"Halstead. Lindsay. There's been a medical emergency involving Hayden at his preschool." Platt said, clearly worried. "I've got Sylvie on the phone."
Jay and Erin nearly ran to Platt and put the call on speaker as everyone else in the room listened carefully.
"Hi Sylvie, it's Erin. What's going on? Is Hayden okay?" Erin asked, her voice shaky.
"Hi Erin. I responded to a call from Hayden's preschool because he was having some shortness of breath, was vomiting, and was complaining of severe abdominal pain. We have him on oxygen now and we are on route to Chicago Med as we speak. ETA is 10 minutes."
"Oh my god, we're on our way now. Can we talk to him?" Erin asked as she got her
purse. The rest of the team also began getting ready because Hayden had a special place in all of their hearts. Voight overheard the phone call and began planning who would go in which cars.
"Of course. Here he is. He may sound a little groggy because we gave him some pain medication." Sylvie said as she handed Hayden the phone.
"Hi mommy." He said faintly.
"Hey baby, we're gonna meet up with you at the hospital, everything's going to be okay, don't worry." Erin said.
Everyone started walking down the stairs as Voight called out orders.
"Okay, Halstead and Lindsay you're in the 300. Antonio and Olinsky, you're with me. Atwater and Mouse, you're with Ruzek. Let's go, lights and sirens, don't let anybody get in your way."
Everyone got in their assigned cars and 10 minutes later, they arrived at Chicago Med.
The large group walked in the ER doors and saw Jay's brother, Will.
"Will." Jay called out. "Have you heard anything about Hayden yet? Where is he?"
"They're getting him into a room right now. We'll assess him and go from there." Will replied.
"Is he going to be okay?" Jay asked desperately.
"We're going to do everything we can. I'll keep you posted." Will promised.
Everyone's attention was directed to the ambulance entrance as a stretcher with a small boy was being wheeled in by Sylvie.
"Okay we got one of our own here. 4 year old male. BP is 83/50, heart rate is 84, oxygen is 94, and temp is 104.7. Extreme abdominal pain, vomiting, and shortness of breath. A large, hard lump was found in the abdomen upon examination." Sylvie reported. "IV fluids and morphine were started on site as well as supplemental oxygen."
"Alright let's get him into room 6." Will called out.
"Daddy." Hayden said weakly when he caught a glimpse of Jay's face.
"It's okay buddy. Daddy will see you in a little bit. Uncle Will's gonna help you."
Then the little boy disappeared into the exam room. Jay began pacing and rubbing his hands together, just like he did when his mom was in the hospital years ago.
"Halstead. Quit pacing and sit down." Voight said. "Worrying isn't going to help him."
"How can I stop worrying? My son is in there, possibly dying!" Jay cried.
"I know. We're all scared right now, but we need to stay strong for him." Voight replied calmly.
"I'll go get some coffee for us. We might be here a while." Antonio suggested. "Do you want to come with?" He said looking at Kevin who nodded.
Once Antonio and Kevin left to get coffee, Jay finally sat down next to Erin.
"I can't believe I didn't stay home with him. I'm just like Bunny." Erin said.
"Don't ever say that. You are nothing like Bunny. Neither of us could've predicted this was going to happen so don't beat yourself up over it. We both know Will is taking great care of him."
"You're right." Erin replied before she laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you."
"I love you too."
MEANWHILE
"Can we get Dr. Manning in here please?" Will asked.
"I just paged her. She should be here any minute." The nurse responded.
"Oxygen saturation is going down, let's increase oxygen and order a CBC."
Then there was a knock at the door.
"Will, I came as soon as I was paged. What's going on?" Natalie said.
"Sylvie responded to a call from Hayden's preschool because he was experiencing shortness of breath, vomiting, and was complaining of severe stomach pain." Will explained. "But worst thing is, upon an abdominal examination, a hard lump was found. I've paged CT and they'll get him in as soon as possible." Will and Natalie both knew what this most likely was and it broke their hearts.
"Oh my god. Poor guy." Natalie sympathized. "How are you doing Hayden?"
"I want mommy and daddy." Hayden cried.
"Okay, buddy. I think we can make that happen." Natalie responded. "Can we get Jay and Erin back here?" She asked the nurse.
"I'll go get them right now." Said the young nurse.
Once she reached the waiting room she searched for the couple. "Could the parents of Hayden Halstead follow me to room 6?"
Jay and Erin quickly got up and followed the woman. They reached room 6 and saw their son crying in the hospital bed.
"Oh buddy, I'm so sorry." Erin cried as she held her son's hand. "Uncle Will and Natalie are going to figure out what's going on."
"Jay, Erin, can you come out here for a second?" Will asked from outside of the room.
The couple followed the doctor outside, hoping he would have answers.
"Will, what's going on? Is Hayden going to be okay?" Jay asked desperately.
"Currently we have him on IV fluids because he is dehydrated, IV morphine due to his severe stomach pain, and supplemental oxygen because his oxygen saturation is low. I did an abdominal examination and I felt a hard lump, so I have paged CT and they are going to get him in as soon as possible."
"What does that mean? What could the lump be?" Erin asked, tears filling her eyes.
"Look I'm not going to lie to you or sugar coat this. After examination, I think this is either a bowel blockage or a tumor. We won't know much more until the results from blood work and CT come back."
"A tumor? Like, cancer?" Erin asked, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall.
"Like I said we won't know much until results come back." Will said before his pager went off. "That was CT. They're ready for him now."
They walked backed into room and tried to act normal; like they didn't fear that their child had cancer.
"Okay Hay, we're going to go take you to a special machine that will take pictures of your tummy so we can figure out what's going on." Will explained. "If you're brave, uncle Will might get you a new Lego set."
"Legos? Really!" Hayden's eyes light up.
"If you're brave you'll get to choose one. I know we've got some police sets in the gift shop that are like mommy and daddy."
"Cool! Let''s go!" Hayden said excitedly.
"Alright, we'll see you later Hay. We love you so much. Be good for uncle Will." Erin kissed the young boy's forehead.
Moments later, Jay and Erin were left in an empty hospital room and they still had to break the news to the rest of the team. After all that happened today, Erin couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She leaned on Jay's shoulder and cried. Jay held her tight and tried to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. He had to be strong for her. He had to be strong for Hayden.
IN CT
"Alright Hayden here we are" Will said as he pushed the bed into the room containing the CT scanner.
"I looks like a donut!" Hayden laughed.
"Wow you're absolutely right buddy! It does." Will laughed trying to hide the fact he was extremely nervous about what the scan would show. "Natalie and I are going to help you onto that table and we need you to stay very very still so the donut can take a really good picture. Can you do that for me?"
"Will I get a Lego set?"
"Yes. Maybe even two if you don't move a muscle"
"Okay! Let's do this!"
Natalie and Will cautiously helped Hayden onto the table, careful not to pull any of the many wires and tubes attached to him.
"Here's a blanket, I know it's kinda cold in here." Natalie said as she laid a white blanket over the little boy.
"Alright, you're all set buddy. I'm going to be right on the other side of that glass over there. The scan won't take too long but we need you to be really still. If you move we'll have to start all over, but Natalie is going to stand right next to you to help you remember not to move."
"Okay, I'm ready."
"Wow you're pretty brave Hayden. I think Will might have to buy you three lego sets."
"Really? Three!"
"Look what you've done Natalie, I'm going to be broke by the end of the night." Will laughed but was soon pulled out of his reverie when he realized the seriousness of the situation; his only nephew might have cancer.
10 minutes later, the scan was finished and they were already being reviewed by radiologists.
"Wow Hayden, you didn't move a single muscle! Maybe Natalie was right, you might get three Lego sets from me."
"Yes! Thank you Uncle Will!" Hayden said excitedly.
"No problem buddy." Will said as he ran his fingers through the boy's brown hair. "How about we take you back to your mom and dad."
IN THE WAITING ROOM
While Hayden was in CT, Jay and Erin went to the waiting room and filled the team in on what was going on.
"Is Hayden okay? What's going on?" Hank asked nervously.
Jay motioned for everyone to come closer. Soon, Kevin, Mouse, Antonio, Adam, Voight, and Alvin circled Erin and Jay.
"So what Will told us was that when they felt his stomach" Jay paused, trying to keep himself together, "they felt a large, hard, lump. They think it's either a blockage or um, a tumor."
When the team heard "tumor", they grew silent. They had all known that little boy since the day he was born. The possibility that he could have cancer terrified them. They all directed their attention to the doctor walking towards them, it was Will.
"Hayden's back in room 6, CT went well."
"Could we all go see him?" Voight asked.
"Um…" Will thought for a second "Usually I would say no but for you guys, I'll make an exception. Follow me."
The group of 8 followed Will back to room 6. They saw the little boy they all loved laying in a hospital bed attached to tubes and monitors.
"You guys all came!" Hayden yelled excitedly as the team entered the room.
"Of course we did! You never leave a man behind." Kevin said as he gave the boy a fist bump.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you guys." Hayden said. "Adam, could you hand me my backpack?"
"Of course." Adam said as he picked up Hayden's Star Wars backpack. "Here you go buddy."
Hayden tried to unzip his backpack, but the IV board on his hand made it nearly impossible.
"Here let me help you." Mouse said as he easily unzipped the backpack.
Hayden the pulled out 9 white pieces of paper and laid them down on the bed.
"This morning dad said that I could draw a picture for grandpa while I was at school and then I could go see him, but I drew a picture for each of you because today was free day which means we could color all day."
"This one is for Kevin. I drew a picture of you and me at my birthday party. We're both holding the nerf guns you bought me." Hayden said before handing the picture to Kevin.
"Wow dude! This is going on my desk for sure."
"The next one is for Alvin. I drew me and you when you let me try on your hat." Hayden smiled. "Here you go."
"This is really nice Hayden. This is gonna go on my desk too." Alvin said before he took off his hat and put it on the little boy's head.
Hayden then handed the remaining pictures to Adam, Mouse, Antonio, Jay, Erin, and Hank. There was only one piece of paper left.
"Who's that one for buddy?" Mouse asked looking at the remaining piece of paper.
"Well I know your guy's office isn't very colorful so I drew a picture of all of us together that you guys can hang up." Hayden handed the paper containing the disproportionate stick figures to Hank.
"Woah you really went all out. This is some really good work, Hay."
"Thanks grandpa." Hayden smiled.
The group was pulled out of their reverie when Will walked into the room.
"Jay, Erin, I need to talk to you in another room." Will said holding a clipboard.
"Can they come?" Erin asked motioning to the rest of the group.
"If you want them to." Will said before directing his attention to Hayden. "We're going to be in the room just next door. Natalie is going to stay with you. Maybe you could talk about which Lego sets you want me to get you."
Will then led the group of detectives into the private room next door. There were a few chairs, which Jay and Erin sat in, but most of them just stood.
"Okay so I have the test results from CT."
Sorry I left you on a cliffhanger, but I hope to update again soon. Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews; they really inspire me to keep going with this story. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!