Two hours.

Two hours he'd paced the waiting room waiting for an update on Erin. Periodicly one of the team would get up and try to talk to him, convince him to sit or offer to get him a drink, food. He shrugged them all off. They'd shuffle back to their seat before eventually getting up to try again. All but Voight, who sat unmoving in a far corner by himself drilling holes in the wall with his eyes and occasionally glancing at his phone to type something on the screen with impatience. The team knew better then to approach him. Al, seemingly the only truly brave soul among them, got up from his seat and casually strolled over to Voight. He sat down in the chair next to him.

"Can I get you something Hank?"

"Yes, you can get me a damn doctor so we can find out what's going on with Erin!" He lamented at a volume meant to alert the nursing staff at the desk to just how disgruntled he was.

Jay fished out his phone for the forth time since he'd been up here and texted Will again.

YOU PROMISED AN UPDATE WHATS GOING ON?

But just like the other three times there was no response. Voight made eye contact with him, knowing Jay would be trying to nail down Will for info. Jay shook his head no and Voight went back to drilling holes in the wall.

Twenty minutes later Jay watched Will saunter into the waiting room, far too relaxed for Jay's liking. It was all Jay could do to stop himself from throwing his brother up against the wall. "Where the hell have you been? You promised us updates," Jay shrieked at him.

The rest of the team stood and made their approach, they were all desperate for news on how Erin was doing.

"We were slammed downstairs. I couldn't just walk out of the ED," Will apologized.

"You couldn't have got someone else to check for us?"

"Jay as much as we're all concerned about Erin, she's not our only patient. I told you it's insane today. And we can't keep interrupting surgery for updates. But I do have some news now."

"What? What is it?" Voight demanded standing next to Jay.

"Rhodes is just closing now. She should be in recovery soon and he will fill you in on what's going on with her."

"That's it? That's all you've got?" Jay yelled.

"Well it's more than you knew five minutes ago," Will snapped back. He seemed to catch himself and took a breath. "Jay, look, I'm sorry. I know you're upset. Rhodes should be out in a few minutes. I got the impression things went well." Will squeezed Jay's shoulder.

Jay placed his hand over his brother's and nodded. His shoulders slumped. "Thanks," he whispered.

"Of course. I'm sorry I can't do more but I'll come check on her, on you both, as soon as I can. She's in good hands. I've got to get back to the ED now."

"Yeah of course, go." Will nodded at Hank and the rest of the team and headed back out of the waiting room.

It wasn't long before Dr. Rhodes came out to fill them in. He explained how they stopped the internal bleeding, as well they set a broken bone in Erin's foot and confirmed she did have a mild concussion. The whole squad breathed a collective sigh of relief when Rhodes confirmed he was confident Erin would make a full recovery, but she was going to need time to heal.

"A few weeks at home, then we can look at desk duty until her foot heals completely." His words loosened the knot in Jay's stomach but he knew Erin would fight the rest every step of the way. He didn't care. He'd take a fight from her any day over the news Rhodes could have delivered.

"Can we see her?" Jay hedged.

"It will be a little while before she wakes up but one or two of you can sit quietly with her for a few minutes at a time." He finished answering their questions, they thanked him and he excused himself to check on other patients with a promise to check in on her often.

Jay wanted nothing more then to run down the hall to Erin's room but, out of respect for Voight's place in her life, he waited for his Sargent to make the decision who would go in first. Voight nodded at Jay to join him and began heading to Erin's room. Relief flooded Jay, he wasn't sure he would have survived the wait. He followed Voight into Erin's room.

She lay still, on her back, eyes closed. A clear tube pumped oxygen into her nose. Another ran clear fluids into her arm. The beep of a heart monitor let Jay know her heart beat was strong and steady. The brace still adorned her right wrist. A white bandage covered the cut on her forehead.

He stood at the end of her bed taken aback by her appearance. She was pale and looked small and fragile, nothing like his fierce partner.

Voight approached her side. He ran the back of his hand down her cheek and bent to kiss her forehead. He whispered something in her ear, Jay only caught the tale end of "... I love you kiddo, rest up." Voight then turned to Jay. "The ivory towers summoned me, I've been ignoring them until we knew how she was but I have to go." Jay nodded his understanding. "She can't wake up alone." Voight ordered.

"She won't." No way in hell was Jay leaving her side. He couldn't believe Voight would even question that.

"I mean it. Someone has to be here."

"I'll be here," Jay assured him, firmly.

Hank looked back and forth between Erin and Jay like he was trying to decide on something. He fixed his eyes on Jay. "When she was nineteen she had her tonsils taken out. The surgery went fine but we learned that she doesn't handle anaesthesia well. She woke in a panic, disoriented, almost delusional. She was shaking and nauseous. She can't be alone. Someone needs to be with her to reassure her, help her orientate her self. Erin doesn't handle being out of control very well."

Jay felt the sting of offence. Voight actually though Jay didn't know Erin's issues with control? Didn't know his partner inside and out? He squashed his annoyance, fighting with his boss wouldn't do Erin any good.

"I'll be here," Jay repeated.

Hank held Jay's eye a moment longer before heading to the door. "Text me with any news, any change."

"Of course," Jay responded. He was pretty sure not keeping Voight in the loop would land him at the bottom of the lake.

"I'll tell the others to give you a minute before heading down." Jay smiled his appreciation. He didn't think he'd ever get use to how Voight ran hot and cold all at once.

When the door had closed behind Voight, Jay moved to Erin's side, pulled up a chair and sat down. He lifted her hand in his. It was cold and seemed so small and delecate. He tried to reconcile it with the strong hand that yielded her nine millimetre, wrestled perps into cuffs and decked more than one deserving asshole, that he'd come to rely on the last three years. As he stroked her knuckles with his thumb images of her calming touch on his face, the strength of her fingers when she massaged the tension out of his shoulders, the way her hands splayed out against his chest when they made love bombarded him. He brought her hand to his lips and lay gentle kisses on each finger. He hoped when she woke up they could forget the last few days and get back on track.

"Wake up soon baby, I miss you." He whispered.