January

Hailey walked in the locker room while tying her hair up in a ponytail to see Jay slipping out of his clothes. She whistled softly and winked, "Looking good, Halstead."

Jay looked up and smirked, "See something you like?"

Hailey laughed and opened her own locker, "One hundred percent."

Jay hummed as he pulled on his uniform, "Which part?"

"Uh," Hailey tried not to laugh harder and gave Jay another once over, "Today I'll say arms because damn."

Jay burst into laughter while buttoning his shirt, "I have been working out."

"I know," Hailey jokingly pouted, "You've been leaving the bed all cold in the morning."

"Hey, new year, new me," Jay winked.

"Oh my god," Hailey rolled her eyes, "Okay." She tossed her own shirt in her locker and grabbed out her uniform.

Jay chuckled, "But look who's talking? My wife's looking hot."

"You think?" Hailey stepped back to glance in the mirror, "I should probably join you more in the gym besides just the occasional run."

"What're you talking about?" Jay walked over and grabbed her waist to hold her back to his chest, "Don't trash talk yourself. I'm not going to listen to that. And besides, you go to all those classes and we know those are way too hard for me."

Hailey laughed at the memory of him wanting to join her for her drum cardio and struggling to finish the class. "You were fine," she said and reached up behind her to set her hand on the side of his face.

"I actually thought I was going to die," Jay shook his head and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Well," Hailey turned in his arms and went up on her tiptoes to kiss his nose, "I'm glad you didn't."

"Good because you're stuck with me," Jay held up his left hand where his black silicone ring was sitting stark against the pale skin of his ring finger, "No returns."

Hailey laughed and lightly pushed his chest, "I wouldn't dream of it." She stepped out of his grasp to pick up her uniform again and pull the shirt on, "I am dreaming though that we said no to this overtime and can spend the day in bed instead."

Jay shrugged and walked back to his locker to finish getting dressed, "I'm hoping things won't be too bad. It's a Thursday night, what could go wrong?"

"Damn," Hailey tipped her head back, "Why'd you say that?"

Jay raised an eyebrow, "What're you talking about?"

"You definitely just jinxed us," Hailey sighed.

"I did not," Jay laughed.

"You did," Hailey nodded, "It's going to be a night from hell."

"That's dramatic," Jay pulled his coat on.

"Want to bet?" Hailey asked.

Jay smirked, "I like to bet."

"Then let's do it," Hailey sat on the bench to tie her shoes, "If we get more than two calls or incidents, I win; two or less and it's yours."

"So three or more means you win?" Jay crossed his arms, "Easy. That's a lot for an eight hour shift."

Hailey tried not to smile, "All right, Detective. You're on."

"And what do I win when we have less than two calls tonight?" Jay asked while leaning against the lockers.

Hailey scoffed, "Shut up."

"Never," Jay laughed, "What do I win?"

"Oh god," Hailey rolled her eyes, "Let's just make it simple, loser does all the paperwork for whatever cases we catch tonight."

"Boring, but fine," Jay said.

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "I don't know, sounds good for me when we have seven piles of paperwork to complete after midnight."

Jay snorted and holstered his gun, "Whatever. You know what? Fine. Works for me. I won't have to do any of that paperwork and I am pumped. My hand's too precious to waste on overtime files."

"Uh-huh," Hailey laughed and shut her locker, "Let's go, big shot." She brushed her hand across his chest before walking past him out to the garage.

Jay followed her and smiled as she located the car they were going to drive for the night. He wasn't a huge fan of overtime…actually, he hated it, but he did like spending time with his wife, so maybe this night wouldn't be the worst way to spend time.

"I drive for the first four?" Hailey asked while opening the driver's door.

"Works for me," Jay said. He lightly jogged over and sat in the passenger seat. "You know," he started once Hailey was in the car and driving out, "Been a long time since I've been in one of these."

"I know," Hailey laughed softly and looked around, "It's way fancier than what I used to drive on patrol."

Jay hummed in agreement and watched the scenery go by as Hailey drove. Eventually, he asked, "Craziest call?"

Hailey smirked, "Ever or on patrol?"

"On patrol," Jay nodded.

"Huh," Hailey took a deep breath, "Oh, so it was right before Halloween and I guess these college kids wanted to push their luck because they set up this elaborate set essentially like a haunted house and then called saying 911 saying someone had broken into their place which meant my partner and I were sent on a mission to scan the entire house getting scared with every turn."

Jay shook his head, "Amazing. What're we talking?"

"Just a bunch of jump scares," Hailey shrugged, "Until it ended with going through a door and having a bucket of homemade slime dumped on us."

Jay looked at her as a smile started to spread on his face, "Slime?"

"Yeah," Hailey groaned, "All in my hair! And it was up in a bun so it got super sticky and I couldn't pull it out and I actually had to cut a chunk of my hair because it was glue and-" She stopped as Jay's laughter became too loud and she could barely hear herself think. She rolled her eyes, "Jay."

He slowed his laughter and looked at her, "Sorry, sorry, I'm just picturing you covered in green goo."

Hailey smiled slightly, "It was actually pink."

"Even better," Jay laughed, "At least you look good in pink."

"I do not," Hailey lightly shoved his arm, "Shut it."

"You look good in every color!" Jay pulled his phone out, "Let me show you."

Hailey ignored him until his words replayed in her head. She glanced away from the road to look at him, "What?"

"Here," Jay held up his phone, "Blue, hot. Uh…" he scrolled through his phone, "Oh, this red plaid, into it." He flipped through more pictures, "The pink hoodie, super cute."

Hailey couldn't believe what he was saying – or rather, what he was doing. He was showing her pictures that she never remembered him taking: ones where she was cooking dinner or typing at her desk or talking to Vanessa.

"When…when do you take these?" Hailey asked quietly.

Jay shrugged and gave one last smile to the picture of Hailey laughing with Kevin before putting his phone in his pocket, "Just whenever I look at you, really."

Hailey smiled slightly then nodded, "That's really sweet."

Jay chuckled, "Does it freak you out?"

"No, not at all," Hailey shook her head, "I guess I was just surprised. I've never noticed you taking pictures before."

"Well," Jay reached over and lightly pulled her hand from the steering wheel to squeeze it, "I am a cop and have frequently gone undercover."

Hailey laughed and intertwined their fingers together, "Oh, you don't say? Did you know I'm a cop too?"

Jay looked around the car, "What? You're a cop? I thought you just drove this super cool car."

Hailey laughed harder and shook her head, "I love you."

Jay smiled, "I love you too." He kissed her hand then rested his head back against the seat to watch the city flash by as Hailey drove.

"Okay," Hailey tossed the keys to Jay then sipped her fresh coffee they'd just bought, "First four hours done. You're up."

"And I'm feeling pretty good about my odds," Jay said while opening the driver's door to get in, "Only one call so far and it was simple – you won't be filling out paperwork for too long over a simple false alarm."

"There you go jinxing us again," Hailey shook her head with a sigh, "You're so dense, Jay. You can't say crap like that."

Jay laughed, "Come on, Hailey, it's fine. Everything's fine."

"Stop saying that," Hailey lightly shoved his side as he began to drive, "You're cursing us."

"Truly, I had no idea you were this superstitious," Jay chuckled under his breath, "I'll stop though."

"Thank you," Hailey sighed. She took a long drink of coffee then rested her head back against the seat.

"Tired?" Jay asked.

"Not really," Hailey smiled at him, "Just kind of bored. We've pretty much been working all day."

"Yeah," Jay huffed out a breath, "Sorry, I know it was my idea."

Hailey shook her head, "I don't mind. At least I'm doing it with you."

Jay chuckled, "Cute."

Hailey laughed softly and drank more of her coffee. She was staring out the window as Jay pulled into a parking lot when she noticed a car running across the way partially hidden by trees. She sat up, "Drive over there."

Jay easily spotted the car and drove over to it. He slowed down and squinted his eyes, "Can you see anything?"

Hailey shook her head and undid her seatbelt, "It's on though."

Jay nodded and turned off the engine. They both waited a minute to see if anyone would emerge from the car or the trees, but nothing happened.

"I'm just going to see what's up," Hailey said with her hand on the door.

"All right," Jay stepped out of the car.

Hailey smiled slightly and got out. She held onto her gun until Jay was standing on the other side of the old, red Ford then lightly knocked on the foggy window, "Chicago PD."

Nothing happened, so Jay tried. He knocked on the passenger window and said louder, "Chicago PD, open up."

They both heard sudden movement in the car and pulled out their guns.

"Slowly and with your hands up!" Jay yelled.

The back window slid down just an inch on Hailey's side and a quiet male voice said, "We don't have guns."

Hailey held steady and said, "Step out of the car."

"Max," a girl's voice whimpered.

Hailey looked over at Jay and fought the pit in her stomach, "Ma'am, is everything okay?"

Jay tried opening the back door and the girl inside screamed, "Please! No!"

"It's okay, it's okay," the boy said then rolled down the window further. He stuck his head out of the window at Hailey, "Is there a problem, officer?"

"Step out of the car," Hailey repeated and walked backwards, "We just want to talk."

There was quick, frantic whispering inside the car that Hailey couldn't make out.

The boy breathed in and slowly opened the door. He couldn't look Hailey in the eyes and turned away from her to fix his clothes.

Jay's eyes narrowed whereas Hailey lowered her gun and stepped around to glance inside the car, "Hello?"

A teenage girl was sitting in the backseat trying to pull her tights on. She whimpered again and scooted back toward the door.

"Hi," Hailey whispered, "My name's Hailey, is everything okay?"

"Don't tell my mom," the girl cried.

Hailey looked up at Jay and tilted her head to the side. He nodded and put his gun away before walking around the car to the boy.

"Max?" he asked, "That's your name, right?"

The boy quickly nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Let's go over here," Jay gestured away from the car.

The boy glanced back at the car, "But…Caroline…"

"She'll be okay," Jay put his arm out, "Come on, do you have your license?"

Hailey watched them walk away then squatted down to look in the car again, "Caroline, what's going on?"

"You cannot tell my mom," the girl said quickly.

"I can't promise that," Hailey set her hands on the seat, "Are you okay?"

Caroline wiped the tears from her face and gave a stiff nod, "I'm fine."

"Okay," Hailey nodded, "Can you come out here, please, so we can talk?"

"We weren't doing anything," Caroline shook her head.

Hailey held back a smile, "Let's talk, just me and you."

Caroline whined quietly and nervously shook her hands before nodding and moving closer to Hailey.

"There you go," Hailey said softly and stood up. She looked behind her to see Jay talking quietly to Max, both of them leaning against the side of the car they had driven there.

Caroline stepped out of the car and twisted her skirt back into place.

"It's really cute," Hailey smiled.

Caroline blushed, "Thank you."

"How old are you?" Hailey asked.

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut, "Fifteen."

Hailey nodded, "Fifteen? You're out pretty late for a school night, aren't you?"

Caroline glanced at the Apple Watch on her wrist and shrugged, "It's barely 9:30pm."

"I'm guessing your mom doesn't know you're here," Hailey stated.

Caroline winced and another round of tears fell down her cheeks.

"Hey," Hailey breathed and gently set a hand on Caroline's arm, "Tell me what's going on."

Caroline shrugged, but stepped closer to Hailey, "I-I just wanted to have fun and spend time with my boyfriend. I didn't think we were going to get arrested." She burst into tears and fell into Hailey crying into her shoulder.

Just a few feet away, Jay was saying, "So, just trying to figure this out…you're both eighteen, freshmen at University of Chicago, don't have parents, and were just going over homework?"

"Yes, sir," Max nodded.

Jay couldn't help it and laughed, "Dude, come on." He held up the license he'd taken minutes before, "I know you're sixteen."

Max looked down at the ground, "Maybe that's a fake."

Jay raised an eyebrow, "You bought a fake ID to make you sixteen?"

"Yeah, it's the newest trend," Max said.

Jay chuckled, "All right, sure, I appreciate the lie."

Max rubbed his face, "Please don't arrest me."

"Start being honest with me and then we can talk about getting arrested," Jay said.

Max tipped his head backwards, "Promise?"

Jay simply held his hand out.

Max bit his lip and took a deep breath before shaking his hand, "I'm sixteen, she's fifteen, I was – uh – I was trying to…you know…"

Jay nodded along, "You got her alone after a night out and thought it'd be fun to mess around in the back of your Ford Focus in the park down the street from your school?"

Max blushed, "It doesn't sound cool when you say it."

"There's nothing cool about car sex," Jay chuckled. He looked behind them to see Hailey soothing Caroline and trying to get her to stop crying. He shook his head, "Max, did you ask her if she was okay with it?"

Max's eyes widened and he looked up at Jay, "Yes! Yes, I swear, we've been talking about this for a week now. She actually stole the condoms from her older sister!"

"Hey, hey, I didn't accuse you of anything," Jay pushed off of the car then unlocked it, "How about you sit back here and cool off for a minute?"

"You said if I told you the truth, you wouldn't arrest me," Max took a few steps away from Jay.

"Never said that," Jay opened the backdoor, "But I'm also not saying you're arrested. I just want you to sit down."

"Can't I sit in my car?" Max asked.

Jay shook his head, "A few minutes."

Max groaned, "Don't tell my dad." He walked over and gave one last pleading look at Jay before reluctantly getting into the patrol car.

Jay sighed and rubbed his face once he'd closed he door.

Hailey turned behind her and opened the back door of the car as well for Caroline. After she got in, Hailey walked over to Jay and shrugged, "I don't know."

"My thing is did he pressure her?" Jay asked, "She was crying a lot over there with you."

Hailey shook her head, "She's embarrassed. She said she was fully on board. She just doesn't want her mom to find out because she's a sophomore and he's a junior and it's a school night."

Jay chuckled, "I said the same thing."

"Oh, like you never went out on a school night," Hailey rolled her eyes.

Jay lightly shoved her, "I'm an adult now."

"And these are kids," Hailey laughed and glanced behind her where she could see the two teenagers talking in the backseat.

"Should we just drive them home?" Jay crossed his arms.

"Don't trust them to get there on their own?" Hailey smirked.

"Eh," Jay looked through the window as well, "Wouldn't mind talking to them both a little."

Hailey's eyes widened slightly, "Do you think they were doing something they shouldn't have been?"

"Besides attempting car sex when they're in high school? No," Jay chuckled, "I think they just need to know we're not scary. I don't like how they're both anti-parent."

"Fair," Hailey started walking away and lightly grabbed his arm, "But really, I think we both would have said the same thing if we were caught making out with our boyfriend or girlfriend in a park."

Jay nodded, "Exactly." He got in the car and waited for Hailey to get in as well to say, "All right, either of you lactose intolerant?"

Hailey's laugh distracted him from the completely shocked look on both Max and Caroline's faces.

"Um, sir?" Max said hesitantly, "Why? Are you-"

"I'm not arresting you or wanting to torture you or whatever you're thinking," Jay pulled out of the parking lot, "Just wondering if you guys like shakes."

Caroline glanced at Max then scooted forward in her seat, "Shakes? Like with ice-cream?"

"Yup," Jay nodded.

Hailey smiled wide and reached over to set her hand on his leg as he drove.

"I'm in the back of a cop car and the cop is buying me a shake," Max shook his head, "This is weird."

Jay chuckled, "Well, seemed like you two were having a rough night. I was hoping to turn it around for you, sound okay?"

Max nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Oh, I don't have money," Caroline blushed, "My purse was in the car."

"It's okay," Hailey said, "It'll be on us."

"Really?" Caroline asked.

"Really," Hailey nodded, "We just have a couple questions for you both."

"Like what?" Max bit his lip.

"Like Caroline told me she has an older sister, what about you, Max?" Hailey asked.

"I have two younger brothers," Max answered.

"I have a younger brother too," Hailey smiled.

"And I am the younger brother," Jay added, "So, based on things you both said, I'm guessing neither of you are close with your parents?"

"Oh, no, my dad's really cool," Max shook his head, "I just don't want him to know I've been arrested. Doesn't seem like a good idea."

Jay laughed, "Don't forget that you're not being arrested." He pulled the car into a drive-thru, "Hailey wants chocolate and I want vanilla, what about you both?"

"I'll take chocolate too," Max said. When Caroline didn't answer and was still staring out the window, he added, "I think Caroline wants chocolate too."

"All right," Jay shot Hailey a look before ordering.

She nodded and glanced in the rearview mirror to see Caroline frozen in her spot. She held back a sigh and said softly, "Caroline?"

She didn't answer, so Max lightly pushed her, "Caroline."

She snapped out of her daze and looked up, "Yeah?"

"Caroline, what's your relationship with your parents like?" Hailey asked.

Caroline shook her head and tried to avoid looking at Max, but he had reached over to hold her hand.

Jay's jaw set and his grip tightened on the steering wheel. Hailey rubbed a hand over her face and took a deep breath.

"I thought everything was fine," Max whispered.

"We don't all have two parents, Max – sometimes people die," Caroline snapped, "Everything is not fine. My mom's going to kill me."

Jay accepted the shakes through the window and shot Hailey a look before passing them out to everyone.

Caroline took the shake from him and turned in her seat so her back was to Max while she played with the straw.

"Sorry," Max mumbled to her then looked at Jay, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jay said quietly. He breathed in then decided to park the car off to the side. He waited for Hailey to nod at him to reach back and lightly touch Caroline's shoulder, "Hey, my parents have died too. Wanna tell me what's going on?"

Caroline blinked her eyes quickly and shrugged.

"We want to help," Hailey added, "We promise. We think we're pretty nice."

"Yeah," Jay nodded, "I actually married her, so if she was mean or something, I'd know."

Hailey laughed, "And I've heard all his corny jokes, so while you might hear one or two, they're really not that bad."

Caroline cracked a smile and glanced at everyone in he car. She swallowed against a lump in her throat, "Um…my-my dad died last year and my mom…she's been really stressed out, you know? She's had to start working again and I don't want to freak her out by coming home in a cop car." Her voice cracked, but she tried hiding it by quickly sipping her shake.

"First of all, kiddo," Jay started softly, "We're not going to take you home in this car. I'm going to bring you both back to that park and let you drive home on your own."

"We trust you to head home once we drop you off," Hailey continued.

Max's eyes widened, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Jay chuckled, "You didn't do anything wrong. I think you both just needed to hit the pause button for the night."

Max blushed and nodded before mumbling, "Yes, sir."

Caroline wiped her eyes, "What else were you going to say?"

Jay's gaze turned to her and he smiled slightly, "You can't beat yourself up. It's okay to have fun even though you've gone through that loss. Maybe just have fun that doesn't include sneaking around late at night."

Caroline actually laughed through the slow tears still falling, "I understand."

Hailey smiled at her, "We're all for having fun in high school."

"Oh, totally," Jay nodded, "Live your life, we're not going to judge. As people, we get where you're coming from, but as cops, we want you to be safe while doing it."

"And listen, two young kids out sort of late at night in the middle of the week in a park where I've personally arrested people for drugs might not be the best idea," Hailey added looking between both Max and Caroline, "Especially in the middle of winter – the roads could be icy or it could start snowing – sometimes it's just better to do this kind of stuff earlier in the day or not in your car."

"Exactly," Jay chuckled, "So what do we say? Do you understand what we're saying?"

"Yes, sir," Max said for the umpteenth time.

"I understand," Caroline wiped her eyes once last time.

"Cool," Jay turned back toward the front of the car, "Then let me get you back to your car so you can get home. Do you need an escort? Are you going to make your curfews?"

"Uh, we should be good," Max glanced at his phone, "Right, Care?"

Caroline looked at the time and nodded, "Yeah, we'll be okay."

"Awesome," Jay started driving back to the park.

Hailey pulled out one of her business cards then managed to wiggle one out of Jay's own pockets with a soft laugh then passed them back to Max and Caroline, "If you two ever need anything at all, we will help you out."

Max stared at Jay's card in his hand, "Wow, thank you."

"You two are pretty cool for police officers," Caroline smiled at Hailey.

Hailey laughed and looked at Jay, "We like to think so too."

They fell into a calm silence for the last minute until Jay parked the car back where they'd all first met.

"All right," he unlocked the doors, "Have a nice night, you two."

"Thank you, sir, for everything," Max said and shook Jay's hand before sending a wave in Hailey's direction and getting out.

Caroline hesitated in her seat. She took a deep breath and lightly touched Hailey's arm, "Thank you for the shakes and for the advice – or, um, just listening."

"Anytime," Hailey smiled, "We mean it. Call us if something comes up."

"I will," Caroline nodded. She gave a small smile to Jay then hurried out of the car and back into Max's.

Jay waited to watch Max drive away then chuckled, "Well, wasn't the threat I think we were both anticipating, but it was fine."

Hailey laughed softly and sipped her shake, "You really stepped up and played 'good cop' tonight. The shakes were a nice touch."

"Eh," Jay chuckled and pulled his straw out to lick it, "They were scared, but I saw myself in them."

"Yeah? You ever take a younger girl to an abandoned parking lot and make out with her?" Hailey teased.

Jay smirked and leaned closer until his lips brushed against hers, "Maybe once or twice. You wanna be the third?"

Hailey laughed and kissed him, "Sure."

"Sure, kind of a lame response to a pretty good pick-up line," Jay smirked.

Hailey trailed her lips along his jaw and whispered, "Stop talking."

Jay reached over and gently tugged her as close to himself as he could.

Hailey smiled against his skin and purposely fluttered her eyelashes against him.

Jay pulled away with a laugh, "Hey."

"Don't like that?" Hailey's smile widened.

"Felt weird," Jay chuckled before gently pulling her head back toward his and kissing her again.

They were interrupted by the radio sounding off and alerting them of a robbery in progress a few blocks away at a hardware store.

Hailey sighed and answered the call saying they were on the way. She was going to jokingly pout at the idea that they couldn't mess around anymore when she was hit with the realization that she won their bet.

"This makes three," Hailey smiled.

Jay glanced at her as he flew out of the parking lot, "What?"

"Third call, third round of paperwork," Hailey laughed, "I won!"

"Hey, no," Jay shook his head, "That last one did not count. Nothing really happened."

"Hmm, we'll have to check with Platt," Hailey lightly pushed his arm, "Because we did put them in our car and we did originally draw our guns."

"Okay," Jay rolled his eyes, "We'll put a pin in it."

Hailey laughed harder, "Sounds good."

They didn't have much time to continue the teasing because, soon enough, Jay was quickly parking the car in front of the brick building where they could see people trashing the store through the windows.

Hailey sucked a breath in and gave a quick squeeze to Jay's arm before running out of the car and toward the store with him on her tail.

Med's emergency department was quiet just past midnight. Hailey was sitting on one of the cots in a room with Jay standing between her legs slowly rubbing one hand up and down her back as the other held a chunk of gauze to the crown of her head as it rested on his shoulder.

Hailey let out a soft groan and dug her nails into Jay's arms.

"I know," Jay whispered, "Maggie said the anesthetic will kick in soon."

"I'm scared," Hailey mumbled against his shirt.

"Nothing to be scared of," Jay pressed a quick kiss to the side of her head, "Remember what Ethan said? Just one staple, not a big deal." He tried not to look at her hair matted with blood, but it was pretty hard to ignore.

The second the bucket had connected with her head, there was blood everywhere. He wasn't quite sure what Trudy was going to say when she saw the stained seats in the patrol car in the morning – he really didn't want to know what she was going to say. Not that it mattered, Hailey had gotten hurt; there were more important things than a bloody car.

Hailey whined quietly and kicked her legs, "I've never had staples before."

"It's real quick and I won't leave you at all, I promise," Jay breathed, "Just relax for me right now."

"How are you relaxing? You hate needles," Hailey sniffled.

"I love you more," Jay said, "Now, deep breaths while we wait for the pain to go away."

Hailey lightly held onto his shirt as the pain slowly faded from the top of her head. She tried to remember what they had been talking about before they'd entered the building, but things were a little fuzzy probably from the concussion Ethan suspected she might have.

Suddenly, the word 'paperwork' floated through Hailey's head and she smiled against Jay's uniform.

"Jay," she whispered.

"Hmm?" Jay lightly patted her back, "You okay?"

"Even if it was just two calls, can you please do the paperwork?" Hailey asked quietly.

Jay laughed and nodded, kissing her temple again, "Yeah, I can do all the paperwork for tonight."

"Thank you," Hailey weakly smiled and leaned further into him.

"You're welcome," Jay held her close to his chest, "But I will say something. Are you okay with a joke?"

"Sure," Hailey closed her eyes.

"The bucket falling on you sort of reminds me of that slime story you told me earlier," Jay chuckled softly.

Hailey smirked slightly and snorted, "Okay, I guess I had that coming."

"Eh, maybe," Jay moved into rubbing circles on her back, "It wasn't funny when it happened, but the irony wasn't lost on me."

"Wasn't irony," Hailey sighed, "Just a coincidence."

"Potato potato," Jay said.

The door opened and Ethan walked in the room shooting a quick nod to Jay.

Jay smiled at him before slowly lowering Hailey to lay down on the bed and squatted so he was eye level with her, "Not leaving you."

Hailey held a hand out. He grabbed it with a soft squeeze and Hailey breathed, "You're a great cop and an even better husband."

Jay laughed softly and kissed her knuckles, "Thank you, sweetheart."

Hailey smiled back then fluttered her eyes close, "I'll be okay."

"I know," Jay quickly kissed her nose and worked on ignoring Ethan putting gloves on as to not gross himself out at what he was going to witness, "You're going to be fine. I'm proud of you."

Hailey squeezed his hand again, "Proud of you too."

Jay rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as Ethan prepared her for the staple he was going to put in her head. It wasn't how he pictured the night ending, but in reality, they were fine. Hailey would heal in like a week. Everything really was going to be okay.

Overtime wasn't meant to be easy, but in the end, they did survive the night.