Antonio hugged Jay to himself just like a father does to his son.
The Hispanic detective had figured out what the younger one needed.
He kept making him feel his presence by rubbing circles in his back with his hand trying to calm him down.
Jay on his side was trembling and sobbing.
Although he tried to keep everyone away in a desperate attempt to protect them from himself, he was afraid. He feared that he had no one around.
While Antonio was trying to console and to help the young detective, the ambulance 61 arrived and after parking Brett and Foster got out of it, approaching the two.
Noticing their arrival Antonio slowly moved away from him and gently taking his face in his hands, raising it so that he looked him in the face, said:
- Hey brother, you'll never be alone. It doesn't matter how hard you try to distance me or others from you. We will always be by your side no matter what happens. I will always be by your side. -
The boy looked into his eyes without saying anything even though his sad face seemed to light up at those words.
Once Dawson had moved slightly away from Jay the two paramedics began examining him.
Halstead was sitting there on the ground with his back against a brick wall. He was pale, dehydrated. He who knows how long he hadn't drank or eaten.
His features were drawn, it was not difficult to understand the pain he was feeling.
His eyes were red rimmed, he had cried a lot and surely these must have burned him. Under them there were dark circles, almost black, a sign that the detective had not rested well for some time.
Silvye shivered to see him in that condition. She and the detective had known each other for a long time.
The detective was curled up on himself even though he was seated. He seemed to be looking for warmth, that feeling that Antonio had managed to instill in him and which was no longer there as he had had to leave to allow the paramedics to visit him.
Jay was looking for that same feeling by snuggling deeper into the sweatshirt Dawson had made him wear instead of his wet clothes.
It was late March, but spring temperatures were slow to arrive.
Halstead looked smaller than he actually was wrapped in that sweatshirt that was far too large for him.
Silvye recovered from the initial shock of seeing Jay like that, which had stopped him for a few seconds, she walked over to him while Emily had returned to the ambulance to get what she needed to put him on an IV and give him some fluids.
- Hey Jay, take it easy. Soon you will be better.- she said to the young man.
The boy didn't move, didn't answer. His eyes were caught in the void. He had a dull look.
Silvye grabbed his hand to feel his pulse. As soon as she touched him she realized that Halstead had a very cold hand. The heartbeat turned out to be irregular, it was arrhythmic.
The muscles in his body were stiff as if they were violin strings ready to break. His breathing seemed to go in slow motion.
As the colleague proceeded with her visit Emily approached the detective starting to insert the center line to allow the young man to receive the fluids. Foster had also brought two blankets with her, and before going to work he put one on Jay's shoulders and threw the other to Antonio who, having given his sweatshirt to his colleague, was left only with a light t-shirt.
Once this was done, Emily began to work on inserting the cannula on Halstead, who despite his well-known phobia for needles did not flinch that time. This was a sign of how far away he was with his mind.
Brett also took his temperature, the young man was slightly hypothermic with
89.6F..
As he was being examined Jay's eyes became heavier and heavier and he, given the exhaustion he had, made no attempt to keep them open and fell into a restful sleep.
Antonio helped the two paramedics put Jay on the stretcher and then followed them as they loaded him unconsciously into the ambulance.
Once on the vehicle Brett set up the bag, which Halstead absolutely needed, and wrapped it in various heating blankets trying to warm it with the aim of raising the temperature.
At that moment the rest of the team arrived and, remaining at a distance, observed the movement of the colleague on the vehicle.
Jay didn't notice anything anyway. He felt so tired. He continued to sleep despite the movements and what was happening on him.
Antonio, noticing Voigh's presence, turned towards him saying:
- Sergeant I'm going with him! -
His gaze was serious and allowed no objections, but nevertheless he waited for his nod of approval before turning and getting into the vehicle.
Hailey also wanted to go in the ambulance with her partner, but hearing Antonio's tone of voice and seeing the expression on his face, she didn't object by deciding to follow the ambulance with the car.
During the trip Jay opened his eyes a couple of times and for a very few moments. Whenever this happened Antonio was there holding his hand tightly in his.
Obviously Dawson who had never stopped looking at his friend and looked away only to see Silvye acting on him, noticed her eyes resting on him. When this happened the Hispanic detective continued to whisper reassuring words to him, emphasizing once again the fact that he was not alone mainly because he was there by his side.
Having him by his side made Jay eerily calm.
Before long the ambulance arrived at the Med and Silvye and Emily unloaded their patient by pushing him through the hospital doors.
As soon as inside the Ed Dr. Choi approached him taking charge and was also joined by Charles.
Both doctors were happy to have found him and now his main goal was to make him feel good as soon as possible.
- April prepares some hot salt, we'll need it. - Ethan said to the nurse as he moved the young man to room three and began to examine him.
Dr. Charles paced back and forth from the room waiting for some information on Jay's status.
He would be busy, but he was fond of Will and his brother. They were good friends, so he chose to wait to see what came of the first visit before walking away.
Daniel also felt a little guilty. If the detective had gone away he meant that he had made a mistake and had not been careful in treating him and being close to him.
Once the detective felt better, he could then proceed to assess his psychological condition.
The whole intelligence group, meanwhile, had gathered in the waiting room with Antonio.
They were all eager to know how their colleague was doing, especially Voight who regarded Jay as a son.
Meanwhile Hailey had walked away from the group to make a phone call. It was only fair that Natalie should also be informed of Jay's discovery.
Taking her cell phone from her pocket, she dialed the doctor's number and pacing back and forth in one of the corridors adjacent to the waiting room, she waited for Manning to answer her.