Timeline: Season 7

Completed: July 22, 2020

"Jay, are you okay?" Hailey asks her partner when she notices how quiet her partner is.

"Fine," he answers.

"Are you sure? You look a bit pale," Hailey comments as she goes to reach his forehead.

"Yeah, just a headache," he responds while dodging out of her reach. "Come on, we should check out the inside," Jay tells her, wanting to divert her attention away from himself.

Hailey follows her partner into the home, where they are met with a ripe smell. Looking around, the two detectives find the bodies of three individuals. "We should make sure that there are no more victims," Jay states while breathing deeply.

Hailey notices her partner's discomfort, "Jay, are you sure you're okay?"

Jay goes to answer but a look of panic appears on his face before covering his mouth with his hand and running outside. Hailey follows to find Jay doubled over gagging. "You're okay," she comforts while rubbing his back. Eventually, Jay is able to get control over his stomach, "I have some mint gum in the car, do you want some?" She asks him. Jay nods and she goes to retrieve the requested item and a bottle of water.

"Thanks," Jay mumbles as he is handed the offered items.

"What's going on? You can normally handle bodies pretty good," Hailey comments.

"Um, I don't think last night's dinner is sitting right."

"What'd you have?"

"Thai," Jay answers.

"From that new place?"

"No, the place we always go."

"That's weird, it's usually good. Do you want to go home?"

"No, I think I'm good now," Jay decides.

"Okay, but if you change your mind let me know. Come on, I'm driving," Hailey informs him.

"I can drive," Jay argues.

"No. You're shaking, drink the water. Do you want me to stop at 7-Eleven? I can run in and get you a Gatorade," Hailey offers.

"No, the gum is helping."

"Okay, let me know if I need to pull over."

Jay makes a non-committal noise before Hailey starts the truck.

"Jay, we're here," Hailey tells him while rubbing his arm to wake him.

"Okay," he answers.

"You sure you don't want me to take you home?" Hailey checks.

"I'm fine. The smell just got to me."

"Okay. Come one, hopefully, we can figure out this case soon."

Jay and Hailey walk into the district making their way into the intelligence bullpen where Voight is putting his up pictures on the whiteboard.

"Alright, we got three dead bodies and so far no leads on what happened," Voight informs the unit of what their newest case is.

Adam steps up to the whiteboard to inform the rest of the team of what he knows. While Adam is talking, Hailey is trying to listen while also keeping an eye on her stubborn partner, who seems to have spaced out. Hailey decided to give Jay a pass for now but to keep a close eye on him.

As the day goes on, Jay gives just enough attention to not call too much suspicion on himself. Besides Hailey, the team just believes he is in a mood or got into an argument with Will.

When lunch comes around, Adam and Kim are voted to go on the lunch run. Everyone gives the two their orders, and the officers go on their way. Hailey got something plain, hoping she can get Jay to eat part of hers as he didn't get anything, reasoning that he didn't want to be distracted by food.

Once the two leaves, Hailey pulls Jay into the break wanting to talk to him without Kevin or Vanessa overhearing them.

"Are you okay? You look pale."

"Fine."

"What's the real reason you didn't get lunch?" Jay raises an eyebrow as if asking what she is talking about. "I'm not falling for the act. Do you feel like you're going to be sick?"

"I'm still nauseous, but I don't feel like I'm going to puke. Can we stop talking about that?" Jay asks, breathing deeply trying to calm his stomach.

Hailey nods. "You know I'm just trying to look out for you?" she asks while cupping his face. "You feel warm."

"I know and its food poisoning, not a stomach virus. I'm not contagious."

"You look miserable," Hailey tells him.

Before Jay can respond, Atwater's voice can be heard telling them that Kim and Adam are back with the food. The two detectives go back into the bullpen to see Kim distributing the food.

"Jay, are you okay? You're looking a bit green," Kim asks as he sits on Hailey's desk.

"I'm fine," he answers even though the smell of the food has his stomach churning.

Adam opens his tuna sandwich, and the smell hits Jay like a ton of bricks. He places a hand in front of his mouth, closes his eyes, and tries to breathe through the nausea.

"Jay?" Hailey questions while rubbing his leg.

He ignores her.

"Jay," she says more assertively. "Are you going to be sick?"

He shakes his head.

Adam finds this a good time to mess with the detective. The dense officer starts making gagging noises to annoy the detective.

Hearing Adam, Jay heaves, eyes popping open. "Jay, trash," Hailey thrust her trash can from under her desk under his chin just in time for him to vomit. Hailey holds the thankfully lined trash can in one hand while she rubs his back with the other while Kim yells at Adam.

After a few more waves of nausea, Jay groans. "Think you're done?" Hailey asks.

Jay nods, "Sorry."

"Not your fault. I'm going to take care of the trash and then I'll take you home."

"No, I made the mess."

"Jay," Kim calls. "Adam will take care of it," she volunteers him.

"Hey!"

"This is your fault."

"Thanks," Hailey directs at Kim as she gently pulls on Jay to leave.

Walking down the steps, Hailey asks, "Are you going to be okay in the car?"

Jay just shrugs his shoulders, wrapping an arm around his stomach.

"Okay, I'm going to get a bag for you," Hailey tells him before going to the front desk.

"What do you need, Goldilocks?" Platts asks.

"Do you have a bag?" Hailey asks looking over to her partner.

Platt follows Hailey to see a green Jay, reaching underneath the desk Platt grabs a trash bag from the roll. "Get him out of here before he infects the whole district," Platt orders while handing her the bag.

"Thanks, Sarge."

Hailey walks back over to Jay, who looks like he is trying very hard not to be sick again. "Come on, let's get you home," Hailey says as she wraps an arm around his waist.

"What about my truck?" Jay asks as they get into her car.

"I'll pick you up when you're feeling better," she answers while handing him the bag.

Jay groans as his stomach cramps up and he curls up in the passenger seat as much as his tall frame will allow. Hailey makes sure that the air is on and pointed at Jay hoping it will help before pulling out of the parking lot.

The ride is silent other than Jay's occasional moans. Halfway through the ride, Jay makes use of the bag given to him. Hailey reaches over to rub his back, hoping for his sake that he is finished soon.

"Ugh, can you drop me off at Will's?" he asks when finished.

"Isn't he working?" Hailey questions.

"I have a key."

"We left your keys in your desk," she reminds him, causing Jay to groan. "You feel that bad?" Hailey questions, knowing he hates bothering or making people, especially his brother, worry.

Jay's only response is to groan.

"Do you just want Will or do you need to go to a hospital?"

"No hospital."

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Hailey asks as they pull up to his building.

"No, you should go back to work."

"Okay, let's get you inside." Hailey takes the bag from Jay and throws it in a nearby trashcan.

The two slowly make their way to his apartment, where Hailey uses her key to open the door. Once the door is open, Jay rushes to the bathroom where Hailey can hear him gagging. Hailey goes to his refrigerator to get him a bottle of water.

"Jay, can I come in?" Hailey asks while knocking on the door. Hearing a groan, Hailey takes it as a yes. "Here," she hands him the bottle. "You're losing too many fluids. What time does Will get off? I'll call to let him know," Hailey offers.

"Two."

"Okay, I'm going to go back to work. Text me if you need anything."

"Thanks, Hailey."

Jay wakes up sometime later to his phone ringing, "'Lo," he answers sitting up, a nice tile impression indented on his face.

"Jay? Are you okay? You sound off," Will responds.

"Will?"

"Yeah, it's me. What's wrong?"

"Food poisoning. Didn't Hailey call?"

"No, she didn't. I was going to see if you wanted to meet for a late lunch, but I guess I have my answer."

"Please don't mention food."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm on my way over now, okay?"

"Okay."

By the time Will gets to Jay's apartment twenty minutes later, Jay has managed to throw up three more times.

Will lets himself in to find Jay still on the bathroom floor. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Sick."

Will looks around and notices the still full water bottle, "I have some things at my place. Do you want to go there or do you want me to see if Hailey can pick some things up?"

Jay thinks for a second before answering, "Your place. I don't want to bother Hailey."

"Okay, I'm going to get you a bowl, then we'll go."

Will gets the wanted item before going to collect his brother. After a couple of minutes, Will is able to get Jay up and ready for the car ride.

In the short ride to Will's apartment, Jay had three episodes of dry heaving that only brought up bile.

"Bathroom or bed?" Will asks as he is helping Jay into his apartment.

"Bed."

"Okay," Will walks Jay into the spare room, which is basically Jay's, and helps his brother get settled. "I'm going to get you some Pedialyte," Will tells him as he sets the now clean bowl on the side table.

"No, it's going to make me sick again."

"Jay, you need to drink. You're burning up- between the fever and your stomach you're dehydrated. I don't want to take you to Med for dehydration."

Jay gives in, not wanting an IV. Will goes to his kitchen to grab the desired drink. "Here, drink all of this," Will hands Jay a cup.

Jay drinks under his brother's watchful eye. "I'm going to sleep for a couple of hours, do you need anything first?"

"No. Thanks, Will."

"Okay, try to sleep and call me if you need anything. If you can keep the Pedialyte down I want to try to get something solid into you."

"I'm not hungry," Jay answers as Kohl climbs up with him.

"If you can hold two pieces of toast for a couple of hours, I will make you mom's soup," Will promises.

"Okay. Thanks, Will."

Will runs his hand through Jay's hair before retreating to his own room. Jay falls into a light sleep with Kohl curled into him.

Will wakes up at seven o'clock to his phone ringing, "Hello," he answers.

"Will is Jay with you?" Hailey asks.

"Yeah, I picked him up after my shift. Why?"

"I came to check on him and he wasn't at his place. His truck is still at work, so he couldn't have driven anywhere."

"He's fine- I mean he's safe. What happened? He mentioned something about how you were supposed to call me?"

"I was going to call when you got off work to let you know what was going on, but we caught a lead in our case and it slipped my mind."

"What happened?"

"He thinks it was the Thai takeout he had last night. There were some bodies that got to him this morning and then Adam didn't help him at lunch. I brought him home, but he wanted you. I think he's feeling pretty bad if he's admitting that."

"He's just not the best when it comes to being sick."

"Let me know if he needs a ride to work tomorrow."

"Depending on how he's feeling, I might force him to take a sick day tomorrow."

"Okay, let me know if you guys need anything," Hailey tells Will before they say their good-byes.

After hanging up, Will walks into Jay's room to find him asleep cuddled with Kohl. Not wanting to disturb him, but also wanting to get some food into him, Will carefully wakes his brother.

"Hey, it looks like you kept the Pedialyte down," Will comments.

"What time is it?"

"Just after seven. How you feeling?"

"I'm not going to puke in the immediate future."

"Okay, do you think you can eat some toast?"

"I don't know."

"Can you try"

"Okay," Jay goes to get up but sways some.

"You're okay," Will grabs him to keep Jay steady. "You're probably dehydrated. I want you to drink some more Pedialyte."

Will guides Jay out to the couch where he gets his brother settled. "Bowl is right here," Will tells Jay motioning to the coffee table. Kohl jumps up on the couch and curls around Jay's legs before Will goes into the kitchen to get the toast.

When Will brings the toast out to Jay, he starts nibbling on it under his brother's watchful eye. After ten minutes, Jay has managed to eat the two pieces and Will is handing him another glass full of Pedialyte.

Will puts on Animal Planet, knowing that the documentaries are calming to Jay. Finishing the drink, Jay leans his head against Will and closes his eyes. "Jay, lay down," Will comments.

"I'm afraid I'll puke if I do."

"Okay, just relax."

Jay falls asleep against Will in less than ten minutes. Noticing this, Will carefully moves Jay so he is laying down and adjusts the blanket on him.

Jay sleeps for an hour before he starts moving in his sleep, burying his head deeper into his brother's leg.

"Jay, what's wrong?" Will questions while rubbing his back.

Jay just shakes his head, burying it further into Will's lap.

"Are you going to be sick?"

Jay nods into Will's leg.

"Okay, sit up," Will helps move Jay into a sitting position and sitting the bowl onto his lap. Jay groans. "It's okay, just breath," Will encourages as he continues to rub his back.

Jay gags a few times before bringing up the Pedialyte and undigested toast. "Ugh, sorry," Jay apologizes once he finishes.

"It's okay. Do you think you're done?"

"For now." Will goes to get up with the bowl, "No, I can get that."

"I don't mind. I've had to clean worse at work," Will answers before going to the bathroom to clean the bowl.

"I'm going to start on mom's soup," Will tells Jay when he brings the now clean bowl back.

"Not hungry."

"I know, but maybe you can try in a couple of hours."

"Okay, can I go back to sleep now?"

"Sure, do you want to go back to bed?"

"Can I stay here?"

"Yeah."

As Will works on making the soup, it is quiet other than the television playing the documentary. Will keeps an eye on Jay as he makes the soup, hoping that Jay can manage to keep some food down before going to bed for the night. The older Halstead also wonders how much trouble he's going to have in the morning convincing Jay to take a sick day.

Just as he is finishing the soup, Will can hear Jay moving around on the couch.

"Will," Jay croaks as he slowly sits up.

"Yeah?"

"Can I have something to drink?"

"Yeah," Will answers while going to the fridge to get more of the rehydrating drink. "How're you feeling?" he asks as he brings the drink to Jay.

"A little better. I think the nausea is finally going away. The soup actually smells good."

"Do you want some?"

"I don't know. I don't want to throw up again."

"How about a little, it always made you feel better growing up."

"Okay," Jay agrees.

Will is happy that Jay is willing to try to eat something. He grabs two bows and fills one up and the other half-way. "Try to eat all of it," Will tells Jay as he hands him the bowl.

"Will."

"It's half a serving. You need to eat."

Jay slowly eats his soup, "This is good."

"Did you think it was going to be bad?"

"I didn't think it would taste so much like mom's," Jay whispered.

"Well, she did teach me how to make it and a few other things."

"Why did she teach you?"

"Because dad wasn't going to feed us."

Jay gets quiet as he finishes his soup. "Are you feeling okay?" Will asks.

"Yeah, just tired."

"Okay, go to bed, then," Will suggest while feeling his forehead. "You still feel warm."

Jay does as he is told, taking the vomit bowl back with him. Once he is sure that Jay is settled, Will starts cleaning up from his mess.

The next morning, Will wakes up to find Jay still asleep with Kohl next to him. Will doesn't recall hearing Jay get up through the night, so he's hoping that Jay is past the vomiting stage. Jay stirs, feeling eyes on him, "Will?"

"It's just me. How are you feeling?"

"Better, just tired. What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty."

"Shit! I'm going to be late."

"Hey, Jay, I really think you should take the day off. You're still not one hundred percent."

"I don't want to bother anymore and you can't stay and watch me- you have work."

"You weren't bothering me. And I have the night shift today."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Sleep does sound good."

"Don't forget to call in."

"I think if I went in, I would have gotten sent home."

"Jay?"

"I might have puked in the bullpen yesterday," Jay answers before resting his. Head back on the pillow.

A/N: I am so sorry this is late. I couldn't settle on an idea for "T". I tried things ranging from "Trauma" (inspired by the injury report that the doctor read off in 7x16(?)), "Therapy" which would of been focused on his mental health, "Team Bonding & Trail" and "Tonsillitis" which would have continued off of "S". I had all these ideas, but couldn't get them to the 3,000-word goal that I have for these chapters.

I do have the next chapter written, but it is 4:30AM my time and I never went to bed and I want to look it over one more time before posting, so I will post that at a more reasonable time. I ran this through Grammarly, but again, it is late... or early. I will read this again and edit any mistakes, but I wanted to get this up. I will post this chapter to AO3 later when I add the next chapter that would have been up this past Saturday.

I'm postponing the Questions & Comment section until the next chapter as there are a lot of them that I want to mention.