Chapter 17
Hailey woke up the next morning, much earlier than the other two. Well, she hadn't really slept all that much, something in the back of her mind kept her on high alert all night. She was constantly leaning over, checking on Mouse. Jay was fast asleep, lightly snoring away.
Surprisingly Mouse had been quiet all night too, not even a snore or a mumble, nothing. Sleeping soundly. She had even zoned in on his chest a few times to make sure he was still breathing. Hailey was relieved at that but had been expecting the worse.
"Morning", Jay whispered.
"Morning", Hailey replied, looking once again to her right, to find her friend still passed out cold.
"Did you sleep at all, or stay up watching him breathe", Jay accused jokingly.
"Bit of both", Hailey admitted with a low chuckle.
"He's alright. He's always been a heavier sleeper than me, even after the war", Jay replied.
Hailey nodded, still staring at the rise and fall of his chest. Watching for any sudden changes. Maybe she was just being paranoid.
"It's not going to be like last time Hails", Jay whispered softly.
"I know", Hailey nodded herself out of her trance. Saying it out loud to make sure she believed it.
"Go back to sleep okay", Jay coaxed her to cuddle up to him, pulling her away from staring at Mouse.
"Mm-kay", Hailey murmured, already feeling her eyes become heavy, feeling calm and content tucked against Jay's muscular, warm frame.
The three of them snuck in a few extra hours of sleep, ones that they all needed. Jay woke up first, followed by Hailey then Mouse last.
"Mmm", Mouse groaned slightly, Jay and Hailey chuckling, knowing he was feeling every bit of hungover as they were.
"In hindsight, mixing that much wine and whiskey was maybe not one of our best decisions", Hailey mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Perhaps not. We are not 21 anymore", Jay agreed. "But worth it", he added. The other two nodding in agreement.
"Okay which one of us is going to take one for the team and go get some water, coffee and breakfast", Jay asked.
"Don't look at me I'm in the middle of you two", Hailey laughed.
Mouse took a deep breath in, sat up from his horizontal position and immediately laid back down. "Nope."
"I tried my best. This is on you Jay", Mouse replied, Hailey laughing harder now.
"Maybe we should just call Will", Jay suggested, also not feeling that confident in his ability to make it to a vertical position.
Mouse and Hailey snorted at that. Three full blown adults, resorting to calling Will to bring them stuff because they were too hungover to move.
But before Jay could question why they were laughing at him, Hailey had already reached over Jay for her phone, dialing Will.
"Hailey what's up?" Will answered after a few rings.
"Will, you need to come over. It's an emergency", Hailey started. Jay and Mouse were silently laughing, hearing Will become frantic.
"What's wrong? Are you sick? Someone hurt?" Will blurted out a few questions.
Hailey was quiet for a second.
"Hails?" Will asked impatiently and concerned.
"We are so hungover, we might die", she told him. The three of them bursting out in laughter.
"Hailey Anne don't scare me like that. I thought something happened to you guys", Will sighed in relief.
"I know, I know I'm sorry", she replied.
"Take it Mouse's first night back was fun?" Will asked.
"The most. Too bad you had to work. If we rally, we can do it again tonight?" Hailey suggested, Jay and Mouse both giving her dirty looks. They weren't so sure they could rally for later. But then again, stranger things have happened. They had all accepted hangovers were much worse the older they got.
"That sounds like a plan to me", Will's voice echoed through the speaker.
"Alright, I'm on my way. How bad of shape is everyone in? We talking IV fluids or bacon egg and cheese sandwiches?" Will asked.
"No needles", Jay murmured in the background. Mouse thought about the IV for a second, his head was pounding. But ultimately shook his head no.
"Not that bad", Hailey laughed. "I think a greasy breakfast sandwich will do the trick. And coffee. We're all in bed upstairs still."
"Gotcha, be there soon", Will hung up the phone and made his way to the house.
"Hello?" Will shouted as he walked in the house.
"We're up here", Jay yelled back.
"Shhh", Hailey chided him for talking so loudly.
Will couldn't help but laugh what he walked in on.
"The three of you slept in here…Together?" He asked incredulously.
"We were feeling sentimental", Hailey explained.
"I see", Will felt his heart flutter a little. It was cute, after all this time. "It looks like I did miss out on a fun night after all. Saw the damage downstairs."
"Don't remind us", Jay exhaled, trying to gather the will to sit up and eat.
Mouse had made his way to a semi-horizontal position, helping pull Hailey up too. They blinked a few times, before giving Will the thumbs up. He walked over to crack the blinds and window open.
"Smells like whiskey and bad decisions in here", he laughed.
Jay finally joined them too. The smell of fresh coffee and the breakfast sandwiches lured them all awake.
Will went over to give Mouse a hug to welcome him home. Then passed out breakfast and joined them on the bed to eat.
"So, thoughts on a Cubs game tonight?" Will looked at Mouse.
"I could dabble", Mouse replied.
"Give me some time to think about it after this sandwich", Hailey and Jay both grumbled as they inhaled their breakfast.
After some time had passed and no one's stomach rejected the food or coffee, they were ready to get on with their day. It was close to lunch by the time they had rallied, and it was nice just to spend a quiet Saturday morning all together, Will included.
"Alright, everyone I'm getting up, and I am not wearing any clothes. So, do with that information what you may", Jay announced as he went to roll out of bed.
"Jay Halstead!" Hailey laughed, her cheeks reddening.
"What?!" Jay laughed, fully prepared to reveal himself from under the covers.
"Poor Mouse probably didn't realize he was getting a full show last night", Hailey replied.
Jay snorted. "Hails, literally everyone in this room has seen me naked. Many times."
Hailey's eyes went wide, as Jay outed the two of them to Mouse and Will. Who for Hailey's sake, pretended to be surprised at that admission, although it was common knowledge at this point that Hailey and Jay were obviously dating and sleeping together.
"We all played hockey together growing up and we, nodding at Mouse, survived two tours in the desert under the harshest of living conditions. Mouse seeing me naked is truly the least of my concerns", Jay reasoned. Hailey Will and Mouse all shrugged their shoulders at his reasoning.
"Just so you know Hailey I was a perfect gentleman and remained clothed the entire night", Mouse chimed in.
"I know you did Mouse", she laughed.
"Hailey you cannot even begin to comprehend how many naked people I've seen", Will joined the conversation too. That had them all laughing.
"Alright, alright all fair points. In that case, go ahead with your shower. I might just join you", Hailey said cheekily.
"Okay eww I'm leaving", "Yep that's our cue to go Will", Mouse and Will quickly excused themselves, Hailey and Jay having a turn to laugh at them.
Once they had cleaned themselves and the house up for the day, had a late lunch and got some fresh air. The three of them were confident they had conquered their hangovers.
Will had bought them all tickets for the Cubs game later that night, and Mouse was the most excited out of the group to go.
"It's been so long. I've missed Chicago", he explained, as they rode the L train downtown, got out to see the Bean, walk around downtown like they were tourists and hadn't grown up here their entire lives.
"I bet. Me too Mouse, I've loved being back here. New York was fun too, but there's no place like home", Hailey said, locking eyes with Jay as home rolled off her lips. The truth of the matter was Chicago was always where her roots were planted, but it really was wherever Jay was that felt most like where she wanted to be.
Mouse stared out at Lake Michigan in all her glory. "The water too. I thought about it every day when I was over there."
"So did I", Jay added, throwing an arm around his friend.
"Let's go we're going to be late", Will reminded them.
What Hailey, Jay and Mouse didn't know was that Will had arranged a little surprise in honour of Mouse coming home.
They arrived at their seats to find Kim, Adam, Makayla and Kevin waiting for them. Mouse's face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Welcome home Mouse", Kim was the first to pull him in for a hug, followed by Adam and Kevin. Hailey and Jay smiled at Will, how thoughtful of him to include his team tonight. Mouse's old team too.
"And who is this?" Mouse smiled at Makayla, who was somewhat shyly hiding behind Adam.
"This is my daughter Makayla", Kim said proudly, Mouse getting a small wave from the little girl. He realized he had a lot to catch up on since he saw this crew last.
"You can call me Mak, that's what all my friends call me", she said, coming out of her shell a little after realizing Mouse was friends with Kim and her friends, that she could trust him.
"Nice to meet you Mak", Mouse smiled as they all rushed to take their seat before the game started.
During a break between innings, Makayla leaned over to whisper something to Kim, who then whispered something to Jay. They both nodded and gave her an encouraging nudge toward Mouse.
"Hi Mouse?" Makayla approached him.
"What's up Mak?" Mouse replied.
"I was thinking you should have this for the game", she reached out to hand him her platypus, that she brought with her everywhere.
"Oh, you did, what's this for?" Mouse smiled, feeling Kim's eyes on him.
"My mom said that you just came back from a bad place, and I always have this to help me when I feel scared. So, I thought it might help in case you're feeling scared right now", she explained her logic.
Mouse grinned, accepting the stuffed animal from her. "Well thank you, that is very kind of you. I will take good care of him." Makayla smiled wide, returning back to Kim and Adam, feeling as if she had done a good deed. Mouse nodded in appreciation Kim's way, feeling touched by the young girl's gesture. The truth being, he did feel a little scared, but knew this time would be different, better. Because he was different this time, and as he looked around, realized that he had so many people in his corner, cheering him on.
The rest of the weekend was a blast. Mouse slowly easing back into normal life. After the Cubs game they had gone for drinks, Kim took Makayla home first of course. Mouse returning her platypus to her before she left.
Sunday rolled around and Will joined them for dinner. Hailey had a busy week of work ahead; Mouse was already talking about setting up a time to meet with his therapist. Jay was proud of him and felt at ease knowing Mouse was taking control of things right away this time. He too, anticipated a busy week ahead. Jay was in the kitchen making lunches for him and Hailey for the next few days. Although later in the week, lunch would be the last thing on his mind.
Wednesday came, and Hailey had already suspected something was up at work with Jay. The last two days he had been oddly quiet, not sharing too much about the case they were working on. He stayed in the shower a little longer each night when he got home, trying to scrub his day off.
"You okay?" Hailey asked as he crawled into bed.
"Yeah, just… tough case. Superintendents son was found dead this morning. Serial killer. Just really, really sick…. Found some kids too", Jay couldn't really continue, just shaking his head.
"Sorry Jay", Hailey said as she rested her hand across his chest, he reached up to hold it.
He didn't say anything else, just tried to hold onto Hailey as hard as he could and forget.
The next day, Hailey waited for Jay after she got home to have dinner. When he didn't answer his phone or any of her texts…she was starting to get a little worried. She heard the front door open, quickly poking her head around the corner.
"Hey Hails", Mouse greeted her.
"Hey", she replied.
"Sorry, not who you were looking for", Mouse added cheekily.
That made Hailey feel a little bad, "Sorry. Just haven't heard from Jay all day."
"All good. They're probably on a run", Mouse explained.
"Yeah for sure", Hailey said, this uneasy feeling washing over her. "Dinner's ready", she smiled as Mouse joined her at the table.
Hailey's phone rang around 9:30 that night, relieved to see Jay's name flash across her screen.
"Hey, was wondering where you…", Hailey got cut off by Jay before she was able to finish.
"Are you at home?" He asked, his voice urgent, yet calm.
"Yeah, why?" She asked.
"I need either you or Mouse to go stay with Makayla tonight", Jay stated, not really framing it as a question or choice. Hailey was about to ask why, as she was feeling a bit confused. Jay must have understood that through the phone, or else he was just gathering the courage to what he had to say next. Hailey heard him take a deep breath in and a gulp.
"Kim's been kidnapped."
I feel like I'm writing an apology at the end of every single chapter these days... lol for such long delays between updates! Truth is life has been super busy, and I've had to make work and my own mental health a priority. I've been loving all the upstead stories on here, even if I don't always remember to leave a comment. Seeing others express themselves creatively through writing is so cool! Hope all is well in everyone's corner of the world, and that you enjoy this latest update. Much love - K
