Not Going Home

Greetings everyone and a very belated happy new year! While I have enjoyed my little writing hiatus, I am fired up and ready to dive back into story sharing. My hiatus included a little trip to the stunning city of Chicago and I was very much inspired. This story is an ode to season 2 episode 10 titled, "Shouldn't Have Been Alone." I was watching it a couple of weeks ago and found myself wondering why the show hasn't had another episode like it. It has suspense, thrills, explosions, humor, love, and twists and turns along the way. It's one of my favorite PD episodes. We're tweaking a few things along the way, but I hope you enjoy this one. I should note that this takes place immediately following the latest episode of PD. Without further or do, let's get into this.

Chapter 1- Why Are You Still Conscious

"Is that Adam?"

"Yeah."

"You should go."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you later."

It was a reluctant departure to say the least. She was torn: stay with Jay and guide him through the post-op of a tough case or answer the tempting text Adam sent. Jay put on his best 'I'm fine' demeanor, but there was this thing, an ulterior force telling her that leaving was a bad idea. She shook it off and rose to leave, a growing seed of uneasiness in her gut. She felt his eyes following her out of the bar, but didn't dare turn around. It's where their relationship was at the moment and she wasn't sure how to change the circumstances, kick things into the next gear. So she quickly, but not too swiftly, walked towards the door and pulled it open, being met with the drastic coldness of the January evening in the city.

Jay sat his place at the bar a few minutes longer, daydreaming into his beer bottle, contemplating what all was just discussed. But then he bunny trailed to her, a little jealous of Adam receiving her attention tonight. While he was not a home wrecker, and respected each of them, he hated that he didn't make a move sooner; truly tell her how he felt. Those thoughts were quickly pushed away. No need to fret or scheme over events of the past. So he got up and threw a twenty on the counter, retreating to the exit to make the briefly forgotten gentlemanly gesture.

"Hailey, wait." She quickly spun around to a lightly jogging Jay catching up to her. She gave him a puzzled look.

"It's rude to make you walk out to the car by yourself. Especially since I asked you out here." He met up with her and put his jacket around her. While she wouldn't say it, she was appreciative for the bonus layer. It was uber chilly out and she'd admit to being freezing cold. She nodded a thanks and the two continued to her car. They were silent on the way, each scanning their surroundings. She went to open her door but Jay stood in the way.

"I've got it," he insisted as he placed a hand on the handle.

"You're too kind" she jokingly replied as she climbed into the driver seat. She removed his jacket and handed it back to him.

"Sure you're ok?!" He convincingly nodded.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." He closed the door and began the walk back to the truck. She turned the key in the ignition and sat for a few minutes, allowing the engine to warm up while simultaneously grasping for a reason to not meet up with Adam. A few minutes later, she put the car in reverse and slowly pressed the gas. She was halfway out of the spot when a gunshot rang out. It was close enough for her to catch a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. Fear consumed her for a second before the adrenaline kicked in. In a millisecond, the car was in park and she was sprinting towards Jay's car, the scene stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Jay! Talk to me," she called out as she got into a crouch, gun drawn as she looked around the corner. Satisfied with the safety level, she holstered her gun and dropped to her knees at Jay's head, taking in the bullet hole on the left side of his face. In that moment, there wasn't a scenario that didn't have him dying before the night was up. Tears were starting to form as she scrambled for something to hold over his face. His eyes were wide open with disbelief and shock. His hands were shaking as they made their way towards his face. Hailey grabbed them and pulled them back down.

"No, Jay. Don't move. You're shot. Just breathe." he just blinked in response. His eyelids would close for a second before opening wide again. He was writhing about, trying to now get into a sitting position. Hailey stopped her search for a compression and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Do not move. You're bleeding from your face and you might have spinal damage." He ignored her and now tried to roll over, gagging as he did so. Hailey got the message and assisted him, watching as a frightening amount of blood came up and fell onto the ground. By now, occupants of the bar ventured out, calling out for someone.

"Call an ambulance! We've got a gunshot wound and he needs a hospital right now!" Hailey screamed as footsteps scurried back towards a door. The bar door slammed open moments later, the bar tender sprinting to relay information to Hailey.

"Ambulance is on its' way. Here's a towel….oh my word." Hailey literally grabbed the towel out of her hands, ignoring the freaking out in the woman's tone. Now wasn't the time to panic. Someone had to be sane in this situation.

"Jay, this is going to hurt. I'm sorry." She firmly pressed on his face, getting a couple of grunts and hard blinks in return.

"Why are you still conscious" Hailey spoke into the situation, receiving a small shrug from the shivering person under her hands. The faintest sound of a siren was picked up moments later. Hailey breathed a small sigh of relief.

"They're coming…they're coming…" Hailey kept repeating. Jay blinked a couple more times before finally giving in to unconsciousness' sedative offer. Hailey sniffed away the tears as the ambulance screeched to a halt at the end of the truck. She prayed that wasn't the last time those blue eyes would have life behind them. The paramedics jolted her back to reality.

"What've we got?"

"Gunshot wound to the face. I applied pressure and he was conscious till a couple minutes ago." Hailey felt her whole body weaken as she stepped away, allowing the medics to do their thing. She wiped the blood on her hands on her pants before feeling for her phone, selecting the precinct before putting the phone to her ear.

Trudy Platt was gathering her coat while giving out final updates for the overnight officer on desk duty.

"Baker and Johnson are on bickering terms again so keep them separated for the night. Car eight fifty-seven needs the body shop paperwork filled out before it's shipped to the shop in the morning and that girl over there is wanting for her parent. Do not let her out of your sight. Goodnight people!" The phone rang as Trudy was halfway to the door.

"I'm not here. Get that." She made it down one flight of steps before the desk sergeant yelled for her. With an extra amount of attitude, she begrudgingly shuffled back up the steps to the screaming voice.

"What now?! It's nighttime. This can't be something you can't handle." The man behind the counter wore a shocked expression as he pointed the phone in her direction.

"You need to take this." She shook her head as she thrust the phone against her ear.

"What."

"Sarge? It's Hailey. Jay's been shot. He's…I mean…" Trudy's mouth dropped as she stuttered, listening to Hailey sob.

"Where are you?!"

"Some bar in river north. I don't remember the name. Just ping my phone."

"Done. Hailey, breathe." By now, Burgess was opening the gate at the bottom of Intelligence's steps. She was stopped short by Platt snapping her fingers at her, telling someone on the phone to hang on.

"Burgess! Get Voight. Jay's been shot and he's on the way to Med." Kim nearly fell over herself and as she spun around and raced to relay the message.

"Hailey. They're on their way. Stay with Jay."

"Yes, Sarge." Trudy slammed the phone down and beelined it for the exit, nothing was going to stand between her and the hospital.

It was a blurry ride from the bar to the hospital. Hailey was zoned out by now, allowing the shock of everything to consume her for a moment. Jay was in the caring hands of qualified people. She'd compose herself when they arrived at their destination. Now was the opportune moment to let everything sink in. She picked up random things spoken along the way. The medic tending to Jay called out information for the driver to pass along to the hospital. Something about no exit wound and possible artery damage resonated with Hailey as she focused her attention on her partner. He hadn't regained consciousness and the amount of blood steadily pumping out from his face made Hailey want to puke. The paramedic replaced the gauze on his face three times in the last seven minutes. But the location of the wound and draining skin color were what stood out against the whole situation. People don't survive things like this. With so many critical areas in such a small space, it was nearly impossible for there to not be permanent, life altering damage. Hailey swallowed the fear and worry as the ambulance came to an abrupt stop in the bay at Med. The doors were flung open and five worried faces greeted the party in the rig. Ethan Choi and a nurse grabbed the gurney as stats were presented. Hailey waited for the crowd to leave before climbing out, rounding the back of the vehicle only to be met by an understandably worried Will Halstead.

Hailey was grateful that someone took on the awful task of alerting him. She wasn't looking forward to having to ruin Will's night with news like that. The two of them stood a foot apart from each other for a few seconds, taking each other in. Hailey still had Jay's blood on her clothes and quickly realized how frightening she must've appeared. He did a quick scan of her before speaking.

"What happened?"

"I…we…I met up with Jay after a case and we talked for a bit before leaving for the night. He walked me to my car and I was backing out when I heard a gunshot." Hailey didn't feel the need to continue. She adjusted her feet and looked down at the ground. Will nodded before embracing her with a hug.

"Thank you for being there," he spoke. Hailey half nodded before stepping away, pointing towards the entrance.

"I need to go clean up," she announced and he ushered her to go first. She made it to closing a bathroom stall door before shrinking down into a sitting position and sobbing.

Ethan was waving a penlight over Jay's eyes when Will snuck into the room. The doctor looked over at him before returning to his patient.

"Will, you know the rules."

"I'm not going to touch him, but I'm not leaving him." Ethan nodded before spewing out information and orders.

"Left pupil is sluggish but there. Probably bruised from the impact. Definite shattered cheekbone and possible fractured eye socket. Get a portable x-ray in here and page trauma and ortho. He needs to go up soon." Will approached the gurney as nurses scrambled about the room, setting up IVs and connecting Jay monitors. Now at a closer position, Will was able to truly take everything in. He glanced at the place on his brother's face covered in gauze but didn't linger long. He was a little surprised at how calm he was in this moment and didn't want to encourage that to change. The swelling was already kicking in, indicating the broken bones on the left side of Jay's face. Will grabbed a hand and squeezed it, half hoping for something in return.

"Hang in there, Jay. We've got you," he spoke to the unconscious body. Dr. Choi allowed Will to remain at Jay's side as he intubated Jay via his nose. With the potential damage to his mouth, intubation was limited to the nasal passages or a trache and Jay didn't have enough time for a tracheotomy to be performed. Choi sprayed the numbing spray into Jay's right nostril and began inserting the long tube. It was halfway in when Jay's eyes snapped open. Will gasped a little when he noticed Jay conscious; a small miracle considering. It didn't take long for him to start squirming about and moving his hands towards his face.

"Hey Jay, just relax you're in the hospital. Don't move," Will spoke. Jay's eyes circled around the room, clearly confused and out of it. Will squeezed his hand, hoping to re-direct Jay's attention back to his voice.

"Just hold still. I know this feels weird but it's necessary." Jay nodded after a moment and Ethan resumed shoving the tube down the nostril. Air was pushing into Jay's lungs moments later he was fighting the urge to rip the device out, sub-consciously reaching up to yank on the tube.

"No, you can't do that. Just let it do the breathing." Will tried his best to reassure Jay without showing his panic. It was impossible to not stare at the growing blood stain on the gauze and it took everything to not freak out. The x-ray machine was rolled in moments later and Will stepped back.

"You're ok, Jay. Just stare at the thing above you and don't move." Jay blinked a couple of times as the black box above him rattled and snapped. The pain was beginning to stir and Jay couldn't communicate it. The image on the screen confirmed what they all feared. The bullet was still in his face and resting on his facial artery, a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, furthering its' journey into the precious facial bones and muscles. Even in his state of confusion and shock, Jay picked up that things weren't good. He finally remembered he had a mouth and tried to open it to speak but was met with a sharp pain, making him grunt in pain and tears to instantly start forming. Will turned away from the screen.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. You're going to be ok. Just don't move your mouth." The alarms from the monitoring leads began going off, alerting those in the room that things were becoming out of control.

"He needs to go up now." Choi began disconnecting cords as Jay fought alertness. Will grabbed a side of the gurney and helped push Jay towards the elevator. The two brothers locked in on each other as they waited for the doors to open. Will gave his best reassurance smile as Jay's eyelids slowly shut. Will released his grip on the gurney and watched as the elevator climbed the floors, realizing he didn't say goodbye and hoping it wasn't necessary for him to do so.

We're jumping right into the action. Thank you for reading!