Thank you for the reviews and for sticking with me after the "Chapter Nine Fiasco"! : - ) Chapter Ten is now here, and I'm sorry for the long delay. This one took a while to get right. Thanks again for reading x
Chapter Ten
"Will, he's trying to say something!" Hailey said.
"I know, and he needs to stop!" Will said turning back to Jay.
Will managed to convince Jay that the oxygen mask needed to stay on, but he continued to mumble and cough underneath it. He had stopped physically fighting very quickly, although Will thought that was more likely down to exhaustion rather than understanding he was making things worse.
"You need to stop talking Jay, just breathe, nice and slowly. You're working your way to needing sedation and another tube." Will said seriously.
Jay finally listened, he stopped trying to communicate and stared at his brother desperately.
"Your lungs were full of water just a few days ago, and you're fighting a nasty infection, ok? You can't do this Jay. Just rest for me. Please." Will begged.
A small nod followed and a mouthed "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry Jay, seriously. It's ok. I just don't want you to go backwards. We're watching your levels closely and I need you calm to stay tube free."
Jay could feel the pain more now that the adrenaline was leaving his system. He moved his head to face Hailey and continued to pant breathlessly.
Hailey sat down and reached forward to hold his hand. She squeezed his fingers lightly and smiled, trying to hide her full-blown internal panic. She couldn't quite believe that someone had managed to get to him and going by the fine line of blood on his neck- they meant harm.
"It's gonna be ok. Voight's almost here. We're gonna sort this, ok?" She said, reaching forward and kissing his head again.
Will took a small syringe and drew a blood gas sample from Jay's arterial line to check his oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. He could see that Jay was in severe pain. He handed the sample to the nurse and she left, leaving the three of them alone once again.
"Are you hurting Jay?" He asked quietly.
Jay drew a sharp breath in and nodded. It wasn't like Jay to admit the truth about his pain levels, which in turn revealed how bad it really was. Will needed to do something about it.
"Give that button a press, get some rest."
Jay shook his head.
"They're... gonna... kill... me..." He whispered from under the mask, another round of coughing started.
Hailey and Will glanced at each other in shock, Hailey spoke first.
"No, no they're not. We're not gonna let that happen. Voight won't let that happen! You hear me?"
She squeezed his hand again gently to make sure he was listening. He nodded, but seeing Pete's face again had thrown him into a whirlpool of distress, and he was struggling to keep it together. He kept his eyes closed waiting for Voight to come.
Voight flew into the room like he'd run every step from the carpark. He looked towards Jay and his breath caught in his throat. Since he had located him swinging by his wrists in the dim light of the warehouse, he had only seen him twice, and that was late at night. It was a shock to see the full extent of his injuries in the brightness of the morning. He couldn't believe it was his detective laying in front of him. His body so weak and damaged, a nest of tubes and wires surrounding him. Another strong feeling of guilt bubbled up to the surface and he took a sharp breath in to steady himself.
"You ok Sarge?" Hailey asked gently.
"Huh? Yeah." He nodded, clearly distracted. He wasn't sure if Jay was asleep, his face seemed tense like he was awake and uncomfortable, but his eyes were closed, his breathing heavily laboured.
"He was asking for you just a second ago..." She added, sensing he was wondering whether to speak to Jay or not.
Voight grunted and nodded, not saying anything. Hailey and Will moved over towards the window to give Voight space next to Jay. He moved closer and sat in Hailey's chair.
"Hey kid, how you doing?"
Jay opened his eyes and startled at Voight's presence. He was deep in his own tortured mind and hadn't noticed him arriving. Even in Jay's distress, he immediately noticed how exhausted and stressed Voight appeared. Seeing him for the first time caused his own feelings of guilt and despair to come to the surface. For weeks he had been by himself in that dark room, feeling utter devastation for failing the undercover and letting the team down, most importantly for letting Voight down. He suddenly realised he was crying.
"Sorry..." He managed to get out, trying hard not to start coughing again.
"Sorry? Jesus Jay. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about."
Tears streamed down Jay's face. It was so unlike him; it was breaking Voight's heart to see how broken he was. He reached out and rubbed his arm gently.
"If anyone should be sorry Jay, it's me." He replied, gritting his teeth to keep his own tears at bay. "I should have looked after you better on the undercover, it should never have got to this."
"It's... ok..."
"It's not ok, but I'm not gonna let them get near you again! You're safe now Jay. Even if that means I have to spend every second next to you- I will." Voight moved in closer to hear Jay whispering.
"They're... gonna... kill... me..." These last few words did start another round of heavy coughing. Will had to intervene to help him try and calm, he was struggling to catch his breath. Voight moved back to allow Will to work.
Will noticed Jay's oxygen levels falling. His monitoring started to ping a warning alarm and he reached up to mute it. He needed to stop this conversation before Jay passed out again.
"Ok, that's enough. Jay, I need you to calm down, ok? Take some nice big breaths for me." Will stated, back in doctor mode. "Guys, he can't do this. He was in respiratory arrest just a few minutes ago. He needs to rest."
"Ok. Jay, I swear to you, I'm not letting them hurt you, ok? Don't even think about them, just rest. I'm gonna go have a chat with Hailey now, but I'm still here." Voight said, Jay didn't react or respond he was too busy trying to control his breathing. Voight stood and walked over to the window, leaving Jay in the safe hands of his brother. "Hailey, bring me up to speed..."
She released a long breath, not really knowing where to start. "I'm certain someone was in here. Jay's oxygen mask was off, his monitoring switched to silent and he stopped breathing! Also, he has a thin cut on his neck, they must have had a blade to his throat!" She whispered strongly.
"Why? What are they playing at?"
"I don't know Sarge. But I guess they could have killed him if they wanted to."
"Yeah." Voight nodded, whilst thinking. "Has Jay talked about what they said to him?"
"No, Jay hasn't been able to say anything. Apart from that they're gonna kill him."
Voight nodded, disturbed by Jay's words. "They threatened him then, demanding that he does something? We just need to find out what it's about."
"We need to speak to Jay." She said, knowing that was going to be a challenge.
"I want a full description. We need to know what this son of a bitch was up to. Were you both in the room?" Voight asked suddenly, looking puzzled.
"Yeah..." Hailey replied, looking down and feeling bad that she hadn't done anything to help Jay. "We both were, but we were sound asleep. We're just so tired..." She tried to explain but Voight cut her off.
"It's ok. It's not your fault."
They both looked over to Jay, who was trying desperately to speak, but was still struggling to catch his breath. He was gritting his teeth in anger and screwing his face up in pain.
"I'm serious Jay. You can't talk right now, just focus on breathing." Will reminded him.
Adam, Kim and Kevin walked into Jay's room; they spoke quietly to Hailey, noticing Jay in distress with his brother. Voight went back over to Jay; he could see Will was struggling to get his brother to listen and felt like he needed to step in.
"Come on Halstead, take it easy now. I need you to listen to your brother." Voight said sternly. "I know you wanna talk kid, but you just can't."
Jay nodded, turned towards Voight and opened his eyes. The look of pain and frustration in his face broke Voight's heart. Voight could see he was tiring.
"Just stay calm, you're gonna make it worse." More nodding from Jay in reply, he closed his eyes again. "Can you give him something to relax him?" Voight whispered to Will.
"Yeah maybe, I'm just waiting on his gas results to make a decision. We need to do something."
Voight grunted, going back over to the awaiting team.
"Right. Hailey, have you bought everyone up to speed?"
"Yep."
"Ok. Let's move fast and find out who came in here. Adam, go with Kevin to security and look at the CCTV. We don't have a description yet, look for anything that stands out."
"Sure Boss."
"Kim, speak to the uniform on the door and the other staff up here before they leave, I want a detailed list of everyone that's stepped inside this room since he arrived."
"No problem." Kim said, turning to give Hailey a hug in support before leaving. Hailey accepted it gratefully, then went back to Jay's side.
The nurse opened the door and passed the blood results to Will on a small slip of paper. He reviewed the numbers and sighed.
"Do you need me to get the NIV?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah, let's try the high flow nasal cannular to start. See if that works."
She nodded and left the room to get the equipment needed.
"Yeah, so he's not talking any time soon." Will said to Hailey and Voight. He turned back to his brother to try and warn him about what was coming. "Jay, I need you to open your eyes for me..."
Jay dragged his eyes open and tried to stare back at his brother. He couldn't believe how overwhelmingly tired he felt, so much so, he could no longer keep Will in focus.
"Jay, you're not breathing too well, and it's probably making you feel like crap. We're going to do something about it, ok?"
Jay frantically shook his head in response, he knew he was in a bad way, but no matter what, he did not want another tube down his throat. He tried to make his point by staring at Will, but his eyes slipped closed again.
"Stay calm, we're not putting another tube down. We're gonna give another method a go first, it goes up your nose." Will wasn't sure if Jay had heard him. "Jay, you still with me? Just nod."
"No... Tube..." Jay panted, shaking his head and becoming dizzy. The room swayed and he wondered if he was going to be sick again.
"Jay please stop talking. It's not a tube!" Will said growing frustrated.
The nurse came back with the machine and added it to the many pieces of equipment already surrounding Jay's bedside. She passed the tubing to Will and he gently pulled off Jay's mask and replaced it with the new tubes that went just inside his nose and around his head. He didn't even attempt to remove it or argue. Will switched the machine on and it jumped into life. Jay screwed his face up at the invasion of air being forced up his nose.
"Just relax, you'll get used to it. We can give you something to help you stay calm if you prefer?" Will asked, but Jay was too unwell to answer. He knew that he would prefer not to have extra medication, and prayed that he would just get used to the intense oxygen flow. He glanced up towards the monitoring and watched closely as the oxygen levels started to climb slowly and the red light eventually stopped flashing.
"That's much better. It's working Jay." Will said, feeling relieved. Jay didn't answer. "Give him some time on this and he might even be able to talk, but for a few moments only, ok?" Will understood the urgency to speak to Jay about what had happened, but he was also desperate to avoid another respiratory arrest.
Voight nodded. He stood watching Jay, wondering what exactly had been done to him in that warehouse to cause all the suffering he was experiencing. In the last few years, he had grown much closer to Jay and had started to see him as more of a son as well as one of his lead detectives. Those feelings intensified the last time Jay went missing and ended up getting shot. Voight knew that both Will and Jay had no parents to check in on them and found himself undertaking that role. A moment of rage bubbled up that someone he cared for had been so badly hurt and he clenched and unclenched his fists in response. What he wouldn't give to be alone with the low-life that had done this to him. He'd be the only one walking out after. He suddenly realised Jay had opened his eyes and was staring back at him.
"You ok?" Voight asked him with his gruff voice.
He nodded slowly and began to talk. They could only just hear him over the noise of the fast flow oxygen. "Hurts... but... I... need... to... tell..."
"Ok, ok..." Will interrupted him, knowing he couldn't hold Jay back any longer. "Talk slowly. Really slowly! Then its pain med time and you are going to sleep."
Voight moved into Hailey's seat next to Jay and leaned forward to listen carefully.
"They... wanted... you... to... find... me..." Jay paused, panting heavily. He closed his eyes for a brief moment then started again. "Want... me... to... steal... evidence..."
"Jesus, that's why we got the phone call telling us where you were. They actually wanted us to find you." Voight said, glancing up to Hailey. "At least that makes sense now. Did one of them come in here this morning?" He said, pre-empting Jays words and helping him out.
He nodded. "Pete..."
"Pete? You got a surname?"
He shook his head, saving the air in his lungs.
"What did he want?"
"Told... me... to... get... ready..."
Voight shook his head in disbelief. This gang actually thought they were going to get a Chicago police officer to steal evidence for them? This was insane, and not going to happen.
Jay knew he was reaching his limit; he closed his eyes and moved his left hand slightly feeling for the button to end his agony. He had one more bit to get out and he could sleep.
"I... talk... I... die..." He whispered, giving the button a press. The syringe driver worked its magic and Jay waited for the relief to arrive.
Hailey's hand flew up to her mouth in disbelief, her world was closing in. She had felt overwhelming relief when they had found him alive. She wasn't naïve though, she knew they had a long road ahead of them to get him back to full health, but at least it had been over. To find out they were still threatening to kill him made her feel sick to her stomach with fear.
"Ok, he needs to rest now." Will said putting his hands up, trying to end the mock interview.
"Wait, Jay? What does Pete look like?" Voight asked. He tried to open his eyes but they wouldn't budge. The drugs were kicking in really fast, much to his appreciation.
"Cleaner..." He whispered before dropping off into a deep sleep.
"Cleaner? Shit, he was dressed as hospital staff." Voight said clawing his phone out of his pocket. He pushed Adam's name and he answered instantly.
"Yeah Boss?"
"He was dressed as a cleaner. No further info."
"Ok, we'll keep looking." Adam said, ending the call.
Voight slipped his phone back in his pocket and turned to Hailey.
"I can't believe this is happening. I thought it was over." She said, still looking stunned.
"Yeah! How the hell are you guys gonna keep him safe in here?" Will asked angrily. "What if they come back and he's not 'ready'- are they just gonna kill him right here? God, what if they find out he's told us?"
"Will, calm down. They're not getting back in here." Voight said sternly. "I'm assuming we can't move him to another hospital?"
"No way! I mean, he needs ICU care. He's not stable enough to transfer to another hospital right now." Will said, trying to calm the complete internal panic he was experiencing.
Voight nodded. The room fell silent. That was until the door opened and their three heads shot in the direction of the noise. The nurse threw her hands up in defense.
"Hey, you guys ok?"
"Yeah. We're just a little twitchy after someone got in here." Hailey replied.
"Yeah, I heard about that, the nurse on last night is just talking to your colleague outside. I'm just doing Jay's meds." She informed them.
"He's really tired, and only just settled, will it wake him up?" Hailey asked.
"No, it's all intravenous. Just changing the bags."
She changed the IV antibiotics and started more fluids. She also attached a new bag of liquid food to the nasogastric tube in his nose and then slipped quietly back out the door. Jay didn't notice any of the movement on the lines connected to him and thankfully remained in a deep sleep.
Kim came back into Jay's room, note book in hand.
"What have you got?" Voight asked immediately.
"Right, so the cop on the door said only hospital staff have been in the room and us."
"Any cleaners?" He asked.
She looked down at her note book. "Yeah, every day at 9 in the morning and then again at 6 in the evening." She continuing reading her notes. "Wait, and again early this morning! Went in at 05:50. Is this our guy?" She asked.
"Sounds like it, did he give a description?"
"No, said he didn't really think too much about it being hospital staff and he was wearing ID. All he gave me was male, white, mid 20's."
"Shit." Voight shook his head.
"That ties in though, because Jay's nurse overnight said that when she realised his observations had deteriorated, she went in immediately. There was a cleaner just leaving as she entered, he said something about the patient being unwell."
"Yeah. Unwell because he made him like that." Voight said angrily. "You definitely don't remember seeing this guy?" He asked Hailey and Will again.
"No, Jay's monitoring was on silent and we were asleep." Hailey said. Will sunk his eyes to the ground, feeling anger towards himself for not being able to help his brother.
"Ok. Any description from the nurse?"
"Same as the uniform outside, male, white, 20's."
Adam and Kevin then returned to the room. The space suddenly appearing much smaller with the whole team present.
"Please tell me you got a photo of this guy to work with?" Voight demanded.
"Yeah Boss, but it's not great. The guy was wearing a baseball cap the whole time with his head down. Gloves on too, so no chance of fingerprints anywhere. We do have a partial facial photo." Adam said, holding up a print of one half of the offender's face, he was reaching up to press the button for the lift.
"Ok, get back to the district and get it ran through the system, see what comes out. Go speak to your CI's, I want a full name for this son of a bitch by lunch time."
"Yeah, no problem. How's he doing?" Kevin asked, looking at Jay asleep.
"Yeah, as expected. He's in pain and unsettled, but hasn't asked to go home yet, so that's a bonus!" Hailey said, trying to smile.
"Tell him we're all thinking about him when he wakes, ok?" He asked, giving Hailey a hug.
"Yeah, thanks Kev."
Adam also gave Hailey a squeeze and then they both left with Kim following behind.
"Ok. We need to work out how we're gonna keep him safe, Hailey do you have your service weapon here?" Voight asked.
Hailey went to answer, but was stopped by a vibrating noise. They all stared at each other trying to work out where it was coming from. It was Will that realised it was coming from underneath Jay's right leg. Will pushed his hand between Jay's leg and the sheet and came back with a small cell phone.
"Where the hell did this come from?" He asked.