Within seconds of the gun going off, she heard Voight's voice over the radio and people running down the corridor.

"Erin," Jay said, as he tried to stand back up to go to her.

She zoned back in and saw he was trying to stand, "Stay down. Don't get up," she said and she walked over to him - not taking notice of her mom for a second - she needed to make sure Jay was okay.

"What the hell happened?!" Voight exclaimed as he ran into the room with Atwater, Dawson and Olinsky, taking in the sight before him.

"She shot me! She shot me!" Bunny exclaimed, holding her arm. It was only a graze, not a big wound by any means. "I didn't do anything!"

"You didn't do anything?" Erin snapped, "You've just stabbed a police officer in the leg."

"No I didn't!" She complained.

"Call two ambulances, they're both going to need to go to hospital to get checked out," Hank said to Al, who went and radioed for them. "You alright, Halstead?"

"Yeah, I don't think she's got anything major. I'm fine. Hurts like a bitch though," he replied.

"I've been shot here!" Bunny complained.

Hank rolled his eyes, "If it was that bad you wouldn't be complaining about it. Now you're coming with me. The ambulance will be here soon and we will take you to the hospital. You're under arrest for assaulting a Police Officer."

"Ambulances are five minutes out. What do you want us to do?" Al asked as he walked back in.

"Halstead, can you make your way up stairs with these three?" He asked nodding to Erin, Antonio and Kevin. He nodded in reply. "Okay, Al, you come with me and Ms Fletcher here," He said her name with distaste, "and I will go in the ambulance with her. You follow behind in the car. Erin, you go with Jay in the ambulance. The rest of the team are to go back to the station. Come on, Bunny." Hank said, and pulled her up to her feet, not being particularly gentle. The wound was just a small graze on her upper arm, would probably just need a few stitches. He had no idea what had gone on. He and Al left the room with Bunny, who was ranting and raving as they walked.

"You okay, Linds?" Kevin asked, noticing she looked very pale.

She nodded, even though she really wasn't fine "Yeah, I'm fine. More worried about him."

"Er, I'm fine. I promise, it doesn't even feel that bad," He lied, it was fucking killing him but he'd had worse in his time so was good at masking the pain.

"Right, come on sir limpsalot, let's get you up and to the ambulance," Kevin joked, holding out a hand to help him stand up.

"Have you been watching friends again, Kev?" Jay laughed, but cringed when he put weight down on his leg. "Fuck!"

Kevin put Jay's arm over his shoulder and Antonio did the same, enabling him to put his weight on them while they helped him out of the house.

When they finally exited the house, they saw that the squad cars and Adam and Kim had left with the rest of the suspects, taking them back to the precinct for booking so it was just intelligence left. The ambulances had turned up pretty quickly. Bunny was in the back of one, handcuffed to the bed in the back as she was officially under arrest. Whereas she could've probably worked out a deal with whatever she was doing in the house, now she had stabbed Jay, she would definitely be charged. They took Jay to the free ambulance, and helped him up into the back so he could sit on the stretcher.

"You sure you're okay?" Antonio asked Erin when he jumped out of the ambulance once Jay sat down.

"Yeah, I think so," She replied and forced a smile. She grabbed the keys for her and Jay's car out of her pocket and handed them to him.

"Thanks, I'll drop it off at the hospital for you both and get a lift back to the station with Kev. It's not your fault, okay? You did what you had to do."

"Thanks, Tony. I'll probably see you later. No doubt I'll have to speak to someone about today's incident," She sighed.

"Don't you worry about that now. Just go and make sure he's okay. I'll see you later," He replied, squeezing her shoulder and walking over to their car.


"I think it's just hit muscle, and not gone into the bone and there's not much bleeding. But you'll need an X-ray before it can be removed," Gaby said after assessing the wound.

"Thanks Gaby," He replied and smiled when Erin climbed in the back of the ambulance and sat on the bench seat next to Gaby. Antonio shut the doors behind her and Sylvie started the ambulance and began the drive to med.

"You okay, Erin?" Gaby asked, taking in how pale she looked.

"I just shot my mom…"

Gaby's eyes widened at the statement, she had only figured she was upset because of Jay being injured. Sure she'd seen the other person come out with a GSW, but she didn't know who she was. She looked at Jay who looked worried and she allowed him to take over the conversation, "Babe. You did what you had to do. If you hadn't been there and did what you did, we don't know how that would've gone. You did what any one of us would've done in the exact same situation. Please don't stress yourself out over this."

"My mom stabbed you…" she uttered, not taking in anything Jay had just said.

"Er, I'm fine. I'm going to be fine. Just need an X-Ray and probably a few stitches and I'll be as good as new," He said, trying to reassure her. He hoped that a few stitches would be all he needed but he didn't want to think of anything else.

"I can't believe her. We haven't spoken for months, I'm glad I cut her out after everything with Jimmy but I didn't think she'd ever be capable of something like this. What was she doing with those guys? Is she involved in the operation or is she just collateral damage?"

"We will find that out. Try not to stress about it, you did everything you had to do - okay?" He asked, reaching over and squeezing her hand. She looked up and nodded. "Okay, good. Now did I ever tell you about the time I got that scar on my foot?"

Erin looked confused, "What?"

"The scar on my foot, did I ever tell you how I got it?" He asked, again. Using her own technique of telling a random story to take her mind off of it. Also, it was taking his mind off the pain in his leg.

"That is a very weird scar," Gaby commented, offhandedly. She too had wondered how he got the weird shaped scar on the top of his foot back when they were a thing many years ago. She looked up and saw Jay and Erin both looking at her with raised eyebrows. "What? It is a very weird scar! Sorry, carry on."

"So did I ever tell you?" He asked Erin.

"No, you didn't. I never asked either because I thought it was from the war…" She said, carefully. She had never asked him about the scar, knowing how he usually felt about talking about that time of his life.

He chuckled, "You'd think so, but no. Basically, there was this woman who lived on our street when we were kids. Mrs. Riley, she was called. She was a horrible old bat. Anyway, she hated noise, used to throw boiling water at us all if we were loud outside her house. One day, I was getting the ball from the front of her garden, and I didn't even have time to run before this boiling water came right towards me. Got me right on top of my foot. Didn't help I was wearing sandals so of course it went straight onto my skin and burnt my foot. I was in agony - she was so shocked that she had actually hit one of us. I've never known my mom get so angry - she yelled at her and threatened to call the police. She never did it again," He finished telling the story, noticing that Erin was smiling at him, he knew he'd done the right thing by trying to take her mind off of it.

"Wow, really?" She laughed.

"Yeah, it wasn't fun," He said, and looked down at his leg and suddenly the pain felt like it had increased ten fold and he suddenly felt very dizzy.

"You okay? You've gone quite pale," Gaby said, noticing a change in Jay's demeanour. He had gone from chatty and jokey to very quiet in seconds and she noticed the colour drop from his face.

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired." That was the last thing he remembered saying before he passed out.

"Jay!" Erin shouted, squeezing his hand.

"Brett we're going to need to step on it - he needs to get to med ASAP," Gaby shouted through to the front of the ambulance.

"On it," She shouted back, switching the lights and sirens on to get them to med faster. While Gaby checked Jay over, Erin was watching, feeling scared. She couldn't believe the sudden change in him. She couldn't take in anything Gaby was saying to her, something about adrenaline but she hadn't processed the information. Within minutes, they arrived at Med and they rushed Jay through to a trauma room. Erin was taken by Maggie to the waiting room and she was informed that Will was on his way and that they'd get her news about Jay's condition as soon as they could. Erin could only nod before she sat down on the chair Maggie had guided her to. Antonio had quickly dropped the keys off with her, but had to run as Kevin had parked in a 'no parking zone' and they had to get back to the station quickly so they could help Adam and Kim with the interviews.


"Erin! What happened? Is he okay?" Will asked as he ran into the waiting room, he had been upstairs talking to Nina and giving her the keys back to their shared apartment when he got the page. It was Maggie who told him, and said he wasn't allowed in and pointed him in the direction of Erin, who was sat in the waiting room.

"Will!" She exclaimed, standing up and giving him a hug. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, what's wrong? What happened?" He asked.

"We were on a bust, trying to get these guys who were selling some fucked up coke. Jay and I were told to clear the basement level, and in the last room, we entered and my mom was there…"

"What? Bunny was there? I thought…" He began but she interrupted.

"Yeah, we haven't spoken in months, actually probably closer to a year. Anyway, she was out of it. Trying to get us not to arrest her, but she was shouting. Jay went up to her, unarmed to officially arrest her as she wasn't complying. And out of no where, she got this knife that must've been in her pocket or something, I don't know. Neither of us saw it. She jammed it right into his leg and in that second I shot her," She explained.

"How is he?" Will asked, not fully processing the enormity of the situation: Erin had shot her mom to save Jay.

"He was fine. Managed to walk up the steps - well, he hopped with Tony and Kev helping him. He was more worried about me in the ambulance. He started telling me this story about Mrs. Riley and the scar on his foot. He was joking around and laughing and then all of a sudden he just fainted," she said, putting her head in her hands.

"Wow, the Mrs Riley story. Haven't heard that one in a while," Will laughed, remembering how he had told Conor the story a year or so previously. He quickly realised he had taken in the wrong bit of information that she had told him. He cleared his throat, "He'll be okay, Erin. The adrenaline probably wore off, he has gone through so much over the years, his pain tolerance is freakishly high. It was most likely just shock that caused him to faint more than anything. How are you doing? I can't imagine how you're feeling after what you've been through."

"I don't know… I mean, Bunny being there didn't shock me really. She's always been involved in countless dodgy deals over the years. I just can't believe she stabbed him! I can't believe I actually shot her… She's fine, it's just a graze. Hank bought her in another ambulance before." She said, and she looked up and saw that Hank came in the room. "How is she?"

"I've left her with Al. She's fine, complaining about being wrongly shot at," He said and saw Erin was going to interrupt, "Kid, I know you did what you had to do. I'm pretty sure Halstead has the knife in his leg to prove it. How is he?"

"He was fine, and joking about but fainted just before we got here," She replied. "Hank, I really did have no other choice. She was high off her mind and was obviously a danger to herself and others. You know I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have to."

"I know, I know. They've ran a toxicology screen on her, and they've stitched her up. Erin, it was barely a graze. I've got your back, and I'm pretty sure you won't have any issues about it. You'd have done it for anyone and not just because Jay's your boyfriend. I've had word from Platt that Crowley needs to talk to you about today, just to go over the details. Platt has said that you'll be back to the district once we have word on Jay - she wouldn't budge on that. Crowley knows what you've been through with Bunny and the history, she's known you almost as long as I have. This is just formal procedure rather than an investigation."

Erin was just about to reply when Dr Rhodes walked into the room, she stood up, "How is he?"

"He's okay, we've managed to stabilise him. We still haven't removed the knife, he's going up to x-ray now - we need to be sure that it's not hitting anything important and if it is, we will be prepared. He's not lost loads of blood, thankfully so we've just given him fluids. He may need blood once we do take the knife out though as it could be stemming the blood flow, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. He woke up about five minutes ago, he's been put on some pain killers to try and dull the pain until we can figure out what we are going to do. We should get the x-ray results in half an hour ish, I've put a rush on them. Once we have them, we will remove the knife, wash the wound and make sure it's clean before stitching him up. We will give him some precautionary antibiotics as we don't know the knife's cleanliness. Hopefully in a week or so, we will be able to remove the stitches and he will be okay. Any questions?"

"Thanks, Conor. We really appreciate it. When do you think we can see him?" Will asked, knowing that Erin will be dying to see Jay.

"I'll get a nurse to page you when he's back from x-ray. He will be in bay four," He replied. "He really will be okay, Erin. I'm sorry but I've got to go and see another patient before he gets back. I'll see you later."

"Thanks, Conor, We appreciate it." Will said to him before he left. He turned back to Erin, "See, I told you he's going to be fine."

"I know, logically I know he's going to be fine. But watching him deteriorate in the ambulance, just as we had been laughing about that crazy story - it scared me," She admitted. "I just need to see him."

"You'll see him soon, kid. I need to get back to Bunny - make sure she's patched up and we can take her back to the station," Hank said, giving her a hug.

"I'm coming with you," She said.

"No you're not. You're staying here and you're going no where near Bunny. I don't care if she's your mom, and that she stabbed your boyfriend slash partner. You need to stay away because if she's going to go down for what she's done, she can't have any ammunition - saying that you went in there all guns blazing. We need to do this by the books and if you talk to her and say something she could use that against you," Hank said, sternly. Making sure Erin knew that there was no way she was going to be able to see Bunny.

She nodded, "Okay. But I still want to talk to her at some point."

"We'll see. You need to talk to Commander Crowley first before you can step foot near Bunny. Everything's going to be okay, once you have word on Jay, call me and I'll get Crowley down to the district so you can do your interview, okay?"

"Okay. I'm sorry, Hank," She whispered.

"Don't you be sorry, you did what you had to do. I'll see you later," He said, squeezing her shoulder and walking back into the room where Bunny was with Al.


They finally got informed that Jay was back in his room, so Erin and Will went into see him. He didn't look as pale as he did when he came in, which Erin hoped was a good sign. "Hey, how you feeling?" She asked, walking over to him and held his hand.

"I feel a bit tired and the pain's not great," He replied, honestly.

"I'm sorry, Jay. I can't believe she did this to you," She said.

"Erin, I think she'd have done it to whoever was arresting her. She was off her head. I'm going to be fine though." He squeezed her hand for reassurance. "What's the plan now?"

"Well once they get your results, I'm going to have to go to the station, I've got to meet with Crowley. Hank says it's just a formality because I discharged my weapon. Crowley knows all about Bunny, so I'm just going to have to answer some questions."

He nodded, figuring she would have to have a meeting with one of the commanders, "You'll be fine."

Just as Erin had been about to reply, Dr Rhodes walked in, "Hey, glad to see you're looking better. Okay so you were very lucky, Jay. It seems that the knife has missed anything major. So, we will be able to remove it without you needing surgery. We will numb the area with a local anaesthetic and stitch you up. If all goes well, I don't think you'll need to stay in overnight. Is that okay with you?"

Jay nodded, "Yeah. That sounds fine."

"Alright, well, I'll go and get everything prepared in the procedure room and we will bring you through in about 20 minutes," Dr Rhodes replied, "Any questions?"

Jay shook his head, "No, I'm good. Thank you."

"No problem, I'll see you soon," Dr Rhodes replied, before exiting the room.

"I'm just going to go and tell Nina that you're okay. She asked me to go and tell her once I got word," Will said, "I'm glad you're doing okay bro. I'll come back down when Erin goes so you won't be alone. I know you're not keen on needles so I'll come in there with you."

Jay smiled, "Thanks, Will. I really appreciate it."

"No worries. I'll see you when you come back, Erin."

"Thanks Will, see you later," She replied before he finally left them alone.

"Hey, Er, I'm fine. I promise you, I'm fine," Jay reassured, knowing that she was still worried about him.

"I wish I could stay, but I've just got a text from Platt saying they need me at the station sooner rather than later," She sighed, putting her phone back in her pocket.

"It's fine Er, I get it. You've got to go for the formality. Now you know I'm going to be fine, and we will be back in our apartment tonight. I love you," He said.

She smiled at him and gave him a kiss, "I love you too. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Don't rush, I'm not going anywhere," He joked.

She rolled her eyes and gave him another kiss, "I'll see you later," She said before leaving his room and going back to the station.


The drive back to the station was quiet and Erin was stressed. She couldn't believe how this day had turned out, she'd had a bad feeling since the night before. Turns out, she had good reason to feel that way. Bunny. What had she been doing there? Why had no one picked her up going in or out of the property over the past few days? What was she doing with the gang? She didn't really know how to feel. Shooting someone was never easy, let alone shooting your own mother. She hadn't cried yet but now she was all alone? That was when the tears came. As she pulled into the car park at the station, she wiped her eyes and willed herself to stop crying. Once she felt like she could go into the building and talk to people without breaking down, she finally got out the car. She snuck in through the back entrance and went into the locker room, so she could splash some water on her face to make herself look less… broken? Stressed? Who was she kidding, everyone would see right through it. She needed to put on her tough exterior, she didn't need anyone feeling sorry for her. Once she collected herself, she went through to the front desk to see Platt. When the Sergeant saw Erin approach, she dropped what she was doing to give her detective her full attention, "How are you doing, Erin and how's Chuckles?" She asked.

"I'm okay, and Jay's going to be okay too. He's getting the knife removed, probably as we speak. Will's there with him so he's not alone. It's not got anything major, he was pretty lucky by the sounds of it," She explained.

"Are you sure you're okay though? I know it can't be easy for you, you know, given the circumstances," Platt sympathised, knowing that this would be rough on Erin. She could see through the tough act that Erin was putting on, so she knew that she was not okay.

Erin nodded, "Yeah, I really am okay. Especially now that I know that Jay's going to be okay, I am fine."

Platt didn't believe her, but decided not to call her out on it, "Okay. I'm glad he's doing okay. Crowley's in there, waiting for you," she said, nodding towards the empty office next to the front doors.

"Thanks, Sarg," Erin replied, and turned to go into the office.

Erin knocked on the door and entered the office. Commander Crowley smiled at her, "Hi, Detective Lindsay. Please sit down, I have to speak to you as a formality - you are not in any trouble, okay?" She asked and Erin nodded, still feeling a bit nervous about telling her side of the story. "Okay, so I'm going to need you to tell me everything that happened today."

Erin began telling the story, she told her about the background of the case, and all the work the team had been putting into the case to ensure they were able to catch the members of Peter Jacob's drug ring. She explained the assignment that she and Jay had, which was to clear the basement and then told her about walking into the final room and seeing Bunny. She told her everything that Bunny said to them, and how she was trying to get out of whatever she had got herself into. Then she explained about how Jay holstered his weapon, to show he wasn't a threat - to try and diffuse the situation. She then recalled the moment she clocked the knife in her mom's hand, but not before it was too late and how she made a split second decision to shoot - to try and avoid Jay being stabbed but she was too late.

"I would've done the same if anyone was in that situation. If it was another member of the team in danger, or if it was another civilian who wasn't my mom. I made the same decision I would've any other time," She finally stated after telling the story.

Crowley nodded, "I believe you, Erin. I'm satisfied that you did everything you had to do given the circumstances. I see no reason for this to impact the case, or for you to go through any suspension of any kind. It was a lawful shoot, and you didn't shoot to kill, you shot to disarm. I think many people in that situation would've struggled, but you made the correct decision. Now, I have just been notified that your mother has been bought to the station while we have been here," She informed Erin as she read the email that had just come through on her phone from Hank. "Now, I don't want you to see her - at least until she has been formally interviewed. Is that understood?"

Erin nodded, "I won't go and see her. I have been told by Voight not to see her too. Thank you for listening to me."

"No worries. Please give Detective Halstead my best. I'll send over my report for you to put your signature on tomorrow," She said.

"Okay, thank you. Am I free to go?" Erin asked and Crowley nodded. "Thank you, bye."

"Bye, Erin," Crowley replied as Erin got up and left the office, closing the door behind her.


Platt gave Erin a reassuring smile as Erin walked up the stairs to go up to the bullpen, once up there she was met by all of her team, asking her about Jay. She told them that he was okay, and was expecting to come home tonight. She excused herself and walked into Hank's office after knocking.

"Hey, Kid. How'd it go with Crowley?" He asked once she had sat down in front of him.

"Fine, she has said it was lawful and there is no need for it to impact the case we are working on," She sighed. "I can't believe Bunny was there. With Peter Jacobs of all people! What's she said about it all?"

"She hasn't said much, other than they set her up. I'm sorry to say, Erin, but she was high and had cocaine in her system. It was obviously the stuff they used before they cut it. She's trying to get a deal…"

"No, she can't have a deal! She's stabbed a police officer. She was working with known crooks, there is no way she can get a deal to get herself out of this!" She exclaimed, feeling herself get worked up.

"She won't get a deal. She said, if she talked and told us everything about Jacobs' dodgy dealings, then we should let her off for stabbing Jay," He said, and when she looked as if she was going to interrupt, he held his hand up to stop her. "We aren't going to do that. Two of the guys we arrested told us everything we need to put Peter away for life and their stories match up. Bunny isn't going to get a deal, we don't even really need her cooperation on the drug case. We can get her on assaulting a police officer and drug related offences. I know you might not want to hear this, but she could get sent down for a long period of time. What are you thinking, kid?"

"Good. She deserves it. I've given her so many chances over the years, to get her life together but she's let me down. Every. Single. Time. Even with the whole Jimmy thing, I am convinced that there's a chance she knew he wasn't my dad and was just using us both to get something she wanted. I actually haven't had any contact with her since after that, I finally cut her out of my life. She needs to pay for what she's done, and I'm not just saying that because she stabbed my boyfriend, I'd have said it if she'd done it to any one of us," She told him.

"I know you would, kid. How do you think Teddy will take all of this?" He asked, cautiously. He knew that Erin and Teddy had kept in touch, but he didn't know the extent of their current relationship.

"I don't know, I've not spoken to him since my birthday. We only texted a few times, but he seems to be okay. He did move away from Chicago to get away from Bunny, he didn't want to be dragged down into her life again. I will call him and talk to him tomorrow. I think he will be okay with it though."

"Okay, good. You can go back to Halstead now. He's going to need you tonight and I know it's been a rough one for you both. Take tomorrow off too. Let me know how he's doing," Hank said.

"I've got to come in tomorrow to sign the report that Crowley has written up, I also need to write up my own report. Do you think I could just come in later on in the afternoon?" She asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, that's fine. Seeing as you're in tomorrow, you can take the day after off. I know you two are going on furlough in two weeks, but I'll put it down as an extenuating circumstance. You shouldn't be here while we are interviewing Bunny, for the interest of the case, okay?"

"Thanks Hank, I appreciate it. I'll see you tomorrow," She said.

"Bye, kid," He replied, "Let me know if you and Halstead need anything."

She nodded, and turned to leave the office. She went into the locker room on her way down to the car, and grabbed their things from their lockers. She also grabbed Jay his spare set of sweats from his locker, knowing that he won't be wanting to wear the jeans again. She got to her car and quickly checked her phone, which she had stupidly left in the cup holder. She saw she had a text from Jay. Hey can you bring me my sweats from my locker? My jeans kind of didn't make it, they had to cut them off. Hope the meeting went okay, I'm fine. All stitched up and ready to go home. See you when you get here xxx - Jay

She smiled, Already on it babe. I'll be at the hospital in about twenty minutes xx - Erin

She put her phone back down and quickly started the car up so she could get to the hospital as soon as possible.


Arriving at the hospital, she walked into the room that Will had text her informing her of where he would be. She saw him sat on the bed, half asleep. He was no longer hooked up to any IVs and he looked so peaceful. He must've felt her presence because he opened his eyes and smiled at her, "Hey, how was it?" He asked.

"It was all good. Crowley doesn't have any concerns and it's not going to impact on the case," She said. "How're you doing? I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you."

"Don't worry about it," He replied, taking her hand in his. "It went okay, Will annoyed me throughout so I didn't worry about the needles too much. It hurt like a bitch though. Conor has given me some stronger pain killers than you can buy over the counter just to help me get through the next couple of days. I've got to watch out for any signs of infection too. I've also been given precautionary antibiotics because, well, we don't know the state of the knife before it went in," He informed her, but Erin already knew this as Conor had told her before. "I didn't need to be given any blood though, as I hadn't lost as much as they thought. I am okay, Erin. I promise. It hurts but that's to be expected. I'll be right as rain in a couple of days, and I'll be on desk duty for at least a week or until the stitches get taken out."

"Good, I'm glad," She replied, giving him a kiss. She sat down and talked to him about everything Hank had said, including about her taking an extra day off so she could be with him. He cracked a joke about Voight being a softy really and also joked about him getting time off to watch everyone do all the hard work for a week. She was laughing at his jokes, but on the inside, she was struggling. She really didn't know how to feel after today, she felt so guilty that her own mother had stabbed him.


They finally got home at around 10 pm, they were both so exhausted, but they knew they needed to eat something. Jay had to eat some food before he took his last lot of pills, so Erin busied herself in the kitchen while Jay went and got dressed. He changed into a pair of loose fitting shorts and a clean t-shirt and hobbled back through to the living room. She ordered him to sit down on the couch and wait for her to bring over their food. She made them both a bowl of cheesy pasta and passed Jay his bowl when she sat down beside him, "What're we watching?" She asked.

"A random penguin documentary that I taped last night, it looks quite cool, is that okay or do you want to watch something else?" He asked.

"Nah, it sounds good. Besides, you're the poor brave little soldier, so you should get dibs on the remote tonight," She teased, nudging him with her elbow.

"Okay good," He replied, pressing play and resuming eating his meal.

That particular penguin documentary had been quite boring, so it had done its job in making Jay sleepy enough to try and go to bed. He took his meds with some water before hobbling off into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Erin quickly cleaned up the kitchen and set up the coffee machine for morning. She grabbed another bottle of water, for Jay to have on his bedside cabinet, incase he needed to take pain relief in the night. She walked in and saw Jay was already on his side of the bed, looking like he was struggling to get comfy. She knew she had something that would help him, and went into the airing cupboard where she kept some of their spare pillows and took one out for him, "Hey, put this under your leg to see if it helps," She suggested, passing him the pillow.

He smiled, gratefully, "Thank you."

"See, my pillows definitely have their uses, don't they," She joked, which made him laugh. "I'm just going to get ready for bed, you get comfy."

He nodded, putting the pillow below his leg, in order to get comfier. Once he had finally found a position that he was most comfortable in, Erin joined him in the bed and snuggled up to him. "Good night," He whispered, pressing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Good night," She replied. "I'm just so glad you're okay."

He squeezed her waist reassuringly, "I know, me too. Love you."

"Love you too," She whispered, placing a kiss on his chest.


The throbbing in his leg was what woke him up a few hours later. He clicked his watch and saw that it was 02:45, he sighed, he wasn't able to take more meds for at least another hour. So he figured, he had to try and make himself comfier and go back to sleep. He shifted onto his side, and reached out so he could pull Erin closer towards his chest, but he was shocked when he could only feel a pillow in her place. That made him open his eyes properly, he shifted onto his elbow and looked under the bathroom door to see if a light was on. It wasn't. He sighed, he knew she had been struggling more than she was letting on, but he didn't want to push her to talk about it. He sat up and saw a soft glow coming under the bedroom door, so he got up and hobbled through to the living room to see her. He walked through and saw her sat on the sofa, knees up against her chest and staring at the television, "Hey, what're you doing up?" He asked softly.

She looked up and saw him stood by the doorway, so she paused the current episode of Dynasties that she was watching, "Couldn't sleep. How come you're up?"

"Leg was throbbing a bit, but it's too early to take my meds so I went to snuggle up to you and you were gone," He replied, hobbling over to the sofa and sitting next to her. "How long have you been out here?"

She checked her watch, "About 2 hours. I was conscious of keeping you awake so I put a pillow in my place and came through here."

"You should've woken me. What's going on?" He asked cautiously. He had refrained from making her talk about everything throughout the day, knowing that she needed time to process everything for herself before she could put it into words. She'd put on a brave front for him, ever since he passed out in the ambulance. This was something he knew, but he didn't want to call her out on it, or force her to talk until she was ready.

She put her head on his shoulder, "I don't know, Jay. I just don't know how to feel. I just can't believe Bunny would do something so stupid. I blame myself for not seeing the knife in time…"

"Erin, don't blame yourself, I didn't see it either."

"It's hard not to blame myself. I shot her. I wish I didn't have to do it, but I had no other choice," She whispered, struggling to keep it together.

Jay put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest, "You had no choice, you really didn't. I'd have done the exact same thing if anyone had pulled that shit on anyone."

"I think that today has just reminded me how dangerous our jobs can be. I've been thinking all night that I'm just so relieved. Relieved that she only stabbed you in the leg, and that it didn't hit your femoral artery. You were so lucky, Jay. A few cm's to the right and we might not have been having this conversation tonight. I - I -" She stammered, "I can't lose you!" Confessing that out loud was the thing that caused the dam to finally break. She looked up at him, with tears streaming down her face.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise," He said, pulling her back to him and kissing the top of her head.

"You can't promise me that, Jay. Our jobs… They're dangerous."

He knew he couldn't promise her that nothing would happen, it still broke his heart hearing his girl cry like this, "Okay, you're right. I can't promise you that. But, I can promise that I'll do everything and I mean everything in my power to make it back home to you every night. Every night for the rest of our lives," He wished that he'd already proposed but he hadn't and he definitely wasn't going to do it now - now was not the time. Besides, the ring was still in the safety deposit box and he had a plan. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I hope you'll do the same for me."

She nodded, shifting so she could look him in the eyes, "Of course. I'll do everything I can to make it home to you every night."

He smiled at her, "I love you, so much."

"I love you too," She replied, leaning in and giving him a kiss.

"How about we go back to bed and try and get some sleep?" He suggested, hoping she would agree because she must've been exhausted.

"You go, I'm not actually that tired. I don't want to keep you up so I'll just stay out here," She replied.

He shook his head, "Nope. I'm not going to leave you," He said, shifting on the couch so he could put his feet up on the coffee table, "So, what're we watching?"

She knew not to argue with him, he would stay out here all night if he had to. "I'm watching the Lion episode of the dynasties series. Just finished the Emperor penguin one and it was so much better than that one we watched before we went to bed, we should watch it tomorrow." She replied, grabbing the remote and pressing play.

"Sounds good to me," He replied, letting her curl up against his side so they could watch the episode together. That was how they spent the next couple of hours, watching animal documentaries. Jay had always loved David Attenborough's documentaries, so he enjoyed it. He knew that Erin just needed him close to her for reassurance. Once the final episode of the series had finished, they finally went to bed. Where thankfully they were both able to sleep for a good few hours, before they tackled the day ahead.

AN: This chapter ended up being way longer than I thought it was going to be. Kind of struggled writing it but glad it's done :) Let me know what you thought! Going to aim to update just tattoo of us sometime in the next week or so :)