Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Crossing Jordan.
A/N: This chapter was co-written with WIWJ. She was a godsend and this chapter is a thousand times better since she helped me write it. I hope you enjoy it.
Making Amends
Chapter 3 - Second Chances
Woody sat down at his desk and started to get some work done. Santana came in and sat down, looking up at his face.
"What the hell happened to you?" She asked not even trying to keep the smirk off of her face.
"Nothing," he muttered, staring at his computer screen.
"Um. You did realize there's blood on your face, right? Nice cut on the side of your nose! Looks like you're getting one hell of a bruise. Damn Hoyt, that's a whole lot of nothing."
"Shut up Santana."
She looked up at him, with a smile in her eyes, as the realization came to her.
"Jordan did that to you?" He ignored her and continued to work. "Serves you right," she muttered, "You broke her heart, she breaks your face."
As the day wore on, Woody got more nervous about meeting with Nigel. What if Nigel really just wanted to finish what Jordan had started? Subconsciously, he reached up and touched the bruise Jordan had left on his face.
Santana looked over at him and laughed.
Woody didn't even try to say something back. Instead he ignored her all together, shutting off his computer and walking away.
Woody picked a booth near the back and watched the doorway.
Nigel came in, in a trench coat, with the collar obscuring his face so you could barely tell it was him.
"Damn, you'd think I was meeting Deep Throat." Woody raised his eyebrows at him.
"Evening Woodrow," he said grimly. He sat down across from him. "I'm taking a big risk here, okay? You're not really Mr. Popularity in my social circle right now. So? Spill, why did you do it?"
Woody looked at him sadly and hung his head. "I didn't mean to hurt her."
"We've already discussed that part. I want to know why."
Woody lifted his gaze to meet Nigel's momentarily and then dropped it back to the table with shame.
"A guy can only take so much rejection, Nige," he mumbled.
"I was under the impression she'd stopped rejecting you."
"I'm supposed to believe that? After everything that happened I'm supposed to believe that Jordan's really going to follow through this time? That she's ready?"
"Woody, you two…" Nigel waved his hand in small circles in front of him. Woody rolled his eyes. "Well, didn't you?" Woody nodded, he felt the corners of his lips pull up. Even now, the mere thought of it made him smile. "You didn't think that was a pretty good statement to her readiness? I mean, she had a boyfriend, Mate. It wasn't like she was hard up for..."
"Nige, Nige!" Woody interrupted. He didn't want to be reminded of the fact that she had slept with Pollack.
"All I'm saying is that she was obviously with you, because she wanted to be with you."
"Why now?" The words jumped out of the detective's mouth. "Why now, but not before? I waited forever for her. I took all she could dish out man. I jumped through every hoop she threw at me. I held on even when she'd thought I would give up."
"In your defense, most guys wouldn't have taken that much."
Woody nodded but didn't smile.
"She can never love me the way I love her." He shook his head sadly. "You know the saying, 'if you love someone, set them free.' Woody grimaced. "I may have taken that to the extreme."
"After the shooting?"
"I'm being wheeled into surgery and I hear Jordan crying over me and saying she can say the words I want her to say. She whispers that she loves me. I'm lying on my deathbed and she comes to tell me she loves me?"
"She was terrified." Nigel gave him a quirky smile. "Bloody hell Woody, she thought she was going to lose the most important person in her life! You," he spat the word out loudly for emphasis, causing Woody to frown.
Woody swallowed hard and continued. "After I got shot," Woody looked back down at the table before he could continue. "It all became about wasted time Nige."
"Did you ever think that maybe it had the same effect on her?"
Woody's eyes slipped closed. Over the last few months he'd done a lot of thinking about what effect it may, or may not, have had on her.
"Yeah? Is that why she jumped into commitment with Pollack?" he twisted the name into a rather convincing Australian accent, causing Nigel to laugh. "Four years Nigel, four years for two kisses and a handful of dances. He's in her bed after about two weeks, he had a key to her apartment. He was going to propose. It had nothing to do with not wanting to be in a relationship or commit to someone, she just didn't want those things with me."
"Woody? Did you ever think to ask her why?"
"I didn't want to hear the answer." He ran his hand over his face. "She was really all I had in this world."
"But then you had Lu?"
"Yeah. No. I mean…" Woody craned his head back and looked at the ceiling. "She helped me, with Riggs and with stuff I didn't even know I needed help with."
"That was her job, Woody." Nigel reminded him softly. "Her job was to help you."
"I know that." The detective nodded at him. "But then she kissed me."
"And you forgot all about Jordan, and what ever in the hell happened with you two during the snow storm."
"How exactly did you find out?" Nigel held up a hand.
"I saw the look on your face when I slipped up about Pollack's proposal plans," He explained. "I heard the soft sigh in Jordan's voice when she asked if you were still at the morgue. I also heard that Pollack gave you a good blow at a crime scene a few weeks later." Nigel flashed Woody a huge grin. "I hear things."
"I asked her to talk to him, to make a choice. She avoided it for three weeks. I realized she was still trying to make up her mind. She was still trying to decide if she wanted to be with me? I mean come on Nigel! If she wasn't even willing to make a move then, how long was I supposed to wait?"
"Confrontation is hard for her, Woody."
"She doesn't seem to have a problem confronting me." Woody gestured to his face and Nigel laughed.
"She hit you to get away Woody, you were…"
"Confronting her. Yeah I get it." He sighed. "The thing with Lu? I never meant to hurt Jordan. I know it's strange but after everything, it felt good to be needed, trusted, wanted even. I knew I was being stupid but Lu was the safer choice. She clearly wasn't hedging over a relationship. She wasn't going to pull away or answer a phone when I tried to kiss her."
"The past is the past, Mate. She didn't marry Pollack. She didn't push you away after the Inn. She really does love you. Anyone can see that. It all comes down to one thing, Woodrow." Nigel leaned forward and looked directly into Woody's eyes. "Do you love her?"
"I love her so much it scares me," he whispered, breaking away from Nigel's stare. "I know I ran just like all the times she did."
"For the same reasons," Nigel explained ignoring his confused expression. "Fear of being played. Jordan's fears just ran a little deeper than yours."
"I screwed up. I've lost her forever."
"What are you going to do just give up?"
"What other choice do I have? I think the bruise on my face makes the way she feels pretty clear."
"No, you are not giving up Woodrow. I won't see you just give up after almost five years. You may have screwed up, but if there is anyone that deserves a second chance it's you. I will make it my personal mission to see that you get one."
"Thanks Nige, you're the only friend I have left in this city." Woody gave him a small sad. "You're a true friend."
"Same to you, Mate." Nigel smiled at him. "But if you tell anyone I was here with you tonight? You're dead to me."
