Title:Jumping In

Author: AthenaIceGoddess

Spoilers: Jump Push Fall

Angst/Romance/Drama

Summary: Just my take on what might happen post Jump Push Fall. Lots of WJ angst, so if you aren't a shipper... probably shouldn't read this one

Disclaimer: I own no part of Crossing Jordan. If I did, do you think I would be writing fanfiction?

Chapter 13

Woody knew he should wait for backup, but Steven's words kept playing over and over in his mind, like a recording, She's already dead... There's nothing you can do, she's already dead...

He practically ran for the door to the precinct. Stopping to grab his coat, he looked over his shoulder to the secretary. "Call the morgue and tell them Jordan's at his house. Then call an ambulance." Woody told her, and good woman she was, she immediately picked up the phone and started dialing.

Woody was in his car and speeding back to Steven's house, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming profanities at the drivers around him who seemed to be going at a snail's pace. The drivers were blaring their horns and waving fingers around, but Woody paid no attention. Jordan was hurt, and nothing would stop him from getting to her.

Woody's tires screeched as he pulled up to the curb, jumping out almost before the car was completely stopped, and ran up to the front door.

It was locked, so no one would break in while Steven was detained, but Woody just kicked it in and went into the living room.

"Rug, rug... there!" In the corner, a small, tattered throw rug covered a portion of the floor. Pulling it back, Woody revealed the trap door, as promised.

Seeing the door made Woody even more anxious to see Jordan. He hesitated, scared of what he might find. What if she really was... ?

No. He thought firmly. This is Jordan we're talking about. She's fine. She's gotta be fine.

He pulled the trap door up, and stepped down the ladder. It took a second for Woody's eyes to adjust to the gloom. Without the light from the door shining in, it would have been pitch black.

A small moan from one corner drew his attention, and there she was. Alive.

Woody ran over and knelt down beside her, brushing a stand of tangled hair from her forehead.

"Oh, Jo, I'm so sorry." Woody muttered, taking in her ashen face, blue lips, and feverish state.

To his surprise, her eyes fluttered open. "W-Woody?" She rasped out, struggling to remain conscious as her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm going to get you out of here. Garrett's coming, and so are the paramedics, so just hold on for me, ok? Just a few more minutes." Woody told her, lifting her thin form in his arms.

" Never doubted you for a minute... farmboy..." She whispered, head falling back onto his shoulder limply.

"Jordan?Jordan!" Woody cried, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but barely. The faintness of it terrified Woody.

"Just hold on! Don't you dare die! Not when I've finally realized what an ass I've been. Damn you!" He cried, shaking her.

He didn't know what he would do without her. Five years they'd played their little cat and mouse game, dancing around each other and coyly flirting, just to back off when one got too close. Woody finally realized what made Jordan declare her love for him in his darkest moment, and it wasn't pity.

She really had meant it, and now he'd never get the chance to tell her exactly how he felt...

"Woody! You in here?" Garrett's voice sounded like wonderful music to Woody's ears. "Yeah, We're down here!" Woody lifted her up into Garrett and Nigel's waiting arms, pulling himself out next and picking her back up.

"Where the hell is the ambulance?" He cried, pulling out his cell phone and laying Jordan down gently on the floor.

Garrett checked her pulse, frowning. "What did that bastard do to her? It looks like some kind of poison, but not one I've ever seen. That ambulance had better get here soon, she doesn't have much time."

Nigel walked over to Woody, who was watching the situation from the side. "You did good, mate. You found her. The rest is up to her." He clapped the detective on the shoulder, and went back over to Garrett.

The ambulance pulled up to the curb, right behind Woody's car, pulling a stretcher out of the back and running up to the house.

"Where is she?" One of them asked. Woody grabbed Jordan, putting her on the stretcher and following them into the ambulance. They tried to stop him, but the death glare he gave them was enough to melt a glacier.

"We'll be right behind you." Garrett told Woody before the doors closed. Woody nodded, and returned his attention to the woman lying in front of him.

"You her husband or something?" The spanish paramedic asked, a New York accent coloring his voice.

"Or something." Woody replied distractedly. The monitor Jordan was hooked up to was showing her heartbeat getting weaker and weaker, and it suddenly went flat.

"She's crashing!" The other paramedic yelled, pushing Woody to the back of the bus as they started doing CPR on her prone form.

Time seemed to slow for Woody as he watched. It seemed like a cliche later on, but scenes of their times together flashed through his mind. Jordan grinning up at him on the dance floor, Jordan forcing him to run that extra mile, Jordan, with tears in her eyes, telling him that she loved him and that he'd better live, because she couldn't live without him. Jordan kissing him in the desert...

1 hour later...

Woody paced in front of the ER doors, feeling just about ready to rip every hair from his head. Jordan had crashed on the way to the hospital, and the doctors had been working on her since the minute she was wheeled in.

There had been no news, and Woody just couldn't believe that no news was good news at this point. He kept expecting the doors to open, and a doctor to come out and shake his head.

"Woody!" A distinctly female voice cried, and he turned just in time to catch Lily, who had thrown herslef into his arms, crying.

She looked up, all tear streaked cheeks and red nose. "Is there any word yet?" She asked, her voice wavering.

Woody just shook her head, and Lily burst into tears again. Bug, Nigel, and Garrett joined them, silently asking the same question Lily just had.

The detective again shook his head, passing a sobbing Lily off to Nigel. "Nothing yet. God, they've been at it for the last hour now." woody ran a hand through his already messy hair, looking at Garrett with tortured eyes.

"I can't help but think that maybe if I'd left her with Lily at the restaurant, or insisted that the chief put her in Witness Protection, or something... maybe she'd be-" His voice broke, and he rubbed a hand over his face.

"You can't blame yourself. Do you really think she would have gone into Witness protection? No one could- can, damnit!- make Jordan do something she didn't want to do." Garrett replied.

The ER doors opened and a doctor in scrubs came out. He looked down for a second, sending everyone's hearts into the floor, but then he looked up and nodded.

"Yes!" Woody yelled, pumpng his fist into the air. Lily buried her face in Nigel's shoulder, another wave of tears overwhelming her. Bug and Nigel grinned, and Garrett just nodded back.

"Can we see her?" Woody asked, ready to sit at her bedside for the next month if necessarily.

The doctor held up his hand to stop the eager detective from running straight into the ER. "She's stabilized, but don't get your hopes up. She's still in serious danger. Whatever poison that guy gave her screwed her up but good. We've moved her to ICU, but she'll be under constant observation by nurses and myself at least until tomorrow.I'd like to tell you she'll be fine, but I can't."

Woody's jaw twitched. "I'm staying here tonight." he said. "There's no way I'm leaving this hospital until she's awake."

The others nodded. "Call us if there's any change, ok?" Nigel said, leading Lily away. Bug followed, but Garrett stayed behind, giving Woody THE look. You know the one, the one a father gives his daughter's first boyfriend when he meets him, and Woody shrank back a bit.

"I don't know the whole story of what happened between you and Jordan, and I don't want to, but I will tell you that you'd better get things squared away between you. If you don't, I'll do it for you." He told the stunned detective, walking away.

When Woody recovered, he chuckled. He planned on it. There was no way Jordan was getting away from him this time, even if he had sit on her and beat it into her.

Woody stayed true to his promise and waited outside Jordan's room in ICU. By the morning, the trash can beside the stiff plastic chairs was full of coffee cups.

The same doctor who had greeted Woody last night walked into the ICU, nodding to Woody before he went into Jordan's room. Woody watched him check her blood pressure and make notes on his clipboard before he came back out into the waiting room.

"She's doing better. It's remarkable! To tell you the truth, I didn't think she'd make it through the night, but she's a tough lady. She's a fighter." he said, shaking his head.

Woody grinned at her sleeping form through the window. "Yeah, that's Jordan. Stubborn as a mule. Can I see her now?"

The doctor nodded. "Sure, but don't get your hops up. She probably won't be awake for a while yet.", and Woody went into the room. He pulled a chair over next to her bed and sat down, taking Jordan's hand in his own.

"I knew you'd pull through, Jo. It'll take more than a religious fanatic and a little poison to do you in. I'll admit, though, that I was a little worried there for a while, but you pulled through." He chuckled at his rambling.

"I'm just glad you're still here. We'll figure this thing out between us." He gently kissed her knuckles, and layed his head down on the bed.

Some time later, Woody jerked awake when he felt the bed that was serving as his pillow moved.

He snapped his head up, yawning and blinking like an owl. "What the-?" He saw, to his endless surprise, Jordan struggling to sit up in bed.

"Nice to see you too, Farmboy. How about you help a girl out here and get me a drink of water?" She asked, and Woody gaped. It was amazing! Granted, she was still weak and looked like death warmed over, but she was awake! And being tyical Jordan, ordering him around.

W oody never thoguht he'd be so happy to have his bossy ME back. Needless to say, he brought her her glass of water with a grin on his face.

"What are you smiling at?" Jordan asked guardedly, taking a sip of her water. "Do I really look that bad?"

Woody shook his head, leaning forward and tucking her hair behind her ear. "You look beautiful." He got serious. "Jordan, when I thought I had lost you, I... well, let's just say I don't know what I'd do without you."

Jordan looked down into her drink. "Now you know what I felt like when you were wheeled into that operating rooom."

"And then I kicked you out of my life. Jo, I'm so sorry. I was being an ass. But god, if you really loved me, why did you wait so long to tell me?"

Jordan looked up, fire in her eyes. "You're damn right you were being an ass! You know exactly how hard it is for me to open up to people, and then you go and do that! You broke my heart, Woody." She whispered the last sentence so softly, Woody wasn't sure he heard her right.

"What?" He asked, not quite believing his ears. "I SAID, you broke my HEART!" She yelled, catching the attention of her doctor, who was about to rush in when Woody kicked the door shut and locked.

"Hey! Let me in there!" He yelled, banging on the door. Woody shook his head. "We're in the middle of solving some relationship issues here. Give us a minute! Or an hour." Woody muttered, turning back to Jordan.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair again. "Jo, I- I don't know what to say. I honestly believed you didn't care about me that way."

Rolling her eyes, Jordan shifted and winced, finger ing the bandage that covered her ribs. "You have to be the most clueless cop in the history of cops. Let me tell you again, so maybe you'll believe me: I, Jordan Cavanaugh, Love you, Woodrow farmboy Hoyt. That clear enough for you?"

A slow smile spread over Woody's lips, and he leaned over Jordan's bed, stopping when his lips are mere inches from hers. "Are you sure?" He teased, but Jordan was in no mood for teasing. She grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss.

When they finally parted, catcalls and applause came from the hallway. Nigel,Bug,Lily, and Garrett were outside, showing their approval. The doctor just shook his head and walked away.

Woody opened the door to let them all in and they all clapped him on the shoulder before going and talking to Jordan.

Woody stood in the background and stared at the woman he'd been chasing for the last five years. Who wuold have thouht it would take two near death experiences to finally get them together?

SMiling to himself, Woody knew one thing for sure: Nothing would tear them apart. he'd see to that.

THE END

About time, I know. Writers block hit me and just let up when I saw the preview for next week. Thanks TONS to all my reviewers who hung in there through my annoying waits. Hugs to you all!