Jay sat at his desk, scribbling mindlessly on his notepad. He and Erin had arrived early to get a head start on work, but now that they were all caught up, all they had to do was wait for Voight and the rest of the team to arrive in order to start the next case. Halstead and Lindsay have been dating for almost two years, and he would be lying to himself if he told anyone he didn't imagine a permanent future with her.
As Jay began to sketch a stick person against the white notepad, he noticed a single key placed down in front of him. Jay set the pencil down, and picked up the key, "What's this for?"
"You're moving in with me." Erin shrugs her shoulders as if it's no big deal, "You'll need a key." She turned her back to him and walked over to her desk.
Jay rose from his seat, and carried the key over to her, "Who said I was moving in with you?" The key rested securely within his hold. He had no intention of returning it, "You never asked."
"I'm asking now."
"Are you sure?" Jay tilted his head to the side as he replayed the moment. When the memory ended, his head shook, "Because it sounded like you were telling me."
Erin rose from her seat, and moved closer to her boyfriend. She stood within an arm's reach of him as she eyed the key he so protectively held in his hand, "You know you want to move in with me. Why are you making this difficult?" He couldn't help but smile at the dimpled grin she gave him.
"You don't know that," Jay shook his head, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I like my bachelor pad. If you haven't noticed, the ladies love it."
"The only lady you need to worry about loving," she pressed a quick peck against his lips, "is me." Jay wrapped his arms around her waist, and slowly lowered his mouth towards hers. She welcomed the kiss, and felt the once cold office begin to heat up.
The only reason the two pulled apart was because the sound of a cling interrupted their quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Instinctively, they pulled apart and looked around. No one was here. Voight had a rule about PDA. Erin covered her heart, "That was a close one. Hank may have allowed us to date, but I'm pretty sure he'll have something to say about us making out at work." Erin continued to glance around while remaining in the arms of Halstead, "What was that?"
Jay pulled his hands back, "I dropped the key."
"Give it back," she held out her opened palm, "You're going to lose it."
He picked up the single key, "Not if I do this." The smile on Erin's face grew even bigger than she thought was possible as she watched him slide their house key onto his key ring.
Erin stood before her 'husband' and watched his sitting figure quietly snooze in the waiting room. She glanced around and noticed other individuals frantically pacing, calling friends and family members, yelling for a doctor, etc…as they waited for word on whatever loved one was brought in. The confusion on her face dropped as a small frown replaced it. She felt bad. She was in a coma for two months while her loved ones more than likely resembled the people currently in the waiting room. She may not remember Jay, but he remembers her, and she couldn't help but feel as if his lack of sleep, his bloodshot eyes and his current state was because of her.
A part of her wanted to allow him to finish resting. It was probably the first nap he'd been able to take, but another part of her wanted him to wake up. She wanted to talk to him. Jay's chin rested in his hand as his light snores began to echo around the waiting room. Fortunately, there was so much commotion and noise for anyone, besides Erin who is standing within earshot, to hear.
"Excuse me," Erin nervously tapped his shoulder. She didn't want to scare him awake.
His eyes blinked open, "Erin," Jay sat up straight, "Hey, um, should you be out of bed? Is everything okay? Do you need me to find your doctor? Who are you looking for? I can-"
Lindsay laughed, "Whoa, are you always this wound up?" She waved for him to follow her, "I was actually looking for you. I was wondering did you want to come to the cafeteria with me and get some food. I heard it isn't great, but I'm going more for the company."
"Yeah, of course," Jay couldn't help but smile. Here he was, before falling asleep, he was thinking about the next step he should take with Erin, but as it turns out, she was taking the first one. He had thought that because her memories disappeared before he had met her, before her life had changed, before she became a cop, before she moved in with Voight, before every good life-altering thing occurred, that she was forever gone. He thought she was a teenage girl stuck in the body of a grown woman, but after further explanation from the doctor, his wife's situation had somewhat put him at ease. Erin doesn't have a fourteen year old girl's mindset. As Jay followed Erin towards the cafeteria, his mind drifted to the discussion he had with his wife's doctor yesterday.
Jay took a seat in the office of Dr. Brooks. He rested his face in the palm of his hands as he heard the doctor enter the room, "So Erin's memories stop at 14?" Halstead dropped his hands and looked up. He noticed that Voight and Burgess were also now in the room.
"Yes," Dr. Brooks took a seat in his desk chair.
"So what you're telling me is that my wife has the mind of a 14 year old?"
"No," Dr. Brooks clarified, as he shook his head, "Her memory just stops there. She's still very much an adult, her brain is still fully developed and how she thinks and what she thinks is very much mature and grown up. The only relation that Ms. Lind…I mean Mrs. Halstead has with 14 is the fact that her memory stops there," He gives Jay a reassuring smile, "You will not have to worry about her going through puberty again Mr. Halstead." The light laughter of the doctor quickly ceased when he realized his joke didn't pull a smile on any of their faces, "Besides the fact that your wife has no memories, she's otherwise just a healthy 30 year old woman."
"Having no memories isn't healthy," Kim remarked, snapping irritably.
Dr. Brooks rose from his seat, "I meant physically. We can't seem to find anything physically wrong with her."
"Well, what can we do to help her get her memories back?"
"You have to be patient. Don't force it."
Halstead followed behind her, and took in her appearance. Even dressed in a hospital gown, she looked beautiful. Her hair was tied back, and the freshness of her face gave him immediate relief. She was awake, and walking around. She smiled occasionally, and even though she didn't remember him, he was still thankful that she woke up in the first place.
The two silently grabbed trays and food that actually looked edible before taking a seat in the empty cafeteria. He watched her carefully eat her food as she struggled to move her fingers around with the bandages wrapped around them preventing her from moving them too freely.
"So, Jay," Erin whispered after clearing her throat, "is that short for something? Jason? Jacob?"
Halstead shook his head, "Nope, it's just Jay."
"Can you tell me about my life," Erin leaned forward and gave him a gentle smile, "with you?"
Jay cleared his throat and happily obliged, "We live in a condo in the city, and you're my partner. We're detectives." He was so relieved that she was curious enough to know about her life with him that she came to him and asked questions. She was still the Erin he knew; she was brave, stubborn and curious. The accident didn't take her away completely.
Erin leaned back in her seat and chuckled. She dropped the fry, and gave him a sly smirk, "Me, a cop? Yeah right," The chuckles continued as she picked up the fry from her tray.
"I'm serious, look," he dug into his pocket and pulled out something he had been carrying around with him since the accident, "Here's your badge." He watched her take a hold of it, "I carry it around with me to keep myself close to you."
"Aw, that's sweet," Erin whispered, as her fingers mindlessly traced the lines on her badge.
"Does anything come to mind, any memories?"
Her head shakes, "Sorry, nothing."
Halstead sat up straight, and pushed his full tray away from him. He hadn't been hungry lately, and today was no exception. He pressed his elbows against the table, and leaned forward, "I went into work after I visited you yesterday."
"And?" Erin was curious to see where he was going with the discussion.
"Everyone wanted to know how you were doing," he chuckled to himself and shook his head, "Ruzek, he works with us. He's your best friend's husband."
"My best friend?" Erin questioned.
"Kim, she visited you yesterday, along with Ruzek. We'll discuss that later," Jay wanted to finish his earlier story, "Well Ruzek is the jokester of our friend group. He can make light out of any bad situation." Jay summarized, before chuckling to himself, "We were updating everyone on your status, and I mentioned how you lost your memory. Well Ruzek cracked a joke," he noticed the smile pulling at her face; "he said it may be a good thing you lost your memory," the smile dropped, "only because you won't remember any of the stupid things I've done." The smile came back and Erin chuckled softly.
"ERIN!"
Lindsay jumped in her seat, and rested her hand over her heart. She glanced around the empty hospital cafeteria before noticing her mother racing towards her. Bunny pulled her daughter to her feet, and wrapped her arms around her, "I was so worried! I went to your hospital room, and I couldn't find you. No one knew where you were!" She pulled away, and glanced down at Jay, "How dare you take her away from her room? She's not well Jay. As her husband, you shouldn't be rushing her. Give her time, and if she doesn't remember, then that's the way it's supposed to be."
"You don't want her to remember!" Jay argued, rising from his seat, "You know that if she remembers, then she'll kick you to the curb like she did years ago."
"Let's go Erin," Bunny began pulling her daughter away, "Dr. Brooks gave you the green light. We're going to get you discharged, and then you're coming home with me. Do you remember Landon? He's back, and he asked about you."
Halstead reached out for his wife's other arm, "She's not going with you Bunny."
"Let her go Jay." Bunny yanked her daughter's arm.
"STOP!" Erin screamed, yanking herself free, "Please just stop!"
She looked up and saw Voight and Burgess hurry over. As they approached her, she took a quick step back. Lindsay placed her hands against her forehead, "I need to think." She glanced around at the worried faces, "Mom, how is Landon doing?"
"Seriously," Jay glanced at his wife confusedly, "that's the first thing you think to ask? Who the hell is Landon?"
Bunny took another hold of her daughter's hand, "He's Erin's ex-boyfriend. He was a great boyfriend, wasn't he baby?" She brushed the few hairs off of her daughter's forehead, "He treated you good, and he respected the relationship that we share. Now let's go home, and I'll call him to come over."
Halstead shook his head, and reached out for Erin's hand, "Wait. Er, come home with me. If you want to try to get your memories back, we're your best option. If you had your memories, you wouldn't even think to consider leaving with your mom."
"But…" Erin's voice lowered as she took in the three detectives' faces, "I don't know any of you." She pulled her hand out of his, "I don't even know if we were really in love. I don't know anything about us."
"We're married," he reminded.
"So," Erin shrugged her shoulders, "a lot of things can explain that."
"What about this?" Kim stepped forward, and held her cell phone out, "you left me a voice mail the day before your anniversary. I couldn't bring myself to delete if after the accident. If you just give us a minute, and listen to this message, you'll hear your own voice and how much you love your husband."
Erin gave each person a glance, as her hand slowly reached out for the phone. She pressed the cell against her ear and silently listened to her own voice as it professed the undying love she held for her husband of four years. She loved him to the moon and back. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She wanted a family with him. She wanted Burgess to answer the phone so she could share some girl-talk with her about her husband. If she didn't hear the message for herself, she wouldn't have believed it. Her hand trembled as she pulled the phone away from her ear, "I don't…I don't know."
"You deserve to have your memories back," Voight decided to finally speak up. He kept quiet because he didn't want to scare her away. He remembered what she thought of him before he gave her his card and she moved in. Hank wanted to tread lightly on water out of fear that she'll never come back to him, to all of them. Voight stepped forward, tilted his head and gave her, his daughter, his signature grin, "You owe it to yourself to honor and respect the choices you have made in the last few years. You chose to marry Halstead. You were happy with him. You should go with him so you can see why."
Lindsay easily pulled her arm out of her mother's hold. She watched Bunny fearfully watch her daughter take a step towards Halstead, "Okay, I'll go with you, but I don't want you to pressure me into remembering. If I remember anything, then that's great. If I don't, then it wasn't meant to be."
"Sweetie, do you really think this is a good idea?" Bunny stepped forward and tried to block her daughter.
"I don't know," Lindsay's shoulders shrugged, "I always have you to fall back on if things don't work out."
Bunny nodded her head, and pressed a kiss against her daughter's cheek, "Landon's going to continue asking about you. I'll tell him you're doing fine, okay sweetie."
Erin pulled away from her mother, and turned to face her husband. She glanced down at her hospital gown and frowned, "Before I check out, can I change my clothes first?"
Kim grinned, "I had a feeling you would want to. I stopped pass your place and grabbed an outfit for you. It's in your room."
"Thank you."
"That's what best friends are for," Kim looped her arm through Erin's and led her to her room.
Bunny crossed her arms and turned to face Voight and Halstead. Once she heard the cafeteria door shut, the older Lindsay approached Hank, "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"What do you mean?" Hank shouted, struggling to withhold his anger, "We're not the ones feeding into a lie. You and Erin haven't spoken to each other in five years! I don't know what you did to make that happen, but I know you did something bad because Erin doesn't just forget about family."
"This is our second chance Hank."
"That may be true," Voight nodded, "but let me give you a warning, if you continue to take advantage of her memory loss, you're going to have me to worry about. Am I making myself clear?"