Chapter 21
Hailey stormed through the Emergency Department doors, looking around for anyone who could give her an update on Will and Natalie, it was chaos in there. She eventually came across Maggie, in plain clothes, running the desk at the nurses station still. She must have gone home and come back, or at the very least stayed after her shift. She looked shaken up herself.
"Hey Maggie", Hailey put her hand on her arm. "I'm here for Will. Jay got called out on something urgent."
"Of course. Let's go somewhere private."
Maggie pulled her into a hallway and tried to explain best what was going on. Will had a broken wrist and a pretty serious head injury. Natalie…she couldn't tell her very much because of confidentiality reasons, but Hailey knew by the look on Maggie's face that it wasn't good.
"Owen?" Hailey inquired.
"He's still at the daycare. But it's late and he's scared. I think he knows something is wrong, this isn't his usual routine. He thinks his mom is helping someone, that something big came up…" Maggie's voice broke. Hailey rubbed her arm comforting her.
"I've called Owen's grandma, Helen, she's on her way here. Trying to get in touch with Nat's parents out West, but no luck yet."
"Alright. Please let me know if I can do anything. Can you bring me to Will's room?"
Maggie nodded and brought Hailey up to his room. She could hear him moaning in pain, asking for Natalie, Jay, overall just inconsolable. She was alarmed by all the FBI agents outside of his door, she had no idea what was going on here. Mental note to ask Jay about this later on.
An agent with "Lee" written across her vest stopped her at the door.
"Whoa, I need to see some identification."
"Jay Halstead is my partner", was the first thing she blurted out.
"Romantically…?" Agent Lee inquired.
"Professionally", Hailey replied with a bit of attitude and quickly flashed her own badge. "Detective Upton CPD", guess she wasn't going to be able to use the married card, although that would have been quite amusing.
Agent Lee nodded and the agents behind her relaxed a bit.
"How is he? What's going on", Hailey asked.
"Will was involved with us on an operation back in the fall. Long story short, someone he helped put away just got out of prison, followed him here and waited for him to get off shift. He ran his car into Will's, Dr. Manning was inside, and the door was open so she was ejected. Clear intent to injure or pre-meditated attempted murder, depending on how Dr. Manning pulls through... Agent Lee trailed off, with a hint of guilt in her voice. Will is alright given the circumstances, but they're keeping him in for observation, broken wrist, nasty cut on his head and a concussion. He might need surgery on his wrist too we're not sure yet. We have the offender in custody, but his family is well connected, so…this is a safety issue." Hailey knew what that really meant, mafia, so she just nodded. What was Nat doing in Will's car with the door open after shift? So many questions about things happening all over the city tonight.
"You're carrying?" Lee changed the subject.
Hailey nodded. "Ok good, my guys need a break here, we have some things to look into now with this case. But I'll leave one behind at the door just in case. Will hasn't let anyone in his room without freaking out by the way, so don't be alarmed when you see him. The nurses haven't been able to get him cleaned up yet." Agent Lee walked away and turned down the hall with the rest of her unit, leaving one agent behind for extra security as promised.
This was all too surreal. Hailey opened the door to Will's room, his face was still covered in blood, like something out of a horror movie.
"Will…, it's Hailey", she said quietly as she took in the severity of his injuries and sat down at his bedside, alarmed at his appearance, that was a lot of blood, mostly his, but perhaps some of it was Natalie's. She kept trying to remind herself that face and head injuries always bled more, and that they often weren't as serious as they looked.
He looked at her and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was concussed, he had cuts all over his face, his eyes red from crying.
"Do you know how Natalie is?" He asked her frantically, she still wasn't sure if he even processed who she was yet.
"I'm sorry Will, I don't. I'm not family so they can't release anything. Helen is on her way here to get Owen, hopefully we'll know in a bit."
Will just started crying, he was in shock. Hailey placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"It's going to be alright Will, they have the best people working on her."
"Hailey you don't understand this is all my fault", he was breathing heavily, mumbling other things- about their wedding, someone named Ray, Arizona, and being kidnapped. Hailey had no clue what he was talking about, but just listened and consoled him. She wondered if it was the concussion, or if this really happened and she was very out of the loop.
"Where's Jay? I need to talk to Jay."
"Jay had to rush to a crime scene, it was urgent. Superintendent….err…Mayor Kelton was just found murdered", she said in a hushed tone.
"What?" Will's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Shh, shh I know. I don't know what's going on yet, but it's not looking good. Ruzek was arrested today. Antonio and Voight are in the wind. Our unit is in trouble. Jay is acting Sergeant right now", Hailey told him more than she should, but this was an exceptional circumstance. She needed to say it out loud partially for herself, to remind her that today actually happened.
Will stared at her wide eyed, not knowing what to do with that information, he already felt like he was going to throw up, which he did seconds later. Thankfully Hailey saw the warning signs and had a basin ready.
"Sorry", he said afterwards.
"It's okay Will, this is nothing. You should have seen your brother the other night. I think he's sworn off chicken salad for life." She said while rubbing his back.
That got Will's mind off of things for a second and he let out a small laugh.
"He wanted to be here with you, trust me. But he sent me in his place. I hope that's alright."
"Of course it is", Will sniffled. "You're practically family anyways."
Hailey smiled at him, thinking about how they had become something like the three musketeers at this point.
"I'm going to try and get you cleaned up, is that okay?" She asked softly as she grabbed a damp cloth to wipe some of the dried blood away. Will nodded and started crying again, he couldn't help himself. The sobbing continued the entire time she was trying to wipe the blood caked on his face and soaked into his hairline, all the while being mindful of his staples and sore face. "Hailey I don't know what I'll do if she, if she…"
"I know, shhh, shhh", she said while rubbing his back. "Everything's going to be okay."
"Am I in danger? Did they get Tim? Is he dead? There's got to be others out there looking for me now", Will was getting paranoid and really worked up, neither good for his current state. His monitors started beeping which alarmed Hailey. He seemed a bit disoriented too.
"Will, Will, listen to me. Take a deep breath okay, let's focus on one thing at a time. Natalie is alive and being taken care of as we speak. But I want to make sure you're okay too", she said nervously. His head looked bad, she could see 7 staples, there might even be more hiding in his hair. His wrist was in a splint, and it was red where the bone was nearly broken through his skin. There wasn't much she could do about that so instead she grabbed the bag of ice sitting next to his bed and gently pressed it against his cheek bone. The imprint of the car doorframe was visibly bruising into his face already. It took a few minutes, but his breathing eventually calmed down a bit, and Hailey kept reassuring him that things were going to be alright.
"There, that's it. You're okay. I'm going to stay here with you the whole time. I have my gun with me, there's FBI agents watching your door. You're safe here."
April came in to let Will know they were taking him to get his wrist set. April gave Hailey a sympathetic look, she was visibly upset too.
They wheeled Will down the hall towards another room. His X-rays showed that he wasn't going to need surgery, but they would be giving him anaesthesia so that they could set the bone, it would be too painful otherwise.
Hailey walked with him as far as she could and told him she would be waiting for him when he got out. She took this time to try and call Jay. It rang and rang and rang, no answer. She left him a voicemail and hoped he would call her back soon. It was just after 1 in the morning, and judging by the high profile nature of this, he likely wouldn't be leaving the scene until dawn. Not to mention he was in charge now, so that came with a lot of other responsibilities.
Hailey had grabbed a coffee in the mean time, and was trying to keep busy. She also tried called Kim and Kevin too, no answer from them either. She texted Jay once more just to give him an update on Will, hoping he would read it and at least put his mind at ease. Will didn't need any surgery but they are keeping him in overnight. He has a pretty bad concussion, and a broken wrist. Still no word on Natalie. I'm staying here with him. Call me as soon as you can.
Will was rolled back into his room about an hour or so later, sporting a new cast over his left wrist and a sling. Hailey could tell he was still out of it from being put under.
"Hails", he slurred as he touched her cheek with his right hand. She had to hold back a laugh, not sure where he got that from, only Jay calls her that.
"How are you feeling Will?"
"M'head, It hurts", he whimpered. Hailey looked at April to see what could be done, who shrugged her shoulders in confusion.
"We've given him meds for the pain already, but he could be due for another round soon let me check", she left to go check his chart.
While April stepped out, Ethan and another doctor came back in to provide an update.
"Detective Upton, this is Dr. Simpson, head of orthopaedics. He set Will's wrist."
"Hi there. Everything went well, he should be able to get his cast off in 4-6 weeks. No lifting with that arm, and I've written him a prescription if he needs some pain relief in the next few days. He may need physio afterwards, but so far it looks like a standard clean break."
"That's good news. Thank you Dr. Simpson." Hailey replied.
"He did have some nausea and vomiting coming out of the anaesthesia, which is completely normal, but we gave him some gravol so hopefully that settles things. We can give him more pain medication if he needs it soon as well. May I ask, what is your relationship with Will?"
Ethan also gave her a funny look, he was probably wondering where Jay was. Looks like the media hasn't broken the Kelton story just yet. Hailey didn't miss a beat and cleared up the confusion.
"His brother Jay, is my partner. At work", she added and quickly shot Ethan a glance who seemed to be enjoying watching Hailey squirm.
"Jay couldn't be here unfortunately, there was an urgent matter he had to attend to. He told me to be here for Will instead. Is there anything you need from me?"
"Ahh right okay. Well, everything went smoothly. I will need you to sign some forms in that case just confirming the procedure, what tests were performed, and that you understand Will's prognosis moving forward."
"Ya of course", Hailey replied as he handed her the papers and she signed her name under Next of Kin. Very odd. She thanked Dr. Simpson as he left the room.
Ethan stayed behind, to make sure Will was okay for a few minutes. He said he was nauseous, so they immediately went over to hold a basin under his mouth. Will was looking pale again. His eyes were closed as he hunched over the basin, nothing coming out. Ethan and Hailey were on either side of the bed, steadying him.
"So are you going to tell me where Jay is? It must be serious if it's keeping him from being here." Ethan finally asked quietly, to not disturb Will, who was in his own world swaying slightly in the bed.
Hailey grinned back, "Sorry Dr. Choi. I can't right now. But I'm sure you will hear about it on the news sooner rather than later."
"Gotcha. Okay well I'm glad you're here for Will at least. He was a mess before you got here. Natalie is still in surgery", he gave her a small hint.
"I know you can't tell me the exact details, but how bad is it really? Is she going to make it?" Hailey said in a hushed tone, thankfully Will was still a bit loopy and not really paying attention to their conversation.
Ethan's face fell a little bit. "It is very serious. We are doing the best we can. I'm hopeful that she pulls through, she's strong."
Hailey nodded and told Ethan she would be fine here with Will.
"If he starts throwing up a lot, page me. Otherwise just try and wake him up every so often, we need to watch his concussion. The gravol should kick in soon and he should start to feel a bit better."
Will calmed down for a bit, which allowed Hailey to get some shut eye. However, about an hour later she woke up to the sound of him dry heaving and was thankful to see April standing over Will.
"Sorry, fell asleep there. How is he?"
"No you're okay. Looks like you needed some sleep too Detective. The anaesthesia is still wearing off, some people have a hard time with it, not unusual. Might be a redhead thing", April chuckled, trying to stay positive as she wiped Will's mouth after he was done being sick.
Hailey was amazed at April's composure and also compassion. Nursing was hard work, there's no way Hailey could ever do this.
"You can call me Hailey", she smiled at April. "Is there anything I can do?" She asked, while she slowly rubbed Will's back as he went at it for round two.
"Not much unfortunately, just have to wait for it to get out of his system. The concussion isn't helping either. You're okay Will, just get it all out", April whispered to him.
Will's brain felt scrambled, but he still knew where he was. Hailey and April were helping him, his wrist was in a cast, he was safe at the hospital. He was trying to tell himself theses things to make sure he knew what was real and what wasn't.
"Natalie?" Will asked quietly after the puking was done.
April looked at him, with a few tears in her eyes, "We don't know yet Will. They're still working on her", she told him as she rubbed his back to comfort him.
Will started to cry again at this point, which broke Hailey's heart. April left the room and brought back a cold compress to put over Will's forehead. "Try to get some rest okay, I have to do my other rounds. I'll let you know right away if I hear anything."
"I need to talk to Jay, please Hailey." Will pleaded with her.
"I'm sorry Will, I haven't been able to get a hold of him, or anyone else on the team, either. I'll keep trying him. I really need to talk to him too. I'm sure he's going to come here the second he can."
Will nodded, and Hailey helped him ease back against the bed, placing the compress over his face.
"Thank you for being here Hailey", Will said as his voice broke.
"Of course Will. Get some rest okay, I'm right here", she said as she rubbed the top of his hand with hers.
"This is what you do for Jay", he grinned slowly, even in his state, picking up on the hand thing.
That made Hailey smile, but she tried to hide it. "This is what I normally do for your brother, yes. Don't tell him though he might get jealous" she joked. These Halstead brothers and their hand holding.
"You know that I know you and Jay are in love with each other right?" Will said somewhat randomly.
This caught Hailey off guard, she even laughed a little bit. "Those pain meds have given you some courage I see. But…you aren't wrong. Your brother is very important to me. Work wise, and otherwise", she grinned as she saw Will's mouth turn up into a smile. He likely wouldn't remember this conversation with her anyways, so she let her guard down temporarily.
"He is so lucky to have you, and I am too. Sister I never had", Will slurred and held Hailey's hand back, somehow this touched her more than anything else.
Will finally drifted off to sleep a while later, and so did Hailey.