It's been two months since his first day back to work, and Erin and Jay were an official couple.
"A body was found. It looks like it's a paramedic named Sylvie Brett." Voight said
"Oh no! She worked at 51. Gabby knew her. They were good friends after her rough patch with Matt. Sylvie saved Gabby from a really dark place." Antonio said sadly.
"Sylvie was there for me when I needed a friend after Jay was shot." Erin said, glassy eyed.
"Erin, Jay, go to the firehouse and inform them, and get as much as you can." Voight said.
"Is it me or is it weird to be out and in the open about us?" Jay asked when they were in the car.
"It's strange, but I kind of like it. We can be a normal couple and have our friends know."
They pulled up in front of the station and took a minute to find the words to tell them. They walked to Chief Boden's office, saw him inside, and knocked. They opened the door and walked in, shutting it behind them.
"Detectives, what can we do for you?" He asked them.
"We're here on a case. We need to have everyone in the briefing room now." Jay said.
10 minutes later and everyone was in the briefing room. Lieutenant Casey stood at the front of the room.
"Alright, listen up! Detectives Halstead and Lindsay are here and they have some questions."
He walked over to Gabby and took her hands in his. They told him in advance and he told Gabby.
"I'm sorry to inform you that Sylvie Brett was found dead in her apartment this morning." Erin said apologetically.
There were several gasps and people looking around. Her boyfriend, Joe Cruz, looked like he'd been punched in the gut.
"We hate to ask you this but, is there any reason someone wanted Sylvie dead? Or if you know of someone who might have had a grudge against her or if someone was angry at-" Jay started to ask.
"Her ex fiance." Gabby answered immediately.
"Any reason why you say that Gabs?" Erin asked. Gabby and Erin were close friends now.
"He was a skeez. He wanted a trophy wife and when she rejected him, he came here to bring her back. When he found out that Sylvie was with Cruz, he went ballistic. A few days ago, Sylvie stayed with Matt and I because Joe was out of town and she thought someone was watching her apartment, following her home, that kind of stuff. I told Matt and we were going to get her to tell Antonio about it, but-" She said and then her voice cracked and she stopped.
"That's really helpful, Gabby. Do you know his name?" Jay said, sympathetically.
"Allan Foster." Cruz spit out and watched the detectives walk out of the firehouse.
"Whoa! Allan Foster, B&E, stalking, assault, rape, it goes on and on." Atwater announced.
"Sounds like the douche I dated in high school. Gave me a pretty bad black eye." Nadia said bitterly.
Nadia and Erin had very similar upbringings and Erin loved her like her little sister. Nadia was 19 now and Erin was only 27.
"Give me his name and I'll kick his ass for you." Jay told her with a reassuring smile.
Jay knew how much Nadia meant to Erin and he had to admit that Nadia grew on him. He hated hearing about someone hurting her. He wanted to help make her feel better.
"Nah. I handled it. I broke his nose." Nadia said smugly, and Erin looked almost proud.
They headed out to Allan Foster's Chicago apartment, which was near Sylvie Brett's.
Erin and Jay got there first, and radioed the team letting them know. Then they waited.
"So, what do you feel like ordering for dinner, thai or pizza?" Erin asked Jay.
"Is there even a question? Thai, but there better be plenty of beer." He said chuckling.
"God, I knew there was a reason I love you." She said, realizing what she said too late.
Jay stilled and didn't say anything for a minute but then he smiled and turned to her.
"I love you too, Erin. So much it hurts sometimes." Jay said and kissed her passionately.
Erin was so relieved when he told her he loves her too. And she was on cloud 9 when he kissed her like that. Jay Halstead had many talents, and this was only one of them.
Just when things were heating up, the radio cut in and they heard Antonio telling them to respond immediately. They broke apart and Jay answered the radio.
Erin was pissed. Antonio couldn't have responded earlier? Way to kill the mood 'Tonio...
Just when it looked like Jay was going to say something, a crash sounded in the apartment. Erin and Jay jumped out of the car, Erin taking the front and Jay taking the back.
Erin kicked open Foster's door and began searching rooms. Jay was checking downstairs, so she decided to check the upstairs. Once she got to the bedroom, she saw Foster, packing a bag. He looked up and saw Erin. Seeing her gun drawn on him, he seemed to submit. He slowly approached Erin and as she reached for her cuffs, she didn't see the knife in his hands. Foster stabbed her in the stomach twice and the third time he left the knife in her abdomen and she fell backwards down the stairs.
Jay heard someone fall down the stairs and ran to see who it was, and he stopped breathing.
Erin was laying at the foot of the stairs, bleeding profusely. He could see two stab wounds and another, the knife still in. Foster was at the top of the stairs, and he had Erin's gun aimed right at him, and Jay didn't hesitate to put a bullet, or several, into him, and once he saw him fall to the floor, he radioed for an ambo and went to Erin.
"Erin! No! Baby? Can you hear me? Officer down! I repeat Officer down!" Jay radioed in.
Erin could vaguely hear someone talking, she recognized it as Jay. Jay was staring down at her, his blue eyes full of worry. She could feel the warmth on her stomach and then suddenly, a pressure on her wounds. Jay's trying to save me...
Mills and Chout ran into the apartment to find Jay sitting next to Erin putting pressure on her wounds, and he looked up and saw them.
"She was stabbed three times, and she's lost a lot of blood. Help her, Mills." He pleaded.
"We'll do everything we can Jay. You're her boyfriend right? You ride with us." Mills said.
"Halstead! What the HELL happened?" Voight shouted as he entered the waiting room.
Once he saw the detective though, he realized how bad the situation was. Jay was sitting against the wall, much like how Erin curled up in the chair in the corner no more than four months ago when Jay was shot. Jay had his head in his hands and he had been crying.
"He stabbed her, Hank. I- couldn't protect the one person I-" Jay said, voice breaking.
"Halstead. Jay, I know you did everything you could. Tell me what happened." He said calmly.
Jay took a deep breath and told him what happened between them pulling up and Mills and Chout arriving. Pausing whe he needed to regain his composure, not wanting to be emotional in front of his Sargent. Ruzek came over and sat next to his best friend and talk to him.
Erin's doctor enters the waiting room with a grim expression, searching the crowd for her boyfriend/partner, finding him against the wall with a younger man next to him.
"Jay? Man, you should get cleaned up." Adam said softly, like he was speaking to a child.
Jay hadn't realized what he meant until he looked at himself. His hands and his shirt were covered in blood- her blood. He didn't care what he looked like, and he was scared that he would never see her smile, hear her laugh or her raspy voice or even bicker with her about driving again. God, he missed her.
"She's still in surgery. She's a fighter." The doctor told the detective. And then he left.
"She crashed twice in the ambo. Twice, Ruzek. I watched the woman I love die twice." Jay said, with fresh tears in his eyes.
Ruzek was shocked that Jay was so open about how he felt, Jay didn't normally cry. He knew Jay loved Erin, he has since the beginning, but this, he being hurt, almost dying, destroyed him.
Voight walked over to Ruzek and took him to the side.
"When Jay got shot I was hard on Erin. I won't do that to Halstead." Voight said.
"He's already being hard enough on himself. He blames himself." Ruzek told Voight, he was worried about his friend.
"As expected. Erin was exactly like this when Jay was shot. Worse even." Voight answered.
"I remember a little. I was in and out of here. What happened?" Ruzek asked.
"She blamed me for splitting them up, professionally and personally, and she refused to sleep or eat or leave that chair until he woke up. I said that it was over between them and she told me she loved him, in front of everyone. Firefighters, uniforms, detectives, everyone. Erin has never said she'd loved anyone before. That's when I knew Halstead- Jay was it." Voight said.
6 hours after they arrived at the hospital and still no word from the doctors. Jay was freaking out. 6 hours without any news about the love of his life. He didn't even know if she was alive.
"I brought you some coffee, man." Jay looked up to see Matt Casey handing him a cup.
"Thanks." Jay said as he took a sip. Black with sugar. Perfect.
"I don't really know what you're feeling exactly, but I know how I felt when Gabby was in that elevator with Gish. It scared the crap out of me and it pushed me into making things right. Now a year later, we're married. I thought about the last time I saw her, what I said to her, what I didn't say.. I guess where I'm going with this is that we're all here for you man, and for her." Matt said sitting down next to Jay.
"She's the strongest person I know. That's one of the things I love about her, you know? All of the shitty things she went through growing up, and she's still standing. She didn't let it beat her. Now I'm sitting here and I keep thinking that the last time I saw her and talked to her was outside Foster's apartment. The last thing I said to her was I loved her. I know that it's more than some people get, but we've only had four months. Well 3 weeks before that, but those weeks were a secret, forbidden relationship, so not really counting those, 4 months isn't enough time with her. I want forever." Jay said sadly, resting his forehead on his knees.
Then he heard a voice that he instantly recognized:
"Jay Alexander Halstead, just what do you think you're doing? Lt. Casey, can we have a minute alone?" He looked up to see his 15 year old niece, Piper.
"No problem. And it's Matt by the way." Matt said walking away.
"So? Tell me what happened, from the beginning. And don't skip any of the details. I need to know everything." Piper told him sternly.
"Erin was stabbed. It's been 6 ½ hours Pipe. We haven't heard anything. I don't even know if she's-" He said, not finishing his sentence, too busy thinking about what he'd do if she-
"Stop that right now. Tell me about her. Are the two of you back together?" she inquired.
"Yeah. It happened after I was shot, Voight allowed us to stay together and still be partners. We've been a real couple for 4 months." Jay said slowly.
"What's she like? It'll take your mind off all this." Piper said, gesturing to the waiting room.
"She's strong, stubborn, beautiful and brave. She has this great smile and these insanely cute dimples. Erin's got this laugh that just melts my heart every time I hear it. I love her Piper."
Piper was moved when Jay described Erin. "Any cute pictures of you two?" she asked curious, she only saw the picture of them after Jay beat Erin's shooting score.
Jay reached into his pocket and took out his phone, put his pass code in and handed her the phone.
Piper stared at the picture on the phone. It was of Jay, who was staring lovingly at the woman standing next to him. Erin, she thought, was beautiful. She had light brown hair with blonde ends and gorgeous hazel eyes that were staring right back into Jay's blue ones. She had the biggest smile on her face and they were holding hands. She had Jay's favorite leather jacket around her shoulders.
"Wow. You look so happy, Jay. You both do." She said and smiled at her Uncle.
"Yeah. That was a good day. It was my first day back to work after getting shot. We were finally able to be together, and not hide it from everyone." Jay said with a wistful smile.
"Family of Detective Erin Lindsay." The doctor said and Jay immediately jumped to his feet.
"All of us." Voight said immediately.
"Detective Lindsay was rushed into emergency surgery. The knife had perforated her appendix, which was removed, and had punctured her lung, which we had trouble with but sutured it, and had nicked an artery, causing internal bleeding, the worst I've seen in the 5 years of my residency, but we were able to stop it. She's up in the ICU and is in a medically induced coma. Hopefully the coma gives her body a chance to heal. The next 36-72 hours are crucial. She's isn't out of the woods, and I can't promise that she'll make it. It's all on her now." The doctor said looking at the group.
Jay let out a choked sob. He raked his hands through his hair and exhaled slowly.
"When can I see her?" Jay asked, anxiously.
"Now. I'll take you to her. She's hooked up to several different machines and has an intubation tube, due to the punctured lung, and the induced coma. One person at a time." He stated.
Jay has been standing outside of Erin's hospital room for the past 10 minutes, trying to compose himself. He's sure that seeing her laying there unconscious hooked up to all those machines, and her being in a coma, would probably kill him. How was he supposed to feel when he saw the woman he loves more than anything look so fragile.
He finally gathered up the courage he needed and opened the door. Erin was in a hospital gown, and she was surrounded by several machines, and that's when Jay saw it. The ventilator that is keeping the woman he loves alive. He grabs a chair and sets it beside her bed and takes her hand in his. He looks at her pale face, desperately searching for any signs of life. He wishes she'd open her beautiful hazel eyes, or smile at him. Her smile, and those dimples that he's always thought were adorable.
"Erin, you have to wake up. After everything we've been through. We finally get to be together, and- I love you. I love you so much, more than I ever thought possible. You have to fight. For me, for us. You're it, Erin. You are the person I've been searching for my whole life. You need to wake up so we can get married and start a family. Please Erin. I need you. I can't lose you."
He sat there holding her hand for hours, refusing to leave when Antonio came and begged him to go home. He's not leaving her here all alone. She hates hospitals. She has ever since Camille died and Jay was shot. She told him once that her father was a mean drunk, and 'she knew her way around a hospital' before he was finally sent to jail. That's one of the main reasons he loves Erin Lindsay. Her strength. She surprised him, and everyone else, everyday and he refused to give up the idea of spending the rest of his life with her. Waking up next to her in the mornings and going to sleep beside her at night. Starting a family with her. Seeing a beautiful child with their mother's hazel eyes or blonde curls. He needed her like he needed air to breathe.
Voight wasn't surprised when he walked into Erin's hospital room, and saw Jay sitting in a chair next to the bed with his forehead on her hands, asleep. He had a feeling that the young detective wouldn't leave her alone. She hadn't left him when he was shot and lay dying, and neither would he. Voight was amazed that he hadn't seen the depth of their feelings for each other.
"Jay? Wake up." Voight said, nudging the detective awake.
"Hmm? Yeah, Sarge?" Jay asked standing up and rubbing his eyes.
"You need to get some rest, and something to eat. Antonio is waiting outside to take you to his house. You shouldn't be alone." Voight said clapping Jay on the back and sitting down in the chair.
"Only for a few hours, Voight. Then I'm right back in that chair." Jay told him, determination flashing across his bright blue eyes.
"I know, Halstead. It's what she did when you were shot. I expected nothing less from you."
