Hailey had struggled on and off with insomnia since she was a teenager. She usually struggled with it when she was stressed. They had a child abuse case that always hit Hailey hard. Hailey's anxiety was really high when she got home and jay could tell
" hey you've been quiet today what's going on," jay asked
"Yeah it is just the case it is hard Haileyey replied
"I know I'm sorry," jay said pulling Hailey into a hug
" hey how about we order some comfort food and watch movies for a bit to get our minds off the case" jay suggested
" That sounds like a great idea," Hailey replied.
They ordered a deep dish pizza and wings then made popcorn and had ice cream while watching movies cuddled up together. Once they were done with the movies they got ready for bed. Jay fell asleep within 5 minutes of laying down but Hailey couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned for an hour. She carefully got out of bed and grabbed her phone and laptop and went to the living room. She scrolled through social media and watched Netflix for a bit. A couple of hours later Jay woke up to use the bathroom and realized Hailey was there. He went into the living room and found her sitting on the couch scrolling through her phone.
" hey babe what are you doing to are you ok it's late," jay asked concerned
"I can't sleep," Hailey replied.
"Oh I'm sorry babe" Jay responded
Jay went into the kitchen and made her some melatonin tea. He went to the bathroom while it was steeping. Once he was done he came back and put some ice cubes in the tea so it would cool down a bit. He then brought it over to Hailey.
"Here babe drinks this melatonin tea," he said, handing her the cup.
He could tell she was struggling so he sat next to her on the couch and rubbed her back until she was finished with the tea.
"C'mon let's go back to bed babe," jay told her
"ok " Hailey replied.
"Try and get some sleep babe," Jay said as he climbed into bed.
He pulled Hailey into his chest and held her. This usually helped Hailey sleep but it didn't work this time. She stared at the wall for a bit before she finally fell asleep. However she didn't stay asleep for long, she woke up an hour later and lay there till their alarm went off. She got ready for work and was exhausted. She made some coffee before she left for work and then got some more when she got there. Jay noticed her drinking lots of coffee and knew she didn't sleep last night. When they got home they watched tv and then went to bed. Hailey still couldn't sleep and was tossing and turning. Jay felt her tossing and turning and pulled her into his chest again.
" I'm here you're ok your safe try and go to sleep babe," jay told her
An hour later she was still up and Jay noticed he slipped out of bed and made more melatonin tea and grabbed melatonin gummies. He went back into their room once the tea was ready.
" Here drink this and eat these gummies, hopefully, it'll help," he told her.
Once Hailey finished the tea and gummies Jay adjusted her so her ear was on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. Hailey slept on and off till her alarm went off. When she woke up she felt fatigued. Jay noticed how tired she was throughout the day. When they got home jay was worried about her
"I'm worried about you hails you've only gotten a couple of hours of sleep in the last 2 days," Jay told him.
"I know I'm trying but I just can't fall asleep or stay asleep this case is so hard," she said starting to tear up.
"I know I know I'm sorry babe ssh" he soothed as he pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back.
They got Chinese food for dinner and Jay did some self-care with Hailey. He ran her a bath and put stress and sleep bubble bath and bath salts in it. Then when she was done he had her use a sleep lotion. Once she got into bed he pulled her hair out of her ponytail and began to give her a scalp massage. He felt her relax and fall asleep. Hailey slept for 6 hours then woke up and stared at the wall for the next 2 hours while their alarm went off. Hailey felt a lot better that day. Thankfully they were able to save 15 foster kids in a group home from their abusive foster parents and they were able to close the case. 2 days after they closed the case, Hailey was finally able to sleep through the night again.