Hi everyone :) Thanks for the reviews! Also, not to worry - Erin is not going back to old habits. She had already lived with Hank and Camille, and was already a detective! She has her life together, she just doesn't know Jay.
Chapter 4,
"Hank," she shifted her focus away from the doctor, "Where's Camille?"
All of a sudden, it was Hank's turn to feel the weight of his world crash around him. He couldn't speak. He couldn't even breath. He thanked god he was sitting down, because with Olinsky steadying Jay across the room, there would have been no one to keep him upright.
He looked away from Erin, trying to collect himself, his thoughts, his words. It didn't help.
The atmosphere in the room changed, and the doctor picked up on it right away. "Sir," He looked towards Hank, "Let's step outside for a moment." He gestured for Jay to join them, and ushered them both towards the hallway.
Kim decided to follow them out, not wanting to be alone with Erin. She had no idea what to say to her best friend, and she didn't want to overstep. As they all left Erin's hospital room, she left to meet Ruzek, Atwater, and Dawson, hoping to fill them in and also give Jay and Voight the space they needed.
The minute the door closed behind them, Hank spoke to the doctor. "What the hell is going on?" He kept his voice quiet because he didn't want Erin to hear. But his voice was harsh and commanding nonetheless, and the doctor took a step backwards.
"Sometimes this happens, and we don't know why." The doctor began his explanation. "As far as we have come in our understanding of the human brain, there are still things we will never understand."
This explanation did nothing to satisfy Jay. His wife was sitting in the hospital room, and she clearly had no idea who he was. She was completely unaware that she was married. She had no idea that together they had an amazing two year old daughter. She didn't know that they were currently trying for a second child, she didn't remember the negative pregnancy test result she had received the week before that had broken their hearts. She knew nothing about the beautiful life they were building together.
This explanation also did nothing to satisfy Hank. The girl he considered his daughter was sitting in the hospital, blissfully unaware that Camille was dead. Camille had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September of 2010, and died soon thereafter. Erin was also blissfully unaware that Justin had been murdered in 2016. She didn't know that she had pulled Hank out of the unbelievable depths of his grief. She had saved him both times, she had been everything he needed.
"Is it permanent?" As soon as Jay spoke the words aloud, tears formed in his eyes. After two days of waiting for his beautiful wife to wake up, he hadn't prepared himself for this. Never in his wildest dreams had he anticipated this, and he felt completely bereft.
"There is no way to know." The doctor pulled Erin's latest CT scans out of a manilla envelope. "These scans were taken this morning, and there is no evidence of a residual bleed. All the swelling has gone down. For all intents and purposes, she is physically healed." He put the CT scans back into the envelope and continued. "It could come back slowly, it could come back all at once. Some memories may return, or none. There is no way to know. We just have to-"
Before the doctor could finish his statement with the dreaded 'wait and see', Hank interrupted. "My wife... Camille." He needed the doctor to understand the immensity of this situation, and he needed Jay to hear it too. Erin would be overcome with grief. He remembered watching as she grieved his wife the first time around, and he couldn't bear the thought of going through it again. "She died. In 2011. This Erin," He gestured towards the ICU window, "She doesn't know." He looked down at the floor, and took a deep steadying breath.
All of a sudden he felt the need to fill the doctor in on all aspects of Erin's life. "My son, he died in 2016." He wanted guidance from the doctor, he needed to know what information to tell Erin, and what would be too much. "In 2010, she hadn't even met her husband." He gestured at Jay, and watched as Jay stood there, nodding along, seemingly terrified and unable to speak. Hank spoke for him. "She has a two year old daughter, Doc. Her name is Sophie." There were a million more important moments he wanted to fill in, but he knew there were no words he could string together to do Erin's life justice. Instead, he looked at the doctor and finished his speech with, "She lost her mother. She became a mother." Then he paused, making sure the doctor was focused on his words. "Where do we go from here?"
The doctor took in all of this information while also sizing up the two men in front of him. Her father and her husband, the two most important men in her life, were standing in front of his begging him to have all the answers. He had none. "Mr. Halstead, Mr. Voight," he began. "The most important thing is that the two of you get on the same page." They nodded in agreement. "And the second most important thing is not to lie to her. There is no need to supply information if she doesn't ask, but if she asks you about your wife, Mr. Voight, you have to tell her. You can't give her misinformation at any time, it can adversely affect her recovery. Memories are complicated, and the worst thing is for her to fill in the gaps with the wrong information." He let this information sink in before reaching out and handing them his card. "My cell phone number is on the back of this. Call me anytime." And with that, he walked away.
"She already asked about Camille." Jay spoke first, trying to organize his thoughts in his mind. His wife's weddings rings were currently burning a hole in his pocket. They had removed them before her surgery, and he had been holding on to them for safe keeping. She wouldn't look down at her hand and see her rings, which meant they could decide how and when to tell her. "I think we tell her about Camille, and then about me." He wasn't certain this was the best course of action, and he looked to his mentor for guidance. "But maybe, we shouldn't tell her about Sophie?"
"I think that's a good idea." His gruff voice returned to a normal level now that the doctor was gone. Forming a plan always made him feel more useful, and he felt a little better, a little more in control. "Are you ready?"
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Erin sat in the hospital bed feeling uncomfortable. She knew something was wrong. Hank and the doctor and the other man had been out in the hallway for a long time, and Alvin was sitting by her bed avoiding her gaze. "Al." She reached out for his hand. "Talk to me." She begged.
"Everything is okay, Erin." Olinsky wanted to sooth her, but he wanted to avoid giving any information away. He had working with Hank Voight a long time, they had been partners when Erin became his CI. She even began calling him Uncle Al like Justin, although she had stopped as soon as she made detective. She hadn't wanted anyone to think that he was giving her special treatment. Not that she needed it, she was as good as they come.
She was not satisfied with his answer, but she also knew she wasn't going to get any more information from him. Al was loyal to Voight, first and foremost. "Please. You have to talk to Hank." Without five pairs of eyes on her, she had begun to relax a little and began to remember what she was doing before she ended up in the hospital. She remembered that it was the first week in April, and she had been undercover 5 weeks.
Hank had been so mad when he found out. It was her first long term undercover job, and she was supposed to go undercover as a stripper. Her goal was to gain the trust of the boss of the strip club, in order to find the leader in a sex trafficking ring. The fact that she would be nearly naked on stage aside, Hank was scared she was going to fall back into old habits. "Tell him I never touched any of the drugs. I don't know how I wound up in this hospital bed, but I swear to you, I'm clean." She was crying now, tears falling down her face. It had been so hard to refrain from taking drugs. For most girls, the only way to get through a set on stage was to take drugs right before. It numbed them and dulled the pain, it pushed away the embarrassment of it all. The temptation had nearly killed her, but she had stuck to her guns, and she needed Hank to know.
"Erin, he knows." He continued to speak, even with the looks of disbelief she was sending his way. "You didn't come here because of drugs. You hit your head." It was at least partially true, and it would need to hold her for now. He needed Hank and Jay to come back in, because sooner or later this conversation was going to take a turn.
As if Olinsky had willed it to happen, Hank and Jay walked slowly back into the room. "I'm gonna give you three a minute." He squeezed her hand, stood from the chair, and left the room.
Hank started towards the chair Olinsky had just vacated, and Jay stood at the foot of the bed.
Erin examined the man at the foot of the bed. He was tall, maybe about 6"1. He was wearing a short sleeve grey v-neck t-shirt that did nothing to hide his muscular arms and shoulders. Now that she was staring at them, she had to admit they were pretty sexy. Arms always did it for her...
His light brown hair was cut short, and he had some a little scruff on his face, like he hadn't shaved in a few days. But above everything, though, she noticed his deep green eyes that were settled on hers. They were beautiful, but they looked sad.
His piercing stare became too much, and she had to avert her eyes. She looked towards Hank, waiting for an explanation. "Listen, kid," Now that she was looking at Hank, she noticed that his eyes appeared sad, too.
"When you were talking the doctor you said it was 2010." Hank spoke slowly, as if the words were difficult for him to say. "But it's 2020."
2020. She began to laugh, thinking this must be a joke. But as soon as it had started, her laugh died. She looked at Hank, at the man at the foot of the bed, and she began to hyperventilate.
Jay rushed towards Erin, and sat himself close to her on the bed. He reached out and touched both of her shoulders in a tight hold. He knew she didn't know him, but knew her, and this always made her feel better. "Try to match your breathing with mine." He removed one of his hands from her shoulder and touched it to her chin. She flinched at his touch, but allowed him to direct her chin up until she reached his gaze. "Look at me and match your breathing with mine."
She did as she was told, and a few seconds later she felt herself relax. Her breathing returned to normal, even though her heart still felt like it was racing. His eyes steadied her, and after getting over the shock of his touch, that, too, calmed her. "Who..." Her voice came out raspy, lower than she intended. "Who are-"
Hank cut her off, knowing it was time to tell her at least part of her truth. He hoped she would remain calm as he said the words. "His name is Jay Halstead, and he is your husband."
