April

Hailey pulled the truck up to the ED entrance of Med and parked it before jumping out just as Will pushed Jay's wheelchair outside.

"This is so unnecessary," Jay mumbled and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Jumping over fences is unnecessary," Hailey said with an arched eyebrow as she opened the passenger door.

"It's not even broken," Jay waited for Will to stop walking to carefully stand. He reached forward to grab the door and hopped on his left foot to it.

"Would you-" Will groaned and steadied Jay as he lifted himself into the truck, "This is why I wanted to give you the boot."

"Oh, no, that's-"

Hailey shut the door to cut Jay off. She looked to Will and tried to smile, "Thank you for wrapping it."

"Not a problem," Will ran a hand over his hair, "He needs to be more careful."

"Clearly," Hailey sighed.

"No driving for a week and definitely no running," Will said.

"Did you tell him that?" Hailey crossed her arms.

"Do you really think he was listening?" Will asked.

Hailey laughed softly, "Probably not."

"Exactly," Will looked past her in the car window to see Jay looking at his phone, "If you need anything, let me know. He needs to be careful. It's too swollen and bruised to be living life like normal. He's lucky it's not broken."

"I know," Hailey shook her head, "But we also both know that he's going to want to go back to work tomorrow."

"He's such a dumbass," Will groaned, "Okay, whatever, desk duty. No running."

"Thank you," Hailey lightly hit his arm, "I'll keep you updated."

"It's probably going to piss me off, so just text me if he's dying or something," Will said.

Hailey laughed, "You know that's not true. You're going to want to know how he is each day. You always do."

Will chuckled and started walking backwards with the wheelchair, "Shut up."

"Mhmm," Hailey smiled and waved, "Bye, Will."

"See you," Will shot her a wave before heading inside.

Hailey took a deep breath then walked around to hop in the truck. "All right," she said and started the engine, "You ready to go home and take it easy for a week."

Jay rolled his eyes while stuffing his phone back in his pocket, "I'm fine, Hailey. I'll be back to work tomorrow."

"Oh yeah?" Hailey began driving, "And how're you gonna get there? You're not supposed to drive for a week."

"That's a suggestion," Jay rested his head back.

"I'm sorry, did you not look at your foot?" Hailey raised an eyebrow, "Jay, I have your right shoe in the backseat because your ankle is so swollen that it can't fit."

"It's fine, everything is fine," Jay tried lifting his leg to get a better look at his ankle, but ended up knocking it against the door. He gasped in pain and held back a low groan.

Hailey smirked and said nothing as she drove. She tried not to think about watching Jay hurl himself over the wooden fence and crumble to the ground when his ankle landed in a divot in the grass. It just made her angry – angry at the boy for running and angry at Jay for attempting to chase him. She found herself stepping harder on the gas in frustration.

Jay glanced up at the road, "Whoa, hey, let's slow down. Not your car."

Hailey's eyes widened, "Excuse me?"

"Just…ease up," Jay set a hand on Hailey's arm, "It's not a race. Please be careful."

Hailey continued in shock for a moment before deciding to have fun with it. Jay wasn't going to take this injury seriously, so maybe his consequences needed to be different than 'no driving and desk duty.'

She did a quick scan of the road and upon noticing no one around, purposely drove onto the left side for just a second.

"Hailey Anne!" Jay yelled, "What the hell?"

Hailey laughed softly and began pumping the brakes as she drove, "Yes?"

"Would you knock it off?" Jay gripped the handle on the ceiling, "Stop!"

Hailey hummed and quickly sped up, "Stop what? Stop driving?"

"Hailey, I swear to god," Jay looked around, "You're going to get a ticket."

"I'll be fine," Hailey whipped the car around a corner deciding to take a back route to their house.

"Hailey!" Jay pulled his phone out, "I'm going to give you a ticket. Slow down."

"Why should I slow down?" Hailey asked, "Because I might crash your truck?"

"Yes," Jay nodded quickly, "Exactly that. You're being reckless."

"I'm being reckless?" Hailey laughed, "Oh, Jay Halstead, let's not talk about being reckless."

Jay huffed out a breath and winced as Hailey jerked his car around the road again, "Fine, fine, I was reckless. I shouldn't have jumped the fence."

Hailey nodded in agreement and began slowing the car down, "It was dumb. He had a huge lead on you."

"I wouldn't say huge," Jay said under his breath.

Hailey smiled and put her hand out, "Jay."

He glanced up at her, "Yeah?"

She wiggled her fingers and slowed the car to the speed limit.

Jay chuckled and grabbed her hand, "Hailey."

"Desk duty," she stated, "No arguments. You're also not driving for the next week. I am not letting you push that ankle to its literal breaking point."

Jay groaned and wanted to fight her. He said nothing as her words washed over him. He hated desk duty.

Hailey's jaw dropped slightly when he didn't answer. She scoffed and hit the gas again, "Jay!"

Jay's eyes shot wide open, "Fine! Okay, you win! I'll calm down this week."

Hailey let out a breath and slowed the car again, "Thank you."

"God," Jay tilted his head back, "Just stop with my truck."

Hailey dug her nails into his palm.

"Ow," Jay pushed her hand away, "That hurt."

"Good," Hailey put both hands on the wheel.

"You're mean," Jay breathed and stared out the window.

"You're an idiot," Hailey snapped back.

Jay bit his lip then started laughing. He glanced over at Hailey, "You love me."

Hailey held back a smile, "Maybe."

"You do," Jay poked her side.

"Oh, hush," Hailey laughed, "I'm gonna be taking care of your ass for the next week. You need to stay on my good side."

"I think I'll be good after tomorrow," Jay shrugged, "You won't be taking care of me for long."

"Mhmm, sure," Hailey nodded.

"There's my favorite detective," Kevin teased as Jay made his way up the steps two days later.

Hailey held back a laugh and continued slowly following Jay from behind. He was struggling to hop up without putting too much pressure on the ankle that was 'completely fine' and 'just barely bruised' despite the fact that Hailey had needed to go out and buy him a pair of slides so he could have shoes when he went to work since his tennis shoes still hurt too badly to wear.

"You want a chair so you can scoot over?" Kim asked while standing. She pushed her desk chair over to the edge of the stairs once Jay managed to make his way to the top.

He shot her a glare before limping his way to his own desk that seemed so, so far away. He panted when he fell into his chair and breathed, "Oh my god."

"Looks more serious than you've been letting on," Adam said.

Vanessa laughed softly when she caught Hailey's amused expression.

Jay pointed at her, "I'm fine!"

Vanessa put her hands up, "I said nothing."

Hailey slipped her jean jacket off and tossed it over the back of her chair, "I caught him up last night on the case."

Jay nodded, "I'm good to go. When's the buy?"

Hank snorted a laugh when he stepped out of his office, "Like you're going. Hailey's going with Kevin."

"Like hell she is," Jay straightened up in his chair, "That's my wife."

Hank crossed his arms, "And this is my unit. You're not going."

Jay looked between everyone in the room, "You're all going to stay silent on this?"

No one said anything and avoided looking at him.

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "What happened to desk duty?"

"Really? An undercover buy is barely anything," Jay said, "I'm good to go."

"You know what?" Hank lightly kicked Jay's chair so he spun to face him, "You run downstairs right now, get me a cold water from behind Platt's desk, and bring it back up here in – let's say – under a minute and then you can go."

"Oh, let me get the popcorn," Adam clapped his hands together.

Jay huffed and started standing up.

"Sit your ass back down," Hailey snapped.

Jay froze.

Hailey marched around their desks and hissed, "I will drag you out of here and back home before I let you go back out in the field. Knock it off and swallow your pride."

"It's just a sprain," Jay said quietly.

"That can easily turn into a break, you heard Will," Hailey stepped closer to him, "You sit down, fill out paperwork, and stay on this floor the entire day. Maybe we can let you watch the video feed, but you need to stay here. I'm done. You're not breaking your ankle."

A pin could drop and be heard throughout the bullpen. No one breathed as Jay listened to Hailey.

Finally, he lowered himself back into his chair and said, "Okay."

Hailey relaxed and backed up, "Thank you."

Jay nodded and turned his computer on.

Hailey was going to walk back to her desk, but hesitated and placed a quick kiss on Jay's temple. She rubbed his shoulder then went to sit in her chair.

"Well," Hank cleared his throat, "We want to suit up?"

Hailey glanced along the street before crossing with Kevin at her side.

"At your six," Kim's voice buzzed through Hailey's ear.

She hummed in response and made her way to the three trashcans sitting a few yards away.

Kevin rested his elbow on top of the dark green one, "What're we thinking? On time?"

Hailey laughed softly, "If we're lucky. And why are you touching that? It's disgusting."

Kevin shrugged, "Need some sort of support. Kinda like your husband."

He winked at her and Hailey smirked, "Don't get me started."

"I can hear you."

Hailey held back a laugh at Jay's comment, "Good."

Kevin chuckled, "Well, if you can hear me and can't do anything about it, I'm here to tell you that you, sir, are a dumbass."

"What? Why?"

"Just are," Kevin winked again at Hailey.

She smiled and rocked back on her heels, "Just stop talking, Jay, you lost this one."

"Whatever."

Kevin scanned the street with a sigh, "I hate that we're going to get some kids out of this."

"They're nineteen," Hailey said, "They won't be in for long."

"Yeah, I know," Kevin breathed in, "Probably just trying to get some side cash."

"We'll see when we bring them in," Hailey nudged his arm, "Maybe we can work something out."

Kevin watched her for a moment then smiled, "You're gonna be a good mom someday."

Hailey blushed and laughed, "I don't know about that."

"No, you will be," Kevin nodded, "You have a good head on your shoulders and a good heart. Perfect mom material. Plus, you really put Jay in his place this morning."

Hailey sucked in a breath and smiled. She hadn't thought about babies and kids in a while, maybe since Halloween, but that didn't mean they were off the table – just not right now…taking care of Jay was enough work as is.

"Well, thank you," Hailey said softly, "That's very nice of you to say."

"Anytime," Kevin shot her a smile then looked over her shoulder, "You ready?"

"Mhmm," Hailey turned to follow his gaze and took a deep breath as she spotted the two young men walking their way.

In the tech room at the district, Vanessa smiled when Kevin mentioned Hailey being a mom. She looked toward Jay to see he'd immediately softened and relaxed in his chair. He clearly hadn't been happy about staying back with her and his mood just worsened on his way down the stairs, but this was something that he didn't seem to mind hearing from afar.

His relaxed posture and appearance only last a minute, though, and he was quickly getting back into work mode when the cameras on their screens shifted to show their two targets, Bradley and Elijah, walking toward Hailey and Kevin.

"Here we go," Vanessa breathed and sat up as well.

"Long time no see," Kevin greeted, "What's going on?"

"Not much," Bradley replied, "I'm liking this pretty lady you brought."

"Riley," Hailey stuck her hand out, "Nice to meet you."

From the view on Vanessa's screen, they could see Hailey being pulled toward Bradley as he grabbed her hand in both of his.

Jay's eyes flashed and he pushed his headphones off.

"Same to you," Bradley said while rubbing her hand, "Eli, you see this girl?"

Elijah broke away from greeting Kevin to flash a smile at Hailey before reaching out to twirl her hair, "I never dated a blonde girl."

"And maybe you will eventually," Kevin fit himself between all of them, "But this one's mine, so hands off."

Vanessa could practically feel Jay's anger rolling off of him. She felt disgusted as well and tried taking a deep breath, but then Elijah reached in front of Kevin again to brush his finger along Hailey's cheek and she felt something snap inside her.

"Hey!" Kevin pushed him back, "Hands off my girl."

"I'm fine," Hailey's voice was cool and collected, "Let's just get what we came here for then go home."

"Fine, fine," Bradley opened his jacket, "But let me say, if you let me have a little play time with your girl, price can go down."

Kevin pulled his backpack off, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Elijah put his hand out to stop Bradley from passing the small bag of pills over, "Deal's off."

Kevin scoffed, "Excuse me?"

"Give us the girl or deal's off," Bradley shrugged.

Jay's hand clenched over the mouse and Vanessa heard him let out a low growl.

"You want me to trade you my girlfriend for a bag of drugs?" Kevin asked, "Y'all are crazy. Riley, let's go."

Vanessa closed her eyes. She knew how hard Kevin had worked to get this deal to even happen, but he was certainly making the right choice. They weren't going to trade Hailey-

"Ten minutes," Hailey stated.

"What?" Kevin froze.

"No," Jay pushed away from the desk.

A slow smile spread across Bradley's face, "Ten minutes?"

"All yours," Hailey crossed her arms, "But you give us twice the amount for the price. You get the same amount of cash and me and we get double what we came for."

"You're bluffing," Elijah shook his head.

"Riley," Kevin grabbed Hailey's arm.

"Okay," Bradley nodded and put a hand out, "Come with me."

Hailey took his hand then looked toward Kevin, "Ten minutes." She began walking away with Bradley when Jay and Vanessa both saw the distinct black handle sticking out of the back of Bradley's pants.

They didn't even have time to notify Kevin, though, because he had to have seen the same thing given his rushed whisper of "Mercedes."

Jay had been waiting in the garage for half an hour when Adam finally drove the van inside. He hobbled over to them and opened the backdoor immediately sweeping Hailey into his arms.

"I'm fine," she whispered, but still gripped onto him.

Jay shook his head and rubbed his hands over her back. He looked to Kevin and mouthed 'Thank you.'

Kevin nodded in return and clapped a hand on Jay's shoulder before following Adam and Kim upstairs.

"I'm fine," Hailey repeated.

Jay squeezed his eyes shut, "But why?"

Hailey breathed shakily, "I thought if I got him alone that I could finish it."

"He wanted to finish something all right," Jay stepped back and cupped her face, "Hailey, you do not put yourself into situations without backup."

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "Look who's talking."

"We're talking about you!"

Jay's temper finally burst and he could feel his hands shaking. He'd been holding it in since his gut twisted when Bradley shook Hailey's hand. All he could see was red and Hailey's shock face as he continued.

"You were purposely putting yourself into a dangerous situation for drugs? Are you kidding me?" he yelled, "You do not ever do that."

Hailey stepped backwards, "You do not raise your voice at me."

Jay caught his breath and tried to calm down, but all he could see was Hailey being caressed and touched without anyone to protect her. The red in his gaze deepened and he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth.

"I am a grown woman," Hailey stated, "I can take care of myself."

Jay's heart ached and he unclenched his hands, "I know, but-"

"And I am a detective," Hailey's voice cracked, "I know what I'm doing."

"Hey," Jay lowered his voice and put his hand out.

Hailey angrily wiped her eyes, "I would have been fine."

Jay trusted her, but he didn't trust Bradley for a minute, so he said nothing and just watched Hailey attempt to collect herself in front of him.

She tried until she gave into the tears and sniffled, "Do not yell at me for trying to get results. It might have been dumb in hindsight, but in the moment I was just trying to do the right thing."

Jay nodded and limped forward a step, "I know."

Hailey closed her eyes and tilted her head up to the ceiling.

Jay hesitantly took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

Hailey cleared her throat before stepping toward Jay and burying her face in his neck.

"I'm here," Jay whispered, "I'm right here."

Hailey blinked against the hot tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks and just held tightly onto him as she breathed him in. His heart was still pounding, most likely from his own nerves, but he was steady and comforting and just what she needed in that moment.

"I'm sorry," she choked out.

"Don't," Jay shook his head, "You were doing what you thought was right. I need to respect that."

Hailey scoffed and tightened her hold on him, "It-

"Was your call," Jay breathed, "I do dumb stuff all the time and you still love me. Maybe this would have been a mistake or maybe it would have worked out. We can't think of the 'what-ifs,' okay?"

A smile ghosted across Hailey's lips, but she still made sure it was gone when she pulled away to look up at him because she really was laughing internally at all the dumb stuff she could think of Jay doing. The first that came to mind was when he became entangled in the Camilla drama and the most recent being his sprained ankle – it was a range, but there was a lot in between. She knew she had her own range that someone could easily list off; she had just pushed all those dumb moments to the side just like she'd done with Jay's.

If they would sit and think of any bad thing that could have ever happened to either of them, they'd never have anything positive to think about, so Hailey nodded.

"Okay," she breathed.

Jay wiped his thumb under her eye, "You would have been able to handle yourself, but I didn't trust that guy for a second with you. You're a badass, Hailey Halstead, you're just my badass and I'm a little protective of you."

Hailey laughed softly and nodded, "I know. I feel the same with you."

Jay hummed then kissed her forehead, "I think we worry more about each other than about ourselves."

"Sounds about right," Hailey slipped her hand in his and they began the slow, pained walk back up to the bullpen.

"Maybe not a bad thing all the time," Jay said, "But I would have liked a little self-preservation today."

Hailey smiled and nodded, "I think that's fair as long as you decide to practice your own self-preservation and stop jumping over fences and take desk duty seriously."

Jay smirked, "You think you're cute."

"I do," Hailey teased.

Jay laughed and kissed the side of her head before stopping in front of the stairs and letting out a long breath, "You ready for this?"

"Together," Hailey set her hand on his back. She waited until he was halfway up to gently remind him, "Remember when you told me you'd have no problem with stairs. It's a cute memory."

"Oh," Jay chuckled, "I'll say nothing to that."

Hailey smiled and patted his back, "Let's go. You've got this."

Jay glanced back at her and winked. He had something all right – it was just in the form of a small blonde and not exactly what that same blonde had in mind in that moment.