A/N Well, I've had fun staring at my stats page, watching the hits number get higher and higher, becoming as giddy as a schoolgirl! (WHAT! I can't believe I just wrote that! It's like an olden day saying! Anyway, I AM a schoolgirl – lol)

Yes, I know this is a bit confusing but bear with me! It figures that for my first fan fic I would do something confusing that had flashbacks in it! Once again, the writing in bold are flashbacks and just sose you know, all the flashbacks have happened before the present day stuff has even begun. Kapish? I hope so! By the way, suspense is my favourite addition to a story so I try to add it in as much as possible to the best of my ability. So if you have no idea what's wrong with Jordan then GOOD! If you do, then, huh! Poo poo to you! Actually, I don't mean it! I was actually hoping you'd figure it out before her friends do anyway, just like figuring out a case on TV before the detectives do themselves – it's SO MUCH FUN!

Btw, I've decided whether its gonna be W/J or a N/J! BUT, I'm not telling you! He he he! I've also had the fun of trying to think of chapter names (as if naming the story wasn't hard enough!) so I've decided to cheat and listen to some of my fav songs and use descriptions out of them. If you've never really listened to the lyrics of a song before, you should start now – there's so much magic, it paints a picture right in front of you (almost as good as the paintings by my friends dip (Adele) and la la banana (Lara)! My nickname to my friends is WofL by the way!) And just sose you know – I SUCK at art! lol!

Oh, and thankyou to all those who reviewed. They were well worth the effort!

Disclaimer: Even though I've wished on my birthday cake 3 years running and asked Santa twice, Crossing Jordan in NOT mine and probably never will be – damn!

The next couple of hours were a blur. Somehow, she managed to get herself washed and dressed decently with time to spare for breakfast. Sitting at her kitchen counter, she stared at the toaster, which was giving out an obvious burning smell. She didn't feel energised enough to stop it and was thankful that she didn't have a smoke alarm. Now that she thought about it, she didn't really want anything to eat; her stomach was still turning at the nasty comment Woody had made last night.

Instead, she thought it might be nice to arrive early to work for once, instead of being late as per usual. Besides, she needed to invite Nigel out tonight. The office was throwing him a surprise birthday party at the Pogue and she was responsible for getting him there, on time, dressed appropriately for the occasion and without him suspecting anything and she didn't know exactly how she was going to do that.

Several hours later, Jordan's colleagues were in hysterics. "Let me get this straight," laughed Bug, "you got Nigel here by making him think you were going on a date?"

Jordan nodded not laughing with the others, "Yeh. Truth be told, under different circumstances I might of considered it for real!" she added, making her friends laugh even harder. Little did they know the circumstances as to which she was referring to had to do with Woody.

Truth be told, Nigel was ecstatic when Jordan had asked him out. He had always loved her, although she had always interpreted it as a brotherly love, which he was fine with. But when Jordan had come up to him this morning and asked if he wanted to go out he had thought that finally, finally, Jordan had realised that all the nice things he did, he only did for her. The fact that it happened to be his birthday today never even crossed his mind.

On the other side of the bar he leaned against the wall, waiting to collect the drinks he had ordered for the table. Nigel stood, watching Jordan. He frowned; she didn't seem to be joining in with the laughter. Instead, she was sitting back from the group; this wasn't her usual self. Add to that her weird behaviour at work today, what with her puffy eyes, her eagerness to do paperwork and her sudden urge to be locked up in her office all day, and Nigel was sure something was up.

Bringing the drinks back to the table, he sat down next to Jordan, who aided him in passing around the drinks. Woody was starting to tell a joke. "So there's this guy and he's says 'waiter, waiter, come taste my soup,' and the waiters says 'what, is it too cold?' and the guys says 'no, just taste my soup' and the waiters says 'what, is it too hot?' and the guys says 'no, just taste my soup' and the waiters says 'what, is there a fly in it?' and the guys says 'no-' "

"Woody, just get on with it" Garret interrupted.

"Ok, ok, so the guys says 'no, just taste my soup' and the waiters says 'fine, I'll taste your soup, where's the spoon?' and the guy goes 'ahhhhhhhh' and waves his finger at the waiter. Get it? All the guy wanted was a spoon!" Woody laughed, hysterical. Jordan exchanged looks with Nigel who was the only other one not laughing. She rolled her eyes. The rest were laughing out of drunkenness although Nigel was sure that Jordan had had far more to drink than all of them put together.

The fact was – Jordan was drunk – so drunk that she couldn't even remember why they were all at the Pogue tonight. She was trying to drain the Woody in her mind. He was shouting at her. Repeating what he had said the night before. Damn. He wouldn't go away. It didn't help that he was also staring her right in the face. She took another gulp of strong alcohol, finishing her just acquired drink. 'Get over yourself Jordan. Learn to take a risk!' roared the Woody in her mind. He wasn't going away. Hell. Maybe just one more drink could fix that.

She stood up to go over to the bar, forgetting Nigel was sitting next to her. She tripped and promptly fell on top of him. Her colleagues laughed hysterically. Nigel helped her up and stood up to go with her to the bar, a voluntary leaning pole. Jordan refused, "I'm fine Nige, just a little tipsy."

"Well there's the understatement of the year!" Lily laughed, causing everyone at the table to clutch their stomachs in laughter yet again. So much so, that they were getting odd looks from the surrounding tables. Nigel knew she was way too drunk but didn't want to push the matter in front of everyone. He also knew that something, something else, was eating her away. He was concerned for her, and made a mental promise to himself to find out what that was and if he could help her in any way. For now, however, he nodded at her and let her go, only not for one moment keeping his eyes off her – just in case.

Jordan made her way to the bar, her blurry eyesight and whacked sense of balance not seeming to cause too much of a problem. Someone whistled at her from behind. She turned around to see a group of guys laughing at her, nudging one another. 'Get over yourself Jordan. Learn to take a risk!' She wanted him to know she was taking a risk – just not his. With Woody's words ringing in her ears, she walked over to them.

A few minutes later, she walked out of the bar, a strangers arm wrapped tightly and protectively around her shoulder. She glanced back only once, to make sure Woody had noticed. He hadn't just noticed, he was gaping after her; in danger of swallowing a fly. Good. She wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt her. Anger rushed through her veins. Then she caught sight of Nigel's face. Her anger stopped, immediately turning to guilt and regret. Her heart, which was already broken in two from Woody, now broke again.

In that split second, she realised that Nigel loved her. As she was pulled sharply around a corner, her companion leading her out of the Pogue, her head spun as she processed that new information concerning Nigel. His obedience to her, his willingness to bend the rules, even if it meant his ass was on the line, and his smiles that he seemed to reserve only for her. She felt like such a fool. Why hadn't she noticed it before? She already knew the answer. It was because she valued his love like a sister would. Growing up an only child, she longed for a sibling. Nigel was the next best thing.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she suddenly realised she didn't know where she was. She looked up at her companion, which, she suddenly realised, she didn't even know the name of. He was tall, very tall, and from what Jordan could see of him he was very muscly, had lots of tattoos (including a rather gruesome one of a bloody eyeball which seemed to stare Jordan in the face), and looked as though he had a criminal record. 'Great' she thought, 'what have I gotten myself into now!'

Hating the feeling of being out of control, she decided it was now or never. "Hey, Mr. Muscles, where are we off to?"

The guy turned around to face her, producing a gun from out of nowhere. He pointed it directly at her as Jordan looked into his cold dark eyes that reminded her of tunnels. "If you value your life, I'd do as I say," he sneered, obviously pleased with himself. "So, pretty lady, you're not to make a sound."

"Gee, I really don't want to know where you had to put that thing for me not to notice," she said, referring to the gun.

"I mean it!" he growled harshly, as he pushed the gun into Jordan's side and dragged her down an alleyway.

Impatiently drumming his fingers on the table, Garret glanced at his watch for the tenth time this minute. She should be here by now, he murmured to himself. He was worried about her. What if she had done something really stupid? Was she avoiding him? Maybe she was in more trouble than he had assumed. Damn! Why did he not go back and talk to her! He knew what Jordan was like! Why had he been so stupid? He wandered down the hall to her office. Her coat, bag, and keys were still there. Shit! There was a broken liquor bottle smashed against the cabinet. It looked like it had been thrown. And was that blood on the table! Crap! Double Crap! Garret cursed silently to himself twice. Jordan was in trouble. Racing back down to his office, he rang her apartment. "Pick up Jordan! Pick up! God dammit!"

Jordan awoke to find herself on the ground, in a pool of blood. She looked around herself to find her apartment in a mess. She couldn't remember how she had gotten here, what had happened? She frowned, remembering the argument with Garret. She put her hand up to her head as she had a pounding headache and there was a ringing in her ears. In doing so, she caught sight of her arm – it was covered in bruises and scratches. She pulled her arm away from her head to further examine herself only to find that her hands were now covered in fresh blood. Damn! The blood was hers. How much had she lost? What on earth had happened! Feeling she should clean herself up, she started to rise until she realised that the ringing she could hear was actually her phone. That must have been what woke her up. She cautiously raised the handset to her ear, unsure whether she wanted to take this call. "Hello?" she said in a small, weak voice that sounded nothing like her own.

"Jordan? Is that you? Where have you been?" he asked, thankful she had at least picked up the phone.

"Huh?" Jordan frowned, with a confused look on her face.

"You're on the morning shift, remember? I need you down here! We've got bodies up to our ears in here!" he retorted as calmly as he could manage. He waited for a typical sarcastic Jordan reply but none came. "Look," he continued, more genuinely calm, "if this is about what happened last night I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just that you seem to not be yourself nowadays and I care about you Ok?"

"I'm sorry, wh, who is this again?' she asked, her voice faltering a little.

"It's Garret." This was followed by a long pause of silence at the other end. "Jordan… are you Ok? Are you ill? Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

This seemed to snap her out of her trance. "Uh, I'll be there in half an hour. Thanks Garret" she replied quickly, hanging up on him.

"Don't you dare hang up on me Jordan!" Garret yelled into the phone. The consistent beeping from the other end told him she had. "God dammit!" he screamed in fury, throwing the handset across the room.

"A late night turning into a bad morning doc?" someone called out to him from the doorway. Garret looked up, it was Woody.

"Yeah, Jordan tends to do that to you," he replied, staring at the phone, which was now audibly beeping loudly across the other side of the room.

"Don't be too hard on her for not coming in today though" he replied, "She never ever takes a day off! She deserves a break," he said, turning to get on with whatever he was here for in the first place.

"What do you mean," Garret called out, stopping Woody, "I just talked to her – she is coming in. Had to remind her but, she sounded all funny on the phone"

"Don't blame her." Woody responded. "Vomited so violently yesterday and just kinda collapsed into my arms. I expect she sounded weak."

"Well yeah," Garret confessed, "When did all this happen?"

"Well I expect it was more in the early hours of this morning really. Literally bumped into her as she was coming out of the building elevator. She didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't," Garret growled, "Was she Ok after that?"

"To tell you the truth, I have absolutely no idea," Woody revealed. "She went all funny after a few minutes in my arms. Said she was sick of him; didn't know who she was referring to. Then, against my request, she kinda ran out."

A long silence drenched them as Garret took in what Woody had said. "Uh, why were you here that early in the morning anyway?' Garret asked, suddenly becoming curious.

Garret watched with amusement as Woody's face turned from a pale white, to crimson red. "Um, I, er, just, uh, well…" he squirmed under Garrets questioning glare. Garret narrowed his eyebrows. "When, when I can't sleep at night sometimes, I come to sit in Jordan's office; soak up her scent," he said bashfully, staring down at the floor instead of looking Garret in the eye. He could feel Garret's piercing eye upon him, baring into the side of his head, burning a hole there like fire.

"Uh huh," Garret mumbled, unsure whether he really wanted to know that or not. "Well, thanks for that, I'll be a bit more lenient with Jordan once she comes in then. Is there anything I can help you with then?" Garret asked, becoming more professional.

"Nah, I came to pick up a few files off Bug. See ya!" Woody almost exclaimed, glad Garret had finished interrogating him.

Knowing she didn't have much time, Jordan stopped the bleeding of her wounds and dressed herself in long pants and a jumper, despite the sweltering weather outside carefully covering every inch of herself up as she didn't yet know how she had come to be covered in scratches and bruises and wasn't quite sure whether it was something she wanted everyone else to know about yet. She raced out the door, ignoring her stomach's need for breakfast.

Upon arriving at the Morgue, Garret was waiting for her in her office.

"What the hell is going on?" he lectured, raising his eyebrows at her warm clothing. "And why on earth are you dressed like that?"

"Like what?" Jordan asked as innocently as she could muster, avoiding looking Garret in the eye. She couldn't. Not after…

Garret sighed. There was definitely something up with her. He was worried she might faint from the heat. He rose from her chair and was going to leave her, too exasperated with her to push the matter when he noticed a nasty cut on her forehead. "Jordan! How did you get that cut! What the hell happened last night!"

Jordan quickly pushed her hair forward, trying to cover the cut. "Nothing, I'm fine. I just, just, fell down the stairs, that's all" she quickly made up, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze.

She was lying through her teeth but she was obviously uncomfortable with talking to him. He'd ask Lily to talk with her. She was good at analysing Jordan; and if Jordan wouldn't even talk with Lily, then it was worse than he thought. "Well, then, I need you in Autopsy 1 with Nigel. He's already started."

"Sure" she retorted, turning on her heel feeling Garret stare after her as she quickened her pace.

Barging into Autopsy 1, she began to glove up and put her coat on without even removing her winter coat she was wearing. She had been preparing herself for over a minute until she realised that Nigel wasn't there. Hadn't Garret said…

"Boo!" Nigel laughed, springing up from behind her. Jordan screamed, flinging her arms across her face. Before Nigel could react to her strange behaviour, she promptly collapsed, falling into Nigel's arms.

"Shit!" he cursed softly to himself and noticing Lily and Bug, who were passing by outside, he called out "Help! Get Dr. Macy! Quick!"

A/N I meant to ask you before – what do you think of my chapter lengths? Too long? Too short? Paragraphs to long? Am I slashing a character of all their personality (beside Jordan – I'm introducing a side never before seen of her! (Well, almost never!) (and can you have a bracket in a bracket?) Mwahahaha!)

And, I'm not sure if Boston gets hot days – I'm not too familiar with the weather of America! I know down here in Sydney we sure can get some hot days! lol! Also, the soup joke told by Woody does not belong to me – it's at the end of some old movie I can't even remember the name of! lol