Chapter Nine

For two days Woody haunted the hospital…staying just outside Jordan's room or sitting in the waiting area. She was hovering somewhere between realm of consciousness and unconsciousness…and he wasn't sure what her reaction would be to him if she woke up and found him by her bed. Woody knew he had made a colossal mistake in telling her to get out of his life, but Jordan wasn't aware of his change of heart.

That was something he wanted to make known to her as soon as she woke up and regained her health – the primary issue of concern to everyone. While Woody hadn't seen Jordan personally, the pictures that came back across his desk as evidence made him sick to his stomach. Her back was a mess. How she had been able to hold her own against the pain and isolation, Woody didn't think he'd ever know.

But the fact was, she did. Which proved to him that she was made of stronger stuff than anyone realized. Or at least he hoped. And he hoped that somewhere in that tensile strength that defined Jordan Cavanaugh, she still find a soft spot in her heart to forgive him.

Woody sighed as he leaned against the wall beside her hospital door. Lily was with her now…Jordan was still coming in and out of consciousness. The grief counselor had promised to give him an update on Jordan just as soon as the doctors had finished. So when the door to Jordan's room opened, he jumped. The doctors filed out, followed by Lily. "How…how is she?" Woody asked, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously up and down and his eyes darting towards the closed door of her room.

"About the same," Lily said, feeling all at once both sorry for Woody and still incredibly angry at him for treating Jordan the way he had.

"No change?"

"Very little. The doctors are sure she's going to be okay….at least physically ….it's the emotional part they're worried about right now. Did this guy play lots of mind games with her? How traumatized is she going to be from this?"

Woody nodded and ran his hand through his hair. "Is she talking any?"

"A little here and there. Nothing real coherent…although she keeps asking for Max …and you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you."

"What does she say?"

Lily bit her lip in an effort to keep the tears out of her eyes. "She…she…keeps saying she's frightened…and….and…she wants you or her father to please come and get her." Lily looked down at the gray tiles of the hospital halls, trying to regain her composure. "She just sounds…so defeated. Not like Jordan at all…."

Woody nodded. Lily was right. That didn't sound like Jordan. "Any chance I can see her? At least for a second or two?"

Lily hesitated for a minute. She wasn't sure what Jordan's reaction would be to Woody…if it would be positive, or if it could possibly send the ME careening off the deep end before they could get her head above water where she was at now. But, since Jordan was mainly unconscious now, Lily really didn't see any harm… "Just for a minute…go on in. I've got to see the nurse about changing the bandages on her back, anyway…" She pushed the door to Jordan's room open slightly, but noticed Woody was still hanging back just a bit. "Go on….she's not going to bite you….And I'll be back in a few minutes."

Nodding again, Woody entered, nearly tiptoeing in, so as not to disturb the quiet of Jordan's dimly lit hospital room…There were several IV hook ups. Woody knew Jordan was dehydrated…and that she was being given liquids. He also knew that one of the IVs held lipids, something that would help put weight back on her. He was aware of all of that. What he didn't plan on was that Jordan would be lying on her side, facing away from him, with the back of her gown open….

And he wasn't aware of just how much her brutalized back was going to throw him off kilter. The pictures didn't do it a half-justice. The bruises were long…some were orange-tinged….fading out…those were the older bruises. Others where fresher….the blue and black splotches holding a reddish center…

Then there were those places that bled. Woody didn't even want to think about how badly those injuries hurt her. All the fury he had kept at bay with this case found itself rising in him again. Who could do this to another human being?

What kind of person would do this to her?

Tentatively, almost without thinking about his reaction, he reached out and smoothed her hair away from her forehead, hoping to somehow convey to her that she was now safe…that he wouldn't allow anyone to hurt again…that all she had to do was concentrate on getting better. He nearly smiled at her reaction…a frown wrested its way across her forehead as he disturbed her sleep…evidently sleep she badly needed. She was resting hard…according to the doctors, she had been too frightened to sleep much during her time with the family….and now was making up for lost time.

"Jordan," he whispered, before he could stop himself, "We're going to catch this guy…the guy that did this to you…I promise…"

She stirred then, his light touch and soft voice bringing her back to reality. "Woody?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on you…" He was still stroking her hair.

Jordan did frown then. Woody no longer "just" checked up on her. Woody no longer cared. "Why?"

His tongue tied itself in knots on that one. He had so much to tell her, but now wasn't the time and she needed to get better first. So he did what any other American male would do in that situation…he hedged for time. "Because…because…you've been hurt…and despite everything that has happened between us, I do care, Jordan."

She narrowed her eyes at him then. She'd give him that much…that he cared. There was still enough of the boy scout under that tough exterior that would be concerned about her…or anyone else…that had been kidnapped by some nut case, held for weeks against their will, and then abused on top of everything else. "I don't remember a whole lot.." she said, referring to the case.

"We can talk about that later, Jo. Right now you just need to rest and get better…"

Then a thought hit Jordan...no one had mentioned it before, but she hadn't really be conscious like she was now. "The other women….Woody….where are the other women? Are they okay? You can't press charges against them, Woody. John…this guy…Everyone was so afraid of him…well….everyone but me…but then even at the end…" her voice faltered and her eyes dropped. Before John had put her in the closet, she had become very nearly willing to do whatever it took to survive another day.

Woody took a deep breath and prepared to hedge again. She definitely didn't need to hear about the other women…not now. "There won't be any charges press against them," he said, hoping she wouldn't notice the tight note in his voice.

Another thought filtered through Jordan's mind. "One of the women….John took her downstairs into the cellar a day or so before I…." her mind was growing fuzzy again as her medication was kicking in…. "Her name was Sarah…she had shoulder length brown hair and green eyes….have you seen her?"

Woody swallowed hard and waited for the pain medication to waft Jordan back into unconsciousness. As a matter of fact, he had seen Sarah – at the morgue. She was John's last victim…Bug and Nigel were performing her autopsy.