Authors not at the bottom. Please Read. :)
"Logan, time to get up bud." Jay says pushing through the mess of the child's bedroom and plopping down on the side of the bed. He reaches out and shakes his son slightly and the young boy groans. "Get up it's time for hockey practice."
"The sun isn't up yet." Logan groans turning to face the wall.
Jay rolls his eyes. He wasn't exactly a big fan of the 5 am hockey practice for a group of 11 and 12 year olds, but here they are. "Believe me bud, I know. Get up, we leave in twenty." Jay pushes himself off the bed and down the hall to his bedroom. He leans down and presses his lips to Hailey's forehead.
Hailey groans as she sleepily reaches up for him. "Hockey practice?"
Jay reluctantly nods his head as he allows her to pull him down next to her so that is he is half sitting, half laying on the bed next to her. "Unfortunately. I'd rather stay here snuggled up to you."
"Me too," she whines. "You're my space heater and I'm freezing."
Jay laughs. "What else is new?" He moves to stand up again. "I'm going to go let the pup out real quick while I'm waiting on Logan." Hailey nods in response, her eyes already closed once more. "Go back to sleep, Hailey Anne. I'll be back for you later."
"Kay." She mutters nearly asleep already as he once more kisses her on the forehead before heading downstairs to let the dog out.
He had just brought the dog back inside and placed her in her kennel when Logan came downstairs ready to go. "Ready bud?" He laughs when Logan gives him an inaudible groan. The two grab their things and head out the door to the truck.
Logan leans his head back against the headrest and closes his eyes for the twenty minute drive across town and Jay clings to the to go cup of coffee in his hands to keep him awake as he navigates the near empty streets of Chicago.
Soon enough they reach the rink and Jay reaches over to shake his son awake once more. "We're here."
This time Logan's eyes shoot open, excitement filling them rather than sleepiness. Despite the early morning hour, Logan loved hockey.
Jay couldn't help but chuckle as he watches his son jump out of the truck, grab his gear, and run off to meet his teammates. Reluctantly Jay shuts the truck off, grabs his coffee and his phone and follows along inside.
Meanwhile at home Hailey was busy doing the morning routine solo because while Jay had Logan at practice, Will had an early morning shift so she was alone with the 4 kids. She was already up and ready herself, both girls were ready and half asleep on the couch and the twins were dressed and sitting in their high chair munching on their bananas while she prepared breakfast for the older two girls.
Hailey's smile grows when her husbands face lights up her screen moments later and she doesn't give it a second thought wedging the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she divides the eggs onto the two frozen character plates. "Hey babe, you guys almost home? I just got done fixing eggs and toast. I know it's not their favorite but you know me, it's the best I can do."
"Hailey Anne, I need you to listen to me."
This stops Hailey in her tracks, her heart beat speeding up as she sits the pan back on the stove. "What's wrong?"
"Logan is fine, but we had a bit of an accident." Jay tells her through the phone, his voice calm. He usually was the calm of the two in situations when it came to the kids and she was thankful. It kept her calm.
Jay continues to tell her about how Logan had collided with another player on the ice; how he could hear the snap when he hit the ice from where he stood talk to another assistant coach before Logan ever screamed out.
"I'm on my way." Hailey says immediately rushing to slip her shoes on before grabbing her purse, keys, and the diaper bag. "Girls let's go." She says moving to reach for the twins in her hurried state. She was freaking out, and Jay knew it.
"Hailey Anne,"
His voice always seemed to soothe her and she allowed herself to calm down and slow down for just a second. "Yeah?"
"He's okay. He's right here with me." Jay says reaching up and running his hand over his sons hair. The young boy lets out a small whimper and Hailey's heart breaks even more at the sound. "Be careful and take your time. We're not going anywhere."
"I will, I promise."
Twenty five minutes later Hailey comes running into the room pushing the twins in a double stroller. It comes to a screeching stop safely inside the doorway and she throws the diaper bag down along with her purse before making her way over to where Logan laid with his leg propped up. Jay looks up from his phone and Logan looks away from the TV in the corner of the room.
"There's my baby," she says reaching up and running her hand through Logan's dark hair. Normally in his preteen mind he would move away from his mother's touch but at the moment he was in pain and scared and his moms comforting touch was welcoming. It's not that his dad and uncle Will hadn't been comforting, they had, but there's just something about wanting your mom when you're sick or hurt. "Are you still hurting?"
"They gave him some meds for the pain." Jay said sitting up in the recliner on the other side of the bed. "Maggie said they will be right in to take him to surgery."
Jay looks from her husband to her son with a nod. She gives him a quick reassuring smile before turning back to Jay. Her hand continues to run through his hair. "What did they say?"
Jay moves to sit back down in the recliner after pulling the stroller closer to him and out of the way. "He has a tibia fracture that's a pretty good break. They can repair it surgically. It won't take long. Probably have to piece it together with plates and screws, but they won't know for sure until they get in there. But either way he's going to have to stay off the leg and take it easy for a while. No walking, and no hockey."
At that, Logan groans.
Hailey looks from Jay to Logan with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, he's not excited about that part." Jay informs her and Hailey nods. Her boy was a hockey player and had been since he was old enough to play. He took after his dad and uncle Will on that front. They both had played all through school.
"Probably no school either." Hailey says thinking aloud. This causes the young boys eyes to light up.
"Oh that you're okay with." Jay says sarcastically and Hailey laughs.
"We'll figure it out, bud." She says offering her son a quick wink.
Just then Jay looks up and around the small ER room. "Hails, where's the girls?"
"I called everyone on the way here." She rolls her eyes. "Kev was the only one who would answer. He met me in the parking lot and took the girls. He's dropping them off at school and daycare for me on his way to work."
"Life saver."
"Tell me about it." Hailey says moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "Speaking of work, I guess you need to go?"
Jay shakes his head. "Nah, I already called Adam. Put him in charge for the day cause I knew we'd both be here."
"That was a brave move." Hailey laughs turning to glance at her husband. "You'll be lucky if your unit is still standing when you get back."
"Hailey Anne." Jay deadpans as he stares at his wife. "You know me better than that. Kim is secretly in charge."
"Much better plan."
Several hours later Jay and Hailey sat in the waiting room with Will.
Adam, Kim, Vanessa, and Kevin were at work finishing up a case. Hank had swung to pick up the twins earlier and promised to get the girls from school so the couple didn't have to worry about anything other than Logan and his recovery. Vanessa was going to take the twins home tonight for bed while the girls would stay with Kim and Adam, freeing both Jay and Hailey to stay with their eldest.
"Hey guys, I'm sure we still have a little bit." Will says pushing himself up. "I'm going to run and get some coffee. You want some or anything for that matter?" He asks glancing between his brother and his sister in law.
Hailey manages to shake her head no and Jay reaches over resting his hand on her thigh, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Coffee would be good, thanks." Jay mutters sending his big brother a thankful smile.
Will offers him a nod in return before turning and heading toward the cafeteria. He steps out of the elevator two floors down and rounds the corner only to come to a complete stop at the sight in front of him. He watches with wide eyes, as Natalie, his wife, kisses Crocket.
Knife to the heart.
By the time Will returns to Hailey and Jay, the rest of the unit has joined them. It's nearing 7 at night and they had managed to wrap up their case fairly early enough to swing by and see how Logan was doing before heading out to collect their kiddos and the extra Halstead kids they would all be keeping for the night.
Will hands Jay both his coffee and a bottle of water for Hailey before moving to take an empty seat across the room.
"You good?" Jay asks his brother noticing his sudden mood change. He looked like he could kill. Will just shakes his head not wanting to get into it at that moment, and Jay lets it go.
"What is taking so long?" Hailey asks leaning forward in her chair and resting her head in her hands. Jay's hand runs up and down her back in a soothing manner. There wasn't much he could do to calm his wife right now, especially when he wasn't calm either, so he was doing the only thing he knew to do. His touch always seemed to help her. "Shouldn't they be done now?"
It was a fairly simple surgery but it was Logan's first and his first time under anesthesia and they were just both simply being parents and worrying.
"I've seen the X-ray," Natalie pipes up from across the room. Everyone turns to look at her, sans her husband who rolls her eyes. Who had invited her to sit here with his family anyway? Who cares if she has been Logan's aunt his whole life? She chose to throw it away. "He has several broken pieces. It takes time to piece it together, Hailey. He's in great hands."
Hailey seems to accept that answer and just nods before leaning back in her seat. She leans into Jay's embrace, leaving her head on Jay's shoulder, while her right hand was intertwined with that of her best friend Vanessa. The two people in the world who could bring her peace.
Another twenty minutes go by and then the double doors open and Dr. Montgomery, head of Ortho, comes out and over to where they were sitting.
Hailey had finally managed to fall asleep against her husbands shoulder but jumps up the second he whispers her name in her ear. He's up next to her just as quick and the rest of the group sits up to pay attention as well.
Dr. Montgomery smiles at the couple. "Logan did great. I got in there and cleaned out all the debris. Managed to piece back together the bone with mostly screws and one plate. I'd like to leave them in for about 6 months to a year given how young he is and the fact that he is a hockey player, but in a few months with some PT, he'll be back on the ice like nothing ever happened."
Hailey's crying as she clings to Jay and Jay's just so thankful his boy is okay. The sound of Logan's leg cracking and his blood curdling scream has been playing on a loop in mind all day long. "That is so amazing Dr. Montgomery, thank you so much!!!" Hailey exclaims.
"Yes," Jay clears his throat to keep from crying. "Thank you for taking care of our boy."
He offers them a smile. "My pleasure."
"Can we see him?" Hailey asks.
Dr. Montgomery nods. "Just mom and dad. He's awake but he's tired from the anesthesia."
Jay and Hailey nod and reach for their things. Everyone quickly says their goodbyes and heads to grab the kids, and the couple promises to keep everyone updated before following the Doctor down the hall to Logan's room.
The hallway clears out pretty quickly leaving just Will and Natalie. She begins to speak. "Will..."
He holds his hand up. "I don't want to hear a word from you. I'm getting Owen tonight after shift for my weekend then Monday I'm meeting a lawyer. I'm done Natalie."
"There's our boy!" Jay says following Hailey into Logan's hospital room. He lays their stuff on the bench and follows her to the bed. She sits on the edge and he moves to stand next to his sons head, running his hand over his sons hair while Hailey holds his hand tightly in hers.
"How are you feeling?" Hailey asks studying him.
"Sleepy." Logan mutters, his eyes barely open. "My leg doesn't hurt."
"Good." She says kissing his knuckles at the same time Jay opens his mouth to speak.
"That's the meds, it'll go away."
Hailey shoots him a look. "Jay!"
He gives her a 'what' look before they both look back at Logan. The boy was so out of it he didn't hear his father anyway. "Get some rest buddy, mom and I will be right here if you need us." Jay assured him as he pulls a chair up to the side of the bed. Hailey stays sitting on the edge of the bed running her hand up and down his non broken leg.
"You're both staying?" Logan asks, his eyes lighting up?
"You bet." Hailey winks. "You can't get rid of us bud."
And you couldn't. As minor as it was, as simple as the surgery was.. Logan was their first baby. Seeing him in pain and broken hurt them. It didn't matter that neither would sleep or that Jay would barley be able to walk tomorrow from sitting in that chair all night. There was nowhere else either would be in that moment.
Sorry for the long wait!!! Work, and life happened. Then I became an aunt again!!!
Ok guys. That definitely took a turn from where I was going with this chapter. But I hope you enjoy none the less.
QUICK POLL: Do you want to read more about the other people in Jay and Hailey's lives? IE; Burzek, Stellaride, Will, Vanessa and Kevin? The story will still be 90% Upstead, but work them in here and there like I did with Will in this chapter. Let me know!
Also, I uploaded a new Upstead fic. It's called "Even Though I'm Leaving." And is based on Upstead's life if Jay never left the Army. Please check it out and review.
Please review this as well! The reviews on this have been so amazing! I never thought this story would do so well! Thank you for your love and support! I love that you love this family as much as I do! :)