Monday came with a vengeance. The quiet, restful weekend she had was no longer present as she received the second dose of chemotherapy. She had undergone a small incision site surgery for a catheter port to receive the remaining cycles.
The nurses, along with Dr. Hanley had been actively in and out of her room all morning and into the early afternoon, running tests and setting up her new port with the chemo.
She'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt like hell, but she was used to swallowing her pain and making sure she kept that tough exterior.
She had been in and out of sleep since her day had begun and she just wanted company that wasn't the hospital staff checking on the new lines. Trying to distract herself with a trashy Hollywood gossip magazine, she just wanted human interaction from friends.
As if her prayers couldn't have been answered any faster, the door to her room opened, and in came some friendly faces - not in a set of scrubs thankfully.
Hailey, Kim and Platt came in, shutting the door behind them. "Hey you guys." Erin said mustering a smile. "Hey there trooper, we figured you could use some fresh faces." Platt said, laying a small bouquet of flowers down on the window sill. "That's so sweet, thank you." Each of them grabbed a chair, and sat next to her. As they watched her struggle to sit up, wincing every minute in doing so. "Don't get up on account of us girl, we're just here to see how you're doing." Kim rushed her words in hopes of stopping Erin's movement. "I'm okay. Busy morning." She pointed to her now gauze covered chest where they had cut her hospital gown down to expose the area for access. "What did they end up doing today?" "Port. Had to get that chemo moving quicker or something." She said with a sigh. "That sounds so painful. How are you really holding up?" Hailey hadn't known Erin as long as most of the Intelligence unit, but it didn't take much to figure out, especially judging from the scenario that she must have been in a lot of pain. "It's manageable. They're giving me the good stuff to numb it out a bit, but they said the port is going to be sore for a while. I'm okay though - really." She gave a lopsided, tired grin in Hailey's direction. "Hey. How come you guys aren't on a case though?" "Technically you are our case, at least for a little while." Kim said, earning her a very confused look. "Voight sent us down here to check on you." Hailey followed up with an explanation. "Ah. Gotcha. So how is everything? Catch me up."
As they all chatted about their latest life updates, Erin floated in and out trying her best to keep up with the chatter. "I actually met someone recently." Hailey's words caught her attention. Through heavy lids she urged her for details. "So he's actually a new firefighter working under Matt Casey. Met him over at Molly's one night, he's such a catch." She practically gushed. "That's great, Hailey. I'm so happy for you." Erin said through a muffled yawn.
The chats continued until Platt noticed Erin was completely out. "Alright, we should let Sleeping Beauty here get her rest. I'm going to stay back with her. You two can give Voight his update, alright?" The two detectives nodded and headed out, leaving the Sergeant to watch over Erin. Looking at how vulnerable the younger officer looked, it had Platt's heart clenching. In all her years of watching Erin work through their district, she had never seen her laid up in a hospital bed looking so...fragile.
When Erin's eyes opened next, she was staring at the desk Sergeant who had nodded off reading one of the magazines she had in a neat pile on the beside table. Erin's chest was aching, she felt miserable and the nausea was back full force. She leaned over to make a grab at the bed pan before she nearly vomited over herself. In doing so, it tugged on her port area and caused her to let out a hiss of pain and dropping the metal pan. The noise had startled Platt awake and now was rushing to Erin's aid. Erin clasped a hand over her mouth until the bed pan was handed to her and she was able to use it. Platt rubbed her back as she vomited profusely. When she finally relaxed back against the pillows she was in even more pain than she had awoken to. Sergeant Platt brought the pan into Erin's bathroom before returning with it washed out. "I'm so sorry you had to see that." She rasped. "You don't ever have to apologize. You're sick, and this is your room. I'm just glad I was here to help. You feel a bit better now?" She asked, noting Erin's pale skin. She merely nodded. "Alright, let me know if you need me to get the nurse or anything." She took her seat once more. Erin watched her, noting that the desk Sargent looked almost as exhausted as she felt. Was everyone at the 21st just following behind her in an exhaustion line? "How are you? I'm sorry I fell asleep during the visit you came for." Platt waved her off and gave a smile. "I'm glad you got your rest. I sent Burgess and Upton back to work since it wasn't worth being short two bodies today. Everyone's waiting on you to be back on your feet and ready to kick some criminal ass alongside them though. We've missed you, especially lover boy." Erin's cheeks flushed at the mention of Jay in such a tone. "How did-." "I people watch for a living, you know that. It would take someone visually impaired not to realize how much of a love sick puppy Jay Halstead is over you, girl." They shared a laugh at this. "I guess you're right about that. I just wish he wasn't sometimes. It makes everything so much harder. Just one more person to watch hurt over this situation...you know?" Receiving a head nod, she sighed. "But I think it's also important to realize, that without everyone - even if we're all worried about you, it's better than being alone." The deep chats with Platt were far few over the years, but she always appreciated them when they happened. The wise, albeit, sarcastic and witty older women was important to her, and she wished they had more times like this.
"You know Sarge, I think I always knew you had a soft spot. It's sweet, really." "Yeah, let's not alert the media. We can't have people think I'm going all Mary Poppins after so many years riding desk, how would I strike fear into the rookies hearts?" This had Erin laughing, truly the better medicine if she were to make a comparison.