At Chicago Med

A nurse walks into Jay's room. He's sleeping. The soft rhythmic wheeze of his breathing is all that can be heard. The TV Kim is watching is muted with subtitles on the screen. The nurse looks at Kim and smiles. She removes the empty antibiotic bag and hangs a new one. "It's nice that he's not alone, even though he's sleeping." Kim nods her understanding as the nurse walks out.

Kim watches Jay as he sleeps. She smiles to herself as she thinks of how she watches Maykala sleep and how weird but comforting it is at the same time. She wonders if Jay would like a platypus to sleep with. Her playful thoughts are disrupted when he starts to groan and move slightly. His head tilts slightly more towards her and he takes a deeper breath. He's trying to wake up. His eyes closed. A wince when he moves his right arm.*deeper groan* His left hand raises toward his chest as he takes another deeper breath. His eyes blink open a sliver at the sound of Kim's voice.

"Hey Jay."

Jay looks right at her but is still groggy and she's not sure he recognizes her. He closes his eyes and grimaces as he moves his legs around trying to shift his position in the bed but moving only incites a more painful soft cry, "Ah!" muffled by the O2 mask.

Kim quickly stands, "Easy Jay."

He stills in defeat, taking slow calculated breaths to control the pain. His left hand has come to rest on his chest, head still tilted toward Kim, what little energy he had spent in the little movement. He looks at her, eyes barely open, his discomfort evident but he acknowledges that she's there.

"Easy now, try and rest."

His breathing is a bit laboured, the wheeze becomes louder and then suddenly a deep chesty cough. Jay stiffens as he brings both his elbows quickly to his sides and tries to wrap his arms protectively around his chest. His right shoulder and wrist protest the movement. His left hand clumsily removes the O2 mask.

Kim presses the call button.

More deep coughs cause shooting pain over his chest. He holds his breath in an effort to alleviate the pain. A painful grimace locks eyes with Kim, pleading for help.

"Help's on the way." She tries to comfort.

Dr. Marcel rushes in with the Nurse, "Hey Jay." He's looking over the monitors and taking in Jay's condition as he continues to cough painfully. "Try and breathe even Jay. I know. Easy. Push 20 of Tramadol. Relief is on its way." Jay's coughing spell subsides as Marcel tries to comfort Jay until the pain medication takes effect. He snakes both hands on either side of Jay's chest, in between Jay's arms, supporting his breathing and coaching him through.

The Tramadol is effective and within minutes Jay's pain has eased so that he is no longer clenching his sides but the effort has completely drained him. He lies still, limp with exhaustion concentrating all his energy to keep his eyes barely open as Marcel speaks.

"There you go Jay." As Marcel removes his hands from Jay's chest. "Let's take a listen."

Marcel listens to Jay breathe. Jay instinctively tries to take a deeper breath.

"No Jay, breathe normally. You're already worked up"

He's mindful of the tender areas on his chest. He hears the congestion starting to loosen its grip. He moves to listen to Jay's heart, he hears a strong elevated thumping, the result of the effort put forth.

"I know you don't feel it but you are getting better." Marcel tells Jay. "You're responding very well to the antibiotics. Your fever is down and more importantly the congestion is starting to release."

Jay, who is looking at Marcel as he speaks, takes a deeper breath and exhales. He looked as if he was going to speak but didn't.

Marcel seems to understand what's going on in Jay's head. He has observed that throughout updating Jay on his condition, he's not removed his left hand from his diaphragm area.

"I know that's still painful and that coughing fit didn't help any of it."

Marcel turns to the Nurse, "Can we get him some ice?" The Nurse nods and leaves the room.

"We'll get you comfortable tonight and visit your options in the morning." The Nurse returns with the ice and Marcel carefully places it on Jay's chest, adjusting to get the right position, when he sees Jay relax he knows it's in the right place. Satisfied, Marcel smiles and looks at Kim. She's worried after witnessing the painful episode, as she watches Jay settle.

"Keep an eye on him tonight?" Marcel asks as he places the O2 mask back on Jay.

"I'm not going anywhere." Kim answers but continues to watch Jay. His eyes are closed as Marcel finishes the placement and they both hear a slight wheeze from him.

Marcel looks at Kim and nods as he leaves the room.

Kim pulls the chair closer to the bed. She's watching Jay. His heart rate has returned to normal and he looks less pained but exhausted. She's surprised when he opens his eyes.

"You don't need to be here." He says just louder than a whisper.

"Are you kidding? Hailey would have my hide if I left you alone." She responds light-heartly.

At the mention of Hailey, Jay opens his eyes a bit more.

"Besides, she's bringing me cake."

Jay can't mask the small smile across his face or the effects of the pain medication as he closes his eyes. His breathing is starting to even out.

Kim reaches out and rubs his left forearm; it returned to his side when Marcel placed the ice on his chest, "You're exhausted. Get some sleep." She's sure Jay didn't hear any of that.

Kim looks back at the TV still rubbing Jay's arm.

That's where Kim remained for the next half- hour. The Nurse removed the ice from Jay's chest, he slept right through it. As the Nurse walked through the doorway leaving, Hailey walked in holding a container of cake. She notices the bag of ice, walks in and sees Kim absentmindedly rubbing Jay's forearm. She looks at Kim questioning.

Kim stops her movements, "Jay woke up." Hailey sighs. "He had a coughing fit. He was in alot of pain."

Hailey places the cake on the table and walks towards the head of the bed. She softly caresses her fingers through Jay's hair. She whispers, "I sorry you're going through this." She looks at Kim, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do considering…." She lets that last word linger both knowing what she is referring to.

Kim stands, "I should go." Hailey looks up at her. "Yeah, um don't forget your cake."

"We're all here for you and Jay." Kim says smiling as she picks up the cake.

They both exchange understanding looks and Kim walks out.

Hailey sighs. She walks over to the chair Kim vacated and sits down. She places her hand over the back of Jay's left hand, caressing it watching him sleep.