Chapter 16

Jordan took Woody back to the hotel. For some reason, she had thought that she would be the only one in the room that night...that Woody would remain in the hospital. So she had gotten a room with one king-sized bed. She guided him to the room and lugged the bags through the door.

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah..."

"There's a fast food place on the corner. Feel like a burger?"

He nodded. She sounded tired. He was concerned about her – he was taking the surgery with a grain of salt...even with an eighty percent chance of his sight returning, he wasn't sure about what kind of quality sight he would have....or if the scar tissue would grow back again.

Jordan, on the other hand, had pinned all her hope on the tiny laser that would slice through the scar tissue and restore his sight. He honestly thought she would have the harder time dealing with the reality of his blindness if the surgery did not work. They went to eat without much discussion and soon found their way back at their room. Jordan had unpacked Woody's clothes and arranged them the same way they were at home. He had soon found his sleep pants, but left off his t-shirt. This was Hawaii...and it was hot. If Jordan hadn't been in the room, he'd of left off the pants, too, and slept in his boxers.

He heard her showering and changing. He had pulled the covers back on the bed and gotten in when she emerged from the bathroom. "Need anything before I go to bed?" she asked, glancing his way, then averting her eyes. She had nearly forgotten how he looked without a shirt...

"No. I'm fine."

"Okay, I'm going to bed....I'll be right in the next room if you need me. Just call."

Woody had been in the room long enough to know there was only one bed and he was in it. "Where are you sleeping, Jordan?"

"The living area."

"There's no bed there."

"The couch, Woody. I'll be on the couch."

"I can take the couch."

"No..." he heard her voice growing a tad more distant. She had moved away from him. "I will. You need to rest and be ready for your surgery."

"You're tired, Jordan...exhausted."

"Yeah... and the couch is comfortable, Woody. Now go to sleep." He heard her flipping of the lights. She made no move to get in the bed with him...she sounded like she didn't want him to offer.

Truth was, she didn't. It had taken her days to get used to sleeping without him at her apartment after he left...long nights getting used to not having his arms around her, her body spooned closely to his. She didn't want to have to adjust again. She preferred the couch.

The next morning, she went down to the lobby and grabbed bagels and coffee for breakfast. "What do you want to do now?" she asked Woody. "We've got one day in Hawaii where you can do whatever you want before your surgery. It's your day...what do you want to do? Visit the cheesy tourist attractions, hang out by the pool, walk on the beach....what?"

"Tourist attractions, what else?"

The rest of the morning they spent touring the city...Jordan describing everything to Woody. They stopped for ice cream...lunch...and afterwards found themselves back at the hotel room. It had seemed like old times...the laughter...joking...banter. Woody flopped back on the bed, needing to rest, but enjoying the hell out of the day. Again, he was putting back memories...in case he ended up in Kawaunee... in case he ended up without her. "Hey," he said softly.

"Yeah?" she asked, coming over to the bed and sitting beside him.

"Why don't you take some time for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Go swimming...play in the ocean...sunbathe. Do a few things you want to do without having to take care of a blind man. I'm going to take a nap...you don't need to sit around and wait for me to wake up."

Jordan chewed her bottom lip...she didn't like leaving him alone...but...she would like the chance to sunbathe, at least for a few hours. "I'll have my cell phone...if you need me, will you call? I'm just going to be by the pool.

"Yeah."

She went into the bathroom to change. Despite the fact that Woody was blind, she still had never changed in front of him...it just didn't feel right. She donned a red bikini. A tiny, red bikini. A teeny, tiny, red bikini. She had bought it last summer when she and Lily went down the coast of Massachusetts on a weekend getaway. She carefully rubbed herself down in sunscreen, remembering Garrett's warning not to get sunburned and "pick up a melanoma." Emerging from the bathroom, she wasn't watching where she was going and ran straight into Woody.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the one with sight problems...." His voice trailed off as his hands went up to steady her and him and he realized what she was....or rather wasn't....wearing and felt the air in his lungs lock up. Slowly his hands went up from where they were....her hips...and slid to her waist, up her arms, across her back, pulling her to him. Gently, they trailed up the sides of her face, sweeping her hair over to one side.

Jordan swallowed hard. He was seeing her with his fingertips again. She felt her knees give just a little as his hands left her shoulders and trailed gently down her front...over the rise of her breasts, to the hollow of her belly button. She heard him sigh and felt both of his arms go around her and pull her closer. "Jordan..." He held her only for a moment, before carefully releasing her. "I think you need to go now..." he whispered.

She nodded and shut the door behind her. Leaving him there, in the middle of the room, feeling the loss all over again. Not just of his sight...but of her. Even if his sight was restored, that was no guarantee their relationship would be. He cursed Devan again. Not for the last time.

A few hours later, Jordan quietly let herself back in the room. She had tried to sunbathe and nap. The sunbathing part she got down pat. The napping was a different story. Woody's touch...however light...however gentle....made her ache. For him. For what they once had. She loved him...wanted him...but she wouldn't be a substitute for Devan. If he wanted back into her life, he would have to want her for her, not as a substitute for another woman. She loved him...but knew it wouldn't last unless it was this way...she was playing for keeps this time. And she had no guarantees from him that he felt the same way.

He was napping...but it was getting late. She needed to make sure he had dinner, as he could have nothing after midnight. She shook him away. "Woody..."

He mumbled and rolled over, burying his head in the pillows. "No..Woody..."

"Hmmmmm?"

"Dinner. It's getting late and you need to eat."

He sat up, and brushed his hands over his eyes like a sleepy little boy. "Okay..okay. Where to?"

"There's a taco stand by the boardwalk. Wanna grab a taco or two and take a walk on the beach? We haven't seen much of the ocean since we've been here."

"Sounds good."

Jordan grabbed the wrap that went with her bikini and tied it around her waist like a skirt. She saw no need to change if they were going to walk on the beach. Three tacos and a couple of beers each later, they were strolling on the beach, her arm tucked in Woody's to guide him along. He finally got up enough courage to ask her the questions that had been burning in the back of his mind for weeks.

"Why, Jo?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this...for me?"

She chuckled. "I owe you...don't you remember?"

"You don't owe me this much..."

She sighed. She had a feeling once he regained his sight, things would revert back to the way they were before the accident. She hoped Dr. Beechler kept his promise...she may need some time in North Carolina to regroup. "Yeah....yes, I do. You've always been there for me, Woody. Always."

"Is that all this is? A debt repayment?" He stopped her, putting his hands around her waist...feeling her bare skin...realizing her bikini was still there. Oh damn, he thought. She's not making this easy.

"No, Woody, it's not," she said in a sudden moment of honesty.

"Then what is it?"

She looked into his blue eyes...eyes that couldn't see 't fathom what she was feeling or thinking. "We'll talk about it later, Woody. When the surgery is over...when you can see." She tried to pull away from him and walk back to the hotel. He stopped her, holding her waist still.

"Are you running, Jordan?"

"Running?"

"From your feelings?"

No, she wasn't. She wasn't running from her feelings. She knew what they were. The question was, did he know what his were? And would he admit them if he did?