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The first thing I became aware of when I came to was light. Bright, blinding light that seemed to pound into my head. I winced and tried to sit up.
"No, no, Jordan, you need to stay down," said a soothing voice.
I opened my eyes and squinted against the light. My body ached. My head ached. Even my hair seemed to ache as I tried to focus on the blurry face swimming in front of me.
"Woody?" I asked, my voice gruff.
"Yeah, Jo, it's me. You need to lie down, relax," he said.
"What's going on? Where am I?" I asked, completely disoriented. The last thing I remembered...was Lyle's apartment, Woody coming in and shooting Lyle.
"You're in the hospital, Jo. You have a concussion. You're going to be fine, but you need to relax."
I sank back onto the hospital bed and looked around. The room was empty except for Woody and me and a vase of daisies.
"Your dad and Garrett and Nigel are here," he said. "Bug and Lily are going to stop by as soon as they can," Woody said. "Garrett and Nige took your dad down to the cafeteria to get some coffee."
I shifted around gingerly. My back was killing me. "How long have I been here?" I asked.
"You've been unconscious for eight hours. It's about eight am." He paused. "You gave me quite a scare, Jordan," Woody said softly. He took one of my hands in his and looked down at me gravely. "He beat you pretty bad and you have a lump the size of a golf ball on the back of your head."
"He threw me against the refrigerator," I said. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.
"Jordan!" I opened my eyes and saw my father hurrying through the doorway, followed closely by Nigel and Garrett.
Woody hurried to step aside as my Dad reached the bedside.
"Oh my God, Jordan, I was so worried," Dad said, his voice uneven.
"I'm okay, Dad," I said.
He hugged me carefully. "Thank God Woody found you when he did."
I had so many questions, but my eyes were growing heavier and heavier. I tried to force my eyes open but I just couldn't. I shut my eyes and fell back into the peacefulness of sleep.
X
When I woke up again I felt a lot better. At least my whole body didn't ache, although my head was still pounding.
Opening my eyes I saw Woody sprawled out in a chair next to the hospital bed, sound asleep. I looked down at him, remembering my last thoughts before he had shown up at Lyle's apartment, when I had thought that without a doubt, I was not going to make it out of there alive.
I clearly remembered thinking that I had never gotten the chance to tell Woody how I felt about him. Interesting that that would be the last thing I would think about. Not my mother, not my father, but Woody. I didn't want to analyze what that meant.
A dark haired head poked around the doorway. "Jordan, luv, you're awake!"
"Hey Nige," I said.
Nigel came into the room, creeping past Woody who was still asleep. "He's been here all day," Nigel said, nodding his head towards the sleeping Woody. "So's your Dad, he just left to get something to eat."
"What time is it?" I asked as I cautiously pushed myself up so I was sitting up.
"It's about noontime," Nigel replied. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and stood beside the hospital bed.
"You gave us quite the scare, luv," Nigel said. "Woody called us while they were bringing you here. The way he was talking we thought...well, we thought the worst."
"Yeah, well, I'm tough," I said with a wry smile.
Nigel was still staring at me.
"What, do I look that bad?"
"You're pretty black and blue, luv. He did a number on ya," Nigel said.
"Well, he ended up the worst off, so it's okay," I said.
Nigel chuckled. "That's my Jordan," he said.
Just then Woody stirred. He sat up, looked over at me and jumped up.
"Jordan, you're up! How are you?" he asked.
"I'm fine, Wood. What are you doing here? Don't you have work?"
Woody shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I'm on leave. Because of the shooting, while they investigate."
"Oh," I said. "I'm sorry, Woody."
He shrugged again. "It'll be fine," he said.
Nigel's glance darted between Woody and me and he edged towards the door. "I'm glad you're feeling better, luv. I'm going to go find Max and tell him you're awake."
"Thanks, Nige," I said and he disappeared through the door, shutting it behind him.
Woody and I stared at each other.
"So how'd ya find me?" I asked finally because I couldn't think of anything else to say.
"We couldn't get a trace on your cell phone because it cut out. So we had to try and figure out which apartment building you were in. Your clues were good, but there are a lot of apartment buildings in that area. The last thing I heard was the eighth floor, so we just started going to the eighth floor of apartment buildings in that area. That was the fourth one we went into."
I thought about that. If the phone had cut out before I had mentioned the eighth floor they would never have found me and Lyle would most definitely have killed me. It was a sobering thought.
Woody had just opened his mouth to say something when the door burst open and Dad and Nigel walked in.
"Jordan, how are you feeling?" Dad asked. He came to the bedside and took my hand. His face was ashen.
"I'm fine Dad, really," I said. "Woody found me just in time."
"I know he did," Dad said. He looked across the bed at Woody who was standing there looking self conscious and rumpled, wearing the same shirt and slacks as he had worn the day before. "Thank you, Woody," Dad said and he held out his hand.
Woody took it and they shook hands firmly. "I'm just glad we got there when we did. I wish we'd gotten there sooner, before he did this to you," he said, brushing his fingers lightly across my cheek.
"Eh, it's just some bruises and a concussion," I said with a little shrug. "It's just a good thing I'm so hard headed."
"And that, my dear, is the worlds biggest understatement," Dad said with a chuckle and Woody and Nigel laughed.
Due to the severity of the concussion the doctor wanted me to stay the rest of the day for observation. I hated being cooped up in the sterile hospital room but throughout the day I had visitors. Woody finally had to leave for a meeting with the chief of police and DA Wolcott and we had never gotten a chance to talk any more, which gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand I knew he had had more to say to me, on the other, I wasn't sure that I wanted to know what it was he wanted to say.
Darcie came, bringing me a pint of Ben and Jerry's. She gasped when she saw me and thanked me over and over for saving her life.
"I couldn't have made it, Jordan. I'm not kidding, you are so much stronger than I ever could have been," she said after I told her the whole story. "I can't believe you stabbed him."
I shrugged. "I did what I had to do," I said.
"Still, I owe you my life," she said. She shuddered. "He was going to come back for me if you hadn't found me."
"Nigel is the one that found you," I said, motioning towards Nigel who was lurking in the doorway with Lily. "Nige, come and meet Darcie."
Introductions went around and soon everyone was chatting like old friends. Lily had brought me a potted plant, which was a nice gesture. She set it cheerfully on the shelf and I didn't have the heart to tell her that it would be dead in a week. "Gee, thanks, Lily!" I said with a smile. I had a terrible track record with plants, I thought, thinking of the brownish thing in my office that had once been a spider plant.
Nigel and Darcie seemed to really hit it off, and I could tell she really dug his accent. Soon they had decided to go get coffee and they left together, laughing. Lily and I watched them go and I thought that it would be nice if they got together.
"So, Jordan, do you want to talk about anything?" Lily asked as she settled down in the chair next to the bed. "That was quite the experience you had."
I sighed, started to get defensive like I always do, and then I stopped. "Actually...yeah, I think I do need to talk," I said.
Lily looked at me attentively.
"The thing is," I said, "Is that I'm around weirdoes like this guy all the time. I see them, I see the things they do. But this guy, he had me completely fooled. It's like...I don't know, I wonder if I can trust myself."
Lily was silent for a few minutes. "Well, Jordan, you can't just always go around being suspicious of everyone. Most people are not serial killers."
"I know, but I just feel so stupid. I fell for it, all of his lies, everything."
Lily chewed on her bottom lip and looked at me thoughtfully. "I think there might be more to how you're feeling than you're telling me."
I looked down and sighed. I didn't know how to say the things that I was just now starting to understand about myself.
Taking a deep breath I looked up at Lily, who took my hand. "I didn't want to go out with this guy because I liked him," I said. "I did it because I knew it would hurt Woody."
"Why do you want to hurt Woody?" Lily asked, her brow furrowed with confusion.
"Because..." my voice trailed off. "Because I l...like him and it scares me."
"You're afraid he doesn't feel the same way and it's easier if you force him away than if you have to face up to your feelings?" Lily said, very counselor-like.
"Yeah."
Lily leaned back in her chair. "I don't know what to say, Jordan. I mean, it's obvious how he feels about you. He's been here ever since they brought you here. Nigel said he wouldn't even leave when they came to take his badge and his gun."
I sighed heavily.
"You said you like him?"
"Yeah, I do," I replied.
"But you've never told him?"
I chuckled humorlessly. "No."
"Well, maybe you should. You would probably feel better."
"Maybe," I said doubtfully. "He saved my life you know. Lyle Barton would have killed me."
"I know, Nigel told us," Lily said.
"I don't know, maybe I will tell him."
Lily smiled at me. "I think you should, but it's your choice."
"Thanks Lil," I said.
"For what?"
"For listening to me."
"Anytime, Jordan. And I mean that!" Lily said with a warm smile. "Well, I have to get back, I have an appointment in an hour."
"Okay. Thanks for coming by. Oh, and thanks for the plant," I said as I looked over at it.
"You're welcome. Oh, and Jordan..."
"Yeah?"
"It's a silk plant, just so you know," Lily said with a wink as she walked out the door and I just laughed.
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