He took tenacious steps towards her; afraid of what he would see when he got there. He could tell she was bleeding, see the way she was slumped against the cold stone wall, her breathing slow and staggered. Her blonde her was plastered to her face with sweat as Woody pulled out his cell phone and dialled Garret's number.
The older mans voice was heavy with exhaustion but the second Woody told him that Jordan was in trouble, he could hear the energy pounce into his voice and the sound of running footsteps and the engine of a car starting. Garret really did care a hell of a lot about Jordan.
Woody turned his attention back to Lu, closing the remaining steps separating them and bending down beside her bleeding body.
"Are you ok?" he asked quietly, concern seeping through his voice. He really wanted to help Jordan right now too, but at the moment, he was committed to Lu and he was determined to not screw up the relationship before it really got off the ground.
"Just get me out of here," she muttered, struggling with the chains.
Woody's senses suddenly perked for reasons unknown to him and he swivelled around, facing the corner that Jordan was in. He could see the outline of her slim figure huddled in the corner but she wasn't moving. And although it was hard to tell through the stifling darkness, her chest wasn't moving up and down either.
"Jordan?" Woody asked, fiddling with the lock chaining Lu to the wall while attempting to see if Jordan was ok. There was no response. He turned his attention back to the blonde.
"When was the last time she talked?" Woody asked, finally finding a key on the ground and inserting it into the lock. There was a faint click as the lock came undone and Lu pulled her hands free.
"Maybe about ten minutes ago," Lu asked, rubbing her wrists.
"WOODY! JORDAN!" The voice was faint, coming from somewhere above them. But Woody recognised it anyways.
"GARRET WE'RE DOWN HERE," Woody yelled back.
"You mind?" Lu asked. "I was just knocked in the back of the head and my brain in aching," she said. Woody smiled apologetically.
"Sorry," he muttered. The sound of shoes descending down a flight of stairs reached their ears and they looked up. Garret was running down, nearly tripping over his feet in an attempt to get down the stairs.
"Woody," he said, slightly out of breath. "Where is she?" he asked, taking in the sight of the dark basement and Woody massaging Lu's bruised wrists.
Woody pointed in the direction where Jordan was sitting and in a second Garret was across the threshold and at her side.
"Do you have a key?" he asked. Woody tossed it to him and he caught it gracefully in his left hand, immediately unlocking the chains and tugging Jordan's arms away. "Come on Jordan. Talk to me," Garret said, lightly slapping her face. "JORDAN!" He pounded his fist lightly but hard enough down on her chest and coughing filled the air. "There you are," he said, his voice filled with relief.
Jordan continued to cough. "What the hell happened?" she asked. Garret put his hands under her arms and lifted her into a sitting position.
"I'd like to know the same," Garret said, his voice dripping with venom. "Are you ok?"
"Son of a bitch smacked me in the back of the head with something metal," Jordan said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Garret can you come check out Lu's wound?" Woody asked, looking at the scrape on the back of Lu's head where she was hit.
Garret looked fleetingly at Jordan as he got up and walked over to Lu, gently prodding his fingers onto her head. "It's superficial. It'll be fine," Garret said.
"Thanks," Lu said.
Silence filled the cold room and another wave of unexplainable dread washed over Woody. "Jordan?" he asked, her silence scaring him. "Jordan?" he asked again, the tension and fear in his voice more apparent. She didn't answer back. "Jordan!" He yelled this time and Garret was taken aback by the anxiousness in his voice.
Garret got up from his spot beside Woody and Lu and ran over to Jordan, bending down beside her unmoving body which was slumped against the cold wall. "Jordan!" he yelled. She didn't respond. "Jordan!" Now Garret was worried. And Woody was even more. "DAMNIT!" Garret said suddenly, slamming his fist into the wall. Woody and Lu jumped. "Woody she's gone into shock. I need your help."
Woody was on his feet in an instant, striding quickly across the floor and leaning over Jordan. "What the hell happened to her? She was fine five minutes ago!" Woody said.
"Her body went into shock. Her head wound must be more serious than I thought. Where the hell is that backup I called for!" Garret was bending over Jordan's cold body, Woody's hand clasped in Jordan's. He would be damned if his decision of choosing Lu over Jordan was the death of her.
"What do we do?" Woody asked.
"I need you to give her CPR!" Garret said.
"What!" Woody protested. He had only kissed Jordan on two occasions, not including the Lucy Carver Inn. And, of course, only when he's off the market does the opportunity arise to kiss her again.
"I'm not asking you to make out with her!" Garret said as though he was acting like a child in grade five. "Just breath air into her lungs while I do the recessitation!" Garret said.
Woody gave Lu a fleeting glance before staring into Jordan's motionless face and bending lower.
"Don't forget to plug her nose and tilt her head back," Garret's voice sounded from somewhere above him.
Woody did as he was told and tilted her head gently back, plugging her nose with his left hand and gently lowering his mouth to hers, right hand still clasped in Jordan's. He slowly breathed out, the air from his lungs travelling down her throat and into her own. He lifted his mouth away, the lingering taste of her strawberry lip-gloss coating his lips.
He and Lu watched as Garret pressed down on her chest three times, counting each impression he made. "Again," he said to Woody.
He obeyed and pressed his lips to Jordan's, mouth open, breathing the life back into her; literally. Garret slammed his fist down onto her chest in frustration and the sound of her coughing brought them out of their reverie.
The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was Woody kneeling above her. She could feel a lingering sensation on her lips as she coughed the air back into her lungs and memories flooded her brain.
The desert in the Mohave Desert in LA. Sitting at the front of the Hollywood sign. The Lucy Carver Inn.
She recognised the feeling as Woody's lips, the familiar and welcome feeling allowing her to breath easier. She could smell his cologne also. He was so close she could practically taste him. And then the betrayal came. She and Lu had both been laying on the ground, both bleeding. Yet he had chosen Lu over her. It made her lungs collapse a little all over again.
Garret, Woody and Lu all breathed a sigh of relief as Jordan pushed herself into a sitting position and brushed the dirt out of her hair. Through the silence, the sound of sirens could be heard blaring towards them and Jordan couldn't help but think that she would rather be laying, unconscious, on the ground with Woody's lips upon hers than awake and having to face the unbearable reality of the betrayal she felt.