Chapter 5

"Sarge, we have a situation," said Jay. "We were about to leave Med when Ruzek passed out. Took a really hard knock to the head."

"Ruzek passed out?" said Voight as he shifted in his chair at the District.

Jay rubbed the back of his neck. "Crazy, right. You probably expected me to go down."

"That thought had crossed my mind," admitted Voight.

"Hailey kept me sane."

Voight leaned back and put his feet on the desk. "I knew she would."

"Anyway, Ruze is getting stitched up right now. Will doesn't think it's anything serious, but wants him to have a CT scan to be sure."

"All right. Keep me posted."

"Copy."

Voight got up to get a cup of coffee. He was alone in the bullpen and for some reason, he paused by Jay's desk. He noticed a new framed picture. It sat by the one of Jay and Will at a Blackhawks game.

What's this? He picked it up.

It was taken at Molly's when the gang celebrated Severide's birthday a few weeks ago. It was a group picture with Jay and Hailey in the middle. Jay's arm was clearly around Hailey's waist, holding her close. It was like he was saying, That's right, guys. She's with me.

I must have left before this was taken, thought would be easy to dismiss it as drunken conviviality and surviving to another birthday in their line of work, but Voight knew better.

He immediately thought of Erin. He loved her like a daughter. But as much as he hated to acknowledge it, his gut told him Jay and Hailey were a much better fit than Jay and Erin had ever been. He set the picture back down.

Well, we'll see how this thing plays out.

ER Bay 8

"Man, I don't know what happened. One minute I was fine, the next it was like this tsunami of dizziness rolled over me," said Adam as he blew out a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, then gingerly probed the line of stitches on the side of his forehead.

Kim grabbed his hand. "Don't do that. You'll get it infected. You scared me out there, you big, tough guy."

"I feel more like a big, dumb guy."

"Some of the nurses were talking and apparently you weren't the only first responder to fall out," said Kim.

"Is that supposed to soothe my fragile male ego?" said Adam with a quirky grin.

"Not sure anything can do it," said Kim with an eye roll. "Sometimes, dizziness or fainting is a common reaction or it could be white-coat syndrome."

Adam shook his head. "I can't believe I went down, but Halstead's still standing."

Kim laughed. "Go figure."

The curtain separating the bays was suddenly pulled back. "Excuse me, we're here to take Officer Ruzek for his CT scan," said a petite Hispanic woman.

Kim leaned over and kissed Adam's cheek. "I'll be right here when you get back, babe."

"Don't worry, ma'am," said the other woman. "This will be quick and we'll take very good care of your husband."

Kim and Adam shared a look and Adam's eyebrows shot up. "Husband. Right, okay," she stammered. She felt a blush crawling up her neck. Adam grinned and squeezed her hand briefly.

"See you soon, Mrs. Ruzek," he threw out as the women pushed him around the corner.

"Idiot," mumbled Kim when they were out of earshot. But secretly, she liked being mistaken for Adam's wife.

The rest of their friends clustered in a corner of the crowded waiting room. Vanessa checked her watch and popped up out of the hard plastic chair. "Hate to cut this reunion short, but I need to get back before the bad men miss me."

After hugs and warnings from everyone to stay safe, she headed for the exit.

"I'll walk you out," said Kevin.

"Let me know how Adam is," she said.

"Oh, you know Ruzek. His head is like a brick," laughed Kevin.

"Yeah." She paused. She wanted to say more, but words failed her. "Okay, later then."

"Don't forget what we talked about," Kevin reminded her.

She smiled up at him. "I won't."

"Now go kick some bad guy ass for the rest of us." Vanessa gave a little salute and quickly walked away.

Suddenly, the radios of the firefighters and paramedics crackled to life. "Hope Ruzek's okay," said Casey as the group got up to leave.

"Thanks," said Jay. "I'm sure he'll be back to his old, annoying self in no time."

Stella and Severide walked ahead of Casey and Sylvie. Kelly slung his arm around Stella's shoulders and pulled her in. This was a couple that never shied away from PDA. Kelly wore the dopey grin he always had when he around Stella, or even thought about her. For some reason, it rubbed Casey the wrong way today.

Finally, he turned toward Sylvie. However, instead of apologizing for cutting her off earlier at the station, he blurted out, "Who was that guy you were talking to in the gym?"

"What? Oh, uh, that was Pedro," said Sylvie.

"Pedro. Friend of yours?"

Sylvie shook her head. "Not really. He's a paramedic at 25. We met last year at that training exercise."

Casey felt like she was being evasive, but he didn't want to push too hard.

"Why do you ask, Casey? Are you jealous?" I can dish it out as well as you, Matt Casey.

Casey frowned. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous? It just, uh, looked like you really liked talking to him."

Before Sylvie could explain that Pedro had been showing her pictures of his newborn son, their radios squawked again. "Come on, we gotta get a move on," she said and ran ahead of him, trying to catch up with Stella and Kelly.

Casey felt like banging his head against a wall. Way to go. You're being a total jerk to Sylvie today. No wonder she doesn't want to spend time with you.

Jay absently rubbed his vaccination site through his shirt. Then Hailey nudged him when she saw Will approaching. They got to their feet to hear what the elder Halstead had to say.

"Adam's scan was negative. No concussion or anything. I'm going to sign his discharge orders and he'll be out in a few minutes."

"That's great news," said Hailey.

He turned to Jay. "You're okay?"

"Yeah, man. I'm good. No worries," confirmed Jay. He pulled out his phone. "I should update Voight."

While Jay called Voight, Hailey said to Kevin, "Did you and Vanessa have a fruitful conversation?"

He grinned. "We did."

Hailey waited for him continue, but no details were forthcoming. "Playing it close to the vest. Okay, I can respect that."

"Like you and Halstead?" Kevin gave her a smirk.

Hailey's eyes widened, but she said nothing.

Adam and Kim walked out at that moment. "Hey, guys. We're good to go," said Kim. "I'm going to get some take-out and take this guy home."

They walked away with Adam's arm around Kim's shoulders and her arm around his waist.

Kim's Apartment

Kim picked up the Chinese take-out containers and went to the kitchen. Some nameless movie was playing on the TV. When she returned, Adam's head was thrown back and he was asleep.

"Adam, wake up."

His head snapped up. "What? What time is it?"

"Later than you think. Go to bed. Your neck will be killing you if you don't."

"Yeah, yeah, okay." He slowly stood up and almost stumbled over his feet. Kim turned him around and pushed him toward the bedroom. "Go. I'll be there in a minute."

"Copy that. Don't be too long." He wagged a finger at her.

"I won't. Go on."

She folded the blanket she'd had over her lap, turned off the TV and light. When she reached the bedroom, she could only shake her head. Adam was sprawled face-down on the bed, still fully dressed. She managed to pull off his boots, then went to brush her teeth and change into her favorite old tee shirt.