8:50 am

- Hey, it's time for you to arrive! - Hailey said

- Good morning to you too - Jay said

- Here you go, coffee and croissant as promised, - she said

- Thanks, - he replied

So the detective got in the car and the colleague left quickly to go to the district.

During the trip Jay had taken a few sips of coffee and nothing else.

Hailey had noticed from the previous days that the detective was strange, but she had said nothing but just observed him.

Halstead looked worse than ever. He didn't have much appetite that morning.

- How come you didn't even touch the croissant? You usually devour it! - she asked doubtfully looking for what there was that not to discover.

- We're late, I'll take it easy at the district. Jay lied

The detective's response was flawless. Actually he wasn't hungry at all.

He had a sore throat and swallowing was painful too. He would also have done without the coffee that made his throat tingle and made him cough more, but he thought that it could help give him a little more energy to face the day.

But Jay didn't pay much attention to those symptoms.

He imagined it was simply a bad cold given the unseasonable bathroom and the trip, wet as he was, in a place whose temperatures were below freezing a few days before.

They arrived at the district at 09:06. That was one of the very rare times they were late.

- Halstead! Upton! - Voight greeted them a little annoyed - you are late.-

- Excuse us sergeant. - She replied as Jay had reached his desk trying to have already as normal as possible.

In the end it was only six minutes late which would not have caused problems on a normal day, but today there was a case to solve and the sergeant did not like to waste time if there was a case to be solved.

Jay opened his desk drawer and without being seen by his colleagues took a cold tablet. He seemed to be unable to face the day without medicines.

Shortly after, he and his colleague were already in their car heading for the nightclub.

As he left the precinct, the detective headed over to the side of the street without saying anything, so Hailey drove.

It was strange that he did this. He always tended to be the one to lead.