Tree Hill
"Thank you, have a good night." Brooke follows the last customer to the door, locking it behind them before turning back to her boutique. She glances around the small store before walking around the counter and reaching for her purse. She pulls her phone out and sighs when she sees it was just a little after eight and she didn't have any messages or calls from Jay.
It wasn't like him to have not called her; he should have been off work by now and she hadn't talked to him since he called earlier that morning. Sure, she knew some days were extra hard on him and he sometimes had to work later into the night but he often tried to avoid that so he could be home with Bria. Plus, it was his birthday so she figured he would do everything in his power to get home to spend time with his little girl.
She feels a twinge of nervousness in her stomach, but quickly pushes the thought from her mind. She couldn't do that to herself, not when she was so far away from him.
Brooke stop; He's fine and he will call when he can.She scolds herself before letting out a heavy sigh and collapsing down on the bar stool that was behind the counter.
She reaches over and grabs her tablet, flipping it open and busying herself with her designs for her new collection. Two sketches and an hour later Brooke glances up from her pad when she hears a soft knock on the door. She looks up to see Nathan and smiles slightly before pushing herself up and walking across the store to unlock the door.
"Hey Nate, what are you doing here?"
He steps in the store, and holds up a bag. "Haley saw the lights on and she figured you and Millie hadn't eaten so she sent me over with some food."
Just about that time, Millie comes walking out of the back and over to where Nathan and Brooke stood. She reaches for the bag. "Thank God, Brooke is such slave driver and I'm starving." She turns and heads back to the counter to dig through the food while Nathan chuckles.
Brooke rolls her eyes good naturedly and laughs as she reaches up to hug Nathan. "I knew there were perks of opening my store across the street from the café. Tell Hales I said thanks."
Nathan laughs, pulling back from the hug. "I will." He follows Brooke across the store and plops down on the couch in the middle of the room.
Brooke joins Millie on the other side of the counter and reaches for a container, silently thanking the heavens for a best friend that knew her so well. She plops a fry in her mouth before raising an eyebrow at Nathan, who was now relaxing back on the couch.
"What do you think you're doing? Aren't you supposed to be helping Haley close up?"
He shrugs. "Well yeah, I'm supposed to be but Jamie is more than qualified to do so."
Brooke shakes her head, and starts to speak when her phone rings. She doesn't check the ID, but silently prays it was Jay as she quickly brings the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"
She tries to hide the disappointment in her voice when she hears that the voice on the other side of the line wasn't who she was expecting. "Brooke?" The voice asks, almost unsure of herself and Brooke confirms her identity before the voice continues on. "This is Nadia" The girl takes another pause. "Jay's nanny."
At the tone of the young girl's voice, Brooke's heart begins to race and her mind is soon filled with horrible possibilities of why Nadia would be calling her instead of Jay himself. "Yes Nadia, I know who you are hunny. Why are you calling? Is everything ok? Did something happen to Bria or Jay?" The questions came rushing out of her mouth before she could stop them, and the tone in her voice had Nathan pushing himself up from the couch and Millie turning to face her. Both sets of eyes were glued to Brooke as she gripped the counter top so that her knuckles turned white.
Having also heard the tone in Brooke's voice, Nadia quickly speaks up in hopes to calm her. "No no no no. Bria is perfectly fine, she's here with me." She says looking down to the young girl sleeping in her lap and running her hand through the little girl's hair. "Jay, on the other hand – well, he's fine physically."
Brooke was now growing impatient with the young girl, but even in her worried state, she remains calm. "Nadia, what's going on?"
Brooke hears Nadia sigh from the other side of the line, as she was debating how to go about this. By now, Brooke had pushed herself off the counter and walked around it, pacing with one hand resting on her stomach. She was going to be sick. "Jay – he would kill me if he knew I was calling you but I felt like it was the best thing to do. He really needs you right now Brooke, he doesn't want to bug you, but he needs you."
Brooke had tried so hard to stay calm up to his point, but she was quickly losing her restraint. She was curious, confused and downright terrified right now. Despite how much Brooke truly loved Jay, this had been her worst nightmare getting into a relationship with him. She knew how dangerous his job was and knowing that she was over 900 miles away from him if something happened, haunted her daily.
"Nadia!" She snaps, regretting it instantly. "Tell me what is going on! What happened?" She asks, after taking a second to keep her feelings in check. It was all she could do to stay sane right now.
"It's Antonio…" Nadia trails off. "He's been shot; it's bad, really bad."
"I'm on my way." Brooke answers, ending the call before Nadia has a chance to answer her. She didn't need to hear anything else. Antonio was not only Jay's partner and mentor, he was his best friend. Jay thought so highly of the man she had only met a few times. She knew if Antonio was in bad shape, Jay would be putting on a front for his friends, but deep inside he would be coming undone. She refused to let him go through that alone, not when she could be there for him.
Brooke quickly runs to the counter and reaches over it for her purse, frantically searching for her keys with no such luck.
"Brooke, what's going on?" Millie asks, as Nathan makes his way over to them.
"Jay" she pants, throwing her purse and walking around the counter to look for her keys. "I have to get to Chicago."
"Whoa Brooke," Nathan says walking around the counter and grabbing her by the shoulders so that she would stop and look up at him. "Breathe, is Jay ok?" Even though he had never actually met Jay, Brooke seemed to be crazy about the guy. Brooke's current actions were scaring him for not only Jay's sake, but Brooke's as well.
She nods her head. "Yeah, he's ok. His partner and best friend was shot and he's not going to make it. That was his pseudo sister and nanny, she says he's really upset. I have to go there; I have to be with him. He needs me!" She glances around, fighting to get out of Nathan's grip. "Where in the hell are my keys?!"
"You don't need them," Nathan says, and Brooke turns to him annoyed. Had he not heard what she just said? "Come on, I'll drive you to the airport. Millie can look for your keys and take your car back to your house. I'll pick her up on the way back and bring her to her car."
Brooke turns and glances at Millie, and she nods in agreement. "Of course, you guys get out of here and I'll call ahead and get your ticket to Chicago set up."
Brooke nods her head, slipping her jacket on and taking her purse from Millie. She pulls her into a quick hug. "Thank you Millie."
Millie nods her head, hugging her friend tightly. "You're welcome Brooke, now go. Take care of your guy."
Brooke nods and pulls away from the hug slipping her purse over her shoulder as she turns to Nate.
"Come here," He says reaching out and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She doesn't argue, and she allows him to lead her out the door, across the street and into his car.
Chicago
"What's taking so long?" A very upset Laura Dawson asks, glancing up from the floor to the double wooden doors where her husband had been wheeled back just a little over two hours ago. "Shouldn't we have some news by now?"
Jay reaches over and wraps an arm around his best friend's wife in an attempt to bring her comfort. He knew it was a lost cause, but had the situations been reversed Jay knew Antonio would do the same thing for Brooke.
Gabby glances up from where she sat running her hand through her niece Ava's hair to her sister in law. "Laura, Dr. Arata is one of the best trauma doctors this hospital has. Antonio is in good hands."
Laura nods, but hangs her head as a pitiful sob escapes her. Jay tightens his grip on her and pulls her into his side to comfort her as the double doors swing open.
The entire lobby turns toward the doctor as he makes his way down the hall. Jay pushes Laura to stand up, his arm still wrapped around her for support.
Gabby follows their leads, standing up as she and Ava hold onto one another for support. Matt stands behind her, with both arms wrapped protectively around her and Ava's shoulders. Meanwhile, Atwater has planted himself next to Diego, his hand resting reassuringly on his shoulder.
Voight quickly and quietly makes his way around the group to stand on the other side of Laura as Ruzek, Olinsky, and Roman stand quietly in the back. Burgess quietly pushes through toward Ava, taking her from Gabby's grip, allowing Matt to embrace Gabby.
Dr. Arata approaches the group and clears his throat. "Mrs. Dawson, your husband was shot twice in the neck. The first shot narrowly missed his Carotid artery however the second shot nicked the artery; he lost an abundant amount of blood. In our attempt to remove the bullets we found they were fragmented and they caused several nicks in his severed artery. We were unable to repair the damage. He coded twice during surgery, and we've had to shock his heart numerous times. We were able to stabilize him long enough to get him intubated and put him on a respirator."
Dr. Arata looks away from Laura before glancing back and forth between Jay and Adam, whose clothes were still stained with blood, and gives them a nod. "His fellow officers attempted to stop the blood flow and for that they are to be commended, but his brain was without oxygen for an extended time so in my personal and professional opinion, he can't come back from this. He's too far gone." Dr. Arata's eyes travel back from the group to Laura's and he takes in a shaky breath.
"And while what I'm telling you sound very clinical and cold, I'm just trying to give you the facts. I knew your husband very well, I've worked with him many times and I know your sister in law as well." He pauses, looking around the room and chokes back a sob as Gabby glances up to him with tearful eyes.
"I'm sorry, but there is nothing else we can do for your husband. He is on the respirator, and while it gives him the appearance that he is alive, there has been no brain activity for quite some time. This is where you say your final goodbyes, I am extremely and utterly sorry for your loss." He hangs his head and turns to walk away.
A sob escapes Laura's lips and before Jay can register what is going on, her knees give out beneath her and she starts to falls to the ground. He reaches out and catches her best he can, and eases her down, his arms wrapping tightly around her.
Ava begins to scream hysterically while Burgess fights to hold her up and Ruzek pushes his way through everyone to help steer her away from the crowd. Diego stares blankly before turning to Atwater and seeking comfort from him as he sobs on his shoulder. Gabby collapses into Matt's arms while the rest of the lobby is stunned into silence.
Just four short hours after receiving Nadia's phone call, Brooke's cab comes to a screeching hault outside Chicago Med. She reaches in her purse, pulls out a few bills and throws it at the cab driver before jumping out and running into the building. She runs directly to the front desk, slamming her hands down on the counter. "Trauma"
The young receptionist looks up at her, raising an eyebrow at her. "Fifth floor."
Brooke quickly thanks her before turning and heading straight to the elevators. She pushes the button and the doors open automatically, and she rushes in, pushing the button for the fifth floor repetitively until the doors slam shut.
Impatiently, she watches the numbers above the door go up and up and after what seems like forever, stops at five.
As soon as the doors swing open, she rushes out and heads straight for the nurses desk. By now, she was damn near out of breath as the older lady looks up and offers her a polite smile. "Yes m'am, can I help you?"
"Antonio Dawson," Brooke gasps, her hand gripping her side."I'm looking for Antonio Dawson's room."
"One moment please," The nurse says turning to type something in to the computer. She glances back up at Brooke. "He's in room 523. Head to the end of the hallway and turn left, you should come right to his room."
"Thank you very much!" Brooke exclaims before she heads down the hall. Soon enough she reaches the end of the seemingly never ending hallway and she rounds the corner, just as Jay comes walking out of the room that the nurse had told her Antonio was in. "Jay!"
Hearing his name, Jay glances up. He doesn't take time to register the fact that she was really standing in front of him before he crashes into her. His arms go around her waist and he buries his face in her neck, violent sobs shaking his entire frame.
Brooke lets out a sigh of relief, and closes her eyes at the feeling of finally being with him, even given the terrible circumstances. She reaches up wrapping an arm him while running the other up and down his back soothingly.
"H- he's gone."
"I know," She mutters, not sure how to bring him the comfort she so badly wanted to. "I know baby, I'm so sorry."