Chapter 19 – Peachy
Author Note: The below section's idea came from and partly written by LottyCharl
"Where is he?" Lexi half shouted at Kelly charging in to the emergency department of Chicago Med and seeing him leaning on the reception desk next to Gabby and Brett who were completing paperwork.
"He's in surgery." Kelly said calmly.
"What happened?" Lexi asked looking from Kelly to Dawson.
"Lexi sit down" Kelly told her, he knew she was close to another panic attack.
Gabby led Lexi to an empty chair and sat beside her holding her hand. Voight watched Gabby speak softly to Lexi, calming her down. "Was there a second car involved?" Voight asked Kelly.
Kelly shook his head "No, a truck ran him off the road, he hit a street light. Driver of the truck left the scene. Witnesses were saying it looked like the truck hit him on purpose."
Voight pulled his phone from his pocket and rang the team, sending them to the scene.
"Did Kelly just say he was hit by a truck?" Lexi asked looking at Voight not wanting to believe her own ears.
"Yeah, I've sent the guys to the scene to see what they can find out." Voight assured her.
"That means its bad. He got hit by a truck now he's in surgery. That can't be good." Lexi said, placing her head in her hands.
"Why would someone run him off the road?" Kelly asked
"It has to be Calvin" Lexi told him, she looked up at Voight "If he's been watching me, he must know Kelly and I broke up. Calvin knows I'm with Jay so he's targeting him now"
"Does it sound like something Calvin would've done?" Voight asked.
"Yeah, he wasn't the strongest guy. Didn't like fist fights or confrontation, so vehicular manslaughter definitely sounds up his alley." Lexi said standing up, she couldn't sit still but didn't know what else to do.
"It's not manslaughter" Voight told her "Jay will be fine"
"We need to get back" Gabby told them. Lexi hugged Gabby and Brett thanking them for helping Jay. "Let us know when you hear anything?" Gabby asked.
"Definitely" Lexi confirmed coming out of her hug with Brett. Lexi looked at Kelly stood a few feet away watching her, waiting to see if she would thank him. "Thank you" she said but didn't approach to hug him.
Kelly looked a little hurt but didn't comment. "I hope he's okay" he told her before walking away.
"I need to tell Will" Lexi said turning to Voight.
Author Note: The below section's idea came from and partly written by LottyCharl
Hank and Lexi sat in the waiting room out of the way of the emergency department. "Lexi" Will said entering the hospital behind her. Lexi stood and hugged Will as he approached her. "How is he?"
"We haven't heard anything yet" Lexi explained.
"I'm gonna go find out" Will said striding past her.
"Will I'm sorry" Lexi called after him as the automatic doors closed behind him.
She sat back in the seat she had been sat in and ran her hands through her hair. "This is not your fault" Voight told her as she sat beside him. "Don't blame yourself."
"That's pretty hard when everything that goes wrong is my fault."
"That's not true."
"Sure." Lexi said sarcastically.
"Give me a sec." Voight said, pulling his ringing phone from his pocket and walking away from Lexi to take the call privately.
"Sarge, I think we've got something." Ruzek said as soon as Voight picked up. "We followed the truck back to where it came from using pod footage and found a clip of the driver getting in. The witnesses have said its intentional so we're thinking it could be Poe. It's gonna take a while for facial recognition to come back so we figured Lexi could take a look at the footage?" He said.
"Send it to me, I'll show her." Voight stated before hanging up.
"Have they found something?" Lexi asked as soon as he walked back to her.
"They've got CCTV footage of the driver getting into the truck." Voight said loading up the video Ruzek had sent him and giving her the phone.
"I think that's Calvin." She said after watching it twice through and pausing it on his face. The video showed the driver looking directly at camera before getting in to the cab of the truck.
"You think?" Voight questioned.
"He looks... different to how I remember." Lexi said. "His face is a little fatter and his jaw is a different shape."
"You broke his jaw remember?"
Lexi paused for a second, staring at the picture, mentally reconstructing his jaw. "That's him. That's Calvin."
"Okay, we can work with that. We can trace the truck, it's a removals truck, maybe he works for the company" Voight said getting back on his phone.
Lexi sat in the hospital room watching Jay sleeping. He had had surgery to reset his broken arm. The Nurses had taken him to a private room where Lexi and Will had sat at his side for the last two hours, Jay had woken for a few minutes but was disorientated and in pain, so he had been sedated.
Lexi heard the door open and looked up to see Will returning carrying two cups of coffee, he used his foot to close the door. "We have two stern looking guards outside" Will told her handing her a cup. Voight had demanded Lexi and Jay have 24-hour guard duty. "Is it really necessary?"
Lexi smiled her thanks as she took the cup "I wish it wasn't" Will took a seat next to Lexi. "Although I think if I left, he'd be safe"
"Are you kidding me? He'd never let you leave him" Will chuckled "I've never seen him so happy. All he spoke about at dinner was you." Will laughed looking lovingly at his younger brother. "Did you two not talk?"
Lexi shook her head "I haven't seen him since before he came to meet you"
"He was coming to talk to you Lex. He told me what happened, we talked it out and I think he was coming to work it out with you. Tell you he loves you"
"That seems to be the deciding factor in getting hurt nowadays" Lexi sighed sipping the awful coffee.
"Lexi, I can't begin to understand what you're going through, what you've been going through the past few weeks, but I do know I'm grateful you're in Jay's life. I know you played a big part in him getting help for his PTSD, you may be the only reason."
Lexi wiped the tears that fell. She knew Will was trying to make her feel better, but she didn't deserve it. Lexi growled audibly, she was sick of crying, tired of being sad, worn-out of feeling like her world was falling apart. She looked at the ceiling and blinked back tears. "I swear ever since I lost Shay, I feel like I've stepped in to some parallel dimension, everything's wrong somehow, the only thing that makes sense to me is him. I don't know what I'd do without him"
Will put his hand on her shoulder and squeeze reassuringly. "You won't have to find out, he's right here, he's going to be fine"
Lexi woke up in the hospital chair a few hours later, her neck ached and her back cracked audibly as she sat up straight. Will was asleep in the chair beside her. Jay looked peaceful, bruised but peaceful, his left arm was in a cast and resting on his chest, his left eye and cheek were bruised, he had small cuts on the left side of his face from shards of glass, she stood and kissed his head lightly.
She needed to stretch, leaving the room she closed the door quietly and greeted the officers stood at either side of the door. "Hey Williams, Johnson"
"Detective" they said in unison.
Officer Williams began to follow her as she walked away asking "Need an escort?"
"I'm just going to stretch my legs" She told him "stay with Jay please. I'm not going far." Lexi assured them turning left at the end of the corridor. She passed a row of chairs and stopped as she recognised the sleeping occupant.
"Kelly" Lexi called sitting beside him gently nudging him awake. Kelly sat up rubbing his eyes "What are you doing here?" she asked as he yawned.
"Wanted to check in on you. The officers on the door wouldn't let me in. I tried calling you, but your phone went to voicemail"
"oh shit" Lexi said taking her phone from her pocket checking it for any updates from Voight she explained, "I put it on silent earlier, so it didn't wake Jay"
"How is he?"
"He was really lucky. A broken arm, a pretty bad concussion, cuts and bruises. He'll be in the hospital for a few days for observation, but he'll be okay"
Kelly nodded "good, glad to hear it. How're you feeling?"
"Exhausted, scared, angry, guilty" Lexi listed running her hands over her face, resting her elbows on her knees she left her head in her hands.
"So pretty good then" Kelly laughed
Lexi chuckled "Just peachy" Lexi sat forward on her chair and stretched her back straight, put her arms above her head. "Hospital chairs were not made for sleeping in" She groaned
Kelly put his hands on her shoulders and began to massage the tension out of her neck and shoulders, reaching for her, touching her was a habit. Lexi shot to her feet and spun around to face him.
"Sorry" Kelly told her holding his hands up surrendering, the smile on his face told her he wasn't sorry at all, he liked that he made her nervous.
"I should get back, before the officers send out a search party"
"I need to say something first" Kelly began reaching for her hand. "I've been thinking about what you said about you being the reason for Shay's death." Lexi allowed him to take her hand and lead her back to sit in the chair beside him.
"Okay" Lexi held her breath she didn't like where he was going with this, was he going to agree with her and blame her? Tell her she should have been the one to die again? She wasn't sure she could deal with hearing that.
"If you had told Shay going in to that building that she would get hurt, or worse. She still would have gone in there. It's who she was, someone needed help, nothing would have stopped her." Kelly smiled sweetly "That was Shay through and through, she helped people"
"Thanks Kelly" Lexi smiled, happy tears filled her eyes. Kelly was right, Shay wouldn't let anything stop her if someone needed help, it wasn't only her job, it was her passion. "I needed that. I've been so focused on the fact that she's gone, I forgot who she was"
They both sat in contemplative silence for a minute, remembering Shay, who she was, how she helped people, how stubborn she could be. "I really should get back before a SWAT team bursts in here" Lexi said standing up again
"Yeah of course" Kelly said standing as well.
Lexi hugged him quickly then pulled away. "Thank you for coming" Lexi told him walking back towards Jay's room.
"Lex" Kelly called after her. She stopped walking and turned to face him smiling, he walked to stand in front of her, he didn't want to shout across the hospital. "Can we be friends?"
"We can try, I guess" she told him "but we never were friends, we've never been just friends, Kelly"
"I know that" he sighed "but I can't just cut you out of my life."
Lexi nodded she understood what he meant. They had been together for six years, it wasn't easy to just cease all communication, to not be in each other's lives. "Like I said, we can try" she stated continuing to walk away.
Jay woke up in his hospital bed looking up at bright florescent lights. He groaned a little and tried to lift his arm to wipe it over his face and noticed the white cast he now wore. "Hey, hey" Lexi said appearing at his side taking his good hand in hers. "Welcome back"
"Hey" Jay smiled up at her.
Lexi's emotions took over and her eyes filled with relieved tears as she kissed an unbruised spot on his head. "What do you remember?"
"I went to dinner with Will, then I was driving home, I was coming to talk to you. Then I was wiped out by a truck. Then it's all a bit blurry, not sure what was real and what I dreamt."
The door opened, and Will entered in his hospital scrubs. "Hey look who finally decided to wake up" Will smiled seeing Jay.
"Hey bro" Jay smiled at him.
"You had us worried there for a second" Will chastised standing beside his bed "How're you feeling?"
"Like I was hit by a truck" Jay's attempted humour didn't earn a smile from anyone, they were too tense, still worried about him. "Can I sit up in this thing?" Jay asked, Will pushed the button to make Jay's bed sit him upright. "Okay give it to me. What's the damage?"
"Pretty severe concussion, broken arm" Will listed "You'll be stuck in here for a few days"
Jay groaned "Great"
"It's not that bad" Will said "I'll assign all the hot nurses to you, just think of all the sponge baths"
"Hey" Lexi laughed looking at Will "I will shoot you!"
Jay and Will both laughed at her before Will began explaining the precautions Jay needed to take with regards to his concussion.
Lexi realised she may not have had the right to be jealous. She let go of Jay's hand and backed in to the chair she had been sat in most of the night.
"I've got to do my rounds" Will announced backing towards the door. "But I'll check in on you later"
The echo of the door closing filled the room. Lexi stared down at her feet, unable to meet Jay's eyes that she knew were examining her. They hadn't spoken since her revelation of her second kiss with Kelly. She didn't know the status of their relationship. Will had told her Jay had been on the way to talk to her when he had been hit by the truck, to tell her he loved her but that didn't mean he wasn't breaking up with her. He might have wanted to tell her he loved her but couldn't be with her.
Maybe it would be better if they weren't together, maybe Jay would be safe from Calvin if she put some distance between them.
Lexi couldn't take the tension in the room, she had to break the silence. "Will was here all night." she told Jay standing up and walking to the rooms only window and looking out "I don't know how he's still functioning after being in these chairs all night"
"Lexi, we need…" Jay began stopping mid-sentence as he heard the door open. They both turned to see the Intelligence Team pile in lead by Ruzek.
"I saw the state of your car" Adam told Jay and the rest of the intelligence team who had gathered around Jay's bed, Lexi stayed by the window listening to the conversation. "I don't know how you walked away let alone with just a broken arm"
"Let's be thankful that's all it was" Atwater said bumping fists with Jay.
"Where are we at with it all?" Jay asked looking to Voight. "What do we know?"
"We know it was Poe" Burgess began to explain "We have CCTV of him getting in the truck, he made no attempt to hide his face. He's been working at the removals company for about a month but gave a fake name and address. We're interviewing all the employee's see if he told anyone anything we can use."
"So, you're saying he's spent a month moving people in and out of properties all over Chicago" Lexi spoke from her position by the window, the team turned to look at her. "So, he knows all the empty places, he could have a hundred hiding places."
"Someone at that place will know something" Dawson assured her "even if they don't realise it."
"It's a needle in…" Jay began then shook his head like he was confused and trying to gather his thoughts.
"Jay?" Lexi questioned walking to him noticing how pale he had become. Before she could reach him, Jay's head dropped to the side and his eyes closed like he had passed out, the machines he was connected to began blaring a warning signal to the hospital staff. "Jay" Lexi coaxed reaching him "Jay, talk to me, Jay please?" Lexi pleaded as hospital staff burst in to the room.
"We need everyone out now" a nurse told them.
"Lexi let them do their job" Adam guided her out of the room as the nurses and doctors began to work on Jay.
A few minutes after closing the door the nurses and doctors had rushed out pushing Jay in his bed, no one hung back to explain what was happening they were all in too much of a rush. Lexi had watched them go and Adam had pulled her back when she had tried to follow them.
"I'm going to find someone who can tell us what's happening" Olinsky started walking towards the hospitals main reception as Will turned the corner walking at speed towards them.
Everyone stood up and walked towards him at the same time. "He's in emergency surgery" Will explained to them "he has a ruptured spleen. It's common after a car crash and sometimes hard to spot" Will was in full doctor mode he was calm and collected, stating facts, not letting his emotions take over. "The surgeon said it's not too bad, thinks he can repair it rather than having to remove it"
The whole group seemed to heave a sigh of relief at the same time. Will hugged Lexi assuring her "I'll keep you updated as much as I can but it's going to be a few hours"
"Thank you" Lexi told him coming out of the embrace and sitting in the nearest chair suddenly extremely exhausted. The past few days events were taking their toll on her.
"You should get some rest" Will advised her.
"I'll rest when I know Jay's okay"
"I'll see what I can do about getting a cot set up in his room for you" Will suggested knowing she wasn't going to leave the hospital any time soon.
Lexi's phone vibrated in her pocket she stood, holding a hand up to Will asking him to give her a second "Lexi Shay" she answered not recognising the number on the screen.
"Miss Shay, this is Nurse McCain at Chicago Med, we have your name as the emergency contact for Kelly Severide" Lexi's throat tightened her head went light, she put a hand out and grabbed on to Will, gripping his arm. The Intelligence Unit crowded round her instinctively knowing something was wrong. "Mr Severide is in the emergency department of Chicago Med, he's been stabbed"
"I'll be there in a minute" Lexi told the nurse hanging up the phone. "Kelly's in the hospital, he's been stabbed" Lexi told everyone, she stood still for a second trying to make sense of everything, then she took off running through the hospital to the emergency room.