Chapter 7- Crush It
Can we take a minute to talk about the season finale? It was THE best finale PD has ever done. It definitely ranks in the top 5 for favorite episodes. I may or may not have ranted about it on Twitter. Anyway, this chapter's inspiration comes from Extraordinarygirl116. I read this, I instantly knew the story. It's a good one and I've got my work cut out to match its' potential.
Extraordinarygirl116: "For a prompt idea maybe where Jay has a crush injury to his arm or leg and it's really bad and they are unable to move him and the more they wait the worse it gets for him. Jay may be trapped or something like that. There's talk about amputation as the best option to save Jay's life, but of course Jay's not having it, so they have to think of another way to save Jay. Maybe they have to send someone Connor to perform an emergency surgery or some other doctor and of course Will is there freaking out."
I feel like I've said this before, but this may not be letter for letter, but I'm going to try my best to stay true to the prompt. Take a breath because we're diving in.
It was so unexpected and sudden. One second, they were clearing a room, the next the ground gave out. In a split second decision, he practically threw her in the stairwell as the floor collapsed. She screamed as she watched her partner fall from her peripheral, trying to wrap her head around what was happening. Clinging to the doorway of the stairwell, she watched as her surroundings collapsed all around. The second floor went first, followed by the stairs behind her, the roof saving the best for last. The miracle was that the landing and her side of the building remained in tact, putting her in a very different scenario than the person at the bottom of it all. It was loud, booming. Like rocks cracking under a mill, it sounded like the world was grinding its' teeth. The whole thing might've taken a minute, but in her world, it was a lifetime. And in reality, a life's time on earth was all but snuffed out in that span of time.
…
She closed her eyes when it began, opening them after a prolonged time. Water was dripping, no, flowing from somewhere, cascading a waterfall of sparks from live wires. Fire alarms were buzzing, drowning her thoughts with their constant tone. The ground still seemed to be groaning, like it had stubbed its' toe. The worst was the metal or iron beam swinging up above, just waiting for a slight breeze to drop down below. And then it struck her.
"Jay!" She worried her scream would create an echo, that final straw to start another settling of the ground. However, common sense kicked in, letting her know it'd take more than that to disturb the whole earth. With shaking hands, she crawled an inch at a time to the end of the makeshift platform, really not ready to see what was on the other side. You might as well have been hanging over the edge of a vast mountain range. Jay seemed to be a mile below her, a mountain terrain of concrete, rebar, and metal all around. Tears were welling up, but she kept peering, hoping to see some evidence of life down there.
"Jay," she called again, an uptick of worry this time. The place was silent, seeming to scream to her that Jay was no more. She was searching for her phone on her person, depressed to find it smashed and useless, when the blood curdling scream sounded.
"What," she cried back. Grumbled swearing and panic breaths were all she got.
"Jay, please talk to me."
"I think I just dislocated something, I can't feel my leg. Where are you? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," she responded while doing a once over.
"I'm coming to you. You've gotta keep talking so I can find you." Jay started with insisting on her staying, which only made her move faster. She silently thanked herself for those rock climbing lessons in high school, because the trip from her ledge to the rubble Jay resided in was pretty much like scaling the side of a rock. Miraculously, there were slots and holes that seemed to perfectly align with hand placements and foot movements. As she descended, she tried her best to assess Jay's mental state, asking about why they were in the building, who they were after, and what he ate that morning. Naturally, he passed with flying colors.
She was on flatish ground now, crawling around like cat. Each step was met with hesitation, convincing herself that would be the one that sent everything falling. Soon enough, she reached the rock Jay resided under, scooting under tent shaped pieces of rock to find Jay totally and seriously trapped.
"Hey there," she confidently greeted, taking a quick once over while trying to hide her emotions. He was stuck, buried under a large, thick piece of concrete. His upper half was covered in rubble that could be pushed away or easily rolled over. But it was the bottom half that made her eyes go wide and the pit of her stomach fall out. His right leg pinned down by a substantial chunk of concrete with a decent sized portion of rebar sticking out above the knee. His left leg was wedged by more rebar and rock, but looked to be free-able.
"How bad," he asked through closed eyes. Hailey stuttered as she moved the stuff away from his upper half, resting a hand on his chest before speaking. Better to deliver the news than lie to his face.
"Right leg needs freeing, like serious tools and leveraging. Left doesn't look too bad. I could get it free, but it'll probably hurt."
"This is probably a bad time to announce I'm claustrophobic."
"Shut up," she responded while rustling his hair, earning some laughs and grimaces. He was in pain, that much was crystal clear, but she applauded him for trying to remain calm and humorous. She crouched next to his left side and began formulating its' exit strategy. The rebar was crisscrossed over his foot, resting an inch above Jay's jeans. The rock sitting on his calf was L shaped, but wasn't too difficult for her to manhandle.
"Ok, I'm going to remove the rock and then work on the rebar. I'm sorry if this hurts." She started the task before he could answer, wincing and cringing over his pain filled grunts and screams. He pulled his vest closer to his mouth and bit down, the act not really doing anything to help. Hailey was pleading for him to pass out as she grabbed the rebar and twisted, Jay not cooperating.
"Ouch."
"What," he asked. Hailey pinched her hands together, trying to compress the splintering pain from the sharp rebar.
"Did you cut yourself?"
"No, it's just sharp."
"Just stop, I don't want you getting hurt on my part." She gave him a look, letting him know that wasn't going to happen. He could be chilvarous all he wanted, she was going to do whatever she deemed necessary. She gripped, hard, and pulled. Grunting in determination till the pieces jolted free. His foot practically sprung from the ground, Jay laughing in relief as he reached to feel the leg under his hand.
"What about the right? Too much?" Hailey laid on the ground next to him, heads inches apart. She grabbed a hand and looked him square in the eye.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Jay nodded before rolling his head to look at the world above him, blinking back tears. Hailey leaned in closer, her body almost resting against his.
"No amputation," he spoke after a couple of minutes.
"It won't get to that." Jay scoffed.
"It will." She nodded, doing her best to reassure him things would get better.
"Just rest. You need to save your energy for later." The two of them stared up into nothing, Jay nodding off before too long. Hailey was sobbing as she ran her hand through his hair, listening to the sirens in the distance creep ever closer.
…
The call over the house's intercom described the accident as 'building collapse' and possible 'man trapped.' It was odd that every unit of 51 was called in, but they all climbed into their designated rigs and headed to the scene. It was an old three story apartment complex north of the city that was recently placed on the dangerous buildings list. At the time, it was just another call to them. The day was mundane till they rolled up and noticed the vehicle parked out front.
"Isn't that an Intelligence car," Foster asked? Brett rounded the ambulance and squinted, trying to study the plate on the truck.
"Yeah, that's Jay's I think…wait." In unison, they swiveled to face the house, now fully aware of who was in there, deep in the maze.
"Call Voight," Foster yelled to Boden, pointing to the truck as he stared at her with a quizzical expression. He was pulling out his phone while barking orders to the rest of his people.
"Squad, get in there and make sure it's safe for Foster and Brett to get in there. 81, find the shut offs and assist Squad when they've provided a path." They all scattered to their posts as the phone rang, Boden not sure if he wanted Voight to pick up. Two rings later, a gruff greeting sounded on the other side.
"Hank, it's Wallace. We've got a situation…"
…
The path from the front door to Jay was an interesting one. Without a visual map, a steep mountain road is the best way to describe it. You entered the building on the first floor, the lowest level being a basement or laundry room. There was a small lip of floor about a foot wide, followed by a steep drop off into the canyon of debris. It was odd, seeing doors, bathtubs, and refrigerators scattered in the field, the whole perimeter of the building now on display. The stairwell was the anchor of it all, about thirty feet to the left of the entrance. That was the point of entry. Severide was the first to open the door, shortly holding his arms out to stop the rest from moving.
"Hold up, this is all that's there." The little ledge creaked under his feet, encouraging Kelly to hold his breath as he peered over.
"Jay! You down there?" A familiar female voice called back.
"Down here. I'm alright but Jay's trapped."
"Ok, we're coming down." Hailey gave the confirmation, alerting him of the beams above.
"Follow me. If you hear or see anything shift, stop right where you are. We don't need any more trappings today." The unit nodded at Kelly, just wanting to get this part over with. It was a treacherous shuffle from the door to the stairwell, but a pleasant surprised greeted them.
"Stairs are gone, but the anchors for them are still in tact. Cap, go get the repel gear." They could hear Jay and Hailey talking, Hailey mainly updating while Jay spoke a series of 'oks.' Before long, the repel gear was delivered, installed, and Kelly was lowered to the bottom. The floor below him was stable, but only so much. He stared out into the abyss, suddenly feeling small against the piles of grey and black. Hailey crawled out some twenty yards from where he stood, waving her arms.
"It's not too bad, just keep the line as straight as you can." She guided Kelly each step of the way, under the piles or scaling over them. He'd occasionally stop and mark the path with colored chalk, thankful someone from long ago deemed that necessary for their kit. She reached for his hand to boost him over the final hurdle, the two of them crawling under the tent's edge to a nervous Jay.
"Hey," Jay spoke, the panic all over his face.
"Hey, we need to stop meeting like this," Severide shot back. He crawled down to Jay's feet, pulling off his left shoe and pinching a toe.
"Can you feel this?" Jay nodded. Amazingly, Jay's right foot was clear of the rubble, allowing Kelly to pull the shoe off. This time, he held his hand on the toe, waiting for a reaction. Nothing. He didn't want to tell Jay, knowing it would only make the situation worse. Instead, he looked at Hailey, who blinked in acknowledgment.
"I marked the path. Send in Foster and get cribbing, the jaws, and the air bags down here. All of it, we're running against a clock here." A collection of confirmations crackled on the other end, Jay's eyebrows spiked at the mention of the clock.
"It's just normal procedure. We don't know how long this will all hold," Kelly reassured. Hailey nodded and smiled, her hand not leaving Jay's. The three of them sat in silence waiting for the rescue party to show up. Foster arrived first, quickly looking everything over before starting the crush syndrome protocol.
"Starting you on fluids and hooking you up to a monitor. How's the pain?"
"Not too bad," Jay replied through a wince, not too fond of the IV needle breaking his skin. Hailey helped attach leads and place the oxygen tube under his nose, continuing to reassure Jay things were fine. Squad and 81 were there by now, utilizing the bucket brigade system to hand things to Severide. Foster was documenting the blue/numbness track on the leg when the jaws began breaking the rock on top of Jay. Light wasn't coming through yet, but something moved, a millimeter maybe.
There's no way to prepare oneself for that level of pain. See, when you are skewered or crushed by something that object, in a way, becomes like a layer of you. When it moves, it feels like your body is ripping apart. Thus the indescribable pain and shaking, your body is acting like it's losing apart of itself.
"Stop," Foster yelled, all of them listening to the monitor beep fast. Jay was near convulsing now, his skin had a nice sheen to it from the sweating. The world around them creaked from the small movement, only heightening things that much more.
"We've gotta move," Kelly reminded everyone, meaning every definition of that phrase.
"He'll go into shock if we keep going." Kelly gave her the look, telling her to make that call. Hailey picked up on it pretty quickly.
"No. Don't do it." Jay just rolled his eyes, bringing a hand to his face and covering it.
"We're fighting a lot of things here. It's the fastest option."
"Keep going," Jay broke in, and dammit if that was his strongest voice of the day. Severide looked down at the entrapped leg for a moment before speaking.
"It's going to hurt, a lot. You'll probably pass out." Jay nodded, fully prepared to take it all on.
"On one condition, we get a surgeon down here just in case something happens." Jay looked to Hailey, the two of them seeming to be synching up their thoughts before continuing.
"Fine." Foster radioed for dispatch to send out a trauma surgeon to the site as Kelly pushed more cribbing and bags around the site. Jay just closed his eyes and shook his head, convinced this was one of those very real nightmares.
…
The call came as Will just so happened to be walking by the computer that housed the EMT requests. He didn't pay much attention to it at first, the blinking message and voicemail just background noise to the busy ED. It was Memorial Day weekend and the craziness was at peak levels. However, it was Rhodes passing comment that made life screech to a halt.
"Will, I'll get him out." Will stared at him funny while doing a quick scan. He had scrubs on, but his EMS jacket over them, a bag housing medical equipment in his right hand.
"The call that came in?"
"Will." Nothing more was needed to be said, he just knew. The brother mind telepathy thing got the message.
"I'm coming," he nervously replied, practically sprinting to the doctor's lounge to gather things. Rhodes opened his mouth to protest, but Maggie cut in.
"You're not going to keep him here."
"Yeah, I was afraid of that." A cop car was outside the ED entrance now, whooping its' horn for them to get in. The two of them climbed in, slammed the doors, and were whisked off to the unknown. On the way, Rhodes was phoned, informing him of a possible amputation. He kept his responses to a minimum, making it a point to keep Will out of the know. It was bad enough he was going to watch the extraction, witnessing that was on a new level of awful.
Intelligence, house 51, and a swarm of cops were surrounding the building when they pulled up. People were running and barking orders while others were standing in awe. Radios were crackling and beeping at constant rates, messages ranging from updates to safety assessments. Rhodes headed towards Boden while Will automatically ventured to Voight.
"What happened?" Voight turned around a little startled, not expecting that voice to speak.
"Second story floor collapsed into the basement. Jay is down there with Hailey."
"Bad?!" Voight nodded.
"Right leg trapped." Will doubled over, grabbing his knees as the vomit crept up the throat.
"Have they mentioned crush syndrome?"
"Yeah, they said it's already setting in. But Jay is still alert and talking, refusing amputation if it comes to that." Will just nodded, not getting up from his position. Voight did something very unusual: he sat on the ground to face Will, placing a hand on his neck.
"He's going to get through this." Will didn't speak or move, just trying to process things. Voight presented a radio at Will's face.
"You want to talk to him?" Will grabbed the radio and pressed the button on the side.
"Jay?"
"Will," crackled through a moment later. Shaky hands wiped around his eyes.
"You need to hang in there."
"I'm trying," Jay responded through a laugh. Will handed the radio off and sat on the ground. The rest of Intelligence joined him in the act. Imagine what that scene looked like; people are running around, machinery and lights heading into the scene, cars are coming and going. In the middle of it all, a group of people were sitting on the ground in silence, watching the sun set on the world in front of them.
…
This would be a good part to explain what crush syndrome entails. In simple terms, crush syndrome occurs when a heavy object compresses, or crushes, a portion of someone's body. When this happen, the cells in the body begin to break down. Starting with the swelling of the cells, the human body begins to release toxic things into its' system, causing a myriad of problems including cardiac and renal failure, hypothermia, and even paralysis. Naturally, a release of toxins into one's system can become deadly, the potential for too much potassium being the greatest problem of them all. I explain this all to you because if in Jay's current situation, I would think you'd chose living over dying, saving the whole body over a part of it. But alas, in typical Jay Halstead fashion, he opted to be stubborn. Since Will's radio call, the situation down in the pile—a phrase used by the first responders—was become dire. Settling was an issue. It would come sporadically and vary in shifts and groans. At one point during the third hour, the ground shook to the point that everyone, not over Jay, penguin walking back to safety in the stairwell. Foster, Hailey, and Kelly became human shields for Jay who was really unaware of things at that point. Miraculously, the swinging beams above never went.
The crush syndrome was really kicking in at that point. Jay'd weave in and out of consciousness, asking the same thing multiple times while clutching chest as he breathed. Foster had offered to sedate him and insert a breathing tube, but he wasn't having it. His argument was that as soon as he became unconscious, Rhodes would be sent down to remove the leg. Of course, those helping knew it was the health issue that was the reason behind the blunt, aggressive comment, but to hear him speak like that drove home the severity of things. Life shrunk down to two choices: freeing Jay or watching him slowly die. However, it was during hour number four that things came to a point. The rock wasn't moving fast enough and Jay's declining state slowed the rate of progress. The latest settling had calmed down, people returning to their posts and continuing on. Foster got close, really close to Jay's face and laid it all out.
"Jay, we need to get out of here. If we stay down here another hour, you won't make it out." Hailey was on the other side, nodding her head as the tears streamed down.
"No. I can't do that."
"Jay, you can live a normal.."
"-NO!" That one made everyone stop. Hailey looked to Foster, holding her hand out for the radio.
"Can we clear the spot for a moment?" Kelly was about to protest, but a stern look from both women told him there really wasn't a choice.
"Yeah." Hailey clicked the radio's speaker.
"Will, you need to talk to him." Her voice was clear and concise, letting Will know it was time to step in. The three of them crawled out as Jay grasped the radio in his hand, listening to Will breathe loudly in the mic.
"Jay, I know you don't want to do this, but we're talking about your life now. No one will think of you any different. It's just a piece of you, a leg. You can get out of there in a couple of minutes and go on to lead a normal life."
"No," Jay responded with a teary voice.
"People look at you weird. You no longer have a name, just a phrase: the guy who doesn't have a leg. I can't do it Will. I can't agree to be a lesser version of myself." By now, Intelligence had backed away from Will, trying to get out of hearing range from the conversation. Will was pacing now, pressing his hands on the top of his head. He was out of options, no longer able to talk sense into an oxygen deprived, shocked Jay Halstead. Rhodes left his post with Boden and walked over, grabbing the radio out of Will's hands and talking.
"Jay, Will and I are coming down." He patted Will's shoulder and the two of them walked to the entrance of the building. In no time they were harnessed and repelling down, getting spotter calls from the firefighters above them. During the trip to Jay, Will did his best to not look around. Getting that shot of what was sitting on top of Jay wasn't going to help anyone. Hailey guided them through the final crawl, allowing Rhodes in first followed by Will, who decided then was the ideal time to vomit out of stress, fear, and the first glimpse of Jay. It was a sight no sibling ever wants to see, especially when the relative was in that state. Jay rolled his eyes in embarrassment, Will's greeting not helping things. Rhodes started taking things out of his bag, laying them in a line for Jay to see.
"This is what I'll use, the whole should take two minutes. We can either knock you out, or you can experience the worst pain of your life. I can make it quick and clean, I just need your permission." Jay was practically panting by now, his while body in a constant shiver. The hypothermia was doing a number on him.
"Above or below the knee," Jay asked through closed eyes.
"Above."
"Shit." Jay breathed a few times out of his mouth, the words just on the tip of his tongue.
"Do it, I want to be awake." Wide eyes went up all around. Rhodes was a little startled how easy that was, but began the procedure.
"I'm right here," Will reassured, Jay only nodded. Rhodes ripped the pants away from where he'd be working, held the scalpel, and had begun cutting when a Foster yelled for him to stop.
"What about a bolt. We could pump fluids in, flushing out the toxin."
"How does that help get him out quickly?"
"Well then, what about drilling above."
"I could hit him," Kelly commented.
"So drill far enough to where you can lift it off. We can't just give in." The group sat in silence contemplating, a collection of smiles sprouting moments later.
"It wouldn't hurt to try." The scrambling resumed. Will and Hailey crawled out of the tent structure to let the pros work. Foster offered a shot of morphine for the incoming pain, Jay finally obliging. Honestly, it was the probably the exhaustion and pain that finally broke him. She'd just inserted it when Severide fired up the large drill and dug in. There wasn't a ton of pain, but to Jay, his leg seemed to be flying off. The drill would dig in, showers of rubble would pepper everyone, the load would get slightly lighter. Several rounds later, Kelly gave the eagerly anticipated thumbs up, alerting the crew the end was nigh. Rhodes inched closer to Jay's right side.
"Ok, they're going to lift this and most likely, the toxins are going to release and spread very quickly, possibly putting you in cardiac arrest. We can get you back, just don't towards the light." Jay had been keeping his vision on the two people at the entrance of the tent the entire time. As Rhodes talked, the two of them would nod and smile, echoing Rhodes' sentiment: don't die.
"Ready," Severide interrupted? Jay blinked and nodded.
"Let's get out of here."
"Copy that. We'll pull the concrete off first and then cut the rebar, but you'll probably be out by then." Jay took a breath, gave a thumbs up, and exhaled. No better time like the present to resist death.
"1…2…3. Go."
…
The amount of fluids bought enough time for the rebar to get freed, but Jay did indeed fall into cardiac arrest. He was alert long enough to see his right leg, but faded out shortly after. Severide took seconds to snap the rebar, but soon it was Rhodes and Foster call a code. Three epis and shocks later, jubilation erupted as sinus rhythm beeped on the monitor; Jay was ready to move. A stokes basket was awaking its' passenger as they pulled Jay out, strapping him to ropes and pulleys as House 51 lifted him to solid ground. Brett had backed the rig just feet away from the door, Intelligence was surrounding the waiting gurney. They reached inver to pat unconscious Jay on the shoulder as he passed by them, ignoring the deformed extremity and thing sticking out of it. Reality hit them in the form of a two inch cut on his thigh, the sight where Rhodes was going to break Jay free. They were that close to seeing Jay come out incomplete. Jay was loaded in record time with very dirty, auto piloted Foster, Rhodes, and Will clambering in right behind. Severide slapped the bag of the rig hard, telling the party to get a move on. Everyone watched till the ambulance's lights disappeared around the corner, relishing in the hope that they did their job in time.
En route, Rhodes was on the phone putting things in place. Jay wasn't in a state to need the OR in the ED, so a room on the OR floor needed to be claimed and have the right people and equipment in place, ready for the non-stop journey from the ambulance to the floor. The only holdup would be an x-ray in the ED, but even that was ready for their arrival. Foster was doing the pre-op tasks, measuring reflexes and recording the latest round of blue numbness on the leg. Now with it on display, you could clearly tell how bad it was. When it was buried, they were using the other leg to measure, relying on Jay's feedback and known crush syndrome facts to document how things were progressing. His left leg was speckled with black Sharpie line, marking the hourly progression of things. Now comparing the figured verses the actual, it was evident to see how far off they were and the level of trouble Jay was in. Will's eyes would dart from Jay's face to his leg and vice versa. He did not speak, he did not react, he did not even move, he just sat in silence, staring. Jay may not have been trapped under that rubble anymore, but he was far from free. The chance of him still losing his leg was very real, and this time he wouldn't get to make the call. Will only hoped Rhodes got that, would be willing to fight for what was wanted.
The rig stopped abruptly, basically shoving Will out of his misery riddled world and into reality. Ethan, April, and Maggie wasted no time opening the doors and pulling Jay out, Rhodes right behind holding IV bags and a clipboard. They didn't react to who it was or his current state. They just grabbed and ran. Rhodes was shouting orders as he rolled out, making sure no time was wasted. The life saving measures under the tent were a bandaid, the threat of Jay dying from crush syndrome was still large. He needed serious drugs to help correct the damage and the source of it all to be repaired. Delays weren't an option. Will walked with them to trauma three and stood at the doorway, watching Jay transition from person to patient. His leg was clothing free now and an anti-septic wash was splashed on the leg. Someone was inserting a central line and the breathing tube was switched from a bag to ventilator machine. More IVs were installed and shots of antibiotics were administered directly into his arm; the catheter insertion was the weirdest of all. Meanwhile, Jay was still unconscious, not reacting to anything that was happening. Will used to laugh when Jay would get squeamish around needles. The guy who can do it all is afraid of the smallest of things. Will used to joke with him about it but now, he wanted that more than anything.
"Rebar is resting next to the femoral artery. We've gotta move," Rhodes announced, tossing the x-ray off to a nurse and grabbing a side of the gurney.
"Urine output," he asked? Foster held up a bag with the tiniest of amounts.
"It's better than nothing." The mob of people scurried towards the elevator, the force of them practically dragging Will with them. Rhodes had gone ahead of them up the stairs, hoping to gain that much time for scrubbing in and getting set up. Feet were tapping on the floor as they climbed the floors, faces wore differing looks of anxiety and stress. The second the floor number lit up, they were on the move. Foster and Will were stopped at the doors, hands and shouts telling them to stay put. They watched Jay disappear down the hall and hook a left, realizing they'd reached their dead end, no longer in their jurisdiction. Foster guided a ghostly Will to a chair in the waiting room and he nonchalantly sat. Will realized he didn't get to say goodbye, good luck, not even an 'I love you.' The last thing he told Jay was to remove the leg and only prayed that wasn't dancing around in Jay's head.
…
"Guess who gets to walk again?" Will literally fell out of chair while laughing, Hailey's eyes got super wide and her face broke out in a smile. It had been forever since they'd done that. Their faces ached, but it felt good to be happy and hopeful again.
Hailey sheepishly walked into the waiting room around hour four of the surgery, just waving to Will as she sat. They hadn't really spoken much since she joined Intelligence, just talking in passing while on the job. At first, the room was silent, but it was Will who wanted to get to know her, talk about anything apart from what was happening down the hall. By the end of it, he understood why Jay adored her so. She wasn't Erin, but Hailey; a determined, able, caring, and all around great person. She had her shields, but then again everyone has them. Minutes before Connor walked in, they had drifted off to sleep, the events of the last day—or was it a day and a half now— had caught up to them, making alert and awake near impossible. Rhodes' boisterous one liner knocked them off their game, but they loved to be emerging from the fog.
He explained the twelve hour procedure in great detail, explaining how the rebar was extracted and the major arteries and vessels were stitched back in place. Jay had good blood flow and the smallest of pain stimuli reflexes, a serious miracle for that early in the game. Hailey and Will just kinda nodded, wanting to stop hearing about Jay and just see him. Another elevator was boarded and ridden. Feet were stomping this time, but for good reasons. They were super antsy. The bright sunlight pouring into the windows startled them. They'd lost all notions of the time of day or the placement of the sun or moon. The last day or so, things were measured in distance, hours, minutes. Now, they could adjust back to the normal rhythm of things.
Rhodes gave them odd faces as they smiled and giggled the closer they got. To the untrained eye, you would've thought they were going to meet a baby or something. Rhodes slowly opened the door, like pulling back the curtain on some grand production. The other side revealed a passed out Jay who was breathing on his own. Most of him was draped in blankets and sheets, but the leg sticking out in the exposed world made their hearts soar. It was heavily wrapped in bandaging with a leg circulation band strapped to the ankle and foot, but it there, attached to its' body. Against all the wires, tubes, monitoring cuffs, and hospital tags, that made it all worth it and fine. Jay would get out of this place, this terrible freak accident, in one piece. Rhodes backed out of the room as they inched closer to Jay. Will pulled up a chair for Hailey before venturing down the hall to score one for himself. Hailey used the opportunity to have a moment with Jay.
"See you when you wake up." She leaned over and kissed his forehead, brushing his cheek with her fingers. A throat clearing voice told her they were no longer.
"I didn't see anything." Hailey's face got red as she smirked.
"When do you think he'll wake up?" Will sat and leaned back, letting out a deep exhale.
"Well, he was under anesthesia for twelve hours, so it'll be a few hours at least. But the cannula will help clear it out of his system." Hailey sat back in her chair as well, the two of them holding a Jay hand while doing so. They were an interesting trio to look at, but their overall theme could be summed up in a single word: peace.
…
6 months and several surgeries later
"Oh that's so weird." The last of the cast had just been sawed off, revealing a thin, super white leg that was peppered with scars from five operations, the fifth one six weeks ago.
"They'll fade," Hailey commented, watching Jay just absorb the sight in front of him. This was the first time in forever he'd seen his leg as just that, an extremity of his body. He'd seen it in the early days of the recovery, but it so swollen and had monitor and IVs coming out of it, the leg felt more like a foreign body than something that was apart of him. After each operation, he'd wake up hoping to see skin, but thick whiteness was all he got.
"Eh, I don't mind them." She rolled her eyes at the very Jay Halstead comment. Will poked his head in the room at this point, apologizing for running late.
"Did it happen yet?" Jay shook his head. The doctor discarded the cast remnants and held a hand out for Jay to grab.
"It shouldn't be that painful, just stiff and sore from not really working in awhile. Everything looks good and nothing's going to break." Jay nodded as he scooted closer to the edge of the table, the crinkling paper making a racket as he moved. He grabbed the hand and stood, his left leg touching down first, a habit he'd picked up while the right leg was out of commission. Will kinda gave him the hurrying motion with his hands, Hailey smiling and nodding out of encouragement.
It felt, weird. That's the best way to describe it. Imagine not feeling the bottom of your foot for six months. No cold tile flooring, no burning your foot in a shower when the water's too hot. You couldn't wear a shoe or sock or anything. All you got to see for a very long time was white cast. Now, imagine placing that numb foot on the ground for the first time, watching your toes twitch against the weight it now held up. Jubilation and relief would be the first emotions, uneasiness right behind that. The doctor was right, things were stiff and sore and he did worry if things were going to hold up. He stood in that first step phase for a couple of minutes, a wide, overly excited grin beaming on his face. Hailey's mouth was wide open from the excitement, Will just nodding in approval. Jay took a step, ignoring the slight pain, and waited for the nod to keep going.
"It's fine. You're not hurting anything." He took a step, and another, and soon was wobbling towards the door and turning the handle, looking behind him and smirking.
"Going for a run, be right back." He took another step when they protested.
"NO" they thunderous and nervously yelled! He let out a deep laugh as he turned to face them.
"Oh chill, I was joking." Will and Hailey rolled their eyes, realizing how untrue that statement was.
Surprise! We had some Upstead moments. It's been a pretty popular request and I hope it met everyone's expectations. We're packing up and heading on our next adventure. Thank you for reading!
