Fatherhood, Fingerprints & Flawless Friendships

Synopsis: The Boston ME's employees are back from the crash, and there are three fathers in the team now; an old one, a new one, and an expectant one. Abby's missing, Bug is adjusting to fatherhood and a mysterious illness is going around. Mostly Bug/Lily with some Nigel/Kate, Jordan/Woody, and Garret/Abby drama mixed in. And, of course, some dead bodies and autopsies (hey, it's a MORGUE, after all). R&R, pwease!

Disclaimer: If I owned Crossing Jordan, it would never have been cancelled. (I would like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend Nicole, for her endless trys to get me to stop writing fanfiction and leave my house.)

Rating: T, because of mild language, alcohol mentions, a tiny bit of innuendo, and hints at other stuffs. HINTS. Not descriptive. Nothing a thirteen-year-old hasn't heard before.

Chapter One: Home and Healing

The ride in the helicopter was silent except for the whirring of the blades above them. Kate kept Nigel's good hand in a death-like grip, so scared she could hardly move. Garret had passed out; Jordan was hovering over him nervously; and Woody was hovering over both of them nervously. It was just a nervous place, the helicopter. Bug was playing with a set of multi-coloured baby keys, grinning for no apparent reason. Except there was one; he was going to live to see Lily and Madelyn again. They were his life now.

Though it seemed like the ride took forever, it wasn't long before they reached the Boston General Hospital. Garret was rushed into surgery and Nigel to trauma, as he had apparently fractured his arm his six places. Kate refused to let go of his good hand even after they had landed, and followed him like a lost puppy. The others we treated for minor cuts, bruises, frostbite and dehydration, but none of them were very seriously injured.

Lily and Madelyn were the first to arrive at the hospital, to the delight of Bug. She looked tired as Hell, like she hadn't slept since the crash. Bug, upon seeing her, fell into her arms and cried. It was a very rare thing to see Bug cry, but he cried on a much relived Lily Lebowski's shoulder. When Madelyn realized something was happening without her she started screaming, of course, and Bug cuddled her and cried on her, too. It was very emotional, which Jordan didn't get at all. She and Woody sort of just stood in the waiting room feeling a little out of place.

"Is it just me, or have they all gone to the Funny Farm?" asked Woody. Jordan looked at him and shook her head.

"You sure know how to ruin a happy moment, you know." Woody smiled. It was such a Jordan-like response that it felt for the first time since they had crashed that everything was going to be okay.

Nigel and Kate returned before long, Nigel's arm in a big cast, and Kate looking pissed off about something like usual. Nigel said hello to the now-quiet Madelyn, then sat down with Kate across from Jordan and Woody.

After One Hour: A nurse walked into the waiting room to retrieve a file.

Jordan asked, "Excuse me, nurse, where's Garret Macy? Is he still in surgery?" Her loud, critical voice probably carried across the hospital.

The nurse nodded, but refused to tell Jordan and the others anything else. So they waited.

After Two Hours: "He's still not out yet?" That was Kate this time, when a Doctor passed them.

"Nope, sorry, Miss," was the hurried Doctor's reply. So they waited.

After Three Hours: Lily had fallen asleep with her head rested against Bug's arm, which was gently rocking Madelyn to keep her quiet.

Another Doctor walked in, and Jordan stood up. "Is Doctor Garret Macy out of surgery yet?"

The Doctor sighed. "The first one is finished, yes. We've sewed up his lacerated spleen, and are taking a five minute break before we place his broken ribs." Woody looked like he was going to ask something, so the Doctor put up his hand to stop him. "No, he is not conscious." So they waited. And waited. And waited.

After Seven Hours: The Doctor returned. He looked tired.

"Update?" asked Bug. Nigel had fallen asleep, too, but woke when he heard voices. Lily was still out like a light.

The Doctor smiled. "He's out of surgery now, but he's still unconscious."

"Can we see him?" asked Nigel standing up and stretching his cramped legs.

"Well, we usually let the family see them first. Are any of you immediate family, or just friends?" Jordan looked angry at his statement.

"Whether or not we have blood in common, we are his family. We have worked together forever, and we're all he's got. So I am going to see him, and stay at his side, just like he stayed with me when I had brain surgery," she said flatly, and walked past him toward the desk. "Excuse me, where is Garret Macy's room?"

"It's room 427, just down the hall."

"Thank you." And she walked down the hall and entered Garret's room. The Doctor looked flabbergasted.

"Does she always do that?" he asked. The group all nodded (with the exception of Lily, who was still sleeping with her head against Bug's shoulder).

"Garret?" whispered Jordan as she approached his bed. He didn't respond, though she hadn't expected him to. The beeping of the heart monitor told her that he was stable. He looked like Hell, but pointedly, he had reason to. The poor guy had been internally bleeding since the crash; which had been hours and hours ago. It seemed like forever. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here for you. I am always here for you."

She settled down into a chair beside his bed and held his hand. She wasn't sure, but she could've sworn she felt him squeeze her hand back. Maybe it was just reflexes, but Jordan wanted to believe that he had heard and understood her.

"Has anyone heard from Abigail yet?" asked Kate later, when they were all seated around Garret's bed. It had taken nearly an hour to convince the medical staff that they were family and they had to be with him. But it was getting late, and both Lily and Madelyn kept nodding off, so there was a chance that the staff might kick them out of his room soon. Jordan hadn't moved the whole time. She sat next to him, eyes on his face; his hand in hers; hoping, waiting.

"No," said Woody, "The hospital hasn't been able to locate her. And neither have the police." He seemed embarrassed that the police hadn't been able to locate Garret's daughter.

For the umpteenth time Lily's head fell into Bug's shoulder, startling her awake. She sat up and leaned into the stroller to check on Madelyn, then leaned back against her seat.

"Maybe we should make a schedule," said Bug, looking at Lily with concern. "We don't all have to be here the whole time, just one of us. We can take four hour shifts, or something." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Who wants the first shift?" asked Kate.

"I do. I'll stay with him," said Jordan in her serious I've-made-up-my-mind-and-you-can't-stop-me voice, "He did for me. It's the least I can do."

"Fine, but I'll take over in a few hours," said Woody, having giving up trying to change Jordan's mind a long time ago, "You're going to need sleep soon."

"I need sleep now," said Lily with a yawn. She stood up and stretched, and Bug did the same.

"Call me when it's my shift," he said, "I am going home for a hot shower." And with that he took the stroller and left the room with Lily trailing sleepily behind.

"It's great to see those two together," said Nigel and he stood up and stretched as well, "Took long enough, but hey; life's not perfect. But it was rather romantic, Lily leaving her to-be husband practically at the altar for him, and Bug excepting her baby as his own. It's inspiring, really." Everyone in the room (who was conscious) started at him. Woody's mouth was even hanging open.

"What?!" said Nigel, looking around at the room. "It is."

"We thought you didn't want Lily and Bug to get together," said Jordan, "You were always bugging him about it, and about Madelyn." Nigel raised his eyebrows.

"I want Bug to be happy. And he is with his little impromptu-family. It's... cute."

Kate scoffed. "It's not cute, it's sickeningly too sweet. It's all far too happily-ever-after. You'll see, something is going to go wrong and they'll end up as 'just friends' again. It won't last."

"Why aren't you just Little Miss Sunshine," said Nigel sarcastically. Kate made a face.

"Just because your relationships didn't work out, doesn't mean that they all don't," said Bug from the doorway. It was unexpected. Everyone turned to him, and both Nigel and Kate blushed. "Lily forgot her purse." He walked over to where he had been sitting and picked up Lily's bag. "And just so you know, my 'impromptu-family' is the best thing in my life right now. I thought you all knew that." And with that he was gone again.

It was quiet for several seconds except for the beeping of Garret's heart monitor. It was Kate who spoke first.

"Well, that was awkward."

"Shit," said Jordan, "I think you just crushed his little heart." Kate turned to her.

"I didn't know he was standing there. And I didn't mean to. I just said the truth. It won't work out."

"You don't know that," defended Nigel, "You don't know them. They've been in love, or, at least, Bug's been in love with Lily, since we got Uncle Ha-Ha down at the morgue."

"Garret was seeing Lily then, wasn't he?" asked Jordan. Nigel shrugged.

"They were on-again, off-again, I think," said Nigel running his hand through his long brown hair. Kate looked at Woody, who seemed like the only other sensible person in the room.

"Is this making any sense to you?" Woody smiled and shook his head.

"This was before I joined the team."

"I see."

Jordan and Nigel had been talking in the background but Kate and Woody had blocked it out like white noise.

"Well, I'm off," said Nigel, tucking his hair behind his ears. Kate stood up and stretched her tired limbs.

"Yeah, me, too. If I'm going to be back at work tomorrow, I need to sleep."

"Want me to give you a ride home, love?" asked Nigel. "A car rental place is just down the street."

"Since you're the one who got my car stolen, it's only fair that you have to put up with me," she replied.

They left.

"Might as well go home and take a hot shower, change, eat something," said Woody, "You sure you'll be okay here by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You go ahead."

"Alright then. See you in a few hours."

He left.

After a few minutes Jordan was startled by a voice. "Is everyone gone?" Jordan yelped and looked over at Garret. His eyes were semi-open, and he was smiling.

"Yeah, they are. I told them to go home. That I'd stay with you. How're you feeling?"

"Like someone performed an autopsy on me while I was out," he said, opening his eyes the rest of the way. "You?"

"I'm fine, really. Nigel's arm's going to be okay, Kate's fine, Bug is reunited with his family and Woody is... Woody."

"Sounds like I missed a lot."

Jordan smiled. "Not really."

"Take a left up ahead," said Kate, "and slow down before you get us both killed!"

"Sorry," said Nigel, lifting his foot on the pedal a little. "I'm just still all nervous since the accident. I really would rather not be in a vehicle right now. 'Flying is safer than driving,' remember? So how safe does that make driving, exactly?" Kate sighed and put her hand on his arm cast, since his other arm was on the wheel.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He stopped because of a stop sign and turned to her with a mixture of shock and appreciation lining his face.

"I suppose. Are you?" Kate shrugged.

"I suppose." He kept driving. "Just a little emotional, I guess. We nearly died on that plane."

"I was so scared when you weren't beside me after we crashed. I mean, one moment you were there holding the chair like a life line and mumbling something, the next you were gone and my arm was ripped open and all busted. But it could have been so much worse."

"Yeah."

It was quiet until Nigel's car pulled up into Kate's driveway. She smiled at him and undid her seatbelt.

"Say, Nigel..." Nigel looked up.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?" she asked. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she smiled uncertainly back.

"Um, sure." She undid his seatbelt for him, and they got out and started to walk toward her house. Nigel, a little behind her, grinned.

"Rock-a-bye Maddie, in the tree top. When the wind blows, your cradle will rock..." Bug could hear Lily singing to Madelyn in the next room even over the loud water sound of his shower. She had a beautiful voice, though she would never admit it.

He tilted his face up to the shower head and let the hot water run over his face. It felt so good to be warm and clean again after the crash.

Bug reached out and turned off the tap, the just let himself stand there and drip for a moment. He could still hear Lily singing, though she had switched to 'Hush Little Baby, Don't Say a Word'. He smiled again. Everything was back to normal. Better than normal.

He got out of the shower, dried himself off and slipped on a pair of loose sweatpants and a white t-shirt, then followed the sound of Lily's voice to his spare bedroom, which was now Maddie's room. Lily was rocking her back and forth and singing to her, but obviously she didn't feel like sleeping anymore.

"Want me to try?" said Bug from the doorway. Lily jumped and stopped singing, rounding on him.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Bug! You're going to give me a heart attack one day." He walked toward her and held out his arms, which she deposited Madelyn in. He began to sing his mother's song to her, and she was nearly instantly asleep. He gently laid her in her crib.

"You're going to have to teach me that song on day, you know," Lily said with a smile, "It's the only thing that works." Bug smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Have I told you how much I love you yet today?"

"Twice."

"Good. And I'm never going to stop telling you."

"Good." Lily put her hands on his face and gently pulled his lips to hers in their first real kiss. Bug kissed her back with all the love he could muster, his hands on her back and hers roaming to the back of his head to tangle in his dark, wet hair.

They stood that way for a long, perfect minute, until Madelyn decided she wasn't tired and started voicing her opinion, loudly. They broke apart and Bug scooped up Madelyn into his arms.

"And I love you, too," he said, giving her a kiss on her soft forehead. She stopped wailing and stared at him with those perfect blue eyes that looked just like her mother's. "Will you please go to sleep for me?"

"I don't think saying 'please' is going to work," said Lily. "But you could try singing to her again. She likes that." Bug shrugged.

"Okay." He began to sing, and though Lily had no idea what he was saying, it made her sleepy. Madelyn was getting sleepy, too, apparently. She closed her little blue eyes and snuggled into Bug's arms.

Bug smiled and put her gently in the crib again. He looked from Lily to Madelyn, then back again with a broad smile exposing all his teeth. He didn't care what Kate or any of the others said; this was perfect, and it was going to stay that way.

Nigel woke to light spilling from between curtains on onto his face. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his good hand and stared around him, momentarily confused by the unfamiliar surroundings. Where the heck was he? Then he remembered: he had gone to Kate's for coffee. They must have dozed off.

He looked over to the other side of the couch, and, sure enough, there was a petit blonde woman sleeping there. A very pretty, petit blonde woman, he realized. She looked so calm and peaceful; he had never seen her look so happy when she was awake. He stretched his arms and yawned, and the noise woke her up. Apparently she was a light sleeper.

"What time is it?" she asked, yawning herself. He checked his watch.

"Seven." Kate sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Why are you still here?" He looked at her, shocked. She smiled. "I'm only joking. We must've fallen asleep."

"Yeah," he said, "We must have." He yawned again then smiled. "Yawning is contagious, I swear."

"Like influenza," said Kate, standing up and picking up their half-empty coffee mugs. "Horrible." Nigel shook his head.

"Strange connection, but sure, like the flu," he replied, messing up his hair with his hand. He looked at his watch again. "Do you want to go down to the morgue?"

Kate nodded. "Yes, but I'm taking a shower first. And you're going to have to hang around and wait for me, because you're driving." It was more like an order than a request, but Nigel nodded in agreement and settled down to wait for her.

Ten minutes later she was out of the shower and dressed, and they set off toward the morgue. When they got there, few cars were parked in the lot, just Woody's and the fill-in staff's.

"So, Woody and Jordan are here," said Nigel in his usual perky voice.

"But Jordan's not—" She looked at Woody's car then remembered how they had been looking at each other at the hospital. "Oh, yeah, probably."

The pair used the elevator and stepped in to an unusually quiet morgue. A very angry-looking Woody Hoyt greeted them.

"Where have you to been?! And how come you're here?! No one from the trip enters this morgue under any circumstances. I've been trying to call you forever, Nigel! ...And is that the shirt you wore yesterday?" Nigel and Kate glanced at each other then Nigel reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It was a pile of circuits and plastic. He held it up to show Woody, who let out an exasperated sigh.

"But you didn't answer your home phone, either! I left like forty messages! And I would've called you too, Kate, but I don't have your number."

"He fell asleep on my couch," said Kate before Nigel could reply, "And I thought my number was in the morgue's database? And if the crashers aren't allowed in the morgue, why are you here?"

"To find and inform you, before we all get fired!"

"Fine," said Nigel, "Just let me get my things and I'll be off."

"You'd better! We're not allowed back for a week." Kate rolled her eyes but trailed after Nigel to his desk, then autopsy 1 to retrieve his webcam.

Nigel noticed but didn't comment. Then he realized something. "How am I supposed to ride my bike home with one arm?" he moaned, banging his head against the wall.

"I'll drive you," Kate offered.

Nigel was surprised, but simply shrugged and said, "Fine, but if you scratch my baby you'll end up on one of these slabs." He motioned with his good hand toward the autopsy tables.

"Deal."

Bug woke up to a buzzing noise. Lily wasn't awake yet, so Bug sat up and looked for the source. His phone, of course! He went into the dining room and got it from his coat pocket; then flipped it open. He had a text message.

jordn wouldnt let me take ovr, so u bettr make her, since its ur shift. shes bin up 4 hours, and needs to SLEEP. plus no1 is allowed bak to the morg for 1 week. woodrow

Bug sighed and closed his phone. He might as well feed Maddie while he was up then leave Lily a note explaining where he'd gone to.

He went into the kitchen, retrieved a bottle and fed Madelyn, who was relatively not fussy, then dressed quietly and wrote Lily a note. It read:

Lily,

I didn't want to wake you, but I've gone to be with Dr. Macy, and to convince Jordan to go get some sleep, because Woody couldn't. I already fed Madelyn, and she's gone back to sleep.

Love you, Bug

He went outside and got into his car, then drove himself to the hospital.

"How is he?" Jordan jumped and looked at Bug, hardly seeing him.

"He's doing bet...ter. He's supposed to... make a full recov...ery. Woke up for a while. Sleeping now." She yawned.

"You need to get some rest, Jordan. I'll stay with him."

"No, I need to stay with him. He—" She yawned again. "Needs me here."

"No, Jordan. Go home. Shower. Eat. Sleep. And don't go to the morgue." Jordan gave him a long, hard look.

"Fine, but I'm coming back in a few hours," she said. Bug smiled as shook his head as she left. Good old Jordan.