Five Days After Al's Funeral

Will Halstead did a double take at the request that Maggie had insisted he needed to see. She'd called him over a few moments ago, insisting that he would want to see the request she'd received, which had puzzled him. He wasn't sure why Maggie thought he needed to see a request for records when they received them all the time, but she was insistent. As he peered again at the name of the patient that the request was for and exactly what was being requested, he understood why: it was a request for a copy of Erin Lindsay's advance directive from a hospital in New York.

Will tried to tell himself that there were multiple reasons why they'd receive a request for an advanced directive. Erin was an FBI agent; maybe it was something the FBI required their agents to have on file with a local hospital. Or maybe the hospital needed it before doing some kind of procedure; after all, each hospital's policies were different. But the one reason Will couldn't get out of his head, the most logical reason, was that something had happened to Erin, something that required the hospital to know what her wishes were.

He thanked Maggie before quickly walking towards the break room. He knew from Jay that Hank had been out for several days and that the team hadn't been able to get a hold of him. He knew they were worried that something had happened to him, but now Will wondered if they'd been worried about the wrong person.

Antonio paced the bullpen as he waited for Voight to answer his phone. The team hadn't heard from Voight in five days, and he was worried. Atwater and Ruzek had gone by his house earlier in the day to check up on him, but he hadn't been there. Given by the amount of mail piled up in his mailbox, it seemed like he hadn't been there in a few days.

"Voight," came the answer from the other end of the phone, surprising Antonio. Voight hadn't answered any calls from the team since Al's funeral, so he hadn't expected this one to be any different.

"Voight, where are you? What's going on?" Antonio asked. He braced himself for Voight to bark back that it was none of his business, but it didn't come. Instead, he heard only the beeping of what sounded like hospital monitors in the background. "Hank? Are you in a hospital?"

Every eye in the bullpen was glued to Antonio as soon as those words came out of his mouth. He saw Jay stand up and lean on his desk, concern etched into his face. He saw Ruzek move to stand next to Burgess, placing his hand on her shoulder. He saw the worried look that Hailey and Atwater exchanged.

"Hank?" he asked again when he'd waited a few minutes with no response. He heard a shuddering breath on the other side of the phone.

"It's Erin," was the only answer he received.

"What about Erin? Is she okay?" Antonio prompted. Erin was like a sister to him, and the thought of something happening to her had him concerned. From the way Voight was acting, he knew it had to be serious; Voight wasn't a man given to much emotion.

Jay stepped out from behind his desk, the concern on his face changing to a look that bordered panic. He started walking towards Antonio, hoping to be able to catch Voight's reply, but stopped when he saw his brother coming up the stairs, Platt by his side. He knew by the look on Will's face that something was wrong.

"Will?" Jay questioned, heading to meet him. "What are you doing here?"

Will had intended to ask to speak with Jay in private, not wanting to worry everyone when he didn't even know what was going on, but one look at the team's faces told him that this was news they all needed to hear.

"Hank, what's wrong with Erin?" Antonio asked, his voice getting louder as he tried to get answers.

"Erin attempted suicide the night of Al's funeral," Voight choked out finally. "She…it's not looking good."

Antonio closed his eyes and bowed his head, trying to hold himself together. "What can we do, Sarge?"

"There's nothing anyone can do," Hank whispered, his voice rough with unshed tears.

Antonio slowly lowered the phone from his ear as beeping sounded, signaling that Hank had hung up.

"Antonio?" Jay asked from where he now stood next to his brother and Platt.

When Antonio opened his eyes and lifted his head, the tears that he'd fought so hard to hold back began to fall. "Voight, uh, Voight…he's in New York. Erin overdosed the night of Olinsky's funeral," he stammered.

"Is she-" Burgess started to ask, but stopped, not wanting to finish her question.

"She's alive; that's all I know," Antonio replied.

Will knew then that his suspicions were correct; the hospital in New York had requested Erin's advanced directive out of necessity, likely because difficult decision would need to be made soon. He cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "I, uh, we-," he paused for a minute, trying to figure out how to tell them. "A request was received today at Med for a copy of Erin's advanced directive," he informed them.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Ruzek asked from where he knelt next to Burgess's desk, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Will looked around the room at the faces starting at him. Hailey's face had a sympathetic expression on it; as the person in the room who knew Erin the least, she'd immediately been able to figure out what the request meant. Burgess's face had tears streaking down it; she was leaning against Ruzek who was trying his best to put on a brave front. Ever the optimist, his eyes searched Will's face for any sign of hope. Antonio refused to make eye contact with him, tears continuing to fall freely. Atwater's face was stoic, but Will could see the pain in his eyes. Platt, who had sunk back against the nearest desk, looked up at him with a look of resignation, knowing exactly what that type of request meant.

The look on Jay's face hurt him the most. He could tell that his younger brother was barely holding it together. His expression was a mixture of disbelief and anger, but his eyes were filled with sorrow. Will knew that Jay knew exactly what this meant, but he also knew that Jay wouldn't accept it until he heard Will say it.

"It means-" Will's voice cracked, causing him to stop and regain his composure before continuing. "It means that they need to know what Erin's wishes are regarding end-of-life care. It means that Erin is currently unable to tell them her wishes, and that there are some decisions to be made." He paused, then added, "I'm so sorry."