To say that Will was furious was an understatement, the minute he walked into the ED room he beelined to Jay's room. He didn't say anything, he let his facial expressions and body language speak for itself. He stood in the doorway, arms crossed and face red with anger.
"Please don't start," Jay groaned as April finished cleaning him up.
"What the hell were you thinking," Will sneered.
"I was thinking that I needed to catch the man that killed Dad."
"Something your team was doing Jay, they had it handled I needed you here!"
"Listen I already got chewed out by Voight, I don't need it again." Jay pulled his shirt up on his shoulders gingerly.
"You are so infuriating," Will shouted through gritted teeth. Frustrated, he fell into the chair in rubbing his hands over his face. "You are so caught up in revenge that you didn't think."
"It's not revenge Will, it's my job!"
"One that Voight put you on the sidelines for!"
"At the end of the day I got Dad's killer."
"At the end of the day you got shot!" Will shot up from his chair and began to pacing the floor, angrily letting out huffs of air.
"It was a graze and I'm fine!" Jay brushed it off.
"God you are so dumb Jay and so oblivious," Will shot back. "Are you forgetting that we bury our father in TWO DAYS?" By now Will could feel his face hot with anger spewing his words to Jay who sat ready to defend his actions. "And; while you're out there playing Vigilante, I'm at Dad's sorting though things, calling family members telling them he's dead and setting up a service."
"Will, im sorry but I couldn't let him get away."
"Your team, the one you trust was out making sure of that but that gigantic ego of yours took over."
"I do not have a gigantic ego," Jay scoffed.
"Sure you do; did you not think the team was capable of figuring this out on their own?"
"I did but…"
"But nothing Jay, god you are so selfish!"
"Selfish, I did it for us, I did it for DAD!"
"You did it because you felt bad for how you left things with him, and not once did you think about how much I needed you!" They both sat quietly for a minute before Will fell into the chair again, threw his hands up in frustration and let out a heavy sigh. "When Mom was sick, you called me, told me I needed to come home and stop thinking about myself," He finally said. "I did, because I knew I didn't have a lot of time with her but also because we would need each other." Looking back, Will remembered the whole plane ride from New York to Chicago he thought of what he would say to Jay after months of avoiding him. "I came home, sat with you and mom, watched her die and then stayed with you to plan everything and just be with my brother while we both grieved.
"I'm sorry Will," Jay apologized sheepishly.
"It's not even the fact that you went out of your way to force yourself into this case but rather the fact that you didn't hold into account that you could have made me lose the only family I had left." It was true, Jay had never thought of it that way, instead he was so focused on his rage then when he was shot he didn't think about what it would do to Will. "It's just you and I now, that's it, and I almost lost that today because you weren't thinking."
"You're right, I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry Will, I got caught up in it all, I was mad." Jay looked embarrassed for his behavior causing Will to soften slightly.
"It's hard enough burying Dad, don't EVER pull something like this again," Will demanded. Sheepishly, Jay nodded while still trying to tug his shirt on. Will let out a sigh and with pity he went over to help his brother.
Will woke up to the voices of Natalie and Maggie as they whispered at the far end of the room, to far away for him to make out what they were talking about. Still slightly exhausted, he forced his eyes open only to be blinded by the florescent lighting. His groan caught the attention of the two woman and they conversation was cut short.
"We were wondering when you were going to get up," Natalie teased.
"What time is it," he asked, his voice groggy.
"About two in the afternoon," Maggie responded.
"Wow, I must have been more tired than I thought," He slowly sat himself up, letting his eyes adjust.
"You're telling us, its been the first fit-less night of sleep you've had since… well since you woke up the first time."
"How's Jay," it was coming back slowly what Jay had done and perhaps, though he shouldn't he felt responsible.
"Still out of it, but he is holding stable which is good." Natalie smiled though Will wasn't truly convinced.
"Good," he forced a fake smile, he knew he shouldn't, but he felt a little guilty that Jay was in this state. "Maybe I could see him today," Will knew that he was pushing it but now that Jay was here and out of surgery, he wanted to be with him.
"We will see, ill have to talk to Connor." She walked over and grabbed her purse. "I have to go get Owen from Helen's house; I will stop by later though."
"Nat, you don't have to, spend time with Owen; I'm fine," he assured her. "Besides, I have Maggie."
"Got that right, and I WILL keep him in line," Maggie elbowed Nat's arm.
"Fine, but no impromptu trips without talking to Connor, got it," the mother really coming out in her voice.
"Agreed; now go Nat and give Owen a huge squeeze for me," Maggie offering her a hug of her own. Natalie walked over and kissed Will's cheek before exiting. Once out of sight Maggie sat down beside Will and offered him the cup of water on his meal tray.
"How is Jay really," he asked Maggie. Seeing her hesitate made him tack on a, "I know something is up."
"He has a slight fever; they are just worried with having his spleen removed."
"The risk of infection is always highest after surgery," Will's brow furrowed with concern.
"He did sit down in a basement, skin exposed for a length of time, his body is probably just healing."
"Yeah probably, is anyone with him?"
"Right now, I think I saw Kevin Atwater and Kim Burgess, Voight and Hailey were in earlier today," She smiled. "Oh, and somehow, Adam Ruzek convinced the floor nurses that he was police protection and stayed overnight." Will couldn't help but chuckle at his brother's clever team and their antics.
"I'm glad he has his team; I don't know what I would have done if he was missing and it was anyone else."
"Yeah, Hank Voight is no one to mess with," Maggie agreed.
"He's gonna be okay right, I mean have you seen him?"
"About an hour ago I did, aside from the fever, his wound isn't red and no drainage and like Natalie said he is holding stable otherwise." Will closed his eyes and nodded, he was worried, but he knew that Jay was in the best hand he could be in.
"How about we eat and then I will see if I can convince Connor to let you get up and see Jay." Will nodded in agreement but he would barely make it though dinner as the exhaustion took over again and before Maggie had time to put his food tray off to the side his eyes shut, and he was out again.
Will was moved from the ICU when he woke up again, unfortunately they needed the space, so he was moved down a floor away from Jay who was still out like a light. Natalie had told him that he was going to have a trial ambulation later and if all went well, and if he could take it they could walk up to see Jay. He held on to that all day so when Connor came in personally to check on him, he forced himself to sit up straight and willed himself to ace his ambulation. Natalie and a nurse from that floor, Carla was her name helped him up from his bed and with the assistance of Natalie and his IV pole he took his first steps. He felt like a newborn fawn, trying to balance himself, his head injury had messed up his coordination for sure, he wasn't truly aware of how bad until he took his first couple of steps. Natalie used all her strength to steady him and after the initial clumsy steps Will began to straighten out.
"You're doing great," She encouraged.
"I feel like I have to relearn how to walk." It was an easy enough task, he had been doing it since he was 11 months but right now, he had to remind himself on foot in front of the other, slow and steady.
"You are recovering from a brain injury, give yourself credit, the fact that you are up and at 'em is incredible." It was true, when Will had first entered the hospital and she had seen his state she was terrified he wouldn't make it, then once he was out of surgery she was sure that when he woke up there would be some sort of side effects of having been his head beaten bloody. It almost seemed to unbelievable that he was okay and that other than the memory loss of the night, which was slowly making its way back, he was okay.
"I know, I just want to get this right, I want to see Jay again."
"And you will but you are still recovering, and he is stable for now."
"And the fever," Will asked.
"Has gone down, he is doing okay." She quickly caught him as he tripped over his footing. "We made it pretty far," She looked back, they were halfway down the hall. "I'm sure Carla can get a wheelchair," She motioned for Carla.
"I can do it," He protested.
"Will, you will get there, don't push yourself to hard," She spoke in a warning tone. Reluctantly he sat down once Carla pushed the chair up behind him, he stayed silent the short ride back. Natalie took note of the discourage that he was feeling, she also made a mental note to plead Connor for another trip to Jay's bedside. She thanked Carla and helped Will back in bed, kissing him on the cheek, holding his hand, "You did good today."
"Thanks Nat," he smiled. "I mean for being here."
"Always Will."
Will had lost count of how long he had been in the hospital, but he guessed about a week, a week of bed rest with a few walks here and there to build up his walking. It took him a few tries but after a while he stopped using Natalie as support and was able to roam around with the light assist of his IV pole. When he was sure he was fine to walk alone he set a plan out, he encouraged Natalie to go home, stay with Owen for a while. Next, he waited on shift change, Carla his nurse was a strict woman, she reminded him of Maggie. Once she had handed off report to Emily the night nurse who was very occupied with a combative sundowns patient he made his move. He waited until his last round of meds had been administered for the night, waited ten minutes before slipping out of bed. He peeked his head out of his room scanning the empty hall, the lights had been reduced down to their nighttime dim and most of the nurses were preoccupied by note taking or random conversation to see him sneak out. Luckily, he was at the end of the hallway where he could make his quick escape to the patient elevators.
He was in the clear, his next obstacle was the ICU, most nurses and Doctors were seated at the desk so he would easily be spotted. He let out a breath as the doors opened, quickly he ducked behind the wall, keeping an eye on the nurse and doctor who occupied the nurse's station. The ICU was on big circle with the station smack in the middle for easy access and visual of all rooms. Unfortunately for Will, Jay's room was on in the middle of the loop. The Doctor, whom Will had met before was busy typing up notes while the nurse was getting meds out of the Pyxis machine. He took his moment, moving quickly, he let out a sigh of relief that neither of them had noticed and that they other doctors and nurses had stayed in the rooms they were currently in.
He reached Jay's room, quickly checking to make sure that the coast was clear, to his surprise the room was empty; they must have known Adam was a liar about police protection. Will slid the door closed behind him carefully before sitting in the geriatric chair beside Jay's bed. He had to admit all this sneaking around was exhausting, and perhaps his meds were kicking into effect, but he needed to be here.
"Hey Jay, I came to sit with you for a while," He reclined the chair back, it was right beside Jay's bed so right there he needed it to be.
"You better wake up soon, you promised me you wouldn't do anything stupid like this again." He yawned. "Still just you and I Jay, we need each other," he reminded him. He looked at Jay who looked beaten to hell, he was sure he looked the same way but at least he was awake. It scared him, he was a doctor and had seen bad cases before, this could have been so much worse. He reached out and held his brother's hand, just to be a little closer to him. He had meant to stay only a little while but again the exhaustion of the trip and recovery took their toll and before he could catch himself, he was asleep.
He woke up in the chair, the sunlight streaming though the window in the room. He wasn't sure who had done it, but he was now covered with a blanket and a pillow rest behind his head. He looked over and Jay still lay asleep. He was quite surprised that no one had woken him up to yell at him or bring him back down, though he was sure that would happen at some point.
"Ah, he's awake," Will looked to the doorway as Hailey and Adam walked in, coffees in hand.
"Good morning sleeping beauty," Adam teased, "you're in a world of trouble."
"I figured," he responded, wiping away the crust that had formed in the corner of his eye.
"That nurse Carla is not please but Dr. Rhodes seemed to calm her down, though he wasn't to pleased getting a page that one of his patients was MIA." Hailey slid into the chair by the door.
"Sitting down there was driving me crazy, I have no regrets," he joked.
"You won't be saying that once Carla comes back, she was nice enough though to give you those," Adam motioned towards the blanket and pillow.
"I was wondering, well dead man walking or not I wanted to see Jay."
"It's understandable, this has been one hell of a week," Hailey said sadly.
"An understatement, how was closing the case."
"Well from the men that survived our raid, they are going away for a long time," Adam assured him.
"I just don't understand, I mean I'm glad they kept Jay alive but why?"
"The man known as 'the mirage' hates cops, wanted to torture one."
"If he wasn't dead, I'd kill him myself," Will confessed with pure hatred.
"What they did to both of you, it was terrible, a true nightmare." Hailey looked longingly over at Jay; she, much like the rest of the team wanted Jay back.
"I keep catching bits and pieces here and there, it was bad."
"Well you're safe now, we got your back."
"Thanks, I appreciate you guys."
"Well appreciate this, I'd fake sleeping because here comes Carla," Adam warned.
Sounds were muffled but he knew that voice, there was no doubt it was Will, It was too garbled to make anything out but it was followed but the other familiar voices of his partner Hailey and Adam. He tried to force himself awake but he felt trapped in his body, he felt like he was in a night terror where he was paralyzed and couldn't move anything. Another booming voice filled the room, he heard the person say something about dangerous before being cut off by Will. It lasted a few minutes and then his brother's and the booming second voice were gone; leaving only Hailey and Adam. He wished he could move something, his arm, his hand, even a finger but everything was weighed down. He didn't know what was happening or where he was but it scared him. Fear was in his vocabulary but there were only a few times he had shown it, mostly it was internally, since he was young he always had to be the strong one, for Will, for his mother. He finally gave up trying to open his eyes, it drained him almost instantly and there he was again drifting off, the voices of Hailey and Adam becoming more distant as he drifted farther out.