Hey there. Thankyou so much for reading and following and leaving kind words. I really enjoy the feedback! This is my first fan fic, so thankyou for sticking with me through this learning process. I also post on AO3. I am not in the medical field, google is my source of truth. So i apologize if some medical terminology isnt quite right. :) :) Here is the next chapter. Let me know what you think

One minute he was in a dreamless sleep, the next moment he was awakened by a bright light. He was cold, but his face felt hot and clammy. He didn't remember going to sleep like this. The tightness from before was real tight now. Each breath hurt and he could feel the wheezes on each exhale. He tried to say something, but all that managed to come out was a moan. His brain felt hot and cloudy. There were muffled voices around him, and he could feel a warmth pressing against his right chest, and then his left. " His lungs sound congested." He tried to open his eyes but everything was blurry. Like his mind had left him in a world between deep sleep and awake. The previous dose of meds still had a strong hold. Now accompanied with a fever, he was very groggy and out of it. It was like digging out from a deep dark hole. Every time he'd feel like he was moving forward, he'd fall back toward the inviting darkness. At least his body didn't ache there. He groaned in frustration, or at least thought he did. A hand was now rubbing his shoulder and saying his name. It was Hailey. "Is he going to need to be intubated again?" Her voice sounded worried. " Let's see what the image shows." Two hands reached around his shoulders to pull him forward, before he was layed back down on a hard board. The head of the bed was lowered until he was laying flat. Being in this position only made his breathing worse. "Everyone stand back." The soothing hand left his shoulder, and there was rattling above the bed followed by a couple minutes of silence. "Shit! He's developed a bad case of pneumonia. Lets get him started on some strong antibiotics." He felt the nasal cannula being pulled from his face, and quickly replaced by a mask. "Jay can you hear me?" It was Will this time. Of course he could, but opening his eyes was hard, he just turned his head towards the voice, and twitched his hand. All he heard was a deep sigh before someone, assuming Will, grabbed his hand. "Let's draw some blood and get some labs. Put a rush on them." He recognized the third voice, it was Crockett. The bed rose back up to a sitting position, a big relief for his aching lungs, and the board was removed from behind him. "Jay can you open your eyes for me?" After several long blinks, he was finally able to make out the very worried face and messy red hair of his brother. He had a big smile on his face now, but his eyebrows quickly furrowed.

"Hey buddy. I know you feel crappy. You've developed pneumonia. You've got a pretty high fever from the infection. They are starting you on some meds that should make you feel better soon okay?"

Jay just stared at him. No wonder he felt horrible. Will grabbed a cool compress from the table next to the bed and layed it across Jay's forehead. It was so cold that it almost stung. He saw movement on his right, and felt someone grab his arm. They wrapped something tightly around his arm, before rubbing something cool along the crook of his elbow. If the nurse had known how Jay was, she'd have been more discreet about her task. But everything had been fast paced since the alarms started going off, not leaving her much time to think things through. She was much younger than the nurse who was in the room earlier. Will was too busy watching the monitor now, so he didn't realize what was going on on the other side of the bed. Jay slowly glanced over to his right side, just as the nurse was about to insert a rather terrifying needle into his arm for the blood draw. Jay's eyes instantly widened, and he started pulling his arm away from the nurse, while trying to sit up in bed and move away from her. The panic certainly didn't help the breathing situation, the monitors were again beeping next to the bed. As the wheezing got worse, all he could do was cough, his brain trying to convince him that it would help him breathe. That wasn't the case this time. The nurse was apologizing from next to the bed looking over at Will, who was grabbing Jay and gently laying him back against his pillows. Last thing he wanted was his brother having a panic attack.

"Hey. Deep breaths. It's ok. I'm sorry man. " Will said as he grasped a hold of Jay's hand again, squeezing tight trying to ground him. Hailey came around to the side of the bed they were on, placing her hands on both sides of his face.

"Just look at me Jay. You're ok." She flashed him his favorite comforting smile, and he did his best to smile back as he caught his breath.

"My chest hurts." He took another deep breath glancing over at Will. " It's so tight."

Will gave him a sympathetic nod. " I'm sorry. There's some fluid around your chest. They started some antibiotics and some other medications. Hopefully it'll relieve the pressure soon." Will was really hoping they worked. His brother wouldn't like the alternative. The nurse looked over at them, still waiting to get some blood drawn to run the requested labs. The monitors were thankfully calming down.

"Hey Jay, they have to get some blood work drawn okay?" Will said as he squeezed Jay's hand.

Hailey leaned in closer, keeping one hand on his cheek and the other hand running through his damp hair. She looked down and grabbed the cooling compress from the bed, where it had landed when Jay jumped up, and placed it across his cheek attempting to block the view from the other end of the bed, and placed her hand on top of it. " Just look at me."

The nurse tried to be as gentle as possible, but the slight jump and groan didn't go unnoticed as the needle went in. Jay just focused on Hailey as she smiled down at him. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes, and Jay was left sporting a cotton ball and tape on his arm. Things went back to somewhat normal, as Crockett discussed next steps. Hailey was now sitting on the bed next to Jay, listening to them, but not taking her eyes off Jay as his eyes slowly drifted shut.

"We'll keep him on these antibiotics for a couple days and continue to monitor him very closely. Especially with his lung already going through enough damage. We will also work on getting that chest tube out tomorrow, we don't need to risk any more infection. We'll do an xray every couple hours to make sure the fluid is going down. With what I saw in the first image, if the amount does not decrease and his breathing gets any worse, we might have to do a thoracentesis procedure…."

Hailey quickly looked away from Jay to Crockett, concerned about the idea of another surgery. Will pinched his nose shaking his head, obviously not liking the idea either, making her stomach turn. "What is that?"

Crockett turned to Hailey and explained the best way he could, for someone with no medical experience to understand. "It is where we insert a needle in the space between his lungs and chest wall. We use a syringe to remove the excess fluid, so he can breathe easier."

"But that's not a for sure thing right? The medication might help?"

"That's the hope. We will know more soon. I wish we had caught it sooner. The congestion was very minor and barely noticeable when he first came off the vent. Has he been complaining of any pain when breathing?"

Will and Hailey just exchanged a look before they both shook their heads and Will responded. "No. He was really beat after the walk earlier. But he never said anything about being unable to breathe."

"Well pneumonia is a sneaky thing. He's in for a long night. I'll be around tonight unless I get called down stairs. The ED is slow. We're going to keep him on the stronger pain meds and fluids to get that fever down, but it might take some time so be prepared. For now I am going to have to stop visitation for a couple days until we get this under control. Just you two. His O2 stats aren't great, but we shouldn't have to intubate as long as they dont get worse. Let me know if anything changes in the meantime."

They thanked him and he was gone, leaving them both to sit in silence and take in everything that had just happened. Will looked up at the clock. It was almost three in the morning. A lot had changed in those short 5 hours since they had gone to sleep. Had he missed the early signs? He went through every scenario in his mind from yesterday trying to see where he had missed it, and what he could have done differently. His brother was stubborn. They all knew that. But had all of his medical expertise truly gone out the window since it was Jay? He shook his head and ran his hand through his tangled hair, before sitting down in his chair next to the bed. He refused to let his mind take him down that road, and let his brother side blame him for not seeing it sooner, when his medical side knew sometimes there was no way to prevent these types of things from happening. But he still felt bad for assuming his brother was out of the woods. He looked over to Hailey who was still sitting on the bed holding Jay's hand. She leaned in to kiss him on his forehead, and sat back up watching him sleep. Jay did not stir, just continued to sleep. Each exhale had a wheeze still as it fogged up the oxygen mask. He couldn't help but think of how lucky his brother was to have her. He had never seen Jay so happy. He couldn't sit there anymore and watch his brother struggle with each breath.

"I'm going to grab a coffee. Do you want one?"

Hailey was startled out of her deep thoughts and looked over to Will. " Uh….yes please. That would be great."

"I'll be right back." Will spun around and left. Hailey continued to watch Jay for a few minutes before going to the other side of the bed to grab her phone off her cot. She went straight back to her claimed spot on the bed and sent a quick group text to the team. She knew they'd be upset to hear they couldn't visit as planned the coming day. Hank texted back right away, asking her to keep him updated. It's not like the man ever slept. Kim also responded with several sad faces, and told her to give Jay a big hug from her. Kev and Adam would likely get it in the morning. Adam never kept up with his phone, and Kevin was most likely knocked out with it being so early in the morning. Hailey had just pulled up a video of the thoracentesis procedure on youtube, knowing it would probably be a very bad idea, when she heard a deep cough and felt movement in the bed next to her. She quickly closed the app and slid her phone into her back packet as she looked over to Jay.

"What were you watching?" a hoarse voice asked from the bed.

"Nothing. Do you want some water?"

Jay shook his head yes and weakly reached up to pull the oxygen mask down. She helped him take a couple drinks until he signaled he was done, and set the cup back on the table. She leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips before pulling the mask back up on his face. He smiled at her and watched her for a few moments before reaching back up to remove the mask again.

"Jay, you have to keep that on."

"I don't like it. It's hot."

"It's helping you," she said as she smiled down at him. "You have to keep it on." She secured it back on his face and went back to holding his hand. "I love you."

"Love you too."

She waited a few minutes thinking he would go back to sleep, but he went to looking around the room. "Where's Will?"

"He's coming right back. He went to get coffee. I think he needed some fresh air." Jay looked at her with furrowed brows. She gave him a reassuring smile. "He's just worried. We both are."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're going to be fine." She ran her hand up and down his chest. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the contact, forgetting about the ache in his chest for a few minutes.

WIll returned with two cups of coffee and handed one to Hailey, who gladly accepted and thanked him. Jay opened his eyes to look over at his brother, as he stood next to the bed and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"It's hot."

"It's the fever. I'll get you another compress. How's the breathing?"

Jay looked to think for a minute before responding. "It's still tight. Hurts."

"How long has it felt like that Jay?"

Jay glanced over at Hailey, who squeezed his hand. " Since yesterday."

Both Will and Hailey looked at him shocked. "Why didn't you tell me Jay?" Will's voice was on the verge of angry, and Hailey looked at him, hoping he wouldn't take the frustration out on Jay. He was already feeling horrible, and she couldn't help but feel protective over him.

"Sorry. I just want to go home."

Will let out a deep breath. He couldn't be angry with him. It was no secret his brother hated hospitals and would always be stubborn. That's just how he was and there was no changing the past. Whether it prevented this outcome anyways, they'd never know.

"It's ok. You're going to be here a little longer. They have to get rid of this infection and get you breathing better before you move to another room. If it gets worse though please tell me."

"Ok" Jay nodded and looked over at the bathroom door. He was not looking forward to getting out of bed. Will followed what he was looking at and knew what his brother was thinking.

""We could always get a urinal, or ask Crockett about maybe putting the ca…."

"No!" Jay quickly cut him off. " It's fine. I'll get up."

They helped him get to the bathroom and back tucked in bed. It wasn't as easy of a trip like the prior ones. The couple stops to catch his breath, and the constant wheezing breaths proved just how much the pneumonia had a hold of his body. It was a night and day difference from yesterday. They were so excited about the improvement yesterday, just to feel like they were almost right back at square one now. The short trip had Jay feeling like he had walked for miles he was so worn out. Once they got him situated back in bed, Will briefly left the room and came back quickly with another cool compress and layed it across Jay's forehead again.

"Still hot?" Jay nodded yes. Hailey stood from the bed and moved around to the other side of the bed and pulled up her chair and grabbed his hand with one hand, and rubbed her other hand up and down his arm. He did feel really hot, even to her touch. Will pulled down the blanket, leaving Jay covered in just the sheet.

"If you get cold, well pull the blanket back up." Will smiled at him and playfully ruffled a hand through his brother's hair, leaving it sticking up in every direction, before turning to grab the chair and moved it closer to the bed. The meds were taking hold again and they watched as Jay's eyes drifted closed, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

Sleeping was out of the question. As soon as they'd lay their head on the bed next to Jay and close their eyes, he would shift in bed. It was impossible for him to get comfortable. Hailey had finally heard back from Adam and Kevin. They were back at it already this morning looking for their suspect. Sitting still for hours listening to Jay moan, groan and cough as he tried to sleep was making her ansty. She didn't like seeing him like this. After a while she started just walking around the room, pacing back and forth. One time she went down the hallway to the window they sat at yesterday evening. It was getting light out finally signaling the start of a new day. The few times Jay did doze off for a short period ,Will found himself watching the monitor. His stats certainly weren't improving. If anything they gradually got worse. Jays shallow breathing as he slept made him uneasy. It had been roughly three hours since starting him on the new medication. They didn't expect it to work instantly, but he hated to see things start to drop further on the screen. His O2 stats were currently at 89, the normal range was between 95-100. He shot Crockett a quick text. He had been called down to the ED, but he'd be right back up shortly. Will knew his brother would not be a fan of the procedure Crockett had him in mind, but he would hate being intubated again too.

"He's not getting better is he?" Will looked away from the monitors, and over to Hailey who was standing at the end of Jay's bed.

"He's not exactly improving yet. He could just need more time." Will tried to sound confident in his answer, he didn't want to worry her more, but the worry was showing through in his voice. After knowing the Halstead brothers for so many years, she had gotten pretty good at reading through their stubborness. One thing they definitely had in common.

"Is he going to need to be intubated again?" Hailey asked as she sat back down in her chair and grabbed Jay's hand. The contact made him jolt back awake.

"If his breathing doesn't get better soon they'll have to do something."

Jay looked between the both of them as they stopped talking and looked back at him. Hailey planted a kiss on his hand and apologized for waking him up. Jay just shook his head no and smiled back at her before he started another coughing fit. Will grabbed the cup from next to the bed and handed it off to Jay. He was helping secure the mask back in the right place when Crockett walked in with a couple nurses, and the xray machine.

"Hey Jay. Feeling any better?" Jay just shook his head no. Crockett turned to look over the monitors. "Let's get another xray and see where we are at."

Crocket came up to the bed with his stethoscope to listen, while the nurses got the machine rolled up over the bed. He paused to listen for a few moments over each side, shaking his head as he put the stethoscope back around his neck.

"Still hearing a lot of congestion. Definitely a lot worse on the left where the chest tube isn't in place."

Will helped them get things set up for the next scan. The bed was lowered and xrays were taken quickly. They had Jay back up in a more comfortable sitting position while they waited for the image to show on the screen. Hailey sat next to Jay, again holding his hand, while the doctors watched the screen talking between themselves.

"Look at that" Crockett said as he pointed at the screen. "He's got a lot of build up on the left. His left lung cant be expanding all the way with all that fluid. That's what's keeping his O2 stats down. If it continues to grow…."

Will breathed heavily looking at the picture. "Yea. What should we do?"

"The way I see it we have 2 choices. Do the thoracentesis procedure and get the fluid out. It'll definitely help him breathe and give the meds time to work. Or we can be prepared to intubate soon to help him breathe until the fluid goes down. But it can still lead to the same procedure. And intubation has its own risks with infections. "

Will looked behind him to Jay and Hailey and back to Crocket. "It's up to him." Crockett nodded in agreement and they turned to give Jay his options. They just looked at Jay, not knowing where to start. The awkward silence had Hailey uncomfortable for him.

"It's bad isn't it?" Jay asked.

"It is. There's a lot of fluid building up in your 's what is making it so hard to breathe. It's building up at an excessive rate in the space between your lungs and chest wall. We can't just sit and wait. We can do a procedure to drain the fluid. It'll take about 30 minutes but once it's done it should give you a lot of relief while we wait for the antibiotics to work. Or we can intubate you to help until the meds kick in. Your O2 stats have dropped a little too low in the last couple hours. If we continue to wait we won't have a choice but to intubate." Crockett explained.

Jay thought for a moment. "Is it an actual surgery?"

"Not exactly. It's done right here in the room. You'd be awake the entire time."

"What exactly is this procedure?" Jay asked. Crockett paused to look at Will, who just gave Jay a sympathetic look. That's all it took for Jay to realize why they had left such important details out to begin with. "Oh. Nevermind. How long would I have to be intubated?" Jay let out a couple coughs, and pulled down his mask.

"It's hard to say, but at least a couple days. Being intubated doesn't rule out the procedure possibly later on. But it would help you breathe for now. "

Jay was unsure what to do. Wait days or get it over with. He looked to Hailey who only gave him a sad smile. Then looked back to Will. "What should i do?" he asked his brother with a notable wheeze.

"It's not up to me Jay. Whatever you're comfortable with, i'll support you 100%."

Jay sat there for a moment, focusing on his breathing. Listening to every wheeze, he hated the tightness. He also hated waking up from surgery all those times with a tube in his throat. It was extremely uncomfortable. He couldnt imagine being awake like that for days when there was an alternative. He certainly didn't want to put Will and Hailey through that either. He knew which choice his brother would make. Some without a phobia would think this was an easy decision. But for the person with the fear, it was far from easy.

"I don't have to…...see it right? While you do it?" He asked Crockett.

"No. We'll do a quick ultrasound, to mark the spot on your back that is the closest to the largest amounts of fluid. We'll numb the area first, and insert a catheter to drain the fluid. You'll be sitting on the edge of the bed. You can rest your head against Will the entire time. You won't see a thing."

"Ok. Let's do that then."

The xray machine was rolled out of the room, and a nurse went to get a ultrasound machine. Things were moved and set up quickly. Will lowered the bed rails on the left side of the bed and got Jay sitting up right, with his feet hanging off the side of the bed. Then he placed the oxygen mask back on Jay's face. Hailey was sitting next to him holding his hand. The ultrasound was rolled into the room, and Crockett did a quick scan over Jay's left side, marking a spot that showed the most buildup. The ultrasound showed more fluid than the x ray indicated.

"Ok we're ready. Jay, I need you to lean forward against Wills chest. And be as still as possible. I'll walk you through each step as we move along so there's no surprises."

Jay looked up at Will who was sitting in a chair that he had slid over in front of him. He was already feeling uneasy and regretting his decision and Will sensed his uneasiness.

"Don't worry. I got you. This is going to be quick I promise." He helped Jay lean forward placing his forehead on his shoulder. Will was leaning his head against him, keeping him perfectly wedged between his shoulder and face, one hand behind his head, so he couldn't turn and see anything. Hailey stood right behind Will offering her encouraging words. They watched as Crockett cleaned the area with antiseptic solution, and applied a sterile drape over the area.

"Perfect. You're going to feel a couple pinches, this is just to numb the area."

Jay instantly stiffened, and Crockett looked over to Will. "Easy brother. Deep breaths. It's going to be quick." Jay did not respond. Just took a long, shaky breath.

"Ok on three." Crockett was quick. Numbing the area. Jay only flinched slightly at the first entrance. Luckily the numbing kicked in quick, so he didn't have to feel all 4 pokes to the area.

"You're doing great Jay." Will whispered down to his brother.

"Alright man. You might feel a little pressure. Almost done." Jay groaned at the feeling and kept his eyes closed. Will adjusted his hand on the back of his neck, talking to him. Looking over at the tray of different sized needles, that was the last thing he wanted Jay to see. They were almost done. While Hailey reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. Crockett was in the process of inserting the catheter, to be able to withdraw fluid. The whole process was quick. The catheter was secure and a rather large looking syringe was screwed into the end. Even Crockett was amazed at the amount of fluid filling the syringe. He knew once this was complete Jay would be able to breathe a lot better. He unscrewed it from the catheter and held it up for Will and Hailey to see. Both of their eyes widened.

"Our friend here should feel loads better after this." Crockett removed the catheter and cleaned the area again. Making sure to keep the tray of pointy things covered up until the nurses left with it, and the other equipment used. Will stood up and helped Jay sit up right. Now that it was over he was thankful he chose this one. Hailey leaned in and kissed him on his forehead, beaming down at him with a big smile. The tightness was definitely a lot better. And his breaths were already less wheezy.

"How are we feeling?" Crockett asked as he came around the bed.

"Better." Jay nodded. He was still tired and achy feeling, but thankful to be able to breathe somewhat normally.

"Great pal. We're going to keep the mask for now…." Jay moaned and his shoulders dropped. "I know but tomorrow we'll see about switching you back to the cannula. That should relieve some stress for now. Your O2 numbers have already improved some, and they'll improve more as the antibiotics do their trick. As long as fluid doesn't build back up the next 24- 48 hours, we'll see about moving you to another room soon. I'm also going to schedule you for a ct scan this afternoon or tomorrow. Last scan to check on the artery in your leg, and we'll remove the chest tube then as well. A nurse will be in soon to give the next dose of pain meds. Sound good?"

"Great. Thankyou Dr. Marcell." Jay responded, giving a real heartfelt thankyou. He couldn't begin to thank him enough for everything he had done the last few days to save his life. Again.

Crockett reached over and put his hand on his shoulder. "It's no problem man. You'll be back out there chasing the bad guys soon. Just try to stay safe. I'm tired of seeing you on my table man." They all laughed and thanked him again as he left. Another big hurdle, and hopefully the last, out of the way.

"I want to get up." Jay didn't waste any time to be ready to get on the move. His caretakers shouldn't have been surprised. How Jay Halstead of him.

'Where exactly?" Will asked. "Let's not push it."

"Right." Jay nodded in agreement. "Just the bathroom."

Another quick walk to the bathroom and Jay found himself back in bed, covered with just his sheet and sporting a new cooling compress around his neck. His fever was down to 101, but he was still feeling warm. The nurse from the earlier blood draw brought in his next round of pain meds the same time breakfast was delivered. The nurse apologized for spooking him earlier, explained it was her first month out of nursing school, and she should have thought it out better before approaching that way. Jay pulled down his mask and smiled at her and told her it wasn't her fault and promised she was forgiven. She laughed and left feeling better about herself. Jay watched as she left before looking over at his brother, and hurried and put the mask back on his face before he started fussing.

Breakfast was again the fabulous liquid diet Jay hated. But at this point he was too tired to care. He ate the pudding, and drank a juice before falling asleep with the spoon and jello in his hand, and his mask around his chin. Will and Hailey just exchanged a look and laughed. Their guy was worn out, and they weren't going to be the ones to wake him up. Will replaced the mask as Hailey tossed the trash. Hailey stood next to the bed and just watched Jay sleep for a minute fighting back tears. These past few days had been a whirlwind of emotions and it was all starting to catch up.

"I'm going to run downstairs. Want me to bring you something?"

"Please. Coffee and whatever you get!" Will responded before looking up at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yea. Yea I'm fine. I'll be back." Hailey made it to the elevator, thankfully it was empty, before breaking down.