Z is for Zygomatic bone

Jay's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to rap his mind around what had just happened. It felt as if someone was stabbing a glowing hot sword into the side of his face. Then he remembered the whirlwind of events that had taken place in what seemed like the last eternity, but in reality was only a few minutes. He remembered his reaction, and his split second decision to shove Erin out of the way. Erin! Just the thought of her seemed to snap him out of the comatose state that he had fallen into. He forced his heavy eyelids open.

"That's it Jay! Let me see those eyes. Come on, wake up." Erin said, watching as Jay's eyes rolled open. The tears that rolled down her cheeks threatened to come faster as she was filled with a mixture of joy that he was still breathing, and fear that he would stop on an instant.

"This is Sergeant Voight! Where's my damn ambulance?!" Voight yelled into his radio. Jay tried to push himself up off the cold, hard wooden floor, but Adam held him down.

"Hey! No. Stay still! You were shot. I need you to hold still." He said.

"Wh...where? E...Erin..." The amount of work it took to get the words out angered him.

"Yes. I'm here babe, I'm here. I'm ok. Don't worry about me, ok. Right now you just need to focus on staying awake. Keep looking at me." Erin said, squeezing his hand. Any movement of his face made the throbbing worse, so he squeezed her hand in response. He hated seeing her cry, and wanted so badly to reach up and wipe the tears away, but the fatigue was creeping in once again. He knew he had to fight it, but it was just so hard.

"I...di...did it...for...y...you. I...lo...love you..." Jay said, forcing his eyes open again as they got heavier and heavier. The tears now came faster than ever when she heard his words, and how he struggled so hard on every one, except the two most important. Love you. She watched his eyes slip closed as he finally gave in to the darkness. The sobs that shook her entire body were slowed only when he layer her head against his chest, and heard the lub-dub of a heart beat.

Later...

Antonio would've jumped out of the car before it even stopped moving if it hadn't been for the fact that he was driving. He had gotten the call from Voight while at the office about 30 minutes ago, and after informing his team of the state that their suspect was in, he had made what would normally be a 25 minute drive a 15 minute one with the lights on.

"Erin! I'm so sorry!" He said as he rushed towards his formar team member and family. She put a shaky hand over her mouth in an effort to stifle the sounds of her crying. He immediately pulled her into a hug. She melted into warmth of his large, muscular frame. He squeezed her tighter, wishing he could comfort her more. He knew how much she cared about Jay, and also how hard it was to see your partner take a bullet that was meant for you.

"I got here as fast as I could. How is he?" Antonio asked as Erin pulled away and sat back down.

"One bullet in the vest, one in the side of his face. Will said it was surprising that his vitals were even as strong as they were, and they were pretty weak when we got here. He's in surgery." Hank answered, as the rest of the team sat solemnly staring at the floor.

"My god I totally forgot what hospital we were at! Will must be a reck." Antonio shook his head, remembering the panic he had felt the day he got the call from Casey that Gabby was being rushed to the hospital. This felt about the same, as Jay was like a brother to him.

"Yea he took it pretty hard. For about a minute before he snapped out of it, and basically saved his brothers life once again." Hank said, reflecting on the events of the past few hours. Antonio shook his head, and after greeting the rest of them, he sat down. Now came the part that everyone hated most. More than the ride over, more than the panic of the moment, even more than the recovery after the fact. They hated the waiting.

Later...

Peter pulled the keys out of the ignition, and moved the car mirror down to look at his reflection. He loosened his tie slightly, as it felt like it would almost choking him. He took a deep breath, and tried to sort out the thoughts spinning through his mind. He was conflicted with a feeling of disappointment and a small bit of anger about the way case went and the fact that his main suspect was dead, but at the same time was worrying about the detective that was currently on the operating table. He didn't know Jay that well, but he knew how much Antonio cared about him, and so he came for an update on both of them.

Antonio stood up as Stone came into the waiting room. Voight gave him a nod, but stayed put, as his current function was a pillow for Erin, who's crying and worry had finally exhausted her to the point of sleep. Antonio and Stone walked off a ways away from the group to talk, as not to disturb them, as most of them had followed the trend Erin had set. The clock had just hit 2:30am, and even though everyone was beyond worn out, but they refused to leave. The doctors had tried to get them to go home, but to no avail, so Will had instead moved them to a smaller area upstairs where they couches were less beaten down and they could stretch out more.

"How's Halstead?" Stone asked.

"Still in surgery. He's been in there for about two hours now." Antonio sighed and rubbed his forehead. Part of him couldn't understand why it was taking so long, and the other part could completely understand. None of them knew how much damage the bullet had done.

"What happened?" Peter asked, searching desperately for some answer as to how the situation had gone so bad, so fast.

"The team was clearing the building. Erin, Jay, and Kevin were upstairs while the rest of them were downstairs. Lantz ambushed Erin from behind, held a gun to her head. Jay realized first, they ordered him to drop the weapon. He refused, Erin fought back. She threw and elbow, throwing him off balance, giving her enough time to get away. The guy recovered, fired three shots at them, and Jay dove in front of Erin, pushing her out of the way. Two bullets were fired, hitting Jay in the vest, and one in the side of his face. Kevin returned fire, killing Lantz with a single shot to the chest." Antonio explained the details he had gotten from Hank about an hour ago. Peter shook his head.

"Well, I wish it wouldn't have gone this way, but I don't think there'll be any tears shed over Lantz. I always knew the man was a cold hearted murderer. Give the team by best, and the same to Jay when he wakes up." Peter said, squeezing Antonio's shoulder. Antonio nodded, and walked back to join the group. He soon also fell asleep.

Later...

Will paced back and forth nervously outside the surgery room. He had taken a break from his ER rounds and came up here, convincing himself it was a good idea, but now he wasn't so sure. Should he walk into that room? Would he be able to handle what he saw?

"You do that to much longer and you'll wear a hole in the floor." Mrs. Goodwin said, trying to lighten the mood. She had no idea what to say to her doctor. The fear and pain he was feeling right now, well, there's just not much you can do other than be there for them.

"Have you been in there? How is he?" Sharon asked when she got only a small nod.

"Uh...he...Connor said their closing him up. He should be out in about 10 minutes. I didn't...I couldn't go in there... god...I can't get that image out of my head." Will said, leaning against the wall. Sharon walked to join him, her heart hurting for the man she had grown to love like a son. All her doctors were family, and when their family came in, it hurt her just as much.

"I told you he'd pull through. He's a soldier. And soldiers are hard to kill. Especially that one." Sharon said. Will nodded, and took a deep breath. The two jumped as Connor walked out of the operating room, and pulled his gloves off. Wills heart jumped when he saw the look of relief wash over his friends face, although it didn't hide the tired look in his eyes.

"It was a hard surgery. The bullet entered into the outer part of his left zygomatic process. The bone is shattered, but luckily it stopped right before the eardrum. However, he will need at least three false teeth put in, as the bullet shattered the roots of them. He'll have two more reconstructive surgeries in the next four to five weeks to see that the damage isn't to noticeable, and also to make sure the bone is healing nicely. But as of now, it seems like he's out of the woods." Connor told his colleagues.

"When can I see him?" Will asked eagerly.

"Now, actually. You can help the nurses move him to the ICU while I go talk to the rest of them." Connor said. Will nodded, than walked into the room and pulled gloves on.

Will drew in a deep breath at the sight that greeted him when he opened the door. Jay was being hooked up to multiple different bags of fluids and other machines. He had a breathing tube strapped around his nose. Will studied the bandages that had been wrapped around his brothers face to keep the wound clean. There was a large white gauze patch covering most of the left side of Jay's face, starting at the hairline on his left temple and stretching all the way to the bridge of his nose, down to his jaw line. His eyes were uncovered, making Will wish more than anything that he would see them soon. He grabbed a cloth to wipe the dried blood away from the congers of Jay's mouth and eyes, then finally helped them move him to the new ICU bed where he would be staying for the next couple days.

Weeks later...

Erin blinked her eyes open at the beams of sun coming through the apartment window. She stretched and let out a small yawn, before rolling over to study the man next to her. She smiled when she saw he was still dozing, and nuzzled herself into his side. She put her head on his shoulder, feeling the warmth radiate off of his skin. He smelled like a mixture of things. His body wash, his favorite beer, their laundry detergent, but most of all he just smelled like...well, Jay! She traced her fingers along the bare skin of his chest, marveling once more at the muscles that lay beneath her hands. Then she moved her eyes up, looking at the line of blue surgical stitches that ran along a small section of his cheekbone. He was supposed to still have a bandage covering it, but in true Jay fashion, he refused, and she didn't feel like fighting him. After bugging him for days on end, Jay had convinced Will to have his last reconstructive surgery moved up so that he could get back to work sooner. And of course, being the amazing big brother that Will was, he had pulled some strings, and managed to make it happen. After about a month of surgeries and recovery, Jay had been cleared to return to duty the night before. Erin decided to relish these few minutes that she got to watch him sleep, as they would likely soon be over. Her smile grew as she noticed how peaceful he looked this morning. She knew he didn't always sleep like this, so this was rare and precious. Then her smile grew once again even when she thought it couldn't possibly get any bigger as she felt a strong arm stretch, then pull her in closer, and she tilted her head up to gaze into his dazzling blue-green eyes.

"Morning." He said with a sleepy smile. She kissed his jaw line-as that was as high as she could reach-in response.

After lying there together a while longer, the pair got out of bed and Erin ambled into the kitchen to start breakfast for the two of them while Jay used the bathroom. He washed his face, careful of the stitches. Even though he knew that it was what they're supposed to do, he was still slightly startled when two of the stitches fell into the sink. He checked for blood, but instead saw the scar that had already started to form. He dried his face off, and walked into the kitchen.

"So you really think your ready for today?" Erin asked as he sat down on a stool at the kitchen island. She handed him a plate of eggs and sausage before picking up her own.

"Of course. Let's run through the list here... No it doesn't hurt anymore, yes I'll say something if it starts to, yes I'll take my medication, and yes I'll be careful. Did I get everything this time?" Jay said with a sarcastic smirk. Erin gave him her best I'm-serious-Jay look before giving in and laughing. They had had this discussion multiple times before. So many in fact, that Jay had made up a checklist of the questions she asks him every time. He had almost made a game out of it.

"Look, babe, we've talked about this! Me getting shot wasn't in any way your fault! I assessed the situation, made my own decision, and what happened happened. I did it because I don't know what'd I'd be without you. I did it out of love. End of story." Jay said, looking her directly in the eye.

"I know, I know! I just...I guess I'm just still reeling from it all. I would probably be dead if it wasn't for you." Erin said with a sigh, meeting his gaze.

"Well, it's like we always say. That's why you have backup." Jay replied.

Well guys, there it is! The very last chapter! I'm still shocked that I actually did it! Thank you all so so much for all the amazing feedback, reviews, and help when I didn't have any ideas for a letter! I honestly couldn't have done it without all you guys! This was so much fun for me, and don't worry, I've got plenty more where that came from! I've already got tons more ideas for more fanfiction in the Chicago franchise, and multiple other fandoms also! This is just the beginning! Thanks again?