Cherrifan82 and NALEY23alwaysforever hope this doesn't disappoint ;) Thank you for your reviews each time and I hope you continue enjoying this. As always thanks to firstamamawifeafriend for her help with this :) and justkillingtimewhileiwait when you get this far the conversations will finally make sense ;) lol enjoy yall! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD, Chicago Fire or any of its characters.

Chapter 38: Recovery

Jay and Lauren both slept through lunch. He woke first and groaned when he tried to move his arm which woke Lauren. "What's wrong?" she whispered instantly awake.

"Just tried to move," he moaned.

Lauren looked around and saw Will and Mouse asleep. She hated to wake them, but she hated seeing Jay in pain. She pushed the button for the nurse despite Jay insisting he was fine. She kissed his cheek and slid into the chair. She really needed to pump; she was full and hurting, but she didn't see the lunchbox, which meant Kelly had gone home.

His nurse came in; "Everything ok sir?"

"He moved when he woke up and his arm is hurting," Lauren said knowing Jay would keep insisting he was fine.

"No more pain meds," he mumbled as Lauren squeezed his hand.

"Jay it's fine. Take the medicine so you're not in pain," she begged.

"She's right," Will mumbled sleepily having heard them.

"Fine," Jay gave in as the nurse gave him some more pain meds. Jay was watching Lauren close. "What's wrong baby?"

"Nothing," she said with a smile.

"Lauren…." Jay said giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I know you. What is it?"

Lauren sighed. He had her there. "Just need to pump. I'm fine."

Before Jay could say anything, Will handed her the pump and Blackhawks blanket. "Thanks," she whispered covering up. She was so sore, but she tried to hide it knowing Jay was watching her. "I'm fine babe," she smiled to reassure him.

"Go home. Hot bath, relax," he whispered seeing through her smile to the pain in her eyes.

"No. I'm fine. You need me so I'm here."

"I'm fine. Gonna sleep," he mumbled fighting the pain meds. "Go see babies," he mumbled.

Lauren sighed softly; a hot bath and seeing her babies sounded amazing, but she didn't want to leave him.

"We'll be here," Will smiled. "Just go relax for an hour or so and when you come back he'll probably be waking up again."

"Ok," Lauren said giving in. "Promise you'll call if something changes?"

"You know I will Sis."

Lauren nodded as she finished pumping. She felt slightly better, but knew a hot bath would help. She unhooked and gathered up her stuff, leaving the blanket for when she got back. She gently covered Jay with it. "I'll be back soon I promise," she smiled as she softly kissed him.

Jay nodded and mumbled an "I love you," before he couldn't fight the medicine any longer and fell asleep.

"Thanks Will," Lauren said as she headed home. Both babies were asleep on Kelly's chest and he was asleep too when she got there.

"Hey sweetie," Shay smiled giving her a hug.

"Hey," Lauren said quietly.

"How's Jay?"

"He's ok. Sleeping right now, but he made me come home for a bit."

"Of course he did," Shay smiled.

"Yea. Here's some more bottles. I'm going to go soak for a bit. I'm sore."

Shay took the bottles. "Go relax and just yell if you need anything."

"I will," Lauren smiled as she went to their bathroom. She wished Jay was there with her; he always made her feel better when she was hurting. She sighed as she sank into the warm water. It felt heavenly.

She soaked until the water turned cold. She got out and felt mostly better. She dressed in a pair of leggings and one of Jay's Blackhawks shirts. They were too big on her but they were his and they were comfy. At the moment that was all she wanted.

When she went back out to the living room, the twins were awake. They lit up seeing her which made her smile. "Hi my babies," she cooed as they wiggled and reached for her.

"Oh come here little ones," she smiled taking them both. She snuggled and played with them for about an hour. "I've got to get back and take care of daddy. We'll be home soon," she cooed kissing both their cheeks. She gave them back to Shay since Kelly was still asleep. "Thanks so much Les," she whispered as she headed back out.

Once she got back, Jay was still asleep, but Will and Mouse were awake. "Hey," she smiled sitting back down in the chair by his bed.

"Feeling better?" Will asked and she nodded.

"He been asleep the whole time?" she asked and they both nodded. A comfortable silence had fallen over them until Lauren broke it. "Mouse?" she whispered watching Jay's chest rise and fall.

"Yea?"

"I need to know what happened."

Panic fell across his features; "I don't know much."

She gave him a look. "I really don't. They um…. They're….. uh… they're waiting on ballistics to get back."

"Why?"

"Because… they…. They think… he was uh… hit with two different bullets but they're not sure."

Lauren was quiet for a minute; "So… two different suspects got the drop on him?" She was really confused because Jay was such a great shot and detective that she couldn't imagine two different people getting the drop on him.

Before Mouse could reply, Jay mumbled a no.

"Hey baby," she smiled sitting on the side of the bed rubbing his cheek. "You ok?" she asked.

Jay nodded as he watched her. She gave him a small smile as she ran her fingers through his hair. "You in pain?" she whispered.

"No. I'm ok. You deserve to know what happened."

"Jay its fine. You need to rest," she smiled softly kissing him.

"I'm fine, really," he smiled reaching up to rub her cheek.

Before anything else could be said, the team, minus Erin, walked in to see him. Lauren was secretly glad although she wouldn't tell anyone that. They all talked to Jay and told him they were glad he was recovering. Hank told them that Erin was meeting with IA and they would probably come by to ask Jay questions as well. Jay just nodded at this; Lauren was definitely going to have to ask about that later. The team didn't stay long because they had to get back to work.

Once they left, Jay patted the bed wanting to feel Lauren beside him. She gave him a smile and laid down by him. "Rest sweetie," she whispered kissing his cheek. It wasn't long and he was out holding her against him. Will had gone to get them dinner so it was just Lauren and Mouse.

"Why would IA be talking to Erin and then Jay?" Lauren asked him quietly.

Mouse sighed. "Jay wasn't hit by two perps. They're waiting on ballistics to see if the bullets in his vest match the one in his neck. If so then it's nothing. If they don't match then that would mean he was hit by a team member," Mouse said not looking at her. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but he needed ballistics to confirm it.

Lauren laid her head on Jay's good shoulder and sighed. "I wanna know what happened," she whispered.

"I don't have the answers yet," Mouse said.

Lauren sighed but accepted it. She knew she was going to have to wait on Jay to tell her. She listened to the steady beat of his heart and fell asleep before Will got back.

When he got back he saw them both sound asleep and smiled.

"Go get some sleep Will. You look like hell," Mouse said.

"You don't look much better," Will laughed.

"I planned on going tonight."

Will nodded. "Yea I will too. Probably go see Nat and the babies."

Mouse nodded as they ate in silence. As they finished Mouse's phone went off. Adam had sent him the ballistics report. "Son of a bitch," Mouse sighed.

"What's wrong?" Will asked.

Mouse ran a hand over his face. "Someone is going to get to tell him that the bullet to his shoulder came from his own team," Mouse said quietly.

"What the hell?!" Will practically screamed forgetting they were asleep. Lauren was instantly awake and Jay roused.

"What's wrong Will?" Jay mumbled waking up.

Will sighed but Mouse answered for him; "Ballistics report is back," Mouse said quietly. Jay was fully awake watching his best friend. He knew what it said before Mouse said anything.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Lauren said getting tired of not knowing what had happened to her husband.

Jay sighed and just started telling her. "We were on a big bust. Adam was my partner, but we got separated when he took down a suspect. I was on my own, and the guy I had wasn't going down easy. Had a gun, the whole works." He heard her sharp intake of air, but kept going.

"I was talking him down, making progress when I saw Erin in the doorway, gun drawn. She hadn't been on this big of a bust since she got back, and I could see her hands were shaking. The guy hadn't seen her yet, so I kept talking. I heard her say over the coms that she had a shot, but I knew she didn't. Voight told her to take it. I begged her with my eyes not to take it, but she ignored me and fired. As soon as her gun went off, the guy started shooting. I felt two hit my vest knocking the air from me. Before I fell, I felt another rip through me. I hit the ground struggling to breathe. That's the last thing I remember before passing out."

Lauren had tears running down her cheeks, and Jay nodded for Will and Mouse to give them a minute. They both nodded and promised to return in the morning.

"All I could see was you, Jayden and Jayla and I didn't want to die," he whispered rubbing her back. "The ballistics report apparently confirmed that Erin's bullet hit my shoulder. I watched the guy fall so it must have went all the way through him and into me."

Lauren had her face buried in his neck crying. Not only had Erin tried to kill her and the twins, but now she'd shot Jay too. She couldn't quit crying.

"I'm here baby, I'm here," he whispered holding her tighter.

"I can't lose you," she cried.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm here," he whispered reaching up to play with her hair to calm her. "I heard you," he whispered.

"What do you mean?" she asked pulling back from his neck and running her fingers through his hair needing to touch him.

"I heard that sweet voice talking and I fought through the darkness to get back to you. I can't leave you baby," he smiled.

Lauren kissed him hard; "I love you Jay Matthew; I love you so much."

"I love you Lauren Kathleen and I always will." He softly played with her hair. "Get some sleep baby. Go home and sleep in our bed and get a good night's sleep."

"No I don't want to leave you. I won't sleep without you," she whispered.

Jay rubbed her cheek. He knew that was probably true so he gave in. "Ok baby. Then lay down here and get some sleep," he smiled playing with her hair feeling her relax into him and fall sound asleep.

Jay was in the hospital a total of five days. IA came by and asked him an endless list of questions. They ended up clearing Erin because she had not intentionally shot him, but Lauren was still pissed. Erin should've listened to Jay and not taken the shot. If her bullet had killed Jay, Lauren wasn't sure what she would've done.

Jay was just ready to be home. He hated hospitals; he missed his babies, and he was just ready to be home with his family. On the sixth morning, Conner released him to go home. He still had stitches and his chest was still bruised, so Conner couldn't release him for duty; he wanted him at home resting until his body was healed. He told Jay that Will could keep an eye on the stitches and take them out when they were ready, but he wanted to see him in a week for a re-eval and possibly clear him for duty.

By the time they pulled up at the apartment, Jay was starting to wear out. He knew that even though he felt like he could do more, his body was still recovering and would protest. Lauren grabbed their bag and then wrapped her arm around his waist as they went in. When they got off the elevator, Jay's face lit up with a smile seeing their apartment.

"Think they're up?" he asked.

"Maybe," Lauren smiled knowing how much he'd missed their babies. She unlocked the door and they walked in. Kelly and Shay were laying in the floor playing with them. Jayla was smiling at Kelly waving her arms and Jayden was playing with a plush fire truck with Shay. Lauren couldn't help but smile watching Jay light up at seeing the babies.

She helped him settle on the couch. "Hey little loves, look who is home," she cooed at the twins. Both babies smiled and reached for her. She carefully took them both and kissed their cheeks. Jayla saw him first and started wiggling, cooing and smiling trying to get to him. She'd missed her daddy and wanted him.

Kelly and Shay gathered up their stuff to give the little family time together. "Supper is in the fridge, just needs to be heated. Call if you need anything," Kelly smiled.

"Thanks Kel." She locked up behind them before settling on the couch by Jay. He'd shed his t-shirt as soon as Kelly and Shay were gone because the neck of it was aggravating his stitches and he couldn't stand it. Lauren watched him with a smile. She loved admiring her husband all the time, but she hated that nasty bruise across his chest. "It's ok," he smiled watching her as he reached for the babies.

Lauren just looked at him. Jayla started fussing wanting her daddy. "Only one at a time Jay. You can't be using that arm yet."

Jay sighed but nodded. He definitely didn't want to bust any stitches and make recovery time that much longer. She was still eyeing him as Jayla started pitching a fit wanting to be in her daddy's arms. "What about the bruise?" she asked quietly trying to comfort her baby.

"I'll be fine. Just let me have her," he smiled.

Lauren gave him a smile back as she handed Jayla to him. "Someone's spoiled," she mumbled making Jay chuckle. Jayla quieted as soon as she had her daddy. She snuggled on his good shoulder turning her face into his neck as he held her. Once she calmed down he cradled her against him as she smiled at him.

"Daddy missed you little miss," he cooed and Jayla smiled up at him. She was looking at his bruise all funny and went to pat it. Lauren grabbed her hand startling Jayla and she puckered up. "Easy baby girl. Daddy's still got some boo-boos and we gotta take care of him," she cooed.

"It's ok Jayla. I'm ok I promise," he cooed raising her up and kissing her cheek. She cooed at him and smiled patting his cheeks. "I missed you sweet girl," he whispered snuggling her and she cooed at him happily.

Jayden watched and tried getting to his daddy too. Both babies loved him so much and Lauren was glad. "Switch," she smiled as Jayden started to fuss. Lauren took Jayla and laid Jayden in his arm.

"Hey buddy. Daddy missed you too," he cooed and Jayden smiled up at him.

Lauren sat and watched him talk and snuggle the babies. That night they ate supper and then all four curled up in their bed together. Once the babies got sleepy, Lauren nursed them both. Jay could never get enough of watching her with the babies. Jayla fell asleep nursing and got super mad when Lauren woke her enough to release.

Jay chuckled and took her snuggling her against his shoulder and she fell back asleep. Lauren smiled as they carried the babies to bed tucking them in for the night. Once back in bed Lauren snuggled up to Jay glad to be home and in their bed. She softly traced the outline of his bruise. She'd be glad when it was gone. She softly kissed the scar on his good shoulder from his Army days as she traced his bruise.

"I'm going to be ok," he smiled kissing her forehead.

"I know," she whispered. "Jay?" she said hesitantly.

"Yea baby?"

"I…. I don't want you working with Erin, period."

"Lauren…"

"No, I'm serious. She tried to kill me and our babies and she almost killed you. I don't care what you have to do, but I don't want you working with her. I can't lose you, ever, and she's too much of a risk!"

Jay sighed as he rubbed her back. "I'm serious Jay."

"I know…. But they cleared her. She did not intentionally shoot me; she's still in the unit."

"Then find something else," she said getting up and walking out to the kitchen. She knew she wasn't exactly being fair to him, but she couldn't lose him and Erin was too much of a risk. She got a glass of water and rested her head against the counter. Could she really ask Jay to give up a job he loved just to make her feel better? Would he? These thoughts were swirling through her mind when she felt strong hands wrap around her.

"You're arm," she protested trying to wiggle away without hurting him more, but Jay held her tighter. He turned her around to face him, but she wouldn't look at him.

"Lauren… look at me," he said tipping her chin up. She tried to close her eyes but he held her chin steady. "Look at me," he said again. She slowly opened her eyes to meet his blue ones.

"If you really want me to, I will," he said holding her gaze steady. Lauren knew it was the truth, but she also knew Jay and she knew he wouldn't be happy doing anything else.

"No, I don't," she whispered. "You wouldn't be happy doing anything else." She tried to turn away but he kept his grip on her chin firm so she had to look at him.

"If it made you happy, I would do whatever," he said with a soft smile.

"It's not that I want you doing anything else, Jay. I just don't want her around. I don't like her, I don't trust her, and I don't want her around my family."

Jay sighed but never broke her gaze. "I know, and you have every right to feel like that. But since they cleared her, she's still going to be in the unit."

"I know," she said finally breaking his gaze. "And so are you," she whispered. She couldn't ask him to give up a job he loved and excelled at. She knew she was just going to have to accept it.

Will was able to take the stitches out on the eighth day from the shooting. Jay was glad they were gone. He hadn't been able to wear a shirt for two days because the necks would rub against the stitches and it drove him crazy. The bruise was starting to fade, and he slowly started using his arm more.

He enjoyed all the time he got at home with Lauren and the twins, and the babies loved all the attention from daddy. When he went back to see Conner a week later, he was cleared for duty. He knew Lauren wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but she was coming around. Being at home with her all that time and reassuring her he would be ok, gave her the confidence to let him go back. Things were finally returning to normal.

Hope you'll let me know what you thought :) NALEY23alwaysforever, you're right Erin has caused a lot of problems and sadly she's not totally gone, but for now she'll be on her best behavior ;)