Thank you for all the kind and encouraging words, hope you'll like this one! Happy Boxing Day! :)


She had been trying to get some rest for the better part of the day. It did not matter how uncomfortable the cantilever chair was, Will had generously disposed it at his bedside. It largely sufficed to satisfy her rudimentary need for relaxation as well as her immense craving of being near him.

In all honesty, sleep had not really been in her cards lately. She felt as if her body had not been normally responding since this past week's events and more than that, she found herself unintentionally fighting it until muscle and mental exhaustion. For every time she closed her eyes, she would face the same horrifying images - she desperately wished to erase - on a loop.

Needless to say, she had been taking care of herself at the minimum. Since his surgery, she had not been able to bring herself to go home as she was too frightened of missing his awakening or any definite progress he would make.

Vanessa had been amazing at picking up her slack both at home and at work. She was taking perfect care of the house whilst she was basically living here, bringing her clothes while she had been allowed to use the personnel's showers, and just being a supportive and reliable friend overall. It did not matter how long she had been around the unit or how much she still had to learn, she had never once regretted taking a chance on her. Vanessa had been through enough abandonment, loneliness and instability for her to be anything but warm, caring and devoted.

"It's just me bringing you coffee." She would say ironically every time she came by, having learnt the hard way it was Jay's habit to fuel her caffeinated cravings.

"That's fine for now." She would banter back, appreciating the levity of their following exchange and the way she would take her mind off of such a sordid predicament and place.

As for when Kim had been around earlier, she had been taken aback by her state of agitation when she came through the door. She had seemed elsewhere and had tried to mask her discomfort not to add distress to her plate, Hailey assumed. Yet, she had been around Kim long enough to see past that ridiculous attempt to appear clearheaded and in control.

"Kim, what's up?" Hailey questionned, out of concern regarding the ongoing nerves of her colleague. She was unconsciously pacing back and forth in the small room, making Hailey nervous and giddy.

"It's nothing Hailey, don't worry." She tried to brush it off by approaching Jay's bed and staring at his beaten face. The scratches, bruises and black eye had turned into a darker color, making him appear scary. Almost beastly.

"Of course I worry. If you're not okay, I want to know why." She pushed firmly, determined to know what had gotten her so upset.

She was not made of glass and she was sensitive of not being the only one affected by Jay's kidnapping. She never aspired to make this about her or her agony. Everybody was agitated, everybody's feelings were valid and legitimate. They had to stick together and circle the wagons.

"I went to see Angela, again." She said, purposely avoiding Hailey's stare.

"Why?" Hailey demanded, not out of indignation but disoriented by the obstinacy of her friend.

"To try and talk some sense into her. It backfired, she is like a broken record." Kim admitted, defeated.

"Meaning?"

"She doesn't care about the attempted murder charges. She wants justice for her husband by throwing all of us under the bus. She doesn't care about Voight's threats, she even talked about a press conference and selling her story to the press." She confessed, full of regrets.

"Are we really talking about justice here? Or corruption? I can't believe Jay risked everything for that greedy woman!" It was her turn to get worked up but Kim's guilty stance discouraged her from oversharing feelings of resentment again.

"Well, we all know she is still processing his death." Kim tried to reason before adding, still looking down at his face,

"I tried to bring up her son, you know."

"And?"

"She said one day, he would be proud of her for clearing his father's name." Hailey shook her head in disagreement before stating,

She is delusional. The only thing she will get out of this is his resentment for going to prison and abandoning him."

"I can think of a lot of words to describe her right now and delusional is not one of them." Kim pursued, still fuming at this woman's blinding thirst for revenge.

"She is in no state to consider all the components of the case. Well, I'm not sure it would make a difference anyway." Hailey sighed, sickened by this woman. She truly felt compassion for the horrible circumstances in which her husband died but she was aiming her rage at the wrong people.

"Voight, the rest of the team and I will figure something out, don't cloud your mind with these parasites thoughts." Kim reassured, knowing full well how tenacious and agressive the whole unit was feeling.

"Do you have any directive though?"

"To dig up as much dirt on her as we can. Voight, Kevin and Vanessa are on it as we are speaking. Nothing is off limits." Kim stated, reaffirming the team's engagement to put her where she couldn't do any harm.

"I wish I could be of some help but I-" Kim cut her off by saying,

"I know." She touched her arm gently, staring into her eyes, as Hailey picked up the profound meaning those two words held.

"Report back to me, please?" Hailey asked, taking Kim in her arms.

"Of course."

"One more question though." She said, while breaking apart from her, leaving her hands on the side of her shoulders.

"Shoot."

"Why did you go back?" She inquired out of curiosity.

"I don't know, the clock is ticking I guess and I thought I could make a difference by showing more sympathy and understanding. I thought she'd realize that fighting the unjust or, in this case, the unknown doesn't always bring strength or peace. Sometimes there is just more pain awaiting you."

"Thank you for trying anyway." Hailey offered sympathy, not wanting to see her beat herself up anymore than she should.

"Adam's here, he is going to stop by." She nodded before Kim brushed past her. Before leaving the room, she told Jay,

"See you soon, Jay. We won't let you down." A small smile emerged on Hailey's face, never expecting anything less from this family.

As Kim was leaving, Adam was on the verge of entering the room. He took a few steps back to the side, allowing her the space she needed to exit first and she caressed his arm as a sign of gratitude before they parted ways.

Hailey sat down as Adam went immediately to Jay, giving him a gentle fist bump on his right-hand mechanically resting on the same side of the bed.

"Hey buddy. Still hanging in there, I see. Kevin says "Hi", he's been working hard for you but he'll come by as soon as he can. I managed to get a hold of Antonio and he's thinking of you too. You're missed." When he finished his greetings, he turned his attention to Hailey on the opposite side of the bed, who was watching him intently.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, thoughtfully.

"As well as I can. And you?" He looked taken aback by her reciprocal preoccupation. She raised an eyebrow before she clarified,

"You people have to stop doing this. We're a family, we're all close to Jay. It's not because I'm here 24/7 that my pain is more valid than any of yours." It was his turn to mimic the eyebrow raised playfully,

"That's very noble of you to say but we're all fine with observing that you're probably the one most affected. Don't get me wrong, I concede we're all worried sick but you are…" He was trying to find the right words to get his point across but she never let him finish,

"I'm what?" She retaliated, getting defensive.

"You're like his girl." The minute he expressed these unpremeditated words, bewilderment invaded her face at his specific choice of words and bold honesty.

"There I said it." And on top of that, he was rubbing it in.

"Please! I've seen your reaction at the precinct when you smashed that mug into the sink. Jay isn't just your partner, Hailey." He asserted once more, this time with much more conviction.

"I guess I always knew. Even when you and I were a thing." They shared a telling and honest look where words were derisory.

In fact, he had known before anything even turned romantic. Her world had stopped the first time she had found him shot on the side of the road and he had always suspected she had somehow taken advantage of him to make the pain or even her feelings for him go away. Hailey noticed his unusual prolonged silence and felt the urge to justify,

"Everybody's counting chickens before they're hatched. We don't even know what it is." Her pointer finger was going back and forth between Jay and her, her body reflecting her inmost thoughts. They had to know before everybody intended on pressing them about it or even putting a label on it. Her internal assessment didn't discourage Adam as he continued,

"I get what you meant now when you said there was more to our story than choosing between working together or being together." There wasn't any animosity or bitterness in his voice, his comments felt like a puzzle that finally made sense, that he was finally able to resolve.

"You agreed. And now I know why too." She could see Kim chatting with Will outside the room and Adam followed her gaze before realizing what she also meant. He couldn't help the smile that grew on his face but professed something he assumed she already knew but was worth reiterating,

"I'm always here for you, you know that." A misguided attempt at saying that whatever was going on in their lives, he was only looking for her best interest in any given situation.

Touched by his affection and loyalty, she stood up and went to take him in her arms, grateful that their previous romantic connection had not deteriorated their caring and genuine friendship.

"So am I."


Though she was incommensurably appreciative of the support and the company of everyone having an aura of concern and involvement, the constant comings and goings in the room were not of service for her rest. Yet, she was optimistic: Jay could hear and feel the movements and words of encouragement from all the people who loved him.

This room was like a time capsule and it hadn't surprised her how everyone from the Fire Department and even the Med's one had come by to offer positive energy.

Will had granted her permission to camp by his side, day and night and she couldn't be more grateful to him. They had developed a strong bond, spending time sharing memories of Jay, discussing their jobs and future plans at Molly's or dinner somewhere all together.

They had done it all. Talked to him. Talked about him. Encouraging him to push through. Even praying for him. It's common knowledge that when people feel cornered or hopeless in any crucial situation, they'll sometimes resort to the one higher force they've been denying all along.

The nurses and Will had been checking on him constantly. So far, he had been healing progressively. His vitals were good even though he had lost a lot of blood.

But he was in a coma. Will had purposely avoided uttering these words at first but when the team had settled down a little bit, he had finally admitted that more than the bullet wound doing damage to his body, the coma had been induced by both the head trauma and the lack of oxygen in both his body and blood. Therefore, there had been no sign of him waking up and feeling helpless was the understatement of the century.

Still, as long as his vitals were getting better, his chances of waking up kept on also getting higher.

It had been six days since the surgery and she despairingly longed for a sign of him. Any sign of him.

Worse, every little time she had found herself alone in the room with him, she had been replaying that warehouse scene over and over again:

She had tracked him down with every fiber in her being. How the unit had moved heaven and earth for her to get to him! She had finally found him battered but alive. Her first instinct had been to touch him, to grasp the fact that he was not a mirage. And just like that, for a few seconds the world had come to a halt when he finally looked up to her. It had struck her how unsurprised he acted to see her, like he had expected all along she would come to his rescue. His faith in her had been invigorating and was sending chills down her spine as she was pondering those events.

In return, she had been dazzled by his strength. She obviously had some knowledge of him having been through some dark times during war but the kind of injuries inflicted on him and the bravery he had still possessed to make every effort to get Angela and himself out of this ordeal commanded respect and admiration.

All of a sudden, there had been this conversation she had been convinced truly happened. No words had been exchanged but she knew she had conveyed that finding him sustained more than relief. She loved him, romantic style, and she had been coming to terms with it. She believed he had told her the same, just with his eyes.

But she pined for him to wake up to clarify that. Like he needed to clarify why he would never "forget about her just fine."

After all the mixed emotions experienced lately, she was now starting to wonder if her mind was not playing a trick on her by fabricating this priceless memory.

One thing she was certain of, his instinct to protect her had been intact. He had demanded for her to stay behind while he would save Angela.

That's when everything went to hell and her world came crashing down. She had heard two gunshots and an overpowering fright cursed through her all body. There were two possible shooters: either an unidentified abductor had still been down here or it was Angela. But in both case scenarios, deep in her core, she had known Jay had been the target.

She had rushed downstairs in position to shoot in case she would come to face any danger. Instead, she had witnessed his agonizing on the floor. Angela had been in bad shape too in the background but bearing a cold-blooded and distant expression on her face. Just because she had felt justified, this woman had played God. For a split second, she had contemplated the idea of terminating her but her grip on reality had been ruled by Jay,

"Don't shoot her." He had managed to breathe out with difficulty. He had sensed her inner turmoil and even with a bullet wound, he could still read her like an open book. Angela had still been in possession of the gun when it crossed her mind how she had not even secured the place by getting it out of her reach.

Anyway, his voice had brought her back to reality and she had tended to him, calling the radio again while trying to stop him from bleeding. Her voice had been shaky but she had managed to announce,

"5021 Henry: officer down, officer down. Call an ambulance, I repeat call an ambulance."

This had felt like déjà vu, only this time, he had not been wearing any bulletproof vest. One thing came after the other, she heard a loud bang indicating Voight and Adam had managed to come through the door and she had almost fainted by the intensity of her successive emotions. And she remembered that cruel echo in her mind wondering if Jay had not cheated death one too many times.

The team took over from her as soon as they had entered the place. She just remembered how she kept pleading with him,

"Stay with me, Jay."

Until he had closed his eyes.

While she could not help but dwell on this nightmare of a day, her head resting in her hand, she did not catch sight of a perturbed Will coming into the room. He went to quickly check the life-support system Jay was attached to and perceived Hailey, lost in thought. Not having any time to spare, he broke her out of her reverie without an ounce of consideration for her emotions,

"Hailey, I need you to wait outside." He pressed her adamantly.

It took her a second too late to come to her senses and register what he had just required her to do. He had already repeated,

"Hailey please, go and wait outside!" His requirement came to pass as more agressive this time.

"What's wrong?" She panicked. He did not even acknowledge her with a furtive look in the process of something unusual catching his attention.

"Now's not the right time, we'll talk later." He stated, almost pushing her out the door and paging for assistance.