OMG! Will you look at that, a chapter! With everything going on, I've been trying to use writing as a distraction but I was distracted by what I was trying to be distracted from.

Thanks so much for your patience guys and sticking with me. This was a hard chapter to write. It's mostly narrative with not a lot of dialogue, but that's how it wanted to come out so I had no choice but to set it free and see where it went. I think there is just an epilogue thingy to come after thi. Gunna wrap everything up in a tattered, messy bow.

XXXXXXX

They had figured out while Jay was in surgery how the asshole slipped by them. Getting out of the conference room unseen was easy, he slipped out through the door the staff used when serving meals. The door led to the back of house, kitchen, dishwashing, etc. He went in the room for the morning session and as far as anyone knew, didn't come out. The cops watching him were at the best sloppy and could have cost Jay his life.

How he got into the empty apartment to wait for Jay to get home, or even knew about it, they were still trying to lock down. But given the layout and slack in how the management office was run, he could have snuck in there easily and got keys. Pretty shoddy setup. Fact is, he got in and he nearly killed Jay.

Dr. Halstead had got to Chicago by one of the few ways they were unable to really track. He paid someone to call him an Uber to downtown Indianapolis, but once he was in the car, he paid the driver $500 cash to bring him to Chicago.

The asshole had worked it all out but whether it was planned or compulsion, and he figured it out on the fly, they probably wouldn't ever know. The rest of the particulars could be sorted out later. The damage was done.

All of them were feeling guilty. They thought they had all angles covered but on this side of it, they could see all the holes the asshole could have slipped through. No matter what they had done, the asshole would have found a way, so they would have to work through their guilt on their own. If Jay would just wake up it would probably take the edge off it but the stubborn bastard was making them wait.

Then again, Jay's injuries turned out to be pretty severe, so they would more than likely be waiting a while. They had to go in and stop a bleed in his right kidney and a more significant bleed in his liver. Luckily they were able to do it laparoscopically, so the healing from the surgery itself wouldn't be as significant than if they would have had to cut him open. His liver and kidney would heal up with no permanent damage.

It was the brain bleed that had everyone worried. There was no need for surgery at this point. Their hope was it would resolve on its own. But they needed him to wake up to see if there would be any lasting issues from the two significant head traumas just days apart.

The problem with him waking up is that they wouldn't be able to give him more pain meds until after they did the neurological exam. It should/could take less than a minute and that's what they were hoping for. More pain, even for a minute, was the last thing they wanted to see after witnessing all the pain he had been in the last two weeks, physically and emotionally.

The rest of his injuries weren't as significant or at least not life threatening. His body was an absolute mess. He had ripped the stitches in his arm. The kicks to his torso caused bone deep bruising. He would be colorful for awhile. Two broken ribs, three cracked and most of the others bruised to some degree. He would have to be diligent with his pain meds when he wakes up, he couldn't fight Ethan or anyone for that matter, on taking them this time. He needed to breath deeply so he didn't get pneumonia and painful ribs wouldn't make that possible. But at least his oxygen levels were better. He spent the first two days in the ICU with an oxygen mask. When they moved him to a regular room he had graduated to a cannula. Somehow the cannula made everything seem less dire and they all needed less dire, because he looked terrible.

The most disturbing thing was the almost constant tremble in his body. That was explained in medical terms and then simplified for their tired brains to; 'his body has been through a lot.' Ethan said it would lessen in a day or two as he heals. It was painful to watch Jay go through that even if he was so drugged out he probably couldn't feel it.

We couldn't see most of his bruises but we knew they were there and based on the bruising of his face, and the dark purple bruising on his arms and the part of his chest we could see, we knew they were bad. His face looked terrible between the stitches on his cheek and brow and the big gash at his hair line. Two black eyes-one worse than the other, a cut across the bridge of his nose, bruised and scraped jaw, split lips, he looked like hell. The bruising around his neck wasn't quite as bad but it was still there and dark enough to paint a picture what happened. The only bruising that didn't really bother them was the bruising across the knuckles of both hands. He fought back.

They had been rotating in and out of his room, making sure Jay was never alone, that most of the time, two of them were in the room with him. More often than not there were four of five of them, since Voight, Hailey and Will were frequent flyers.

The day after Jay was brought in, Voight and Hailey were keeping vigil by his bed. Will was just walking into the room when he got a phone call, and by his reaction, it wasn't a good one.

"Jesus!"

Hailey and Voight look at him in expectation. The expression on his face started as anger, went to sadness, and when it turned on a dime and went to rage, Will stormed out of the room.

Hailey looks at Voight, "What the hell was that?"

She found Will halfway down the hall with his forehead pressed against the wall and his fists clenched at his side. She sighed. She had a good idea who the call was from.

Hailey cleared her throat halfway to him. She seemed to have a knack for unintentionally startling him and she didn't want to do it again.

"Will?"

She leaned against the wall next to him and after a moment, he straightened up and leaned with her, both staring at the godawful picture across from them.

He grinds the heels of his hands into his eyes. Everything was so fucked up. This is so fucked up.

"That was my dad." He shakes his head in disbelief. "Calling collect from jail. I guess I was his one phone call."

Hailey starts to speak but he interrupts her with a harsh laugh. "That was a wasted call. Guess he's stuck."

"They'll give him another. If he wastes that one they'll give him a public defender, who'll then get in touch with his lawyer."

"Hmph...what's weird is I kind of..."

When his phone rings again, he rejects the call without a thought.

He finishes what he was saying. "What's weird is I kind of don't care. Let him figure it out and leave me out of it."

She knows he has more to say so she stays quiet.

He grinds the heels into his eyes again and growls in frustration. "Shit!"

He pushes off the wall, paces back and forth a bit, then looks at her like he's afraid to say his thoughts out loud.

"Dammit…uhhhh! I feel guilty."

She smiles in understanding. "I feel bad for not taking his call... and then a second later I feel bad for feeling that after what he did to Jay and I'm angry at myself that I would even feel guilt. The asshole doesn't deserve it."

He looks at his shoes and shakes his head.

When he speaks again, his voice is raw with emotion. "My dad almost killed my brother. My dad almost killed Jay, Hailey."

His face twists in pain as the truth of that hits him to the core. A second later, she is wrapping him in a hug as he sobs into her shoulder.

She offers no platitudes, no 'it will be okay's.' Right now those are just words. So she hugs him in silent support, offering him the truth of the matter, that he, they, are not alone in this.

XXXXXXX

Once Jay had passed out in the ER and gone into surgery, he didn't come to again until 3 days later - briefly, less than briefly - he opened his eyes for about two seconds. On day 4, his eyes fluttered open twice as he surfaced to the land of the living, only to close again seconds later, not quite successful in his endeavor. They also started passive PT with Jay twice a day. Voight and Hailey refused to leave and Will told the therapist it was fine but after that first day, they waited in the hall. It was disturbing to watch someone move Jay's legs and arms, hands and feet while he was unconscious.

On day 5 and 6 of his hospital stay, Jay would occasionally jerk in his sleep and then groan. He would always settle, the wince on his face would smooth out as the drugs did their job and sent him back into a drug induced sleep. It was hard to watch, knowing that he was probably reliving the bullshit of the last couple of weeks.

The evening of the 5th day, Voight left the hospital in a rage. They didn't see him again until the next afternoon. He didn't say anything when he came back, just sat in the chair next to Jay's bed and leaned against the wall looking rather smug. No one needed to ask where he had gone. We all knew.

XXXXXXX

He took a seat across from the asshole and smirked at the disappointment that bloomed on Dr. Halstead's face. He was hoping the asshole would be expecting Will and he was more than happy to disappoint him. Once the prick got past the disappointment though, he had the gall to look smug. Hank would wipe that look off his face soon enough.

Voight had made him wait 45 minutes before he came in, gave a nod to the guard and sat down. He didn't say anything for another 15 minutes, just sat there arms crossed, letting the asshole see who had the power here.

"I heard there's a deal on the table. 5-7, chance of parole if you're a good boy."

The asshole didn't say anything but the smug did slip for a moment.

"You should take the deal. You don't plea, we'll throw the book at you. You'll be lucky if your out in 15."

The smug look was back. "No. I'm not going to take a deal. Let the little shit testify in court, with all the lights and cameras and reporters. Put everything out there for the world to see, that a cop, a thug, beat his father, a renowned physician. I fought back. It was self defense. He'll lose his job, go to jail, he'll lose any kind of relationship he ever had with Will. You know what happens to cops in jail. So, no. I don't think I'll be taking any deal."

If you've ever seen a shark right before it bites into its next meal, you'd see all teeth. Just a toothy grin in anticipation of its dinner. That was the look that graced Sgt. Hank Voight's face.

"I was hoping you would say that."

All the smug was wiped off the assholes face. It was an expression he would never wear again. Even though he tried for it one more time.

"You don't scare me Voight. But good try."

Hank just grunted at that and turned his focus to the guard.

"We're done here Jimmy. How you doin?"

"Can't complain Hank. Come by the club sometime. I'll buy you a beer."

"Sounds like a plan."

He watched Jimmy unfasten the cuffs and reattach them to the chain at Dr. Halstead's waist.

"Let's go Dr. Asshole. Time to meet your neighbors. No more protective custody."

With a nod at Jimmy and a smirk at the abject fear cemented on the asshole's face, he walked out of the room. Paybacks a bitch and Dr. Asshole was about to find that out.

As Hank drove back to the hospital, he thought about Jay and the pain the kid went through. For a moment he doubted his actions, the prick deserved what happened in prison, the bad and the worse. But he couldn't do that to Jay. He knew that it would destroy the kid if anything that bad happened to his dad in prison. It would destroy Will also.

So he talked to Maurice, the warden and the guards he knew. Maurice's guys would 'protect' the good doctor from the worst of the worse, in county jail and when he was finally transferred to Stateville. To anyone but them, he would be hands off. But that didn't mean Dr. Asshole would have an easy time and for now, the prick didn't know rape and murder were off the table, so let him sweat, constantly looking over his shoulder. Let him get beat up a couple of times, wondering if it would be taken further. Dr. Patrick Halstead had no power and he was about to find out how that felt.

XXXXXXX

On the morning of day 7 one of Jay's nightmares slammed him into the land of consciousness. He asked Voight, who was alone with him at the time, if he killed his dad, if that wasn't a bitch of a first 'neurological exam,' and he didn't pass it.

He saw the fear in his dad's eyes and it surprised him. He had never seen his dad afraid before. He wondered what he was afraid of. Then he saw his dad's head whip to the side and saw the blood from a split lip. He saw his dad's head slam up and back and heard his teeth clack together. Again and again his dad's head whipped left and right. He became more and more bloody, a broken nose adding to the mess. After countless blows, the fear in his dad's eyes was not as evident with them being swollen and only partly open, but nevertheless, it was still there and that felt good. That felt good?Another punch landed and his hand hurt. Wait. Why did his hand hurt. 'Son, stop! Stop!' Again and again and again his fist, HIS fist, slammed into his dad's face. He tried to catch his breath as he straddled his dad, fist ready for another strike, but then the life went out his dad's eyes, taking the fear with it and he was gone. He stared at the man that had cause him so much pain. He thought of his ten year old self and rage engulfed him. He let the fist fly that had been cocked and ready before he had killed Will's dad. But it still wasn't enough, he wasn't dead enough. He hadn't paid enough. He didn't stop battering his anger into the empty shell of an asshole until he felt Voight pulling him back. Telling him, 'stop, stop, you're going to hurt yourself just stay still.'

He woke with a start, covered in sweat. Clenched hands flailing as someone held his shoulders down.

"Jay...calm down, you're going to hurt yourself. Calm down. You're ok."

Voight.

"That's it. You're okay..."

Voight's voice faded for a moment as he spoke to someone else in the room, "get Will...or Ethan."

With awareness, came pain, excruciating pain. He wanted to pass out but he needed to know, did I kill my dad!

Not able to open his eyes for the splitting pain in his head he asked or he thought he did, "mm ki l my Dd."

It made perfect sense to him but not to whoever was listening. Please.

"Mmn, di…" Even those few words ratcheted up the pain. Please please take it away. Please the pain…please Voight…is he dead?

Voight kept his voice quiet, "Hey, your dad's okay. You didn't kill your him. He's okay."

He takes shallow breaths in and out through his nose, his head exploding, his chest on fire.

"Sssrg…plleas…" Please help me.

He barks at Ethan when he runs in the room, "He's in a lot of pain."

Ethan reassures Jay as he pushes the meds, "Relief's coming. Hold on Jay, just a few more seconds."

Oh God, Oh God please make it stop.

"Hey. Look at me. Jay open your eyes."

The pain is ebbing, he can feel Voight's hands on the sides of his head, thumbs resting on his temples. It takes a moment but he is finally able to blink his eyes open just enough to see the blurry face of his boss. He tries to focus on Voight and mostly succeeds.

"You did not. Kill. Your dad. You hearing me kid? Your dad is alive. It's okay. You're okay. Go back to sleep. You're safe. I'm here…We're here."

Safe. A single tear escapes and rolls down the side of his face. He sighs when Voight brushes it away with his thumb. He didn't kill his dad. I didn't kill him. He exhales a quiet 'k' and lets the pain meds take him.

Rage at the asshole spiked that day, making for a tense room. Jay woke two more times in excruciating pain and asked if he killed his dad. Ethan said the confusion was to be expected but that didn't make any of this any easier.

When they answered 'no,' he would be relieved or at least that's how it seemed before passing out again. It was like that question, rumbling around his head, is what woke him and the answer quieted his head so he could fall back asleep. When the thought of killing his dad stopped waking him up, his worry about Will started.

In the early morning, 2:00 am in fact, of day 8, they paged Will because Jay was convinced Will hated him. Jay fought the pain meds coursing through his system, adrenaline overriding their effectiveness. He didn't calm down until he saw his brother. His despair was heartbreaking and brought them all to tears except Voight, although he did show a lot of interest in the floor.

They went through this same scenario a couple of hours later and again Will convinced him that he wasn't mad and loved him very much. Jay woke two more times after that with a panicked look on his face, but as soon as he saw Will hovering over him and felt Will's hand in his, the panic left, and with a sigh fell back asleep. Their hope was that when he woke up for good the confusion would dissipate and he would remember that his dad was in fact alive and his brother did love him.

At 10:00 am, right after Will had allayed his fears that last time, Jay fell back asleep and didn't stir for 15 hours.

When he woke up at 1:00am on day 9, he stayed a wake for about two minutes. He took a sip of water from Hailey, scanned the room seeing everyone he loved, and went back to sleep. It was the first time he looked peaceful in over two weeks.

In those 9 days some of Jay's older bruises had faded but the new ones were in full bloom. Stitches were removed and second CT scans were done and came back all clear.

Jay slept most of day 10, until they tried easing him off the pain meds a bit, but that was a failed experiment. He tried to suck it up but eventually his pain topped the meds. Will and Hailey were in his room to witness it. He was dozing and they were both messing around on their phones. They didn't notice he was in pain until he groaned, drawing their immediate and freaked out attention. Hailey moved to the bed to comfort him, while Will ran out of the room to get an interim dose of pain meds.

Tears leaked from Jay's eyes as he gripped the bedding in white knuckled fists and tried to roll, unsuccessfully, onto his side. He grabbed his head as if it was going to explode and a pain filled sobbed escaping his lips. She felt useless as his back arched off the bed, and her eyes filled with tears, witnessing Jay in extreme pain and being powerless to do anything. She put her hand on the side of his face and let him know relief was coming. He rolled his cheek into the palm of her hand seeking comfort, but that would only come with the meds.

Will ran into the room, administered the supplemental dose and hoped it would kick in quickly. In less than thirty seconds, Jay's body started to relax, the groans and sobbing quieted and Jay silently fell asleep, his cheek still resting in the palm of Hailey's hand.

After that fiasco, they went back to the previous dose, plus a small dose of sedative so they could get Jay ahead of the pain, and then they'd try something else.

On day 11 he pretty much slept. But he did ask at one point what the actual damage was besides 'pain.' When they explained his injuries in full, he took a deep breath and fell back to sleep.

The evening of day 12, they tried a different experiment. They eased back on the pain meds Jay received intravenously every four hours and gave him a morphine pump. He would control the supplemental meds himself while they gradually decreased the intravenous dose. If his pain topped those meds they would give him an interim dose. The well-meaning button pushers from his last stay were the recipients of a stern warning from Ethan. They complied and this experiment worked but there were some bumps in the road.

On the morning of day 13, the whole of Intelligence was called back to the 21st for a possible case and Maggie volunteered to sit with Jay until Will came up from the ER.

Jay was more like Jay, but drugged up. The physical pain had lessened somewhat but he was still pretty miserable. His confusion was gone, so reality set it. That's when the emotional side of things really started to rear its ugly head. It was the visit from Maggie, through no fault of her own, that kicked the whole thing off.

"Hey there Jay. How's your pain?"

He had slept through a dose, maybe two, when the pain woke him up. So his answer was a little, so-so waver of his hand and a wince.

"Okay, so about a 7." She looked at the pump. "You can give yourself another dose. Why don't we see where you are after that and we'll see if you need a boost?"

As much as he hates taking meds, his brain is trying to escape his skull and every part of his body is trying to kill him. He answers with a hoarse 'okay' and pushes the button.

She gets some fresh water and hands him the cup.

"Thanks."

"The pump is set up for a dose every 15 minutes. You can't over do it. You can push the button a million times and it will still only give you one dose in a 15 minute period. So please make sure you're dosing. The sooner we get the pain under control, the sooner you can get out of here."

His sleepy eyes light up at that.

"Thought you'd like that…better than a card and flowers right?"

He nodded and watched her hang a new bag of morphine. "That's for sure."

He closes his eyes as the meds kick in, while Maggie busies herself logging his vitals. A moment later he stops her in her tracks.

"You've known…I mean, you knew when you met me."

She thought she was just coming to see how he was doing, give him some pain relief, check his vitals, boy, did that turned on a dime. She sighed, pulled up a chair, and looked into his blue, pain filled eyes.

"I worked with your father for eight years…I knew he was an asshole." She was hoping to leave it there.

But then he looked at her, Detective Jay Halstead looked at her, so of course he saw there was more. He asked the question again with his silence. She wanted to lie but knew she had to tell the painful truth. She sighed and the half smile, half grimace left her face, immediately softening with compassion and admiration for the man before her. She slid the chair closer to the bed and put her hand on his arm, "I didn't know Will had a brother until the day I met you. Your father had only ever talked about Will. So, that aspect of your childhood, I've known since Will introduced us. I didn't know exactly what it entailed, I didn't know about the physical abuse but I could see the sadness, the loneliness in your eyes when I met you."

He took a deep breath then slowly blew it out, "Ya…ya…" He gives her a small smile before closing his eyes not really caring about the tear that escaped. She sat with him until he pretended to fall asleep, then gave his arm a light squeeze and brushed her hand through his hair before she sighed and left the room.

She ran into Will right outside the door, leaning against the wall. She could tell by his red rimmed eyes he had been crying.

"Will." She takes a big breath and exhales a sigh. "You heard that." It's a statement not a question. "I'm so sorry Will."

He gives her a sad smile back as he heads into the room. "It's okay Maggie."

Will sat down in the chair Maggie had just vacated and looked at Jay. He was facing the other wall and whether he was actually pretending to be a sleep or not, Will knew he was awake. The tears escaping his closed eyes gave it away.

Will put his hand in Jay's, interlocking their thumbs in what could appropriately be called, a "broshake," but without the shake part. He gave Jay's hand a squeeze.

"I'm so fucking sick of crying."

"Me too little brother, me too."

Jay looks at him, about to speak. Not sure what he was going to say. 'I'm sorry' or because he's angry and wants to lash out, 'what are you crying about.' But then he sees Will's face, his eyes red and swollen from crying and realizes that he's not the only one who's been hurt here, emotionally at least. Will has plenty to cry about, plenty that is hurting him emotionally. He realizes 'sorry' would have been the most appropriate thing to say but it's already been said a lot, by both of them, so he opts for humor.

Jay squeezes Will's hand, "Make sure you rehydrate. At least I have an IV."

Will chuckles at that This brief upswing of the rollercoaster is that Jay and Will are on the same page and willing to ride it out together.

XXXXXXX

When the unit returned that afternoon, the emotional rollercoaster was well on its way. Jay was wavering between 'real' okay, 'fake' okay and silent brooding that equated to, 'leave me the fuck alone.' Physical pain was the trigger for the 'leave me the fuck alone,' which was usually when he slept through a dosage or two of pain meds. It was hard for the button pushers to not push the button when they knew that he was sleeping through a dosage. So, so hard. But the first dose of morphine, when he was in the 'leave me the fuck alone's' took the edge off, when he was able to dose himself 15 minutes later, the physical pain would be at a manageable level.

Voight had even cornered Ethan about this, he didn't want Jay to be in pain at all, but Ethan didn't budge. Ethan is a nice guy but don't fuck with him when it comes to his patient's best interests, especially Jay's and especially about this. It's a battle Voight wasn't going to win. As much as the team didn't want Jay to be in pain, they knew this phase of working the pain meds was necessary.

Watching Ethan hold his own with Voight was pretty entertaining. For a number of reasons. On the Voight side of things, it was watching Voight go all 'papa bear' on Jay's behalf. It was reminiscent of a crazy little league parent getting in the coach's face for pulling their kid out of the game.

On the Ethan side of things, it was watching him stand there, arms crossed, no expression on his face, while Voight laid into him. When Voight started his, silent but deadly portion of the stare down, Ethan asked, "Are you done?" Then walked away before Voight even got a chance to answer.

Ethan knew what was best for Jay, Will agreed with how he was handling the meds, so if Will agreed they would go with it.

An hour or so later, everyone had gone to get food and it was just Hailey and Voight in Jay's room. He asked the question that had been bugging him all day but was afraid to ask.

"My dad?"

"In lockup. There's an offer on the table. I told him to take the plea."

Jay looks surprised and then sags in relief into the bed.

"He take it?"

"Not yet. But he will."

It takes Jay a second but then understanding sets in.

If subdued panic were a thing, it would describe Jay perfectly right now.

"Voight. I don't want..."

"Don't worry about it kid. For now, your dad is fine. Maurice's guys are watching out for him. He'll be ok. Pretty much."

Jay lets that statement settle in, cocks his head and gives Voight the side eye. But with his battered face, it doesn't quite convey what he intended and is almost comical. Finally, Jay seems to get it and lets his head fall back onto the pillow. After a moment, he presses his head back and realizes you can't look a gift horse in the mouth.

He knows this isn't what Voight wants. Voight probably wants, as punishment for what his dad did to him, all that being in prison embodies. He appreciates Voight's restraint. He knows he did it for him, for Will.

He blows out a heavy breath, sinking further into the mattress and looks at his boss.

"Thank you Hank." Gratitude is evident on his bruised face and the conviction in his raspy voice, "I mean it. Thanks."

"Not a problem kid, never a problem."

Voight and Hailey watch as Jay nods off. The news of his dad being "safe" for the most part, seems to have uncoiled a spring of trepidation that wasn't really evident until it released from Jay's body.

Voight shares his thoughts with Hailey. "The kid'll be ok. We'll all help him get there. It'll take a while but he'll be ok. Better than okay."

She smiles at Voight, then turns her focus back on Jay. She couldn't agree more.

The upswing of the day was after dinner, they were going to finally, finally, let him get out of bed. The passive PT had gotten him to this point and even though he was weaker than hell and in a bit more pain because of the movement, he was happier than all get out to be sitting in the vinyl covered reclining chair next to the bed. It lasted ten minutes and he was ready to get back in bed.

"This sucks."

They could all understand that. He had been in the hospital for almost two weeks.

"You're getting there Jay."

He had been back in bed less than a minute when the true essence of Jay came through, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

With squinting eyes because of his ever present headache he asked, "When can I leave?"

They all looked at him like he was nuts, then busted into laughter. That was the stubborn Jay Halstead they all knew and love and the question was music to their ears.

"Not anytime soon bud, at least a couple of days, til we get the meds figured out, so make yourself comfortable."

He scoffed at being stuck there. He hated being in the hospital with a passion and he hated being drugged up but he did feel like absolute shit and couldn't get out of bed by himself or even even walk to the bathroom. That brought an unpleasant thought to mind, the catheter, that he had been trying his damndest to pretend didn't exist. Shit.

"Can I at least take a shower. Except for my head, I think most of the pain is probably from just being stiff."

Will didn't really have the heart to tell him, that no, most of the pain was from the bone deep bruising, "We'll see. Maybe tomorrow."

XXXXXXX

The rest of the team had left for the night, Jay had had another adventure to the chair, that had once again sucked, and it was now just him and Will and the morphine pump.

"Before you ask again, now that there's not an audience, no. You're not going home."

He let out a big sigh, "Truth be told bro, that last little slog to the chair, felt like a damn marathon. I'm just fine laying here and not moving. I feel like shit. I almost, almost don't even care about the catheter. Almost."

He looked at Jay with wide eyes, "Wow!"

"Ya, I know right? … but when can we get rid of it and why have I had it so long? … You know what? I don't even want to know, can we just…can you just take it out?"

"Tomorrow Jay. We'll check the final numbers and we'll get you walking to the bathroom, or at the very least have you use a urinal."

Jay scrunches up his face, "This is the most godawful topic of conversation…but I guess a better topic than some of our recent conversations, huh?"

The brother's smile at each other. "We'll get there Jay. Before you know it we'll be talking about how bad the Bears suck."

"Still not the best topic of conversation, but definitely better."

Jay winced with that last statement and Will wasn't sure if it was pain or talking about the Bears. Probably both.

He gives Jay's hand another squeeze, "Push the button, go to sleep Jay. I'll make sure you get a shower tomorrow and lose the catheter."

He pushed the button and mumbled, "Thank you baby Jesus."

Jay woke up sometime later, alone in his room. It took him a minute to realize it, but somehow, miraculously, the catheter was gone. He hadn't even woken up for the big event, and as much as he hates drugs and how they knocked him out, in this instance, thank God for morphine.

He laid in bed for awhile thinking and trying not to push the button for the drug, but gave in and pushed it before the pain got too bad. He did feel like absolute crap, physically, but he also felt lighter. He knew he had some work to do but some how, knocking his dad on his ass made everything seem less daunting. It helped to have Will there most of the time. Even though they talked about it after his first hospital stay, the lingering fear he had of collapsing under the pressure of Will knowing, and how they were going to work through that going forward, had dissipated somewhat and now seemed doable. He could get through it. It was going to suck, big time, but he could see the light at the end of the tunnel and now the darkness didn't feel so dark.

XXXXXXX

Okay! Thanks again for waiting soooooooo long for this chapter! I hope you liked it. The closer it comes to ending the story, the harder it is to end the story in a way that I feel does the rest of it justice. Thank you so much for all the comments along the way. They make my day! You guys are the bombdiggity!

I'm going to try to get another chapter out of 'He's a Keeper' soon. Thanks for your patience in waiting for chapters to all my stories! Be well and stay safe!