"Gib!" Windy woke mid-flight realizing she completely forgot about the cat she adopted at Christmas. The same time Jimmy moved into Lana's building. "I better call the building manager when I land. Sorry little Buddy."

Windy met Lana several times. Jimmy never hid his past from the women in his life. He knew his new girlfriend made Windy feel like a third wheel but she was special and still wanted to be friends.

She did her best for Jimmy, even being Lana's first customer, buying a cat bed for Gib. At New Year's Jimmy and Lana called Windy and sang Auld Lang Syne to her.

When Lana had a promotional event at a pet store Jimmy called Windy to be part of it. He did not feel sorry for his friend, he just wanted her to know she would always be part of his life.

Friday Morning

Windy landed in New Orleans and quickly made her way to Alex and Marie's apartment. She did not sleep much on the red-eye flight and focused her energy on getting Jimmy home.

She knocked firmly then waited.

Marie opened the door. "Windy! You made it! Jimmy, it's, Windy. It's great to finally meet you."

"Marie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

"Oh...yeah, yeah." Marie laughed and face palmed herself. "Come in. He's just on the sofa."

Windy dropped everything and rushed to Jimmy. She doted on him. "Hey, Honey. Feeling any better?" Their eyes met. "I don't like the look in your eyes! He should be in a hospital. Jimmy, why aren't you in a hospital?"

"Windy...they will lock me up if I go into a hospital." Jimmy spoke to his friend looking half asleep.

"Being dead isn't much good either!"

"I'll take my chances."

"Jimmy! I did not come down here to collect a corpse." Windy turned to Marie. "I need some supplies."

"Supplies? Like what?"

"A digital camera, printer, and photo paper."

"Are you crazy? I don't know how to get that!" Marie stepped away from Windy.

"I can get those things." Alex made his way from the kitchen. "Anything else?"

"Alex?" Windy deduced.

"Ya."

"I am making a new passport and Blue Cross paperwork. Do you know someone?"

"I do, but it will cost you." Alex looked at his guest.

Windy reached into her jeans. "Five hundred?"

"That may cover it. What about my time?"

"Get back here in thirty minutes and I have another two hundred for you."

"Okay. Deal." Alex left quickly.

Jimmy reached out to his ex-girlfriend, Windy. "Lana...she is gone...she..." He slipped back into his slumber.

Windy quickly returned to Jimmy. "This is not good. Not good at all!" She began lightly slapping his face.

"What are you doing? Let him sleep!" Marie objected.

"My friend needs to get to a hospital and he has to stay awake."

"How do you know these things?"

"Marie, it's called research. What would you do for Alex?"

"Anything!" Marie continued. "I read the newspaper articles about that day."

"What day?" Windy shook Jimmy.

"The whale watching tour. You saved, him."

"I don't like talking about it. The papers got it wrong. Jimmy...Jimmy!"

"Wrong?" Marie frowned.

"He didn't want to go see some mammals. I should have listened to him. He just wanted to relax on his vacation."

"People in love do things they don't want to do all the time." Marie countered Windy.

"Come on, Jimmy! Wake up!" Windy turned to Marie. "The papers missed a very important part...I was thrown from the boat. I didn't inflate my life jacket and when I hit the icy water I blacked out!"

"My God, then what...what happened?"

"Jimmy dove in and pulled me up from so far down that he ran out of oxygen and breathed in water."

"But you saved him! Why do you beat yourself up, Windy?"

"I am not the hero." Windy snapped.

"You're my hero, Win." Jimmy finally responded to her attempts to wake him, adding the smallest of smiles.

Windy took her jacket off and sat on the floor between the coffee table and the sofa.

"Would you like some coffee? It's just instant."

"That would be great, Marie."

"Win, I could use more sleep. What do ya say?" Jimmy could barely keep his eyes open.

"Not this time, buddy. You need to stay awake."

"Not sure...I"

"Jimmy!" Windy raised her voice. "Jimmy!"

"Win, it's all good. Let me sleep."

"Not this time." Windy grabbed her cellphone as Marie returned with coffee.

"Hey, what kind of cellphone is that!?"

"Actually it is a computer."

"No way a computer can be that small!" She pointed to the desktop computer in the corner. "That...that is a computer."

"Yeah, well technology has changed quite a bit since the nineties, Marie." She poked Jimmy in the shoulder. "Jimmy...Jimmy, how long has it been since this happened to you?"

"Ha! I have no idea." Jimmy tried to laugh. "Ahh!"

"Too long. Marie do you have ice here?" Windy checked Jimmy's eyes again.

"It's New Orleans! Everyone has ice."

"Wrap it in a towel, please. Jimmy, this is important...wake up!"

Marie arrived with the ice. "So, you are here for Jimmy even though he came here with his girlfriend?"

"He's my friend. I've known Jimmy longer than anyone in the city. We hung out at the same cafe."

"Win called me a thief!" Jimmy laughed then frowned. "No laughing. Owww!"

"You remember that? Well, you were!" Windy had to smile at that memory.

"What did Jimmy steal?" Marie sat on the arm of the sofa.

"My coding book. I wanted some...ah light reading."

"Right, Win!" Jimmy lightly chuckled.

"What? Why did he laugh?"

"Win here..." Windy covered Jimmy's mouth but he easily removed her hand. "Windy South felt sorry for me and changed all my grades and attendance. I ended up on the President's list for being an exemplary student! Me, exemplary? Huh!"

Marie laughed.

"I didn't want to have to support him." Windy shrugged. "He needed a job."

"Did it work?" Marie laughed again.

"He worked for a national paper after he graduated." She raised an eyebrow.

"He is a reporter?" Marie pointed to Jimmy.

"I was, or I think I was." The ice appeared to be helping Jimmy.

"He was an investigative reporter. Not the best choice. Why not a sports reporter?" Windy stared at Jimmy.

"Boring!" Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"Why? What's wrong with being an investigative reporter?" Marie had no idea why Windy felt that way.

"Trouble. Always trouble. He had so many politicians, mobsters, and crooked businessmen angry at him he had to go into hiding."

"I remember, Joey Fortune threatened to rip my heart out and take a bite out of it while I was still standing." Jimmy looked at Windy only to see disappointment in her eyes.

"What happened?" Marie fixed her eyes on Windy.

"He has another sixteen months in prison until he is eligible for parole."

"Oh! Then what?"

"Move!" Jimmy looked at Windy.

"What about Lana?" Windy shook her head.

"She likes California."

Just then Alex rushed through the door. "I got everything."

Marie smiled. "Hey, Alex!"

"Hey, Marie, baby!" The two kissed. "What was that for?"

"Just being you!" Marie hung off Alex like she was a teenager again.

Windy pointed at Jimmy. "Stay awake! I need to work on the paperwork." Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Marie, can you keep Jimmy awake for me?"

"Ah, okay. What if he won't listen to me?"

"Poke his shoulder until he screams!"

"You are cruel, Win!"

"For your own good, Jimmy! Remember, if he stops talking, poke him. Like this!"

"Arghhhhhh! Win!"

"See? It works!" Windy left Marie with Jimmy and headed to the kitchen to meet up with Alex."

"You have some connections, Alex. I didn't expect you to get everything."

"I still don't know how you are going to get away with this. I mean everything is digital. The information on these sheets will need to be in their computer files."

"Your point?"

"My point? Ah, I guess my point is it won't matter how good you make this look you will never get them to believe it's a 'glitch in the system'."

"I am much more than a computer programmer."

"Yeah?" Alex looked at Windy.

"I can hack into pretty much any database."

"Bullshit!"

"Really? Anything you'd like to clean up? A rap sheet?"

"Bullshit! No way?" Alex spoke disbelieving the woman in front of him.

"Help Jimmy and me...and find out."

"I don't believe you." Alex laughed.

"Ever travel?" Windy looked at Alex. "No? Can't get a legal passport?"

Alex gave a chagrined look to Windy. "It shows that much?"

"I can change that, Alex. But only if you help us."

"Okay! But I still don't believe you."

"There is a lot to do. Tell me what you know about all this?" Windy pulled the digital camera from a bag. "Hang on a second I need a photo of Jimmy."

Windy returned and set up the printer. "So, what do you know?"

"Ah, Jimmy was pistol-whipped by Killer. Billy, the kid who hangs around Killer, shot your man in the shoulder."

"He's not my man. He's my best friend."

"Best friends usually marry each other."

"Alex! Focus. Jimmy dies if we don't get him to the hospital. That man is in a relationship with Lana. Do you know anything about Lana?"

"Her name is Svetlana and she is a former model from the Soviet Union."

"No way! Really? Jimmy and a former model? He is charming ~ but a model?"

"Exactly what I thought. Anyway, Killer took Lana to the storage shed not too far away. I think it's just a drop spot."

"Do you know where Jimmy was found with the prostitute?"

"No. Well, not yet. I can get that information but you have bigger problems."

"Why? What have you heard?"

"Both the mayor and the governor want Jimmy's ass behind bars. And will be looking for him at every hospital, clinic, and pharmacy in the city."

Windy grabbed her laptop and fell silent as she worked at a pace Alex had never seen before. "Which precinct found him?"

"Nine. Why?"

"There is no record of his arrest. Wait. There's a John Doe. Eww, that's a bad photo...change that. Fingerprints...no you don't."

"How?"

"Don't ask, Alex." Windy continued. "Interview...gone. Video...gone."

"Windy, can you do the same for me?"

"After ~ it's a little different process. We save Jimmy and Lana first then we fix your file."

"How do we even find Lana?" Alex sat back in his chair.

"You have connections. Ask questions."

"Look Windy, I have a payment due Saturday at nine in the freaking morning to Nick the loan shark."

"How much?"

"A grand."

"How do you pay a loan shark a thousand dollars?"

"I pick pockets." Alex looked embarrassed. "I had a drug problem and ran up quite the tab."

"Okay. How much are you short?" Windy rolled her eyes.

"After you give me the two hundred you promised I still need four bills. I babysat Jimmy for two days. He put me behind."

"What happens if you can't pay?"

"Both legs snapped. It's happened to me once before. I will not go through that again. Even for your friend."

"I will cover the four hundred. But you have to get the information."

"Money first."

"I will give you the two I owe you and two hundred more."

"No way! Everything!" Alex muffled his voice so Marie would not hear him.

"Arm wrestle? You win, I give it all right now. I win you wait for the two hundred."

"Deal!"

Marie came to the kitchen. "What the hell is this? Alex! You are arm-wrestling a woman!"

"He is about to lose to a woman, Marie." Windy laughed.

Alex's knuckles hit the table. The two stared at each other. "You are not the first man to lose to me."

"No gun show, please." Alex rose from his seat. "I'll be back for dinner, Marie."

Marie stepped into her man and they shared a kiss. "Pizza for dinner?"

"Sounds great, babe!" Alex left the apartment.

Windy looked at Marie. "How's Jimmy?"

"He's humming a Maroon five song. Kind of annoying but as long as he's awake, right?"

Windy listened as Jimmy sang, 'This Love'. "Accurate but I hate that one. Jimmy! No sad songs." She yelled knowing sad songs meant he felt sad.

"I need about an hour to work on this, Marie. Can you make sure he stays awake?"

"Sure, but he is getting on my nerves. Think he takes requests?"

"I don't know...maybe."

Windy got down to business counterfeiting the Holiday Cross paperwork then she hacked into their database. "This better work or Jimmy is dead or arrested." She printed the policy with a name from an existing policyholder. She matched that with a counterfeit passport and license.

Windy made her way back to the living room where Jimmy struggled to stay awake. "How are you doing, Marie?"

"It's really like babysitting. He stopped singing and babbled like a baby."

"Oh no. No no no! He may be losing his speech. Jimmy. Jimmy, look at me!"

"What is it? What is wrong?" Marie stood and backed away.

"Crap. He needs to get to a hospital. We need Alex to make this work."

"Make what work?"

"Make our story plausible. Jimmy. Jimmy!"

Jimmy faded into his memories again.

"Win, I met her."

"You met who?"

"Her name is Dana. She's coming over now."

"I'm outta here, cowboy!"

"No way! I told her all about you!"

"You what? You had no right to tell someone about me!"

"Well, not everything. She has to meet the one I worship. Those are her words, not mine. So I told her she could meet you."

"You jerk! You don't get your girlfriend to meet your ex-girlfriend at your apartment! Are you out of your mind! She'll think we are still. You know?"

"Oh...ohhhhhh! Well, that ship has left the dock!" Jimmy's eyes opened fully.

"Ah, no kidding! That ship has sailed to China!" Windy punched Jimmy.

"Funny you should say that...she's Chinese."

"You've gone international, huh?"

There was a knock at Jimmy's door. "Too late, Win. She's here."

Windy punched him again.

"Jimmy. Jimmy!" Windy tried to bring Jimmy back. "Marie, call an ambulance! He's not waking up. Jimmy!"