Soooo... the 'wake up' chapter has arrived, whump central. Do you think Jay will get to complete the job requested of him? Any ideas what might make him think it's worth trying? Keep reading to find out! Thanks again for the reviews and follows. Enjoy.

Chapter Seven

For the next few days, life went slowly for Hailey, as she waited desperately for him to improve and be woken up. She remained at Jay's beside often, only stepping away to catch a quick sleep or change her clothes. She felt very uneasy letting him out of her sight, despite the uniform sitting on the door. Will did the same, mostly sitting for long periods of time with his brother, leaving him only to try and sleep. A rotation of visitors came by from the remaining intelligence team, they never stayed long, working hard continuing to solve the case. Voight only came to visit once, late at night on the second day. He only stayed for a few moments and then left, not saying much to neither Will or Hailey. Hailey was growing increasingly concerned about his welfare.

Jay on the other hand, did his best to keep to Platt's request and did not misbehave. He spent his days and nights being closely observed, medicated, cleaned, and rolled. Strong antibiotics were given around the clock and by the evening of day two, they were beginning to see signs they were working. In true Jay style, he aced all his medical tests, his observations improved, and the decision was made to remove the sedation early on the third morning of his ICU stay. The drugs were withdrawn, and all Hailey and Will had to do was wait for Jay to decide to come back to the real world.

By lunch time, Hailey was growing increasingly frustrated and chose to start pacing around the small room. She went from looking at the view out of the window, then back to Jay's side- on repeat. She assumed, wrongly, that Jay would pretty much instantly re-surface. Will was becoming irritated by her huffing and puffing and constant walking.

"Do you need to go chill out for a bit?" He asked, not looking up from his reading book.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know... you're... busy!" He said, risking a glance at her. "And it's annoying." He thought to himself.

"Why isn't he awake already?" She asked, plonking herself back down on her chair and ignoring his advice for her to go take a break. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. This process takes time." He reassured her, sighing. "In my experience, younger patients do tend to wake up quicker and usually a bit more dramatically than older patients, but this is all still normal Hailey. Chill out."

"It's hard to just chill out Will." Hailey said quietly. "I'm worried."

He sighed, feeling bad that he was letting her fears annoy him. He forced himself to remember that this was completely unknown territory for Hailey. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, I'm tired- it was a stupid suggestion." He said holding his hands up.

Hailey smiled in return. Will thought to himself how beautiful her smile was, he hadn't really noticed it before until that moment- his brother was a lucky guy.

"Just to warn you Hailey, when he does wake up, it's unlikely to be the slow calm event you see on the TV." Will said seriously. "Although he's physically here, he could psychologically still be where he was before he was put under."

"What does that mean, he'll be scared?"

" Scared, yeah. But most likely, in a flat-out panic. You should prepare yourself for that. He'll need reassurance and a calm atmosphere around him."

"Ok." Hailey nodded. "Thanks for the prep. I think I'll let you lead, and I'll jump in if you need me?"

"No problem."

They resumed their sitting in silence, like they had been doing for days. Hailey was more settled and remained in her seat, much to Will's delight. He picked his book back up and began reading again. Hailey relaxed so much, he noticed she had drifted off to sleep. He was impressed at how much she had stuck by Jay these last few weeks, not letting any of her team rest for a second until they had located him. He wasn't sure if it was just a workplace fling between his brother and Hailey, but he was now starting to think that Jay had actually found the one. He turned towards his brother putting his book down on the table and rubbed Jay's arm.

"We've just gotta get you fixed up for her now bro. You found a good one here." He said quietly, trying not to disturb Hailey. He suddenly realised that Jay's fingers were moving. He wasn't sure if it was Jay fully waking up, so decided to keep it to himself for a bit. He popped his hand around Jay's fingers and gave them a light squeeze. "Jay, can you hear me?" Will asked quietly, leaning a little closer to his brother's face.

He stared at him, desperate to get a response back, but Jay lay motionless. Will nodded to himself, too early, he thought and sat back down. He picked up his book and began to read. Another twenty minutes passed, Hailey was still sound asleep, and Will was sat quietly reading. Jay decided to surprise the both of them.

Without warning Jay's hands flew up to his mouth and his fingers locked on to the tube that went deep into his throat. Warning alarms sounded instantly and did nothing to help calm the situation. Will was straight on his feet ready to act. He clamped his own hands on to his brothers and tried desperately to loosen the tight grip he had on the tubing.

"Jay, it's ok! I need you to let that go!" Will said, torn between struggling to remove Jay's fingers and not wanting to hurt him.

Hailey woke up with a start and could not believe the situation in front of her. She watched in horror as Jay's body appeared to be convulsing. He was fighting so hard to remove the tube. His legs were thrashing, becoming tangled in the bed sheet, he had to be causing himself extreme pain.

"Jay, come on man!" Will demanded. "You're safe, just let it go!"

At that, Jay's nurse rushed into the room to help, she muted the warning alarms on the machines and the frantic situation already felt better.

"That's certainly a way to wake up Jay! Let's switch the vent over to CPAP, he's breathing against the vent and it's throwing him out. Look how high his heart rate is!" The nurse said. Will agreed, his eyes flicking to the screen displaying his brother's observations. He didn't like what he was seeing and looked to Hailey for help. She acknowledged him and sprung forward to Jay's side.

"Jay, it's ok, it's Hailey, you're good. Just breathe..." Hailey said calmly, trying to prise his arm down, unsuccessfully. He continued to fight with the tube, Hailey had no idea how he had the strength to do any of it.

"Jay, it's gonna feel better now, let go of the tube. Come on, you're ok. Hailey's here." Will gently spoke to his brother. He noticed he was beginning to tire quickly, the burst of adrenaline fuelling his sudden wake up was now running low. His thrashing about on the bed was slowing; he finally managed to remove Jay's fingers and carefully laid his hands back down. Jay went back into a deep sleep, like the event had never taken place.

"Do you think he's dis-lodged the tube?" The nurse asked Will.

"Not sure, pass me your torch and I'll take a quick look."

He briefly inspected inside Jay's mouth, and all appeared normal, which was a stroke of luck because there was no way Jay would tolerate another one going in without sedation again. With Jay's newfound calmness, his observations began to improve. The nurse repositioned Jay straighter in the bed, tidied his sheets and checked all his other tubes and lines to make sure none had become loose or pulled. She then left the room, leaving Will in charge. He suddenly noticed that Hailey was looking pale and shocked.

"This is good progress, he's breathing independently now, with only a bit of support." He reassured her.

"Ok. That was pretty hectic Will." She said, sitting back down. "You weren't kidding were you about how he'd wake up!"

"Yeah." He said raising his eyebrows. "Does not surprise me with my brother. Oh, and it may happen again Hailey, until he's properly back."

"Great."

Another hour passed and Jay began moving his fingers again, Hailey was quick to notice.

"Here we go again!" She said alerting Will. "Jay, can you hear me?" She asked him gently.

Jay tried desperately to flutter his eyes open, but they wouldn't cooperate. All he could think about was how exhausted he felt, too exhausted to even open his eyes. He began to drift off to sleep when he heard the voice again.

"Jay, it's Hailey, can you hear me?"

The voice woke him, but he couldn't make out who the person was, or what they were saying. It sounded like he was deep under water. He tried his eyes again, but still no luck. He tried his arm but only managed to move the fingers on his right hand. Hailey reached down and squeezed them gently in response.

"Why could he move so crazily before, grabbing the tube and now nothing?" Hailey asked.

"It wasn't really Jay grabbing that tube, he's not properly awake. That was likely built-in reflexes mixed with a huge surge of adrenaline."

"Do you think he's hurt himself more?"

"Not sure, I really hope he hasn't popped open any of his stitches. Jay, can you open your eyes for us?" Will asked a little louder.

Now that was a voice that did penetrate Jay's confused mind. He recognised his brother's tones and knowing that Will was with him was a relief. He was slowly starting to feel more awake, and with that the realisation of not being able to breathe hit him hard. His chest felt like someone was sitting on it.

In the next moment, more sensations returned to him at once. The pain in his body was unbelievable, he was certain there wasn't a part of him that didn't hurt. He screwed his face up in agony and began to shake uncontrollably. He tried moving to see if he could escape the pain, but soon realised that moving was making it all considerably worse. Keeping still was probably his best bet. He was unable to stop shaking with the pain. His thoughts then turned back to his breathing, and the fact that it didn't feel normal. He felt like he was choking, a surge of anger formed when he realised there was a tube down his throat. He groaned internally, unable to make a sound. He wanted the tube out instantly. Jay was in his own personal hell; he had woken up like this before; he had fleeting memories of how terrible it had been back then, those traumatic memories stayed, despite the event being years ago in his military days. He could tell he was in his worst place possible- a hospital, he just couldn't remember what had happened to him or why he was in so much pain.

"He's shaking Will." Hailey pointed out, she rubbed his arm caringly, trying anything to calm him down.

"He's probably a little shocked. You're at Med, Jay. You had..." Will paused, not knowing what to say. He couldn't say he'd had an accident, because this was no accident, but it probably wasn't a great idea to tell someone who's just woken up in the ICU that they were kidnapped, beaten and tortured for a month either. "You're ok Jay, you're in the ICU but you're on the mend." He finally settled with.

Jay heard his brother say he was at Med, in the ICU. Something serious had obviously happened. The blood pressure cuff tightened on his arm, and it caused him to jump in a panic. This caused more pain to spread, and he unfortunately moved again to try and get away from it. This caused not only more discomfort, but also the tube inside his mouth to move. He gagged violently and it scared him, he couldn't imagine the horror of being sick in this position. He was trying to work out how to get the tube out, without having to move. His only option was to get his eyes open. He tried his eyes again and this time managed to flutter them open a little. The incoming bright light made them sting and water.

"I think he's a bit more with it, his heart rate's climbing again." Will noticed.

"Oh yeah, his eyes are opening a little, but look! He's crying Will."

"Jay, it's ok. You're ok." Will coaxed him. A warning alarm started again, Jay's ever climbing heart rate triggering it. "I don't think he's crying Hailey, it's too bright. I think his eyes are watering."

Hailey jumped up and pulled the blind down on the large window, she lowered the lights and came straight back to Jay's bedside. She reached out and wiped Jay's face with a tissue, the moisture had pooled in his ears. He felt his face being touched and began blinking, trying to focus his vision.

"Are you in pain Jay? Try and blink once for yes, twice for no." Will instructed him.

Jay stiffened in fear, he knew his brother was thinking he needed drugs. This was no time for drugs, he just needed Will to get the tube out. He scrunched his eyes shut, trying to cope with the overwhelming choking sensation.

"Jay, open your eyes." Will instructed him. "Try and relax."

Jay wanted to scream at his brother. Relax? Was he serious? Jay couldn't understand why he wasn't just taking the tube out.

Hailey reached out towards Jay, stroking his hair again. "Jay, it's Hailey. Take nice deep breaths. I promise you, you're ok."

He suddenly realised who the other voice belonged to. Hailey. His eyes flicked open once again in the direction of her voice. He couldn't believe it; Hailey was right beside him. He had no recollection of being kidnapped for so long, but a huge wave of emotion still passed over him and he felt an overwhelming need to reach out and touch her. Hailey smiled with relief, tears pouring down her face; she sensed that Jay had finally realised she was there. He tried to move his right hand out to touch her, but the instant red-hot pain in his shoulder stopped him dead. Impulsively, he screwed up his face. If it wasn't for the tube wedged in his airway he would have cried out.

Will was watching him like a hawk and missed nothing. "What is it Jay, you're in pain, aren't you?"

He shook his head in response, gently trying not to move the tube, he tried to keep his focus on Hailey. Will was certain Jay was acutely uncomfortable and made the decision that he needed medication.

"Jay, I think a low dose analgesia would be a good idea right now..." Will said, already expecting more shakes of his head.

However, Jay was frustrated, he flung his head over to face Will, inadvertently causing a big movement of the tube again. He tried his best to give his brother a death stare, but the moving tube was causing major issues with his gag reflex. He had a strong sensation to cough, but when he tried the pain was just too bad. He continued to gag and became more and more distressed.

"Jay, stop moving about so much. Just take it easy!" Will begged. "And I know what that stare is telling me, and it's a no, the tube isn't coming out just yet, and you really do need pain meds."

Jay closed his eyes in despair, he focused all his attention on breathing in and out, trying to slow and steady it down. His heart rate responded to Jay feeling calmer and the warning alarm stopped. He opened his eyes and tried to stare out Will again.

"Jay, it's not long ok. The tube will be out soon. It's all looking good."

Jay was annoyed with Will's evaluation and despite the gagging issues, he decided he'd rather look at Hailey, so slowly turned his head back.

"You're gonna be ok Jay, I'm right here." She decided to reach forward and kiss his cheek, trying not to move any tubes. Jay seemed slightly calmer in response; the corner of his mouth hitched up in what Hailey believed to be an attempted brief smile.

"Why don't you get some rest. Next time you wake up they might take this tube out?" Hailey suggested.

Jay wanted to do that, he actually wanted the pain to stop and to fall asleep, but he wasn't sure that was an option. His back was throbbing so badly, particularly his lower back. Still not having any idea what had happened, he began to feel overwhelmed and scared. The pain, the breathing tube, the emotion he felt seeing Hailey, it was all too much. He started sobbing, taking deep shuddering breaths.

"That's enough, I'll be back Hailey, keep him calm." Will said, leaving the room. Hailey hoped he was getting pain relief.

"Not much longer now babe, we'll get you comfy. Try not to cry- slow your breathing."

Will returned moments later with a syringe in his hand. He chose not to tell Jay, just moved around to his bed side, and administered the analgesia into his IV line. It broke Will's heart to see Jay sobbing, but he reminded himself it was likely the effects of the sedation drugs wearing off and the pain. If he could ease his pain, he would probably settle down.

"Just rest now Jay, we'll get the tube out, ok? Just rest." Will reassured him. The drugs took effect very quickly. Jay's eyes started to close and then his breathing slowed, and he was out.

"Please don't tell me we have to go through that again…" Hailey said looking towards Will.

Will nodded, breathing out a strong breath. "I guess we'll find out when the drugs wear off."