It was as though the sliding doors leading from the ambulance bays into the Emergency Department were in slow motion. Everything had been going in half speed ever since Hailey had been wheeled into the ambulance. It was driving him insane. All he could do was stand back and watch as his best friend, his partner, the person he was supposed to protect was bleeding out. Dying.
Maggie's voice was the first thing he heard as the EMTs wheeled Hailey in. "Sylvie, talk to me."
"Female, 30, one GSW to the chest. She lost consciousness in the ambo. GCS 7." The paramedic in charge informed the head nurse.
The nurse took it all in her stride. "Take her to Baghdad, Dr. Choi, you're up." she instructed them, "and April, page doctor Rhodes" the ED workers obeyed, moving immediately like it was some sort of choreographed dance they had performed a hundred times before.
He walked with them, following the stretcher to the large bay before Maggie's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Jay, you've got to stay out here. Give them some space to work."
He swallowed, fighting every instinct he had telling him he needed to be in there with her, to help her.
"Do you have anyone you need to call? Tell them what's happened?" She asked, keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I called Voight in the ambulance; he's going to tell the rest of the team, I told him I'd keep him updated. They'll probably all turn up soon." He informed her, not taking his eyes of the detective lying lifelessly on the bed, wires and machines hanging off her like jewellery.
Maggie exhaled, "Okay, good. That's good. How about I bring you into the doctor's lounge and page Will? We'll keep you updated on everything that's happening."
He didn't answer. His body wouldn't let him, it was too transfixed on what was happening in the room, the organised chaos he saw.
Maggie took his silence as an agreement, and slowly led him towards the doctors lounge a few bays down. "Just take a seat here, I'll get someone to bring you up some coffee. Will has been paged so he'll be here any minute." It was obvious by the way she spoke to him that she had probably done this hundreds of times.
He took in another shaky breath, trying to find something to say to her but he was spared from thinking about it any longer when his brother pushed open the door. Jay could see the panic he was trying to hide in his features.
"Jay," was the first thing Will said. When he heard what happened, his heart dropped. He was told his brother was down in the ED and that he needed to get down here. He didn't know if his little brother was okay, if he was even alive. "Are you okay? What happened?" Will lowered himself next to Jay on the sofa, placing his hand on his upper back.
Jay leant forward, resting his forearms on his knees and dropping his head. His breath was still shaky, but it had calmed considerable since his arrival to Med not ten minutes earlier.
"I don't know what happened, Will. One minute we were joking around, and everything was okay, the next she was on the ground with a bullet in her chest." He turned his head to face his brother, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "Did you see her?" He asked, hoping Will had caught a glimpse or been informed on Hailey's condition on his way to find Jay.
Will sucked in a breath, willing his words to be steady and not waver. "Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Bekker took her up for emergency surgery. Hailey has got two of the best Cardiothoracic surgeons working on her, and Dr. Rhodes is one of the top Trauma Surgeons in Chicago." He paused, gauging Jay's reaction to the information. When he didn't see anything, he continued; "They said she lost a lot of blood, but she's tough, she hasn't stopped fighting." He had to consciously stop himself from telling him she'd be okay. He wasn't going to make that promise; he'd seen it go wrong too many times.
Jay still didn't say anything, instead, he nodded his head, trying to hold back all the emotions that had started flooding through him since he had slowed down and actually digested everything that was happening.
Will was about to tell Jay they could take a walk to try and put his thoughts in order when the door to the lounge was opened and Hank Voight filed in, followed by Adam Ruzek.
"Jay, what happened? Dr. Choi said she was taken up for emergency surgery but wouldn't tell us much else." His sergeant asked, concern for his detective clear on his face. The idea that Voight was heartless and violent was only true in the eyes of people who hadn't met him or had only seen him in passing. But the people who knew him knew different. Especially when it came to members of his unit. His family. He'd do anything to make sure they were okay. That they were safe.
The detective got to his feet, "I didn't see the shooter; it came out of nowhere. All I saw was a dark SUV, no plates. They… they only took one shot, Sarge. It didn't feel like a random shooting. It felt like a hit." Jay recounted the details like he had for so many incidents before, trying to forget that his was different, that this time it was one of theirs.
This time is was Ruzek who spoke, "A hit? Why would someone put a hit out on Hailey?"
Jay just shook his head. So much had happened that he couldn't comprehend, he didn't even know where to start.
The young officer took a deep breath, obviously still in shock. "The rest of the team is in the waiting room if you want to help brief them on everything that's happened, give them your turn of events?"
Jay turned to face his brother, who was still next to him.
The doctor placed his hand back on Jay's shoulder reassuringly, "Go. I'll come get you as soon as I hear any news. It could be a while."
The three men gave Will a thankful nod and filed out of the room, Jay trailing behind. He still looked lost in his own thoughts. Will had seen that look before, when Jay returned from Afghanistan. As thankful as Will was that Jay wasn't in pain from any physical injuries, he still knew his brother; he knew that look. The pain was internal.
