Erin arrived at the precinct early as she always does, and by the time Jay got there she was passed out at her desk.
"Hey, sleepy head." He says shaking her gently.
She jumps, quickly wipes the drool from her mouth, and looks up at him. He hands her a cup of coffee and leans up against her desk. Jay watches her take a quick sip and then lean back in her chair with a sigh.
"That bad, huh?" Jay asks.
"She hasn't slept in a week, and when she does finally fall asleep it doesn't last long she wakes up screaming. I have barely had time to shower because she panics when I leave her alone. It's like she's two weeks old again." Erin says upset.
"Where is she?" he asks.
"She is in Voight's office laying down on the couch. This is the only place she can sleep, but it still doesn't last long." Erin says.
"It will get better. Hopefully her counselling sessions will help and she…." Jay is cut off by a shriek.
"Mom!" Emery screams.
Erin runs to comfort her quickly followed by Jay. She wraps her arms around her tightly, Emery's sobs were heartbreaking, and Jay kept thinking her cries were different, to him they seemed to have a very different tone then anything he's ever heard before. It was pure pain and he knew that, so many bad things had happened to her in the last couple months. Jay had a connection with the eighteen year old since day one so maybe he could get her to feel more comfortable in her own skin again.
"Shhh… honey I'm right here." Erin says stroking her daughter's hair.
"Mom, when will it stop? I can't take these nightmares anymore." Emery sobbed burying her face in her mother's shoulder.
"Hey. How about you let me take you somewhere when the shift is over. Just me and you. I have an idea it helped me when I was having nightmares. Maybe it will help you." Jay says to the young woman.
"What do you say?" Erin asks looking into her daughter's bright blue eyes that were filled with tears.
Emery nodded in agreement just as everyone came into the precinct. Erin made her lay back down to sleep. Jay and Erin met everyone in the squad room. They all sit at their desks and listen to Hank as he briefs them on the case.
"This is the victim, his name is Colton Jacobs, 25 years old, and he was brutally beaten by a street gang. It is our job to figure out which one and bring them in." Voight says.
"Ruzek, Atwater, and I are going to go canvas the neighborhood see what people saw if anything." Dawson states.
"I have a CI who knows the gang activity pretty well. Erin and I will go check that out." Halstead says.
"Ok get moving. I'll stay here and keep an eye on Emery." Hank says while everyone leaves.
Hank walked into his office quietly and sat at his desk to finish some paperwork. Emery was asleep again and he hoped it would be for longer than a half hour. He sat there and watched her intently. That girl was his everything blood or not, his granddaughter meant everything to him. He felt guilty for putting her in a situation where she doesn't feel safe anymore with anyone. He thought back on the time Emery asked him why she didn't look like him or Camille, she had just turned three, he looked right at her and said "Baby I know this is going to be hard for you to understand right now but you will one day. It isn't blood that makes someone family, it is the people who love you unconditionally day in and day out." He still remembers the confused little look that took over her face, but being the strong independent little girl she was she nodded in agreement. She then kissed him on the cheek and said "I love you papa." Then she skipped off up the stairs. Just then the phone rang causing Emery to shoot up off the couch in panic.
"This is Sergeant Voight." He says answering the phone.
Emery looked around the room to make sure everything was ok and then she looked back at Voight.
"Alright, I appreciate it." He says hanging up.
"Who was that?" she asked her grandpa.
"I called in a favor at the academy. They said under the circumstances they will allow you to start when you're ready." He said to her with a look of concern.
"Oh ok. Thanks." She says laying back on the couch.
Hank was shocked he was expecting her to put up a fight, tell him no matter what she was starting on time but she didn't. He knew at that point something was really wrong and he had a bad feeling she hadn't told them the whole story of what happened while she was missing.
Everyone returned to the station by five. Jay walked into Voight's office to get Emery.
"Hey kid, you ready." He asked.
She nodded her head and they were on their way. Jay and Emery didn't say one word to each other on the way to the surprise. He knew that making her talk to him wasn't going to help her. She just needed someone to be there for her and he wanted to be that person.
"Here we are. Well this is the first part at least." He says as the pull up outside Antonio's boxing gym.
"Boxing?" She asked.
"Yeah, I figured if you got to beat the crap out of something it would be therapeutic." He says.
She looked at him puzzled, but then she smiled for the first time in a week. Jay knew all too well what she was going through. She had a form of PTSD, but he knew exactly what would help her.
"Alright kid go put this on. Your mom gave it to me earlier. Then meet me back here." He said.
Emery went to the locker room and quickly changed. She had many bruises on her body that she still couldn't look at. She returned back to Halstead who strapped on her gloves.
"Alright, now I want you to hit the pad as hard as you can." He stated hitting the mit on his hand.
Emery gave a weak punch, and then backed away.
"You can do better than that. Punch the bag." He said antagonizing her.
She punched at the bag a little harder but not much.
"Emery look at me what did you want to do to those guys when they were beating you. Think about that think about how you would have defended yourself." He said giving her a push.
The push was exactly what she needed because before long Emery was repeatedly giving blows to the Focusing mitt on Jay's hands. Until finally she got tired and broke down balling in Jay's arms.
"I didn't fight back. Why didn't I fight back?" She says between sobs.
"Emery, who knows what they would have done if you did. You were tied up there was no way you could have prevented them from hurting you." He says in a sincere tone.
"I don't know what to do Jay." She says.
"How about we start with boxing lessons? Antonio said he would teach you. You can come in anytime you want and practice it just gives you a sense of safety knowing that you have the skills to protect yourself. I think we did enough here today. Let's go to the next place." He says standing up and then pulling her to her feet.
Emery shakes her head yes and then goes back into the locker room to change not knowing what to expect for the next stop. When they arrive Emery becomes more intrigued, she looks at him in shock.
"The gun range. My mom actually approved you taking me to the gun range." She says confused.
"No, I was hoping we wouldn't tell her this part." He said with a smirk.
They went inside and waited for someone to assist them. Emery was amazed at all the options of weapons they had to choose from. Jay picked out the classic handgun for her to get certified with. Finally someone came to the front to help.
"How can I help you today?" the man asked.
"Well we are her to get my daughter's handgun certification for the police academy." He says looking at Emery and then the guy.
"Alright, I'm guessing you're eighteen?" He asks.
Emery nods her head and then waits for him to pull out the forms that needed to be signed. Before she knew it they were in the back. There was no else there just her, Jay, and Mike the range guy. Jay helped Emery with some practice shots, and also how to properly hold the gun. After about fifteen minutes of practice she was ready to actually take the short test to get her certification. Every spot he told her to hit she did without error, she was a natural just like her mom. She received her certification, and then they headed home.
"Jay thank you. I needed this. It made me realize some things." She says.
"You are very welcome." He said with a smile.
"About the daughter thing?" Emery asked.
"Oh yeah. You have to be twenty one in the state of Illinois to go to a gun range for a handgun. Otherwise you have to have a parent present." He said kind of embarrassed.
"It's ok I'm not mad or anything it was nice. I never did things like this with my dad he was always working. I mean don't get me wrong I loved him, but sometimes I wish he would have spent more time being my dad." Emery says as they pulled up outside the apartment.
"Come on, I'll walk you up." Jay says.
Emery and Jay come walking into the apartment to find Erin curled up on the couch fast asleep.
"I guess she hasn't slept much since everything with me waking up all the time screaming." Emery says compassionately.
"Nope, she was really worried about you." He whispered.
"I know. Thanks again Jay." She says giving him a hug as he leaves.
Emery locks the door behind him and then wakes her mother up so she could move into her room. Although Emery was not comfortable sleeping in her room quite yet, she was sure she wasn't going to be having anymore nightmares. She climbed in bed with her mom and before she knew it she was fast asleep.