The team looks at the whiteboard, the face of fifteen-year-old Noah Lewis, dead from a car accident that may be connected to their drug ring, but the connections were thin.
"Noah Lewis. Fifteen-year-old male, a sophomore at South High," Ruzek tells the others.
"No records. Played football, and ran track. Nothing came up on the parents either. The whole family has no criminal records, not even a speeding ticket," Atwater comments.
"Halstead and Upton, make the notification," Voight orders his two detectives.
Jay and Hailey get up from their desks and leave the bullpen. "This is the worst part of the job," Hailey comments.
"Always is," Jay agrees, having done plenty of notifications while on the job.
"What do you think really happened?" Hailey asks. "I mean, intelligence wouldn't take this case if it really were just a car accident."
"I think that's what we need to find out, but from what we got at the scene, if it were just a car accident, something isn't adding up."
The ride is short, but the two detectives take the time to figure out how they are going to tell the parents that their fifteen-year-old son is dead. Notifying someone about a death is never something that they want to do, but something about it when the deceased is a child makes it a hundred times worse.
When they arrive at the house, Jay and Hailey look at each other before getting out of the car. Walking up to the door, Jay mentally prepares himself for the reaction he is about to receive.
Jay knocks on the door. There is no answer, but they can see a car parked out front so they know someone is home. Jay knocks again, this time also calling out, "Chicago PD! Open up!"
There is still no answer, so Jay knocks again- harder, more impatient. "Chicago PD! Open up!" the annoyance clear in his voice.
Still, there is no answer.
Hailey and Jay look to each other, silently debating if they should kick the door in.
"Hey," they are broken out of their silent conversation. "Is everything okay?" the stranger asks.
"Who are you?" Jay questions first.
"Nathan Fisher," the man introduces himself. "I live in the house across the street to the side," he points out his home. "Are the Lewises in trouble? They're good people"
"They're not in trouble," Hailey answers. "We just need to talk to them."
"Did you try the doorbell at all?"
Jay gives the man a look, expecting an explanation.
"The family is deaf," he informs the two detectives as he presses the doorbell. "Noah is the only one who can hear," he adds. From outside the home, they can see the lights flashing on and off when the doorbell was pressed.
The two look to each other after hearing this new bit of information, knowing that their job just got harder. A moment after the doorbell is rung, a woman in her mid-thirties opens the door. She uses her hands to sign something that the detectives don't understand.
Jay and Hailey look expectantly to Nathan. "I don't sign, but she probably wants to know who you are."
Jay nods and lifts up his shirt enough so his badge is visible on his hip. May Lewis' brows furrow in confusion before opening the door wider and jerking her head, indicating that they can come in.
The detectives follow her into the kitchen when she opens a drawer, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
Is there something I can help you with officers?
Jay takes the paper and pen, not wanting to subject her to his partner's unreadable writing. My name is Detective Halstead and this is my partner, Detective Upton. You're not in trouble but we need you to come down to the station to talk.
What happened?
We can talk about it at the station.
Okay. She agrees before she starts writing again. I want an interpreter. By law, you have to provide one.
Jay agrees and the three of them walk out of the house. Mrs. Lewis gets into the back of the truck and Jay starts to drive.
"Call ahead and let Voight know. Also, let them know we need to get an interpreter for her," Hailey nods pulling out her phone.
Arriving at the district, Hailey helps her get out of the back of the truck, then the two escort her into the district.
Walking into the bullpen, Jay yells up to the others so they can hide the pictures of Noah on the whiteboards.
Hailey shows her to the break room, where she writes a note to explain they are working on getting an interpreter for her.
After ten minutes, the unit can hear the gate buzz, and the next thing they know Platt is walking up with who they assume is the interpreter.
Once the quick introductions are made, the two detectives walk to the break room with the interpreter.
"Mrs. Lewis," Jay starts looking at the interpreter.
"Look at her, not me," the interpreter tells Jay from her spot next to him.
"Mrs. Lewis," Jay tries again, this time looking across him to the deaf lady across from him. "Earlier today, we responded to a car accident that seemed to be connected to our current case. There's no easy way to say this, but your son, Noah, was involved in the accident. He was pronounced dead on the scene. I'm sorry."
"No, that can't be right," she signs, and the interpreter voices.
"I'm sorry but it is. We've ID'd him through his school ID, but you will need to formally ID him. Was he in any trouble? Or would someone want to hurt him?"
May Lewis does not answer, too distraught. The cries of a deaf mother are something neither detective has heard before and it sounds so strange, but the same anguish of any parent who's just lost their child is there.
This might have been the hardest notification that either Jay or Hailey has ever had to do.
A/N: So after I posted SiaSS, I found out that September is Deaf Awareness Month. This is just a short little one-shot that I thought of and couldn't wait to share.
About Deaf Culture:
-Yes, that is how Deaf people's doorbells work, or at least before technology with the apps and cameras that can be streamed to one's phone.
-Yes, by law an interpreter must be provided. It is against the ADA not to do so.