Once Hailey left, Jay finished his soup and took the NyQuil with a swig of the Pedialyte before taking a box of the tissues and the box of the patches, just in case, into his room. Casper follows Jay, knowing something isn't right with his human. Jay lays down, bundled under his blankets and Casper cuddles next to him. It doesn't take Jay long to fall asleep, the medicine knocking him out.

Jay's sleep isn't peaceful for long as his fever is causing nightmares. Casper hears this and climbs on top of his human, licking his face until the whimpering stops. Even though the whimper has stopped, Casper stays on top of Jay.

Jay doesn't even notice when Will lets himself into the apartment to check on his brother after his shift. Jay is back on his side and Casper is no longer on top of him, but he is still close by, Jay's hand resting on Casper's head.

Will carefully places a hand on his brother's forehead trying not to disturb him. Jay sighs at the contact causing him to cough himself awake. Seeing his brother struggle, Will helps him sit up, "You're okay. Just breathe," Will coaxes rubbing his back. "Here, small sips," Will hands Jay the bottle of Pedialyte.

"What time is it?" Jay asks.

"Just after eleven. How do you feel?"

"Been better."

"You feel warm, when was the last time you took something?"

"Don't know. Maybe seven or eight."

"Okay, it's too early for you to take more," Will tells him while turning the bedside light on low. He sees the box of patches. "Do you feel up to taking a shower? The hot water would help," Will suggest, not liking the congestion in his voice.

"No, I just want to sleep."

"Here," Will hands the thermometer to Jay wanting to get a reading on his temperature. Will then lifts up Jay's shirt enough that he can get the patch on his chest. The device beep and Will takes it from Jay, "101.7," Will says concerned. A cold shouldn't cause a fever that high, especially with cold meds already in his system and giving Jay the drink of Pedialyte would have lowered the reading some. "I'll wake you in a couple of hours for more meds."

"You need to go home to Kohl," Jay tells him tiredly.

"He can wait a couple of hours," Will tells him, "I'll be in the living room if you need anything." Jay's snoring lets Will know that he probably didn't hear anything he said.

Will sets an alarm on his phone for two in the morning, so he can wake Jay to take more meds. Will falls asleep on the couch after a long shift, with the conclusion that Jay most likely has the flu and not a cold.

Will wakes up to his phone three hours later. Going into Jay's room he sees that Jay had moved in his sleep so his arm laying across Casper.

"Jay, wake up," he gently shakes the former soldier awake, ready to catch Jay's arm if he tries to punch him; only for Jay to groan from being woken. "Open," Will orders, sticking the device in Jay's mouth. The device reads 102.3, a sign that the meds have worn off. Will helps Jay sit up so he can take the pills. After making Jay drink some Pedialyte, Will lets him go back to sleep.

Will wakes up at six-twenty to the sound of painful coughing. Will gets up to check on his brother, walking into Jay's bedroom Will sees Jay sitting up trying to control his coughing with Casper leaning into his side, Jay's hand gripping at his collar.

Will rubs his back hoping it would keep Jay calm, "Just breathe," Will tells him feeling helpless.

When the coughing stops, Casper starts licking Jay's face and neck. "Not feeling any better?" Will asks sympathetically.

Jay shakes his head, "I think this is the worse cold I've ever had," Jay mumbles.

"From how high your fever was earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the flu. How long have you felt sick?" Will asks wanting to see if he should take Jay to Med to get him a prescription for Tamiflu.

"How high? Hailey said it wasn't too bad," Jay says not answering the question.

"Little over 102. Do you remember what Hailey said it was?" Jay shakes his head again. "Okay, do you know when you started to feel sick?" Will tries again.

"No, sorry."

"It's okay. Do you want to lay on the couch? I'm going to see if Hailey brought you anything to help your cough," Will asks.

"No."

"Okay, call me if you need anything," Will tells him before going back out to the living room to see what Hailey brought Jay, hoping there is something that will help ease Jay's coughing.

Searching through the Walmart bag, Will finds a box of teabags. Will puts water on the stove to make the tea, hoping it would help Jay's throat.

While the water is boiling, Will decides it is late enough to call Hailey to see if she can fill in the blanks that Jay is missing. "Hailey, do you have time to talk before you go to work?" Will asks.

"Yeah, what's up? Is Jay okay?" She asks concerned.

"He's still not feeling great, I just wanted to see if you could answer some things that Jay couldn't."

"I can try."

"He said that you told him his fever wasn't too bad when you took it, do you remember what it was?"

"100.7, I think."

"Okay, this might be a bit harder. Do you have any idea when Jay started feeling sick?"

"He went home early yesterday- around one, but he looked miserable when he got in in the morning. The day before he was tired; I didn't think anything of it. Casper wouldn't leave his side, so we had to scratch the training session. The night before that he was supposed to meet us at Molly's, but he never showed. When I asked the next day, he said he had a headache and went to bed early. Why?" Hailey questions.

"I think he has the flu. I wanted to see where we were on the window for Tamiflu," Will answers. "If you're right and this started about three days ago, he missed the window that it would work."

"What's that mean for him?"

"It just has to run its course. Rest, fluids, the like."

"Should I have brought him to an urgent care yesterday?" Hailey asks before realizing something. "Wait, it's April. Isn't flu season over?"

"You can get it any time, but flu season is generally from October to May. And you didn't know, Jay likes to hide things until he can't anymore."

"That sounds like him. Let him know I'll bring him some soup over tonight?"

"I will. This is going to knock him on his ass for the next couple of days, do you think you can stop by around lunch to let Casper out?"

"Yeah, no problem. Need me to do anything else?"

"No, I'll come back when I get off."

"Okay, let me know if that changes."

"I will, thanks," Will hangs up.

Will goes back into Jay's room and places the drink on the nightstand. Will hands Jay the thermometer again. When it beeps Jay lets Will have it, "102 even. Drink this, it should help your throat. Do you need anything before I go to work?"

"No."

"Okay. Hailey is going to stop by around lunch to let Casper out and she said to tell you she will bring you soup tonight," Will tells Jay before turning his attention to the dog, "Casper, come on. You need to go outside." Casper just stares at Will.

"Casper go with Uncle Will," Jay orders the dog before resting against the pillows. Casper reluctantly gets off of the bed and follows Will.

Will lets Casper out and feeds him when they come back in. As soon as he is finished, Casper finds his way back to Jay's bed. "Jay, did you take the DayQuil?"

"No."

"Take it," Will hands him the pills before he walks out of Jay's room.

"Who was that? Do we have a case?" Vanessa asks when she sees Hailey hang up the phone.

"No, it was Will. He wanted to see if I could stop by Jay's place around lunch to let Casper out."

"How is he?"

"Will thinks it's the flu and he missed the window for Tamiflu."

"Sounds rough," Vanessa comments as the two walk out of the door.

"Yeah and he hates needles so I doubt he got the flu shot," Hailey replies following Vanessa.

Hailey opens the door to Jay's apartment using her key, not wanting to wake him up if he was sleeping. Looking around, she finds Casper in the same spot that Will left him in, "Casper, let's go outside," she whispers, not wanting to wake Jay up.

Casper follows Hailey once she grabs a treat to bribe him. "Good boy," Hailey praises once Casper goes. Casper looks up to Hailey as if asking to go back to Jay. "Okay, okay," Hailey tells the dog letting him lead her back into the apartment building.

When Hailey opens the door Casper goes straight to the bathroom door, scratching at it trying to get in. Hailey follows him wanting to see what's going on. She sees a light coming from underneath the door, "Jay? Are you okay?" Hailey knocks on the door.

"Hailey?"

"Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Okay."

Hailey opens the door to find Jay sitting in front of the toilet, "What happened?" Hailey asks placing a hand on his back and Casper rests his head on Jay's leg. Hailey takes in his appearance and notices he looks pale with the exception of red indicating the fever he is running.

"I thought I was going to be sick. And now I'm too dizzy to move."

"Okay, do you still feel like you're going to be sick?"

"Not right now."

"Come on," Hailey slowly helps Jay up, letting him lean on her. "Couch or bed?" Hailey asks.

"Couch."

"Okay. Come on. I got you," Hailey slowly walks Jay to the couch.

Hailey gets Jay to the couch and throws the blanket that he was using the night before back on him. "Do you want a bucket?" Jay nods. Hailey goes into his kitchen and grabs the bucket he keeps under the sink. "I was going to see if you wanted me to heat some of the rice from last night, but I think I know the answer."

"Sorry," Jay apologizes.

"Don't be, but try to get something in your system when Will comes back later okay?" Jay nods.

Hailey places her hand on the back of his neck again, "You're burning up. Where's the thermometer?" Hailey asks looking around.

"Will used it this morning, probably in my room," Jay answers.

Hailey goes to his room to look for the device. Finding on his nightstand, Hailey returns to Jay, "Open," Hailey orders putting it in his mouth; Jay listens too tired to argue. "Are you cold?" Hailey asks when she notices him shivering. Jay shakes his head but Hailey knows better than to listen to him. "Sure," Hailey answers not believing him. She goes over to his hall closet and grabs another blanket for him. Going back over to him Hailey covers him with the second blanket. "102.1," she reads when the device beeps.

"Can you try to drink a little, I think you're dehydrated?" Hailey asks while handing him a bottle of Pedialyte. Jay looks at it before taking a small sip. "I think you can have more meds," Hailey hands him the DayQuil pack when she sees it is one o'clock. "Are you going to get the flu shot next year?" Hailey asks knowing her partner's aversion to needles.

"No," Jay answers quietly turning on his side so Casper can lay with him.

Hailey can tell from her partner's tone that something is bothering him, "Hey, what's wrong?" Hailey asks, sitting on the edge of the couch near his stomach, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," Jay apologizes.

"What?" Hailey asks confused.

"I would have been fine on my own."

"Jay," Hailey sighs. "You're my partner, I wanted to check on you. I know you would do the same for me."

"That's different."

"How is it different?"

"I don't know. It just is."

"Jay, I don't know what you were told before, but you're not a burden or a bother. It's not your fault you got sick."

"But I didn't get the flu shot."

"I'm sorry Jay, I was just joking," Hailey tells him feeling bad about her earlier comment.

"It's okay," Jay forgives.

"It's not, but we'll talk about it when you're feeling better. Do you need anything before I go back to work?"

"No. Thanks for letting Casper out," Jay thanks quietly.

"Of course. Casper, you take care of your dad. Let me know if you need anything," Hailey replies before quietly leaving his apartment.

When Hailey gets back to the district, she pulls out her personal phone to text Will, Jay said he felt sick, so I couldn't get him to eat anything. Can you get ginger ale before you go back to his apartment?

Got it. Thanks for checking on him, Will sends back when he sees the message.

Will quietly opens his brother's apartment after stopping at his own to take care of Kohl. Will is relieved seeing that the bucket Hailey left with him is still empty. "Jay, can you wake up for me?"

"What?"

"You haven't eaten all day. Do you think you can handle some toast?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, what about some ginger ale? I got some at work for you, so it's had time to go flat."

"I'm sorry," Jay apologized while sitting up and taking the drink.

"For what?"

"For getting sick, for bother you and Hailey," Jay answers still not believing what Hailey told him earlier. "For messing up Casper's training," Jay adds.

"Jay you're not bothering us. You can't help that you're not feeling well and you didn't mess up his training," Will says as he sits next to Jay, Casper moving so his head is on Jay's lap. "You feel cooler," Will comments when Jay rests his head against him.

"Hailey gave me some meds when she was here," Jay tells him.

"Good. Hey, you sweated through your shirt. I'm going to get you a new one," Will gets up being careful to not let Jay fall since he was resting on him.

Will goes to Jay's room and grabs a new long sleeve t-shirt from his drawer. "Do you need help?" Will asks.

"No," Jay answers as he works on getting his old shirt off. It takes a while but he does manage to get the new shirt on before laying back down.

Later that night Hailey stops by with the promised soup, "It's the Greek version of chicken noodle," she tells the older Halstead. "How is he?"

"I got some toast into him and he's managed to keep that down- that was three and a half hours ago, his fever was down to 101.8 the last I checked. And now he's back in bed with Casper."

"I'm glad he has Casper."

"Me too."

"He needed it," Hailey comments.

"Needed what?" Will asks confused.

"Dogs love unconditionally, I think that after everything he's been through Jay needed someone who could love him like that."

A/N:

Conversions:

101.7- 38.2

102.3- 39.1

102- 38.9

102.1- 38.9

101.8- 38.8