The force of the bullet threw her to the ground, her body smashing into the sidewalk as if it was nothing more than a rag doll.
The first thing she registered after the impact was the pain in her chest. The incredible pain that was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She could feel herself drifting out, the world turning blurry and her eyes getting heavier and heavier, but something was stopping her from drifting completely, no, not something, someone. She could only just make out a voice next to her, calling her name.
"Hailey! Hailey, stay with me. Look at me." She would've known that voice even if the bullet had hit her square in the head. It was Jay Halstead, the man she fended off bullets with at work on a daily basis.
But they weren't at work. No, she remembered now, they were going out for drinks at Molly's with Ruzek and Atwater after an extremely long, busy week in the intelligence department. She had had enough of guns and violence for a lifetime, she just wanted two days without seeing someone on the floor in a pool of their own blood.
But this time it was her, she was the one lying in an ever-growing pool of her own blood.
The bullet had entered her just below her right clavicle, it was so small, the edges were ragged and torn; but the blood that was coming out, there was so much. How can something so tiny cause so much damage?
Within a second of Hailey's body hitting the ground, Jay was on his knees next to her, his gun drawn, searching for the source, but he couldn't see anything between the chaos of civilians running for their lives and his best friend, his partner, lying on the cold concrete of the sidewalk, a bullet in her chest.
He placed his hands on the source, putting all his weight against the tiny, deadly hole.
He tried to ignore the blood leaking out between his fingers, soaking her once white blouse. "Someone call 911!" he screamed out; he couldn't risk taking the pressure off of Hailey's chest to do it himself.
He noticed Hailey's eyelids drooping as she struggled to hold onto consciousness, "hey, stay with me, look at me Hailey. Keep looking at me. You're going to be okay."
A young man, no older than 25, got Jay's attention as he cautiously strode towards the two, "I called 911, they're sending an ambulance. It should be here in no time." His voice shaking as he relayed the dispatchers words to the detective.
"Thank you." Jay responded, turning his eyes towards the bloodstained blonde in front of him.
The man nodded, fear evident in his eyes. "What can I do?"
Jay was silent for a second, trying to organise the abundance of thoughts haphazardly flying around his head. "Just stand next to the road, flag the Ambulance down when you see it coming."
The man nodded again, turning and jogging towards the road.
She struggled to comprehend what was happening around her through the groggy haze that had enveloped her. The excruciating pain had subsided by what she could only assume was the shock of the situation unfolding around her, but she could still feel Jay, his hands pressing against the hole the bullet that had torn into her had created.
Her skin was damp with sweat, but she was cold. So, so cold. She needed to pull herself back into the present, to keep herself from falling through the inevitable black hole that she had seen so many people disappear into before.
She tried to concentrate on Jay's echoing voice that was lingering in the back of her consciousness, but her body was fighting her mind, trying to get her to rest, to not put any more strain on her already mutilated body.
Jay could see her fighting to keep her eyes open as she wrestled with the exhaustion that came from such significant blood loss, but he knew he needed to keep her awake, alert, otherwise her odds of becoming responsive again were significantly decreased. He was going to fight with her through this, hell he was going to fight for her if he needed to. She had been there for him when he needed her most, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to do the same for her.
He sucked in a breath, willing the shakiness out of his voice, "hey, you're doing good, you just need to keep your eyes open for a little while longer. Just until the ambulance gets here."
As if on cue, the sound of sirens filled the air around them, growing in volume as the rig got closer. The still nameless man did what Jay asked and got the crews attention, drawing them to a halt by the curb.
Jay kept one hundred percent of his attention on Hailey and trying to stop her from losing any more blood, he hadn't even looked up at the two EMTs who had exited the rig, "Female, 30, one GSW to the right chest" he told them, not even needing to think about it.
The horrified voice of Sylvie Brett broke through his daze "Hailey! Oh my god. What happened?" she asked him, taking her place next to Jay and pressing gauze to the wound.
The detective removed his now blood-stained hands from his partner, letting the paramedics do their job. "I… I don't know. One minute we were walking to Molly's, the next she was on the ground." He told them, tripping over his words.
"Foster, backboard and gauze, now!" Brett called to her partner as the blood continued to soak through each new layer of gauze she applied.
The world around her had gotten foggier, but she knew the ambulance had pulled up, she had heard the sirens and new voices joining Jays. She could feel hands on her, moving her body up onto her side and back down onto a spinal board.
Her head spun at the jolt of being lifted up and onto the stretcher, it was getting too difficult to keep conscious and aware of her surroundings. She was tired. So, so tired. A little nap couldn't hurt, right?
Jay was helpless as the two EMTs loaded his friend into the back of the ambulance, only moving again after Brett told him he could ride to Med with them in the Ambo.
His head was spinning, everything had happened so fast. It felt like only seconds ago they were walking and joking on their way to Molly's. He was ripped back into the present by the sounds of machines beeping, no, screaming at the Paramedics that something wasn't right, that Hailey wasn't okay.
Before he could even register what was happening, the blonde EMT was yelling to her partner in the driver's seat, "Foster step on it! We're losing her!"
To be continued…
