HANK'S P.O.V. (4 WEEKS LATER)
"Girl's night!? Are you kidding me? Do you not understand that someone tried to kill you a month ago? Absolutely not! There's no way in hell I'm letting you go to Molly's tomorrow night. It's bad enough you start filming again on Monday. Just invite the girl's over to your condo. There's no reason for you to go out. You shouldn't have come here today. James and Chris should know better." Jay sternly lectured Mackayla as the three of us sat in my office.
I agreed with every word Halstead was saying but my stubborn niece had ideas of her own. I was going to stay out of this for a minute to see how things progressed. I noticed Mac's eyes flash in anger as Jay told her he wasn't letting her go out. Halstead is in for it now, I thought to myself.
"Let me!? Let me!? Are you kidding me right now? The two of you have had me basically under house arrest since I was released from Chicago Med. You're not my Dad, Jay. You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do. I came here to tell you both as a courtesy. Also, Uncle Hank it's time for the Uniforms at my door to go. Not only that..." Mackayla paused as she got up to open my office door, and addressed the other in the bullpen... "You all need to stop treating me with kid gloves. Go back to doing your jobs and living your lives. I love you all but you're driving me insane. Please, I need space." she finished as she looked at me silently pleading with her eyes for me to understand.
"Mac, we are all just worried about your safety since we haven't been able to find Roberston or Shaw. We don't want to see you get hurt again. Try to understand where Jay and I are coming from." I replied.
"I understand that but other than going to the Doctor for two follow ups I haven't left my condo in a month! I haven't even been allowed to go out on my balcony. I got the all clear from Connor to resume my morning runs, starting tomorrow. I need you to back off. Please. I love you both but you're suffocating me." Mackayla told us. She didn't look at either one of us but we knew she was holding back tears of frustration. She quickly said good-bye, walked out of my office, said something to Burgess and headed downstairs to where James and Chris were waiting for her.
MACKAYLA'S P.O.V.
I was filled with excitement just over twenty-four hours later as I got ready to go to Molly's. As I straightened my hair and applied my makeup I decided not to let the argument Jay and I had last night put a damper on my mood. It was going to be the first time in four weeks I've had a night out. I'm not stupid. I know I'm still in danger but I need to live my life. I believe Uncle Hank's Unit will catch Tom Robertson and Rob Shaw, but I can't stay in hiding until that happens.
"You look good. Maybe a little too thin still but you look like you again." James told me as I walked into the living room. "Thanks." I said, smiling at him as my eyes darted to where Jay sat on the couch. I was dressed in a pair of black fitted distressed cuffed jeans, a light purple silk v-neck racerback tank top, my short black leather jacket and black peeptoe booties. "I'm ready to go. Want to grab Chris and we can head out?" I asked James.
"Nope. Chris isn't going with us." James told me, surprising me with his answer. "Excuse me?" I said, wondering once again if my bodyguards have grown too comfortable in their jobs.
"James is driving us. Don't be mad but I turned your girls night into a girls and guys night. Molly's will be filled with people from the District, 51 and Med. Mackayla, give me a little more time and then I'll back off as much as you want. I almost lost you a month ago. I wasn't able to protect you and I'll have to figure out how to live with that but I don't want to risk it happening again." Jay told me.
"Jay, I don't want you to back off the way you're implying. I just need a little less Detective Halstead and more Jay Halstead in my life. Does that make sense?" I said, walking over to him.
"Complete sense. You look beautiful. Been a while since you last wore your hair straight. Come to think of it the only other time I've seen your hair straight was the night we first..." Jay said before he was interrupted by James..."Hey! There's some things I don't need to hear. Can we go now?"
"Speaking of that night you haven't touched me since then. Are you ever going to want to make love to me again? Dr. Rhodes cleared me for sex two weeks ago. I swear you've been waiting to come to bed until after I'm already asleep. It's frustrating as all hell Jay. If you don't want to be with me like that you just need to tell me." I whispered to Jay as we sat in the back seat of the SUV on our way to Molly's.
"We'll talk about it later. Let's just enjoy your night out. Trust me, Mackayla, I do want to be with you like that...more often than you know." Jay replied as the SUV pulled up to Molly's.
JAY'S P.O.V.
"You know Halstead you really need to stop acting like a helicopter Mom. Give her some space to breathe. She's safe in here. If you and Hank keep hovering and smothering her you won't like the outcome. Mackayla's almost at her limit with the two of you." Al said, from our end of the bar, as we watched Mackayla laugh at something Stella said at the table the girls occupied.
"I know. I'm just worried Al. Neither Voight or I like the thought of her filming next week when we can't guarantee her protection. She basically told me earlier tonight that I was once again treating her like a victim. That almost ruined us once and I'm not going to make that mistake again." I said, trying to figure out a good way to protect Mackayla without her realizing what I was doing.
"Well it looks like the answer to your problem as arrived. Rixton just walked in. He's with Hank down at the other end of the bar. I think this is a mistake but I understand where you are both coming from. I've known that girl since she was twelve years old. I don't want to see her hurt ever again." Olinsky said before turning to order another drink.
"Hey Rixton. Thanks for coming. I appreciate your help." I said as I walked over to where he sat with Voight. "No worries. I'm happy to help. If I understand this correctly you want me to pose as a Production Assistant while she is on set." Kenny Rixton replied. "Exactly. Just so you know Mackayla doesn't know about any of this. The only people who know are the movie's director and the head of security." I told him.
"We would prefer that my niece not know your true identity. She already thinks Halstead and I are overbearing. She will not be happy if she finds out I have someone undercover on set." Voight told Rixton. "Gotcha. I'll take off before she sees me then. I'll touch base with you both on Monday." Rixton said as he got up.
"Al thinks we're making a mistake. I hope he's wrong." I told Voight before walking over to a table and grabbing a seat with Ruzek, Atwater, Antonio, Casey and Severide.
MACKYALA'S P.O.V. (2 DAYS LATER)
Monday morning rolled around and for the most part it was back to business as usual. It felt good to be filming again. I had a little downtime between scenes later in the day so I was able to sneak away from set and go meet with Dr. Charles. It was an appointment Connor scheduled for me without anyone else knowing. After I had been shot and had my follow-up appointments with Connor, he delivered the bad news I had been waiting for.
FLASHBACK (2 ½ WEEKS AGO)
MACKAYLA'S P.O.V.
"Mackayla, I ran the scans again. I wish I had better news but it looks like the damage done to your uterus from the bullet fragments will make it almost impossible for you to get pregnant. I'm so sorry. Is there anyone I can call for you? Jay or Hank?" Connor said to me as I sat in an exam room at Chicago Med.
"No. I don't want anyone to know. Connor, it's very hard to keep things about my life private...especially lately. Is there anyone you trust that I can talk to once filming begins again? I think I'm at my limit and even though I'm not ready to have kids at the moment, having another choice, especially this choice in particular, taken away from me may push me over the edge. I would need to find a secret location to meet with the doctor as well. I can't risk a photographer catching me outside of a shrink's office." I replied, fighting back the tears.
"Let me reach out to Dr. Charles. I trust him completely and as long as he is okay with the location you can meet him in my condo." Connor told me.
PRESENT DAY
MACKAYLA'S P.O.V.
"Okay James. Let's go. Try to make sure we aren't followed. I should only be with Dr. Charles for an hour. Connor is leaving for the hospital shortly but said we can park in his spot in the parking garage below his building." I instructed my bodyguard.
"The Detective and your Uncle are going to be pissed if they find out you are running around without protection, besides me." he replied.
"What are you talking about? I've been on set all day with just you around." I said as something popped into my head. "Are you fucking kidding me!? The new P.A. is a cop, isn't he!? What the fuck?" I exclaimed, realizing I was going to have a lot more to discuss with Dr. Charles than I originally planned.
HANK'S P.O.V.
"What do you mean she's not on set?" I barked into the phone. "You were supposed to be watching her! Where the fuck is she?" I yelled at Rixton over the phone. I looked up to see Halstead and Al enter my office and close the door behind them. "Find her now!" I instructed before ending the call.
"Rixton lost her on a closed set?" Jay asked looking like he was going to be sick. "She was in her trailer on a break. James was guarding the trailer. Rixton could stand there without drawing attention to himself so he was doing perimeter checks. Mac and James were both gone on his second pass by the trailer." I told them.
"Jay, call her before we jump to any conclusions." Al told him. "Straight to voicemail." Halstead replied before leaving a message for Mac. Before another word could be said there was a knock on my door. "Enter." I said as the three of us watched Atwater walk into my office with his laptop pulled up to a gossip website. "Uh, Sarge. I have my cell phone set to alert me whenever a story is posted about Mackayla. I just got the alert. Looks like the story was posted fifteen minutes ago." he said as he turned the laptop towards me, Jay and Al. There was a picture of Mac hugging Connor Rhodes in a parking garage. the title read "Is Mackayla Kennedy Cheating On Chicago's Finest With Hero Surgeon?"
JAY'S P.O.V.
"What the fuck? She's with Connor Rhodes?" I shouted. "Bro, you don't know the entire story. You know how these sites are. Chances are it's innocent and nothing to stress about." Atwater replied.
"Let's take a ride." Voight said to me. We walked out of his office without saying a word and headed down the stairs stopping at Platt's desk. "Trudy get me the home address for Connor Rhodes and text it to me." Voight instructed before we walked out of the District and got into his Escalade.
"Jay you need to stay in the car if there are photographers there. I won't let her become bigger tabloid fodder than she already is. Just try to stay calm. We don't know what's going on." Voight instructed a short time later as we pulled up in front of Connor's building on North Lakeshore Drive.
Ten minutes later we were in the elevator on our way up to the 24th floor. James was posted outside of Connor's condo. "What the fuck? I'll deal with you later, just open the door now James." I instructed. "I told her this was a mistake. By the way, she figured out who the new P.A. really is." He told us he knocked on the door. I'm not sure who was more surprised, Hank or me, when Dr. Charles opened the door and we saw Mackayla in tears on the couch.
HANK'S P.O.V.
Two hours later I sat with Al feeling like a complete idiot. "She's in therapy and didn't want anyone to know. She's really angry with me and Halstead. You were right Al. We were suffocating her. She told me she won't be over for Sunday dinner next weekend and she told Halstead that she needs space and he should plan on staying at his place for a while. We fucked up royally."
"Give her time Hank. She'll come around. Do you want me to talk to her?" Al asked.
"No one needs to talk to me. I expect when I return to set in an hour Detective Rixton will be gone, am I correct? Life is going back to normal from this point forward, understood?" Mac lectured me, with angry tears in her eyes from the doorway of my office.
"Rixton is already on the way back to his Unit. Mac, let's talk about this." I replied. "Can't. Not now. I'm too angry with you. I have to get back to work anyway and now I also have to convince the press that I'm not cheating on Jay." she said before walking back downstairs. She didn't acknowledge anyone else on her way out.
"Ouch. That was cold." I heard Ruzek say as Halstead walked down the hall into the locker room, slamming the door behind him.
MACKAYLA'S P.O.V.
The rest of the week passed without further incident. "All packed?" James asked at 11:30am on Friday morning. I had filmed my scenes earlier that morning and I was now getting ready to head to Islamorada down in the Florida Keys for the weekend. It was going to be the original four only – me, Jenna, James and Chris for 2 ½ days.
"Here we go again, Mackayla." Chris said to me as we pulled into the hanger at O'Hare where the private jet waited for us. "Just like when we left LAX in January. I'll come around and get you. I'll escort you thru the photographers. We'll wait for Jenna and Chris on the plane." James instructed me, not realizing I had other plans this time.
When we reached the base of the stairs to the plane I turned, smiled and waved. This time tho, I stopped to answer questions...
Mackayla, how's filming going? - Photog #1
It's great. The movie is really coming along and we should be wrapping up in the next 2 ½ weeks. I'm excited for people to see it. - MK
Mackayla, how are you feeling? - Photog #2
Good as new! - MK
Mackayla, where are you going this weekend? - Joe, the photographer who follows me everyone
It's a secret Joe. I'll see you all on Monday! - MK
Mackayla, where's Chicago's finest? - Photog #3
Unfortunately, he has to work this weekend. That's why he's Chicago's finest. - MK
I then told them all to have a great weekend and boarded the plane. "The Detective had to work this weekend?" James asked. "No, but what was I going to say? I kicked my boyfriend out of my condo four days ago and haven't talked to him since?" I replied.
We all took our seats and fastened our seatbelts. I turned my phone off and handed it to Jenna. "I don't want to know about the real world at all this weekend. You can text my Uncle and let him know I'm away for the weekend and safe, but no one is to know where I am. We're landing in Miami and making the drive down to the Keys. There will be two cars at the hanger in Miami. One is a decoy, in case we are followed, and Chris will be driving the other car. I'm determined to avoid everyone this weekend." I told them before putting my earbuds in and pulling up a playlist on my iPhone. As Kenny Chesney started to sing in my ears I thought to myself that if anyone finds us this weekend, especially Robertson or Shaw, I'll know it's either Jenna, Chris or James who is the one truly out to get me.