Dad. One word. Millions of feelings. Voight hadn't been called like that in ages, since his real son's death. He felt like he was stabbed in the heart with the sharpest knife of the world. His detective was so vulnerable at the moment; he couldn't keep his feelings inside.
"I am going to be here, don't worry, son."
Jay smiled. He turned his head towards the window looking at the light blue color of the sky.
"What time is it?" He asked curiously.
"6:30 in the morning." The older man replied taking a peek at the watch on his hand.
"Is Will alright?"
"You already asked that I think you should go back to sleep, young man."
He made a successful effort and sat up a little groaning at the pain radiating from his side. "You know I didn't mean it in this way. Is he really okay? I feel like I let him down, I screwed up, Sarge."
"No time to talk about that okay?"
"No.,. It's the right time to start a conversation about that, we may not have another chance."
Voight sighed. Deep inside him, he prayed that his "son" would last and recover, he was hurt to hear talk like that.
"You were right. Back at the scene when you yelled at me. You were right. I shouldn't have disobeyed your orders, I was blinded, I guess, I was not thinking straight. I wanna quit, Voight. I can't put my team at risk... Ever again. I can't have my brother struggling with his emotions, not again. If I survive this, I wanna leave from Intelligence."
His words hurt more than his injuries. He loved the unit, of course, he didn't want to go away, however, he felt like he didn't have a choice. It was either him or the happiness of his beloved ones.
"Kid, there are tons of times that we do things we are not proud of. But we don't give up. Not on ourselves, not on our friends. You are a hell of a cop, Halstead. You can't ruin your career and your life for a moment of weakness. Remember when Lindsay saved you from Keyes? You had told me exactly the same words, in this exact same room."
"You have to protect the ones you love the most. You know, I called her. Earlier. She didn't pick it up though."
Another sigh from the boss was echoed in the room.
"Move on, Jay. She won't return."
He nodded. Deep inside him, he knew it, he was aware of the fact that his favorite girl had abandoned him forever but how could he admit it to himself? He closed his eyes sucking all the air from the oxygen cannula that was placed underneath his nose. Voight was standing on the top of him as his eyelids slashed open.
"We will get through this situation, together. I'll be with you until the end."
Kissing his forehead, the older man moved to the radiator which was located under the window and stood there for a while, thinking. He was not sure if the whole story would have a successful conclusion but he would fight in his own way.
The bright light of the sky was turned into a dark monster full of clouds indicating the rain that was soon coming. The hours passed quickly with no clues in the two offenders, it's like the two people had disappeared from this world. For Will, those hours were a pleasure as Rhodes released him earlier and permitted him to join his brother in the ICU. The pathway to the room was the longest he'd ever face; the elevator rides even longer. To his surprise, Jay was sleeping peacefully despite of the fact that he couldn't stand being at a hospital especially at Med. The red color on his cheeks had returned, giving hopes to the doctor. If the poison had killed his brother, he'd probably be dead too. Getting settled on the couch, he covered his body with the blue hospital blanket and looked at Jay for a minute. "You are safe with me, brother, you are."
"Maybe he's safe with you, but what about me?" A male voice spoke.
The metal barrel of the gun pressing against the injured man's head terrified Will. He stood up with his hands upon the air in surrender ready to take a few steps and move closer to Jay.
"One more step and he's gone."
Jay's blue panicked eyes were filled with tears by the time the man pushed the gun in his head more causing him a terrible headache.
"How did you get in?"
"We are smart, doc, did you really think we wouldn't find a way?"
"We? Who are you? What do you want from Jay?"
"Nothing in particular. It's just pay back."
"Payback?"
"Let's say he killed one of my brothers. Right detective, remember?" Jay's mouth was covered with a cloth so he wasn't about to talk.
"There is security outside."
"Distract them with a text and you have everything ready. So, doc, you have two options. Either you give us your handsome brother or we kill your precious young girlfriend… What was her name? Oh, Natalie Manning. Right."
He felt his head boiling. The stream could come out of his ears anytime. He wanted to run and throw the gun out of the criminal, the adrenaline had kicked in his body, however, he was too afraid to act.
"Let him go." He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Oh so you choose him instead. Cool. Jason, kill the girl." A man agreed over the radio.
"No, no…" Before another word escape his mouth everything went slow motion.
Despite the pain his brother was into, he grabbed the gun of the offender's hand and pointed at his face. The man punched him in the face and stomach causing him to flinch and drop the weapon on the floor.
"You're gonna die now little punk."
A shot, then another one. Will literally fell on the man causing him to stumble and fall on the ground before he shot. Blood, not his blood though. Both the doctor and the man were on the ground the first one heavily breathing.
"Will, Will?" Someone yelled. His vision was too blurry to figure out who was talking. "' Will."
He gasped. He looked at the woman in front of him having sitting up without realizing it.
"I am alright, I am alright."
His legs buckled as he was about to stand up.
"You sure?" April asked.
"Fine." He didn't have to say another word, he just turned his eyes slowly to the bed only to see the youngest member of his family, gasping for air and struggling to walk away from the pain that consumed his upper body. "Jay." Pushing a nurse, a little further from his brother, Will hold Jay's shoulders pinning him down so the rest of the medical staff could inject drugs in his IV line. "You are okay, you are okay." He kept whispering until he felt the injured man's hand going limp. "Don't worry. I'll protect you." It took only a minute to leave his side after having him kissed in the forehead.
He didn't notice the Intelligence members bursting into the room and arresting the man who tried to murder them, he didn't figure out that they had left until Antonio stood in front of him.
"What happened Will?"
The words wouldn't come out no matter how hard he's tried. The room was quiet now, only the two of them were inside staring at Jay who was still under the influence of the sedatives. The black-haired hair man's face wouldn't be erased from his mind so easily, his words would hunt him for the rest of his life.
"You have to talk to me. Come on Will, otherwise, we are unable to help you and Jay."
His hands were shaking as he took a sip from the glass of water, April handed him earlier. "He… made choose. The son of the bitch… He told me to choose between Jay and Nat. I attacked him… He would kill my brother. He would…" Short breaths were formatted inside his lungs coming out as small gasps.
"Hey, hey relax. We are gonna get through this. All of us."
Their small conversation was interrupted by quick steps approaching.
"Sarge, Dr. Rhodes." Dawson stood up greeting.
"We are leaving here."
Will looked at him, curiosity was written all over his face.
"We are moving to the District, it's the safest place in Chicago at the moment.
"We can't leave Jay alone." Will protested.
"We are not leaving him alone; he is coming with us."
Chapter 4 is here! Let's how they are going to deal with Jay being inside the district! Thank you for your reviews, your likes, your follows! Love you, all!
PS. Don't miss One Chicago crossover next Wednesday! 3