It took another four days before Woody was officially released. Woody was a little disappointed Jordan wouldn't be there to pick him up, but she said she had to work late. Cal was there.
"Does this mean I'm officially responsible for your ass?" Cal asked while Woody signed the discharge papers.
"Not anymore. " Woody said lifting himself up. David took his wheelchair away the day after they said they were going to discharge him and handed him a set of crutches. It wasn't the first time this happened, but it was the first time Woody tried. Surprisingly, he picked it up pretty quickly. His gate was awkward and slow, but each day it got better.
Goodbyes were short and sweet. Woody was more than ready to leave that antiseptic smell for the last time.
Once Woody was in the car Cal took off neither looked back. Once they were happily idling in rush hour traffic Cal said, "I have sixteen hours of Tivo saved for you bro...and Aunt Marge sent me the recipe for her soup. I made two gallons of it..."
The last thing Woody wanted was to watch TV and eat bland food. Pulling off his hospital wrist band and stuffing it in the glove compartment Woody said, "screw that. I want some real food...and a beer. There is this place up on Broad..."
"I would say sure...but I gotta date..." Cal admitted sheepishly.
"My frigging first night out of freedom and you gotta date!"
"Second night Woods..."
"Jordan's working..."
"If you are looking for a good time I sure as hell ain't the person you should be talking it. This maybe Massachusetts but I'm sure there are laws against..."
"Oh God, shut up..."
"It's not that you are good looking..." Cal smiled.
"Shut up!" Woody couldn't help but smile himself
"After all you are my brother..."
"Not for long..."
"You're still not my type...maybe that Nigel is free." Cal teased.
"Go to hell." Woody laughed.
"It's good to have you back..." Cal said making a left hand turn.
"It's good to be back..." Woody replied looking out the window. Cal may be new in town but for the life of him Woody couldn't understand why Cal was driving directly away from the apartment. "Where are we going?"
"I told you I have a date...it's too late to cancel..."
"And you need a chaperone? Calvin, I'm a big boy I can be by myself...and by the way, what loser wants to go out with an unemployed knucklehead?" Woody became more confused as they turned down a few more streets.
"You said I have free rein of any woman in Boston...except Jordan of course. I thought this time I'd take you up on it."
"She doesn't charge by the hour does she?
"No...we're here..."
Cal pulled up to a little Italian restaurant that Woody had eaten at a few times before. It was just around the corner from the morgue. Woody piped up. "Hey, I'll just order some take out and I'll take a cab over to the morgue. When you finish dinner you can come pick me up..."
Cal didn't say anything and handed Woody his crutches. "There are a couple of steps down..."
"I know jackass."
Woody let Cal open the door and was taken back by a loud round of applause. He looked up to see half the department and most of the morgue milling around the room. A big sign over the bar read "Welcome Back". Woody didn't know what to say. "Did you do this?"
"No," Cal smiled and pointed to the bar.
Jordan was sitting there in her red dress. The dim light made the material look soft and warm. Just like the woman inside.
Woody continued to look around in shock as he hobbled over to Jordan on the crutches. He didn't even realize he was crying a little until she reached up to wipe his eyes with her thumbs and planted a long, loving kiss on his lips.
"You look amazing.." he whispered when they pulled back.
"You look surprised...What? you thought you could live through a shooting, months of therapy..and a night with me and not receive a party for it?" Jordan asked back with a smirk and turned him around with another light kiss.
"Go have fun...I'll be around if you need me." she said as guys from the force walked up and Lily gave him a big hug.
"I always need you." Woody replied with a tender smile over his shoulder as he was whisked away to a chorus of well wishers.
Two hours later, Woody was beginning to buckle under the pressure of fixing burnt bridges and being the center of attention. Jordan could tell by the way he was letting people walk to him instead of bouncing around on the crutches like he had been earlier. He also hadn't moved from the seat he was in for over twenty minutes and she could see him subtly reaching down to rub his legs from time to time. She made a mental note to rub them for him later that night.
"Hey stranger...getting tired?" She asked siding up to him with a big smile as he shook the hand of a guy from his precinct and was wished back to work soon as the officer walked off for another beer.
"Is it that obvious?" Woody asked looking around the room quickly. "You don't think anyone's offended do you?" he asked and Jordan shook her head. He was always thinking of others even after all he'd gone through.
"I think everyone will understand that you need your rest...and I plan on personally supervising that rest sir." Jordan said rubbing his back lightly as he leaned into her side.
"Oooo..." Woody smiled and closed his eyes. "In that case let's get the hell outta here.." he murmured and wrapped a hand around one of her slender hips. "You look amazing tonight by the way...If I wasn't so tired..." he started and looked up as Cal approached them.
"Enjoying your party big brother?" he asked patting Woody once hard on the back.
"Yeah, it's great but I think I'm about ready to leave, everyone can stay, enjoy themselves but I'm worn out kid." Woody smiled apologetically and Cal nodded.
"No worries, I'll handle things here...have a good night and just give me a call in the morning...or afternoon..." he said with a wink to Jordan.
"So where too?" Jordan asked casually to give Woody a chance to decide what he wanted to do.
"I don't care as long as I wake up next to you."
Woody stood up and adjusted his crutches under his arms. Once outside, Jordan asked if she should bring her car closer.
"Naw," he smiled. He shifted his crutches to one hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Together we'll make it there slowly but surly...it's just like dancing."
By his tone Jordan could tell he wasn't just talking about walking to the car...he was talking about where they went from here.
"I'm not sure if I'm very good at leading..." she said wrapping her arms securely around his waist.
"It's easy Jordan. One step, two steps, three steps..." he said kissing the side of her head. "We just need to take our time. We'll get there eventually."
"I love you, you know," she whispered.
"I love you too."
Okay, that's it. We hope you liked it. Thanks for all the nice comments.Reviews are our drug of choice. ;)
