Before anyone could react, the offender's fist connected with Jay's stomach. To everyone's surprise Jay doubled over and fell to his kenees clutching his right side, which ment somwthing was terribly wrong. Antonio and Ruzek quickly stepped in and grabbed the offender, guiding him towards the car to cuff him.
"Jay?" Erin said dropping on her knees in front of her partner. His eyes were screwed shut and his somewhat pale face was wrinkled. "Jay, what's wrong?"
"Are you good, bro?" Atwater jooned the pair.
When neither of them recieved an answer, the team exchanged worried looks. They were now all gathered around Jay, wondering whether or not he needed medical attention, while trying to figure out what happened to him in the first place.
"Jay, talk to me" Erin tried once again, but received no response.
"Halstead-" Voight decided to give it a go, but immediately got interrupted by the detective.
"Yeah" Jay said while standing up, using the wall to prop himself up "yeah, I'm good."
"Funny you say that as you almost just passed out here" Voight responded. Antonio and Ruzek each grabbed one of Jay's biceps to help hold him up, but to noone's surprise, he shook them off sounding pissed.
"I said I was fine!"
And with that the conversation ended.
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Later that day everyone was back at the precinct doing some research on the current case.
Antonio walked up to Erin's desk and leaned closer. "Hey, what's up with Jay? He looks like hell." Erin worriedly glanced over at her partner who was sitting in his chair. He looked flushed, which most likely wasn't a very good sign, therefore Erin quickly jogged over to him.
"Are you okay?"
After a few silent seconds, Jay finally looked up at her in confusion.
"Jay?"
"Uh-um, I'm fine" he rasped. There was the sentence Erin loved hearing. A total lie, but nevertheless a response. Based on the fact that Jay was shivering and sweat was very much visible on his face, she decided not to believe him. Knowing that arguing probably wouldn't help him either, she decided to play good cop.
"Okay. Do you want some tea or something?"
Sadly his head shook and Erin was left with no other choice, but to keep an eye on her partner from distance.
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"I got an address!" Ruzek yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. It was a day after Erin's first and last attempt to figure out what was going on with her partner. He slowly jumped up from his seat and if it weren't for his hands which happened to lean on the desk, he would have face planted. Luckily, Erin wasn't the only one who noticed.
Voight walked over to the pale detective with a serious look on his face. "You are staying put" he ordered, pointing a finger at Jay's face.
"But-"
"But nothing! Don't think I'm stupid. I know when one of my detectives isn't doing so hot, therefore you are not going anywhere. Understood?"
Jay glanced at Erin who was now standing beside their boss, but according to the look on her face, she agreed with Voight. Jay slammed his hands against the table and sunk back into the chair, earning a pleased nod from both Erin and Voight.
"Erin, you're with Al" Voight added, before everyone rushed down the stairs, leaving Jay behind.
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"Do you think he will ever stop being so damn stubborn?"
"Who? Jay?" Al responded to Erin's question. "No. The kid's in this job with his whole heart." When Erin didn't say anything, he added "Can you blame him?"
"No, I guess not" Erin laughed, before getting lost somewhere in her thoughts.
The rest of the ride was silent.
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"Man Jay's gonna be pissed he wasn't there to see this" Ruzek announced as soon as everyone got out of their cars. They were finally back at the precinct after hours of trying to arrest the offenders, who very stupidly decided to run when CPD showed up at their door.
Al awarded his idiot coworker with an angry stare, so he shut up before adding anything even more inventive. Antonio grinned silently and they all jogged up the stairs.
To everyone's surprise, the bullpen was empty. No sign of either Jay or his jacket.
"Jay? We're back" Erin yelled through the empty room, hoping to get a response. When nothing happened, she shared a worried glance with Antonio. "Jay?"
"Maybe he went home" Atwater pointed out "His jacket's gone." That didn't sound like Jay at all, but maybe he was right. The boys settled themselves in their comfortable chairs, while Erin announced she was gonna get some coffee, but instead of a pleasant cup of caffeine, she was in for a surprise.
As soon as she entered the room, her heart sank. Jay was sprawled across the floor, pale and unmoving. "Jay!" she gasped, dropping to her knees. A second later Antonio appeared at the door.
"What's wro-" he was cut off by Erin screaming her partner's name again. "Oh my god" he said beforw kneeling on the other side of Jay.
Erin cupped the pale face with her hands, trying to wake him up. "Jay?! Jay, can you her me? Jay!" She stroked his hair away from his forhead before looking at Antonio. "He's burning up."
By now, the whole team was gathered around the unconscious detective.
Antonio rubbed his knuckles against Jay's chest, trying to get a reaction from him. Suddenly his face went white. "He's breathing way to fast." Everyone turned their attention to the detecrive's chest which seemed to be rising and falling almost every two seconds. Antonio pressed two fingers to his neck only to find that his heart was abput to explode. "Call an ambulance."
Ruzek sprinted into action, pulling his phone out and diling 911.
"Halstead! Jay!" Antonio yelled rubbing Jay's chest again.
"Jay, babe, wake up!" Erin pleaded. "What's wrong with him?"
"They'll be here in 10 minutes tops" Ruzek announced refering to the ambulance. In that very same moment Jay started convulsing.
"Oh my god, Jay!" Erin was screaming, tears running down her cheeks.
"Call Will!" Voight urges "I'm not sure he has ten minutes" he adds as an afterthought, making everyone feel even worse in the process - if that's even possible at this point.
"Hey, Adam. What's up?" Will's voice is heard through the phone, completely calm and not aware of the nightmare he's about to fall into.
"It's Jay" Ruzek begins, knowing he is about to break some horrible news to the doctor.
One of Antonio's hands is under Jay's head to prevent him from slamming in against the floor. He knows not to touch a seizing person, so he just sits back and waits. Suddenly Jay's mouth is filled with vomit. Al quickly notices and pushes a sobbing and rather useless Erin out of the way.
"He's choking on it" he announces "we have to turn him on his side."
Antonio quickly helps Al turn their unconscious friend, who finally stops seizing. His body goes limp once again, eyes rolling back into his head.
"He's out" Ruzek finishes his explanation to Jay's panicked brother on the other side of the line.
"Just make sure he keeps breathing"is all Will responds.
The previous way-too-fast-breathing is replaced with irregular wheezing gasps that only occur every ten to fifteen seconds.
"It's okay, Jay. You're okay. Just breathe." Erin is whispering into her partner's ear, while stroking his hair, receiving no response whatsoever.
After a couple of minutes that seem to last forever a sirene is heard.
"Finally" Ruzek exhales and runs downstairs to meet them.
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"Thirty year-old male, found unconscious. He suffered a 3 minute seizure. GCS is 3, BP 80 over 50, not responding to fluid replacement, fever of 103 degrees. " one of the EMTs announces as soon as the gurney is rushed through the door.
"Jay?! Can you hear me? Jay!" the patient's panicked brother completely ignores the EMT.
"Diminished breath sounds, we had to intubate" the EMT finishes his deadly monologue, refering to the invasive tube shoved down Jay's throat.
"Okay, get him into trauma 3" Rhodes orders pushing his coworker away "Will. I got him."
"Has he woken up at all?" Will asks a pale looking Antonio, with more than obvious desperation in his voice.
"No, he was out when we found him" he answers, deciding not to add the ugly details.
Will lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding "What happened to him?"
"We're not sure" Antonio dazes off before he adds "He was hit in his stomach yesterday and seemed kinda out of it since."
"Dawson!" Erin yells from behind the detective, the whole team on her heels. "Is he okay? Is he alive?"
"Yes. Yes, he's alive" he tries his best to comfort her.
"Go to the waiting room, I'll see what I can find out" Will says before leaving.
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For hours later the team is still waiting in the uncomfortable platic chairs. Will had told them Jay was being taken into surgery. And that was three very long hours ago. It was everything they knew. Not another word.
Al and Voight were leaning against a wall, Ruzek pacing back and forth nervously, Atwater following him with his eyes to keep himself occupied and to make sure Adam didn't fall apart. As for Antonio and Erin, they have collapsed into chairs and stayed there unmoving. Will had gone to observe the surgery through the window, just to make sure his brother in fact wasn't dead.
After another hour, he finally reappeared. Everyone jumped to their feet, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Is he-" Ruzek started, but couldn't finish.
"He made it through surgery and is being settled in the ICU as we speak. The punch to the stomach that you mentioned actually appears to have caused appendicitis. Left untreated, thanks to my brother's stubbornness, it resulted in sepsis. The fever, unconsciousness and seizure are all associated with that. The surgery was to remove his appendix and I'm glad to say it was a success-"
"So he's gonna be okay?" Erin interrupted him.
"Well, the severe septic shock also caused him to go into respiratory arrest" Will paused to regain himself "He hasn't regained consciousness and he still isn't breathing on his own. We'll keep him on a ventilator until his condition improves."
"But it will, right?" Adam asked.
"Improve? Yes, I believe so. The problems should resolve themselves when he wakes up."
"So now we wait" Antonio concluded.
"Now we wait."
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It has been three days since Jay was brought in. He was still unresponsive and hooked to a machine doing the breathing for him.
The team was gathered in the hospital room once again, just like every previous afternoon. Erin and Will were each sitting on one of Jay's sides, holding his hands.
"Man, when he wakes up, I'm going to either wrap him in bubble wrap or kill him myself" Antonio joked to lighten the mood.
"Be my guest" Will responded, a smirk on his face.
With that Al decided to join in on the conversation "The kid's stubborn, what can you do?"
Suddenly, after what seemed like forever Erin felt a twich in her hand. Her head shot up to observe Jay's face "Jay?"
At that, Will squeezed his brother's hand and to his surprise it squeezed back.
"Jay, can you hear me?" he said and stood up to lean over his brother, though he never let go of the hand he was holding. Instead he used his other hand to rub Jay's chest. "Jay. Can you open your eyes for me, Jay?" When he got no response, he examined the beeping monitors around the bed. "Jay? You with us?"
Finally his eyelids fluttered. "That's it. Come on, sleepy head, look at me." A second later his eyes opened lazily, revealing a set of baby blue eyes. "Hey, bro. It's good to see ya" Will smiled.
Jay's exhusted eyes were travelling around the room in panic. Suddenly he was gagging on the tube and alarms started going off one after another, startling him even more.
"It's okay, it's okay. Relax." Will tried to comfort him. "There's a tube in your throat helping you breathe. I know it's annoying, but it needs to stay in a little longer. Try not to fight it, okay?" But the detective didn't listen. He started trashing around, trying to pull at the tube with his hands.
"No, Jay. Don't do that." Will intervened before he could do any harm. "Let me get it out for you." He reached for a syringe to empty the balloon at the other end of the tube. "Maybe you don't need it anymore" he added as an afterthought.
Antonio and Al effectively pinned the detective down while Will took the endotracheal tube out of Jay's throat. After a few minutes of gagging, coughing and wheezing Jay was finally able to relax. An oxygen mask was put over his nose and mouth to help him breathe better. Jay's eyes were now travelling from one team member to another.
"It's good to have you back" Antonio said once they reached him.
Jay's hand went to his face and pulled the mask away. "What's with the bubble wrap?" he rasped, voice still hoarse from the tube.
Everyone lughed and Will gently replaced the mask on his brother's face.
THE END
Hello fellow Chi-hards :)
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. If you have time please review and let me know what you think. Should I write more stories like this? Any requests or ideas are more than welcome.
Till next time.
Love, N
