Sorry for such a late update, school has been horrible for the last few weeks, midterms and essays and all. Thankfully, it's February break for me soooo, that mean time to write. Anyway, here is the part two, that most people agreed was needed.
As soon as the ambulance came to a stop the paramedics worked quickly to unload Jay's stretcher. Will held Jay's hand as his face grimaced with pain because of the jolt of the unfolding stretcher. Jay's eyes wandered around after he had regained most of his consciousness back in the ambulance. With each pained breath, the oxygen mask on his face fogged up.
Will looked down at his brother and his lips pursed into a line, hurt by the pained expression on his little brother's face. They rolled Jay into an empty room and immediately Rhodes and handful of nurses ran in.
"On my count, 1-2-3" the nurses carefully and efficiently moved Jay onto the hospital bed, but it was enough to elicit a pained moan from Jay.
"Wi-ll" Jay managed to choke out. He struggled to breathe because of the immense pain he felt all over his chest.
Will looked down, his brother's eyes welling with tears, who was trying to pull off his oxygen mask. The hand that was not in Will's hand fumbled it's way up to try and pull it down, before being stopped by Rhodes.
"Hey buddy, I know it's uncomfortable and you want to talk, but your body needs oxygen right now. Keep it on for me will you Jay" Rhodes offered in the most calming tone in order to keep his patient from panicking.
It was unusual to see a Halstead like this, both brothers rarely showed themselves feeling vulnerable or in pain. Rhodes worked quickly, asking for the nurses to start a morphine drip and page an OR.
"Will, you know can't be in here" Rhodes said, not hesitating to call a nurse over and have him out of the room.
"No, no, I can't leave, I have to be here for him!" Will shouted, trying to push past the nurses blocking him from his view on Jay.
"Nnn-" Jay moaned. "Wi-ll, hurts, don't, ngh" Jay tried to speak, suddenly panicking at the sight of his brother being taken away from him. As if triggering an alarm, Jay lashed out, almost fully sitting up in the process. His face was panicked, eyes wide and wandering over all the equipment and people in the room.
The blaring alarms caught everyone off guard and the nurses holding Will let go of him to turn around and see what was happening. Rhodes immediately tried to get Jay to lie back down but it only made things worse. Jay flinched violently, knocking his chest tube skillfully put in by the paramedics.
The horrifying gurgling sound reached Will's ears, the same he heard back at the site. The instant the chest tube had been knocked out of place, his airway was filled with blood. Choking, the nurses were too late and the oxygen mask on Jay's face splattered with blood.
Will stood there shocked as everything seemed to run in slow motion again. He faintly heard Rhodes yell damnit, something about respiratory distress, and a shout for an endotracheal tube. He watched as the nurses who were once holding him ran over to help with the now leaking hole in his brother's chest. They had tipped his baby brother's chin back towards the ceiling and held his mouth open with a laryngoscope, soon enough a tube was now sticking out of his mouth.
As soon as they got the tube in, Rhodes had climbed onto the stretcher and pressed hard onto Jay's chest. Will felt himself being pushed out of the doorway, but he couldn't move.
Will's eyes never left his brother even as they hurriedly rushed him up the OR. Strong hands wrapped around him. He quickly turned around to get those hands off him.
Dr. Charles met face to face with Will and told him to sit down. Will turned and walked away, or at least attempted to before collapsing against the wall.
"Woah woah, let's get some help here." Dr. Charles said.
Will quietly sobbed, his shoulders shaking with every shaky breath. He was about to rub his eyes when he noticed they were still covered in Jay's blood. Seeing this, Dr. Charles put a comforting hand on Will's shoulder.
A wheelchair had found its place next to them and Will stood up abruptly, being a typical Halstead he refused and beelined for the bathroom. He felt Dr. Charles follow him until he disappeared into the Men's restroom.
Will stood in front of the mirror, his white shirt now stained with blood from two people. He turned the faucet on with the back of his hand, which had slightly less blood on it. Will scrubbed his fingers and palms with soap until he was sure they were going to be raw. The blood went down the drain quickly but the sight of them covered in blood never did.
It's pretty funny, as a doctor you would think that the sight of blood is something you get used to. At least that's what Will thought up until now, now he knew it was always different when it came to family. He looked down at his hands now pink, from his vicious scrubbing. Will splashed water on his face too, today was going to be a long night. He attempted to wipe some of the blood off his white shirt which reminded him again of what this day was supposed to be. His eyes rimmed with redness as he remembered the sight he left Natalie in again, and slapped the sink in anger.
Furiously, Will stormed out of the bathroom and headed straight to the staff lounge in order to change out of his bloody clothes. Dr. Charles followed him silently until Will turned around saying, "Stop it, I'm fine, and I don't want to talk about it."
"Will, you have just been through a traumatic experience with your brother and I am worried about you. Will, I need you to know that we are here for you and if you're willing, there will be someone to talk with you."
"No, no, don't just no.' Will was not going to get this emotional talk that Dr. Charles had with patients and relatives of patients. He couldn't deal with that now, and with that he turned around not hesitating to get out of his clothes.
As soon as he was changed into his spare hoodie and a pair of jeans, Will sunk down into couch. This couch seemed to be his friend now, he found himself sitting here more and more often these days. Everytime Jay was brought here, sick, hurt, tortured he sat here face buried in his hands.
Will needed Natalie right now. He was tired, horribly shocked, and a nervous emotional wreck with a fury of anger that was on the verge of being released. Will wanted to call Natalie somehow until he realised he lost his phone somewhere along the way. He couldn't remember where.
Just then, Agent Lee showed up with two officers next to her.
"I'm really sorry Doctor Halstead, but you do know that you have to come with us? At least for a little while. We've heard news that Officer Halstead is in surgery, but the doctors in charge seemed confident he was going to pull through. We need to go, Doctor Halstead." Agent Lee remarked with an unchanging face.
"What do you mean, I can't leave my brother here who's just been shot. You can't do that to me, what if I refuse protection, what will you do." Will huffed, and stood up abruptly trying to get away from them.
"I'm sorry Doctor Halstead, but it's a necessary precaution that we have to take in order for your safety."
"NO, I SAID NO!" and with that Will Halstead barged between the two officers out of the staff lounge.
"WHAT is going on here?" Natalie who was still in her wedding dress appeared out of nowhere.
"How dare you, my HUSBAND here has almost lost his brother on his WEDDING DAY and you have the audacity to ask him to leave his brother and wife for an unknown period of time." Natalie yelled, tears streaming down her eyes.
"Natalie, wh-" Will said taken aback at the fact that Natalie was here and even had the courage to look at him.
"You listen to me and get out of here. PLEASE." Natalie screamed again.
"But, Ma'am we have-" Agent Lee started but was cut off by Natalie.
"No, leave. Leave now. Please." Natalie begged in a more calmed down voice. She pointed a finger in the direction of the ER doors. Acknowledging her defeat, Agent Lee bowed her head and motioned for her officers to follow her.
Natalie turned to face Will and at first she had tears streaming down her face, her makeup that was preciously kept while waiting for Will ruined. She still looked beautiful though, a teary mess that was able to tell the officers off.
"Natalie, I-I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Natalie." Will choked out between sobs. He walked towards Natalie and tried to hug her, she resisted, angry that Will had left her alone but the days events was catching up to her and it felt nice.
"I'm so sorry" was all Will could mutter as he leaned towards Natalie pressing his face into her hair. Suddenly, Natalie pushed him away lightly punching him the shoulder.
"Don't ever do that to me again." Natalie muttered through her gritted teeth. She wiped her tears away and willed herself to calm down. She walked into the staff lounge and Will followed her inside.
Soon Maggie, who had also left the wedding after hurriedly apologizing to all the guests ran in to help Natalie get out of her wedding dress, carefully guarding her so that no one could see. The only pair of clothes she had was an extra pair of scrubs so Natalie slipped those on.
As soon as she did, Maggie left the room, feeling the tension between the couple.
"Natalie, I'm so sorry for everything. I'm so sorry." Will tried to apologize, knowing what he'd done was close to unforgivable.
"Sorry for what Will? Lying to your fiancé for the least few weeks? Or is it for not coming to the wedding? Will, I don't know if I can trust you anymore." Natalie argued.
"I-" Will started but was cut off by Natalie asking, "How's Jay?", not wanting to hear an explanation from him yet.
"I don't, I don't know yet. He got shot and I stood there doing nothing." Will sighed.
"He was fine till he pulled his chest tube out accidentally and then he started choking on his own blood and there was still the bullet inside of him. I just, I just don't know yet."
Natalie furrowed her brow worried for her brother -in - law. She knew Jay was part of this secret and that made her a slight bit angry, but she couldn't hate him right now. They sat in a silence after that for a pretty long time, not knowing what else to say. Natalie was still pretty angry but calm, and Will knew it was better to not say anything.
They sat like that until and nurse came in telling that Jay's surgery was a success and that he was now being moved into a room. Natalie and Will stood up and quickly headed for the hallway. On the way they saw Jay being rolled out of the OR, he was still intubated, probably to help his stressed lungs.
As soon as they locked the bed in place, Will brought two chairs next to Jay's bed. Will and Natalie sat down sighing at the tubes sticking out of their their brother/brother in laws body. Two flesh colored sticky pads were on Jay's cheeks, holding the tube in place. An IV filled with a mix of antibiotics and fluids snaked its way down towards the back of Jay's hand. Will carefully tucked the blue blanket underneath his brother's arms, especially cautious around the chest tube. In no way was Will gonna have to watch another displaced chest tube. He rubbed circles on his brother's shoulder, trying to get him to maybe open his eyes.
Natalie also held Jay's hand, alarmed at his cold fingertips and tried to warm them up. She looked up at her brother in laws face and noticed that he looked the most peaceful out of the past few weeks. She looked up Will, worried about he looked like he was the one who had been shot. His eyes were sunken and his forehead was creased in places she never noticed. She wanted to say sorry for yelling at him before, but the thought of what happened today made her hesitate. She was about to say something when she felt a twitch beneath her fingers.
"Hey, I think Jay's waking up." Natalie exclaimed.
Will got up and leaned forward trying to get some kind of response from Jay. He ruffled his fingers through Jay's hair massaging his head like he did everytime he was lying in a hospital bed.
A moan escape from Jay's lips as if he were trying to talk. That was when Jay noticed the tube sticking out of his mouth. He immediately gagged at the intrusive piece of plastic, his heart rate spiking in the process.
"Woah woah, calm down Jay, calm down. Let the tube breathe for you, your lungs need their rest ok?" Will said, eyeing the monitor.
Natalie quickly paged a doctor and immediately Rhodes rushed in. Jay was trying to calm down, occasionally gagging, but for the most part was ok. It took effort to try and ignore the tube in his throat and it wasn't long before Jay felt a tear roll down his cheek.
"We wanted to keep the tube in just as a precaution, in case that your lung would collapse again but seeing you struggling so much I think we can extubate you." Rhodes explained.
"Ok, I'll help." Will barged in. Rhodes shook his head.
" Oh come on, it's just an extubation, it's not like I'm performing an eight hour surgery on my brother, please just let me help this time, at least with this." Will argued.
Rhodes huffed a fine and soon dragged a cart over. Will carefully peeled the sticky pads off Jay's face, while Jay looked up at him with thankful eyes. Rhodes then deflated the balloon at the end of the tube keeping it in place.
"Okay, we're all set to take it out. On the count of three I want you to cough as hard as you can." Rhodes said following procedure. Jay nodded showing that he understood. Natalie stood next to them holding a cup of water. Will held a suction tool ready to clean Jay's airway that would be covered in thick mucus.
"One, two, three-" Rhodes said. Jay coughed as hard as he can and was mildly disgusted by the long tube covered in slime. His throat was itchy and felt disgusting. Then Will stuck that suction tool thingy which was like one of those things dentists used. Jay felt relieved when he felt most of the icky feeling go away.
Natalie guided the cup with a white straw towards Jay. He sipped it hurriedly, feeling as the cold water hit the back of his throat. It felt refreshing, but after a few too many sips he felt nauseous so he pushed the cup away.
Before he could even speak, Rhodes had placed an oxygen mask on Jay.
"Aw why," Jay whined like a baby. It felt uncomfortable, the thin plastic that went over his nose and mouth making him feel a slight bit claustrophobic.
"Hey, stop whining Jay, you better not take it off or I'm going to-" Will started.
"Uh fine" Jay muttered. That was when he noticed Natalie next to him which reminded him of the past events of the day, he asked "wait, why-are you-still here-Will?" Jay paused to take a quick breath between each word and looked back and forth between Will and Natalie who looked quite annoyed at that question.
"Agent Lee came by trying to take him away, I mean seriously they really thought they could try." Natalie answered instead.
"But-" Jay was about to say how it was dangerous for him to be here but was stopped when Rhodes carefully peeled back his gown, revealing his bandage and chest tube. Jay looked down shocked at the tube sticking out of his chest.
"Damn, what- happened-" Jay asked. He tried to touch it but was immediately stopped by his older brother.
"Woah, woah, stop that little brother, last time you did that and you started choking on your own blood." Will said still shake up by what happened just a few hours ago.
With that Jay put his hand back down and was silent not wanting and further details. Rhodes put a stethoscope to Jay's chest area and listened to his breaths. Satisfied, Rhodes pulled his stethoscope out of his ears and hung it around his neck. He placed a gloved hand on Jay's chest and gently tapped his hand with his other finger. Rhodes did this as gently as he could around Jay's chest tube and bullet hole but still Jay couldn't help but let out a mini yelp. Rhodes took his hands off mindful of his patient.
"I-I'm okay, it's just- a little sore," Jay breathed out.
"Well, your lungs sound fine for now, chest cavity sounds clear, but I think we should keep the chest tube in for at least the night. I know that's not what you want but just for the night and then we'll talk about your speedy recovery, all right? Get some rest bud." Rhodes gave a good pat on Jay's shoulder and waved off, his patient needed a good night's rest.
Will and Jay both said their thanks to Connor and relaxed. With every passing second, Jay felt his eyelids become heavier and heavier, he fought it hard though. Jay knew deep down that Will should go to the protection facility even though they arrested Tommy, but he was selfish and wanted Will to stay. Jay was scared that as soon as he'd close his eyes Will would leave.
"Uh- Will." Jay asked.
"Yeah bud?" Will responded, his brother he could tell was getting tired already.
"Hey get your rest bud, you look really tired."
Will brushed a hand through Jay's hair again hoping that it would make him go to sleep. After a day that a Jay Halstead went through, any man would have been so exhausted that they wouldn't wake up for two days.
"But, you won't- you won't leave me, right?" Jay asked cautiously. He felt so embarrassed saying that, what kind of grown man needed his brother through the night? Jay was sure that Will would laugh but instead Will was taken aback.
"Jay! Why do you think I would leave you. For god's sake you just got shot in front of my eyes and you really think I'm gonna leave my baby brother in the hospital by himself. Dang, that bullet really messed you up bud. Of course I'm staying you idiot, and don't worry, even if Agent Lee comes back I'm sure if I have a Natalie next to me, they won't be able to do anything." Will said.
With that, Natalie sighed then smirked, even though he still couldn't forgive Will just yet, seeing him care about his brother made her remember why she loved this man in the first place.
"Anyway get some rest Jay, Connor is right, he's you doctor and he knows best, so get some sleep. I swear I'll be right here." Will said in a comforting voice.
Jay smirked under his oxygen mask, eyes closed. He'd given up trying to keep his eyes open but left his ears on. After hearing what Will said, Jay's heart was at ease and he felt himself falling asleep.
After seeing that Jay had fallen asleep, Will turned to Natalie who was still sitting next to him.
"I'm really sorry Natalie, I understand if you don't forgive me for the even for the next few years, but I just wanted to say thanks."
Will grabbed Natalie's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. With a sigh, Natalie put her other hand on top of Will's.
"I know you weren't supposed to tell me Will, but I just, this isn't going to work if you don't tell me these things. I'm trying to understand your situation right now and it's really hard. Please just tell me that you'll be honest okay?"
Will didn't know what to say, no he knew what to say but just not how. With everything that happened today Will really wanted to cry, having you wedding plans ruined and seeing your brother gurgling on his own blood was traumatizing. Will was so grateful however for the woman that was still sat next to him. Without knowing what to do except for this he pulled Natalie close to him and and muttered "I'll try, no I will be honest, I love you."
Natalie felt tears slowly rolling down her left cheek and nodded she leaned towards Will shoulder. She felt him kiss her on the forehead and wiped her tears away.
Will used other hand, the one not wrapped around Natalie and held Jay's hand. It was surprisingly warm and with his relaxed brother's face Will knew everything was going to be okay.
With Natalie and Jay around, Will was sure that nothing could knock him down for the rest of his life.
Well that was a very bad ending and a very bad part two in general, but if you managed to get this far Thanks for reading!! I'm so sorry for all the grammar mistakes and all over the place storyline. I really don't realize that this would be so complicated to write. Anyway, if any of you are disappointed that this turned out to be a more Will emotional whump sort I am very sorry. Again thanks for reading and sorry for all the mistakes hehe, (I wrote this on my phone in my car while going to a ski resort).
Ps. I think I'm going to change it up a bit and make Will the more seriously injured character with loads of Jay emotional whump. Don't worry though, I assure you that there will be enough whump for Jay. This is as from a suggestion so please don't hate if that is not what you want. Thanks and also prompts are always welcome.