It was a winter day in Chicago and the whole city was covered in snow.
Jay had been invited to lunch by the Carsons, and having the day off from work, he had decided to accept.
Mrs. Carson, as always, had cooked in large quantities, all kinds of food. Whenever she made him eat there she prepared a meal as if she were feeding an army.
It was like that when she had guests.
Lunch began with the appetizer and then continued with the first and even two seconds with relative side dishes followed by the final dessert.
It was a fabulous day that went by like all good things all too quickly.
In the end, between a chat and the other, Jay had eaten a lot.
The lady had also begged him to do some encore too and he could not refuse to taste everything since everything was really too good
The woman's cooking reminded him a lot of his mother's, also often her very sweet and protective ways towards him.
When it came time for the dessert, the detective was really satiated, he wanted to refuse to eat it, but the woman looked at him with pleading eyes.
- Come on Jay you can't not taste it. I did it with my hands especially for you .- she said.
Hearing her say those words he couldn't say no and so he tasted it. A small piece just not to say no.
Not having eaten a portion that satisfied the woman, she prepared a dish for him to take home, adding something else that was left.
Ever since Jay had first entered that house, the woman had treated him like a son by taking care of him and preparing food for him to take home.
She was aware of the story of the young man who had lost his mother years before she met him
Like everything Mrs. Carson had made that day, the dessert turned out to be really good too.
Jay, had it been a different occasion and had eaten less, he would have gladly done encores and tris, he had liked it so much.
He was not the type who liked sweets, but that had something special about it.
He liked him so much that in the end, before leaving, he begged the lady to even give him the recipe, promising to prepare it for Will and Hailey to taste.
Jay came home around 5:40 pm. It had been a very long lunch and then he had taken a little walk hoping this would help him digest a little.
Once back Jay got everything he needed and took a quick shower having to catch up with Will.
The two brothers had vowed to spend a couple of hours together taking advantage of the fact that they both had the day off. The two worked like crazy and had hallucinating hours, so they couldn't see each other often.
Arriving in front of the building where his brother lived, Jay went upstairs and rang the doorbell of his apartment.
- Hello little brother - I greet him by opening the door the doctor and inviting him to enter - I just arrived I was late. -
- Hello - replied the other - do not worry, take it easy -
- I'll take a shower and I'll be right with you,- Will added
Jay, waiting for his brother to finish getting ready, sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. Finding nothing of interest, he started zapping between one channel and another.
He couldn't find anything that really caught his attention.
In fact, he wanted so much to be distracted because there was something bothering him and even though he didn't know what he was either.
He felt a strange itch all over his body, he could not stay still, he needed to scratch vigorously to try to make him stop.
In his mouth, since he got in the car to join Will, he tasted very unpleasant, as if he had eaten something bitter and the detective also perceived it as dry and dry.
Something was wrong ...
The detective in the meantime, therefore, decided to have something to drink. He had the feeling that he had not digested anything and attributed this to the fact that, as he really was, he actually ate so much.
Fortunately, his brother always kept some lemon shepes at home, he was crazy about them, but at the same time he found them useful for digestion.
Without wasting time, hoping that the drink could help him, he took a bottle from the fridge and opened it.
That fresh liquid was initially like a cure-all for his mouth and stomach, so he decided to go back to the sofa and continue sipping his drink while continuing to zap with the remote in hopes of finding something that would help him pass the wait. .
Will was terribly slow when it came to taking a shower, he loved to enjoy everything calmly after a tiring day.
Unfortunately, however, that initial feeling of well-being had lasted very little, in fact the more time passed and the detective felt strange.
In fact, his unusually dry and dry mouth was also added to the stomach that he had started, about ten minutes after drinking the shepes, to annoy him and make him really bad.
He also needed to cough from time to time as his throat stung quite a lot.
It was all so strange. He couldn't understand why he felt this way.
In a short time the detective, moreover, without being able to explain the reason, finds himself drenched in sweat. The sweater he was wearing could be wrung out. Yet he hadn't done anything, he had been sitting on the couch the whole time.
- Everything is alright? - Will said entering the room through the door that was behind him.
The doctor had finished showering and joined him in the living room. His brother had seen him unbutton one of the last buttons of his shirt and try to loosen the collar of the sweater he was wearing.
- Yes everything ok - Jay replied as always - I'm just hot. -
DA QUI--
- It doesn't seem normal to me that you sweat like that having been sitting on the sofa. Looks like you ran a marathon - replied the doctor.
- Will come on, don't be a doctor with me. There is no need, I told you: I'm fine - the detective replied irritably, then added calming down a bit - can I take a shower too? -
- Yes, sure - answered old Halstead - give you something quickly-.
The doctor went to his room to get a suit to give to his brother while, in the meantime, the detective went to the bathroom.
After turning on the water, he began to undress, taking off his clothes to get under the hot shower.
Feeling the water on his body was pleasant, he didn't feel so sticky anymore.
Meanwhile Will, without entering, respecting Jay's privacy, opened a crack in the door and left the things on a stool.
The bathroom quickly filled with steam, the heat spreading throughout the room was pleasant, he made him want to never leave there again.
As soon as he finished, however, Jay began dressing in what his brother had left him, but he soon stopped his every movement.
He had just put on his sweatpants when severe pain in his abdomen forced him to double over and try to catch his breath.
A few moments later the detective was forced to bend over the toilet caught by retching that led him to try to empty the contents of his stomach.
Soon he had thrown away everything he had eaten for lunch.
After he finished, he sat on the ground panting and shaking with exertion for a few minutes trying to recover.
His skin was pale, his eyes wet with tears from the effort made.
He leaned his back against the cold bathroom tiles shivering at the different temperature and stood there for a while breathing deeply trying to recover completely so as not to worry Will.
As soon as he felt ready he got up and after rinsing his face he finished dressing by leaving the bathroom.
When he reached the living room, Jay dropped onto the sofa and collapsed as if he were a man with no energy.
Meanwhile, the doctor had begun to observe more carefully, but his brother was bewildered.
There was something wrong with him, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
Jay was very reserved and when he was sick he kept his mouth closed and always replied vaguely, saying he was fine, getting nervous if someone tried to ask him more questions to try to understand.
Continuing to zap for a while remaining silent, the two found a broadcast describing the highlights of the sporting events that took place during the week and began to watch it, merely commenting on it.
Jay seemed distracted, however, and that didn't escape Will's watchful eye.
It seemed that the young man was focused on his breathing, as if he were trying to control It, to manage the malaise that was bothering him at that moment.
He was also trying to resist the itch that was spreading throughout his body, especially on his arms and chest.
He couldn't scratch, he didn't want to scratch in front of Will.
The brother would have started after various insistences to check him and visit him.
From time to time, however, unable to resist neither it nor his angry stomach, Jay was forced to get up and, pretending to speak on the phone, walked away from the lounge with Will following him with his eyes.
He was holed up in the bathroom still feeling the need to vomit even if in the end nothing came out as his stomach was now empty. He just let out some dull gagging that he tried to make as quiet as possible to make sure his brother didn't find out what was going on.
He knew that if Will understood that he was sick he would insist on getting him something or, in case, take him to the hospital.
He didn't need him to turn into a mother hen like he always did since he was little and he was sick or hurt.
There was no need to worry. He had only eaten too much especially not having been able to say no to those who had invited him. At least that's what Jay thought.
Back on the sofa, the detective tried to concentrate on the TV show, but without success. Watching TV bothered him enormously. His eyes burned and a few tears from time to time fell on his face making him feel the need to close his eyes.
- Hey little brother is everything okay? -Will asked that he had remained silent until that moment, but that he felt he could not do it anymore.
- Everything ok, - replied the detective who, imagining that the doctor would not have fallen for it, added - I must have eaten too much at the Carsons today, they cook too well ...-
Fortunately Will seemed to believe that explanation which seemed convincing enough as even the young man himself believed it was the cause.
- Wait,- the older Halstead said after a moment.
The doctor left for a moment and went into the kitchen to make a lemon and baking soda concoction that his mother always made. - keep drinking! You will see that it will make you feel better. -
- Things? - Jay asked hesitantly, not wanting to take medication.
- Quiet, it's not about drugs - Will replied as if he had read the detective's mind. - Mom taught me. - Just water, lemon and a pinch of baking soda. Swallow it, you'll feel better in a while. -
Jay did as he was told and drank the concoction, really hoping it would have the effect Will had said.
In fact it was, after about half an hour Jay's stomach stopped rumbling and he was able to enjoy his brother's company.
But the calm did not last long, it was an apparent calm.
The detective was wrong to believe that he was finally getting better.
In no time at all, his condition rapidly deteriorated. That stagnation he had experienced was just the calm before the storm.
His head all of a sudden started to hurt him, at first it was a slight headache of those but annoying, then it turned into a real continuous hammering. His nose was running continuously and his eyes were watering as if he had forgotten the open water fountain.
Before long, the doctor's living room table was almost entirely hidden by a mountain of used handkerchiefs as Jay was doing nothing but blowing his nose.
- Little brother, have a look. - Will said that he was keeping an eye on him and realized that his condition was rapidly deteriorating.
- No, Will. It's nothing. Maybe I got cold. - the detective answered hoarsely.
While the latter was speaking the doctor wasted no time and approached him to touch his forehead without giving weight to his words.
Luckily Jay wasn't hot, he didn't have a fever.
- Why don't you stop here for the night? - Will asked hopefully. That way he could keep his brother in check without letting him feel his constant attention to him.
- No, thank you. No need, I'll keep this bad cold at bay. - replied the young detective preparing to go home.
- Okay, but call if you need anything,- the doctor said, more and more worried about his pale little brother.
He would have gladly kept him there, he would have already controlled him from the start, but he didn't want to be overwhelming forcing him to do something he didn't want and then apparently it didn't seem to be anything special. Maybe he was really just indigestion associated with a bad cold. But Will was not calm. A flea in his ear kept him alert.
It was around 8:30 pm when the brothers said goodbye and Jay headed out of Will's apartment.
As he walked down the stairs, however, Jay had a terrible feeling.
All of a sudden it was as if his throat was closing. He could no longer breathe, as I also had a stuffy nose.
He was terrified, scared, trembling, it wasn't a good feeling.
Slowly he slid down the wall in the middle of one of the flights of stairs unable to move to go back up to his brother and speak as he couldn't catch his breath, took his cell phone from his pocket and quickly dialed Will's number hoping he had. the phone nearby and answered as soon as possible to come down to help him.
A sprightly and amusing ringtone invaded the doctor's apartment, there were several rings, but Jay finally got no answer.
The detective ended the call and dialed the number several times. Will was looking out on the balcony waiting to see his brother come out of the building so at that moment he still hadn't heard the sound of his cell phone and was unaware of what was happening a short distance from him.
Obviously a few minutes later he began to wonder why his brother him was taking so long to go out starting to worry.
Will immediately put himself on alert. Something had certainly happened. Immersed in his thoughts, he began to walk back and forth on the balcony and, passing in front of the window, he finally heard, even if only by chance, the ringtone of his cell phone coming from the living room.
Approaching the coffee table he began looking for the phone that was buried by a mountain of tissues that had been used by Jay.
This had muffled the sound slightly and while he was looking for it, it had stopped playing.
Will at that point, unaware of having received numerous calls, took it in his hand and wanted to put it in his pocket to be able to go out again on the balcony to see his brother go away.
Something, however, caught his attention. The display was flashing and there were five missed calls.
He wondered who could have called him so many times and so he checked who they came from as he walked to look out again.
He froze immediately as soon as he saw that they were all called his brother.
With his heart in his throat he pressed the callback button and ran, grabbed the first jacket he had seen and took a blanket out of his apartment to join Jay.
He had gone out in slippers, without wearing shoes, taking the house keys and thus closing the door behind him.
It didn't take long to get to Jay, who had barely made it to the end of the second flight of stairs.
He had started to feel bad in the middle of this, unable to make the remaining two to get out.
Seeing him, Will was frightened. His brother's face was very pale and a bluish color was starting to be noticed especially around his lips. His neck seemed to be more swollen than normal and the young man was struggling to get some air to breathe.
Seeing Will arrive in a great career, he tried to call him out loud, to ask him for help, but what came out of his mouth were only a series of minimal and muffled moans.
The detective was now almost lying on his side with his back touching the wall of the staircase. The phone fell from his hand and hit the floor, but luckily his brother was on his way.
However, the call had remained open and the speakerphone had arrived in the fall.
The detective slid completely towards the landing floor, placing both hands on the ground. It was as if he was in a quadruped position.
Seeing him like this as he went down the stairs Will sensed that his brother was really sick and that he had something serious.
-Jay calm down, I'm on my way - he said in a high tone before closing the call.
Without wasting time as he descended the last few steps to join his brother Will, he dialed and called 911.
But nothing could prepare him for what he saw when he got close to him.
The situation was worse than what he had seen in the distance.
Making the first assessments of him he described his hypotheses of him to the operator who had answered as his heart shattered into a thousand pieces on seeing his brother in those conditions.
Jay was lying on the ground at the foot of the ladder, with his legs bent. He had dropped sideways from the position he was in. His eyes were wide open and lost in terror. His neck, from under his chin, was getting swollen.
Will immediately got busy placing his cell phone on one of the steps.
The doctor opened Jay's jacket and also the sweatshirt of his suit to allow him to receive a little more oxygen and was horrified by noticing what could be seen on his chest.
The detective's skin at that point was covered with red patches, it looked like hives.
And as he gave his brother mouth-to-mouth, Will began putting the pieces together.
Vomiting, stomach pain, cold, sore throat, possible headache, swelling, hives ... these were clear signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction, serious enough to judge by how quickly it developed.
Jay was not new to these reactions. He was allergic to bees and latex, but he was reluctant to carry the epipen with him not liking to use pouches and bags that could contain such tools.
Like the good brother he was, careful and foresighted, Will had hidden two boxes of these, just in case, one in his brother's car and the other in his.
The only problem was going to get them. The two cars weren't that far apart, but the doctor didn't feel like leaving his brother alone. If he had chosen to stay there and not take the epipens Jay could have died, but at the same time that could have happened even if he had chosen to go and get them.
Usually Will was able to think clearly while remaining detached from the situation, being a doctor, but at the moment it was impossible for him to do so. The patient was his brother and it was very difficult in this case not to get involved.
Fortunately, in the end he was not forced to make the agonized decision by being ripped from his thoughts by the arrival of the paramedics.
- Ambulance 61 where are you? - Brett shouted from the entrance to the building.
- Silvye - called Will recognizing her voice - we're on the second floor, please hurry. -
The doctor was now in a panic. Being the only one who could do something he had held out, but now that the paramedics had arrived he could let himself go to the emotions as his brother was dying before his eyes.
After quickly explaining the situation Will started running towards his brother's car having taken the keys from his hands to take the epipen and like a lightning bolt he returned to him and without waiting he made one in his brother's leg.
Brett and Foster had watched his movements, he was a doctor and he knew what he was doing. Furthermore, the two colleagues had an idea of what was happening and agreed on the patient's problem: severe allergic reaction.
It was absolutely necessary, if one or two doses of epipen were present in the hope that it was not late.
Moreover, while the doctor had run in the car, Emily had inserted a cannula into the detective's arm to inject him with drugs while Silvye was trying in every way to intubate him without succeeding. His throat was blocked and too swollen.
An emergency tracheotomy was needed.
- Will, do you want to do it? - Brett asked the doctor that he didn't expect such a question.
He remained motionless, on his knees and staring down in a tone of voice broken by fear of him, with trembling hands, said:
- I can't do it, I'm sorry. I can not do it -
Will hadn't felt like operating on his brother, but he knew he was in the hands of two of the best paramedics around and he had known several of them working in the hospital.
It all happened in a matter of seconds and Jay was loaded into the ambulance and rushed to the Med.
During the trip Jay had finally begun to recover thanks to the drugs injected and the epipen.
Will was always by his brother's side and did his best to keep him calm knowing how much he didn't like ambulances or hospitals.
Eventually the detective also fell asleep from the effect of the drugs and remained under observation for a night to verify that he had no other reactions.
He had been really good at it. He had had a bad allergic reaction.
In the hospital, carrying out various tests, Jay having explained several times that he had not been stung by a bee or that he had touched anything latex, it was revealed that it was an allergy to honey that had developed as an adult.
That time he had pulled out of the broken cap. He who knows if he would have learned his lesson about him from that moment and would have stopped lying about him how he felt and his symptoms of his.
Will, too, had learned her lesson from him. Certainly as soon as he saw the strange brother he would do anything to be told what he had.