A/N: In honor of National Siblings Day in the U.S., this story popped into my head. I don't own Chicago PD, Chicago Med, or any other known entity. I hope you all enjoy this story, and please review. :)
Full Circle
Little siblings could be completely, utterly, and entirely annoying.
Will struggled to remind himself of that as he sat his little brother down in front of the television, hoping that Jay would be entertained by Tom and Jerry instead of Will. Mostly because Will had homework to do, and Jay wouldn't let him.
"Will, can we play?" Jay asked as he walked over to Will.
"Not right now," Will replied. "I'm trying to do my homework."
Jay pouted slightly, trying to guilt Will into playing with him. To no avail, as Will had mastered the art of ignoring his little brother. So, Jay attempted to up the game, trying hard to get Will's attention yet again.
"Jay, if you don't stop, I will tell Mom and Dad," Will warned.
Jay huffed, and turned to watch the television with a grumpy expression on his face.
Will, however, didn't care what expression his brother had. He was doing his homework, and he was going to get it finished, no matter what.
Minus, of course, his little brother disappearing.
"Jay?" Will called out, upon realizing that the youngster wasn't sitting on the couch anymore. When he didn't get a response, he called out again, "Jay? Jay, where are you?"
Nothing.
Part of Will wondered if this was a ploy by Jay to get Will to play with him. But, Will also knew what would happen if anything happened to Jay on his watch. He walked around the house, looking for Jay and finding him outside, playing on the swing set in the park across the street. Will shrugged, reasoning he could finish his spelling homework outside with his brother.
"Will, watch!" Jay said as he started to swing higher.
"Be careful," Will cautioned.
Jay opted to jump off the swing, landing awkwardly and hard on the concrete. Both brothers were stunned to hear such a sickening crack come from such a small child. Will very quickly forgot about his homework as he rushed to his brother's side.
"Will?" Jay asked.
"It's okay," Will told him. "You're okay."
But, Jay wasn't okay. Jay was bleeding, and Will knew right away that, at the very least, Jay's arm had broken in the fall.
"Come on, Jay," Will said, helping his little brother stand up. "Let's go home, we'll get you cleaned up."
"Will, my arm hurts," Jay said. "And there's something stuck in it."
Will didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't something sticking in his arm, but rather, something sticking out of his arm. "Leave it alone."
"Okay."
Will led them back across the street, nudging Jay into the bathroom. As Will cleaned his brother's cuts and scrapes (ignoring the broken skin on Jay's arm), he calmly called his mother, letting her know what happened.
And, of course, getting yelled at for not watching Jay well enough.
Will hung up the phone, keeping his calm while also trying to keep his inquisitive little brother from poking the bone sticking out of his arm. Will did his best to clean and wrap it with towels, trying to further protect it from its owner. All the while, Will kept his brother from freaking out about the gravity of the situation.
"My arm hurts," Jay said.
"Here," Will replied, handing him some aspirin. He got Jay a glass of water, and watched as his brother took the medicine. "There. You'll feel better real soon."
"I'm sorry."
Will shook his head. "It's okay."
"Dad's gonna be mad, and it's all my fault."
"It was an accident, Jay. That's all."
Jay frowned. "I shoulda listened to you."
"Well, yeah," Will teased. "But, if you did, you wouldn't be my pain-in-the-butt little brother."
"Am I really a pain?" Jay asked.
"Not all the time." Will ruffled Jay's hair gently. "Come on, let's go wait in the living room for Mom. She's gonna pick us up so we can go see the doctor, okay?"
"I don't wanna go to the doctor," Jay said.
"You gotta," Will said. "You need to get your arm fixed. But, on the bright side, you'll have a cast."
"I will?"
"Oh, yeah. And you can color on it, or have all your friends at school sign it."
"Cool." Jay smiled brightly.
"I bet, if you're good, you'll even get ice cream."
"Yes!"
Will smiled, putting his arm around his brother's shoulders before sitting with him on the couch and waiting for their mother to get home.
"You okay?" Jay asked, looking over at his older brother.
"Huh?" Will replied as they walked toward the park downtown.
"You seemed out of it for a minute."
"Yeah, I was just thinking." Will looked down for a moment.
"About…?"
"When you broke your arm jumping off the swings."
Jay furrowed his brow. "Odd time to think of that."
"Yeah, I know." Will stuffed his hands into his pockets. "But, how I felt that day, waiting for Mom to come home…" Will shook his head.
"You sure you're okay?" Jay asked.
Will sighed heavily. "I went to the funeral," he admitted.
"Which one?"
"That patient."
Jay almost stopped walking, but chose instead to swing his arm at his brother. "You mean, you went to the funeral for the woman who charged you with battery? What are you, stupid?"
"I… needed the closure. I put her through hell, and… and she died anyway."
"You tried to save her."
Will shook his head. "I saw her husband… he came up to me afterward. I thought he was going to hit me…"
The End