Here's a quick update. It was originally supposed to be part of Chapter 4, but it just made the chapter too long.
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"Here." Lily slid a plate of the hospital cafeteria's meat loaf special in front of Jordan. "Eat."
Jordan looked down at the tray distastefully. "Well, with this culinary masterpiece in front of me, how can I resist?" She picked at it with her fork for a moment and then pushed it aside.
"Jordan, you heard what the doctor said. They caught the bleeding in time, and he came through the second surgery fine."
"Yes, but what if it happens again?"
Lily said nothing; there was nothing to say. They both stared down at the empty tabletop.
"Jordan, why don't you take the nurses' advice and let me drive you home? Woody probably won't wake up until morning."
Jordan rubbed at her bleary eyes. "I guess I could use the sleep."
She let Lily lead her to the car. Lily instinctively knew that conversation was not welcome, and they drove in silence. Finally, Jordan spoke as they pulled up in front of her building.
"It's funny, the human body, you know? How disconnected the whole thing really is. I mean, your heart tells you one thing, and your mind tells you the opposite. No wonder we're all so messed up."
Lily tried to respond, but Jordan thanked her and jumped out of the car before she could speak.
Her apartment somehow seemed colder and emptier than it had when she had left the night before. She walked slowly to her bed. There were several dresses stretched out there where she had stood in front of the mirror trying to decide what to wear to the club.
Yes, Woody was right. She had known exactly what she was doing. With one sweep of her arm, she pushed them into a pile on the floor and curled up on her empty bed.
She had thought she would not sleep, but she found herself drifting quickly. Her sleep was disturbed once by a dream where she entered an empty room, except for a coffin, and she crept up to it with foreboding. It was Woody, stretched out in a suit. There in the center of his belly was a hole that continued to seep a sickening crimson.
She woke for a moment but then drifted back into a long sleep all the way through until morning.
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She woke feeling surprisingly refreshed. She even slept later than she had meant to, and after a quick shower, she hurried back to the hospital, even if Woody didn't want her there.
She took a deep breath before entering the room. He was awake and looking straight ahead into nothingness. He turned his head to her when he saw her.
"Hey..." he croaked. "You're back."
She tried to smile optimistically, but he seemed so pale and weak, as if he had already dropped pounds from his lean frame. "You're looking stronger today."
"It's the morphine." He nodded up at the IV bag next too the bed and ran his thumb over the button he gripped in his right hand.
"Are you in a lot of pain?"
"Like you wouldn't believe."
She searched for comforting words but could find none. She sat down in her chair. "You really scared me, you know." She had meant it to be light and funny, but her voice broke, and she could feel tears spring to her eyes.
"Jordan..." He cut her off. "Thank you. For staying with me. Really. But I don't want to go over this again right now, all right? What's done is done." He shut his eyes then, and she heard the faint click of the morphine button.
By "this" she knew he had meant the fractured state of their relationship. What had she said to Lily the day before? Jordan's heart had hoped that she would tell him, full of poetry, how she had always felt, and he would be full of forgiveness. Her mind knew better.
She heard a noise in the hall, a male voice raised to a frantic pitch, and then hurried footsteps. She looked over to see Cal rush into the room. He dropped his duffle bag and leaned over Woody's bed.
"Cal..."
"I came right from the airport," he said breathlessly. "How you doing, bro?""
"Hurts like a son of a bitch."
Cal looked up and nodded at Jordan. She tried to smile back. "I got here as soon as I could. Jordan's been keeping me updated."
"Cal's here now. So, you can go, Jordan," Woody added weakly.
Cal looked up in surprise and then over at Jordan. There was an awkward moment, and Jordan rose to her feet. "Right. Well. I don't want to get in the way of the family reunion."
She tried to make a quick exit, but it was blocked by the attending and one of the floor nurses.
"We're just going to check the wound. Excuse us for a moment, Mrs. Hoyt."
Jordan's eyes grew wide. She hadn't thought to warn Cal. But it was too late.
"Mrs. Hoyt? Is there something you guys aren't telling me?"
The doctor and nurse looked at Woody and Jordan in confusion.
"Sorry, but it looks like your cover is blown, Jordan," Woody said evenly.
The doctor blinked. "So...you aren't really married?"
"No. No we're not." Jordan turned and stumbled out of the room down the end of the hallway to the waiting area there. She had never seen Woody this way. She felt caught in some storm and buffeted in all directions. He seemed one minute to be the same warm, welcoming Woody, and the next to be bitter and angry.
Cal found her there a half an hour later. "Well, if it isn't my new sister-in-law." Jordan glared up at him. "Sorry, I blew it back there. You should have warned me."
She gave him a wave of the hand. "It's okay."
"Look..." He exhaled noisily and slid into the seat next to her. He spoke carefully. "I don't know what's going on with you and my brother..."
"There's nothing, Cal..." she interrupted.
He raised his hands. "I don't even want to know. It's none of my business."
"Maybe there was something once. Or there could have been. But not anymore. I'd say right now he pretty much hates me. Can't say I blame him."
Cal shook his head slowly. "No. I know my brother, Jordan. He doesn't hate you. In fact, I'd say it was the opposite."
Jordan looked away and felt the shamed, red flush of her cheeks.
Cal continued. His voice had dropped to a pained whisper. "He's thinking about our father, you know. That's why he became a cop. It was some kind of unfinished business. Like he had to prove something to the old man." Jordan nodded slowly in understanding. "Woody's never really gotten over his death. Dad died in his arms. Woody wouldn't even let me in the room. He was trying to protect me. He always tries to protect the people he loves."
Cal rose and paced the small waiting room before speaking again. "The doctor said Woody is out of the woods. I've got to fly home for a few days, but I'll be back at the end of the week. Woody should be ready to go home by then, and I can take over until he's back on his feet." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm asking if you can keep an eye on him. Help him back home if I'm not here by then."
Jordan looked up at him and frowned. "Cal, I don't think..."
"He'll fight you, Jordan. But don't let him."
She felt a lump rise in her throat. "Okay," she managed in a hoarse whisper.
He smiled down at her with gratitude. "He's asking for you."
She looked up at him in surprise, and Cal nodded.
She rose and hurried back into his room, pausing to dry her eyes with the heel of her hand.
He was sleeping peacefully. She smiled a small, bittersweet smile. Whatever he had wanted to say to her would remain unsaid until another time. She sat next to his bed for a long while, watching the even rise and fall of his chest, before rising quietly and returning home to her empty apartment.
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And you thought I'd kill Woody!
Which isn't to say that it will be smooth sailing here on out for our favorite couple! ;-)
