First off- thank you so much for 500+ reviews on this story! Wow I didn't even realize we were so close. I can't thank you enough for supporting my writing and both of my stories! The response has been so much greater than I ever imagined. Hope you enjoy this chapter
Chapter 28
"Will, what's wrong?" She asked panicked, the tone of her voice alone waking Jay up immediately. He sat up and watched as she talked to his brother.
"Are you with Jay?" He asked ignoring her question.
"Ya, he's right here on the couch with me. He just woke up he's feeling better than the last few days", she replied.
"Good, good", Will said nervously, clearly trying to dodge something.
"You alright Will? You're scaring me", she finally said straight out, feeling Jay's worried eyes on her too.
There was a pause and a heavy silence.
"Will do you need help? Are you in trouble?" Hailey trying to run through possible scenarios in her head for him to be behaving this way on the phone. That comment put Jay even more on edge. She rested a hand on his chest to keep his nerves at bay.
Will was quick to shut that down. "No, nothing like that."
"Okay, talk to me. What is it Will?"
"I'm stressed out Hailey", he admitted. She couldn't see the tears welling up on the other end of the phone but she could hear them in his voice.
"I can't imagine the stress you're under right now Will", she said sympathetically.
"I just- I, I- it's so bad Hailey. I lost 6 patients today. SIX. Within a few hours of each other, I've never seen anything like this. This is just the beginning, no end in sight…", Will said, starting to ramble.
Hailey just tried to listen, let him vent. For whatever reason he called her.
"I'm so sorry, I can't imagine how hard that's been. Deep breaths Will, I'm going to put you on speaker okay, Jay's right here", she said calmly.
Jay looked confused by what was happening. He cleared his throat and greeted his brother.
"Will are you alright?" He said a little hoarsely still.
A long sigh followed by another pause. "Not really Jay. This is bad. Are you guys working through this?!"
"No we just got word that we're shutting down for a few weeks."
"Okay good", Will said sounding relieved.
"What can we do to help you Will?" Hailey interjected.
"Actually….I do have a favour…You can say no. It's a lot to ask…", Will said.
"Will, you got me out of New York during a pandemic on a private plane. Say the word", Hailey replied, earning a small chuckle from the other end of the phone.
"Um, do you think you guys can take Kohl for a while?" Will asked nervously.
Hailey laughed as Jay creased his eyebrows in surprise. "Will is that all?!" She said.
"Ya, you can say no if you want. He sheds a bit, and I know you guys are busy. I just am scared to bring something home I won't be able to walk him, and I'm working crazy hours right now it's not fair to him."
"Will, of course we can take Kohl. I have a backyard here for him and Jay and I are off the next few weeks."
"Ok good, thank you so much. That's a lot off my plate", Will replied sounding relieved, this time with a sigh of relief.
"Of course Will, it's not a problem. Kohl is a great snuggler, he'll fit right in to bed with us", Hailey blurted out before realizing her misstep. Jay's mouth went wide open before he covered it with his hand, trying to hide his laughter. Hailey's cheeks were bright red.
Will laughed on the other end too. "Hmm, bed as in the one you share together. Cool, cool, cool", he said nonchalantly with a hint of a smirk in his voice.
"You're sworn to secrecy on that William Patrick", Hailey sternly warned him, but didn't deny her slip up.
"I'm way too tired to comment on this at the moment, but I will most definitely be circling back to this topic another day. Circle of trust though", he sounded pleased with himself.
"Glad we could make you laugh a little. Take care of yourself okay Will, for real. We'll come get Kohl tomorrow", Hailey replied as she watched Jay yawn and slide down on the couch again.
"Sounds good. I'm at the hospital until the morning and then I need to sleep for a bit. Is it okay if you come in the afternoon?"
"Definitely. Just call one of us when you're up. I need to try and convince your brother to sleep too", Hailey said winking at Jay.
"Good luck with that one, even sick Jay is an early riser", Will replied.
Jay rolled his eyes, "Ya, ya. Good night Will."
Their phone call ended, Hailey suggesting they go to bed. Jay didn't have to be persuaded much to fall asleep with her.
"You feeling okay? You want any medicine?" Hailey asked as she tucked him in, before heading to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.
Jay shook his head, "No thanks I'm good. Just tired."
"Okay I'll be back in a few", she said tapping his foot as she passed by on his side of the bed.
He was fast asleep by the time she got back so she quietly turned in to bed herself and hoped for a quieter night than their last.
Quiet was maybe the wrong word to hope for. Sure Jay was quiet, but she could feel him squirming about, restless. He wasn't having a nightmare but she could tell he wasn't in as deep of a sleep as she initially thought. At first she tried to ignore it and fall back asleep herself, but when she heard him take a deep breath and hold it in for four seconds, then out for four seconds, and repeat this a few times, she knew she had to get up and check on him.
"Hey", she whispered as she turned on her side.
"Hey", he whispered back, trying to put on a brave face.
"You okay?" She asked, checking his forehead.
"I'm fine, just feeling a little anxious", he said grabbing her hand in the dark.
"That's okay, this has been a stressful week. Things are changing, and uncertain, and everything with Will. I'm feeling a little anxious too", she reassured him. Glad he was making use of the square breathing technique his therapist had taught him.
He nodded, forgetting she couldn't really see him do that in the dark. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand a few times letting him know she understood.
"Take a few more deep breaths, I got something for you", Hailey said suddenly remembering a spontaneous Amazon purchase she made a few weeks ago that she had tucked in the back of her closet.
Jay sat up and reached over to turn on the lamp on the bedside table.
Hailey turned around with a weighted blanket in her hands, dragging it over to her bed because it was too heavy to carry.
"What's that? Jay asked sceptically, not fully awake enough to comprehend why Hailey was struggling to carry what looked like a regular blanket.
"It's a weighted blanket. I read that it was supposed to help with anxiety…", she said cautiously, not wanting to offend him. Jay could sometimes be a little testy about the whole anxiety thing.
"Oh", the realization dawned on him. He had always wanted to try one of these, but chickened out buying them in the store. Not wanting to be judged for buying one, which he realized was silly, but he had just never gone through with it.
"I can put it away if you don't want it…", she said.
"No, I want to try it. Thank you Hailey", Jay quickly replied, not wanting her to think he wasn't appreciative of that. Not to mention everything else she usually does to help him when he's having a hard time.
He smiled at her, which she softly returned.
Once it was over him he felt an immediate difference. "Whoa", he said, feeling better almost immediately.
"What's wrong, do you want it off?" She said sounding alarmed.
"No I like it", he said, surprised with how the weight seemingly decreased the pressure he felt in his chest.
"Oh, good", she said, not wanting to sound too enthused either way. For Jay to try something it often had to be on his own terms.
"I could have used this last week when I slept here", he blurted out.
Hailey looked confused by that. "You sure you don't have a fever again?" She laughed. "When did you sleep here last week…"
"Oh Rojas didn't tell you", Jay smiled, confirming his thoughts on Vanessa's trustworthiness.
"Tell me what…", Hailey asked curiously.
"I wasn't sleeping very well after you left for New York. And by not well I mean not really at all….So Vanessa being the young, inquisitive cop that she is noticed that. She told me I could sleep in your bed the one night after Molly's because it might help. It did, except I had a nightmare and her and Kevin heard…", Jay told the story.
"Wait what?!" Hailey exclaimed.
"Sorry I should have asked if I could sleep in your bed…it was sort of a spontaneous thing…", Jay started.
"No, not about that. I don't care that you slept here, I'm glad you did if that made you feel better", Hailey said waving him off. "Go back to the Kevin part!"
Jay laughed, "Haha, ya. I knew about that before you did. Jealous?" He teased.
"A little", Hailey grinned. "Tell me everything!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Vanessa didn't betray my trust, so I won't betray hers. I'm sure she'll tell you, since I heard Kevin come in tonight", he added slyly.
"Thought you were asleep", Hailey smiled.
"You know how light of a sleeper I am", Jay chuckled.
"True. Okay well that is interesting information. Do you think it's serious?"
"Maybe, I don't know much honestly other than he slept here the night I did. I'm sure he also heard the nightmare thing…only Vanessa came in though. She was actually really nice about it. I wasn't sure I would connect with her when she first joined the unit, but she's really grown on me", Jay admitted.
"Aww, Jay Halstead, you big softie for our daughter", Hailey joked.
"Such a dad move I know", he winked.
"Do you think we should make them breakfast tomorrow", Hailey laughed.
"I think that would be an excellent idea. Interrogate them, ask him about his intentions on dating Vanessa…", Jay added, fully embracing the dad role.
"Ya if he thinks he's going to be dating our daughter…there's going to be some rules", Hailey replied, going along with the joke.
"Exactly", Jay smirked, secretly enjoying the idea of having a daughter with Hailey.
They stayed up for a little while longer, just talking about random things. Catching up on the time they had lost while she was in New York.
Hailey was in the middle of a story about her first week with the FBI when she looked over and saw Jay passed out again, a faint snore coming from his side of the bed.
She smiled and turned the lamp off, sneaking back under the covers and into a deep slumber.
They didn't set an alarm, for the first time in what felt like forever. Hailey woke up feeling refreshed. She looked over, surprised to see her partner still fast asleep. She double checked the time, 9 am. It was unusual for Jay to sleep in this late, but he was still getting over being sick and looked peaceful so she let him be. She got up and quietly freshened up and headed to the kitchen for some coffee.
She had to smile when she turned the corner, walking in on Vanessa and Kevin making breakfast in the kitchen. They had music playing softly in the background, dancing around and enjoying themselves.
"Ahem", Hailey announced herself.
Kevin spun around without missing a beat, taking one of her hands and twirling her around the kitchen.
Hailey laughed, she loved Kevin, forever the outgoing, giant teddy bear that he was.
Before she could move past him, he enveloped her in a warm hug, which she reciprocated with a tight squeeze.
"Well good morning to you too Kev", she smiled, reaching for a coffee mug.
"Welcome back Detective, wasn't able to give you a proper hug last night since you were all snuggled up to Halstead", he said slyly.
She rolled her eyes playfully.
"Is he still sleeping?" Vanessa asked surprised.
"He is, trying to let him catch up", she replied.
"He's feeling better? That man never sleeps in", Kevin added.
"I think so, he must need it", Hailey replied, the two of them agreeing.
Jay heard laughter from the kitchen as he was coming down the stairs about half an hour later. He had an amazing sleep with that blanket Hailey got him, he had to thank her for that later.
"Well, well, well it's about time you joined us", Kevin joked.
Jay smirked at the three of them sitting around the kitchen table, having a real Sunday morning family breakfast.
"Needed my beauty rest", Jay replied before seeing Hailey get up from her seat.
Kevin told him there was breakfast for him keeping warm in the oven. Jay and Hailey shared a brief glance, laughing at their breakfast interrogation talk last night.
Hailey was reaching for a mug to pour him a coffee when Jay came up from behind and gently grabbed her wrist.
"I can do that babe", he said so easily and freely that it made Hailey's heart skip a beat.
Hailey turned to face him, trapped against the counter with both of his hands on either side of her, his eyes flashed with a second of panic when he remembered they had an audience.
"Okay", she smiled, they were so close together she held her gaze on his messy hair.
He pulled her in closer for a hug, she almost hesitated because of her usual aversion to PDA. But as soon as she felt his arms around her she melted into him. His chin rested on the top of her head for a minute, before planting a kiss in her hair.
"Jay Halstead a hugger, who knew", Kevin sat at the kitchen table in awe.
"Figured if we were all being honest now, we would let the cat out of the bag", Jay reasoned, no longer feeling the need to hide his relationship with Hailey.
Hailey nodded showing her agreement, it was time. If they were going to be quarantining together, their secret was going to come fully out.
"Oh we knew about this, but we didn't really know, you know?" Kevin asked out loud to no one in particular.
Jay and Hailey shook their heads in laughter, and joined Vanessa and Kevin for breakfast.
The four of them had a slow morning, enjoying some quality time, time that they did not usually have with each other.
"Also you guys, we have something to tell you", Hailey said, looking at the time and remembering they had to go to Will's this afternoon.
"You're married?" Kevin asked.
"Very funny, you know we would have invited you guys", Jay replied, another slip of his inner thoughts.
Hailey and Vanessa shared a look at that one, the younger of the two raising her eyebrows cheekily.
"Will called last night. He's feeling really overwhelmed with work and life right now so we're going to take his dog Kohl for him for a few weeks. Maybe more, we're not sure yet", Hailey said, mostly directly it at Vanessa.
"You're getting me a dog! Best day ever mom and dad!" Vanessa jokingly jumped up to put her arms around Hailey and Jay.
That made everyone laugh, especially Jay. Kevin noticed his smile was brighter today, Hailey being back really was good for him.
"Is that okay? I realized I don't actually know how you feel about pets, but this is urgent so I told him it was fine", Hailey asked, slightly embarrassed she didn't consider her roommates feelings before saying yes.
"Of course that's okay, more than okay. I love dogs, really. And anything to help your brother out right now, I can't imagine Jay…", Vanessa replied, Jay nodding as well.
He felt Hailey's hand on his leg again, this time to ground him.
"Will's going to be alright, this is just to help take something off of his plate right now", Hailey replied, suddenly feeling the tension in the air. All four of them realizing how serious this global pandemic really was, it was creeping into Chicago along with the rest of the world it seemed.
"Just have to stay positive, and control the things in our life that we can control. Wash our hands, do our part to stay home for now and use this time to grow together", Kevin wisely said.
"Exactly", "Cheers to that", they all echoed before getting up to clean the dishes and get on with their day.
Hailey washed her sheets, did laundry from her trip and cleaned the rest of their house before lunch. Jay was still taking it easy and was watching old sports highlights with Kevin in the living room. Vanessa was baking something in the kitchen. They went from just the two of them to four, and soon to be a dog. Full quarantine house, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited though.
She heard from Will a few hours later, who called her to say he was awake. Although that sounded like it couldn't be further from the truth based on his sleepy voice.
"Alright Jay and I are on our way", she said and hung up.
They got into Hailey's car since Jay had been drive here by Vanessa a few days ago. They made the silent trip over to Will's, feeling sad that they wouldn't be able to hug him or get close. Will made that very clear on the phone that they needed to distance, and he would leave a bag of Kohl's stuff on the sidewalk and let Kohl run to them when they got there.
"Seems a bit extreme", Jay mumbled. Him and Will weren't really the hugging type per say, but in times like this…he secretly wanted one from his brother.
"Will knows what he's talking about, and if that's what we have to do for now…so be it", Hailey replied.
Jay shot her a look, Hailey saw it out of the corner of her eye.
"I don't like it either Jay, I want to hug your brother too, he was practically crying to me on the phone last night. He's stressed out", she said gently.
"This just sucks, all of it", he said quietly.
"I know, but it will pass. Let's put on a brave face for Will okay?"
He agreed with her and tried to do just that as they got out of her car and saw Will standing there behind the glass doors of his apartment, kneeling down and petting Kohl.
Will gave them a soft wave and one last cuddle with Kohl, looking a little teary when he pulled away and opened the door for the dog to run to Hailey and Jay.
"How are you Will?" Hailey asked from a distance.
"I'm alright, had a better sleep this morning. Needed it", he laughed trying to make light of the situation.
"How are you feeling Jay? Better still be taking those antibiotics", Will scolded.
Jay smiled, "Feeling a lot better. And yes still taking those Dr. Halstead."
"Good, good", Will put his hands in his pockets, watching Kohl wag his tail and run over to the two of them.
"Kohly, wohly", Hailey coo'ed as she rubbed his belly and smiled.
"I think he's going to get along just fine with you guys", Will smiled. "This is just temporary I promise, I just need a break…"
"Don't worry about it Will, Kohl can stay with us as long as you want", Hailey quickly replied.
"Okay thanks guys, seriously this means a lot…", Will was starting to get emotional.
"Will please don't cry, you're going to make me cry", Hailey said softly, feeling for him. Jay looked at both of them, thinking this was harder than he thought it was going to be. He could probably count on one hand the times he's seen Will this distraught and stressed out, it was an unsettling feeling.
"It's going to be okay Will, get some sleep you'll feel better. This will pass", Jay spoke up and said what Hailey was struggling to.
"Vanessa made some banana bread, we'll leave it on the curb", Jay said motioning to the Tupperware container and set it down. Sensing Will needed a subject change or else he was going to lose it.
"Thanks", Will said softly wiping a stray tear.
They awkwardly stood back and gave Will space to pick up the bread and then parted ways.
"Call me if anything happens with him or you want to bring him back", Will said from the curb as he watched Kohl perch his head on Jay's shoulder from the backseat.
Hailey chuckled, "I don't think he's going to cause any trouble", she said as he licked Jay's ear, causing him to burst out laughing.
"Have fun with Uncle Jay and Aunt Hailey Kohl", Will yelled, and they all smiled.
They waved goodbye and drove off, Hailey catching a sad glimpse of a defeated Will in her rear view.
Hailey's eyes started to well up and she bit her lip trying to contain herself.
"Hailey, Will's going to be fine, don't worry", he said half laughing and half trying to convince himself of his own statement.
"I know, I'm being silly. I just feel sad for him. He looked so down. And now we took his dog, his only friend at home…", Hailey felt the tears start rolling.
Jay felt a twinge of sadness and guilt over that too. As much as Kohl was an added responsibility for Will right now, he was also definitely a source of comfort and way to decompress too.
Jay put his hand on her thigh, "Will is going to be okay. We have to tell ourselves that or else we're just going to get stressed out too. He needs to focus on himself and work right now, Kohl is going to be a fun roomie."
She smiled a bit at that, feeling Jay's hand come up to wipe her tears. They were stopped at a red light so he leaned over to kiss her cheek and she reached over to reciprocate.
They laughed when Kohl wanted in on it too, licking both of their faces, wagging his tail because he loved car rides.
"Okay Kohl, what do you say we go home and go for a nice walk", Hailey said. That earned a big tail wag and practically a leap into the front seat.
Things were uncertain and stressful, but their four-legged friend was certainly helping calm the nerves.
Hailey had made a detour to Jay's apartment so that he could grab more clothes, as he was going to be staying over for the foreseeable future.
"You moving in Jay Halstead?" She teased at all the stuff he brought out.
"Hey, hey, hey. Your idea remember", his eyes twinkled as they talked about moving in together. Sure it was just because of this and likely temporary, but he still got butterflies in his stomach thinking about the possibility.
"I know, just teasing. Come on roomie", she said as she helped put his stuff in her trunk.
"Roomie has a nice ring to it partner", he winked.
"Mhmm, this is your trial run", she quipped back.
"Trial run, Hailey Anne. How forward of you", he said jokingly in awe.
She rolled her eyes and mocked him replying back, "I'll even let you sleep in my bed, even though we aren't married."
"Yet", Jay scoffed before he could stop himself and saw Hailey's eyes go wide.
"Yet" haha a good way to describe all things Upstead. I am dying for them to start filming again, fingers crossed they are able to soon. Hope everyone is happy and healthy! - K