Chapter Six

Hasty Introductions

Miss Goodwin sighed in frustration, hands reaching up to massage her forehead, as she fled the general chaos to find solace in her office. After the Corona period it was shortage everywhere. They had already used up certain medications and no substitutes were being manufactured in enough quantities to make up for what was missing. Meanwhile patients seemed to be pouring through the doors while the number of staff had diminished over the last year. Sooner or later, they'd have to say no to people because they didn't have enough doctors and nurses to treat them. Gaffney was a non-profitable hospital and therefore they were obliged to take on as many patients as possible without getting more money for doing so.

There was soft knock on the door before Peter popped his head inside. "Sharon, you got a minute?" he asked.

She waved him in as she walked around the desk and sat down. "I don't like the look on your face. I hope you're not here to give me any more bad news."

"The whole Vascom affair is over and done with and we're not dealing with any lawsuits at the moment so I'd say we're handling the situation-,"

Sharon sighed. "There is a but coming," she muttered sourly.

"-but, as you well know, we are dealing with shortages everywhere. It will be problematic unless it can't be dealt with soon. If we can't keep up and ensure patient safety we'll have to close until matters are resolved."

"Peter," Goodwin spoke up seriously. "We can't close the hospital. Where would people go?"

"I don't have any good answer to that. I am sorry, Sharon. I just thought you should know," he replied sadly as he turned to leave.

OOOOOO

"Nice pile of debris," Jay Halstead said with a smirk as he walked up next to his brother.

Will didn't bother to look at his brother, he kept staring across the street at what had been an apartment building full of life and people. "Seems you got all the luck," he mused sourly.

Jay frowned. "Like I got all the luck?" he echoed. "Definitely. I didn't cash out a couple of millions recently."

Will turned to his head to look at Jay. "At least you have a place to stay and you got your girl," he reasoned.

"Look, about that, Hails and I told you to come live with us. Just until things settle."

"Yeah, and I didn't want to intrude on your privacy," he replied. "Goodwin offered me a spare room so all worked out in the end."

Silence settled over the two Halstead's for a moment.

"So, have you gotten anywhere with Dylan's friend?"

"Officially we're not involved yet," Jay reminded him.

"What about unofficially?" Will pushed.

Jay scrunched his face. "It's a little delicate. We can't just barge in and take over the whole case. It's a joint mission with the DEA. There's a lot of people involved."

"Don't give me that bullshit. It's a secret undercover operation. What's the whole point of going undercover if there are a lot of people knowing about it?"

"All right. There is no need to go all sassy on me," he muttered. "We're wrapping up the Los Temidos case but when that is done, we're going to help out in any way we can."

"I hope it'll be soon, Jay, because I'm a little worried about Dylan. If they tried to assassinate Jo before his eyes then they won't hesitate to kill him either."

Jay shook his head. "No, killing a doctor won't look good on your resume. Are you coming to Molly's tonight?"

"Why?" Will offered dryly. "To celebrate my status as homeless?"

OOOOOO

There was a faint knock on the doorframe, causing Voight to look up for a moment. Decades of policework had made him a master of hiding his feelings, draping a mask over his face so that he appeared calm and collected when facing almost anything or anyone – unless of course he wanted to put his emotions on display. That was why he gave the doctor a calm and casual glance and motioned for him to come in even though he was surprised to see him at the precinct; especially in his office.

"Something I can do for you?" he asked then narrowed his eyes guessing the identity of the man. "Doctor Scott?"

The younger, burly man, looked mildly amused as he eyed the sergeant across the desk. "I was looking for one of your detectives, thinking you were on medical leave," he said pointedly. "Actually, I even thought you were at the hospital."

Voight made a face. "I am just sitting behind a desk," he reasoned.

Scott hummed in disbelief.

There was a rapid knock on the open doorframe and then Ruzek popped around the corner. "Hey boss, we've found-," he paused as he realized his superior wasn't alone. "Doctor Scott," he acknowledged.

The doctor smirked. "No, you don't appear to work. My mistake," he drawled.

Voight seemed annoyed as he leaned back in his chair. "Okay, first of all, I am fine. Secondly, if you just came over here to give me medical advice, I suggest you go back the way you came."

Scott pursed his lips as he studied the man before him, feeling like he was ten years old and standing in the principal's office. 'So,' he thought. 'This was the infamous Voight stare.' The sergeant had a reputation for being tough as nails; a hard ass. You really didn't want to mess with Voight because he could make your life miserable if he wanted to. However, Voight also had a reputation to be fair to those who deserved it and his unit held the record score for solved cases. It was the Intelligence Unit which had solved the case with the crazed Doctor Seldon a couple of years ago and it was the Intelligence Unit who'd brought Mayor Kelton's murderer to justice. He was sure they had a lot of high-profile cases on their unofficial list but figured it was mostly classified or hidden away from the news flashes and cameras of the media.

Within the police force the Intelligence Unit was pretty famous but to the public, the citizens of Chicago, they appeared very anonymous. Sure, media gave them credit when credit was due but they never appeared in front of the cameras, never exposed themselves to the limelight. They didn't want to be recognized; it would make their job much harder.

The former police officer, now pediatric doctor, shook out of his musings. "I don't know how much you know yet but I wanted to ask around about Jo. There is something that doesn't sit right."

"How do you mean?" Voight asked curiously then held up his hand to forestall the answer and nodded at Adam to get into the room and report.

Ruzek quickly filled him in. "Narcotics just raided a warehouse in Canaryville. It turns out the owner is Doctor Scott's Serbian Mafia friend. Guess what else they found over there?"

The doctor frowned. "No idea," he answered.

"A woman who claims to have information about Milena Jovanovic's whereabouts has been arrested and brought into custody. She's currently residing at the 22th district."

Scott shook his head. "Jo? Whereabouts? I went to see her in her hospital room yesterday. I was about to visit her this morning but-," he stopped talking and reached for his phone. Sighing with relief as someone picked up at the other end. He put the phone on speaker so that the others could hear as well. "Crockett, good I reached you. Please tell me Jo is in her room, recuperating from her gunshot injury."

"Dylan I've been trying to find you," Marcel replied quickly. "She discharged herself a few hours ago. Some creepy tattooed guy saw her out. She left a message to you -," he paused as if trying to remember what it stood. "-NC, raid, going back, last mission, don't look."

Scott inhaled sharply. "Okay, thanks for letting me know," he replied disappointedly.

Adam crossed his arms over his chest with a look of confusion on his face. "What is she playing at?"

"NC must stand for Nikola Curkola. She's working on her credibility," Voight said slowly.

"Why? She got burned. The guy even tried to kill her," Ruzek stated.

Scott looked at Voight. "She's trying to prove she's still one of them," he concluded.

The cunning older man nodded. "Yes," he said. "She still doesn't trust her colleagues to have her back. In order to save herself from a quick death, she needs to prove to Nikola that she can be useful to him. Looks like she's planning on finding the mole herself."

Scott suddenly looked troubled again. If the police brass decided she had crossed sides she would be considered rough and treated accordingly.

As if Voight could read his mind, the old silver fox leaned forward with a faint half-amused quirk on his lips. "There are more sides to a coin than simply two," he suggested enigmatically.

Scott smirked, looking into the deep brown eyes of Voight. "I thought you'd say there is more to the world than black and white."

The Sergeant's lips quirked upwards in what looked like a half-amused smile. "That too. You'd be surprised at how many shades of grey you can find," he replied casually as he gingerly got out of his office chair. "Adam, take Kim with you, do some digging at the warehouse. I'll have Jay and Hailey coordinate a few things with Platt. Kevin stays here, doing research from our end."

Ruzek frowned as he watched Voight reach for his jacket. "I am just curious, boss, where are you going?"

"To see Deputy Superintendent Miller. We have a few things to discuss," he said to Ruzek then turned to Scott. "Doc," he acknowledged curtly before leaving them behind.

Scott watched him leave. Voight hid his pain like a pro but after having studied medicine for several years he could easily pick up on the subtle signs. He was tempted to call it in, in fact he had a duty to report policemen who was considered a liability to themselves or others in the field. However, Voight didn't head out to a crime scene, he was smarter than that. He simply got behind the wheel of his car to drive from one office to another. There was no rule which forbode him to do so as long as he didn't endanger others in the process.

OOOOOO

To be continued