"Jay? Jay!"; Hailey suddenly screamed, causing Halstead, who was still topless, to dash into the neighborhood room. His girlfriend seemed visibly excited and knelt beside the dresser. He sensed immediately that something was wrong. Halstead ran frantically to the spot where Hailey was kneeling on the floor.

Within seconds Jay understood what the reason for this was. Ben cowered against the wall on the ground and had his bent legs pulled tightly against his body, his head resting on the crossed arms. He was shaking violently, which gave Jay goose bumps.

"Hey, big guy. What's the matter with you?"

But Ben didn't respond. He seemed completely absent, didn't look up. Outside there was a banging at irregular intervals.

"The fireworks,"; Hailey stammered in a low voice and looked at her friend and colleague in shock.

"He's back in the situation. He thinks the killer will come back. "

"Ben? Ben, hey look at me. Ben,"; Jay said to his son. When he started to hold him lightly in his arms, the little one began to beat around him.

Halstead intercepted his punches.

"Shhh. . . it's okay. It's okay. Everything's fine. You're home. You're absolutely safe here,"

Hailey spoke in a sensitive tone to the 9 year old and, together with Jay, caught his kicks until Ben finally gave in and was hanging limply and quietly crying on Jay's arms. Halstead, who himself was once plagued by flashbacks, could guess what the little one was going through. Hailey put his hands on his shoulders from behind so that Ben managed to break through the memories.

"It's just fireworks. No one can hurt you here,"; she whispered to him as he cried softly at his father's breast. In the meantime the banging noises of the rockets had ceased.

"Ben? Ben, look at me"; Jay urged after a while, feeling his hands on his son's cheeks so that he was forced to look him in the eyes.

"It's over. It was just the neighbors next door. " With the back of his hand, Halstead stroked the desperate boy's cheek to calm him down. Totally disturbed, Ben looked at his father and his stepmother alternately, while he slowly realized what had just happened.

"It's like Tuesday. After the break,"; he whimpered and struggled for words. He sobbed softly. Jay reached for his hand.

"Big boy, we're here. What did you see before we took you and Tim out of the room?"; Ben shook his head. When Hailey and Jay were already no longer expecting him to speak, he continued haltingly.

"The bell had just rung, but Mrs. Sunders was not back yet. Suddenly there was an insanely loud bang in the hallway and the others started screaming. We all got mixed up. Suddenly the door opened and he came in. He was masked and had the same weapon as you,"; Ben told his father.

"Shortly afterwards, he ran out again and fired. I heard Oscar screaming. After the men left, the others ran outside too. Only Timmy and I hid because we realized what he did to Oscar. " Jay looked at Hailey with emotion, embraced Ben in his arms again. "Oscar was screaming for help the whole time, There was no one there to help us. And there was nothing we could do. "

"Ben, this is not your fault. You're just kids. There was nothing you could have done,"; Hailey tried to reject the accusations, but Ben just hid his face on Jay's shoulder and looked sad.

CPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPD

"Mrs. Sullivan next door apologized. I'll talk to Dr. Charles again tomorrow. You're probably right and it would be really good if someone would work on him in a timely manner,"; Jay murmured as he stepped back into the apartment. Hailey had just come out of Ben's room because she was dealing with him.

In the meantime the little one had calmed down again, sat on the construction carpet and played with his action figures. Upton meant for her boyfriend to go into the living room so they could talk undisturbed. Tired, Jay drove through his face, shaking his head in disbelief.

"He's all messed up. And it's like I suspected. He witnessed it all. "

"He's traumatized, Jay. "

"I always thought survival guilt was something only adults had."

Sadly, Halstead looked at his girlfriend.

"You've done a good job talking to him,"; he tried to express his amazement, even though Hailey immediately saw through his undertone. They had a meaningful look at each other. Since they knew each other, they didn't need words to know what each other was thinking.

"Adam told you about my father,"; she said dryly, narrowing her eyes to slits, then nodding her head because she felt confirmed.

"This is typical. He just can't keep his mouth shut." " Jay started to hesitate.

"Not exactly. Everything in my head is just coming together to form a puzzle. "

"In what way?"; Jay didn't look her in the eye. This made it easier to bring out the words in question.

Hailey closed her eyes, then took a deep breath in and out. She knew she was walking on thin ice. Normally only a few people were allowed to get to her vulnerable side. Not least because she did not want to make herself vulnerable and had often experienced how her trust was abused. The fact that Adam had reported it to Jay confirmed her way of thinking.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I can wait,"; Jay told her sensitively, because he obviously realized what was going on inside her. Hesitantly she waved away.

"Maybe we should. At least you already know. " She cleared her throat, shrugged her shoulders as if she could cover up the matter.

"There's not much to say. My dad used to beat the crap out of my mom, my brothers and me. Mostly on weekends. In the morning he got drunk and when we were too loud, which children often are, the fuses blew. First he took it out on our mom and then he took it out on us. " Jay sent sympathetic looks at Hailey. The way she told about the matter did not fit the content of his sentence. Jay sensed that she was overplaying the facts with coolness, that deep down inside she felt very different.

"l'm over it. Don't you worry about it. He wasn't a bad person in general and it would be unfair to reduce him to that."

In disbelief, Halstead stared at his girlfriend. He guessed why she thought that. As a child you always remained dependent on your parents, no matter how old you were.

"Jay, do me a favour and don't try to feel sorry for me, yeah? My past does not determine my future."

"Are you still in touch with him?"; Hailey nodded, sadly smiling.

"Ben is lucky to have you for a father, and I think he knows that too. "

"Sometimes I'm not sure that's enough. I can't replace his mother. No matter what I try. I just feel that it's good for him to have you around, and I appreciate it. " Jay grabbed her hand with his healthy arm, which he squeezed.

"Hailey, I love you. I want to be with you. And not just on weekends, but permanently. "

She reflected his gaze again, came closer and sunk in a long kiss. Ben, who had stopped at door level, started to grin. His most favorite wish had finally come true. . .