It's 7 months until Jay and Hailey's wedding and finally just about everything is booked, bought, and planned. Neither of them found the process too stressful since they were both relatively easy-going and had the same ideas anyway; but they were glad to have it over and done with so they could just relax and enjoy the rest of the way. There had been no coasting this weekend however, as they had offered to babysit Hailey's niece and nephew while her brother and sister-in-law went away to celebrate their anniversary.

While it had been the perfect Friday-Sunday of fun, spoiling, and bad food for all, Hailey and Jay were both thrilled when their doorbell rang signaling it was time for the kiddies to go home to their parents. They were bushed, but it did make them have a pleasantly serious discussion the night before realizing how good they would be at this parenting thing once their time came. It even spurred Jay to make a joke that they should try for one then… but that got quickly squelched once they heard Hailey's niece knocking on their door, still scared to sleep alone in an unfamiliar room.

Needless to say, they were very eager to make up for the lost three days of alone time. It was a little past 11pm and Jay had Hailey right where he wanted her… just the two of them, in bed, with Hailey only wearing one of his t-shirts - driving him insane.

"Someone's very eager…" Hailey laughs as Jay is making quick work of yanking his clothes off.

"You bet, partner… no interruptions tonight!" he smirks before he starts kissing her, wiping the grin off her face.

Things are starting to get very heated when they hear Jay's phone begin to buzz, both ignoring it the first time, too into each other to care. At the sound of the second call, Hailey feels she should be responsible and tries to separate her lips from Jay's.

"Jay… maybe you should answer, it could be work or something…"

Jay shakes his head and murmurs with his mouth on her collarbone, "Let them leave a message, or they'll call you too if it's really important!"

Hailey sighs, knowing she should be more proactive to answer, but too worked up herself at this point to care all that much. She even ignores the third call, or just doesn't register it with the things Jay is doing to her. By the time they hear his phone ring for the fourth time they both realize the severity of someone wanting to badly get in contact. She pushes Jay off her slightly so he can grab it from the table, and he groans, really grumpy to have to postpone his much-needed time with his fiancé.

His eyes go wide however once he realizes who is calling, knowing it must be important if they're this incessant and at this time of night.

"Hey! What's wrong, everything alight?" he says into the phone.

Hailey watches the conversation with ever-growing concern as she notices the changes in Jay's face; gone is the euphoria mixed with annoyance, now replaced with shock… and sadness?

"What!? There's no way, did you get a second opinion? Let's go talk to Will, he knows the best… yea, no, I get it, but…"

"Jay…" Hailey says questioningly as she comfortingly puts her hand on his shoulder. He responds by shaking his head and putting his finger to his lips, then grabbing her hand attempting to comfort himself.

"I just don't understand, you're not even 40 yet! You're coming with me to Med later in the week… no, don't argue, you are… we'll get through this like we have everything else!... Yea man, ok... Yea... Ok, I'll talk to you tomorrow… take care of yourself!"

Jay finally clicks off, dropping the phone in his lap, a look of grief on his face, inhaling deeply. Hailey rubs his back, her anxiety raised as well at how bad this news appears to be.

"Jay, what's wrong? Who was that?"

He looks at her, as if deep into her soul, conveying all the hurt he's feeling as he fights back not only tears, but anger. "It was Mouse…"

"What's going on? Did he have another episode?"

He takes another deep breath and shakes his head, holding her hand tightly. He finally manages to whisper out; "He'd been having pain in his stomach and side the past month so he finally went to the doctor this week. He got the test results back on Friday…" he pauses, not wanting to verbally commit to the next part as Hailey strokes his hand, closing her eyes in fear of what's coming. "…It's Stage 4 Colon Cancer…"

"Oh my God…" Hailey's eyes fill with anguish as well and Jay can no longer hold back the tears in his. She wraps her arms around him and pulls him close, his sobs shaking his body as he cries into her chest. Hailey loses it then too… both knowing what kind of sentencing this means for their friend…

Jay wakes with a jolt and gasp, sweat dripping down his body, trying to gather his surroundings. He realizes he's in his hospital room and it all comes back to him right as Hailey's head pops up from her position in the chair.

"Jay, what's wrong? You feel okay? Should I page the nurse" Hailey quickly asks, worry evident in her voice.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm fine!" he tries to smile at her reassuringly, of course she doesn't buy it.

"JAY…" she responds in her 'now is not the time to bullshit me' voice.

"It's, just… bad dream… nothing to be concerned about."

Hailey sighs; she's a bit agitated now, not wanting to return down this road again of Jay's deflection. She turns her attention to her pillow, molding it forcefully, focusing on that in hopes of avoiding saying something she'll regret.

Jay senses it and also doesn't want to push her away, he's made such progress, as well as they have these past couple weeks… the last thing he wants to do is screw it all up again.

"I dreamt about the night we found out again…" he whispers so softly Hailey almost doesn't hear him. When she realizes what he said, she instantly knows what he's referring to and looks at him sympathetically.

"Are you still having the nightmares?" she quietly asks him, tentatively reaching out her hand for his. He smiles and gladly takes it.

"No… for the most part it all stopped a few months ago. I've been dealing with the coping, I swear…"

"Well, that's good. You deserve some peace of mind, Jay."

"Hailey…" he hesitates slightly, trying to gather his thoughts; not wanting to reveal all, but enough for her to know he's serious. "There are a lot of things I want to tell you, and I promise you I will… but I just want to heal from this shooting first. I don't want either of our judgments clouded because of fear or guilt of me taking this bullet. We're and you're too important for me to play it any other way…"

Hailey closes her eyes and Jay watches a single tear slip through them… giving him hope that maybe not all is lost forever, a small smile forms on his face. When she reopens them she gives him one of her classic looks.

"Since you're being released tomorrow, your wound is probably healed enough that a little contact to it probably wouldn't hurt it, right?" she asks.

He looks at her oddly. "Yea, I guess so. It certainly doesn't hurt as much as it did… why?"

"Ok good…" is the only response she gives him before she cautiously pulls his covers back slightly and slowly makes her way on the bed with him. His eyes go wide and he smirks in wonder and surprise.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Halstead! Just figured we could both use the comfort tonight…"

She turns to look over at him and they both smile at each other. "Besides, my back is killing me! I deserve a night of being able to extend my legs completely."

"I KNEW IT! Hailey, I told you that you should have taken a couple days and slept at my place!"

"Don't start, Jay, we need our beauty sleep… Let me know if I'm hurting you at all, ok?"

"You won't. Besides, this was definitely some kind of teenage fantasy of mine."

"Shutup!" they both chuckle before they get quiet again and start to drift.

Jay still can't turn fully, so to his dismay there's no way for him to wrap his arms around her. But as they both lie on their back, he makes sure to entwine his arm with hers, holding hands as well. He recalls grinning at the thought of his nurse finding them in the morning before he peacefully falls back to sleep.


[A/N: A shorter chapter, but two in one week, so there's that. Also, this provides one answer for ya's, sort of... Sorry for the roller coaster of emotions, but full-disclosure: it's going to continue. I am incredibly grateful for all the kindness you're showing this story and all the time you're investing in it. Enjoy and thank you!]