours later, Nigel entered Jordan's office with a wide smile on his face. "Guess what?"

"You've found something."

"More than that...I've hit the mother lode. There's a Dr. Evers that specializes in patients with nerve damage in the eyes. I called him and talked to him. He phoned Dr. Little's office and had Woody's files faxed over to him. Dr. Evers is semi-retired now, but he's definitely interested in seeing Woody at the end of next week. Come to find out he has a soft spot in his heart for policemen...his son is one. But guess what the best thing is?"

"He'll do it for free?"

"Not exactly..."

"Then what?"

"He's located in Hawaii. You and Woody have reserve tickets at the airlines to leave on Wednesday."

"What?"

"Dr. Evers insisted. It's part of the package. He wants to see Woody ASAP before the scar tissue sets up too badly in his eyes."

"Thanks, Nigel." Jordan nervously chewed her lip...Now she had to get time off from Garrett...and talk Woody into it.

"I don't think it's going to do much good, Jordan," Woody complained as she helped him in his seat on the plane.

She had gone through this same conversation for at least hundred times since the weekend. She went over to his apartment after her conversation with Nigel and announced her findings. To her amazement, he hadn't been optimistic at all. It seemed like to her he had accepted his blindness and quit fighting for his sight. "You promised me," she had nearly accused him. "You promised me that if I found something, you'd try it. And if it didn't work, then you'd think about Kewaunne."

Through much persuasion, tears, and a few hundred miles of guilt trips, she had finally got him to agree to go with her to Hawaii to see Dr. Evers. Getting him on the plane had been the last hurdle. "Sit," she commanded, as she stored their carry-ons in the overhead compartment. It wasn't a direct flight. They had a stop over in Dallas, then one in LA, then straight on to Hawaii. Jordan juggled it all – Woody, carry-ons, everything. By the time they were seated on the LA-to-Hawaii flight, she was exhausted, and her patience tried. While Woody hadn't been uncooperative, he wasn't as enthusiastic as she thought he would be or should be. She felt like she was the only one looking forward to seeing Dr. Evers...hearing what he said. Finally, drained from the trip, she fell asleep as soon as the airplane had leveled and the seatbelt sign flickered off.

Woody felt her body shift away from his and from her soft and even breathing, realized that she was sleeping. He gently took her hand. He had mixed feelings about this trip. He was trying not to get his hopes up too high...the fall from those dizzing heights hurt. He remembered how devastated he felt when his bandages had come off and he still couldn't see. He had learned then...don't expect miracles. Now, he was afraid that Jordan was getting her hopes up too high. He was just beginning to accept the fact that he may end up being a blind dairy farmer from Kawaunee, Wisconsin. She hadn't. She wouldn't even consider it. She was having to have hope enough for the both of them. He couldn't see her, but he could imagine her while she slept...he had watched her sleep before. Her face would relax...softly, he reached over and pulled her to him, so her head was on his shoulder. He was trying to store up memories of her like this...so that when he went back to Wisconsin, he would have something to remember...she slept the rest of the trip resting on his shoulder.

They went to the hotel first, where Jordan checked in. Then they went straight to Dr. Evers's office. Nervously, Jordan paced the exam room while Woody calmly sat on the exam table and waited. "Don't get your hopes up," Woody said.

Jordan ignored him and kept pacing.

Finally Dr. Evers came in. He introduced himself and his staff to Woody and Jordan. "I've read your file, Detective Hoyt. Let me ask you a few questions...and take a cursory look. He did all of that and finally, turning the lights off in the exam room, he carefully looked at Woody's eyes, using a tiny, high-beamed light. Jordan heard him "hmmm...." And "oh," a few times. He flicked off the little light and flipped back on the overheads.

"This is what has happened, Woody," Dr. Evers said. "Your eyes were damaged....either through the light and heat caused by the explosion or by the chemicals in the lab or both. The scar tissue from the damage has built up around the nerves. That's what's keeping you from seeing. If I can get in and remove the scar tissue, you'll be good to go...seeing in a few weeks."

"Is that possible?" asked Jordan.

"Yeah...by using some laser surgery, it can be done. You'll have a bit of a recoup time...a week or two, then the bandages will come off. I think you have about an eighty percent chance of sight recovery. And you wouldn't need to stay out here the entire time...after the surgery, you can go back home and your attending physician, Dr. Little, can remove the bandages in about ten days. "

"When could you do it?" Jordan asked.

"The day after tomorrow....Woody?" Dr. Evers asked. Woody had been silent the entire time.

"What are the possible side effects, doc?" he finally asked, quietly.

"None really....other than the fact it wouldn't work and you'd remain blind. What have you got to lose?"

Woody swallowed...nothing really. "Okay. Schedule it."