Prompt: Sara2210 :Loved it! It's so nice to see that Hank cares about Jay. I would love to see Jay getting sick but not letting anyone know until Will finds out somehow.
So originally, this was a different prompt, but I realized how long it was going to be so I'm simultaneously working on this one and that one and the prompts are from the same person. Sorry to the people who wanted their prompts done. This one kinda just came to me. Not really though because its really fucking short. Sorry not sorry.
Also I made it without an ending? (Or a decent one anyway, like usual! So don't hate me for it. I wrote this at four thirty in the morning. On a plane ride. That lasted foreverrrrrrrrr.)
"Erin, this is my Brother Will."
"The surgeon?"
...
Erin's P.O.V.
He had been spacing out all day. Like. All day. From the second I dragged him out of bed (and not in the fun way) he was spacey and vague, lost in the clouds. After coming out of the shower to see him still in his nightshirt and sweats, looking at the same piece of toast he had been staring at when I got into the shower, I was thoroughly convinced he needed to stay home.
Somehow or other, our argument got turned around and next thing I knew he was pushing me out the door, fully dressed, saying we were going to be late.
The rest of the day didn't get much better. It unnerved me how he hide most of his symptoms from the team. Sure, I think they noticed he was a little off, but that was only when they'd have to ask him a question three times to get his attention. I was about ready to text Will by the afternoon when I found him slumped over at the table in the break room, out cold.
Voight convinced me to let him rest however, and by the time we came back from a 'fun' chat with our friendly neighborhood drug lord, it was nearly time to go home. So it wouldn't have mattered. Hank explicitly told Jay not to come in tomorrow should he continue feeling like shit, and Halstead just blinked at him like he was confused as to why Hank was talking to him at all.
Oh yeah. Real coherent.
I dragged him home, sat him on the couch and shoved a thermometer in his mouth. I almost laughed at the way he was sitting, shoulders slumped, arms by his side and tired, almost sad expression on his face, like he was a small child who just wanted to go bed.
I let him do such activity after forcing him to change into more comfortable clothes and shoving some Tylenol and water in his face. I had no sooner put the empty water cup in the sink do I turn around to find him slumped over on the couch, dead to the world.
Sighing I had just rearranged him a bit, covered him with his favorite (though he'll never admit it) quilt, and went to bed, setting my alarm for the next morning.
Sadly if I don't think there was any version of today that wouldn't have have resulted in me being woken up by me boyfriend's brother, asking me if I wanted to ride with him, or go in the ambulance.
Will's P.O.V.
I knock at the door, mentally reviewing the list of drugs and medical supplies in my kit and comparing it to Jay's worrying voicemail.
"Hey Will...I was thinking...when you got a chance...could you come over to my place and Che...check on...Erin she's sick...I don't know...what to do."
From the way he was gasping and considering how his voice was wavering through the message, Erin isn't the only one who's sick.
I wait no longer than a minute before just barging into the apartment, gently shutting the door behind me. The lights are off with the exception of the mood lights on the walls, which are turned down low.
"Jay?" I call softly, not wanting to wake anyone if they managed to get to sleep. Those hopes are dashed when feet pad up behind me. I spin around and just about drop my kit.
"Oh god Jay." I grab his arms, guiding him to the kitchen. "Come on sit down, sit down."
He stumbles into a chair, slouching against the back of it. I cup his face in my hands, cringing at the intense heat radiating off his skin. His complexion is white and chalky, cheeks bright red with fever. His eyes seem heavy, but it's the shaking that really worries me. His whole body is trembling, a continuous tremor that makes his whole being seem to vibrate.
"W-w-wil-ll." He stutters, the shake in his body transferring to is voice.
"God Jay you're burning up." I fuss, digging through my pack for an anti_
"R-rin?" He stammers again, eyes unfocused and cloudy with confusion.
"I'll check on her Jay, just let me worry about you right now."
"No!" He yells, jolting me backwards as he grabs my arms.
"Now!"
"Okay!" Grumbling swears under my breath I keep a hand on his arm, towing him with me down the hallway. I peek in the bedroom, noting the splayed lump of limbs that is a peacefully sleeping Erin Lindsay.
I let out a sigh, dropping my head in defeat. What was I thinking? That I'd find a completely coherent and compliment brother waiting for me ready to help after my twelve hour shift?
No. Of course not. And by the temperature I felt from his skin, it's totally possible Erin was never sick at all, and he's just delusion.
"Alright. See? She okay buddy, she's fine." Jay stares into the room, shivers diminished now while his eyes are unfocused. I stare at him with a concern that grows as he turns without a word and starts to walk away, back towards the kitchen.
"Jay?" I call, watching closely as his body seems to get heavier. He puts out a hand, using it to lean on the small decorative hall table as he slouches.
"Jay are you..."
His body drops without warning, crumpling to the floor. I jump forward, slapping my knees on the hardwood floor as his body starts shaking.
"Ok, ok I got you, I got you Jay, I got you." I whisper, rolling him on his back then scrambling for my kit. I fill a needle, double checking to be sure it's the right drug. A soft gurgling sound reaches my ears and I'm forced to drop the syringe, rushing to roll him over onto his side. Vomit spills from between his lips as I press three fingers onto his throat, feeling for the carotid before plunging the drug into his seizing body.
"C'mon, c'mon." I growl, pushing one hand beneath his head to protect it as he shakes. The meds kick in and his body stills with a few residual jerks. I can breath again. He lets out a whimper, eyes fluttering but never opening.
"Shhhh." I whisper, running a hand through his dark curls, while palming his overheated forehead.
"Shh, I got you little brother, I got you." I murmur.
My hands find themselves gloved in no time, and I gently pull his jaw lower, swiping a finger around his mouth to ensure a clean airway. His breathing is fast and shallow, while his skin is giving off heat like a batch of hot coals.
I run my hands over every part of his body, palpating everywhere from his basic muscle groups and joints, to his major glands under his neck, arms, and groin. It's with a calm only learned from two years as an Emergency trauma resident that I manage to stay focused. His Lymph nodes are swollen, but other than that there's nothing that would give a reason to his high fever, no cuts that might have been infected, no bruising that might indicate internal bleeding, not tenderness of the abdomen that might indicate a ruptured spleen, appendix, or aggravated liver and pancreas. In fact there's nothing wrong with him that I can feel with my hands with the exception of his fever.
It's nerve wracking and grimly reassuring, because it means that the seizure was most likely caused by his extremely high temperature.
Speaking of which…
"Erin!" I yell out as I fumble for my phone, keeping on hand on Jay's neck to hold him steady and to reassure myself. As much as I don't want her to see this, she needs to know. Unfortunately, no sleepy footsteps are heard and I'm too busy talking to the emergency dispatcher and keeping Jay from inhaling his own vomit when he pukes again to go get her. That is until the ambulance arrives, and I'm forced to hand over control to the paramedics.
I answer all their questions, explaining what drug I used to stop the seizure, how long it was, and the results of my brief physical exam. The lady looks at me for a few moments once I'm done spewing out information, then her gaze lands on the open med bag next to Jay.
"You a doctor?"
"Yes Ma'am. ER resident. Chicago Med." She nods, helping her partner finish the IV.
"There's not much we can do for him here from what you described. We'll bring him there though, it's faster than lakeshore. You coming with us or will you meet us there?" The question throws me off guard. Like for some reason the idea of me going to the hospital with him never occurred to me.
"Uh, yeah. I mean, uh...his girlfriend. I have to…I'll ask."
"Wha-"
I don't hear the rest, rushing towards the bedroom and shaking a cocoon of blankets that's named Erin Lindsay.
"'S too early Jay." She mumbles, hair splashed across the pillow in a spectacular bedhead.
"Erin, you need to get up if you want to go with the ambulance."
"What?! What ambu...Will? The fuck are you doing here?!"
"Listen Erin, if you want-"
"Doctor we need to go!" Huffing a breath but understanding their impatience I poke my head out into the hallway.
"Thank you guys. I'll meet you at Med." The woman seems happy with this and shoulders her drop bag before helping her partner raise up the gurney. I turn back around as they leave to run smack into Lindsay.
"Ow." I mutter, rubbing my nose. She seems unfazed though, stepping around me to search for Jay, who she must have figured out was the missing variable in this nightmarish equation. If it weren't for my arms holding her back, she'd have stepped right in the mess.
"Erin you should get dressed."
"But- but he- he's- he was-"
"I know. Hey!" I raise my voice as she try's to get past me again in panic. "Erin, I know." I whisper when her eyes finally meet mine. "But the best thing we can do for him right now is get to the hospital. Take a shower, get dressed, I'll clean this up then we can take my car. Okay?"
She drags a hand across her face, nodding.
"Okay Will." She whispers, voice just a little broken. "Okay."
"You're serious." Rhodes shrugs.
"I don't know what else to say. When he came in here he had a fever of one hundred four. It rose another degree, resulting in a second seizure. We pumped him full of fluids, ran every test we could, we even drew spinal fluid. By the time the tests results came back to say there was nothing wrong with him, his fever had broken."
"So...so he just...randomly got sick? It was a virus?" Erin asks, standing there with her arms crossed like she's ready to punch something.
"That's our best guess. Honestly, I have no idea what was wrong with him. You can ask Will, if you don't believe me. Every rest came back as if he was a healthy person." I sigh, massaging the back of my neck with one hand like that will get knots out of it somehow. Fat chance at that. Not having slept in twenty four hours, when they finally let us see Jay I passed out, half in an extremely uncomfortable chair, half splayed on my brothers hospital bed.
My back hates me.
"Will?"
"Yeah. Yeah he's right, there wasn't anything abnormal about him except that he was severely dehydrated."
Erin stares at both of us for a moment like we just told her the earth was flat. Finally she just scoffs and walks back to the room housing my brother.
"Hey, are you alright?" I blink up at Rhodes - up? When did he - oh. Somehow I managed to stumble my way into a chair. Or maybe I just sat down kinda fast because I'm sure that if I had stumbled in a chair he'd be freaking out more.
"Will!"
"Huh?" I manage and oh look, he's not above me anymore, rather kneeling in front of me with a hand on my wrist. I glance down at him, noting the worried expression and realizing I'm about to get dragged down to a exam room myself if I don't do something.
"You don't need to check my pulse Connor I'm fine." He raises an eyebrow but removes his hand nonetheless.
"Are you?"
"What?"
"Fine. Are you?"
"I- I mean I'm tired but-"
"No, I know you're exhausted. But your brother had a seizure in front of you and according to Erin you were as calm as can be. I'm not trying to antagonize you Will-" He cuts off my angry retort fairly quickly, because even though we've started getting past what animosity was between us in the beginning, I still get defensive. "-I'm just saying that an experience like that can be traumatic."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"No, it's...it's not. You're right."
"You don't have to talk about this with me."
"You asked." I point out. He shrugs.
"True." He exhales, dropping into the seat next to me. "What was it like?"
"Terrifying." I whisper, remembering the way he shook under my hands, the way his eyes rolled back in his head while his mouth opened and closed as he whined and gurgled. I tell him all of it, too tired to think about how maybe this isn't what Connor meant, that maybe whatever's between us isn't friendship yet and this isn't something you tell your colleague. I tell him and stares at me with wide eyes before his pager goes off.
He's halfway down the hall when I call his name.
"Rhodes." He turns. "Thank you." The slightly older man blinks.
"You should go home Will. I'll cover your shift." I blink and he's gone, disappeared behind a wall. Shaking my head I walk back towards Jays room where I can hear a conversation going on.
Two tired eyes blink up at me and Erin's sitting next to him looking smug.
"Don't you ever do that again!" I snarl at my brother. Instead of shrinking like I wanted him to however, he bursts out laughing. Grinning at Erin, she sighs.
"You owe me twenty bucks."
...
"Most days."
Okay this is super short but I kinda thought it was cute and before anyone freaks yes this is based off a true story, it happened to my brother. A virus can do this.
Hope you enjoyed! I'm really trying to churn out as many one shots as I can right now, because once college hits I doubt I'm going to have much free time and I really don't to post a next chapter in a year from now if you feel me. Also, I may or may not have like four different ideas for multichap fics and am currently trying to rewrite IAI. Unfortunately, you guys probably won't like where I take it so, Idk if thats ever going up.
Rubber ducky for anyone who reviews.