Lacerated skull

It was their day off, a day that both brothers could stay home, relax, watch the upcoming matches on TV, have breakfast together, lunch, dinner, go to the movies, and any other activity anyone could think of. But no, on a day off like this, a trip to the countryside and particularly to their grandfather's house was essential. On a day off like this, nothing could have gone wrong? Or it could?

After hours of arguing who was going to drive, there they were, at the parking lot, packing their bags onto the trunk of Will's car, ready for their small adventure. Looking at the sky, Will took a deep breath, smiling while feeling the soft breeze of Chicago gently slapping his face.

"Ready?" Jay asked closing the trunk.

"Yeah, let's go." He replied getting in the driver's seat. Guess who won their small argument.

"I still cannot believe I'm letting you drive."

"My car, my rules. Now sit back and enjoy life."

Frowning, the younger Halstead leaned his head on the window, observing the people that passed by the streets of Chicago.

Wisconsin was only three hours away from their hometown, so three hours in the car was nothing especially when you have good company. The music and your brother.

"We are gonna listen to Skillet."

"No way, I don't like Metal and you know that. We're gonna listen to Lana."

"Dude, I have no intention of sleeping in the car, it's causing me nausea. We're gonna listen to Skillet."

Another pointless fight that ended peacefully, with Jay winning this one.

Hero by Skillet was heard on the radio, as the long road sprawled in front of them. Soon the buildings were replaced by the images of forests, containing trees and wild animals that could not be seen but heard regularly. The sun was shining bright, blinding them occasionally, not enough though to make them lose their sight. Will and Jay Halstead felt very lucky that day.

"Why'd you stop?" Jay asked as his older brother, pulled over and turned off the engine.

"I just thought maybe we could take a break, plus I am hungry. Do you have the sandwiches we grabbed from Potbelly's?"

Nodding, Jay removed his belt, in order to crawl to the back seat and find the small red bag that had been placed in.

"Here."

"Thanks. Are you gonna eat something?"

"Do you want me to puke all over your car?"

"Yeah, save it for later," Will exclaimed in disgust, unwrapping the gelatin from his pork sandwich while Jay grabbed his phone out of the pocket, scrolling through his texts.

"Intelligence's hunting down a perp." He said staring at the screen.

"Dude, stop preoccupied about Intelligence, just breathe and relax and grab every chance there is to have fun today. "After all, it is required after your last shooting."

"I was wearing the vest; the bullet didn't even scratch me."

"I don't care, just turn that thing off." Pushing him a little causing the cell to fall from his hands, Will grabbed it and put it in his pocket. "Now we can continue our little trip."

It was their third argument of the day, starting to pissing Jay off.

Some clouds had started to appear in the sky by the time, the two of them reached the final exit to Wisconsin, however nothing important. Jay opened his eyes, blinking, looking around before even adjusting to his environment completely. Now there were no cars as their companion thus no noise coming from outside. "Where are we?" He mumbled, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Almost there, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I don't remember falling asleep though."

"I was telling you about Nat and you just dozed off."

"Sorry." A yawn escaped his mouth.

"Are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should have some water."

"I'm good." Jay insisted sitting up, stretching his body as far as he could in this tight vehicle.

In a matter of minutes, the label with the name of the town appeared in their views, meaning that they would arrive in the cabin in about five minutes. Those five minutes passed like a river floating as they parked outside the small house, getting out of the car both groaning due to staying almost unmoved for a long time.

Despite the flood that burst in the past month, the wooden cabin was in good shape. Only some tools that were thrown in the front yard had been destroyed, their remains being still there. Other than that, the outdoor furniture was fine. Inside, you could pinpoint the spider tissue in the corners of the walls and dust all over the couch and living room table, other than that everything was perfect.

"Okay, I'll clean in here and you could fix the boat outside. Also please turn on the power." Will suggested.

"Alright, see you in a while." The young detective said exiting the house after having placed his bags on the floor.

The boat was located a couple of feet away next to the small lake outside of their property. Uncovering it and seeing it for few seconds, there was no way he could fix it soon, almost every part of it was destroyed that it could take days, maybe even months to bring it back to its original state. "Maybe we could just swim instead of fishing, besides it's almost summer." He thought, ready to inform Will about their "ship" –It used to be their pirate ship when they were kids.

"Damn it, Jay, why do you have to be so messy?" The doctor whispered carrying the blue travel bag that Jay had brought with him and the first aid kit in case of an emergency. Not that there was danger approaching, just in case.

Finishing the cleaning and checking the clock only to realize that an hour had passed since their arrival, he stepped outside smelling the fresh air of Madison and listening to the hummingbirds' song. If he was a millionaire, he would have quitted Chicago Med and start a new life with the love of his life and their children in this place. However, it was strangely quiet outside. Jay fixing the boat should be heard or at least something from the intact tools he took with him. "Jay?" He called receiving no answer. "Jay." Multiple calls were followed each one unanswered. As Will walked towards the exit of the yard, the silence was almost unbearable, something was wrong. The gasping that followed after, was his answer. Jay's body completely limp was lying on the ground, blood covering half of his forehead. The doctor instincts kicked in immediately forcing Will to assess his brother's condition at first and run into the house to grab gauzes and alcohol from the first aid kit.

A head injury is always dangerous especially when you don't know exactly what you're dealing with, it could be a fracture, brain swelling which needs to relieved by the pressure as soon as possible, or it can be a simple concussion but nobody wants to take their chances, especially Will Halstead.

"Jay, can you hear me?" He said, literally holding his brother's head in his arms.

No reply. No movement, nothing. Just then, he saw a part of the boat lying on the floor too, the edge of it covered in blood.

Calling 911 wouldn't be an option right now, as he didn't know how much blood Jay had lost and how much time he would last. His rapid pulse and weak breaths warned the doctor that the situation deteriorated enough. So, after wrapping Jay's head with a bandage, he picked him up carrying him all the way to his car.

The radio was turned on along with the engine but it didn't matter at the moment which song accompanied them, the goal was to transfer Jay to the hospital alive.

Breaking every driving law and almost killing a deer on his way as his car was accelerated the whole time, he reached the University hospital, stopping in front of the ER, calling for help.

"Jay Halstead, 35, was hit in the heat while repairing a boat, I am not sure how much time he was unconscious or how exactly he got hurt but he's lost an amount of blood. Please save him." Those words would haunt him for a long time as far as he was concerned.

"We'll do everything we can." The nurse that wheeled him in said.

In contrast to Chicago Med, in Madison's hospital, no relatives were allowed in the ED, just the medical stuff. Despite his efforts to sneak in with every possible way there was, the secretary on the front door would stop him. It wasn't of significant importance that he was doct6r in Chicago, in this place, he was just a civilian. A brother in agony. So he sat on a chair, taking one breath at a time waiting for Jay's doctor to appear at any moment.

"Jay Halstead?" A man announced inserting the waiting room, holding a pile of papers in his hands.

"I'm his brother," Will exclaimed approaching him like a speedster.

"I'm Dr. Fisher, nice to meet you."

"Dr. Will Halstead. How is my brother?"

"Jay suffered a cerebral injury, basically a laceration to the skull along with a concussion. This is the reason, he lost consciousness in the first place. I'm optimistic that he will recover soon but there is a possibility of memory loss, temporary but still, I want to keep him here a couple of days for observation."

Will felt like ten years of his life flew away and he aged prematurely. The anxiety and stress dominating were replaced by happiness and joy.

"Can I see him?"

"Of course. Let me lead you to his room. In which hospital do you work?"

Their small chat continued as they passed the hallway leading to the elevator, ending when they stopped in front of Jay's room.

"Don't pressure him, okay?"

"I know what I am doing, don't worry."

Walking slowly in, the first thing he noticed was the gauze covering half of Jay's head, making look like a mummy. The monitor beeped steadily and the numbers that were shown in the picture seemed normal, maybe a little lower BP (blood pressure) than he expected but overall everything was good.

The chair next to the bed was comfortable, allowing Will to rest a little and observe his brother better.

"Hey man, don't scare me like that again, okay?" He whispered holding Jay's left hand, careful not to pull out the blood pressure cuff. "I know that you're not gonna like it when you wake up but we have to stay for a few days. Please don't torture the stuff…" He said feeling a squeezing on his palm. "Can you hear me, Jay?"

His eyelids started moving and soon the grey eyes that everyone in the family was jealous of, shined again. It required a huge effort not to shut them again. An orange pile of hair was the thing he faced, not sure to whom it belonged. But the familiar voice of his older brother brought him completely back.

"Jay, come on if you can hear me, squeeze my hand again."

"Don't shout." He said weakly while facing Will.

"I was so worried about you, what happened?"

"I don't remember, wait where are we?"

"In a hospital in Wisconsin."

"What? When did we leave Chicago?"

"Don't force yourself, apart from your bloody skull, you have a concussion, don't try to remember."

"Will?"

"What is it?"

"I'm messing with you." He said laughing, sitting up a little.

If he was healthy, there was no doubt that Will would have punched him in the face for giving him a scare like that. Considering the drugs, Jay had received, thought it was normal to be a little groggy and childish.

"You are an idiot."

"And when are we going back to the cabin?"

"We're not. I'll book a hotel downtown so we can stay until you fully recover."

"No way…" Jay yelled, pulling his body violently enough to fall back down due to the unbearable headache.

"Young Jay, we are not going anywhere sorry, and don't worry about Chicago Med. I already notified Goodwin that I need my vacation days."

Jay sighed. He would have spent a while in the hospital with needles dripping his body at any chance, yikes.

"Can you bring me a glass of water please?"

"So that you run? I'll ask a nurse to do it, I'm not that stupid."

"Fine."

"See? As you said, we are gonna have a brotherly time."

"Yes… We are." He said cracking an ironic smile.

What did actually go wrong on the trip. It was 100% that Jay would find a way to hurt himself.

Hey. here we go again! I hoped you liked this chapter. I will be back with more, soon! Stay safe!

~The Fourth Bionic~