"You need to talk to Will," came Natalie's voice from behind her.
"Why?" she asked as she turned to face Natalie.
"Dr. Rowan," was all Natalie said.
"I know she's been admitted," Juliette was going to need a little more information.
"You know what she means to Will," Natalie might have meant it to sound like a question, but Juliette heard it as a statement.
"And your point?" Juliette had a feeling she knew where this was going.
"You need to talk to him. He wants to prolong her life, when that's not the right call," Natalie was definitely frustrated with Will, "Not this time,"
"Nina should talk to him," Juliette said, her eyes searching for the man in question, "She's the girlfriend,"
"You need to talk to him," the emphasis on 'you' not going unheard.
Juliette sighed, becoming less defensive when the exasperation in Natalie's voice registered, "Why is it always me?"
Natalie chuckled a little, "Because you're you,"
"Halsteads don't listen, never have," she resigned as she made her way to the one place she knew she'd find him.
"Thank you," came the shout across the floor.
The elevator doors opened to reveal April getting off as Juliette went to get on.
"Everything okay?" April asked.
"Halsteads," was all Juliette said as the elevator doors closed once more.
April shook her head, laughing to herself, as she made her way back to Natalie and Dr. Rowan.
Juliette shuddered at the cold she instantly felt when she stood out on the balcony.
Chicago winters were not kind, and for some unknown reason, the Halstead brothers always seemed to be out in the cold unnecessarily.
She spotted Will at the table, oblivious to her arrival, staring out into the distance.
Sighing, she walked over to him, standing next to him in silence for a moment, waiting to see if he would say something first.
After a few minutes, she realised he hadn't registered her arrival, so she spoke softly, "I just checked in on Dr. Rowan,"
Her voice caused Will to look at her, "When did you…? How?"
"Natalie," she answered.
Another brief moment silence, before Juliette spoke again, "I heard you ordered dialysis,"
"She's in renal failure. That's the appropriate treatment," Will's voice was too clinical, it was just her he was talking to.
"I understand the medicine doctor," Juliette putting emphasis on the word doctor.
Will cringed, he knew he'd been harsh, and she was letting him know it.
"Even if you dialyse her…." She started, her voice soft again.
"I am," Will cut her off, giving her side glare.
Ignoring the glare, Juliette reached out, placing a hand on Will's arm to get him to look at her, actually look at her.
"Even if you dialyse her, she's unlikely to come off the vent," she squeezed his arm in comfort.
"Etta," the look of desperation Will was giving her hurt her heart a little, but someone had to reason with him, with the empathic doctor inside him.
"That means she'll be bed ridden. Eventually she'll need a tracheostomy," she pressed on, "You've already broken her ribs. Now she'll have bed sores, a feeding tube,"
Will kept looking at her, his eyes starting to water.
"Shouldn't quality of life be a consideration?" she posed.
Squeezing his arm once more, she gave him a sad smile and headed back indoors, "Treat the patient Will, not the disease,"
He gave her retreating form a look of surprise, when had she seen him watching the video?
She found Natalie as she was putting in the line for dialysis.
The questioning look Natalie gave her, was answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
Nodding sadly, Natalie went back to the task at hand and Juliette headed back to the command centre.
Natalie had just finished with the line when Will appeared in the room, "Good. You haven't started,"
"Just finished the line. Why?" Natalie was cautious as to where this conversation was heading.
"You were right. We shouldn't do this," sanitising his hands and grabbing gloves as he stepped further into the room.
"What changed your mind?" Natalie asked. She knew sending Juliette after him had been the right call.
"Treat the patient, not the disease," he answered, looking over to where Juliette was standing.
The look he was giving her confirming to Natalie that what she thought had happened, did.
"Our patient wouldn't have wanted this," his tone displaying his fondness for Dr. Rowan, "April, ten milligrams of morphine and hang a drip please,"
April nodded at his request.
Sharon entered the room just as Will spoke again, "Doctor Rowan, I'm going to extubate you. I promise you won't feel any pain,"
"I'll let you two be alone with her now" Natalie said softly when she noticed Sharon's presence.
Juliette was eyes deep in paperwork when she heard Natalie's voice, "I don't know what you said to him, but it worked,"
"I just told him what he already knew," she said as she looked up.
"We all told him what he already knew," Natalie smiled softly, "But he only heard it when it came from you,"
"Halsteads don't listen to anyone," Juliette shook her head.
"They listen to you," Natalie chuckled as she walked away, leaving Juliette to get back to her paperwork.
The sound of Dr. Rowan flatlining broke through to Juliette's attention.
When she looked up at the room, Will was nowhere to be found.
"Shit," she cussed at herself as she went in search of him.
She found him in the staff room, locker open, head hidden away.
He had already shed his doctor scrubs, clearly wanting to get as far away from the hospital as he could.
"Will?" her voice apprehensive and soft as she stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.
He sniffed away tears when he heard her voice, quickly shutting his locker door.
He was trying to appear normal, like he was okay.
The look he got from her stopped him in his tracks.
He should have known that she would see right through his act, she always had.
"Hey," she approached him slowly, stopping right in front of him, "I'm so sorry for your loss,"
Will didn't trust himself to speak, he stood there nodding slightly.
Her heart broke for him, and she instantly wrapped her arms around him.
"It's okay," she whispered into his ear, and that's all it took to break him.
She felt him shake as he sobbed, could feel his tears soaking into her shirt.
Without letting go of him, she managed to manoeuvre them, so they were now sitting on the floor, resting against the wall.
Neither one of them heard Nina open the door, or heard her leave looking heartbroken.
After what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, Will's sobbing began to subside.
"She gave me so much," his voice was hoarse from all the crying.
"I know," Juliette reassured him, her arms still firmly wrapped around him.
"You always know" he tried to lighten the mood, but he meant every word.
"I know you," she answered honestly.
Will didn't have any words that would give justice to how he felt, so he simply relished in the safe and comfort her arms offered him.
The sound of Juliette's phone ringing broke the sombre mood.
"You off shift yet?" Will could hear Jay's voice through the phone.
"About to be," she answered, releasing Will as she did, "Why?"
"Dinner tonight?" Jay asked.
"Sure, at mine?" she watched Will get up and gather himself.
"Need me to bring anything?" she could hear Jay getting into his car.
"Just yourself," she smiled, not that Jay could see it.
"Everything okay?" Jay could tell something was off.
"Will's had rough day," she sighed as she stood.
"Say no more," Jay knew he would get the full story over dinner, "Drag his ass home with you,"
"Of course," she laughed as she hung up.
"What did Jay want?" Will asked, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"His coming over for dinner, and so are you," she answered, shedding her own scrubs.
She looked over at him when she didn't hear a response, "You need this,"
"Okay," he resigned, and Juliette knew she would get now further argument.
"Now, get in my car," she pointed to the door as she shut her locker.
"Yes ma'am," he joked as he headed out.
Juliette ignored the smirks she was getting from Maggie, Natalie and April.
Her main focus tonight was Will.
"We're going to talk about this," she heard Maggie shout from behind her.
Shaking her head as she laughed, Juliette followed Will out to her car.
Tonight was going to be a long night.