Author's Note: Happy Monday Everyone! I'm sorry for the delay... life happened on Friday and my weekends tend to be a bit busy! I'm also sorry this Chapter is short... I had to leave it where I did, but I promise, the next one will be longer.
I hope y'all enjoy!
The week passed without incident. Jay didn't stay at Hailey's apartment after Vanessa had returned, but he did keep a close eye on her while at work. Hailey was seemingly doing much better, she had returned to work on Monday and was back to the "I'm fine, Jay" response whenever he would ask how she was. Yet, Jay wondered if Hailey was actually doing better or just doing a better job at keeping her emotions at bay. Hailey had always been one to throw herself into working and push her demons down when she working.
It was Thursday night... two weeks since the attack. Jay could tell by the end of shift that Hailey's mind was wandering. She had been very quiet and distant for the latter half of the day.
After shift, Jay had invited Hailey to join him for a couple drinks at Molly's. She agreed, Vanessa quickly invited herself along, as well. It was a nice evening, overall. They talked about work and Vanessa's trip. When Hailey slipped off to use the restroom, Jay decided it was a good time to ask how his partner was really doing.
"So, uh... how has Hailey been doing?" Jay asked, casually.
Vanessa sighed. "Honestly, she's had a couple rough days... a lot of rough nights, but she's doing as well as can be expected."
Jay winced at the thought of Hailey suffering through her nightmares alone. "I told her to call me if things got bad..." he said, sounding slightly disappointed, defeated.
"You know Hailey, stubborn as ever... never wanting to take help from anyone." Vanessa said, with a laugh, before her expression turned more serious. "She'll be okay, Jay... she's tough."
"I know... I just... if things get too bad, will you call me please?" Jay asked. "You don't even have to tell her you called me, I can just say I was stopping by."
"Okay... if things get worse." Vanessa agreed.
Hailey returned to the table and the friends had a few more drinks before deciding to head back to her apartment for the night. Jay drove the girls home, since he had picked them up from their apartment after shift. They said their goodbyes and Jay was just about to drive away when he saw Vanessa run back outside towards the truck.
"Jay!" Vanessa shouted. "I think you should see this."
Jay followed Vanessa inside and there, in front of Hailey's door was a large bouquet of flowers with a card. Jay picked up the card, it said "Until next time sweetheart."
Jay's blood began to boil... he looked to Hailey, a look of pure terror was planted on her face. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears.
"He... he was here..." Hailey whispered, willing the tears not to fall.
Jay could see that Hailey was struggling. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be alright." he told her.
Hailey shook her head. "He's... he's going to come back for me... he's going to..."
"No, he's not going to do anything!" Jay said, cutting her off before she could continue.
"He knows..." Hailey cried, he breathing suddenly becoming more erotic, the tears she had been fighting began to fall. "He knows and he's going to come back..."
Jay pulled Hailey into his embrace, wrapping both arms tightly around her trembling body. "No one is going to hurt you again, Hailey... I'll make sure of that."
Vanessa was a bit shaken, as well.
"You're staying with me..." Jay said, matter of factly. "Both of you."
Vanessa shook her head. I think I'm going to crash at my friend's house... you take Hailey home with you."
"You're sure?" Jay asked. "You're welcome to come too..."
"Yeah, I'm sure." Vanessa said. "Just take care of Hailey."
Jay nodded.
"I'm right here..." Hailey said, trying to steady her voice.
"I know, hun." Vanessa said. "You go with Jay, I'll see you tomorrow at shift."
The rest of the night had passed by quietly, much too quiet for Jay's liking. Hailey hadn't said hardly a word. After arriving at Jay's apartment, Hailey had went straight to the shower, where she stayed for almost an hour... before going to bed. Sleep didn't come for Hailey, she tossed and turned all night long. In the morning, she barely touched the breakfast that her partner had made for her, instead she just pushed the food around on her plate.
The ride to District was also painfully quiet and when they arrived, Hailey jumped on a case with Vanessa.
Jay felt as though Hailey was pushing him away, though he wasn't quite sure why. All he wanted was to be there for her, to help her, and most of all... to keep her safe. Jay decided to do some investigating off the books. He pulled traffic cams and located the a Black Lincoln Navigator which pulled up to Hailey's apartment, carrying flowers in, the night before. The driver was a thin, well build man about 6' tall. That's really all that Jay could make out. He wore Black Pants, Black Hoody, and a Black Mask on his face. Furthermore, the vehicle he was driving, didn't have a license plate.
"That son of a bitch!" Jay shouted, as he slammed his hand down hard on the desk. He lost the vehicle on traffic cams after a few blocks.
Jay was becoming more and more frustrated. He wanted, no... he needed to get the bastard who had hurt his partner, his best friend, his...
However, since Hailey didn't report the crime, Jay was unsure what he was going to do... even if he did locate and identify the guy who brought the flowers to his partner's apartment. He couldn't arrest him, since technically no crime had been reported. The best Jay could do, for now, is try to identify the suspect and see if he can find any other dirt to charge him with when/if he does.
This whole thing was killing Jay inside, he felt so helpless. No matter how badly he wanted to make things better, there was just nothing that he could do, right now. Aside from what he was already doing, but even that was becoming a challenge because Hailey was now seemingly trying to push him away. Jay wasn't going to allow her to do that, he had told her he wasn't going anywhere and he meant it...
TBC...
