Erin awoke to the comfort of the king sized bed and the warm comforter enveloping her body. She stretched her arms and legs before tossing the covers off of her body. While it was the first night she's spent in her home, she still remembered nothing. Without the added stress of remembering, she approached the mirror hanging on the wall above the dresser.
Lindsay smiled at her reflection, as she took in her appearance. Her face looked tired, and she gently traced the small cuts along her forehead. As she lowered her hands, her eyes spot italicized writing against the side of her finger. It was a tattoo. She squints her eyes in order to read the writing better, "Jay." As the name registers in her mind, her eyes expand two times larger. Why would she get his name tattooed on her? She wasn't one of those girls. She vowed to never get anyone's name tattooed on her body.
As the bedroom door opens, a yawning Halstead enters. He runs his free hand over his exposed chest as his other hand covers his opened and yawning mouth. He rubs against his eyes, and takes in the room, "Oh," Erin jumps at his words, "I'm sorry. I completely forgot." Jay stretched his hand out and grabbed the throw blanket on top of their bedroom couch, "You have to know I didn't do this on purpose."
Instead of the annoyed response he had expected, it never came. In its place was a small chuckle. She covered her face and released a small laugh that was just music to Jay's ears.
"What's funny?" he set the blanket back down.
Erin watched him grab a shirt out of the dresser, "You're funny when you're flustered."
"Thanks I guess," he smiles as he pulls the t-shirt over his head.
Lindsay crawled onto the bed, and sat upon her knees. She felt comfortable. She was relaxed. Even though she didn't remember Jay, her body and her mind was telling her to trust him. She couldn't see herself being romantically involved with him –at least not now- but she could see him as a potential friend.
"What are we doing today?"
He was surprised. He thought he would have had to urge her to spend time with him, but she was actually taking the initiative.
"Unfortunately, I have to work today," as Jay spoke, he noticed the smile on her face falter, "but, I'm going to make it up to you. I'm in the process of making breakfast."
She crawled off of the bed, "I just got out of the hospital. I'm sure Voight will understand if you call in sick."
"He would, but his boss wouldn't. I already used up all of my vacation days these last two months."
Her fingers ran through her hair, "Sorry about that."
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault."
The smell of breakfast began to fill up their home, "Are you making breakfast?" Erin's eyes are wide as she inhales the scent of food, "I hope you're making bacon." He takes her hand and leads her out of their bedroom and down the stairs, "You probably don't remember this, but before the accident, you were trying to go on a diet." The two entered the kitchen, and he released her hand. Halstead walked over to the cooking breakfast and flipped the pancakes.
"Forget the diet," she pushed herself up onto the counter, "because apparently, I already did."
He chuckled to himself, "That's my girl…I was hoping you would say that," he pointed over to the plate beside him, "Because I had obviously cooked too much." Jay loves the look on her face as she eyes the sizeable amount of bacon."
Halstead set the spatula down, as he increased the temperature on the stove. She watched him cook and it seemed natural. He was at home, and she felt content. No part of Erin wanted to leave even though her surroundings were foreign to her. The young detective adjusted herself on the counter, as she watched Jay nibble on an extra piece of bacon.
"Okay, so you're my partner," she spoke and watched as he nodded along, "…I'm still in shock about that. It's just weird, you know? The life I lived wasn't the life of a future cop."
"Yeah, well that's your past. Now…now you're an amazing detective," He inched himself towards her, "and without you, we wouldn't have put away so many bad guys. You're an asset to our team, and without you, our unit would be incomplete."
Jay didn't want to push her too much, and therefore, he stepped back. He had forgotten for a quick second, and he didn't want to force himself and memories upon his wife, especially since she was against the idea of being forced to remember. He heard the food sizzling in the pan, and he rushed over to the pancakes in order to flip them once more.
"Would you want to come into work with me today?" Jay set the spatula down, and turned to face his wife once more, "You can see how it is being a cop. It may help to remind you of your life before the…before the accident." He stumbled over his words.
She hopped off of the counter, "I'm not ready yet. If I go into work with you, everyone will hover. They'll constantly ask how I'm doing, and I won't catch a break. I'm not ready for any of that…and besides, my last memory involving the cops wasn't a pleasant one."
"…that's completely understandable."
"Just go to work, and try not to worry about me."
He smirks, "That's impossible."
Usually Halstead wasn't one to make breakfast, but it was a special occasion and he was trying to impress his wife. The table was set; he pulled the chair out for her, and made her plate. Breakfast consisted of pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast. After pouring her a glass of orange juice, he took a seat across from her, "Is this normal?" she took a bite of her meal, "Do you always make me breakfast?"
"No," he laughed, shaking his head, "only on special occasions."
"What's the special occasion today?"
"…you're home."
Quietness ensued. The two ate in silence. Neither knew what to say. They didn't want to make breakfast awkward, but the silence was doing just that. Erin poured syrup over her pancakes, "I've been thinking about this all night…please explain Voight to me."
"He and his wife took you in as a child."
"No," Erin shook her head while cutting up her pancakes, "My mom raised me."
"…not the entire time."
"You said that I haven't spoken to my mom in years," her voice remained low as she fought back the urge to stop talking, "Why?"
"You never told me."
"You're my husband, though. Shouldn't you know?"
He took a sip of juice, "You wouldn't say. I respected that."
Erin was full. She set the fork and knife down upon her empty plate. Jay finished a few minutes before her, but he didn't leave the table. He stayed and waited until she was done. As he stood up to clear the table, she rose to help, "I have a tattoo."
His eyes glanced down to her hand, "I have one too." Lindsay's eyes fell upon his, and on the same finger rested her name, "We did it for our first anniversary."
"I'm not the type of person to get a guy's name tatted on her."
"Neither of us were," he responded, taking her empty plate from her hold, "…that was until we met each other."
Eyes fell upon eyes. She was frozen in place. He stood still, holding dirty dishes ready to be washed. At the clearing of Erin's voice, he broke eye contact, "I'm sorry Jay. I really am. I'll remember eventually."
"I know you will," he extends his hand and lightly squeezes her shoulder.
The two share eye contact and neither were willing to break from it. Erin notices the sparkle in her husband's eye every time he looked at her. And now she can't help the smile tugging at her lips, "What time do you start work?"
"Oh shit," Halstead pulls away after glancing at the kitchen clock, "I'm late."
"Voight will probably go easy on you, right?"
Jay laughs as he races upstairs into their bedroom, "Voight doesn't believe in excuses." Within seconds, he's back downstairs, shoving his feet into his shoes, "Hopefully he cuts me a little slack considering…you know, your condition, but I wouldn't count on it."
"Tell him that I needed you; that should do the trick."
Jay smiled at the worried expression on her face. She was concerned for him…and while he knew that she had no reason to be, his smile of assurance didn't comfort her. He reached into the coat closet and grabbed his leather jacket, "I won't get fired. If anything, he'll just lecture me or give me a warning. Voight would never fire me." Erin seems to take his word for it. She gives him a dimpled grin and walks him to the door, "I have to admit. I'm nervous about leaving you."
Her hand pats his back in a friendly manner, "I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"…positive."
Erin opens the door for her husband, "Make sure you lock the door behind me."
"Yes dad," she jokes, saluting towards him as he left. Jay chuckled as he walked down the porch stairs. He loved the fact that Lindsay felt comfortable enough to smile, ask questions and joke around with him. While the two only seemed to be friendly acquaintances, he knew eventually, if he played his cards right, they would blossom into something more. If he helps her, day by day, she'll start to remember…she has to for her sake...and his. Seeing her, not being able to touch her, kiss her, flirt with her and reminisce about the old days killed him…and it's only been a few days. He couldn't imagine if this were to be permanent.
Lindsay does as she's told. She closes the door and locks all three locks. The young detective turned around and pressed her back against the bolted door, "What to do?" She pushes off of the door, and begins roaming the house. Her feet travels upon the elongated hallway, aligned with photos. There were photos of her, Voight, Camille and Justin…she had wondered where Camille and Justin were and what exactly they are both up to. Other photos consisted of her and Jay with various friends and family members. The largest photo in the hall was of her and Halstead, her husband, on their wedding day. She could tell from the beautiful wedding dress that framed her figure and the matching tux that Jay wore. The way they looked at each other, she envied that…and she wanted it back.
As minutes passed, she worked up the strength to pull her eyes away from the remaining photos. She did notice how her mother was not in one of them. Lindsay needed to pass the time, at least until Halstead got off of work. She approached the bookshelf in the living room, and scanned the various rows of novels, until her eyes landed upon a DVD case. The writing on it was a date, which was in accordance to their wedding day. Erin pulled the DVD out of its case and raced over to place it into the player connected to the television.
Jay checks into work, and begins treading up the stairs. From the moment he pulled out of the parking lot, he wanted to go back to Erin. He didn't want to leave her just yet. It hadn't even been 24 hours since she woke up. "Jay," he turns at the sound of his name being called. Burgess is at the bottom of the stairs, and begins climbing them, two at a time, "How is she? How is Erin? Did she sleep through the night? Is she okay? Is she still upset about last night?"
"Oh, and I'm sorry about last night," Ruzek appears, scratching the back of his head, nervously, "I wasn't thinking…as I'm well aware you were aware of. It came from a good place. Let Er know that, okay? I felt really bad. Ask Kim, I hardly got any sleep last night because of it."
Before Jay could respond to either of them, Voight exited his office. He waved for Officer Burgess and his two detectives to join him and the rest of the team in his office, "Okay," he said as Halstead closed the door behind him, "Last night, after twisting a few arms, I managed to get the traffic footage, and then early this morning I started reviewing it." He turned his laptop around to show his team, "I don't know who he is…yet, but I'll find out. Here, I'll show you."
"Sir, have you gotten any sleep?" Jay pulled up a seat.
"I'll sleep after we catch this bastard," Voight plays the video in slow motion, "here's you and Erin," Hank points out their car as it stops. The feed on the video is in black and white, and is not fully clear, but the team can make out the figures just enough to recognize their colleagues, "Here's the hit," Voight temporarily turns away at the sight of Lindsay flying through the windshield of the car, "And that's the guy."
Jay reopened his eyes after his wife made impact. He couldn't stand to watch that scene either, however when Voight pointed out the man exiting his vehicle, it pulled his attention back to the screen, "Wait," Halstead stood up, "He got out of the car. He saw what he did to us…and he still left. He left us there. He left her there. He didn't even call for help!"
"I'm going to give the footage to Mouse and see if he can get anything from it."
Olinsky watches as Voight shuts the laptop, "He seemed to run from the scene pretty fast. Do you think he was drinking? Maybe that's why he left the scene."
"I don't know, but whatever reason, I don't care." Hank lifted his laptop, but before he exited his office, he took a quick glance at Jay, "Hey, how's Erin? How was her first night at home?"
"Surprisingly…better than expected."
Erin sat, knees to her chest, in the living room of her house. She occasionally wiped her eyes as she watched the remaining seconds of her wedding play out across the screen. She looked so happy, happier than she's ever remembered. And before the video comes to an end, she hears the words of her husband say to her then…and now, "…and no matter what happens, we'll always find our way to one another."
Every fiber of her being is terrified. She completely committed herself to someone who was once the love of her life, and is now currently, a forgotten memory. She felt the pressure of remembering from everyone. And while the curiosity pushed her to watch her wedding video, she immediately started to regret it. Erin rose to her feet, and went upstairs to get dressed. She needed to go outside, walk around and clear her mind. She needed to get herself together and figure out what to do. Erin needed to get her life in order right away.