FOUR YEARS PREVIOUSLY…
Jay sat in a hot desert, emptying the sand out of his boots and drinking out of his canteen, waiting for his next set of orders. He had recently been promoted to Sergeant. He was waiting for his Sergeant Major to come back to the operating base in Afghanistan as he had been out on a day mission to gather intelligence. Jay was wondering why on earth he had decided to enlist in the army. He told himself he had no one left at home. He had left because of his dad. He hadn't wanted to leave Will but he had no other option he wanted to go and explore the world and experience life without the added pressures of home.
His reverie was disturbed by the shouts of "MEDICS"
The medevac chopper had just landed and they were carrying the casualties off the helicopter. Jay ran over. He saw Sergeant Major Gilmour being ushered off the chopper and on to the waiting stretcher and being rushed in to the medics tent with a medic on top of the stretcher performing CPR.
Jay saw Too Tall rushing the equipment off the chopper and went over to help and find out what had happened. Too Tall greeted Jay.
"Too Tall. What happened?"
"Sarge it was horrific. We were performing our manoeuvres over the Helmand province when we had a call to say that Bravo company had been gathering intelligence and Sergeant Major Gilmour had entered an old abandoned complex. He had no clue but there were IEDs all over the place. He narrowly missed it. He dropped to the floor as the Taliban started to flank him and the scout from the front. His magazine fell from his webbing and hit the IED setting it off. As the IED exploded the magazine which had fallen on to it had malfunctioned and the bullets started firing out. Sergeant Major Gilmour got hit with one of the stray bullets in his thigh. The medics applied a tourniquet but they think it hit his femoral artery. He went in to cardiac arrest on the chopper. Snake Shit and I tried to get him back as fast as we could. The medics managed to keep his heart going but it was touch and go for a while. They'd managed to stabilise him but then he took a turn for the worst again and then you saw what happened."
Snake Shit approached Jay and Too Tall. "You alright Snake Shit?"
"Not really Sarge."
"Yeah I can imagine, fancy leaving it all behind to come and help this rabble of crap out."
"How many women did you leave behind on American soil then Sarge."
"None."
"Ok Sarge, that flying pig is getting big, have you been feeding it again?"
"Yes Snake shit, every single night Corporal." Jay says as he chuckles and walking to the medics tent.
"Sarge, don't feed it any more or its going to explode one of these days." Snake shit shouted after his Sergeant.
Jay turns back and looks straight at Snake Shit saying "Corporal that is really bad taste."
Jay marched off to the medics tent with the intention of speaking to Sergeant Major Gilmour. Jay walked in and already knew something was wrong. He'd had one of his gut feelings as he walked over to where his Sergeant Major had been taken. Dr Stevens greeted Jay.
"How's it going Sergeant Halstead?"
"How's Gilmour?"
"In bad shape Halstead. He's had to have a partial amputation. They've had to take his left leg off below the knee. They're trying to fix him up now and get him sorted but he's losing a lot of blood. They keep managing to stem the bleed but something else always crops up like cardiac arrests. He's touch and go Sergeant. Halstead I know he's your friend and you grew up together with Snake Shit. Pray for him."
"Of course Doc."
Jay headed off to the makeshift NAAFI which was situated at the other side of the landing strip. He went in search of some good old chatter and a few beers. As he entered the NAAFI all his subordinates stood to attention. Halstead not used to this honour yet stood them all at ease. He headed to the bar asking for a corona.
The NAAFI staff handed him the bottle and said it was on the house. Snake Shit sat in the corner with Too Tall. Snake Shit raised the bottle to him. Halstead nodded at Snake Shit and walked over to the table. Everyone was quiet and reserved after the news of Gilmour being hit with one of his own bullets. It was sombre. They all convened in the NAAFI and no one really knew what to say. Gilmour was wheeled in attached to three drips. Everyone stood to attention.
Halstead gave the order "Officer on site Aten shun."
Everyone in the NAAFI stood to attention until Sergeant Major Gilmour gave the order to stand easy.
Halstead was the first to approach Gilmour shaking his hand and pulling him in to a familiar hug.
"Alright Halstead you soppy bastard I'm not dead yet."
Jay laughed as he stood tall again.
"I've come in as I need to share some news. I'm being flown stateside on the next cargo plane. I'm being medically discharged on account of the fact that I'm legless and partly bionic" said Gilmour as he explained the metal pins in the only ankle he had left which was keeping his ankle together.
"We will miss you Sir."
"Yeah like a hole in the head. I'll see you all at home after your tours. You've been a great honour to work with and to call you brothers. I'll see you on the other side."
"Officer on deck Aten shun"
Everyone saluted as Sergeant Major Gilmour left the NAAFI.
"Stand easy" Halstead said with a tear in his eye as his fallen comrade left the NAAFI for the last time.
Six months later…
Jay's time had come to sign back up for another tour. Jay made the decision that he wasn't going to sign back up and he was going to give civilian life a go and see if he could make it in the police department back home in Chicago. He also wanted to check in with Will who hadn't spoken to him in the whole time he had been in the military. He was deeply annoyed that Jay had gone off to fight for country and men whilst he was still stuck at home saving the lives of the civilians on the streets. Will had been refused admission to the military on the grounds that he had two holes in his heart from a defect that had never corrected itself. Will had always set his sights on being a military man, he had always had the discipline very unlike Jay. The military had really set the precedence for Jay's standards. He had always played the field until he realised life had more meaning and that there was someone destined for him out there somewhere. All Jay had to do now was find her.
FOUR YEARS LATER…
The four years following his non committal to signing back up for enrolment in the army had passed in a blur. Jay had tried on numerous occasions to find the one and now due to happy coincidence he had found his beautiful wife and was now sitting next to the most important love of his life and waiting for the other. His son Isaac and his wife Naomi.
In the past three long hours he had seen the doctors working on his son and he had tried to contact Naomi to no avail on her mobile phone. The neonatal unit had refused to contact her due to her having a major operation and actually assuming that Naomi had been asleep and sleeping off the anaesthetic. Little did they know the havoc she was causing on the ward.
Jay had been sat next to his sons incubator holding his hand since three pm that afternoon just thinking about various things but also about his time in Afghanistan and he thought back to the last time he had seen Snake Shit, Too Tall and more importantly Gilmour. He would love to share his news with them. Maybe when Isaac and Naomi had both fully recovered he would make contact with his comrades again. He knew he had to discuss his tours of Afghanistan with Naomi. She still had no clue that he was an ex military man.
Jay was sat with his baby boy Isaac in the neonatal unit when Naomi arrived to visit Isaac. As soon as she arrived Jay went to go and get the doctor so he could explain Isaac's condition to Naomi.
Naomi sat next to the incubator staring blankly at her son hooked up to the ventilator. She was in shock. Jay knew he had to do something before she lost her temper with someone. Jay had only once witnessed this before and that was at the baby shower when Upton got in her face. Jay tried not to think about that snarky little bitch at this moment in time. His focus was on Naomi and Isaac.
Trudy, right on cue, had forced her way on to the unit with Mouch following close behind in statements of protest that she couldn't use her ID card for the precinct to break in to a neonatal unit to see her grandson no matter how much she wanted to. Trudy pulled her sidearm from the holster she carried it in and pointed it at Mouch.
"Do you want to carry on arguing or do you want to help me find our daughter and grandson?"
"Ok old girl I will help you find them but can you stop pointing that thing in my face?"
"Ok." Trudy shoulders her weapon removing the cartridges from the chamber and hiding them in order to maintain the pretence that the gun was unloaded.
Mouch let out an almighty sigh but never once let on that he knew the gun was loaded and that he was scared shitless of his wife when she went on a mission despite the fact he knew he would always have her back regardless of the situation. He had no clue how to explain to her that she scared him shitless when she went on one of her rampages. No surprise where her girls and Kelly got it from. It was scary how alike the kids were to their mum and that made them easier to love. He was definitely glad he adopted all four of them and married their mum. Trudy and the huge family he had obtained from her and from 51 was something he would never change for the world.
Mouch followed on breaking his momentous memories of the past years. Kelly, Stella, Sylvie, Matt, Jess and Peter would all be anxiously waiting for the important video chat from their dad to let them know how Isaac was doing. They had heard nothing since they saw Isaac being rushed from the recovery room to the neonatal unit despite them all trying to contact Jay and Naomi. Jay had been ordered by Hank to turn his phone off and attend to his niece Naomi and his great nephew Isaac and have absolutely no distractions whether that be work or otherwise. In actual fact Jay had turned off his phone and left it in the dashboard of his SUV which was patiently waiting for its owner to return.
Naomi had been overwhelmed after surgery and decided it would be for the best if she turned her phone off as she could feel her emotions getting the better of her and she needed to be cool, calm and collected for her son. The ward had failed to give her the medication she required despite Mr Simm writing it up in her notes and Naomi was becoming agitated that no one had contacted her. She was even pissed off at Jay for not finding a way to let her know what had happened with her son. He could have let her know through the ward. He could have made more of an effort to get the message to her. She pushed the thought of betrayal from Jay from her mind as she tried to concentrate on her son. Just as she was about to lose her temper she heard an almighty commotion from the corridor and staff rushing to calm the psychotic woman who was shouting and making demands. The woman's voice started to become more familiar the closer it got.
"Hey lady you cant just barge your way in here."
"Watch me. My daughter and grandson are here and you're refusing to let me see them, so you have one choice and I'm waiting for the right answer, and I will give you a hint, the answer you are looking for is yes"
"This is a secure unit for mothers and fathers who want to visit their poorly babies. Not for mad women who point guns in our faces so respectfully please put the weapon away and I will see what I can find out for you."
"Yeah you just do that darling because you can call whoever you want I'm not leaving here until I see my daughter."
"With all due respect it would help if I knew what your daughters name is."
"Naomi. Naomi Halsted."
"Ah yes right this way Mrs McHolland"
"That's better."
Naomi engrossed in watching her new born son being pumped full of antibiotics and glucose and having drips and wires attached to him literally everywhere was beginning to freak Naomi out with every passing second. Her thoughts were getting the better of her. This was the first time in a long time that she was having trouble processing thoughts and focusing on the task in front of her. She found that holding her baby sons hand actually grounded her better than any tactic she had found so far since her diagnosis or even since she found Jay.
She thought of her husband now as she sat with their son as he was trying to find a doctor.
All of a sudden there was an almighty commotion in the hallway. Naomi was about to lose her shit and as she tried to pull her finger away from her sons hand he wrapped his perfectly shaped hand around her finger. A gesture that may have seemed so small to others but to her that was huge. It showed that Isaac reciprocated the love she felt for him. The bond that was ever present as a mother and son should have. She knew in that moment that things would be ok.
The commotion was becoming louder and louder as it seemed to proceed up the hallway towards her and the high dependency unit. All of a sudden she heard Jay shout "Bugger me."
An almighty crash ensued and she saw Jay fall backwards and at the same time try to save a utensil tray that had been left in the hallway. Naomi was just about to enter the hallway when she saw her mum strutting in like she owned the place.
Trudy walked up to Naomi "Hey princess how are you doing?"
"I'm doing…."
"Hey gnome how are you kid?"
"Dad… What are you doing here?"
"Baby you ok?"
"Yes my hubby I'm ok now mum and dad are here but how the hell did they get in and what the hell were you doing on the floor you buffoon?"
"Really you're going to compare me to a monkey?"
"No you idiot a buffoon not a baboon."
Mouch stifled an involuntary giggle sounding more like a hyena. Trudy looked at Mouch who proceeded to hold his hands up and reversed himself out in to the hallway knocking over the utensil tray that Jay had just picked back up.
"I really worry about your intelligence considering you're an intelligence officer Jay."
"Yeah thanks for that Sarge."
"Yeah alright pack it in you two."
Mouch headed to the reception desk to see if his old friend Mary P was on shift. He wanted to make sure Naomi was being looked after and that she had all the support she needed especially as he could see she was struggling already but that was probably the trauma from the operation. As Mouch headed towards the reception Mary P came out of the low dependency and literally walked straight in to Mouch.
"Mouch what are you doing here?"
"I'm here with my daughter Naomi."
"Ah yes the sonographer. I remember now."
"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about but no one can know we have had this chat."
"It's done, come in to the visiting room and we will have that chat."
