Chapter 2- The Nose Swab From Hell
It began with a headache. The headache from hell to be exact. It was a mere hint of a headache throughout the night, stirring him a couple of times as he rolled about on his side of the bed. He contemplated getting up and swallowing a few Advil but his level of tiredness shook that off. It was the exhaustion of the day, the wine at dinner, or how hard they went at it that night, he concluded in his half awake state. But as he arose this time around the regret in not doing anything was right there. He could not blink, he could not move, heck, he couldn't really think. His head felt like it had been on the receiving end of a crowbar flight and someone was pounding him over and over again. He needed help, medication, something, he knew, but the pain and misery was preventing him from seeking what he so desperately needed.
"Jay," Hailey called for the fifth time now, her voice full of worry. She'd been jostling his shoulder a few times now, watching on with fear at his still body. She was about to cry out again but a moan trickled out of his lifeless self.
"What," he spoke just above a whisper.
"We need to get on the Zoom call in a couple minutes and we should probably be dressed." Jay still didn't move, simply moaned again as Hailey sat up and crawled right next to him.
"What's wrong," she asked while brushing a hand over his tossed hair. He didn't have it in him to tell her that that was sending instant nausea all over him.
"Head…hurts," he squeaked.
"Like really bad?"
"Yeah." He was on the verge of tears now, Hailey hearing it in his voice and ceasing her movements.
"Do you want some Advil, water?" Jay did his best to nod, twitching and wincing as Hailey got up and gathered the items. She landed on the floor next to his side of the bed, gathering his shirt and donning it before heading to the bathroom. It was some night, she concluded, as she looked around at the items all over the floor. His pants were right at the door, her shirt and jeans over by the foot of the bed. All their under garments were on the bench at the end of the bed, proving that they were in fact completely naked by the time they hit the bed and remained that way throughout the night. Hailey was shocked they stayed warm that night, thank you body warmth and snuggling. She shivered as she went to the thermostat and adjusted things, trying to bring the place out of morgue levels. Now in the bathroom she grabbed the glass next to the sink and filled it before tackling the meds. Advil was grabbed from the cabinet before heading back to the room. Jay hadn't moved a muscle, constant moans now slipping out of him as she knelt next to his head.
"Here," she whispered, placing the Advil in his hands as he opened his eyes for the first time. They were bloodshot, pained, not at all how they were the last time she saw him. He was in a world of pain, Hailey wishing there was a quick fix for all of it. Jay found the strength to sit up enough to swallow water and pills, Hailey helping him get upright.
"What do you think it is? Tension, sinus, hungover?"
"It feels like all three," Jay spoke over pills and water.
"I'm sorry." Jay shrugged his shoulders, handing her the cup before trying to lay back down.
"Wait, let's adjust the pillows. The last thing you need to do is lay flat and on your stomach." Jay didn't have it in him to protest, instead choosing to cradle his head in his hands and lean forward a bit as Hailey worked. She arranged the pillows in a way that they were stacked one on top of the other, making an incline. Very slowly she laid him back down, tucking him in as he hissed at the spike in pain.
"I take it you're not showing up to this meeting this morning," she joked.
"The thought of staring at a screen makes me want to puke."
"Yikes dude, this is a bad one. When was the last time you had one this bad?"
"I don't know, it's been awhile."
"Okay, is there anything else you need?"
"No, I just want to sleep." On top of everything else, his eyes were beyond tired, dull and droopy orbs that appeared to want to sleep the rest of time away. Hailey was worried, she'd be quick to admit, but the last thing she wanted to do was worry Jay. If anything he'd say that she was being paranoid, that there was no way it was that. It was just an out of nowhere bad headache, that he'd be fine in the morning or later that day. So instead she planted a small peck on his forehead, promised to check on him later before rising from her place and heading to the living area. She turned around to watch him as she closed the door, Jay going limp before she closed things off. Yeah, she was thinking what the rest of the world was, that that was the only explanation. But Zoom was awaiting her. As she powered up the work laptop and stared at her reflection in the camera she was embarrassed at what the others would be looking at. She had the day-after-sex hair, a riled and tangled mop on her head, not to mention she was very clearly wearing Jay's shirt. The quickest of messy buns was her saving grace, which she was applying as the rest of Intelligence gathered on the call.
"Well, you two had a busy night," Adam spoke for the class, the call erupting with laughter as Hailey blushed things away.
"Shut up, Ruz," was her best and only comeback.
"Where's Jay anyway," Kevin asked?
"Sleeping. He woke up with a splitting headache and can't get out of bed."
"You don't think.." Kim trailed off.
"No! No, it's not that. We just drank a lot so it's probably just a bad hangover," Hailey lied. Voight reigned things back in, told them it was case load day as nothing had come over the calls for them to answer. The city was tucked away at home, keeping the crime threat in house as well. Hailey picked two cases to dive into before they all went their ways. She spread everything out wide on the table and floor as the pen of choice was chosen and she dove in. This was her morning and early afternoon, the only pause was to look in the direction of the bedroom door and strain for any kind of noise from Jay. But it never came, he never begged for her presence. Jay was off in sleepville, a sign of things to come.
…
It was 3pm when she called it. She couldn't wait a moment longer, she had to get up, get out of the apartment. Hailey leaned back, arching her back as she outstretched her arms. Her hands could not write another initial, her body feeling icky from all the memory games and furious signing that it did all day long. She needed fresh air, the cold temps piercing her face as she trudged around the block. Hailey closed the laptop for the day and rearranged all the paperwork before piling the stack on the table. This was the kind of workday she could get used to. A known start and finish time was so foreign to her and she greatly welcomed it. The other thing that made her call it quits was Jay. He still hadn't moved or called or done anything since 8am this morning. For all Hailey knew he was in dire pain, dehydrated, and starving. Hailey forewent knocking on the door, instead slowly prying it open to reveal her betrothed passed out in the exact same position that she left him in. The soft snores from his nose and puffed out lips from the breathing were so inviting, but it was the quiet moan on the exhale that had her worried. This headache ranked up there as the worst, no way was it a simple hangover headache.
"Jay," she whispered as she got to his side of the bed. He didn't respond. Hailey went back into the bathroom and grabbed another round of water and Advil and Tylenol this time before heading back to the bed.
"Jay," she fully spoke now, gingerly pressing on his shoulder. He was quick to slap her hand away, whine out loud before looking around the room for whatever just dared to awaken him. He found her, did his best to smirk before rolling his eyes and stretching his arms.
"What time is it," he whispered?
"3pm." Jay's eyes went wide, Hailey nodding that indeed she was correct.
"You've pretty much slept the day away. Have you been asleep the entire time?"
"I woke up twice but could barely stay awake." What he didn't tell Hailey was that he was having fever dreams, the most obscure and ridiculous dreams ever. For example, one of them was him trying to run on water while a hurricane came onto shore and drowned him. The exception was that it happened every five seconds, a constant deluge of water and drowning before being hoisted up and the process done all over again.
"Jay, I don't think this is just a hangover."
"I'm fine. Probably just a bug. Everything is floating around out there."
"Including.."
"-No! It's not that. Stop being paranoid." Hailey was not prepared for the anger and harshness of his answer. She pursed her lips before throwing hands in the air and stepping back. Even in his altered state Jay knew he'd messed up.
"I'm sorry. It's just this headache." Hailey wasn't quick to bounce right back to him, instead choosing to tidy the room up as she spoke.
"Do you want to try eating? Maybe get dressed?" Jay looked down under the sheets before smirking, chuckling as he realized he'd been completely naked all day.
"Yes to clothes and maybe wait on food."
"Jay, you can't keep taking pain meds on an empty stomach. You'll puke." She threw a t-shirt, underwear, and sweatpants at him, Jay catching them before sitting himself up and swinging legs over the bed. As he winced and cursed in pain during his rise, Hailey offered to help but Jay shook her off. He had a headache, tiredness, and weird dreams, he wasn't inept enough to need help getting dressed. Once clothed he got right back into bed, yet another sign that indeed there was more going on then what either of them would want to admit. Jay never chose to get into bed, unless it was with Hailey.
"Here, we're going to try Tylenol too this time and if that doesn't work maybe Will can call something in," Hailey spoke as she handed off the pills and water. Jay took it all without protest or word, just did as was told.
"Now, food," Hailey pushed once again.
"How about we start light, toast and eggs?" Jay thought for a moment before closing his eyes and nodding. As Hailey went off in the direction of the kitchen Jay dozed off. The other thing he didn't tell Hailey, because he didn't want to admit it, was that he'd been sweating all afternoon. He was achey, his body occasionally shivering like it was trying to shake something out of him. He didn't think the fever, if he had one, was too high to be of concern, but it was hard to avoid the truth that he was coming down with something. Even now, clothed and under flannel sheets he was shivering again, yet another sign that he was fighting something.
"Hailey, do you have OJ," he called out to her? Because that was going to be the thing that fought everything off. She yelled back that she did, Jay going silent till she arrived.
"I'm back!" Her tone was a little too much for him, Jay scrunching his brow before shushing things. Hailey turned the side table light on, dimming it to a level that wouldn't harm him. The final step was to plant the plate in Jay's lap and hand him a fork.
"Eat." She stood at the end of the bed and watched his glacial moves from plate to mouth, but eventually he was eating everything.
"I…I think tonight I'm going to sleep in the guest room."
"What? Hailey come on, seriously. It's not that bad."
"Jay, you've been sleeping all day with a terrible headache and you can barely move around. If I didn't know any better you're coming down with a flu." Jay was about to respond when a sneeze erupted out of him, that making her step back another couple steps.
"Yeah, that sealed it."
"Oh good night, it was just a sneeze."
"Yeah, well, we both can't get whatever you have so I'm doing it."
"Fine, but for the record this might be a little overkill."
"Well, I'm not taking any chances," Hailey got the last word in. Jay placed his fork back down on the empty plate, his cue that things were complete. Hailey gathered the plate before moving the water and OJ cups close to the edge of the bedside table.
"Do you need anything else?" Jay shook his head.
"Alright, I'm going to go walk around the block for a little bit. I need to get out of this place. Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll watch something on my phone till I fall asleep." The fact he was choosing to watch something was a sign of some kind of improvement. Hailey handed him the phone and charging cord from the wall before gathering everything and shutting off the lights. A friendly wave and blown kiss went his way before Hailey encouraged him to rest and feel better. Before she left the kitchen mess had to rectified. Nothing had been touched since dinner the night before, remnants of steak and salad were stuck to plates and bowls and the red wine perfectly ruined now that it was room temperature and uncorked for close to twenty-four hours. Hailey threw the bottle away before loading everything into the dishwasher and firing the thing up. She could hear the sloshing of sudsy water as she pulled her boots and coat on. Just before walking out she remembered to grab a mask, the CDC was recommending that walks outside were fine so long as you masked up. It was a weird feeling, Hailey convinced she looked insane, but did as was instructed before walking out the door. The first cough echoed out of the bedroom just as she locked the front door, her ears failing to detect the chilling sound. His coughing was simple, quiet, harmless at first, more of a clearing the throat to the average person. But by the time Hailey had returned home, made herself another meal, and sat down on the couch with TV remote in hand did the deep, crackling sound of a serious cough meet her ears. Literally as she was watching CNN debrief on the latest early signs of COVID-19 Jay coughed the worst yet. She all but jolted out of her skin, nearly dropping her food on the floor. This was not some bug nor was it something he would get over by the morning. At this point, Hailey prayed it was just the flu. Something no one ever prays to be true.
…
Sleep didn't come for either of them that night. Jay coughed and coughed, and moaned the night away. The once simple and controllable cough was a full on fit, Jay never quite able to clear his throat and cease the urges to cough a lung up. The more he tried, the more stuff and congestion came with it. Furthermore, the once thought of fever was now a full on siege of his body. He was sweating so much that he removed clothing and sheets. He was shaking, unable to ever catch his breath, and wholeheartedly in a delirium. Fever dreams were now reality. A couple times he swore that Hailey was standing at the end of the bed stark naked and asking him to have sex with her. His frying brain not knowing any better concluded that what he was seeing was indeed true, so imagine his dismay when he'd fall off the end of the bed trying to grab something that wasn't there. Any small amount of energy he had was spent on those episodes, by the time midnight struck he was curled in a ball at the foot of the bed praying to die, for all of it to just go away and take him. On the plus side, his headache was gone. But everything else that was now wrong with him made him beg for the headache pain to come back. He could not move, his body slowly, painfully shutting down to the most basic of tasks. He got to a point of barely being able to breathe, blink, adjust, or sleep. His body was overcome with the virus, unable to combat all that was falling apart within. The coughing fits grew to struggles for air, Jay's chest tight and not willing to move on it's own for much longer. Every joint in his body screamed for relief, for whatever was stabbing it to stop. And let's not forget the fever that was putting him close to seizures. Jay had no clue how bad the temperature was, but the fact he was seeing and hearing things and found himself staring at a single circle on the bedsheets told him it was bad. He recalled a time in his childhood that he did have a fever that got up to 103 and during that time he felt in the ballpark of this bad. But this time around was so much worse, unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
The only thing that was still sharp and alert was his mind, his innermost thoughts. He kept telling himself to move back to the pillows, to get under the covers and try and sleep. Jay out loud told himself that he had to keep breathing, that he knew it was hard but if he stopped he'd be in a world of trouble, as if crashing under the weight of COVID with no medical assistance wasn't the issue. That was Jay, till the very end: constantly telling himself that he was doing great and that all would go away in the morning. He cried himself to sleep that night, terrified that if he passed out that would be the end. His whole body would shut down with the mind and that would be the end of him. He wasn't ready, but he was so tired. He knew he needed help from the outside world, but he was so tired.
Hailey meanwhile sat on the couch the whole night listening to the misery that was playing out in her room. She was fearful on two parts. First, of course, pertaining to Jay's wellbeing. He was far from well, this thing that was attacking him something she'd never seen or heard of before. It was COVID, she figured out before long. There hadn't been the first test nor had their been any kind of talk with Jay over symptoms. She just knew, her gut telling her what she was afraid to admit. Her gut never swayed her wrong, this time looking to be just like all the other times. The second part she was petrified of was contracting whatever Jay had. She'd been in contact with him in so many ways over the last twenty-four hours, not wearing a mask or gloves and certainly not keeping her distance. She could not imagine having to go through what Jay was currently feeling, that thought of coughing nonstop and crying in agony allowing her to tear up a couple times. Whenever the coughing died down and it sounded like Jay was calm she'd venture to the door, knock on it and hope she'd get some kind of response. Oh the temptation to open the door and walk in there was tantalizing but she knew from this point onward she had to be careful. Whatever exposure she had in the past was done, nothing she could do to change things. If there was a sliver of hope in her avoiding this she had to be careful from here on out. She never got a response from Jay.
Around 4:30am the coughing calmed to a point where Jay could do it in his sleep. The agony cries stopped and the rustling of the bedsheets came to a halt. Hailey concluded that Jay was finally, mercifully, asleep, her prayers now turning to him staying that way. After that she paced the apartment, cleaning things up as she went. Again, no one knew at that time where the virus lived and for how long it survived out of the body. The more she looked around the apartment the more she saw germs. She took things a room at a time, having bursts of deep, serious working followed by long periods of pacing around, hands plastered to her forehead as she thought. She had to tell Will, work, everyone. She was looking at being stuck in the apartment for fourteen days. Jay was more then likely going to have to check into a hospital. Then came the thoughts of hospitals filling up, ventilators being rationed and meds being held for the sickest of patients. She didn't think Jay was to the point of a ventilator yet, but he really needed medical help. Which then also made her think of how he'd get there. Was she up for driving him, exposing herself for a very long time in an enclosed space with that cough happening all the time? Did she call an ambo and have him drive away with her forced to stay back? Her mind was a swamp of worry, despair, questions with no answers. It was 6am now. She could not take it anymore. As the coughing fits fired up once more Hailey dialed the brother, the medical expert that could help her decide where to go from here.
"Hailey? It's a little early but what's up?" She couldn't get a word out before completely collapsing onto the floor right outside the bedroom door, sobbing all the worry and fear out of her. Will was silent for several minutes as he listened to her cry. He wasn't about to hang up on her but was growing more worried the longer the sobs went. Only when an extra trying round of coughing slipped out of the bedroom did she clear her throat, sit up, and collect herself enough to let out a single sentence.
"Hailey? You okay? What's going on?"
"Will, I think Jay has COVID." That one took all life out of his lungs. A little ironic, we're well aware.
"What?"
"He woke up yesterday with a bad headache and he slept the whole day. Last night he started sneezing which turned into coughing and he's barely slept."
"He slept all day yesterday?"
"Yeah," Hailey sniffed.
"Hailey, it could be the flu. We're having a record year of it."
"Will, I've seen him with a flu. This is not it. He's never been this bad before." Will nodded as he cleared his throat, pausing for a moment before asking the questions.
"Were you with him at all after he started showing symptoms?" "Yeah, of course I was. Here we were thinking it was a bad hangover headache. I got him pain meds, made him food, helped him get in bed, I've been around him a lot."
"Okay. Well, if it is COVID you realize you'll probably have to go into quarantine for two weeks."
"Yeah, I know."
"So you said he's been sleeping, has a cough, what about a fever?"
"I don't know. I'm terrified to go in there and check."
"What about eating? Has he lost taste or smell?" Hailey sighed in frustration.
"I don't know, Will! I'm terrified to go in there."
"Alright, here's what I need you to do. Get a mask on and go in there really quick. Do you have a thermometer?"
"Yeah, I have one of those ones that you wave over the forehead."
"Okay, great. Perfect. Go do that. Then I need you to see if he'll eat or drink anything." Hailey paused, gathering all bravery in her before trying to rise. She was literally about to walk into an invisible battle with very little protecting her.
"How protective is this mask?"
"It'll be enough. Just make sure to wash your hands when you get out of there." Hailey put the phone down to put the mask on before heading in. With her hand on the door handle she breathed, deeply and calmly, before thrusting the thing open and walking in. The site of Jay undressed in a ball at the end of the bed took her breath away. That was the image that did it in for her. She had never seen or heard him this bad. He was the definition of miserable and dying, she mentally concluded.
"Oh Lord, Will. He's really bad. Balled up at the end of the bed in nothing and is shivering." Jay let out one of his signature deep coughs, now in the room you could hear the rattling and crap that was residing in his lungs. He was barely getting air, moaning for help as she made her way to the bathroom.
"Hailey, if he's got a temperature then you can bring him in." Now near his forehead Hailey held her breath as she waved the wand over his forehead. It took seconds to register a number Hailey had never seen before.
"104.8," she alerted in a panic, the quick breaths of emotions bubbling out of her.
"Shit. Yeah, he's coming in. Do you want me to call an ambulance?"
"Would I be able to go with him?"
"No, you'd have to say goodbye there." The tears streamed down her face as she looked on at Jay who was somewhere between awake and asleep. He was staring at something right behind her, blinks happening once or twice before another round of coughing and gasping rang out. This could not be the final time she saw him. No, she had to get him semi-conscious enough to get dressed and out the door. For her sanity and his wellbeing, she needed to see him enter a hospital before saying farewell for however long.
"I'll bring him in."
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'll get him up and somehow out the door. I'll drop him off and come right back."
"Okay, good luck. Try and keep him awake. If he passes out that'll make everything worse. Oh, also make him wear a mask." Hailey mumbled her farewell before hanging up. Looking around the room she tried to formulate her game plan. Wake Jay up, put his clothes back on, get him some shoes and get him out the door. She thought about getting him to shower but that would just delay getting him what he really needed.
"Jay," she spoke while brushing a hand on his shoulder.
"I know you're in a lot of pain right now and you can't stay awake, but we need to get you to Med." Her address to the ill one was all it took to snap him out of his impaired sleep state. Jay blinked a couple times before titling his head up and away from the bed.
"Hey Jay, you're really sick." He could only nod before coughing all over the end of the bed for the millionth time.
"Let's get you dressed and out the door."
"Sounds good," Jay wheezed.
"And Hailey, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For telling you this was nothing to worry about." That one sent chills. For Jay Halstead to admit things were bad, he had to be near death.
…
This was a level of fatigue neither of them had either seen. Hailey had to talk Jay into rolling onto his side, reminding him that he could do it and that it would take no time at all. Rolling, that thing you learned when you're six months old. Here Jay was well into his thirties and struggling to do it. Hailey got him on his back, foregoing the weird thoughts of dressing him. Hailey sped around the room, gathering up the clothes that Jay was once wearing. Starting with underwear and ending with the shirt, Hailey did her very best to dress a limp, moaning, coughing Jay who kept trying to speak, tell her that he could do things. In reality, Jay was too far gone in misery and sickness to ever do it himself, which brought Hailey to the dilemma of getting Jay to the hospital. Her car was on the street, they were three stories up in her apartment, and Jay couldn't sit up on his own.
"How are we going to do this," she spoke aloud, not really looking for Jay to respond to but he did anyway.
"I…can…make it," he panted, the stiffness and sick in the lungs really shining through now. Jay was barely breathing, eyes drooping and body growing stiff from the slow suffocation it was experiencing. Hailey paced a couple times, palm on her forehead as she thought. She couldn't get more people involved, further exposing them to this new, deadly virus all were petrified of. She was not going to get an ambulance here. Ambulances tend to draw a crowd, a crowd with many questions. She didn't have it in her to talk, to explain how she allowed COVID to live in her place for so long before getting it out the door. Oh God, she was already doing it: replacing Jay the person with a deadly virus.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to go grab the car, park it right by the front door, and then come back and the two of us will get down there. You have to wear a mask. If anyone asks, it's a bad case of food poisoning."
"So lie?"
"Jay, I already know I'm going to have to quarantine for two weeks in here. I don't need the entire building in a panic. It'll be contained. Why am I wasting time telling you this, I have to go." She headed for the door, pausing to turn back and look at him before she took off.
"Try to stay awake. I'll be right back." Jay could only move a finger before the coughing and struggling resumed. He knew what was coming next, the horror story that was soon going to be his life. It would begin with that nose swab test, the one he'd heard about that goes really far apparently. From there it would be a needle, an IV needle to be exact. After that he'd most likely be put to sleep so they could shove a tube down his throat that would breathe for him as he slept and slept till all life was shaken out of him. He was not prepared for any of this, was not ready to throw in the towel on his life. He had so much still to do, to love, to see in life. Things were just beginning to look up, track on new, exciting, gratifying paths. His time as sergeant was pending, leader of Intelligence coming as soon as Voight decided to call it quits. Hailey was growing more and more likely to be the one, the two of them working so well together and the relationship deepening by the day. How could things be going so right only to come crashing down so hard. He wasn't ready to say goodbye, to exit. But it felt as if he didn't have a choice, this invisible and silent enemy appeared to be taking him out against his will and plans. Jay Halstead's story was coming to a close, chapters left untold. That's when he started crying, shaking not out of the fever but emotions.
"I'm back! I'm back," Hailey calmly cried, opening the door to Jay back on his side, sobbing into hands.
"Hey, what's going on. Talk to me." Hailey sat him up, clutched his limp body in her arms as she embraced him in a hug. Yes, her risk of being infected is growing by the interaction with Jay.
"I don't want to die this way," Jay whispered before letting out struggles for air. Hailey closed her eyes to combat the emotions now coming out of her. Never did she imagine Jay being the emotional one, the guy was as solid and stable as it came. This was a new side and it scared her to no end.
"Jay, we're going to do everything we can to avoid that. But you have to let things work." She felt his head slowly nod a little on her, Hailey pulling away to get things moving.
"Now, we've got to get you there." Jay nodded, taking her hand as she worked with him to hoist him upright and in the direction of the door.
"One step at a time," she instructed, taking a step and waiting for Jay to follow her. This was how they got out there, one step at a time, the two of them arm locked and taking as many breaks as Jay needed. Hailey didn't even bother locking the front door when they got past it. No one was breaking into houses at this time of day. She offered a small praise to Jay as they got on the elevator and the bottom floor was selected.
"You're doing great, Jay. Almost there." Jay could only focus on the most basic of things: consciousness, breathing, blinking. He was a stiff, swaying, miserable looking person. As soon as the doors chimed and things opened up they were off. A small miracle, no one was out in the communal areas. In fact, the whole apartment complex was a ghost town. Everyone was inside, not daring to see the light of day till they were given the all clear. Jay did his best to absorb that fresh, crisp, winter air while he still had the chance, sucking it all in as best he could. Lord willing he'd get to experience it soon. But on the chance that this indeed was the final time, he vowed to himself to make the most of it.
"Great job, we made it," she praised Jay once the two of them were inside. Jay laid back on the headrest of the carseat, fixing his mask as another round of coughs let out. Hailey held her breath as she pulled into the street. This was going to be the drive to remember.
…
"We're here," she spoke to Jay, who had fallen asleep on the way. The rattles and crackling of his chest made for interesting sleep sounds, but the only good takeaway was that they were happening. A couple times Hailey felt the emotions coming up as they inched closer, the realization that they were about to say goodbye for quite sometime. When she pulled into the parking lot and wound her way to the COVID drop off spot, she let a few crying noises slip out. Looking over at Jay it dawned on her that this could be the final time she saw him asleep, the final moments he was alive and breathing and existing right next to her. They didn't know what was going to happen. There was no cure or treatment or really even a course of action with this thing. The world was learning as they went, with human lives being the cost of things. She now understood why Jay behaved the way he did back at the apartment, the unknowns far outweighed the likelihood of surviving. All they heard about were the deaths and how it was spreading, not how many people were coming through the other side, especially after being as bad off as Jay was. Hailey noted the fully gowned, masked, gloved person approaching the passenger side of the car. She brushed away the tears and nudged Jay once more as she rolled the window down.
"Hey there," she greeted, getting nothing in return.
"Symptoms?" "Coughing, fever, chills, having a really hard time breathing.."
"-Can't taste anything," Jay cut in.
"I tried drinking that OJ this morning and couldn't taste it." Hailey could only nod, swallowing the fear for the billionth time that morning.
"Okay," the doctor called, extending his arm as he waved a thermometer across Jay's forehead.
"104.4."
"Hey, it went down a little," Hailey encouraged. Jay was too consumed with the tablet in the doctor's hand. He was writing something and whatever it was was a lot. Cue the order to send him in.
"Finger," he called for next, clasping a pulse oximeter on Jay's finger before reading 87.
"How bad is that," Hailey asked?
"Not good," was all that she got back.
"Okay, we'll take him from here." Hailey unbuckled her seatbelt as she noted another person in full medical garb coming out with a wheelchair.
"Oh no no, you stay in the car."
"But I can help get him out."
"Sorry, we can't allow that. We've got him." Hailey grabbed Jay's arm, suddenly not wanting to let him go. It was happening way too fast, her time coming to a close way before she was anticipating.
"I've gotta go," Jay spoke.
"We've got to take him, now." Hailey nodded, swallowing everything as she slowly released her grip. Whether she liked it or not, Jay had to be taken away for awhile. From this point onward she'd have hope, hope that they got back together; hope that she got to make the trip home with him soon.
"Love you," she said as Jay got transferred from the car to the wheelchair. With the mask on she couldn't make out his mouth, but she just knew that under things we was smiling, or trying his best to. Jay waved before he was rushed inside. Hailey didn't move till Jay was no longer in her sights. Just like that, he was gone. Now what?
Meanwhile for poor Jay, life was becoming too fast paced for his wherewithal. People, things, were becoming blurred, noises jumbled and confusing to the point of being another language. Whatever status he was had to be serious because in no time at all he was in an ED room, door being shut behind him as the curtain was thrown around the bed area.
"What's going on," Jay whispered through the sharp, bright lights? The two people that brought him in grabbed an arm and picked Jay up to his feet and helped him get on the gurney. They didn't reply to him, instead talked to each other with a quick and alarmed tone.
"Swab?"
"Yeah, and get the Strike team down here." Before Jay could ask what the swab was for it was dislodged from it's protective sleeve and jammed into his nose. It went deep, deeper, into his eye and tickled, Jay was convinced. He hated the entire thing, out of reaction moved back to get away from it all.
"Nope, sorry. We've got to do the other side," one of the doctors said as they jammed into the next nostril. The whole thing took fifteen seconds, if that, but to Jay it drained everything out of him, a sense of violation coming out of him as they removed things and sent the sample to the lab.
"What's the Strike team?"
"It's our COVID response team."
"So it's definitely COVID?"
"We'll know for sure after the results come back, but it's very likely. Do you need help changing?" A hospital gown was shown to Jay along with socks. He thought about it for a moment, seriously wondered if he could, but then pride and stubbornness kicked in, no way was this stranger going to undress and redress him.
"I can do it."
"Okay, I'm going to leave for a second to let you change. The team will be in shortly." Jay nodded, sat completely still till the doctor left. Finally alone he mustered any amount of energy he had left and stripped himself of all streetwear. It was beyond slow, very stiff with plenty of moans of pain and moments of pausing to cough or sneeze, but he did it, resting against the pillows just as a knock rapped on the glass door.
"Jay?"
"Yeah," he rattled, the curtain pulling back to reveal a familiar face. Granted it too was covered in medical attire like everyone else, but he knew it was Ethan still.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"Terrible." Ethan chuckled a little, glancing down at Jay's chart as he approached the bed.
"I'll bet. I'm going to listen to your lungs first, is that all right?" Jay nodded, closing his eyes as Ethan slipped the stethoscope under the gown and felt around, asking Jay to breathe in and out as he moved along.
"Wow, you're really tight. How bad has the breathing been?"
"It's like I'm breathing through a straw and someone keeps kinking the line."
"I'll bet. When did it get this bad?"
"Sometime last night I think? It's all really fuzzy."
"I'm sure. High fevers tend to do that." Another knock came on the door now, hands passing off a piece of paper to Ethan before dashing out of the room. Ethan scanned things before continuing.
"Well, unfortunately you've tested positive for COVID-19." Cue the weight on Jay's shoulders, the chills and fear trickling all over his body. Prior to all of this it was an assumption or idea or worst case scenario. Now that it was reality it was hard to think straight or function or know where to go with that. The novel virus that was killing the world had taken him captive.
"What was the first symptom and when was it?"
"Um…a headache yesterday morning."
"Yesterday morning?" Jay nodded as he coughed.
"When did the cough start?"
"Last night."
"And the fatigue?"
"Sometime yesterday." Ethan wrote everything down, adding it to Jay's chart before muttering things to himself as he called things in. Jay silently waited for the course of action that he knew was coming next, the nightmare truly playing out into his reality.
"Based on the symptoms and the fast onset and how low your oxygen stats are I'm diagnosing you with a severe case of COVID-19. We need to admit you and get you intubated and sedated. You'll be in the ICU until you're clear of the virus."
"How long could that be?"
"A couple weeks maybe. Once it gets to the state you're in the virus has it's own timetable. But on average it's two weeks." Jay nodded, trying to breathe through the panic that was swelling inside of him. Sedation scared him, especially for that lengthy period of time. It was like being trapped inside your body, leaving you defenseless as people could do whatever they desired to you. He hated the thought of being vulnerable, exposed, a science experiment essentially. He was biting his lower lip now, looking around the room at what he now realized would be his final memories. He didn't want to die and he especially didn't want to go out unconscious and unaware of his exit.
"When do you want to do this?"
"Preferably now. Your lungs need a break and we need to start treating things. They have a room upstairs ready to go. We just need you to assign a medical advocate while you're under."
"Will," Jay spoke with a shake. Ethan patted Jay's back, nodding as he pulled his phone out.
"I know this is a lot and scary, but we're going to do everything we can to help and get you through this." Ethan pulled the phone away and put it on speaker, placing it on the bed for Jay to talk over.
"Will?"
"Yeah, Jay. I'm here."
"They need to bring me up to the ICU and intubate." Will gasped a little, the brief silence letting them know Will was feeling things right then, shock and fear almost smelt over the phone. This wasn't going to be easy for any of them, especially with how quickly it was all moving.
"Will, this is Ethan. Jay wants you to be his medical advocate."
"Done. Send me the paperwork and I'll sign it."
"Love you, Will," Jay said.
"I love you too, Jay. We're going to get you through this."
"Take care of Hailey, keep her updated."
"Of course, don't worry about any of that. Just focus on getting through this." Jay hung up the phone, laying back against the pillows as people started coming in, saying things were ready for him to go upstairs.
"Can I be intubated down here?" Ethan paused at the door, eyes wide with surprise and unexpectedness.
"You sure?"
"I don't want to see what's going on upstairs."
"Uh, okay. Yeah, sure. We can do that." Ethan quietly spoke to the people standing next to him, more scurrying and quick paced happenings taking place outside.
"Your sure about this," Ethan said as the first of many IVs was inserted into Jay's left wrist.
"Yeah, I just want to get this going." As if they were expecting him to switch things up, the intubation tray was ushered in in a matter of moments. Ethan thanked them for the stuff as he asked when things would be ready for Jay's admission.
"They're all set."
"Okay, thanks. Here we go, Jay." The head of the bed was lowered flat, Jay closing his eyes as his heart raced and his breaths becoming even harder to find.
"This is just to relax you a little," he spoke as a syringe was interred into the IV port. In no time Jay was floating, way more then he was with the fever and chills and agony of COVID. Voices were going in and out, vision very spotty and fuzzy as things really relaxed Jay.
"Count back from five. See you on the other side." Jay didn't even get to five, was out before he could open his mouth. In under a second Jay was gone, falling into the deep, dark silent world of unconsciousness with no final destination or plans of coming home. He was intubated in under a minute, breathing on a bag between the ED and ICU. He entered his ICU room, number 343, twenty minutes later and was hooked up to the ventilator shortly thereafter. By noon he was the proud owner of a central line and midline and some five other IVs. At 3pm the catheters were all in their place and the first round of meds were being swapped out for fresh ones. By nightfall he was fully in a coma and completely dependent on the vent. Fever spiked to 105.1 by 8pm with his whole body covered in ice packs and freezing saline running through his veins by 8:30pm. 10pm he had his first seizure. Midnight he was on life support, entering the initial phases of COVID pneumonia. He was becoming a medical miracle in more ways then one. Fastest recorded decline in Med COVID history, highest recorded fever and still living, and that was just the first day. By the time things were all said and done, Jay was literally going to be a living, breathing miracle.