Chapter Fifteen

He nearly didn't recognize the face that stared back at him in the mirror. It was so unlike him…the old him. Nearly 18 months had passed since the accident. He was through with therapy. He was through with skin grafts. He was through with reconstructive surgery. And his face looked nothing like he remembered.

The doctors had warned him this might happen. There was little tissue left to work with on his face. The surgeons did the best they could. He had one dimple left. But nothing else looked the same…except for his eyes. His eyes were still as blue as they ever were. He grew his hair out longer in the front to helped cover scars. Everything was different. The face he knew as Woody Hoyt was gone.

But the man he knew as Woody was still there. That heart still beat in his chest. The man that loved justice, lived for the good guys winning, and fought for the underdog was still there.

The man that loved Jordan Marie Cavanaugh Hoyt was still alive and breathing.

"So what are you going to do now?" Brannigan asked Woody, watching him adjust his tie in the mirror of the hospital room. "Are you going to go back to Boston or what?" Woody's facial reconstruction had been so extensive that almost no one from his past would recognize him. Brannigan had jokingly told Woody that since he had literally been brought back from the dead, he had the ultimate chance to be reborn. Become a new person, start completely over. To Brannigan's amazement, Woody was genuinely considering taking him up on the offer.

"Were you serious about getting me a new identity?" Woody asked.

"Sure…I can make you a new person…new social security number…new history…whatever you need." Because Brannigan was with Sunny D, he had almost unparalleled access to databases and resources to create Woody a new identity.

"That's what I want…at least for a while…until I can get used to this," he gestured to his face. "I look like a stranger…make me a stranger."

"What about Jordan?" Brannigan quietly asked. He knew that Woody still loved her…in his fever-induced deliriums Woody had continuously asked for her. Brannigan came close to picking up the phone and calling her several times. If Woody hadn't made him swear that no matter what happened, Jordan would not be notified, he would have.

"I've got to get used to this ….this…. new me before I can let anyone else get used to it. Let me adjust….then I'll let her know."

"So…what if she finds someone else during this time…how are you going to keep up with her?"

Woody smiled. "Make me a new police officer…one with a past that closely mirrors my own…and I'll apply for a job with the Boston PD. That way, I can keep up with Jordan…judge how well she's adjusting…and get used to my new face."

"She's going to be mad as hell when she finds out. I've heard her grief is no better than it was last year at this time."

Woody sighed. He had long contemplated the wrath of the lady. Brannigan had told him in no uncertain terms that her sorrow was monumental. He had a feeling her anger over this may be even greater. "I know. I'll explain it to her. Hopefully, she'll have it in that heart of hers to forgive me and take me back."

Brannigan nodded. "Come on. Let's go back to my apartment. Give me two days….and you'll be a new person."

Two Weeks Later

Woody surveyed his new, furnished apartment. He liked it. It was small and inexpensive.

Best of all, it was less than a half mile from where Jordan lived. He had flown into Boston three days after he left the hospital. He had gone for an interview….an awkward process. He kept seeing friends and people he knew and couldn't greet them. Annie Capra. Lois Carver. Eddie Winslow. People he had worked closely with during his ten years with the Boston PD. None of them had so much flickered an eyelash at him…no one recognized him.

The interview itself had gone well. He was hired and given a couple of weeks to get settled before he started. Brannigan had made him a new man with a new past.

His name now was Charles Scott Williams. He was originally from Hanover, Maryland. Spent two years with the police department there, then went onto greener pastures with the New York City Police. He had been there the last ten years. Boston snapped him up in a heartbeat. Never married. No kids.

He was schooling himself to answer to his new name. He was preparing himself for how to react when he finally began to work with Jordan. He had yet to "meet" any of the ME staff yet, despite the fact he was hired as a homicide detective. He knew that was coming. He would be back working with Eddie Winslow tomorrow. Maybe he'd get lucky. Maybe at some point during the day, he'd at least catch a glimpse of his wife.

His wife. Now there was a term that passed through his thoughts daily, bur rarely across his lips. He imagined it was going to be difficult to see her and not reach out to her. Jordan was not a real "people" person. If he so much as tried to do anything more than help her around a crime scene, she'd tell him off. She didn't like to be touched by people she didn't know.

Ah, and in that statement was the rub, he thought. She does know me….but won't realize it. And I know her…and can't let her know for a little while. It is going to be the hardest thing in the world not to tell her. But until I am comfortable with this….I can't. I need to accept it so I can help her accept it. Then we can move on from there.

He got ready for bed, taking one more look in the mirror. He had grown a beard to cover some of the scarring. Eventually the scarring would fade and the beard could be shaved. It covered his one remaining dimple. His hair had a sleeker look…not the spiky mess that it was a year and a half a go. His bangs were longer and dipped down on his forehead…again to cover the scars. Every detail of his appearance was carefully crafted…the only two things that remained the same were his eyes and his taste in ties. He grinned. Jordan hated his ties. She had always gone out of her way each birthday, anniversary, Christmas…whatever holiday opportuned itself for a gift, to make sure he received a tasteful tie. Which he would wear, to make her happy. But he liked his ties. He liked it even more when she would take them off.

When he would come home from work, and she wasn't busy or involved in something else, she'd slowly loosen the tie…then unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt…loosen the tie some more and help him take it off over his head, pulling him down for a kiss at the same time. A nice way to start an evening. Woody sighed.

Seeing her was going to be difficult. Not reacting to her was going to be even harder. Not kissing her when he saw her was going to be the hardest of all.

"Hey, Jo…over here," Eddie Winslow called out. Jordan walked over to the homicide detective, ME case in hand. "The body's down there…" he point to a small ravine just off the road. "Need some help getting down there?"

"No. Thanks, anyway. How's it going, Eddie?"

"Good. Breaking in a new guy today."

"Rookie?"

"No…no. He was with the Hanover, Maryland PD for two years, then with the New York PD for ten.."

"Wow. What brings him to Boston after New York?"

"Said he wanted a little slower pace. I understand he got clipped a couple of times in New York."

"Oh. Well, that will certainly do it…make you want a change." She started to go down into the ravine.

"Hang on, Jo. I want you to meet him. He's doing a great job so far, and I'll probably be turning him loose in a week or so. You need to know him. Hey, Charles, over here."

Woody excused himself from one of the people he was questioning and made his way over to Eddie. He noticed Jordan. He had heard Eddie say she was the answering ME.

"Charles….this is Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh Hoyt, the assistant chief ME…..Jordan, this is Charles Williams," Eddie said, making the introductions.

Jordan looked up and nearly jumped out of her skin. His eyes….those eyes….she mentally shook herself, scolding her mind for playing games with her. Woody had the same color eyes. She didn't think anyone else could have that same type of intense blue eyes – the color of an ocean after a storm. Evidently, the color may be more common than she thought.

"Look, Charles….I'm going to head back to the office," Eddie continued. "When you're through here, make sure Dr. Hoyt has everything she needs and help her back in the van. I'll see you at the precinct."

"Sure. No problem." He smiled at Jordan. She gave him an uneasy half-grin and made her way down into the small ravine, doing lavidity and liver temperature checks. Usually her work engrossed her….kept her full attention. Not this time. She kept a watch out of the corner of her eyes on the new guy…Charles.

Jordan didn't like change. She worked with a variety of detectives…but never particularly liked new ones…they were…well…..ignorant and sometimes arrogant. Since Charles had some experience under his belt, maybe he'd be different. She could only pray.

Finally, after an hour or so, he made his way down the ravine to where she was at, helping secure the body in a bag on the gurney. Gently placing his hand on her back to get her attention, he asked, "What else do you need me to do?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin again. It was as if his touch sent shocks through her system. And usually she didn't like strangers touching her. But Charles was….different. For some reason. Must be the eyes, she thought. They remind me of him…of Woody. Between this man's eyes, touch, and the smell of his aftershave, Jordan was beginning to feel like she had been dropped in the twilight zone.

Maybe it was his eyes…maybe it was his cologne…maybe it was the feel of his hand.

Or maybe it was simply the fact that no man, save her father, had touched her in anyway in nearly two years. She chalked it up to loneliness and a love-starved life and shrugged it off.

"No. Thanks, but I've got it. I'll get him back to the morgue and start trace. I'll have some preliminary reports to you and Eddie this afternoon. The full reports will be in tomorrow late afternoon or early evening. Is that okay."

Woody nodded. "Sure. It's fine. Look forward to hearing from you Dr. Hoyt," he said, as he took her hand and helped her up the incline from the ravine.

Jordan took one more look at him before she drove off from the scene. He was a handsome man…then shook herself. What was she thinking? Just because a pair of blue eyes had rattled her nerves didn't mean anything…

Did it?