Chapter Three

"Jordan…how wonderful to hear from you again. What's the emergency? Miss me too much and need to meet me at your apartment? Can't wait until our next session?"

Jordan swallowed a chuckle at Dr. Stiles' double meanings. It had been a personal joke between the two of them for years that he had the "hots" for the female ME. At first, Jordan had been semi-offended, but then realized it was one of Dr. Stiles' techniques that he used to successfully break through her walls of resistance. If he could get her to laugh, he had won the battle. Chewing her bottom lip, she realized Woody used to do the same thing.

"No….this time it's not about me, Dr. Stiles. It's about…about…a friend." Jordan was hesitant to reveal Woody's name.

"What's wrong with your 'friend'?"

"He recently lost a loved one under rather…tragic circumstances. It was sudden and totally unexpected. Then he got hurt on the job…it wasn't a serious injury, but it had the potential to be life-threatening. He hasn't …. He just hasn't been the same since. I'm worried about him and don't know what to do."

"Jordan, are you okay? Do you need me to come and talk to you?"

Jordan suddenly realized that Dr. Stiles thought she was talking about herself. "It's not me…honest. As much as we've talked, you know very well I haven't been hurt."

Dr. Stiles chuckled. "So what's this about, Jordan?"

Realizing she would have to be completely honest with him in order to really help Woody, she said, "Could I come and talk with you after lunch? I wouldn't ask on such short notice…but I'm really worried about him."

"Sure. See you around one-ish."

"So that's the whole story?" Dr. Stiles asked.

Jordan nodded. "That's it. Woody began a relationship with Devan. I don't know how far it progressed…if they were sleeping together….if it was serious….or if they were just dating. I just know they saw a lot of each other."

"And then she was killed in the plane crash. He began to withdraw then…pushing you aside?"

"He began to push me aside before then…when he and Devan started dating. When she died, he didn't want to have a lot of interaction with anyone. He began losing weight – or at least appeared so to me. He wasn't sleeping properly…you could tell that by looking at him. He was listless…too quiet for Woody."

Dr. Stiles agreed. In truth, he had been worried about the detective, too, but hadn't known him well enough to make a rational diagnosis. And each grief process has its own time table and its own behavior. "But now you think it's something more than just grief?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. After he was shot at…hurt…he began to change again."

"And his injury wasn't life threatening?"

"It had the potential to be…if he hadn't been wearing his Kevlar."

"But he put that on voluntarily…he didn't have to be forced?"

"No. So he was protected. At first, I was afraid Woody had a death wish…wanted to die. But he put on his Kevlar…so I don't think so. His behavior afterwards…that still worries me."

"Worries you how?"

"It wasn't that he didn't want me at the hospital with him that bothers me. I've come to expect that from him. He doesn't want me anywherenear him any longer. But that doesn't change the fact that I still worry about him and that I care…." Jordan stopped suddenly. She had nearly admitted to Dr. Stiles she loved Woody. She had only just admitted that to herself and Garret. She wasn't sure she wanted anyone else to know.

Stiles beat her to the punch. "Do you love this man, Jordan?" He was smiling at her.

Gulping hard, she nodded, not trusting her voice to repeat her thoughts.

Dr. Stiles smiled wider. "So that's why you're so in tune with this….This is good, Jordan. Really good."

"I don't see how…Woody doesn't love me anymore…if he ever really did."

"No. I don't mean that. I mean your walls are down…you're ready to let someone in your life on an intimate level."

"Not just anyone.."

"I know. Just Woody."

Again, she nodded. "That's what's got me so worried. It's not the fact that I expect him to welcome me back with open arms. I don't. I realize he may never do that. But I don't want anything to happen to him because I do care."

"So how exactly has he been acting?"

"Not focused…absent-minded…like his body's there but his mind is a thousand miles away."

"You know grief can take on many forms….and have lots of different cycles and time tables."

"I know. I've talked to Lily…but even she doesn't think it's grief. She thinks it's something else. So do I. But I can't put my finger on it. I was hoping you could help."

Dr. Stiles sat forward in his desk chair. On one level, he was pleased to see Jordan so agitated over someone else's welfare. She was really maturing…leaving the past behind her and looking toward the future. On another level, because she was so genuinely concerned, he wanted to help her. "So what do you think it might be? Any idea? Any inkling?"

Jordan didn't want to face it. But it had been there…staring her in the face all along. She just didn't want to think Woody would be susceptible to such an issue. Not Woody. Not rock-solid, small-town values Woody. Swallowing hard, she faced the doctor. "Yeah. I do. I think Woody may have a drug problem."

"And what makes you think this?"

"When Woody was hurt…shot at…the doctor gave him a prescription for Oxycotin for the pain.He told me he probably wouldn't get it filled…that generally an extra-strength, over-the-counter pain relief did the job for him. So I didn't really worry. I figured he threw the prescription away. And I warned him how strong the stuff was…how he needed to be careful. I've seen too many people addicted to it…But I have a feeling that he did get it filled."

"But Jordan, that's been three months ago. Surely he's prescription has run out well before now?"

"It should have…and that's what's got me worried. If this is the problem, how did he get more?"

Dr. Stiles regarded her for a moment. "I don't know. That's a question you will have to get him to answer."

"How am I going to do that?"

Breathing out a huge sigh, Dr. Stiles looked at her closely for a moment. "It's going to be difficult, Jordan. You're going to have to go ask him… not at work, but at home. And if you find the evidence, you're going to have to confront him."