hailey sits in the hospital waiting room, wringing her fingers. adam sits next to her, his knee shaking up and down anxiously. while adam accompanied kim to the hospital in the ambulance, hailey rushed over with jay and the other female victim. adam was kicked out of kim's room immediately and hailey could see the desperation and worry eating him alive. with one shared look with jay, he took care of the victim while hailey stayed with adam.
adam was spiralling; hailey could tell. the anxiety of not knowing was tearing him up.
"hey," hailey whispers quietly. he turns to face her, eyes red and tired. hailey holds out her hand, palm facing up. "i'm here for you."
adam's eyes water but he purses his lips, refusing to let the tears fall. "thanks hailey," he clasps his hand within her and squeezes tight. physical contact helps, he knows that, but he's anxious to see kim.
another hour passes before natalie manning comes out to update them. hailey lingers behind, as she isn't sure if adam wants her to know his and kim's business, but he grabs her hand in desperation.
she watches as adam's face goes pale and his shoulders drop when dr. manning tells them all the details. hailey isn't even sure what to say, but she doesn't get the chance anyway. adam squeezes her shoulder while swallowing roughly and follows dr. manning to kim's hospital room.
jay had sent her a message earlier that he needed to head over to the district to close the case and update the team. she's about to order an uber when jay messages her saying he's outside, waiting for her.
hailey makes her way outside and into his truck. she lets out a shaky breath and turns to jay with sad blue eyes.
"what did the doctors say?" jay asks, but he already knows.
hailey swallows. "kim; she, uh," her throat is closing up and she isn't sure why. "she lost the baby."
a number of things happen within a few moments.
hailey's burning throat catches a sob and her hands fly up to her face to hide her tears.
jay places the truck in park and reaches out to hailey. there isn't much he can do as he watches her cry, so he places a hand on her shoulder and holds it there.
"oh my god, why am i crying?" hailey exclaims exasperatedly, letting out a bitter laugh. "i should have gotten there faster or—"
"hailey," jay cuts her off softly but she's growing manic.
"i should've gotten there sooner, i knew she would go in! i should've helped her first; she was pregnant, how could i—"
jay squeezes her shoulder to get her eyes on him. "hailey, you did everything right."
"then how did this happen?" she asks desperately.
her blue eyes are staring at him and jay is finding it hard to concentrate on anything but her red-rimmed blue eyes. he feels absolutely horrible for two of his best friends and teammates, but his partner too is falling apart from guilt in front of hi.
"i'm not sure, hailey," he replies honestly. "but it happened. and you can't blame yourself. you know they wouldn't want you to."
hailey takes a deep breath. "you always know what to say," she mumbles quietly.
"i don't," he admits, "but i don't want to see you like this."
hailey nods in understanding. she uses the sleeves of her jacket to clean her tears and pinches some color back into her cheeks.
"kim and adam are going to need our support. we can't make this about us; it isn't."
hailey nods; she loves that he has the ability to ground her and call her out, even in the nicest way possible. "you're right."
jay sends her a small smile as he turns on the engine of his truck. "kev has a spare key to kim's place. i think we should stop by and drop off some essentials. anything that'll make her feel better."
"that's a good idea," hailey replies, sniffling. "kim and adam are lucky to have a friend like you."
jay grins sheepishly as he pulls out of the hospital parking lot; he isn't blushing, but nearly. "nah. those two… they're really good together. i hope they make their way back to each other."
"that was so beautifully poetic, jay," hailey teases, laughing and finally feeling back to normal again. jay can do that too.
he rolls his eyes but he's still smiling. "thanks, smartass. now if you're done making fun of me, we have places to be."
"i enjoy making fun of you too much," she replies easily. "but i'm sure i can tone it down, for the greater good of the overall situation, obviously."
jay shoots her a side glance and laughs at her. "glad you're back to your normal, annoying self."
"rude!" hailey gasps, slapping his bicep. "keep it up halstead and you'll be riding solo."
jay doesn't say anything in response. he just turns to look at her with a soft smile.
he can't imagine having anyone else riding shotgun.
hey! i hope this is okay!?
it's something that has been sitting around in my files and i finally decided to finish it and post it anyway as like a short little one-shot.
i'm working on a new one that i think you guys will really like! but if you guys have any ideas or requests, please drop them down below!
anyway, stay safe everyone!