It was 7.30 am when Will opened Jay's door with his key. He was worried when Jay did not answer his call or text, so he left home very early to go to Jay's. He knew that Jay was hurting more than he let on. And he did not approve of him going home yesterday, but he also understood that Jay didn't want to stay at Natalie's. His brother needed some solace, and boy, what a whirlwind Owen had been these days.
He was greeted with the sight of Jay and Hailey sleeping on the couch. Jay leaned his head on her shoulder; Hailey's head was propped with a pillow on the back of the couch and her arm was around Jay's shoulder protectively. Their feet were on the table. Will laughed silently at the beer bottle and tea cup on the table; kudos to Hailey for keeping Jay off alcohol while she had a drink. Will smiled mischievously and took a picture of the adorable partners. He was glad his brother has a partner, no, a friend, to whom he could literally lean on. Without making any noise, he felt Jay's forehead for any sign of fever from infection. He was careful, with Jay's history of PTSD and nightmares, he didn't want to be punched. He knew Jay was getting better maintaining his PTSD, but if he was stressed, he would get nightmares. And Jay would not forgive him if Hailey witnessed his PTSD episode, or worse, if he hurt Hailey physically, since Jay never reacted well to people touching him when he was sleeping.
Jay woke up when Will touched his forehead. He, however, didn't let on that he was awake. Will was checking his heartbeat when Jay opened his eyes.
"I'm alive, Will," said Jay, whispered when he realised Hailey was still asleep.
"Was worried that you get infection, rapid heartbeat is a sign," Will rolled his eyes. "Let me check your dressing," said Will. Jay lifted the blanket and his shirt and let Will check his wound.
"I'm gonna redress the wound. You feeling better?" asked Will.
"Yeah, painkiller worked its wonder," said Jay. He held his hand, silently asking for Will to help him up. Will looked at him meaningfully, and Jay sighed, knowing full well that Will wasn't asking about his physical state. Once he stood, he slipped his hands under Hailey's neck and knees and laid her flat on the sofa, covering her with blanket. He then followed Will into the kitchen to start the coffee. Will prepared his kit and redressed the wound. Jay flinched when he remembered what happened yesterday.
Jay had fallen asleep for a little while in the hospital, combination of mild sedative, painkiller, and exhaustion. When he woke up, Will was on his bedside, his hands held onto Jay's, his head bowed down, just like Jay did on his father's bedside the previous day. Jay first thought Will was sleeping, but upon paying attention, he realised that Will was praying. Jay did not say anything, he squeezed Will's hands. Will immediately sat straight, his eyes were bloodshot red. He did not make eye contact with Jay. Jay only managed to grab his hand and squeezed it, and Will ran his fingers through Jay's hair, both relieving the physical contact between them but unable to say anything. The action was loaded since Jay swore he saw tears fell from Will's eyes. Jay knew it was not only because their dad had died. It was more because Will nearly lost his father and brother at the same time. Damn, how many people cried because of him yesterday? Will, Hailey… Jay shook his head. Two people closest to him were hurting because of him.
"What?" asked Will.
"No, nothing," lied Jay. Will knew he was not telling the truth, however he decided to drop it.
Hailey woke up to the smell of coffee. She was confused that she woke up in a living room not her own. She looked around and saw Will and Jay having breakfast and drinking coffee. They both looked at her as she sat and rubbed her face and yawned.
"Hey, you awake," said Jay. He poured her a cup of coffee. Hailey walked to the dining area, grabbed the mug and sipped it, thankful for the caffeine.
"Hey, Will," greeted Hailey. Will heard the unasked question.
"I was concerned when he didn't answer his phone. For all I know, he could be passed out, tore his stitches, get infections. So I went here first thing in the morning, didn't realise you would be here. Had I known you're keeping him company, I wouldn't come," Will offered an explanation. Hailey nodded.
"How's the wound?" asked Hailey to Jay.
"It's okay," answered Jay. They fell into silence. Will finished his coffee and cleared his throat.
"I'll get going, meet you for lunch?" asked Will.
"Yeah," said Jay. Will put his mug in the sink and clapped Jay on the shoulder. "Bye, Hailey," and with that, he was out the door.
"I'll ride with you to the district, need to pick my car up," said Jay.
"Uh, I got the day off," Hailey smirked. Jay raised his brow, asking her to elaborate. "Voight said yesterday, something about difficult case and winding off. But I'll drive you there to pick up your car."
"Alright, we can take our time then, because otherwise you need to be there in 15 minutes. Muffin? Will brought it," Jay waved a paper bag. Hailey smiled and accepted it.
"Of course!" She happily bit into the muffin. "Ah, blueberry. He's my favourite Halstead now," teased Hailey. Jay laughed.
"It cost a muffin to get you to say that? I brought you coffee all the time!" Jay rolled his eyes. It's Hailey's turn to laugh.
"On a serious note though, how are you doing? Honestly," asked Hailey. Jay's smile disappeared, he thought hard.
"My wound just got redressed by Will, judging by his concern, no infection is good enough," Jay stopped to see Hailey gave him a look. He sighed. "You and Will share the same look, maybe it's you two who are siblings," Jay rolled his eyes, happy to get an eye roll from Hailey as well. "I feel better than yesterday, I think you were right. Crying did help. Sleeping well helped too. I did fall asleep on you, though. Sorry," said Jay.
"It's alright. I'm glad you're feeling better," said Hailey.
"Yeah, let's see how that changes after today. Will and I are going to arrange the funeral," Jay quickly turned sombre. "Last time with our mom, he wasn't around to help, so I guess it wouldn't be as bad."
"Tell me if you need anything," said Hailey. She stretched her neck. "Thank God you have a comfy couch," she muttered. "You have breakfast yet? You didn't eat well last night," asked Hailey.
"Had toast earlier, I'm still feeling a bit sick, although better than last night," said Jay truthfully.
"Come on, I'll drive you to the district," said Hailey. She picked up her phone from the couch and scrolled through it. Some case reports, updates from Kim, Kevin, and Adam, leave grant from Voight, she made a mental note to read them all later.
"Thanks for the coffee. Is it okay to leave this here?" asked Hailey and put her mug in the sink, near Will's.
"Yeah, I'll probably wash it tonight," said Jay. "Thanks for being here for me," he squeezed her shoulder when they were leaving.
"You know I'll be here whenever you need," she said. Jay smiled. What a partner he got. They went into her car and Hailey dropped him at the district.
"You're back to work tomorrow?" asked Jay.
"Yeah, you?" asked Hailey, immediately regretted asking. "I mean… no, you should take your time."
"Probably the day after tomorrow," said Jay. "I'll let you know when I've settled things with Will."
"Alright," said Hailey. Jay hopped off her car.
"Thanks for the ride," said Jay. Hailey smiled and left.
Jay met Will at a diner on the afternoon. They both avoided going to their dad's place again, not until they need to clear the place. Will was already there when Jay arrived, fresh after a shower. They both ordered food and coffee, wanted to get the arrangements over with quickly.
"So, how are you doing, really?" asked Will. He was worried last night when he heard Jay sobbed in his father's place, but as soon as it started, it was done. Jay pretended it never happened when Will went to find him.
"I'm good. You?" Jay asked back. Emotionally, Will should be a train wreck. He was the one whose father and brother got admitted into hospital in 24-hour window, the former ended up dead.
"Not bad," answered Will.
"I haven't apologised for making you worried yesterday," said Jay.
"Yeah, getting a call from Maggie that a Detective Halstead got admitted for a gunshot wound isn't exactly what I expected to hear. I nearly yelled at Voight and Hailey," said Will.
"They were there?" asked Jay, didn't realise his boss and his partner were in the hospital. Hailey didn't say anything.
"Voight was. He came to talk to me. I saw Hailey briefly, didn't talk to her until she came to pick you though," said Will.
"Yeah… I haven't faced the music. Voight reamed me out yesterday in the field."
"He should," said Will slowly. "Don't ever do that again, I'm serious. I can't lose my brother, cop or no cop." Jay patted Will's arm.
"I thought you and Hailey fought?" asked Will. Jay had a questioning look on his face, so he elaborated, "I asked Voight why you were alone, that someone should be with you. Voight said that he didn't think you would want Hailey to be there, that's why I wondered, when did you make up before she came to my place?"
"We hadn't," said Jay. "However, she's Hailey. All I did yesterday was yell at her, and she didn't even question why when I asked her to come."
"You wanna talk about it?" asked Will.
"No," Jay toyed with his sandwich. Will had a judging look on his face. "Oh I apologised already, Will," Jay snapped, rolling his eyes.
"And she stayed last night," Will said, half judging. "She's one hell of a partner," stated Will. Jay nodded in agreement.
"She had some alcohol, she couldn't drive," countered Jay. "Now, about the funeral?" they talked about the arrangements and made a lot of calls before deciding that they were done.
"You sure you want to go home?" asked Will concerned.
"Yeah, Will. I mean, Owen is cute, but I want to sleep on my own bed tonight without a three year old screaming," said Jay.
"Well, if you are sure about it… be sure to come to Med or my place tomorrow, the wound needs a new dressing," said Will. They left the diner. Jay checked his phone. It was only four and he was tired. Lost at what to do, he went back to his apartment. He threw his keys to the nightstand and went to sleep immediately.
-o-o-
Jay woke up around 7, his head throbbing. He had a nightmare, which left him feeling worse than he felt all day. He checked his phone and discovered a few messages. Clearly everyone avoided sending him the case report. Voight granted him two more leave days, and Hailey and Will checked on him. He sighed and put his phone away. He insisted to sleep, however restless his sleep might be.
The next time he woke up, though, it was because someone patted his shoulder. In his state of PTSD, which unknowingly snuck up on him, he quickly went into defensive mode and ready to attack his attacker. It was good that Will was prepared, he quickly stepped back after Jay woke up thinking he was in Afghanistan.
"Hey, it's me. It's me," said Will. Once he was sure Jay recognised him, he grabbed Jay's shoulder and felt his forehead. Jay's face and body was covered in sweat; his breath was short and fast. Jay held Will's hand, who immediately guided him breathing. Once his breathing was back to normal, Jay released Will's hand. Will immediately checked Jay's pulse.
"What are you doing here?" asked Jay.
"Clearly, checking up on you. You didn't answer my texts, I even called Hailey to ask whether you were at the district," said Will.
"She's not in today," muttered Jay.
"Yeah, I figured. Go change, or take a shower. I brought Chinese food," said Will. Jay peeked at the clock: 9 pm. He looked at his phone. Hailey was clearly made worried by Will's call, texted him two more times. He shot her a reply, then changed into clean shirt since his current one was soaked in sweat.
"You want Sweet and Sour Pork or Kung Pao Chicken?" asked Will, raising two boxes in his hands.
"Anything," said Jay. They ate in silence.
"Jay, hear me out, okay? Don't get upset," Will started after they were done eating. Jay raised his eyebrows. "After all this, would you talk to someone? I'm worried about you." Jay rolled his eyes. "I'm really worried. You feel guilty, bottled everything inside, not to mention you had nightmare earlier. We don't want last year happening again." Will said.
"Preach. And you opened up?" Jay sneered.
"I talked to Nat!" defended Will. "Have you even cried? Yesterday you practically shut Nat down, and me too."
"Oh, forgive me, Will, I didn't know that I have to cry in front of you! I'll make sure of that next time something happened," Jay said sarcastically. "You know what, I can't do this right now. If that's what you do, talk to your girlfriend, that doesn't mean I have to do the same," Jay grabbed his keys.
"Oh, come on, you know that's not what I mean!" Will yelled.
"I'll cool my head off before I say something I regret," said Jay. He stopped at the door. "And, you might wanna ask Hailey if I cried and talked yesterday. Lock up behind you," Jay slammed the door as he went. He took his phone out once he was outside his building.
"Hey, the offer still stands?"
-o-o-