Chapter 1- A Shocking Start
Hello everyone! I'm going to try this crazy notion of writing two stories at the same time. I have always had this desire to follow the footsteps of the great writers on this website and ask the audience for one-shot writing prompts. I think it's a fun challenge and plus, I love so many of the adventures that have come out of this writing style. You guys have great ideas, and I would be honored to bring them to life. So, I'm going to get the ball rolling with this one and then I'm handing the map over to you. You have the directions, I've got the wheel, let the journey…begin.
The great meltdown, that's what everyone was calling it. It's a weather phenomena that happens at some point in the month of April in the city of Chicago. The stuff falling from the sky transitions from thick, white, silent precipitation into clear, loud, very wet things called raindrops. All the months and inches of snow that are residing in the gutters, street corners, and quiet parks begin to melt as this welcoming weather falls; signaling spring is on the way. On the downside, the city turns into the world's largest cup of water with ice chunks floating around. One never knows when the meltdown will begin, you just know to look out once the calendar reaches this glorious time of year. This April, the skies opened towards the end of the month. It was the final Thursday night of April and everyone was rushing indoors. The rate of rainfall was near record rates and the wind rarely calmed down, creating the terrible situation of blown-out umbrellas and soaking wet feet. People were desperate enough to hold soaked, ink dripping newspapers over their heads while flailing a free arm in the air, hoping a taxi would brave the elements. Even the train stations were extra crowded. It was almost comical to see how many people could huddle under the overhangs near the tracks. Personal space was thrown out for the sake of dryness and vanity. Furthermore, no one was jumping to get on the train when the doors open. Crowds climbed out before the waiting people shrugged their shoulders before speeding through the gap between the overhang and train's edge. While all of this was going on, somewhere in the streets of Chicago, Jay Halstead and Kim Burgess found themselves dry and cozy in the truck, weaving their way to a crime scene out in Pilsen.
A shooting at a house near Harrison Park involved known gang bangers and a case of guns. The case worked it's way through the many departments before landing on the desk of Hank Voight. Perhaps it was the rain, or the suspicion of a brewing gang war, but Intelligence was the only one willing to take on the seemingly easy case. Jay and Kim were given the instructions to be at the scene first and gather insight while the rest caught up. They were running adjacent to the south branch of the Chicago River when the rain began to pick up speed and pounding.
"Well this is awesome," Kim sarcastically spoke. Jay smirked while nodding his head, not really looking forward to getting out of the car in a few minutes.
"I don't think it's been this bad for awhile, if ever from what I can recall." Jay turned the wipers on full power now, crawling down the street at this point.
"This has nothing on storms in the South. One time I was driving through Louisiana on my way to Mardi Gras and it was storming so bad that everyone on the highway was doing twenty, maybe, and flashers were all you saw. The road was a grey murk and the lines were completely gone. You couldn't pull over because you couldn't see who was next to you and where the road ended. It got to the point where I was confessing out loud how stupid I was to be doing it. That was insane, this is manageable."
"You went to Mardi Gras?" Jay laughed, shrugging his shoulders as he flipped the indicator on.
"You don't seem like a Mardi Gras person? I've never been, what's it like?"
"What happens in NOLA…" Kim opened her mouth in disgust and shock.
"Seriously? We've known each other how long and that's all I get?"
"Pretty much." Kim rolled her eyes as she gazed out the dripping window. The yellow tape and flashing police lights came into view a couple moments later.
"Game time." Jay got out of the truck first and ran to the passenger side with an umbrella in hand, popping it open before opening the door for Kim. He was completely soaked when they reached the front steps of the house.
"What've we got," he asked the officer flagging them down?
"Two DOAs and one being transferred to an area hospital. All young, adult men with gunshot wounds. The two DOAs were shot point blank in the temple while the third victim suffered chest wounds. It doesn't look good."
"Drive by" Kim asked?
"Good luck in this mess tonight. Perps seemed to enter from the back and front of the house. Both entry points of the house were forced open."
"I'll take the back, you take the front," Jay instructed, Kim silently happy he gave her the dry option. She offered him the umbrella but her told her to keep it, saying it was pointless at this point. Kim was shining a light on the shot open front door when she heard an electrical sound followed by a flash and grunt. Her head snapped up in time to see Jay stumble backward and fall on the sidewalk, very much unconscious.
…
"10-1, 10-1 officer down! I'm at the corner of W 21st and Paulina Street, roll an ambulance to this location ASAP." Officers were running to Jay's sides as Kim sent out the call, yelling for everyone to stop as she saw the cause of the accident jumping a couple of feet from Jay.
"Wait, there's a live wire over there! Don't touch him or you'll get hit." Rain soaked officers stood motionless, suddenly very wary of the large puddles surrounding them.
"You didn't see that," Kim half asked as she held the umbrella over a limp Jay Halstead.
"The house was dark when we pulled up, figured the power was out."
"Clearly it's not. Call the power company," she barked as she held the umbrella over Jay, feeling completely stupid and helpless. There was that gut wrenching stench of burnt skin on Jay. It didn't take a genius to figure out he stepped in an electrically charged puddle of water. Kim kept shifting her weight from one leg to the other, mumbling something about things taking too long. She'd dance her eyes from Jay to the street to the policemen scrambling on their phones. Jay was still unconscious at this point, his breathing shallow and irregular, becoming quieter with every breath. Kim resisted the urge to reach down and feel for a pulse, knowing the very real danger of doing that. As long as the wire was live, Jay was a connection from it to her. Thunder and lightning were making their presence known in the not-too-far distance, creating a more dramatic situation.
"Power's off!" A siren was just coming into earshot as Kim flung the umbrella to the side and grabbed Jay's shoulders, getting a mild, but stimulation sensation.
"You ok," someone asked as she stepped back in pain?
"Yeah, I'm fine, just residual static from the shock. Feel for his pulse." The ambulance rolled to a halt a few feet away, the paramedics swooping into the scene seconds later.
"What happened?"
"Stepped in a pool of water with a live wire nearby." One of the paramedics grimaced as they set up an IV line, the other searching for the entry source. She removed his right shoe to reveal a red, bleeding, swelling sore from Jay's heal to the ball of his foot.
"Definitely the entry point. Heart rate?"
"Elevated and irregular. Do we charge?"
"No, the heart's already been through enough. Start CPR and get him on an O2 mask. He needs to leave, now." It was a quick, blurry set of steps but soon Kim found herself in the back of an ambulance racing towards a hospital. She heard the paramedic say the name but didn't register it. Her whole focus was on Jay. He still hadn't regained consciousness and failed to move anything. He was limp and his foot made her want to vomit from its' grotesqueness. Reality buzzed her in via a cellphone. She was watching the paramedic's arms pump life into Jay's frail heart as the phone buzzed in her pocket.
"Hello," she weakly answered?"
"What happened?" Voight's gravelly, slightly concerned voice put her back in reporting mode.
"Live wire was sparking on the ground and Jay walked right into it. It's not good." Silence echoed on the other end. The sound of sirens and shouting gave hint to Voight and the rest of the team being back at the scene, reminding Kim that the world was still existing outside the ambulance window.
"Where are they taking him?"
"I don't know, they mentioned it but I don't recall. Somewhere close."
"Stay with him and keep us updated." He didn't wait for a reply, simply ending the call. An unknown trauma bay came into view with unknown doctors and nurses waiting for the ambulance to meet them. From there everything was a swirl of noise, moving, and helplessness. The paramedics were spewing out details of Jay's declining health while people were shouting directions and commands. Kim hung back for a few seconds, watching the sea of doctors, nurses, medics, and Jay all clamor into the dry ER department. Her feet finally reminded her of their existence and began urging her to utilize them. The waiting room went by in a blur, her directionally challenged self zooming in on a small curtained off area a few rooms from her. She arrived at its' doorway only to wish she hadn't found the room. Jay had been transferred to a bed by now and was attached to a vast amount of monitors and life saving things. His clothing was removed and a hospital gown was draped at his waist, revealing a wet, shivering person convulsing on the bed. A doctor had relieved the medic of their CPR duty and was pumping harder, a small amount of sweat building up on his forehead. Someone was asking something about shocking Jay back into rhythm and degrees of the burns on Jay's foot and left shoulder, the electricity's exit point. It all was background noise over the heart monitor alerting people that Jay's situation was quickly becoming more dangerous and dire by the second. Kim doubled over at this point, pressing the back of her hands to her ears and praying for it all to cease.
…
He was a numb, mute soul who's body was bobbing with the flow of the train under him. It was a sixth sense moment for Will Halstead. Without hearing the name of the officer down, he knew it was Jay. The call over the ED radio crackled in twenty minutes ago and he just so happened to be standing at the desk when it came through. This small voice mentally told him to get ready, that his night was about to take a dark turn. When the second phone call went to Jay's voicemail, he dropped the tablet off with Maggie, grabbed his raincoat, and mechanically stormed out. (Pun totally intended). Maggie told him the name of the hospital as he raced by, nodding his head to let her know he got the message. It was Rush something and he knew nothing of their capabilities, but Will didn't care. Getting that visual of Jay in a safe, helping environment would do wonders for his racing, dangerously hopeless mind at the moment. At every stop he'd glance up at the map on the wall and mentally alert himself the numbers of stops before his. A couple of times it took everything to not shout at the loading people; wanting to tell them that a life was literally at stake. An eternal twenty minutes later the hospital stop arrived and Will practically bolted out, only slowing down after an epic slide on the sidewalk. He was soaked to the bone when he arrived at the ER doors, doubling over for a second to catch his breath before crossing the threshold of this unknown place. He also did a very uncharacteristic thing and shed his raincoat and left it on the ground, half thinking that make him look more presentable.
One random night at a bar, Jay told Will this great trick that was almost foolproof: walk like you're supposed to be there. Wherever you are, wherever you're going, act like you're in the right spot and know exactly where you're going. Give off that vibe and people will not stop you. It was so bizarre and random but it actually works and Will have every intention of using this phenomena tonight. As the ER doors rolled open, Will pulled his shoulders up and confidently walked onward, waving to the receptionist in the waiting room as he successfully made his way to the ER rooms. It worked like a charm. Will stood in the middle of the department before a doubled over Kim caught his eye. His stomach was in his mouth as he walked towards her, reminding himself that Jay was a closed curtain away.
"What happened," he asked? Kim practically slapped him in the face as she pivoted to greet him.
"Will! I'm so sorry. It all happened so fast that…" Her train of thought was interrupted by the most chilling, blood draining sound in the world: the single, long beep of a stopped heart. Kim felt the tears burn down her face as she watched Will pull the curtain back and stare in complete disbelief. The doctors and nurses were scrambling at a mad pace now. The person doing CPR was pounding Jay's chest with a fist now, muttering under his breath for Jay to live. A nurse shouted about inserting another round of epi when a resounding crack made everyone stop.
"Hey! It's time to shock the heart," Will shouted. The group turned towards the stranger in unison.
"And you are?"
"Does it matter? You've successfully broken a couple of ribs and it's not working. Shock the heart on a low voltage, now." Paddles were thrusted into the doctors hand's, the whining of the machine warming up stopped milliseconds later.
"Charge to 200, clear!" Jay's body convulsed under the wave of electricity, Will ignoring it as the monitor's finally gave hopeful news: sinus rhythm.
"You now need to externally pace him. That rate won't last long." The doctor coked his head while throwing his hands in the air.
"Hey man, why don't you just come over here and do my job for me."
"You want to be in charge here, fine. But don't let him die for the sake of your ego. Do it." Kim was very much confused at this point. They were in an ER watching Jay die before returning to earth and now Will was in a pissing match with the medical team; a very Halstead thing to do. She wasn't sure whether to cry or laugh or fist bump Will. A rather confusing moment indeed. The two of them watched as the medical staff attached the external paddles to the front and back of Jay and set the machine to a Will approved rate. Kim would jump at every jolt in Jay's body, but soon things stabilized, giving everyone a moment to breathe.
"Alright, he'll be on those the next twenty-four hours and then we'll start weaning him off of them, if that's alright with you," the doctor asked Will. An approving nod was all he got.
"Ok, page the burn unit and plastics, he needs a couple of skin grafts and treatments for the entry and exit points but after that, it's just monitoring for a couple of days." The doctor flung his gloves off and headed for the exit, leaving Will, Kim, and Jay alone for a brief moment.
"Nice job there man. How do you know him?"
"I'm his brother, genius." The doctor nodded before exiting the room, Kim beaming at Will. He shrugged his shoulders as he rested his hands at the foot of Jay's bed and hung his head.
"You need to get that looked at," Will told her after awhile, pointing to Kim's red, bleeding hands.
"Oh, no I'm fine. It can wait."
"You say that now, wait till the adrenaline wears off." A nurse poked her head in at this point, starting the pre-op process for skin graft surgery.
"Hey," Will interrupted.
"Can she get those looked at?" The nurse ushered Kim out, stopping at the trauma room curtain for a moment.
"It's fine, he's not going to be alone," Will insisted. Kim nodded after a final glance and headed out. Will grabbed the hand closest to his and squeezed it. In this quiet, somewhat calm moment, he finally got to take everything in. From the injury sights to the devices and lines keeping his brother alive, it all summed up to how lucky his brother was and the hurdles he still had to overcome.
"You never do anything half tilt, Jay." Will got a small twitch from the hand in his grip. He figured it was the result of the external pacing, but deep down, wanted to believe it was his brother under everything. Will smirked before sitting back in the small, plastic chair given to him, allowing himself to breathe again. His hands were shaking from the wearing off adrenaline and growing realization. Will cupped his face with his hands and sobbed. His stupidly stubborn brother would live to fight another day.
…
11:58…11:59…12:00. Good Friday morning. Will had belly flopped onto a makeshift bed in the corner of Jay's room and watched the clock turn over to a new day. While in its' infancy, the day was already a one eighty of the twenty-four hours prior. Jay was in a deep sleep his room on the small, quiet ICU floor. His bed was resting at a normal level with Jay slumped down into the many blankets and pillows attempting to make his healing body comfy. Skin grafts aren't for the feint at heart and they were going to truly hurt once sleeping beauty awoke. Preemptive pain management was utilized and Jay was on a heavy cocktail of dilaudid and fentanyl; pretty safe to say Jay wouldn't remember most of this hospital stint.
The oxygen mask that was placed in the ambulance was replaced with a breathing tube and vent for the surgery which was also swapped out for a cannula in the recovery room. Despite everything, Jay managed to fight the need for a vent, his breathing never getting to a point of necessary assistance. Will chuckled when the surgeon told him that Jay really fought when he resurfaced from the anesthesia. He would've been concerned if Jay hadn't tried to do his own thing. But looking over his drained, snoring brother, Will was glad for the stubborn Halstead gene, shuttering at how differently things could've played out if they just sat back and let things unfold.
"Good night, Jay. Just rest," Will whispered. He rolled over and stared at the wall next to him, finding sleep a very hard state to reach. He repeatedly told himself to sleep, forced deep, slow breathing, and stretching his extremities, but nothing availed. Will gave up after some time and rolled over onto his back and just stared at the ceiling, letting his brain replay everything. The surgery took three hours and Will spent most of the time in the waiting room. Kim was treated and released with first degree burns on her hands. She held up her bandaged hands to Will when she found him in the waiting room. The two of them talked about random things, the weather, how many celebrities had a birthday in April, just anything to keep their mind off of the person down the hall. The rest of Intelligence shuffled in an hour after Jay went back, everyone making it a point to hug Will and share their apologizes and willingness to help. Other police officers came and went, each mirroring Intelligence's responses. The small group sat for some time, catching each one up on the case and Jay's condition. Voight's phone rang some time later, alerting the group it was time to part ways. The city doesn't wait for one person's recovery and the case was needing Intelligence's assistance. Will promised updates as they reluctantly filed out, nodding their heads in thanks. At some point, Will nodded off to sleep. Kim would nudge him when the snoring got loud and the two would laugh over it all. The eternal three hours ended with Will being shone the surgeon's fine handiwork on the foot and shoulder. Will knew what skin grafts looked like and the recovery stages, but knowing it was Jay's body going through it all made his stomach queasy, making him regret his desire to see and know. It was at this point Kim left, saying she wanted to give the brothers some space and would stop by later. Will was thankful for the alone time, but knew the true reason for her sudden departure: it was hard to see Jay this way. Jay had created this persona of being tough and untouchable, witnessing him as anything but that was wrong almost. Will rubbed his temples at that one, internally confessing to hating this current predicament. However, shuffling and grunting sounds interrupted his dark, depressing train of thought.
"Jay?!" Will sat up and looked at the bed to his right. Jay's eyes were lazily hovering around the room as he pulled for the tube under his nose. He started moving his legs under the sheets but stopped at the pain that caused. Jay managed to pull the cannula under his mouth when Will was at his bedside.
"Hey, hey keep that on." The drug stupor was rather evident as Will put things back into place.
"Wht…whr are we," Jay slurred?
"A hospital. You kinda scared us all tonight." Jay response was a clueless expression.
"Do you remember the house you guys were sent to?" Jay's eyelids drooped closed before snapping open a minute later.
"What?!" Will couldn't help but smile. Jay was very much out of it.
"The house you and Kim went to."
"It…ws raining."
"Yeah, because of the rain you were stepping near a live wire and got shocked. Your heart stopped for a moment but they got it back and you've got some burns on your feet and shoulder, but you should be fine after a couple of weeks." Jay stared into a day dream, not really grasping everything Will was saying, but took it as truth. He doesn't remember any of the reported things, but figured it all added up to his current surroundings. Will called him twice before responding.
"Yeah," Jay answered, still locked on something in the corner.
"You ok? How's the pain? We can probably have them up the doses if it's bad."
"When can I go home?" Will sighed, silently concluding nothing was ever easy.
"In a couple of days. They need to monitor you to to make sure the heart beat doesn't change. You also didn't answer the question." Jay nodded before resting back on the pillows and closing his eyes.
"Legs and shoulder hurts, but it's fine."
"Yeah, it's from the surgery. Get some rest." Jay responded with a grunt as Will climbed back into bed. Jay adjusted in bed a couple times before his body completely relaxed.
"Goodnight Jay, love you." Will only got snores.
"Of course," Will laughed. He rolled over for the umpteenth time and soon both Halsteads were completely and soundly out, listening to the rain drip down the hospital window and wind howl.
One-shot endings are so tough for judge. You want to end it but don't want to leave too much out. Thank you guys so much for reading! I'm super excited to see what comes next. The baton has been passed on to you guys.