A/N: Thank you again for all the support on this story! Also, did anyone catch tonight's Chicago Fire?! OMG!
"I'll tell you one thing," Burgess groaned as she carefully swung her feet over the side of the hospital bed, "I'm never going to complain about period cramps again!" Burgess joked as slowly stood up, wincing but trying to keep it lighthearted. The pain in her stomach was finally, slowly starting to fade and mostly felt like an intense tugging in her stomach now but she would never forget the excruciating pain when her spleen had ruptured. She would be really glad once the staples in her stomach were gone.
"Remember, you went through a huge trauma and you are healing." The physical therapist quietly coached the police officer. She could only imagine how hard it was to go for the officer to go from chasing criminals to being confined to a hospital bed. Burgess just nodded, trying not to roll her eyes. The therapist was just trying to make her feel better but Burgess was beyond ready to be back to her normal self. She wanted to get back out on patrol and into her routine. The therapist held onto one of Burgess's arms as they made their way towards the door of Burgess's room. She glanced at her watch to check the time. They had been walking a little bit further and longer every day.
"Well, look who decided to stop lazing around!" Atwater greeted Burgess with his normal cheeky smile as he sauntered towards Burgess. Burgess held up her first threateningly with a pretend scowl on her face. Atwater let out a loud laugh as he fell into stride next to Burgess. It made his heart feel a hundred times lighter seeing his partner up and walking around. "You gotta hurry back to patrol. I'm tired of the luck of the draw partners!"
"I'll keep that in mind next time I get the shit beaten out of me." Burgess replied jokingly. "As soon as they'll let me out of here, I'm ready!" She knew it would be a few more weeks before she would be allowed to return to full duty but she couldn't wait. She turned and looked at the physical therapist, who was taking in the conversation with a small smile, "I know, I know, it won't be an instant return to work." The therapist just smiled and nodded her head. After almost twenty minutes of walking, Burgess knew her body was done at this time and the therapist helped steer her back towards bed.
"Please just open your eyes Jay." Erin pleaded with the unconscious man in front of her. She was sitting in the uncomfortable chair and had her feet planted firmly on the ground and her hands were pressed together, resting against her lips. "We are partners and we are in this together." Erin wanted to kill Jay sometimes because he drove her so damn crazy, but she couldn't imagine ever getting in the 300 and looking at the passenger seat and it being anyone but Jay. She couldn't see her life without Jay across from her at her desk. Jay just had to wake up and had to be okay. She was determined to keep believing that Jay was going to wake up.
"Hey." Ruzek quietly slipped into the room, taking in the sight of his fallen teammate with sad eyes. "Any changes?" He mindlessly reached for the hospital bracelet he hadn't taken off and fiddled with it, spinning it around his wrist. He'd been discharged about three hours ago but he had refused to leave the hospital. He had joined everyone else who was rotating out in the waiting area.
"Hey!" Erin got to her feet and threw her arms around Ruzek. The last time she had seen Ruzek, he'd still been in his hospital gown. He looked almost normal now in his button up flannel, jeans, and boots. The only thing that signaled that anything was out of place was the bruising across his forehead and the stitches that stood out against his pale complexion. "Good to see you! There haven't been any changes."
"You know, Erin, if I'd just taken care of that scumbag in the alley, he wouldn't have made it to Jay." Adam said softly, his shoulders drooping and his head hanging. He had an insane amount of guilt that if he had just taken Munoz down in the alley, Jay wouldn't have gotten hurt. His job was to take down the bad guys and this one had gotten by him. If he'd just done his damn job, Jay wouldn't be lying here in the hospital bed.
"Woah, Adam, no, this is not in any way, shape, or form your fault. You have to believe that. This was not your fault." Erin grabbed both of Ruzek's shoulders and forced him to look at her eyes. She could see how guilty he felt by looking at his face but there was nothing he could have done. She hugged him again and Ruzek nodded. Erin felt sad for Ruzek, knowing that if Jay didn't wake up, Ruzek would never be able to forgive himself. This was an incredibly tough spot to be in and while Ruzek had done everything right, Jay had still gotten hurt.
"Hey guys." Will joined the two in the room, looking at his brother sadly. It made Will physically hurt every time he laid eyes on his brother. His brain was on a one-track mind and all he could think about was his brother. Fortunately, Goodwin had helped get all of his shifts covered so that he could sit with his brother. Will was grateful for everyone stepping up. He just wanted his brother to be okay. He was grateful most of the time for his medical training and that he could understand what was going on in front of him. Sometimes, he wished he could just be like any other innocent patient's family and not be thinking of all the complications and statistics he had learned in medical school.
"Hey Will." Erin gave Will a hug before they all settled in together, sitting in a comfortable silence. They felt a little bit of comfort to seeing Jay's chest rise and fall, even if it was being calculated by the tube down Jay's throat.
"I'm getting real tired of asking the same question." Voight's gruff voice was full of frustration and anger as he sat across from Rolo. His arms were across his chest tightly and his foot was tapping against the floor. Rolo's hands were handcuffed behind his back and his feet were chained to the chair. They had traded out who was interrogating Rolo for the past few hours.
"I'm getting real tired of giving you the same answer." Rolo answered snarkily, trying to mock Voight. Voight slammed his fists down on the table. What he really wanted to do was take this absolute piece of shit down to the cage and show him what happened to someone who dared hurt his team, but that wasn't going to happen with an attorney here.
"We're giving you one last time to give up his location. We can work out a deal for you if you just tell us where he is." ASA Stone wanted nothing less than to give this guy a deal but he'd been authorized to give him one if Rolo gave up Munoz. Rolo just shook his head vehemently. He knew he'd be a dead man if he gave up the location of Munoz.
"I'm not a snitch." Rolo squared his jaw, looking Voight dead in the eyes. Rolo had worked too damn hard to get where he was to become a snitch. Voight growled and launched himself across the table, prepared to strangle the life out of Rolo. ASA Stone reacted quickly and grabbed Voight before he could lay a hand on Rolo. Rolo laughed manically as Stone and Olinsky, who rushed in, managed to wrangle Voight through the door and down the hallway before they let go of him.
"There is a son of a bitch out there who put three of my people in the fucking hospital. One who might never wake up again and that bastard knows where he is! That fucking bastard fucking knows!" Voight screamed, his face turning bright red as he pointed towards the interrogation room that held Rolo. He wanted to storm back in to the room and pull Rolo apart piece by piece until he gave them an answer.
"Hey. I know that, but this isn't going to fix things." Olinsky had a hand against Voight's chest as he nodded to ASA Stone. Voight's chest was heaving with his anger and frustration. He normally was a stoic and tight lipped individual, but with three of his team members in the hospital had thrown that out the window. Stone walked away, knowing that Olinsky had a better chance of calming Voight down than he did.
"I want that piece of shit in custody and to pay for what he's done!" Voight's voice was still elevated, a vein popping on his temple. He hadn't slept in days and he knew he wasn't going to be able to close his eyes until Munoz was in custody. He was livid that Jay hadn't woken up and that there was a chance he wouldn't wake up. He was pissed every time he saw the bruising and cut down Ruzek's face. He was furious that Burgess had needed to be cut open to fix the damage done.
"You don't think that I want that too?" Olinsky lowered his voice further. He knew that Voight was just venting and angry but if they couldn't pull it back together, they'd be yanked completely off the case. "I want to wipe Munoz off the face of the planet and make sure that no one ever finds him down the hole we put him down but that's not how this is going to work. We will find him." Olinsky had no plans on ever stopping the search for Munoz until he was found. Voight nodded as he finally took a deep breath. His phone started ringing and Voight reluctantly pulled it from his pocket, not wanting to take his focus away from the case. He held the phone up to his ear, hoping that whoever was calling him better have a damn good reason.
"You need to get down to the hospital."
