It was close to fifteen hours later when Kim slid hard along the pavement. Jay, Adam, and Kevin kept running after the suspect while Hailey knelt next to her to help. By the time they returned, Hailey had ripped a piece of fabric from her t-shirt off in an attempt to stop the blood from dripping down Kim's arm. If Jay wasn't still panting for breath with sweat dripping down his neck while keeping one eye on patrol putting their guy in the back of a patrol car, he'd admittedly be letting his eyes drift down to Hailey's midsection.
"Hey, hey, slow." Adam knelt next to the two of them and helped Hailey sit Kim up. "You're okay."
Kevin ran over to his car and was back a second later with a first-aid kit while Jay called an ambulance.
"I think she hit her head," Hailey said quietly.
"'M fine," Kim mumbled. She looked at her arm and let out a low groan at the blood soaking through Hailey's shirt. "Did I hit something? Where the hell is this coming from?"
"We'll figure it out, calm down," Adam said and brushed his hand over her hair.
"Here." Kevin held out the gauze and knelt next to them.
Adam moved to peel Hailey's shirt off the scrape, but Jay shook his head and put a hand out to say, "Leave that. You always add more on top of it, don't take it off."
Within a minute, the sirens were blaring and a pair of paramedics made their way over to check out Kim.
Giving them space, Jay led Hailey to his truck and finally took in her ripped shirt. "Really wanted to show off the muscles, huh?" he teased.
She laughed glancing down at her ripped shirt before saying, "I panicked and didn't know what to do. Wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be, but also a bummer because it's the last t-shirt in my locker."
Jay shook his head, "I have an extra in mine that you can borrow."
"You sure?"
"It's a shirt that'll fit you - I don't mind at all."
Hailey smiled and nodded, "Thank you"
They met up with Voight for a few minutes to debrief what had just happened and were then on their way back to the district. As he drove, Jay watched Hailey clean herself off out of the corner of his eye. The paramedics had given her a towel to wipe her hands of Kim's blood, yet she'd also just written off her own t-shirt and was using that to dry the excess sanitizer from her hands. Once or twice he thought he saw traces of bruises along her stomach when she'd lift her shirt up, but he didn't say anything.
That was until he was passing her his black t-shirt in the locker room and he could no longer resist asking, "What happened?"
Hailey glanced up at his eyes. "What're you talking about?"
"The bruises," Jay said and gestured toward her stomach, "I can see one poking out right there."
"Oh," Hailey shook her head, "It's nothing, really." Taking the t-shirt from him, she turned her back for some small attempt at privacy while she pulled her own shirt over her head.
Jay's eyes narrowed at the realization that they weren't just bruises around her waist, but the bruises were in the shape of fingers. He cleared his throat and repeated, "What happened?"
Hailey sighed and turned once the fabric slipped over her head. Tucking it into her jeans, she said, "Tarik came over last night. He surprised me, but we had fun. All consensual, so take a breath, partner."
Jay slowly nodded, "All right."
"It's okay." Hailey squeezed his arm as she passed him to toss her ripped shirt into the garbage. She turned back to him with a smirk on her lips and said, "I'm sure you've left bruises on girls before."
He shook his head and started walking away. "We're not having that conversation."
Hailey hummed as she held back a quiet laugh and followed him up to the bullpen. Adam had insisted on accompanying Kim since she hit her head, so that left the two of them with Kevin for another hour until he returned.
"She's at home," he explained, "No concussion, just pretty sore. She'll be back tomorrow."
Hailey nodded, "Good. It was a pretty nasty fall."
"She'll pull through," Jay said, "We just need to make sure to nail this guy for her."
"I'm good with that," Kevin said as he passed Jay on the way to the whiteboard, "So I was thinking we take the approach she actually came up with and start with his family."
The day faded into a rush of work filled with interviews, security tapes, and paperwork. It led into the next and the next and the next.
Nothing crazy seemed to change in the weeks leading up to September: Kim recovered, Adam hovered over her despite her protests, and Hailey continued seeing Tarik. Twice, Jay couldn't hold anything back and asked her about bruises littering her sides. Both times, she rolled her eyes and shook her head saying he had nothing to worry about, but he wasn't satisfied with the answers.
The day he saw her shirt slip up in the break room while she reached for a bag of pretzels on top of the fridge, he'd had enough and texted Will to meet him for dinner.
They had just gotten their burgers at a bar around the corner from Jay's apartment when Will gave in and asked, "So why'd you want to meet?"
Jay sipped his beer then said, "What do you know about bruising?"
Will's eyebrows shot up. "Bruising? What're you talking about?"
Jay glanced around before whispering, "Hailey's boyfriend is leaving bruises on her. She insists it's fine, but come on. It's constant."
"What kind of bruises?"
"You know…" Jay trailed off and waved his hands around.
Will held back a smirk as he guessed, "Sex?"
"Yeah," Jay nodded, "And I don't like it."
Will blinked then laughed shaking his head.
"It's not funny," Jay hissed.
"No, you're right, the bruises aren't, but this - you admitting you don't like her boyfriend - that's funny. You're jealous." A smirk was still spread across Will's face as he took a bite of his burger.
Jay blinked then scoffed, "No."
"Yeah," Will nodded.
Sighing, Jay sank back into his chair because he knew Will was right. He was jealous; he had been from the very beginning, he just didn't want to admit it. It wasn't that he wanted to be the one having sex with her, he just wanted to be spending the most time with her. They still had occasional bar nights and would have pizza once in a while, but that was it. Ever since she started dating Tarik, her invitations to hang out lessened and that stung.
Knowing he was right, Will nodded once more to himself then sipped his beer before pointing the bottle at Jay to say, "Let's find you someone. Clearly you're hung up on a blonde, so I'll give you this new nurse's number - she's got black hair and I think she's from Canada - not your type at all."
"No, it's fine," Jay sighed and sat up, "I don't need a girlfriend."
"You need a rebound," Will corrected.
"So I'm going to rebound with someone you work with? No."
Will shrugged and put a fry in his mouth. After a minute of silence as they ate, he asked, "Is she happy?"
Jay thought back to watching her laugh with Tarik at the bar, and she had said their first night together was good. He really did trust her to take care of herself, and if she continued seeing him all summer, he had to be a good person. If she wasn't happy, she wouldn't stay; however, he'd never actually asked if she was happy - he just assumed.
"Never assume, son, it just makes an ass out of you and me."
It was his dad's famous line – sometimes it was funny, sometimes it was just annoying. Right now, it felt haunting. What if Hailey wasn't okay? What if she wasn't happy like he'd thought? He'd never forgive himself if something happened to her that he could have prevented.
However, she was a grown woman. She was strong and more than capable to handle herself. If this past month with his questions and her annoyed answers proved anything, it was that she probably didn't need his help.
Then again, they've been in situations where they both had kept the other out despite needing help, so perhaps sending her a simple text asking about her was a good idea. He just needed to reassure himself that Hailey was fine, happy even, before he attempted to move on from his jealousy.
"Hey," Will said and tapped the table, "Is she happy?"
"Uh, I think so…I don't know for certain though," Jay replied.
Will nodded, "Well, once you know where she stands for sure, let me know. I'm worried about you. No one should be going after someone who doesn't want them back."
The words stung, but Will was right: Hailey and Jay were really close, but perhaps they were always meant to be just friends and not anything more.
"Yeah," Jay breathed, "Thanks."
By the time he got home with a sufficient buzz, he still hadn't decided on what exactly to do regarding Hailey and the nurse Will had offered. His original text idea had seemed fine, but it wasn't personal. He wanted Hailey to know that he actually cared just in case something really was wrong.
He could always just drive to her place, but what if Tarik was there or was coming or going? He didn't want to come off too clingy or annoying. That would put her off for sure.
He just needed to know if she was happy.
Almost without thinking, he sat on his bed and pressed Hailey's name on his phone before registering even what he'd say to her. The sound of the phone ringing filled his ear and sort of felt like it was teasingly in time with his heartbeat currently pounding within his chest. Suddenly, it stopped with a-
"Jay?"
Shocked she even answered, he stuttered out, "Hey, hi."
There was a beat of silence then Hailey asked, "Have you been drinking?"
"No, well, yes, but I'm fine, I don't need a ride - I'm home now."
"All right, well, what's going on?"
Jay breathed in and tried to find the words that had been passing through his mind for the past few hours. Taking one last deep breath to steady himself, he finally said, "Um, I…are you happy?"
It was like he could hear her blink in confusion at the question. She weakly laughed and said, "Happy? Jay, it's almost eleven o'clock at night. Honestly, I'm tired and looking forward to that day off tomorrow."
"No," Jay sighed and glanced at the red numbers on his alarm clock, "I mean with Tarik. Does he make you happy?"
"Oh."
Hailey fell quiet on the other end of the phone as she mulled over his words. As he waited for her to further her response, Jay kicked off his shoes and laid back on his bed to stare up at the ceiling.
"I think I am."
Jay closed his eyes. It was both what he needed to hear and what he didn't want to hear at the same time.
"That's…that's good, Hailey."
Silence filled the call and they were both left wondering what the other was doing. It was dead air…and it was awkward.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Jay swallowed against his dry throat. "I am. Yeah."
"Jay…you mean a lot to me, I hope you know that. You really are my best friend."
He smiled and nodded, "You're my best friend too. Is that weird? Can we say that when we're old?"
Hailey finally laughed, "We're not old."
Jay relaxed as the tension seemed to leave the air with that sound he really did love so much. "I am for sure. Thirty-two, god."
Hailey laughed again, "It's not old, I promise you. You only complain about your back once a week."
"Oh, hey there," Jay said as he sat up, "My back does not hurt."
"Hailey, do you have any Aleve? Hails, we're out in the break room, do you got any? Hey, pain pills?" she mocked.
"Well, I run a lot at work," Jay shot back with a smirk.
"All right, buddy, we all do, but sure, you're Superman."
"Taking it as a compliment."
"You should."
Jay smiled and turned his speaker phone on so he could begin pulling his clothes off. "You know, I was more of a Batman kid myself."
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"Cause he's rich, of course. He made all of his super powers. He's just cool."
"So I'm gonna guess that now you're a fan of Iron Man?"
"In Marvel, yeah."
"What's wrong with Thor?"
Jay smiled at his phone resting on his pillow. He disregarded putting on a shirt and instead shut off the lights before crawling into bed in just his boxers. "His movies aren't my favorite. Iron Man ones are and then any with the whole Avengers group."
"I remember you were so bummed at Endgame."
"Hailey, everyone was bummed. It was the end of an era. Such a good movie. You've seen it, right?"
Hailey hummed then said, "But I haven't seen them all. Would you want to do that one weekend? We could have a marathon?"
Jay smiled and nodded, "That sounds great."
For a moment, they sat in silence simply listening to the other breathe. It was calming and reassured Jay that Hailey was with him. It even felt as if she was right there. Briefly, he imagined she was actually in his bed with him. He had a feeling her hair would somehow end up on his pillow and she'd feel small pressed up into his side - kind of like when he held her tightly in the back of the surveillance van as bullets rained upon them, but much, much happier circumstances.
Right now, though, she was a phone call away and dating someone else and in her own bed. They were just friends - best friends, but still friends.
"Hey, you okay if I sleep?"
"Yeah, Hailey, you can sleep."
He listened to the rustling of what he assumed to be her own bed sheets and settled to do the same with a swift tug of his comforter.
"Ugh, it's so hot in here," Hailey whispered.
"Can you crack a window?"
"And get out of bed?"
Jay laughed softly, "Yeah, doesn't sound too great."
Hailey flipped around for another moment then yawned.
"I can hang up," he said quietly.
"Give me a sec."
Jay smiled to himself and turned on his side to continue staring at his phone.
"Hey, here's a random question before I hang up," Hailey said.
"Shoot."
"I've never been in your room, so please…do you have pillow cases?"
Jay blinked and sat up slightly. "What?"
"Pillow cases," Hailey repeated, "You use pillow cases, right?"
"Yes," Jay laughed, "What the hell? Let me guess, Adam didn't."
"No, no," Hailey joined in with his laughter, "He did. Some of the college guys I met, though, didn't. It's weird. You need sheets."
"I completely agree with you." Jay found himself yawning as well, "I do only have a top sheet and a comforter though. Is that fine?"
Hailey hummed, "Sure. It's what I have now, but in the winter, I have an extra blanket."
"Makes sense."
"Glad you approve."
Jay chuckled and closed his eyes finally. If he thought hard enough, he could still picture Hailey lying in bed right next to him.
"I'll see you Monday, right?" she added.
"Of course you will," Jay reassured, "Working with you is the highlight of my day."
"You need better highlights then," Hailey laughed, "Work shouldn't be the highlight of your day. I can still be the highlight, but not at work."
Jay smiled, "Sounds like a plan."
"If it sounds like a plan," Hailey paused as she yawned then continued, "Should we make one? You want to get dinner sometime next week? Maybe on a day that we get out earlier? Even if we're leaving the district by seven, let's get dinner together. We haven't done that in a bit."
"Yeah, I'd like that. It's a-"
Date.
It died on his lips because it really shouldn't be a date. It should just be two friends hanging out especially when one of those friends had a boyfriend already.
Hailey cleared her throat then finished his sentence: "Date."
"Yeah," he breathed.
She yawned again and Jay heard more rustling over the phone.
"Should we actually go to sleep now?" he asked.
Hailey hummed in response.
"G'night, Hails."
"Night, Jay."
A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! Not exactly a lovey Valentine's chapter, but I hope it'll at least make you excited for the next one (it's one of my favorites!). I hope you all have a wonderful week!
