Hailey rolled over in bed only to realize the space next to her was empty yet again. She looked at the clock on his bedside table. It was just after two am. Slowly rolling out of bed, she tip toed over to the bathroom. She could see the light coming from underneath the door and heard an audible grown from inside.
Knocking softly on the door, "Can I come in?" In response Jay sighed. She attempted to open the door, but unsurprisingly it was locked. "Come on Jay, I know you're sick again," she said with a little more force.
He finally responded, "I'll be out in a minute Hailey." She could hear the discomfort and tiredness in his voice. Deciding to leave him be for the moment she mumbled a soft "okay," before walking back to bed.
She laid down, staring at the ceiling, thinking about how sick Jay had been the last month. His stomach had been hurting, ranging from frequent mild cramps to crippling pain the had him in the fetal position with his arms wrapped tightly around his middle. She thought about his lack of appetite and subsequent weight loss, the occasional bouts of nausea. Not to mention he had been going to the bathroom eight to ten times a day. Several weeks ago she had gotten him to admit that he was having incredibly frequent loose stools, remembering how embarrassed he was of that admission. To no surprise Jay was being stubborn, claiming that it was just the stomach bug from hell. She'd been nagging him to at least tell Will about it since he didn't want to see his primary care doctor, but he kept procrastinating.
She heard the toilet flush and the faucet turn on as he washed his hands. He slowly walked out of the bathroom with his shoulders hunched forward and an arm wrapped protectively around his belly. She watched as he cautiously laid down, careful not to jar his already hurting stomach.
As he got comfortable he mumbled softly, "sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Rolling over she looked at him asking, "how many time have you been up to the bathroom tonight?"
Looking away from her, Jay admitted "three times so far," as another wave of pain hit him. She noticed his slight grimace, attempting to hide his discomfort.
"Jay this is getting out of hand. You're constantly in pain, can't eat, keep loosing weight, not to mention you spend more time in the bathroom than at your desk. People are starting to notice, both Kevin and Kim asked me if something was going on last week. They look really worried, hell even Platt questioned if you were okay. I'm sure Voight's noticed too," Hailey huffed.
"Hailey, I'm fine, it'll pass."
Raising her voice, "that's what you said two weeks ago. Jay, you can't keep doing this. You've lost at least ten pounds. I'm done having this conversation. I don't get why you're being so stubborn about this when it's so obvious that something is going on. We're going to work tomorrow, you will take it easy, and you will be making an appointment with your primary care doc or you're letting Will come take a look at you. Those are your options."
"Fine," he all but whispered as he rolled over, trying to get in a more comfortable position. Hailey assumed he was angry after her rant, trying to subconsciously get away from her. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder and was surprised by a small flinch.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice. I'm just worried about you. Remember in sickness and in health." She inched closer to her husband, cuddling up against him.
"I know, love you," he mumbled as they fell into a restless sleep.
She woke up a few minutes before their alarm, quickly picking up her phone to turn it off so it wouldn't wake up Jay. She decided to let him sleep a few extra minutes.
After taking a quick shower, got dressed and made her way out to the kitchen, turning on the coffee maker that she had prepped the night before. She grabbed eggs out of the fridge and pulled out three slices of fresh sourdough bread from the brown bakery bag. Two slice with eggs for her and one measly slice for Jay. That's all he could manage these days. As she made her way over to the stove, she noticed him standing in the doorframe.
He was leaning against the doorframe in just sweatpants, rubbing his eyes. She stared at him a few moments too long, noting how thin his frame had become, the arm wrapped around his abdomen, his pale skin, and the unhealthy bags under his eyes.
"What?" He asked, hating that he was making her worry.
"Nothing, you just look tired, I turned the alarm off so you could get some extra sleep. Go get ready, I'll finish making breakfast."
"Just toast," he muttered as he turned back towards the bathroom.
Hailey finished preparing breakfast, eating hers while standing up. She poured two cups of coffee and started cleaning up.
She heard Jay walk out of the bedroom. He was dressed in jeans, that looked too baggy on him and his most comfortable henley. He slowly sat down at the barstool that Hailey had placed his plate in front of, staring meekly at the lone slice of toast. Hailey could see the look of apprehension on his face.
"You have to eat something, just one piece." He nodded and slowly ate while sipping on his coffee. After finishing, he pushed himself away from the counter and placed the empty plate in the sink, pouring half his coffee down the drain.
"Let's go," he said as he grabbed his jacket, putting his cell and wallet in his pockets. "You're driving."
Hailey didn't miss the wince as he put on his jacket and they made their way to the car.
Jay was thankful for the slow day. Their case had ran cold a few days ago, so they were chasing leads from the office. Throughout the morning Jay had been back and forth from the bathroom. Hailey could see the lines of pain around his eyes. He kept a hand on his lower abdomen as he worked.
Just before noon they were all gathered around the white board. Jay sat on the top of his desk leaning back, bracing himself with one arm and gently laying a hand on his stomach with the other.
Voight stood across from him listening to the team talk about various suspects and potential theories. However, Voight's attention was on Jay. He noted his far off look. Jay clearly wasn't paying attention, not adding to the discussion. He could see how uncomfortable his detective was and decided to call their discussion quits.
"Alright, let's break for lunch," Voight said. He looked from Jay to Hailey, catching her attention and nodded towards the break room.
Hailey understood and walked over to Jay convincing him to take a nap on the small couch, while they grabbed lunch. Jay stood up slowly, from the desk and swayed slightly. Hailey grabbed his elbow and slowly walked with him to the break room. She got him settled on the couch and watched his body curl around his abdomen. He groaned into the pillow. She bent down, kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. "Just rest, I'll get you some soup." He didn't respond. Hailey ran her fingers through his hair humming softly until Jay had fallen asleep. She gently kissed his forehead and walked out of the room, lightly closing the door so she wouldn't wake him.
Hailey turned around and unsurprisingly found three worried friends looking at her.
"I know guys, I'm working on it, you know how much he loathes necessary medical care." They all nod in agreement as Hailey walks towards them.
"Come on, let's get something quick before he wakes up."
They return thirty minutes later. Hailey sets the bowl of soup down on Jay's desk and walks towards the breakdown, quietly opening the door. Jay's still sleeping, she hesitates, but decides to wake him up anyways. Bending down, she gently rubs his shoulder. His eyes slowly open, she smiles at him and says, "hey sleepy head." He slowly stretches his arms out and moves to sit up. Hailey watches as he suddenly grabs his abdomen and bolts past her out of the room.
He's gone before Hailey can say anything. She sighs, knowing he's running towards the bathroom. Standing up she heads towards Voight's office.
She knocks before opening the door and peaks her head inside. Noting the concerned look on her face Voight says, "just take him home. He needs to figure out what's going on with his health before coming back to full duty. Both of you take a few days off. He's on desk duty until further notice." Hailey knows better than to argue. Voight's message is clear, but that doesn't mean Jay will take it any easier.
"Thanks Sarge," she mumbles and quickly closes the door. She heads towards the bathroom, not bothering to knock and just talks to Jay through the door.
"Voight wants me to take you home." She decides to withhold the rest of Voight's orders for now.
She hears a gentle, "okay," from the other side of the door. She's surprised but now even more worried. She's not used to Jay giving in this easily when he's sick. She waits outside of the door for several minutes. Jay slowly walks out, he's pale and sweaty, holding his stomach tightly.
"You wait here I'm gonna get our stuff from the locker room." She walks quickly down the hallway and returns in what feels like record time to Jay. He's leaning up against the wall with his eyes clothes, breathing slowly, trying to get the pain under control.
"Come on let's get you home," she says while she helps him into his jacket. They slowly walk down the hallway. As they near the bullpen his posture straightens and the grimace disappears from his face. Hailey watches as he attempts to camouflage his discomfort in front of his colleagues, but none of them are fooled. She locks eyes with Kevin, Kim and Adam as they walk through, nodding at their worried looks. Jay's pace slows as they walk down the stairs, she can see him trying to breathe through the pain. Hailey holds onto Jay's elbow as she guides him past Platt's desk. Hailey hears a quiet "feel better chuckles," as they exit the district.
Hailey quickly gets Jay settled and hops into the driver's seat. They start driving, after several minutes, Jay is clearly asleep. Hailey calls Will through her car.
Will picks up. "Everything okay Hailey," he asks not bothering to greet her. Hailey then realizes she only calls Will when Jay is sick or injured.
"Jay hasn't been feeling well for a month or so, his stomach has been bothering him, he's lost a bunch of weight, and is in the bathroom constantly, even at night. He's being his stubborn self and refusing to go see the doctor or even talk to you about it. But it's getting worse, Voight sent him home from work today."
Will pauses, "we change shifts at five, I'll stop by after. I'm not sure what I can do for him, but I can at least take a look at him. Give you some guidance."
"Yeah that would be great Will, see you in a bit."
Hailey hears a soft knock at the door and jumps up. She's been anxiously waiting for Will. She opens the door and sees a tired Will on the other side.
"Thanks for coming, I'm sure you've had a long day." Will nods and slowly follows Hailey into the bedroom.
He finds Jay laying on his back, one arm draped over his eyes and the other, once again resting on his belly. Will gently rubs his shoulder and softly repeats, "wake up Jay," several times. He's careful not stand to close, having been hit by an errant elbow waking Jay up before. Jay slowly wakes up and stares confused back at Will.
He mutters, "of course she called you," smirking slightly. Hailey rolls her eyes.
"So I hear you've been sick and ignoring your symptoms for a while now huh. Tell me what's going on."
Jay moves himself into a half sitting position and is about to tell Will it's nothing until he sees Hailey's expectant glare.
"My stomach has been bothering me, I haven't been very hungry, plus I'm in the bathroom all day and night."
"When did this all start, how bad is the pain right now," Will ask.
Jay looks down at his lap. " Started about a month ago. Pain was kind of like mild cramps at first, getting really uncomfortable every now and then. Now it's uncomfortable pretty much all the time."
"How often are you having bowel movements? What do they look like?"
Jay responds sheepishly, "probably ten to twelves time a day, they're all watery."
"Any blood in them?" Jay shakes his head no. "Have you lost any weight," Will questions knowing Jay looks thinner.
"Maybe 10 pounds, I don't know maybe less," Jay tries to cover. Will sits down next to him on the bed, "Alright well let me do a quick assessment." Jay nods. Will starts to palpate his stomach, Jay looks uncomfortable but doesn't squirm. His abdomen is soft to the touch. He then grabs his stethoscope and takes a listen, hearing normal bowel sounds.
He ask one more question, "any vomiting?"
"Sometimes."
"No blood?"
"No," Jay responds quickly.
"Here's the deal," Will starts, looking back at Hailey and then to Jay. "I'm not sure I see anything acute going on, you've probably developed some sort of chronic GI problem that we need to get diagnosed. I'm concerned about the weight loss and amount of pain you're in. I still think it's best if you go to the ED. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the quickest way to get this all figured out, before it turns into something acute. This way we can bypass your primary care doc, and don't have to wait for weeks on a GI referral. You're in a tricky spot, now that this has been going on for a while."
Jay pouts. "Jay," Hailey says sharply.
A begrudging "I know," comes from Jay as he gingerly starts to move from the bed. Will helps him up and hands him off to Hailey before grabbing his medical bag. Jay throws on a sweatshirt and the three of them slowly head down to the car.