Bring Me Home
Chapter 3
Slowly, the days passed, and, before she knew it, Jordan had been "Jodie" for almost a month and she suddenly found herself preparing for Brian's marriage to Georgia. Through the days-and occasional late nights- she and Brian had grown close, and, in turn, so had Drew, Nedina and Georgia.
She was dressed in a spaghetti-strap dress with a scoop neck that reached to her ankles with slits up either side to mid-thigh. The dress was decorated with a collage of pink, yellow and white flowers and she was wearing a pair of white, 2 ½ inch sandals decorated with pink flowers. She'd left her hair loose but held back on with side with small clips.
She sat between Nedina and Drew during the wedding, the tears of joy ruining the eyeliner and mascara she'd carefully applied earlier. And, when the slight twinge of envy came, she forcefully shoved it down, wanting instead to be happy for her new friends.
But she couldn't help the image of herself and Woody being the ones to say, "I do" from forming. For a moment, she relished the image, wishing desperately that it were real. But she quickly shook herself out of it, being happy instead for the friend she'd come to love as a brother.
The ceremony was a beautiful affair and the reception afterwards was a blast. Many men danced with Jordan, all attracted to the sad, small woman who looked like she needed someone to protect her but ended up dazzling them with her quick wit and infectious laugh.
"C'mon Jodie," Brian grinned, "Dance with me!'
"Do I have to?" Jordan whined, her eyes smiling, "I just sat down!"
"Yes, but it's my wedding so you have to do what I say!" Brian returned, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Jordan blew a raspberry at the man, but accepted his hand. Laughing and teasing, Brian led her out onto the middle of the floor. Her arms went up to his shoulders and his rested comfortably, but brotherly, on her hips.
Their easy banter fell into silence, and despite herself, Jordan's mind flashed to Woody. Brian noticed the faraway look in her eyes and sighed softly in concern for her.
"You miss him?" he asked softly, catching her attention and pulling her mind back to him.
Jordan's eyes snapped up to his, and her lips parted slightly in surprise. Catching herself, she looked away, asking, "What are you talking about?"
Brian chuckled softly, "I haven't a clue. But you always seem to get this look in your eyes whenever you're left to your own devices- like your mind is hundreds of miles away."
"Try thousands," she moaned, dropping her head against Brian's shoulder in defeat.
"Thousands, eh?"
"Yeah," she sighed, pulling her head back to stare vacantly over Brian's shoulder, "We met about four years ago. He thought I was the best thing since processed cheese and I thought he was a naïve country bumpkin. Because of lots of crappy stuff that happened to me in my past, I'm not always that trusting of people, but, somehow, he managed to worm his way into my heart."
"But…?" Brian pressured gently, eyes filled with deep concern for his surrogate sister.
Jordan sighed, "But all my issues got in the way. He always let me know he was completely in love with me, but by the time I admitted that I love him too, it was too late."
"Oh Jodie, I'm sorry." Brian murmured sympathetically, dropping a light, brotherly kiss on Jordan's forehead.
Jordan shrugged her shoulders, gently smiling at her 'brother', "Don't worry about it, Bri, I'll be alright.
Brian squeezed her in a hug in response, replying, "You know, even if you don't have him, you know I love you, right?"
Jordan nodded, burying her head in Brian's chest as she fiercely returned the hug, trying to hide her tears. Brian reminded her so much of Nigel, her other 'brother', which is why, she thought, he'd been able to penetrate her already weak defenses. And which is why it pained her so much to deceive him like this, not to tell him who she really was, what had rally happened to her- but she couldn't, not unless she wanted Digger to find her.
And that was a whole other thing-Digger. Almost every night, despite the long hours spent at work, running, at the gym and the exhausting, private crying she did every day Jordan still did not sleep well at night. She could sleep only a few hours before the nightmares would take over.
Every night, Jordan relived her first experience with Digger. She was drugged and shoved into the coffin with that damned walkie-talkie all over again. Night after night she told him she wasn't going to beg just to give him his sick, sadistic pleasure, and, every night, just like that night, she did. She begged over and over again for him to let her out-to let her live!
But, unlike the real event, Garrett and Drew didn't get her out. Instead, she stayed in that small box, her air slowly running out. She screamed and begged desperately, clawing at the lid of the coffin. But no one ever came to get her-no one was ever there to save her.
And every night she woke alone in her bed, sweating like she'd run miles and pale as a ghost. She'd tremble so violently it was impossible for her to hold anything, and she'd cry for hours, her entire body wracked with the sobs.
But, right now, Brian's warm, brotherly arms anchored her to the present. Yes, she didn't have Woody anymore, and, yes, Digger was after her, but, for right now, she was okay.
XoXoXoXo
Woody groaned in pain but determinedly pushed on. He was in between two railings just above waist height. With one hand on with rail, he determinedly moved his legs another step, wincing at the fiery pain but stubbornly pushing on to walk the 2 feet left of the 4-foot rail. Reaching the end, he dropped tiredly to the ground, not bothering to move his face from the carpet. He'd been making great progress in his physical therapy but still couldn't remember anything from his past.
"That was great Woody!" Cal yelled excitedly, carefully lifting his brother to his feet and easing him into the wheel chair, "You made it the entire rail!"
"Go die, you enthusiastic psycho," Woody muttered, but couldn't help the tired, victorious smile that stretched across his face.
"No can do, big bro," Cal grinned teasingly, "If I went and did that, who would be your personal cheerleader?"
"Hopefully someone with a better mug than yours," Woody grinned back, before turning to his physical therapist, "So, what do you think, Doc?"
Annie Lauraga was a petite Spanish woman with balls of steel. She had a perfectly straight figure from doing ballet on the side despite how old she was getting. In her fifties, Annie's hair was a pure white, but her eyes were still a clear, brown-gold and sparkling with youth. Over the past month, she'd pushed Woody harder than anyone else dared to, using the tactic "Piss him off enough to want to walk just to get away from me."
"I think you're doing really good, Hoyt," Annie smiled, a rare occurrence, "If you keep up the two sessions a day, you'll be on a walker in about 4 days and a cane in about a week."
"Thanks Annie, you rock!" Woody grinned with a wave over his shoulder as Cal wheeled him out.
As he wheeled Woody down the corridor, Cal leaned forward, asking in a low, conspiratol voice, "Hey Woody, what do you say I bust you out of here for a few hours and we go and celebrate your success?"
"I dunno, Cal, I don't think I'm supposed to leave the hospital," Woody said, torn between listening to his doctors and having a little fun.
"Oh, come one Woody! Live a little!" Cal wheedled, "C'mon, we'll even call Nigel, Bug and Dr. M-it'll be a blast!"
"They're at work, Cal," Woody reminded his brother blandly, "Dr. M was reinstated last week, remember?"
"So what?" Cal shrugged, pushing his brother to the exit, "We'll have a brothers' night out then!"
"You're incorrigible Cal," Woody grinned, but he didn't protest as his brother wheeled him out of the hospital.
XoXoXoXo
Jordan sat silently on the bay window seat. One leg hung off the seat, the other curled under her with her forehead pressed to the glass, staring blankly out the window.
"You shouldn't sit in front of the window, Jor," Drew said softly as he walked by, backtracking to come and stand beside her, "You're too-"
"Open. I know," Jordan sighed, standing reluctantly before turning to Drew, "When can I go home Drew? When are they going to catch that stupid bastard?"
In the almost month and a half since she'd been taken into custody, 4 more women had been killed. Each coffin had the note, "Watch out, Jordan Cavanaugh, I'm going to get you!" And, in the two weeks since Brian's wedding, Jordan had fallen into a big bout of homesickness-she wanted to go home, to Woody and Garret and Lily and Nigel and all the rest of her morgue family.
"I don't know, babe, I don't know," Drew sighed regretfully, wrapping the smaller woman into a tight hug, "God, but I wish I did. I'm sorry, Jordan, really sorry."
"It's alright, Drew," Jordan said softly, pulling gently out of his arms and giving him a sad smile, "It's not your fault. It's not like you're the one trying to kill me."
"Nah," Drew said teasingly, "You're way too pretty to kill."
Jordan smiled, but, like it had been for the last two weeks, the smile didn't reach her eyes. Drew sighed, kissing her forehead with brotherly affection.
"Hey guys!" Nedina called as she stepped through the front door, "I brought pizza and good news!"
Jordan's eyes snapped eagerly towards the entrance hall, and Drew, too, found himself hoping. Both knew that Nedina had gone to a meeting with the chief of the FBI bureau that day.
Jordan moved quickly into the hall, taking the pizza box from Nedina's hands and moving to the kitchen, demanding over her shoulder, "Hurry up!"
"Has she been like this all day?" Nedina asked curiously as Drew helped her out of her coat before giving her a light kiss of greeting-the two had been together about a year and had been a constant source of amusement for Jordan's childish teasing.
"Yup," Drew answered, slipping an arm around Nedina's waist, as they followed Jordan's path a t slower pace, "She's been waiting for you to come back all day."
"Then we'd better hurry, hadn't we?" Nedina laughed, tugging him to go faster, "Our Lady awaits."
XoXoXoXo
Cal took Woody to an Irish bar called "The Clover". It was set up much like the Pogue Mahone had been-'though Woody didn't know this, just that it felt familiar.
"So, Cal, I've got a question for you," Woody began over their second beers twenty minutes after their 'escape'-they were taking it slow and were eating with their beers since Woody wasn't supposed to drink at all and Cal would have to drive him back to the hospital and then himself home.
"Shoot-er, I mean, go ahead," Cal winced slightly at his slip up, taking a drag of his beer to cover up his discomfort.
"Was I ever married?" he asked with a curious frown, brushing off the remark.
"No," Cal frowned slightly, "You almost became engaged years ago, but her father didn't approve. That's when you moved to Boston."
"Was she a brunette?" Woody asked, watched the beer swirl in the bottom of the bottle as he twirled it.
"No, she was a blonde," Cal eyed his older brother curiously, "Why?"
Woody sighed, placing the bottle back on the table as he stated, "Ever since I woke up, I've been having dreams of this brunette woman who keeps telling me she loves me and she doesn't want me to leave her. I haven't seen her yet in all the people that come and visit, but I know-somehow- that I love her too."
"Jordan," Cal sighed.
"Jordan." Woody tested it out, cocking his head to the side slightly, "It sounds…right."
Cal nodded, grinning ruefully as he said, "It figures that out of everyone, she's the one you remember the most."
"Who is she?"
"Her name is Jordan Cavanaugh and the two of you were completely in love. Cal smiled in remembrance, "Problem was, despite the fact that Jordan's one hell of a woman, she's got a hell of a lot of issues, and she doesn't do the feelings thing well. Cal sighed, "You chased her for 4 years and she strung you along, keeping you just far enough to keep you interested. She wasn't cruel about it-she just didn't know how to deal with love. But…something happened. An old case came back to haunt her or something and so she had to go into protective custody just after your first surgery."
Woody nodded, letting the table fall into silence for only a few moments before he forced a smile, asking, "So, how about them BoSox?"
XoXoXoXo
Jordan had already placed the pizza box, 3 plates, 3 glasses and a 2-liter bottle of Coke on the table by the time Nedina and Drew came into the kitchen. She waved them impatiently into their seats, plopping into her own chair and crossing her legs, jiggling her top leg in impatience.
"Well?" she demanded, "What did they say?"
Nedina smiled slightly at the other woman's impatience and said, "The chief said that they've got a really good lead on Digger. And there hasn't been another woman for a week," she smiled gently at Jordan, "We should all be home in a week."
XoXoXoXo
The nurses gave Woody hell when Cal returned him to the hospital. And Cal-the brave man he was- skeddadled the moment he'd helped Woody onto the bed with only a wave and a hollered, "Good luck!"
So, after about an hour of being fussed over and scolded for his "irresponsible behavior", Woody was finally left to himself. He was duly tucked under the sheets, the doors closed and the lights off.
"Jordan," he whispered softly into the darkness.
Her face flashed before his mind's eye, her face contorted in the pleading expression. Her eyes were filled with love, sadness and pleading, her words echoing in his mind, "Please Woody, don't leave me! I love you!"
Softly, he whispered, "I love you too, Jordan. Come back to me."
XoXoXoXo
A/N Hey guys, sorry for the delay, but like I said, I've got a busy life. I'm gonna try and get a new chapter up before each Sunday episode, but no promises. Thanks to all my reviewers-sorry for not getting all the names, but if I did, the chapter would take longer to update and I feel guilty. So, I'll see ya'll next time.
'My love,
Red