D is for Defenestration

Four cars rolled up to the house, pushing through the crowd that had gathered outside. The intelligence team had gotten a tip that a mentally unstable perp was holed up in the house, threatening to burn it to the ground. Not only would he kill himself, but he would take all the evidence they had on this case and a few others with him if the building went up in flames.

"Darius Newman! CPD! Stop!" Halstead yelled, running up the steps behind the man. He had let them in the house, telling them he wanted to surrender, which no longer seemed to be the case. Lindsay and Ruzek were following close behind while Atwater and Burgess cleared the bottom half of the house. The man took one look back to see the posse he had follwing him, and decided his only choice was to go faster. Halstead pushed away the burning in his lungs, and started taking the stairs two at a time.

The chase finally reached the top of the steps, and Halstead charged forwards. Even though it was impulse, it was a big mistake. As soon as his head crossed through the doorway, a rock flew in from behind the wall, hitting Jay square above the left eye. A sharp sting sent him reeling, and he braced himself against the railing to keep himself from falling down the stairs. He winced as he reached up and wiped away the blood that was now running into his eye.

"Jay! What was that?! Are you ok?!" Erin asked, looking at the cut on his eyebrow.

"The SOB threw a rock at me!" Jay answered, rage flooding through him. He pushed past Erin and Adam, gun raised, looking for revenge. They followed behind him, ducking in and out of rooms in search for him. Jay was a few paces ahead of them. Suddenly, Adam saw the suspects reflection in the mirror of a bed room. The one that Jay happened to be standing right outside of. Darius looked out the large, square front windows that faced the street and as the cop cars, and plethora of onlookers.

"Jay! Look out!" Adam yelled, but his warning attempt was futile. Jay had no idea where the guy was until he was blindsided by the 5'11 frame charging from the bedroom. Shock paralyzed all them as they watched the two men shatter the window, and plummet to the ground below.

Jay heard the cry from Adam, and just as he turned to look at him, the air in his lungs was knocked out by the suspect tackling him. Before he could respond, the two of them crashed through the window. His body slammed onto the hard ground below, but he felt no pain. The only reason being because as soon as his head met the earth, he blacked out.

A collective gasp sounded from the bystanders as they watched the pair hit the ground. Atwater had rushed out of the house at the commotion, followed closely by Burgess. The suspect rolled over, and made a move to stand, but quickly discovered he was looking directly down the barrel of a gun. He was cuffed, and dragged to a car by a tight grip on his surely fractured left arm.

"Jay! Can you hear me?! Come on! Open your eyes!" Voight rushed over to his detective. He dropped to his knees, and pressed two fingers to the side of his neck. He was met with the familiar thump thump of a heart beat, but it wasn't near as strong as it should be. He checked the body for any obvious signs of injury or blood, and other than what was on his face there was none. This was not a comfort at all, as this meant the injuries were internal.

"Jay!" Voight looked towards the scream to see Erin rushing towards them.

"He's out. Call and ambulance right now! He's breathing. For now." Voight said.

"This is Detective Adam Ruzek. I need an immediate bus to my location at 102 Ridge Road! 1013! I repeat, 1013 officer is down and unresponsive!" Adam yelled into his radio. Erin sat on the ground holding the hand of her pale partner. She was pried away from him minutes later as he was loaded into the back of and ambulance.

Hours later, Erin was again next to the motionless body of her partner, although this time he was safely tucked under layers of hospital blankets. His face was oddly peaceful despite being in the one place that he hated so much. Instead of staring the the dozens of wires attached to his chest, she intently studied his hand. She had certainly done this before, but it seemed that every time she looked, there happened to be more scars than before. She knew the war had left him battered, but she never realized how many of the scars were on his hands. She began tracing the multiple lines that curved their way through the palm of his hand, when she watched the strong finger suddenly wrap around hers. She looked up to see him smiling at her.

"That ones from you." Jay said with a small smile.

"What?" Erin asked, confused.

"That scar. The one you just had finger on." Jay said.

"And how'd I do that?" Erin asked, now more curious.

"Well, not you directly I guess. You remember those roses from the other night? I dropped the vase trying to carry to many things at once." Jay said, now starting to look at it himself.

"How come I didn't notice it before this?" She asked.

"Well I mean, it is winter. It's glove wearing weather." Jay answered.

"You know, you really scared me today." Erin said, now meeting his gaze.

"Yea well...I'm just glad it was me rather than you." Jay said.

"Well look who's awake!" Will said, knocking on the door to the room.

"Wow. Thanks for killing the moment bro!" Jay said, rolling his eyes as his brother walked in.

"Well then I guess it's a good thing that I hate third wheeling! Anyway, you got pretty lucky considering you fell two stories. A grade three concussion, impacted fracture in your shoulder blade, and a strained muscle in between your shoulder blades. Once I check everything, I'll discharge you. You know the drill with concussions, wake him up every TO hours, and call me if anything changes." Will explained, then turned to Erin.

After a check up, Erin helped him change into his clothes, carefully lifting his arm. After and argument with Will considering sedating his stubborn brother just so he could get him into the wheelchair, the pair left Chicago Med.

"If you want, I'll tell you the stories of the rest of the scars." Jay said, looking at his palms on the ride back to their apartment.

"You would do that?" Erin asked, knowing how incredibly rare it was that Jay talked about what he had been through overseas, or even just his feelings in general.

"Only for you." Jay said, leaning over to place a kiss on her temple.