"Stay with me Jay...stay with me."

Hailey's face. Those baby blues begging him to stay seem so clear as everything blurs around him. He's trying to form words but nothing seems to be coming out. I'm staying, I won't leave you. She's there. She's always there when he needs her, so steady so sure. His anchor.

He hears Voight's voice barking orders as he's wheeled out, the light of day making him wince as the stretcher hits the sidewalk. He's trying to move, willing himself to reach out and grab onto Hailey but his fingers only seem to twitch in response no matter how hard he tries.

The searing pain in his side is crippling as the lights flash past, fading in and out but in chaos, he can just make out the familiar walls of Chicago Med before it all fades to darkness.

It's the worst call imaginable. The one you always hope never comes. It starts like a nightmare waking up in the middle of the night, her phone lighting up the darkroom and maybe some people would answer it in a quick haze but for Hailey the minute that ringer sounds a pit of dread forms in her stomach. She should be used to it by now. She's been a cop nearly twenty years yet every time that damn ringtone wakes her from a deep slumber she fears the worst.

And she was right too. The second April's voice comes through the phone she knows in an instant somethings wrong. She's out of bed throwing on a pair of discarded jeans and hoodie over her pyjamas before April's sentence is even finished. There's been an accident. The car flipped. We're so sorry Hailey. He's there, he's hurt, he's in surgery. That's all she needs to say, Hailey's already halfway out the door before April's finished talking.

She can't count the amount of time she's had to sit by his bedside waiting for him to wake up, his hand gripped so tightly in hers, so tight her hands were beginning to turn white.

It hours later when his hand finally squeezes hers back, his eyes flickering open readjusting to light and just like that she's releasing a breath she'd been holding since the phone first rang.

Her eyes water the minute his gaze flicks to hers. Like the second they locked eyes she was finally home, everything was right in the world again. "Jay..." she takes her free hand instantly running it across his jaw, cupping his cheek gently. A soft smile breaking out across her face when he leans into her touch, she is so relieved she almost doesn't notice the look of confusion that crosses his features.

"Where is Angela? Is she okay? What about Billy? Where is he?" His voice is croaky and she can barely make out what he's saying.

Hailey lets her hand slip from his face. Taking a slow step back as she considers his words. "What?"

Just as she is about to ask what he's talking about Will steps in, he looks relieved as he scans the room, noticing that Jay was now awake. Leaving the two coffees he'd run out for on the side as he moves towards them. "Oh good you're awake...you took quite the blow there brother."

"Mhmm it feels like I did...how long was I out?"

"Half a day? You got here late last night." Will confirms checking over his chart from the tablet on his bedside.

"Night? I thought it was the daytime when you found me?" Jay grumbles looking up at Hailey expectantly.

Will looks as puzzled as Hailey does, "Jay what do you remember about what happened?"

"Urgh I remember being at Angela's and then we were in this warehouse I think...Hailey was there...Angela...is she okay?...is Billy?"

Haileys frowns, she's still gripping his hand tightly as she stares across the bed towards Will. She's been processing Jay's words thinking she'd misheard him, maybe he was just a little confused or that maybe the anaesthesia hadn't worn off yet but he'd said it twice. He'd said Angela's name twice. "Will what's happening?"

"I don't know…let me call his doctors down here." He mutters pulling his phone out quickly as he shoots off a text before pulling a pen torch from his pocket. Hailey can feel her heart beating against his rib cage, it felt like her world was coming apart at the seams and she was just watching in slow motion her brain barely processing it all. He was here, he was alive but the look in his eyes was like he wasn't here at all.

"Jay, do me a favour and follow the light for a second...responses seem good," Will mutters as he drops the torch back into his pocket. Hailey looks expectantly towards him, waiting for him to tell him it's just a response to the drugs wearing off...that it's all okay.

"Tell me your name..."

"Will cut the crap okay I feel like I've been hit by a truck, I don't wanna do this right now." Jay groans, weakly lifting an arm in protest.

"Jay...I'm serious." Will snaps urging his brother to take this seriously. "Name?"

"Jay Halstead."

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday...I think." Jay grumbled rolling his eyes, smirking slightly in Hailey's direction. She thinks he expects her to laugh or even smile at all the fuss but the smirk soon fades as she remains frozen.

"That's right...and the year?"

"2019...now stop with the questions."

"Just one more...who's this right here?" Will nods over to Hailey on the other side of the bed. She watches as Jay's eyes take her in, they're missing that spark that familiarity she'd grown so used to seeing over the years.

"It's Hailey..."

"And who is Hailey to you?"

"She's my partner."

Hailey lets out an audible whimper at the words. She can feel both Halsteads eyes on her, Jay looks confused still but Will...Will flashes her sympathetic smile and it breaks her heart a little bit more. She clamps her hand over her mouth stepping further back from them, finally letting go of Jay's hand. She feels the cool metal of her wedding set pressed against her lip and instantly she can feel the bile rising in her throat.

"Okay, I'm gonna go talk to his doctor okay?" Will nods towards Hailey, before heading out the door barely giving either Hailey or Jay a chance to respond.

"What's going on? Will? Hailey?"

He's looking up at her and honestly, it takes everything in Hailey not to run from him at that moment. "I...I don't know...are you messing with us right now? Because I swear Jay I'll kill you with my bare hands this isn't funny."

"I don't know what you're on about Hails"

"Jay it's not 2019 it's 2027."

"What are you saying exactly?" she said, trying not to panic.

"It seems like Jay is suffering from a form of retrograde amnesia." Dr Reid confirms as he ushers Hailey out to the hallway.

"Okay," Hailey said, feeling uncertain. She thought about it for a minute. "What does that mean? What…"

"From what I gather right now Jay thinks it's 2019, he believes his current hospital visit is due to his shooting back then...I'm not sure if you were around then…"

"I was...but we weren't…" Hailey stutters as she wraps her arms around herself. "Will he get them back? His memories?"

"It's hard to say, the brain is tricky to predict, some people regain all their memories in a matter of hours, some take weeks and…"

"And some...what? Never get them back at all?" She finishes for him.

"Hailey it's important to stay calm okay?" Will whispers gently, placing one arm around her.

Hailey shrugs him off, feeling the tears threading to fall. "Stay calm...how can I stay calm, Will?"

"It's important to focus on Jay's recovery right now, his wounds are mostly superficial, a few broken ribs at most but he will be okay in that respect. Seven years seems like a lot but he still has the majority of his adulthood memories, which is very promising."

"Oh well that's okay then…" Hailey snaps sarcastically.

"I understand this is trying time Mrs Halstead…"

Mrs Halstead ...they've been married for three years and yet she rarely hears her own name, she still uses Upton at work to avoid confusion. But now a name that brought her so much joy only served as a reminder that her world had flipped. "No I don't think you do...he doesn't even know we're married...if he can't remember…."

The words die in her throat as she recalls everything and everyone Jay will have forgotten.

"He'll get them back Hailey," Will assured her, his voice steady as he looked between Hailey and the doctor.

"Can you promise me that? Will he doesn't know me...not really and if doesn't know me then he doesn't know them."

Haileys studies Jay closely as Dr Reid informs him of his condition patiently answering any questions from Jay or Will as he goes. The information is all a blur for her as she twists the wedding set on her finger round and round. He doesn't remember putting those rings on her finger. She tries to shake herself out of a trance as Jay is whisked away for another set of tests, before she knows it the neuro specialist is down there and a physiatrist, all of them with overwhelming amounts of information for Hailey but the words go in one ear out the other.

"Hailey, are you listening?" It's doctor Charles who waves a hand down in front of her face that finally pulls her from her trance. "Hailey." His voice is soft and comforting, the same one she's heard him use on victims over the years. He guides her to a set of chairs just outside Jay's room, while they're still waiting for him to come back down from CT.

"I imagine this must be quite hard for you...how are you holding up?"

"I'm fine…" She mutters, it's a lie there's no point in trying to convince anyone otherwise but she doesn't know what else to say. "No really I am...it's Jay that needs you."

"This is gonna be tough...for everyone. I've seen a fair few amnesia cases in my time, a fair few dementia ones too, and it's in my professional opinion one of the cruellest things life has to offer is watching someone you love not remember you."

Haileys feels her breath catch in her throat as she listens to Dr Charles. If the last thing he remembered was being shot by Angela then all he knows is that Haileys is his partner, his friend. He doesn't remember their first kiss, the first time they whispered I love you, he doesn't remember almost setting fire to the house when he proposed, or the way they'd danced at their wedding...how happy they were, how happy they are.

"He remembers me...as his partner. His friend."

"But not as his wife…." Dr Charles finishes for her.

Haileys swallows hard, her lips pressed into a thin line when the tears that had been on edge all day finally begin to fall. "No...not as his wife."

She takes a moment, she can feel Dr Charles eyes burning into her as she takes a few deep calming breaths willing her tears to stop. "What can we do? I mean what do we tell him? I don't know how to deal with this...I'm usually good at keeping things under control and this…"

"This is another one of life's big tests...I have no doubt you and Jay will have the strength to make it through...and in the meantime, we'll take it day by day."

It takes her moment, she takes herself outside taking in the fresh air, she calls a few people...mainly Olivia to check in on them and then Kim. Kim promises to update the rest of the team and slowly the weight in her chest begins to feel a little lighter. It's gonna be okay. She can pull herself together for Jay. For Jay, she can do this.

"You're still here?" Jay looks up surprised when Hailey finally makes it back to his room. His tests had been done a while ago and everyone agreed that what he needed the most right now was rest. The onslaught of information was more than enough for someone who wasn't missing seven years of memories never mind someone who had just woke up in a world he no longer recognised.

"Of course...I couldn't just leave." Hailey forces a smile on to her face as she moves closer to his bed, everything in her is screaming to take his face in her hands, to feel his lips against hers but she can't. Because to him, they've never kissed before.

The lopsided grin that spreads across his face is enough she thinks. "It's been a long day...I just...I'm sorry I'm still wrapping my head around it all...don't you have to go to work?"

Hailey shakes her head, her hands wrapping around the bar of his bed. "No…nowhere to be but here."

"I'm really glad you're here Hails...honestly this all feels a little out of a movie, nothing feels right you know? Everything feels upside down."

She lets out a small laugh, she's sure this was a lifetime movie somewhere. "Yeah, you're telling me…"

Jay nods, and Hailey can tell from the way he settles back against the pillows that he's finally let the craziness of the day hit him. "But you're here...and so everything feels a little less upside down."

If only Hailey felt the same way right now her world was upside down and inside out and there didn't seem to be a way back...at least not one she could see yet.