A/N
I was working on my Erin one shot when I was reminded of a movie that came out not too long ago and caused this little bugger to jump into my head. My noggin does what it wants. I have no control over it whatsoever!
Oh, and this accidentally became all of Intelligence even though most of them don't talk or there is no POV from them (no Erin though, this takes place after she left) Sorry. Just pretend they're all there watching what's happening. I have a hard time writing everyone in. Sorry again. I had fun writing this even though it was a little difficult. I hope you enjoy.
All mistakes are my own…can't think of anyone to blame them on.
"I need everyone to stay sharp." Voight began, raspy voice drawing all eyes to him, as they all prepped for the takedown that would be happening two days from now. They were standing in a broken down, concrete courtyard with weeds growing from the cracks of the chipped surface. The courtyard was surrounded by three dilapidated brick buildings, with the Southside open to an abandoned parking lot.
Intelligence and SWAT had spent the morning and part of the afternoon setting up cameras and clearing the buildings and surrounding areas. Now Intelligence was on their own again, Voight putting the SWAT team on standby and sending them back to the precinct. Six SWAT members would be staying and helping with the take down.
"We'll have a team of snipers on each building. Halstead and Jackson take the north building…" Both give a nod, acknowledging their assignment, "…Olinsky and Graf, the east and Adam and Turner the west."
Jay cuts in, elbowing Ruzek, "Moving up in the world."
"Shut up. I'm better than you now."
Jay smirks and Al gives the youngster a look.
Adam raises his hands in surrender, "Okay okay."
Al shakes his head with a chuckle, "You're kidding yourself Ruzek." The entire team, even the SWAT members knew there was not a better sniper in CPD than Jay or probably the country for that matter.
"What can I say, I like a good joke."
Everyone laughs and Jay flicks Ruzek's ear. Leave it to Ruzek to break the tension in the situation.
Voight interrupts the laughter, "The rest of us will be on the ground floors of each building for the take down and if the gang sends in their own crew to sweep the buildings. Okay, grab your stuff and head up. I want everyone on coms starting now."
Everyone puts their coms in their ears, grabs their vests, coolers and guns and heads off to their positions.
Jay doesn't put in his coms yet or activate it. "Voight…" Voight stops and walks back to Jay.
Jay motions to Voight's coms. "It's not on. What's up kid?"
"Do you know all of these SWAT guys? Cuz I've never seen Jackson before and I was getting a bad vibe off him when we were clearing our floors."
Hank keeps his eyes Halstead, not wanting to give away what they are talking about. "I know he's new on the SWAT team…" He gives Jay a searching look. He trusts him and if he's getting a bad vibe, then there's a reason. "Take your position, I'll have Platt and Mouse look into it."
Voight gets on his cell phone and relays the information to Platt. They were going to need that information ASAP.
Coms in, they both grab their gear when Jay sees something out of the corner of his eye.
"Everyone get down!" He yells and pushes Voight as hard as he can, hopefully out of the blast radius.
HAILEY"S POV
Everyone had ran for cover as soon as Jay yelled, all of us making it out of the blast range. Only Voight and Jay were affected by the concussion grenade. When the smoke cleared, Voight was on the ground a yard or so from Al, shaking his head to clear it, pushed there mostly by Jay and partly by the blast. Jay, was still in the middle of the courtyard, holding his head as he tried to roll over onto his belly. He had finally managed to get to his knees, when a single shot rang out and threw him backwards onto the pavement, his head hitting the hard surface and knocking him out.
"Jay!" I screamed along with other members of the team.
Fucking hell, six more bullets ping the ground around Jay, who still hasn't moved. Ruzek makes a move towards Jay but Voight grabs him, yelling at everyone, "Fall back, fall back! I want everyone back."
"But Sarge, Jay…" Just then another bullet hits the ground between Jay and where they are standing.
Voight still hasn't let go of Adam, "Move! If they wanted him dead, he'd be dead already. He's breathing, I don't want anyone else getting shot, now get back!"
We all ran for the cover of the east building, knowing the shot had come from the southeast corner of the North building, per Al. He also said we were out of the line of sight and about as far from the shooter as we could be. Apparently there are shooters on the roof of the building we're in, based on the angle of some of the shots. Al thinks there are 3 or 4 shooters spread out over the roofs of the two buildings. So, basically with that much coverage, any move we make towards Jay, will just get him killed. Antonio had called SWAT back to the location and 51 will be on standby. If we got Jay out alive, 51 needed to keep him alive. I'm not one to freak out under pressure, but right now I am pretty close to doing so. I have never felt so powerless.
There are only two "doors" into the room we're in, which, by the looks of it, used to be a laundry room. The doors are on opposite sides of the building, both leading outside. Actually, a better description would probably be, two large holes the size and dimensions of a door. Voight had put two SWAT guys on each door; right side looks left, left side looks right, so between that and Adam's flex cameras we have a clear view of anyone trying to breach our position.
Besides the two doors, there was a hole in the wall that had probably once housed a large window. It faced the courtyard. This is were we, for the most part, have placed ourselves as we watch Jay laying motionless in the courtyard.
ADAM'S POV
Another shot rings out and hits two feet from Jay's head. Startling us all. Jay doesn't move.
"He's still breathing."
"Can anyone see where he's hit?"
"I can't see shit."
"It's probably the other side of his body. I'm thinking shoulder or upper arm by the way he snapped back."
"I think there's blood coming from under his head but I'm not sure, it could be a shadow."
"Everyone CALM DOWN!" Voight puts an end to our verbal angst. "Freaking out will not help Jay or our situation. Hailey, keep talking to him. When he comes to, we don't want him to move."
The 'when' was pretty optimistic on Voight's part, which I appreciate. Hailey has been talking quietly to Jay since just after we got to the room. At first trying to wake him but now just keeping a steady flow of chatter, letting him know we were there and more importantly to NOT MOVE. Voight said Jay had turned on his coms but we haven't heard anything from him yet. So, we watched.
Voight had yelled at the shooters a couple of times but hadn't gotten a response. We know they're still up there, we just don't know what he's waiting for.
Another shot rings out, the pavement at Jay's right hip kicks up…the shooter reminding them of his presence.
"Sarge, Sarge…" Hailey hisses trying to get his attention. She nods her head towards the courtyard. We all look. Jay's hand is twitching. Hailey continues her stream of chatter at Jay.
"Jay, Jay, it's Hailey. I need you to keep still. Don't move Jay. No matter what you do don't move."
Jay's hand flops at his side… "Jay!" Hailey is more forceful with her quiet plea, "Do Not move. They have a gun trained on you…Sarge!"
"Halstead…just breath. Don't move kid. We need you to keep still."
We can see Jay lick his lips and then hear a quiet "okay" as he opens his eyes.
Atwater chimes in, "SWAT is 5 minutes out. They'll kill the sirens when they get to the parking lot."
Voight gives him a nod.
Antonio and Al are both looking out the same side of the window, and Al chimes in on the conversation with Jay.
"Good kid, good, stay still. I'm need to ask you some questions. Just answer yes or no or one word only okay?"
Jay licks his lips again. "Okay."
Al continues, "I need to know where you are shot."
Jay takes a deep breath and blows it out before he replies, "Shoulder." Then, "left"
"Can you tell if there's an exit wound?"
There's a long pause, "No," he whispers. "not sure."
"Ok, you're doing good Jay, you're doing good."
I hear a quiet "'K" over the coms. We're all watching Jay. He remains still and blinks his eyes open wide, like he's trying to stay conscious.
"Hey kid, you hit your head pretty hard, can you…"
"Tired." His eyes stay open for another second then close.
"Shit, Jay…"
Another shot rings out, causing all of us to flinch and Jay's eyes spring open. His body tenses up as the bullet hits the pavement just to his left.
Voight yells at the shooter again but still gets no answer.
Another shot rings out and hits just beyond Jay's head. Jay closes his eyes and breathes. You can tell he's trying to stave off a panic attack.
I'm pacing around with my hands on my head, "Jesus Christ!"
Another shot hits to Jay's right. Jay opens his eyes and just stares at the sky. Breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. He looks so calm it's scary, like he's accepted that one of these bullets are going to hit him. One of these bullets are going to kill him and there's nothing he can do. There's nothing we can do.
Al gives us all a worried look when Jay closes his eyes again. Well, more worried and talks to Jay, "Listen kid, we're here. You're going to be okay. We aren't going anywhere. I know it's hard and I know you want to move but please, just stay still."
He doesn't answer and doesn't open his eyes.
"Jay, it's Hailey. I'm going to keep talking to you so I don't have to talk to Ruzek, okay." She gives me a sad shrug. What in the hell are you supposed to talk about with someone who has bullets bouncing inches from their body. "We're going to get you out of there, Jay, I promise."
Nothing.
I have to hope he passed out. The last thing we need with SWAT arriving is for Jay to get all twitchy and get shot again. The shooters had to know we would call for backup, hence the sirens. Killing them at the parking lot was for Jay. We wanted the shooters to know they were close so it wouldn't be a surprise when they arrived but if Jay is moving on top of it, they might panic.
Another shot rings out…the concrete kicks up at Jay's feet. He doesn't flinch.
If I thought the tension in the room was thick before, it just tripled. The situation is so messed up. No one knows what the hell is happening. Why the hell are they keeping Jay pinned down in the middle of that courtyard but not making any demands? The whole situation doesn't make sense. Not 30 seconds later we hear SWAT kill their sirens and pull into the parking lot.
As soon as the two SWAT cargo vans are parked and movement starts on the far side of them, a shooter finally communicates. First with bullets, as four shots ring out in quick succession, hitting the pavement at various points around Jay's body. His ams and face are starting to get cut up by the flying concrete.
Now that they have shown SWAT who's in control, they talk.
"Voight! I want to talk to Hank Voight."
"I'm here. Let me get my detective from the courtyard and we'll talk."
"Naw, Voight. That's not gunna happen. Your boy is staying right where he is. You make a move for him or I see any helicopters, the next bullet goes in his head."
Just to prove their point, another shot rings out and concrete kicks up a foot to the right of Jay's head. Jay doesn't move but blood now trickles from a deeper cut on the side of his face.
"Who am I talking to? What do you want?"
"Alright, Voight, ya, lets get down to business…" Another bullet hits the pavement at Jay's feet.
"First, asshole, we want Maurice and Andre released and second we want the drugs, guns and money you pinched in that raid."
Voight hangs his head. V-Nation. Shit, could this day get any worse? This wasn't just any gang, trying to make a name for themselves, this was THE gang. The takedown was supposed to be a faction of the Latin Kings but I guess they called in their own backup.
Voight grimaces. Anything he says could be Jay's death sentence. He takes a breath and blows it out, "I can't do that. You know I can't. That inventory is out of my hands now. What happens with Maurice and Andre is out of my hands."
We all hold our breath and watch Jay laying in the court yard. He's awake again and puts his hand to his face, probably forgetting what was going on. Hailey is desperately asking him to hold still so he doesn't get shot. This is so fucked up.
"Don't FUCK with me Voight. You're starting to piss me off. Those are the demands. We all know you're as crooked as they come, so get it done or your boy is going to die a slow and painful death."
"Hailey…"
"Ya, Jay. I'm here."
There is a look of confusion on Jay's face, like he can't quite keep his thoughts straight.
He's definitely got a concussion.
"Voight! You hear me? I'm not playing."
Just then there is a loud 'THWACK' and Jay screams in agony.
Shit! As soon as Jay is hit, he sits up grabbing the calf of his right leg where an aluminum arrow is pinning it to the ground, screaming through his clenched teeth. He flops back down for a second before coming back up again, shaking hands grabbing his calf. Eventually he flops back down for good and crosses his arms over his eyes, breathing heavily and trying to keep from passing out.
This whole time we are all yelling in the coms, which is probably not helping Jay at all but we're all freaked out.
"Alright, ALRIGHT!" Voight yells out the window. "Give me some time. I'll get you what you want."
Voight silences all of us with a look. Al talks to Jay.
"Breath Jay, breath. I'm sorry kid. I know you're in pain but just try to stay still. We're going to get you out of this, it's gunna take a little time. Just stay with us." Al exchanges a look with Voight.
"Make it quick Voight. We got lots of arrows and a whole lotta bullets."
"I need to get to the SWAT van so I can make this work."
"Go ahead Voight, we won't waste our bullets on you, not when we have your boy here to play with."
The crazy asshole and his cronies laugh. A lazy arrow arcs through the air and lands in the courtyard, the metal shaft buried at least 4 inches into the pavement. It's not anywhere near Jay but an ominous warning just the same.
Voight talks to Jay, "You with us kid?"
Jay grimaces as his hand goes to injured left shoulder, the pain flaring from his sudden movements. He is finally getting control of his breathing but his voice is dripping with pain.
"I'm here. I'm here. Fuck…"
"We're going to get you out of this. Just hang in there."
"An arrow? They shot me with a fucking arrow." He manages some sarcasm but his voice is weak, barely a whisper.
How do you answer that? I exchange a look with Hailey and then Antonio. I cut my coms so Jay can't hear me.
"What the fuck? What the fuck are we going to do? Did you see when he sat up? The whole back of his head is covered in blood and the bullet is still in his shoulder, there's no exit wound."
Hailey cuts her coms and so does the rest of the team, "That might be for the best. The bullet's probably keeping the bleeding to a minimum."
My eyes haven't left Jay as he takes his shaking, bloody hand from his left shoulder and crosses it back over his other arm.
Antonio speaks up interrupting the hushed conversation between Al and Voight,
"What's the game plan here, Voight?"
Voight doesn't answer that question but hands Al his ear piece and quietly says 'channel 6'
"Burgess you're with me." He yells up to the gang members that he and Burgess are heading to the vans and the two of them leave the room and make it to the vans without incident. Al tries to keep Jay calm and assess how he is really doing.
"Jay, we're here. We're working on getting you out of there. Voight and Burgess are with SWAT right now and we have Platt and Mouse working on it back at the District. So just hang in there. How's your shoulder?"
Another shot rings out, kicking up more pavement. Jay's body goes stiff as a board.
Antonio gives it a try, "Jay? Come on man talk to us."
Nothing.
We all watch him. Waiting for him to respond. He's holding his shoulder again as the arm still lays across his eyes. His right leg has bled a lot but at least it looks to have stopped for now. He's sweating but the sun is already starting to go down. The temperature will drop significantly when in does.
Hailey tries, "Jay, we need to know you're still with us."
He doesn't say anything but then we hear a quiet groan and the pain laced 'shit' that he was trying to suppress through his tightly clenched teeth.
"Jay, we need you to put your left arm down, slowly and just keep it by your side. We don't want the bullet to shift."
He doesn't acknowledge us but eventually there's a deep inhale and he puts both arms down. His right hand still shaking as he takes hold of his left wrist, holding his injured arm bent against his chest, eyes staring up at the darkening sky.
LATER
The sun has dipped below the horizon and we're feeling the chill so I can't imagine what it's like for Jay, laying on the cold concrete. His eyes have closed again, passed out or sleeping, his body trembling from the cold or shock or maybe from the bullets that fly his way every three to four minutes.
We're on hold, waiting for Voight to give us an update. We've been taking turns quietly talking to Jay. He has stopped responding to us a while ago but we still don't want him to feel alone out there if he is listening.
Al gets our attention and signals for us to go to six, leaving the SWAT members, who aren't privy to what's going on and Hailey on the open channel. Hailey continues her one sided conversation with Jay. When we're all there he gives a quiet 'go' to Voight. We listen silently, most of us never taking our eyes off Jay. When Voight finishes his monologue we all switch back to the open channel and Voight speaks to all of us.
"We're working something out, we're almost there. So you guys hold tight. I'm trying to see if they'll let me come back in with a couple of guys from 51 and Will. Jay's going to need medical attention ASAP. Hopefully I'll see you soon with good news." Then he addresses Jay, "Hang in there kid. It's almost over. Will's here. We'll get him to you as soon as we can."
AN HOUR LATER
Voight just got back, followed by Casey and Severide. Sylvie, Gaby, and Will bring up the rear. They've all joined us at the window, watching Jay and trying to come up with a game plan for when this is all over. Voight and Al have moved away from the group and are talking to someone on channel 6 and Voight sounds pretty pissed. We all switch back to 6 to listen in.
"…well then who had eyes on the place since we set up the meet?"
Mouse is the other side of the conversation,
"Jackson and Burgos."
"Goddammit!"
The room goes quiet as all eyes turn to the east door where the two SWAT members had been stationed. Jackson is gone. Voight gives Burgos a death stare.
"What?"
"Let's have a little chat."
Antonio slams Burgos against the wall and then sits him down onto an overturned washer. All of Intelligence is looming over him. Even Hailey's small stature looms with the rest of us. Will has taken up coms and continues the one sided conversation with his brother. The other four SWAT members are smart enough to watch from the background and see how this plays out. Burgos knows Voight's reputation and decides to be smart and give up the info on the gang.
"Please Voight, I…"
"Save it! What's the plan?"
Burgos closes his eyes and caves. "They've been here since last night. We let them slip in. The plan was for Jackson to report that his floor in the North building was clear even though it wasn't. I was supposed to do the same with this one. After they we were done clearing the building the guys were going to move into their positions."
Voight waits. If looks could kill, Burgos' head would have imploded.
"Four guys on each roof - A spotter, lookout and two rifles on each building and Andre's deranged little brother also has the crossbow on the north building."
"And…"
"There are four more guys sitting over on 17th St. waiting to do the pick-up of the goods."
"And…"
"They also have explosives and a couple more of the flashbangs. Jackson has been slowly stealing the stuff from SWAT inventory, he's in charge of it. I swear I don't know the rest of the plan. My job was just to pretend that my floor was clear and to let Jackson slip out without saying anything."
Al chimes in, "Why are you doing this? You're a decorated cop. 10 years on the force."
"I had no choice. They have my wife and daughter." He looks at us, begging us to understand. "Jackson and I were childhood friends. I thought he had got out of the gang. He said he wanted to be a cop to help other people that were stuck with no options just like him. I was proud of him, vouched for him and supported him when he got the promotion to SWAT. Now it turns out it was all bullshit. They had a plan all along to have an active gang member in the CPD."
Everyone is silent. That's when Burgos breaks down.
"Please Voight. I had no choice, they're my whole world…my wife…my daughter is 6, man. I don't care what you do to me. I deserve what ever I get but you have to get them back."
Voight glares and turns away, "Goddammit!"
Al just hangs his head, "Well this throws a wrench in the works."
Voight gets back on the coms and delays the plan. "Mouse, find out where the hell they're holding Burgos' wife and kid. I'm not sure how much longer Jay can last."
LATER
I'm leaning against the wall looking out at Jay. We all are. He still hasn't responded to Will and the trembling in his body, either from pain or cold, has increased. The plan is on hold until Burgos' family is secure. Emotionally I am flipping back and forth between rage and fear. I hope we can get to Jay in time.
It's dark now but unfortunately the assholes have the courtyard lit up like it's noon. The good news is we can still see Jay. The bad news is, so can they. My chin is resting on my hand as I lean against the window when I, along with everyone else jerks to attention. Jay is moving, his head is tossing back and forth, a pained expression on his face. Will's monologue becomes more stressed.
"Jay, I'm here. Come on brother, I'm begging you, please don't move." He looks at us, desperation in his eyes, pleading for us to do something to save his brother. He turns back to Jay just in time to see him jerk awake and sit up, clutching for his injured calf in pain and confusion. When he starts to crumble, passing back out from the pain, a shot rings out and Jay's head snaps back, slamming him down to the pavement. Whoops and laughter ring out from the roof tops. Blood runs freely down the side of his face.
I can't handle it anymore and scream out the window.
"What the fuck, you assholes! He's no good to you if he's dead."
"Don't worry bitch. He ain't dead. See, he opened his eyes. Bruno just grazed him. He could give your snipes a run for their money, huh? Maybe Bruno should join SWAT."
More laughter, then beer bottles crash around Jay, cutting up his bare arms and littering his chest with broken glass.
Jay continues to just stare into space as Will desperately tries to get Jay to talk to him.
Voight is quietly screaming in the coms for a status on the take down.
Suddenly a burst of 8-10 shots ring out one after another and the pavement around Jay lights up in mini explosions as the bullets hit. Jay lets out a yelp and a red stain grows on the right side of his abdomen. When the bullets finally stop it is ungodly quiet.
A loud cackle erupts then a sarcastic,
"Oops…" A single shot rings out and hits inches from Jay's right side.
"…that's what I meant to do."
More laughter echos through the courtyard and then abruptly stops as we hear the ping, ping, ping of the gang members being picked off by the SWAT snipers. The assholes drop like flies from the rooftops. Finally we get the 'all clear' in our coms and rush out to Jay.
Jay's in a full blown panic attack, trying to get air and failing. Will is at his side trying to get him to match his breaths but Jay flinches away from him as well as Gaby and Casey who are trying to stop the bleeding at his shoulder and abdomen.
"You guys, wait, get back…give me a sec." Everyone steps back, giving Will room to work.
"Jay, I'm here. I need you to breathe." Will puts a hand on each side of Jay's bloody face and turns it to him. "Look at me, brother." Will breathes deep rhythmic breaths, trying to get Jay to match him. "Breathe with me Jay, I need you to breathe with me." Jay still doesn't respond. "Aw shit…" Jay passes out and Gaby moves in, getting an oxygen mask in place as Will orders a sedative to keep him under. Will's hands are clasped on top of his head as he sits back on his heels, then rests a hand on Jay's head as Sylvie and Gaby pack his wounds while Casey and Severide work out the best way to deal with the arrow that is pinning Jay's leg to the pavement.
TWO DAYS LATER
We're all crowded into Jay's room. He woke up a couple of hours ago and they say he's going to be okay. His face, arms and what we can see of his torso are littered with cuts from the flying concrete and broken glass. Sterie strips are on the more minor cuts and bandages cover the ones that required stitches. There are bigger bandages on his shoulder and abdomen, covering the bullet wounds and keeping the drains in place from the 7 hour nerve-racking surgery he went through.He's got a grade 3 concussion and in the next couple of days he'll have one more surgery on his leg.
He is still pretty out of it and occasionally smiles at something that is said but mainly he just lays there drifting in and out. When he starts to grimace from the pain, one of us helps him push the button that releases another dose of morphine into his arm.
To be honest, I think we're all acting like idiots, like kids waiting for the clown to show up at the birthday party. But it can't be helped. We're all so relieved that he is going to be okay and it's brought out the stupids in all of us.
THE NEXT DAY
We're all on our way down to Jay's room, after finally being kicked out the night before. We are being way too loud for a hospital, I have to admit, no matter how much Voight tries to shush us. I chuckle to myself for having the thought of Voight "shushing." A better phrase would have been, Voight is trying to shut us the hell up. We are at Jay's room when we are stopped by Dr. Charles who's just coming out of it.
Dr. Charles is talking to us but my attention is drawn to what's going on inside the room. Jay is laying on his bed staring at the ceiling and looking somewhat annoyed as Will quietly talks to him. Occasionally he rolls his eyes at whatever Will's saying. Jay ignores whatever question Will just asked. Instead he lifts a shaking hand to pick at one of the bandages on his face before Will gently grabs it and brings it back down to the bed. My eyes shift back to Dr. Charles when I hear 'PTSD.'
"Like I said, I'm not so concerned about his physical injuries, it the psychological injuries that concern me."
"But he was fine when we were here yesterday," I whine at him. God, I sound like a 5 year old.
"Yesterday he probably was fine. Today he isn't. That's the nature of PTSD."
That shuts me up. I look into Jay's room. He's still ignoring Will, eyes closed, taking deep measured breaths, hands still trembling even though they are clasped so tightly together his knuckles are white. Fuck. My heart clenches. You think he's okay because he's going to survive his gun shot wounds and you find out there is a whole set of other wounds that aren't visible and harder to recover from.
Dr. Charles is still talking, "He has a grade three concussion. That alone will be negatively affecting him for the next week to ten days, if not longer. I would suggest one of you at a time visit with him and just look for the cues that will tell you what he might need; quiet, a light conversation, watching a baseball game, etc. He might just want someone to sit with him so he's not alone but he's probably not going to tell you any of that, so you're going to have to be patient and try to figure it out."
He looks into the room, "Right now, Will is driving him nuts but every time he's tried to leave, Jay has called him back, indirectly or directly, and then lets Will continue to drive him nuts."
Dr. Charles continues, looking at me, "Maybe you could relieve Will so he can get something to eat…" He gives me a wink, "I believe you are an expert when it comes to annoying people."
Everyone laughs at the truth of that statement. I just shrug and head into the room but turn back to the group, "Use what talents ya got, that's what my Pop's always says."
A/N
This is a paragraph I cut from the end part of the story when Dr. Charles is talking about PTSD. It was a little darker than where I wanted to go but the information it contains is true and important so I wanted to share it anyway. It's still from Adam's POV.
You know, after the K & R case and Luis got killed, I said something really stupid and Jay ended up reading me the riot act on veterans and what they go through. Everyone in the precinct heard it and we all learned something that day…Jay said injuries don't always mean a gun shot wound or a concussion or a broken bone. Injuries don't always mean that the soldier gets patched up, comes home and everything is fine. Sometimes, a lot of times, it means loss of limbs, paralyzed, burned, comas they will never wake up from, head injuries so devastating they live out the rest of their lives with the mental capacity of a 2 year old. PTSD isn't factored into the "injured" category - broken families, loss of livelihoods, homelessness and 22 suicides a day are the end result of some Veterans with PTSD.
