Timeline: Season 7

Completed: Nov. 1, 2019

Jay walks tiredly into the break room of the intelligence bullpen, pouring a cup of hot coffee, hoping it will help his sore throat. This morning he had woken up, feeling like his throat was on fire. He had taken some Tylenol before he had left for work, hoping that it would help get him through the day. Around noon he could tell that the medicine was wearing off, his sore throat returning, along with a headache, and he was starting to feel congested.

Going back to his desk, he discreetly pulls out a bottle of Tylenol and takes two more pills with his coffee, hoping that it would help him manage this cold that seemed to be making its way through the 21st.

The fact that it was a slow day, catching up on paperwork until a case would come in, did not help Jay as he was feeling worse with each passing hour. Hailey notices that her partner is being quiet, and not horsing around with Adam and Kevin like he normally does on slow days. Grabbing his attention, she mouths Are you okay? He just nods, and mouths back, I'm fine. Throat hurting too much to actually use his voice and not wanting to alert his partner or their co-workers.

Surprisingly, the criminals of Chicago decided to take a break as, they do not get a new case during the remainder if the day. Seeing as they don't have an active case to work on, Voight lets them leave on time. Ruzek trying to get everyone to join him at Molly's. Kim, Kevin, and Vanessa quickly agree. He then turns to the two detectives, "Yeah, why not?" Hailey answers.

"No, next time," Jay answers, hoarsely.

"You sure?" Ruzek asks again.

Jay clears his throat be for answering, "I'm sure."

The officers in the room leave, wanting to get a head start on the night, leaving Hailey to hang back. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't sound well," she asks, hoping to get an honest answer now that the others have left.

"I'm fine. I just want to get home."

"Okay," she sighs, not completely believing him, "Call me if you need anything. I mean it," she tells him before walking out of the bullpen.

Jay get back to his apartment, ready to crash. Jay goes to bed without eating, knowing he should, but doesn't have anything that isn't going to hurt his throat. Jay takes some more pills and hopes that he is feeling better in the morning.

Four hours later, in Molly's the intelligence unit has gathered around one of the bigger tables to catch up on non-work related things. "Hey, does anyone know what's up with Halstead?" Ruzek asks.

"He seemed tired," Kim defends her friend.

"Tired from what?" Ruzek complains, "We just had paperwork and I know his love life hasn't seen much action since the whole Camilla thing," he adds without thinking.

"Adam!" Both of his ex-girlfriends scold him.

"What?"

"Leave him alone," Hailey chides him.

"So, how 'bout the Hawks?" Kevin asks, sensing the tension between Adam and the two girls.

"I should get going," Hailey states.

"What? It's still early," Adam interjected.

"I have some things that I need to do," Hailey lies. She actually plans on checking-in on Jay, having the feeling that he was lying to her. She goes out to her car and starts the drive to Jay's apartment complex.

On the way, she makes a stop at a deli near Jay's to pick him up some soup, knowing that he probably didn't have food at his place.

Arriving at his place, she goes up to his apartment, soup in hand, and knocks on the door. After a few minutes, Jay opens the door. Looking at him, Hailey can tell that she woke him up, "Hey, do we have a case?" Jay asks, voice hardly audible.

"No. I just brought you some soup from the deli," she tells him, while pushing her way in to his kitchen.

"Why?"

"Because I know you didn't eat, if you're getting sick, you need to."

"I'm fine," Jay argues.

"You don't sound fine," Hailey says while looking at him, before quickly reaching to feel his head. "You feel a little warm. Do you have a thermometer?"

"I just woke up," Jay tries to defend himself. Hailey doesn't believe him and gives him a knowing look. "Medicine cabinet in the bathroom."

"Don't eat yet," Hailey says as she goes in search of the desired item. Jay sits down, since standing is too much effort.

Hailey finds the object that she is looking for, bringing it out to the kitchen, where she finds Jay sitting at the counter with his head in his arms. Running the thermometer under water to rinse it off, she turns to Jay, "Open." He listens to her knowing that Hailey can be just as stubborn as he is. The two wait in an awkward silence while waiting for the device to beep. After the thermometer beeps, Hailey takes it from Jay before he has a chance to lie about it. "100.7, when was the last time you took anything?"

"When I got home."

"Okay, eat some and then take some more meds."

"Yes, mom," he teases her. Hailey stays long enough to make sure he eats enough to satisfy her, before handing him some Motrin before leaving.

Jay goes straight back to bed after locking the door again once Hailey has left.

Jay wakes up the next morning, feeling worse than the day before. Normally a morning person, from his army days, he is usually up a good half hour before his alarm goes off, but this morning he doesn't wake up until his alarm goes off. He contemplates calling off sick, until he sees a text message from Voight that they have a case. The case is serial kidnapping, and Jay can't sit around when kids are involved so he hops in the shower, hoping it will help.

With his throat feeling worse than before, he makes scrambled eggs, hoping it won't irritate his throat. After eating Jay, takes Motrin and then puts the pill bottle in his bag, before leaving hoping that they can find the missing kids fast.

Jay is the last one to arrive in the bullpen, "Nice of you to grace us with your presence, Halstead," Voight gruffly acknowledges him. Jay just ducks his head. "What do we have?" he asks giving Kim the cue to inform the rest of the team of what she knows.

"Five children have gone missing in the past two weeks. All out of a park, all male, ages six to nine. They seem to be random, they've went missing from three different parks, physical appearance is diverse, they come from different neighborhoods and socio-economic-statuses, so far there doesn't seem to be any connections between the boys.

"Halstead, Upton, go interview the latest victim's parents," Voight barks. The two detectives get up and head out to the cars.

"You can drive," Jay tells her. This statement only makes Hailey worry about her partner. On the drive to the home of the latest victim, Hailey keeps casting concerned glances at Jay, who doesn't seem to notice.

"You feeling alright?" Hailey asks him.

"Yeah, just tired."

Arriving at the home, they interview the parents, Jay letting Hailey do most of the talking. Not able to gather any new information from the parents, the pair head back to the district feeling defeated.

Once back at the district, they work on their computers trying to find any link or lead they can on the missing boys.

By eleven-thirty, Jay can feel the medicine starting to wear off. Feeling the familiar burn return to his throat and headache, along with a pressure now in his sinuses. He unconsciously lays his head down in his arms on top of his desk, falling asleep.

With the others busy doing their own work, Hailey looks over to her partner to find him asleep on his desk. Deciding that enough is enough, Hailey gets up, intending to make her partner go home. She puts a gentle hand on his shoulder, feeling a fever through his shirt, not wanting to startle the ex-ranger. He comes back to her slowly, "Did we get something?"

"No, come on. Let's go to the breakroom for a minute."

Jay sways when he stands up, Hailey's reflexes are quick to grab a hold of him before he falls, she can feel the heat through his shirt. Steadying him, she let's go once she trusts he regained his balance. They go into the breakroom, Hailey forcing him to sit on the couch. "Jay, you should go home, it's obvious you're not feeling well."

"I can't. The kids-"

"We can manage. You aren't any use to us if you pass out on us."

"Okay," he reluctantly agrees.

"I'm going to call Will to come get you."

"He's probably sleeping, he has the night rotation this week."

"He's your brother, he won't mind. What's wrong, so I tell can him? The more he knows the less he'll panic about you."

"My throat's on fire, headache, tired."

"Okay, lay down while I call him." Jay doesn't need to be told twice, he lays down facing the back of the couch, shivering every now and then.

Dialing Will, she hopes the older Halstead brother answers. He picks up on the fourth ring. Having seen Hailey's name on the caller ID, Will is immediately awake, concerned for his brother when she calls him knowing Jay should be at work, "Is Jay okay?" is the first thing that Will sleepily gets out of his mouth.

"He's not hurt. But he's not feeling well, do you think you can pick him?"

"Yeah, I can be there in twenty. What's wrong?" he asks going into doctor mode.

"He said his throat is on fire, he has a headache and is tired. He's also running a fever and it looks like he has the chills too."

"Can you keep an eye on him until I get there?"

"Yeah, he's in the breakroom sleeping on the couch. Text me when you get here and I'll let you up."

"Okay, thanks. I'm on my way now."

Twenty minutes turns into almost an hour with lunch-time traffic. Will texts Hailey as soon as he is in the building. She lets him up into the intelligence bullpen, Will walks through to the break room to find his brother in a deep sleep.

"Will, be careful, when I woke him before he almost fell," Hailey tells him. He nods in acknowledgment, before going to wake his brother.

"Will?"

"Yeah, it's me. Let's get you out of here," helping Jay sit up

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" For what?"

"That you had to come here."

"Hey, I don't mind. It's not your fault you're not feeling well," Will says as he feels Jay's head for a fever, then his glands, his brother wincing at the touch. "Open your mouth," Will orders. Jay does what he's told and Will used the flashlight on his phone to look down Jay's throat, he can see white spots on Jay's tonsils and throat. "Do you feel nauseous?"

"No," he answers sounding congested. "Can we leave now. I just want to go home and sleep this off."

"Not yet. I'm taking you to Med. I think you have strep, you'll need antibiotics." Will helps Jay stand, while Hailey had gotten Jay's stuff for him once Will went to wake him.

"No. Not an emergency," Jay argues.

"Fine, we can go to a clinic, but you need antibiotics."

With his brother's help, Jay made it to his car, falling back to sleep on the way to the clinic.

Will gets Jay settled in a chair before getting the paperwork to sign him in. Jay's name is called after almost an hour. They go back with the nurse, "Family only," she stops Will, "What's your relation to him?"

"He's my brother," he answers annoyed.

The nurse gets a set of vitals on Jay, "101.3, how long have you been running a fever?" she asks after taking his temperature.

Jay shrugs his shoulders, "Jay answer her. Do you know when it started?" Will asked his brother

"Don't know. Hailey said I had one last night."

"Okay, the doctor should be in with you soon," she tells the brothers before leaving the room.

The doctor takes another half an hour before making an appearance. In this time, Jay had managed to fall asleep on the small exam bed. Seeing that the doctor was about to wake Jay, Will stopped him.

"Jay, its Will. Don't fight me," he tells his brother as he gently wakes him. "The doctor is here; can you sit up for him?" Jay does what he is told with the help of his brother.

"Open wide." Jay does what he is told again, just wanting to get home. "Looks like your brother was right about strep." He then presses on Jay's sinuses, causing him to yelp, "And a sinus infection, let me check your ears. Have you had any trouble with your equilibrium?"

"His partner at work said when she woke him, he almost fell," Will informs the doctor, knowing Jay is just about useless at this point.

"His ears look a little red right now. I'm going to do a rapid strep test to be sure, but it's almost certain he has strep. He's getting an antibiotic for the strep and sinus infection, so that will help prevent him from getting hit with an ear infection too if he doesn't already have one."

"Can't you tell?"

"No, they're redder than they should be, but they don't look infected. I'm not going to give him ear drops, but if he starts complaining about his ears hurting, then either bring him back in or make an appointment with his normal physician."

"Okay, thanks. He can't have penicillin, he's allergic with an anaphylactic reaction to it."

"Yes, I saw in his chart, has he had azithromycin before?"

"I think so."

"Okay, I'll put him on that. Ten days' worth, he needs to take them all, no stopping once he feels better.

"And he can go back to work after he's been on the antibiotic for twenty-four hours?"

"Yes, if he feels up to it. If he's still running a fever, he has to listen to his workplace's policy on that. And if he does end up with an ear infection, he needs to stay home until his balance is no longer affected."

"Okay, thanks." Will thanks the doctor before he leaves the room to get the test.

The doctor comes back into the room with the swab, "Okay, have you ever had a strep test before?" the doctor asks. Jay shakes his head no. "Okay, I'm going to get a swab of the back of your throat and we'll get the results in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay, open up," Jay does as he is told. The doctor sticks the swab in the back of Jay's throat causing him to gag. "Almost done," the doctor tells him, pulling the swab out just as Jay leans over to throw up the small breakfast he ate.

"Sorry," he murmurs while leaning into Will who is supporting him.

"It's okay, you're not the first one," the doctor tells him, "The result should be in in about fifteen minutes, and in the meantime, I'll send someone to clean this up."

"Thanks," Will acknowledges, Jay laying back down.

Twenty minutes later, the doctor comes back in to find Jay asleep and Will playing on his phone. "It is strep, I'll send in for his prescription. He needs to take them for ten days, twice a day. Finish the prescription, no stopping after he feels better." Will thanks the doctor again and then wakes Jay up so they can leave.

Will gets Jay up and moving, leaving Jay in the car while he gets the prescription filled, he also gets applesauce and pudding for Jay to eat.

Arriving back at Jay's apartment, Will gets Jay settled, making him eat something before he lets Jay take the prescription. Looking at the time, Will figures he should call Voight, so his brother doesn't have to in the morning.

"Voight," Will hears through the phone.

"Sargent, it's Will Halstead."

"How's Jay? He left me short on people on an important case."

This statement makes Will angry, "He's going to be out again at least tomorrow too, possibly more. He has strep throat and a sinus infection, he's contagious until he's been on antibiotics for twenty-four hours."

Sensing he made the older brother angry, he tells him, "Tell him that he's not to be here until his fever is gone and he's on desk duty until he's a hundred percent," before quickly hanging up.

He can hear a whine coming from Jay's room, walking to his room the sound becomes louder. Walking into his room, Will can see Jay moving around moaning in his sleep. He goes to the bed and cautiously put his hand on Jay's head, rubbing his head like their mom used to do for them. Jay calms down, without punching Will by accident. Once Will is sure that Jay is okay, he goes back to the living room and falls asleep on the couch until either he has to get up for work or until Jay wakes up and needs something.

Will wakes up to the sound of his alarm going off. He sighs, not wanting to leave Jay by himself. Will walks into Jay's room to check on him before leaving. "Jay," Will gently wakes him.

"Wha'?" Jay asks.

"I need to go to work. Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

"Yeah. Sleep."

"Okay, call me if you need anything and I left a bottle of Pedialyte on your side table, try to drink half of it."

"'Kay," Jay answers already half asleep again. Will leaves, still unsure about leaving his brother.

Will is halfway through his shift at Med, checking his phone for the hundredth time, wanting to make sure he hasn't missed a call from Jay. Ethan Choi notices that Will seemed distracted throughout the night.

"Hey, everything okay, Will?" he asks.

"Yeah, I just want to make sure I don't miss a call from Jay."

"Is everything okay with him?"

"Yeah, he's not feeling well and I told him to call if he needed anything."

"He's probably just going to sleep it off."

"I guess you're right."

"Come on, we're halfway through. You'll be back to check on him soon."

Will gets back to Jay's apartment around eight in the morning. The first thing that he does is to check on Jay. Slowly opening the door, he sees his brother still asleep, and the bottle of Pedialyte untouched. He wakes Jay up to take another dose of the antibiotic, and to make him drink some.

By day three of the antibiotics, Jay is starting to feel better and by day five he is back at work. Still, not back to a hundred percent, Jay is stuck on desk duty trying to plug in the pieces of the newest case that intelligence has, and reeling over how he couldn't save the boys from the last case.

Hailey could tell that something was bothering Jay, so she decides to check in with him tonight.

Jay opens his door that night to someone knocking. Knowing it is not Will, since he has a key, he is surprised to see his partner there. "Hey," he answers while opening the door wider to let her in.

"I brought food," she tells him while bringing the bag to where he can see it.

"No pizza or beer?" he asks.

"No, you can't have beer while on antibiotics, and I didn't know if your throat was up for pizza."

"How did you know I was on antibiotics?"

"When I didn't hear from you, I called Will to make sure you were okay. He told me that you had strep and a sinus infection and were on antibiotics. I figured sandwiches were a safe choice."

"Okay, I was watching a Hawks game if you want to?" Hailey follows Jay to the couch, food in hand.

"Do you want to tell me what was bothering you today?" Hailey asks him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jay deflects.

"Don't lie to me. We've been partners for a couple years now, I know when something is bothering you."

"It's the case."

"This case?"

"No, the one with the kids."

"Jay, that's not your fault. You weren't even there for most of it."

"I know, and I should have been. Maybe I could have done something-" Jay starts.

"No," Hailey cuts him off. "You were sick, you still are. Will said that you were also borderline with an ear infection along with the strep and sinus infection. You needed the rest."

"I just… those kids, they had so much ahead of them."

"I know, Jay. But he can't do it to anymore, he's going to spend life in jail, with no parole."

The two sit in silence for the final minutes of the game, before Hailey decides that she should leave.

"Text me when you get home," Jay says through a yawn. "Just so I know you got home safe."

"Okay," Hailey agrees, knowing that he is doing it because he cares. "But you're probably going to be asleep before I get home."

Hailey leaves and Jay locks the door behind her. Jay does fall asleep shortly after, only to wake up to Hailey's text that she got home safe. Reading her text, Jay is happy that she listened to him, he sends a quick response before going back to sleep.

A/N: Happy Independence Day to my American readers; if you're not American then Happy Saturday or Sunday depending on your time zone.

Conversions:

100.7= 38.2

101.3= 38.5

Questions & Comments

Daisyangel- Chapter 15- being asthmatic sucks, asthma attacks are never any fun, I've experienced my fair share. Glad Jay has Hailey and Will to stand up for him.

Response: Hey, I don't recognize you are a regular penname that I see, so I don't know if you will see this or not. But this chapter was mostly based on three to five days' worth of researching, so I hope it was written in a way where I made it realistic. And if it wasn't, I apologize.