A/N: Happy Monday! I hope you're all doing well :) I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one as well!

"There she is! There's my little firefly."

Hailey smiled wide at her uncle as he entered the house. "What're you doing here?"

Uncle DJ shrugged and shoved his keys in his pockets. Squatting down in front of her, he said, "I heard a certain little girl went to school for the first time today. I thought I'd come see how it went."

Hailey giggled softly and shrugged. "It's not like…not like the very first time ever. I did do kindergarten."

"That's right," Uncle DJ gasped, "You did do kindergarten! So you're practically an old pro at this."

"Not old," Hailey corrected, "Just six."

"I'm so sorry," Uncle DJ replied.

"You are off your rocker," Hailey said, setting her hands on her hips.

Uncle DJ laughed and pulled her against him in a tight hug. "Maybe I am," he chuckled, kissing the top of her head, "You want to tell me all about your first day of school over some olives?"

Hailey nodded quickly through her laughter as she pulled out of his arms. "And will you give me a piece of chocolate?"

"Would I be Uncle DJ if I didn't?"

"You'd be a bad uncle."

"Always the sassiest little bug, aren't you?"

"I'm just smart."

Hailey's alarm went off, and she jerked against Jay's side as she woke up.

"Hailey, you okay?" he mumbled.

She hummed and rubbed a hand over her face. "Just a dream. I haven't…I haven't had one like that in a while."

Jay dragged his fingers down her bare side beneath the blankets. "Tell me about it."

Hailey sleepily smiled then turned on her side to place a hand on his chest. "My uncle coming to see me on my first day of first grade. I…I don't know if it was real or if it was a dream, but it was nice. Who knows where it came from, though."

"Maybe all our talk about school last night?" Jay asked.

Hailey let out a breath and softened.

They'd spent many hours the night before discussing everything about Jay's first day at the academy. They reviewed what he was going to say about himself and what was important to stay away from. They worked together to iron his uniform because he got too excited and accidentally burned himself while doing the collar. They wondered if he needed to bring a lunch or if the other instructors would want to go out.

And then Hailey had enough of the pessimism that was rolling off of Jay and decided that leading him to bed, where she pressed several kisses to his warm skin, was the best option. Even after he'd laid spent on the bed, he still managed to roll her over and give her the exact same treatment that left them both asking for much more.

Hailey wasn't quite sure when they fell asleep, but she figured it was much too late to then get their proper eight hours they'd discussed getting. That was one thing Jay had said he'd wanted over dinner to best set himself up for the day, yet it was also the one thing Hailey knew he probably wasn't going to get. The chances were slim that he'd be able to easily fall asleep, and she knew he would refuse her melatonin, so having sex until he practically passed out beneath her was the best option.

It was a win-win situation.

She had to admit that she was also nervous for the day. Before bed, she'd had much anxiety swirling around in her gut over the thought of Jay officially starting his new career, but as they both showed the other exactly how loved they were, she found herself relaxing and realizing that everything was going to work out. Jay was meant to be at the academy.

"Probably," she breathed. She rubbed her hand over his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat under her palm, "How'd you end up sleeping? You never woke me up with tossing and turning or anything."

"Because I refused to move," Jay sadly chuckled, "I, uh, I did wake up a couple times, but you looked so damn peaceful that I didn't want to do anything to change that. You were warm too, so I just focused on that – the feeling of you against me. You were like some sort of security blanket."

Hailey laughed softly and leaned down to peck his lips. "I'm glad I was able to help you out even in my sleep."

Jay smiled up at her and slipped his hand in her hair. "I think we're going to have to head into the shower in a few, don't you?"

"Do we really have to?" Hailey asked softly, "Can't we just repeat last night?"

Jay laughed and tugged her down so their lips could meet again. "I'd love to," he murmured, "But I don't think the teacher's supposed to be late on the first day."

Hailey jokingly sighed and sat up. "Fine, fine," she said with a smirk, "We can get up, but tonight-"

"Oh, tonight is a different story," Jay interrupted, "We are…yeah, tonight's gonna be good. A celebration of sorts."

"I love that," Hailey said while slipping out of bed, "What're your thoughts on having a nice dinner? Maybe even going out for it?"

Jay made a soft noise of agreement and nodded. Standing up and stretching the stiffness from his left arm, he said, "That sounds even better. Champagne?"

Hailey crinkled her nose and countered, "Red wine?"

Jay chuckled. "I can do that, as long as there's steak."

"And I can do steak," Hailey said, "Maybe I'll even put on a nice dress for you."

As she walked into the bathroom, she heard Jay say, "A nice dress just for me to take it off of you a couple hours later?"

She laughed and turned the water on.

Growing up, her mom had always made a big deal about the first day of school. There would be big dinners and chocolate milk from the store. Little gifts at their breakfast plates and a new pair of shoes by the front door. Big hugs outside the car and reassuring kisses the night before. Her mom made many mistakes while they were young, but the first day of school was never one of them.

While she had years before she'd have a child to celebrate on the first day of school, Jay's first day as an instructor was now, and he also deserved a celebration. Wine, steak, sex – it was the grown-up version of "Congratulations on surviving your return to school." Jay would love it.

And she could look forward to something positive for once. She had another two days before going back to therapy, and yet she actually felt like she was ready to return. She'd been trying to write more – little essays about what Jay meant to her, poems about growing up, short paragraphs about what work felt like – and she felt they were going to be good starting points for when Robin inevitably asked, "What would you like to discuss today?" The notebook had been put to use, so she figured she should share at least one thing that she'd written inside it.

The hot water soothed the stiff muscles in her back, and she closed her eyes against the impending steam. While she knew her mind would be elsewhere at points today because she was sure to be wondering what Jay was up to, she also knew she had a busy day regarding the Becks' case. Adam had finally gotten a date two weeks from now for whatever shipment or attack was going to take place. That meant preparations really had to get started regarding who was going to be stationed where and doing what. She was in for a busy day, so tonight's celebration could also be for the ending that was soon to come.

Kim seemed to becoming more and more agitated about the case. She'd made several more comments about not trusting Sam and wanting it all to be over with. She wasn't alone in the matter for Hailey always agreed with her, and Kevin was starting to express more and more of his concerns as well. While Richard's beliefs had been irking them all from the very beginning, it was really starting to wear on them all over this last week. Closing this case was sure to bring relief to them all.

"Hailey!"

Pulled from the cloud of thoughts fogging up her brain, Hailey brushed the water from her face and stuck her head out of the shower. "Yes?"

"I can't find my pancake! Have you seen it?"

Hailey sighed and closed her eyes. "I'll look for it once I'm out, but you don't need it, remember? You'll be in uniform and will have your regular holster."

There was a beat before Jay said, "Right. Sorry, sorry! Take your time."

A smile flickered across her face as Hailey shook her head. She closed the shower door and stepped back under the water.

It turned out she needed to get Jay out the door before she even began worrying about finishing up the Beck case.

The rest of the morning with Jay was a rollercoaster. There was a mix of emotions as he debated having breakfast, how much coffee he should have, and what exactly he needed to bring with him. Hailey was still beating down any annoyances she had toward him, but did decide she needed to invoke one of their Walter Reed rules: Jay needed to eat.

He was nervous and didn't think he would feel okay with a full stomach, but Hailey didn't care: she made him a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich with sausage, egg, ketchup, and an English muffin. After Jay had gone into a small whirlwind of wondering if he was going to get a stain on his uniform, she needed to step away from the kitchen to remind herself that this was normal – that he was just working through the last of his anxiety before walking out the door.

Luckily for her, the food seemed to settle the butterflies in Jay's stomach, and he became much more like himself as he slipped his shoes on.

"A fun night out to celebrate the start of the semester?" he asked softly once he'd straightened up to face her.

Hailey smiled and nodded, reaching out to brush her fingers along his jaw. "Of course, and you can tell me all about how the day went. Don't forget that you can text me throughout the day either. I'll be busy, but I'll find time for you."

Jay relaxed with his own smile and grabbed her waist. "And I'll always have time for you. I love you."

"I love you too," Hailey breathed when she pushed up on her tiptoes to kiss him slowly.

"Be safe," he murmured without giving her lips so much as an inch of space.

Hailey closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Same for you," she whispered in his ear, "Go change the world."

Jay's chuckle warmed the depths of her belly, and he gave her one last tight squeeze before reluctantly stepping back from her. "I can't wait for tonight," he said.

She blew him a kiss. "We'll celebrate it all. Have fun."

He sent her a small wave, the watch she'd gotten him showing on his wrist, then turned to walk out of their apartment.

Hailey took a deep breath and set a hand on her stomach to steady herself. He was going to be in a much safer spot than she would be, but she felt more nervous for him than for herself. She was walking into a situation that'd become routine for her whereas Jay was stepping into something brand new. Then again, he'd done just that months before when he'd gotten onto a plane heading for Bolivia. At least this time, there was little to no chance that his car would get bombed while at his job. That was something she was going to be grateful for for the rest of her life.

Her own breakfast went down easily, and she practically needed to rush out the door because of her extra few minutes spent sending Jay off, but she didn't mind in the least. Today was the day she'd been waiting for: it was the start of their new chapter.

It was also the start of a new case she wasn't expecting. She'd been at work for approximately three hours and was beginning to set up a potential action plan with Kevin and Voight when Trudy came into the bullpen asking for them to go back up Robbery-Homicide at a bank downtown.

Hailey didn't think she could ever turn down an opportunity to go back to her roots and show off how far she'd come since being the bull-in-a-China-shop detective she was just over five years before. There were still a few familiar faces within the unit, and that was another driving factor toward going to help them: she didn't want to hear that any of them didn't make it due to not enough back-up or help.

"You sure seemed excited to get out of there," Kevin said as they flew in his car through the streets toward the incident.

Hailey laughed softly and finished adjusting her vest over her left shoulder. "I like Robbery-Homicide cases, you know that, and, besides, I wasn't in much of a mood to be staring at lists of names or warehouses. We'll be doing enough of that over the next two weeks, it's okay to take some time off."

Kevin chuckled and shook his head. "Makes sense. Cannot wait until we put Beck's ass away though."

Hailey scoffed in agreement. "Now that's going to be a good day. We'll all deserve several shots when that happens."

"Might even have to just host at someone's house," Kevin added, "It'd be smarter than getting a bit too happy at the bar."

Hailey shot him a smile and said, "Sounds perfect to me. We haven't all had a big dinner in a while."

"Not since Jay came home," Kevin pointed out, "Would you be up to hosting again?"

"In my small apartment?" Hailey asked, "You're the one with a house."

"That I share with my brother," Kevin said, "You just have a Jay."

Hailey laughed again and looked out at the passing buildings. "I think we need to go to Kim and Adam's. He's the one who always drinks all the beer anyways."

Kevin pointed a finger at her and nodded. "Now that's a good point. They'll both want to celebrate the most anyways."

"Probably both deserve it the most too," Hailey said.

"Exactly, so party at the Ruzek-Burgess house in two weeks," Kevin finished.

Hailey smiled and glanced at her phone to see if anything had changed since Trudy had first asked them to go. Unfortunately, that smile faded pretty fast as she read the updates about what had happened.

"Drive faster," she breathed, "Someone's been hit, and a civilian died."

"What?" Kevin snapped, all the happiness also fading from his face as he pressed the gas down.

"It says one of the patrol officers on scene reported getting hit over the vest and that a woman who was at the bank when the crew came in was shot shortly after; they thought she was going to make it, but she died," Hailey quietly explained.

"Dammit," Kevin hissed.

Hailey set her jaw and shoved her phone back in her pocket before tying her hair up in a ponytail. All thoughts of Jay, Adam, and the Becks faded from her mind as she prepared herself for what was to come. It wouldn't do to dwell on anything else besides this case if she wanted any chance of coming out unharmed.

Kevin wasn't Jay, but he was damn good under pressure, and Hailey was grateful to have him at her side in this moment. The robbery crew at the bank was more intense than she'd seen in a while; they hadn't come unprepared and had to have had plans that mirrored the ones they were setting up for the Becks.

There was no time for fear or hesitation, though, as she worked with Kevin and her unit from years before to put an end to the absolute chaos that had taken over the bank. In her gut, she knew it was the exact kind of case Jay would have loved to work because of its high intensity. For a solid twenty minutes, she thought of nothing else but bringing an end to the terror that had taken over.

It wasn't until she was leading one of the few surviving crew members to a patrol car outside that she felt like she could breathe normally again.

"Thank you, ma'am."

Hailey looked up from shutting the car door and smiled slightly at the man in front of her. "You're welcome, but can you-"

"How'd you do it?" he asked, "I saw you over there with that disarm. You looked trained."

"I am trained," Hailey replied, "This is my job. I need to be prepared for anything, now if you don't mind, can you please step-"

"Prepared for anything?" the man interrupted while taking a step closer to her, "Such as what?"

Hailey's eyes darted around, and she spotted Kevin near the entrance to the bank with the sergeant for Robbery-Homicide. There were a couple patrol officers about ten yards away, and the other detectives were surveying the inside where all the damage had been done.

"Sir, you need to step back," she stated clearly, her hand already reaching for her gun.

"What exactly does the police academy prepare you for?" the man continued, "Out of curiosity."

"I said-"

"Answer his question."

Hailey gasped as a hand grabbed her neck from behind and a knife was pressed into his side. She could feel a man behind her. He didn't seem much bigger than Jay, but the grip he had on her was enough for her mouth to gape in an attempt to get air.

"Hailey!"

Her eyes shot toward Kevin, the sergeant, and a handful of patrol officers, all of who had raised their guns and were slowly walking toward her.

The first man stepped in front of her and pulled out his own gun. "She was just telling us how she's trained. Ironic, huh, that the trained detective wouldn't ever think to check the nearby van for any getaway drivers?"

"Let her go!" her old sergeant, Kramer, called out, "Let her walk away, and we can all talk about your involvement in what happened here today."

"And the point being what?" the first man yelled back, "That was our family, our people you murdered back there. Did you ever consider we needed the money? That all of this wasn't just for nothing?"

"Let me go and we can-"

"Shut up," the man behind Hailey hissed in her ear, his grip shifting around her neck until his fingers were closing in on her airway.

Her own fingers slipped against her gun at her side as she tried figuring out how to best break away all while feeling like her ability to breathe was beginning to suffer greatly.

The man in front of her glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Is the trained detective trying to make a deal? As if she is in control here."

Behind her, the man with his hand around her throat chuckled, and his breath smelt of cigarette smoke, making Hailey want to gag.

If Jay were there, she had no doubt he would have acted by now. Even if he wasn't right there shooting either of the men or dragging her from their grasp, she had no doubt that he would have been running to find a better vantage point with his rifle to get a better shot. He might not have even let her step out of the bank alone.

Then again, this was not Kevin's fault. It wasn't even her own. These two men were just sitting outside waiting for the right moment to avenge the deaths of their family, if that was even true. They'd been quicker, they'd been the ones prepared here.

The knife at her side pressed further into her shirt. She could feel the green flannel give way, allowing the blade to rest against her skin beneath it.

That was what she needed to focus on. One wrong move, even a quick one, could result in her captor stabbing the knife into her side. She wasn't going to come out of this unscathed, especially as she felt the cool metal pierce her with a stinging pressure, but she could come out of it alive and without an extensive injury.

She just needed to think.

Outside the bubble of her conscious, she could hear Kevin and Kramer continue an attempt at talking down the two men who had her surrounded, but she pushed past their voices to assess the situation. She had one man less than a foot in front of her; it gave her little room to swing her leg up in a kick against the small of his back, but perhaps she could use her knee to her advantage. The other was still right up against her back with a knife slowly pressing into the side of her stomach. While he wasn't the one with the gun, he was the one she was more worried about. Her gun was still in her holster and just within reach of her fingers, but the motion of grabbing it and swinging it upwards would surely cause the edge of the knife to go even deeper within her.

At this point, it seemed like the best option.

Over the first man's shoulder, she could see Kevin trying to meet her gaze. She fought past the pain beginning to water in her eyes and nodded at him. She was okay. She had this.

"What do you say we get out of here?" the man behind her whispered. His nose brushed against the back of her ear, and she thought she was going to be sick, especially as he tightened his hold on her throat and tipped her head backwards. "They can wrap up their conversation, and you and I can go have some fun Detective…Hailey? Is that what they said? Pretty name."

That was Hailey's tipping point. She refused to let him think that anything could ever happen between them, even if it was against her will.

She forwent any fear of the knife and grabbed her gun from her holster. As she swung her arm upwards, she elbowed the man in the stomach so he bent over in pain just as her gun connected with his skull.

A gunshot went off, and the man in front of her fell to the cement at the same moment the man who had her dropped. She fell with him, her knees hitting the ground and sending pain straight through her, but it was nothing compared to the burning that was happening at her side.

Hailey gasped and rolled to her side. She let go of her gun to push both hands into the cut on her stomach.

"Hey, hey, you're okay, you're okay."

Kevin dropped to his knees next to her and quickly pressed both his hands to hers where blood was beginning to seep between her fingers.

"Someone's already called another ambulance," he continued quietly as she struggled beneath their hands, "We're going to take you to Med. You're going to be okay."

"Don't-don't need an ambulance," Hailey gasped, "Just…just a cut."

Kevin scoffed and tried holding her still. "You're going to the hospital, and I'm calling Jay as soon as I have a second."

Squeezing her eyes shut, Hailey shook her head quickly. "I'm fine," she hissed, "It just needs to close up. Get me some gauze."

"Stop acting like your husband," Kevin retorted.

Hailey groaned and tried pulling her legs up to her chest. Her side ached. The stinging sensation radiating from her felt like a giant paper cut. She'd been beat up, slapped, tripped, even involved within an explosion, but this felt like it was on another level. Stabbing – or slicing, whichever was more appropriate – was a type of pain she hadn't ever expected to experience.

Unlike getting beaten up in the field or hit by her father, there were no emotions attached to this moment. She'd been in a tight situation where there was no way she was going to get out of it unscathed. She wasn't left wondering if she could have done anything differently. All she could do was accept the pain.

And unlike the car explosion during the Escano case, which resulted in a concussion, her brain was functioning properly. There wasn't a fog dulling any of the pain or adding to her fear in the moment. She knew exactly what had happened and why. She was left to experience the intense pain on her own.

It needed to be on her own, too. She did not want Kevin or anyone else to interrupt Jay at work. This was his first real day at the academy with recruits, and he needed to put all of his focus on them. He couldn't slip up and begin thinking about her just because he received a phone call that Hailey was injured at work.

It really was just an injury – at least that's what she kept telling herself. It might require stitches at the most. This wasn't anything huge. She refused to believe that it was.

However, as she was transferred onto a stretcher and brought into the ambulance, her and Kevin's hands being replaced by a paramedic's along with a pile of gauze, she couldn't help but finally let her tears fall. It really did hurt, and was the most pain she'd been in in a while.

"Just hang in there," Kevin said softly as the ambulance took off in the direction of the hospital. He placed his hand on the top of her head and said, "You did awesome back there. I'm proud of you."

Hailey tried sending him a smile through the pain and tears evident on her face. "It…it was nothing. Just wish I could have done it sooner."

Kevin hummed and shook his head. "You were in quite the bind. I don't think you could have done anything differently."

"Mhmm." Hailey shut her eyes and dug her teeth into her bottom lip.

That didn't stop her from wishing something else would have happened, though.

Just over an hour later, Hailey found herself laying on a bed in the Emergency Department at Chicago Med waiting for the numbing medication to do its magic and allow Will to stitch together the five inch wound on her side. She pressed her palms into her eyes and groaned softly at the ache coursing through her.

The first thing Will asked Kevin as she was wheeled into the triage room was, "You call Jay yet?"

She would have yelled at them both to shut up, but at that same moment she was lifted onto the hospital bed and the movement jostled the gauze against her cut, causing her to gasp in pain.

Unfortunately, she was very much aware of her surroundings while Will worked to slow the bleeding and Kevin stepped to the side of the room to call Jay. The conversation was short and to the point with Kevin insisting Hailey was in good hands and that Jay didn't have to leave work that second; however, she had no idea what Jay's response to that was. He could be on his way here right now, and she had no way of stopping him.

"Does it still hurt?" Kevin quietly asked from his chair in the corner of the room. The second she felt like she could properly breathe through the pain, she hadn't been shy in expressing how he'd pissed her off by calling Jay.

"Shut up," she mumbled.

Kevin sighed and said, "Hailey, you can't just be in the hospital without your husband knowing."

"Did it once before under worse circumstances," she replied, "When I jumped in the Chicago River, he didn't find out until I was already heading back to the district."

"And that pissed him off," Kevin said, "Hailey, he wanted to be there for you when you were in the hospital. You have to know that."

"Of course I do," she sighed while lowering her hands from her face. She turned her head to get a better look at him and added, "But he wasn't working then. He was at home; it was a big misunderstanding and a mistake. He has a new job now, and it's his first day. He needs to be there, not here. I can survive without him right now."

Kevin pursed his lips then said, "Don't you remember a few months back when he was still gone and you were terrified something was going to happen to him without you knowing? You were worried that you'd never find out if he got hurt. We sat in a surveillance van, and you told me that your biggest fear was that he'd be seriously injured and no one would call you. Do you remember that?"

Hailey softened on the bed and shifted to stare up at the ceiling again. She did remember that, and it turned out to be partially true. While she didn't hear about Jay's car accident for about twelve hours, at least she heard about it. That one phone call had changed the trajectory of her day – of her life – and she was very grateful that she'd gotten it.

On the other hand, Jay could have died from that car accident. She should have been told about it right away. Her "accident" was not life threatening. It could have been had the knife gone just a little bit deeper within her side, but right now she was just requiring stitches. It was okay if Jay didn't find out about it for a few hours.

Hailey shakily wiped at the tears forming in her eyes and breathed in slowly. She couldn't deny it any longer, she really would have liked to have Jay there with her, it was just hard to balance that want with the want for him to move on with his life and do well in his new job. She was at a crossroads, and there didn't seem to be a right answer. Maybe it was best that Kevin took control of the situation for her: he was objective and knew what both she and Jay needed.

Slowly, she nodded her head the slightest amount to recognize that Kevin had won. Jay had needed to know what had happened to her. She would have wanted to know the same thing. Back when they'd been in that van, she could remember them talking about the difference between them getting hurt in the same city compared to different countries: they'd find out sooner when the phone call didn't have to cross state lines to reach the other person.

The door slid open, but instead of Will's voice filling the room, it was Jay's: "If you have to knock her out to do it, I'll sign whatever you need. She can't be in any pain, do you hear me?"

Hailey lifted her head and weakly laughed. "Jay."

He pushed past Will and quickly gripped her hand, squatting down so he was eye-level with her. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner," he said softly, "I had to finish passing out gear to everyone and making sure they all had their paperwork signed before heading out."

She shook her head and squeezed his fingers. "I understand. Are you…are you missing anything right now?"

"Intro to the physical stuff," Jay answered with a shake of his head, "They'll survive without me. The other guys can handle it." He kissed her knuckles then turned enough to look at Kevin. "Thank you for getting her here."

"It's nothing," Kevin answered.

Hailey almost expected him to admit to Jay that she hadn't wanted him to make the phone call, but he remained quiet. Maybe it'd come up in the future at their bar celebration, maybe it'd even come in the form of a text in just a few hours, but, for now, she was grateful that that tension wasn't present within the triage room.

"I'll wait outside," Kevin said, "Call Voight and Platt and update them on what's happening – assuming you're about to sew her back up?"

Will chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I think she's ready. You don't need to stay and watch, unless Jay's gonna leave her alone."

Jay tore his eyes from Hailey's to scoff at his brother. "I'm fine. I won't watch, and, even if I did, I've encountered enough needles in the past few months that I would survive you stitching up my wife."

Hailey relaxed with a soft laugh and slipped her hand from Jay's grip to place her palm on his cheek. "Babe," she said softly, "Please don't watch. Let's not put that theory to the test."

"Oh, ha ha," he said sarcastically while turning back to her.

Kevin laughed, shaking his head as he stepped out of the room.

"I can put up a curtain," Will said, "We have those c-section ones that I can roll in here."

"I'm fine," Jay repeated, "I just won't look, which also means I don't want you showing off the needles and making a big deal out of it. Just fix her, please."

"I'll be okay," Hailey whispered.

Jay softened and nodded. "I know," he murmured, "And then I'll take you home, and we'll have a low-key version of our first day of school celebration."

Hailey frowned, and it wasn't because of Will pulling up a chair next to her to clean her wound one last time. "I'm sorry I ruined your day."

"Didn't ruin anything," Jay corrected, "You were stabbed. It doesn't sound like your fault at all."

"The way it looks, I'm guessing you got away as it was happening," Will added in, "The top isn't deep enough for stitches; it looks like you pulled away or something as he really got you."

Hailey sighed and closed her eyes as she felt Will pierce her skin: it didn't sting like when the knife cut her, but she could still feel the tugging, and it really wasn't comfortable. "He had it against me for a bit, and when he really started pressing it into me, that's when I knocked him over the head with my gun. I was trying to time it just right, but there wasn't much I could do. I was going to need stitches no matter what."

"Don't beat yourself up," Jay said softly.

Will made a soft sound of agreement as he worked.

Hailey tried zoning out, but the constant tug and pull at her side was hard to ignore. In an attempt to focus on something else, she slowly and methodically squeezed at Jay's hand.

Two short squeezes.

Another short squeeze.

One long squeeze.

Two short squeezes.

Three long ones.

Two short.

Two long.

One short.

One long.

"Almost had it," Jay breathed after a minute.

Hailey blinked her eyes open and glanced at him. "What?" she asked quietly.

"Morse code," he replied, "That's what I thought you were doing."

Hailey raised an eyebrow. "Do you know morse code?"

"Mouse and I taught ourselves years ago," Jay chuckled, "Here." He raised her hand a little more and then began squeezing it gently all while explaining what each movement meant: "Two short ones for 'I' then 'love' is pretty long, so take a second to focus on it…and now 'you.'"

A smile spread across her face as she watched her hand relax and contract in his grip. It was much more complicated than she was expecting, and she was positive she hadn't memorized it within that short minute, but she loved it. The idea that Jay had another way to tell her he loved her without actually speaking warmed her belly and actually made her forget what Will was doing for just a moment.

"You're so smart," she whispered.

Jay laughed and shook his head. He kissed the back of her hand and said, "I don't know about that. Lots of people know morse code."

"In the 21st Century?" she countered. When he didn't reply, instead just smiling at her with a soft blush on his cheeks, she asked, "Do it again?"

It was how they spent the next ten minutes: Jay saying 'I love you' in morse code with Hailey trying to imitate him each time. By the end, she could do each word individually after Jay and had I lov memorized. She was determined to figure out the whole phrase by the end of the night, though.

When Will straightened up, he said, "I'm pretty impressed with myself. I don't think you'll have much of a scar, Hailey."

She broke her gaze from Jay's and focused back on where she was. "Oh," she breathed, "Thank you." Pushing up on her elbow, she glanced down at the line of stitches along the side of her stomach and sighed. "Cute."

"Please," Jay said while standing up. He leaned over to get a better look and shook his head. "Looks great. Thanks, Will."

Hailey rolled her eyes, but still finished sitting up and tugged her shirt down. She winced at the movement, a dull ache still spreading throughout her stomach, and pulled her leg underneath her.

"Not happy with my work?" Will teasingly asked.

"Not happy with the situation," Hailey replied, "This was not the way I wanted to spend my day."

Will looked like he wanted to ask exactly what those plans were, but then he turned toward Jay still in his uniform and smirked. "Celebrating my brother's return to the workforce?"

"That was the plan," Hailey said softly. She smiled slightly up at Jay then leaned against him as he wrapped an arm around her.

"We'll figure something out," he said as he squeezed her shoulders.

"Hey, lay back for one more minute," Will said while starting to open a bandage, "You've got to keep it covered for the first twenty-four hours, then feel free to take it off. Jay's had enough stitches to know how to take care of them."

"Very funny," Jay scoffed.

Hailey laughed softly as she pulled up her shirt again. "I guess that does help put things in perspective. I'm sorry." She tugged Jay's hand until he looked back down at her. "This is nothing compared to what you went through."

He shrugged and squeezed her fingers back. "Doesn't make this any less painful, and I'm guessing that was certainly not enjoyable."

"What're you talking about?" Will cut in, "This looks like it was just a feather."

Hailey held up her middle finger in his direction, then gave in and laughed. "Definitely not enjoyable," she said, "It was like a giant paper cut before being a pain I haven't felt before."

Jay frowned and placed his free hand on her leg. "Kevin said the guy grabbed you from behind?"

Hailey nodded. "One came up to me from the front right after I put someone in a patrol car, and the other came from behind. The back one was the one who had the knife and grabbed me around the neck."

Jay's eyes widened, and he spun quickly to look at Will. "Did you know that?" he asked.

Will adjusted Hailey's shirt again before nodding with a sigh. "I took a look at it while we were waiting for the bleeding to slow down. She'll have a bruise, but nothing more."

Hailey sat up and grabbed Jay's arm. "It's nothing."

He scoffed and brushed her hair away from her neck. Leaning closer to get a better look at her, he gently traced the finger marks already forming on her skin.

"I'm going to kill him," he breathed.

"Jay," Hailey sighed.

"No, Hailey, he choked you, that's not okay," Jay said quickly while standing up. He looked at Will for support, and Will's silence seemed to speak volumes: he also did not think what had happened was okay.

It wasn't that Hailey was excusing what had happened – she was well-aware that the man who attacked her was going to be put in jail and agreed with that – but to have Jay go rouge because she'd gotten hurt was not how she wanted his new career to start.

"You're an instructor at the academy now," she said quietly, "You can't go running up to the jail and take this into your own hands."

Jay pursed his lips and let out a short burst of air from his nose.

"She's right," Will mumbled as he tossed his gloves in the trash and began cleaning up, "You can't go be a hero. I also want to hurt the guy who did this to her, but it's out of our hands. We – you especially – have to follow the law. You know Voight's probably all over him. Leave it be."

Hailey frowned and watched Jay's face. When she'd gotten caught in Escano's car explosion, he'd been able to go to work and put all his energy into finishing the case. While Escano had died before he could get his hands on him, he'd still been able to avenge Hailey's injury in a way by putting his anger to use. That was not the case now. He wasn't going to be the one returning to the bullpen to walk through everything that had happened with Robbery-Homicide. He was not the one who was going to be on the stand in the courtroom in the coming weeks or months to explain everything that had happened. That was going to be Kevin's job.

Today truly was the start of their separate jobs: Jay was off teaching the new generation of cops, and Hailey was on the streets getting hurt while working with other detectives. They had no control over what happened to the other during the workday anymore. They were not partners in the police force. They were husband and wife, and that was blatantly clear today.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Jay blinked and shook his head. He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly. "Don't be," he whispered back, "You couldn't do anything to stop it. I just wish I'd stayed-"

"Don't."

"Jay."

Hailey and Will's voices came out louder than perhaps intended, but it was enough to echo throughout the small room and startle Jay into stepping back from the table.

"You could not have predicted this was going to happen," Will said first.

"And you can't go back and change the past," Hailey added quickly, "What happened happened – both here in Chicago and in Bolivia, both last year and today. Do not beat yourself up over it. I got hurt. It sucks, but it happened."

"And she's going to survive," Will continued, "Jay, it's a cut on her side. She's hurt and she got stitches because of it, but this is not life threatening. You're going to have your wife around for a lot longer, deal with it."

Hailey couldn't help but laugh as she turned toward him. "Wow, thank you."

"Out of love, of course," Will said with a wink.

"Mhmm," Hailey hummed. She smirked slightly before turning back to Jay. Softening, she reached up to place a hand on his cheek and murmured, "It's okay. I'm okay. This is not on you. Maybe it wouldn't have happened had you been there, but it also might have. Kevin was nowhere near me when it happened; I was on my own. Who knows what would have happened had anything else been any different leading up to when it happened? Maybe it could have been prevented, maybe it wouldn't have. Our job's unpredictable. We have to accept that."

Jay studied her for a moment then slowly nodded. "Yeah," he murmured, "I guess…yeah. Sorry."

Hailey shook her head and brushed her thumb over his cheek. She did feel bad for him. She'd been where he stood on much worse circumstances: it was not an easy place to be just like the start of the new career chapter. But none of this was impossible. Jay was going to be able to deal with his guilt, just like the guilt she'd felt each time he'd been shot and when he'd left for Bolivia. It was hard, but also another reason as to why their marriage was strong.

They were going to get through this day just like they'd gotten through all the other hard ones.

"Take me home," she said quietly, "Please."

A smile flickered on Jay's face, and he replied, "Yeah, I'll take you home."

Maybe she should have returned to the district to fill out paperwork on what had happened at the bank. Maybe she should have continued planning the attack on the Becks. Maybe she should have at least gone to personally tell Trudy and Voight that she was okay.

But laying in Jay's arms on their bed was a much better place to be.

As the numbing medication wore off and the dull ache in her side returned to a burning feeling, Hailey had a hard time getting comfortable. She wanted to stretch out, but she also wanted to curl up in a ball and squeeze her eyes shut forever.

Jay helped her, though, and when her t-shirt rubbed at her bandage and his hoodie made her too hot, he settled on getting some of their old peanut butter cookies out of the freezer and making her a vanilla milkshake all for dinner.

"This isn't healthy," she laughed when he brought both to her.

"We'll eat broccoli tomorrow," Jay said as he sat on the edge of the mattress. He smiled at her when she accepted the milkshake. "I'll admit, though, that's the last of the vanilla ice-cream."

Hailey hummed and took a sip of the shake. Once she swallowed it, she said, "I think that just means we have to go shopping tomorrow."

Jay laughed and squeezed her leg through the blankets. "I can do that. Maybe that can be our dessert after our night out."

Hailey's smile widened. "You still want to go out for your first day?"

"You mean do I still want to spend time with you? Of course," Jay said while climbing over her legs. He settled next to her against the headboard and took a bite of his peanut butter cookie. "I don't care when we go out for steak and wine. It could be my first day of school next year for all I care."

"Well, it won't be a year. It's happening soon," Hailey said, "I promise."

Jay winked at her then held out his cookie for her to bite in to. In exchange, she passed him her glass and watched him sip at the milkshake.

When he finished and handed it back to her, she said, "Even if it's happening soon, I do want to say that I'm sorry we can't celebrate tonight. I was really looking forward to dinner and…and making up for having to rush out of bed this morning."

Jay laughed and shook his head. "It's okay. We'll survive a night without sex. Pretty sure you told me that before our vow renewal, right?"

Hailey smiled and nodded. "That was for tradition."

"And this is for science," Jay chuckled, "Or medicine, whichever sounds better."

Hailey laughed softly and looked down at the milkshake. "I guess, but we'll figure it out when it's time. I don't plan on waiting the full week."

"Oh, for sure not," Jay said quickly, "Will is not going to ruin my adult sex life too."

Hailey laughed harder as she sipped her shake and started coughing. Gasping for breath, she looked at Jay in disbelief with her eyes watering. "Too?"

Jay shook his head and rubbed her back. "Yeah. He walked in on me and Allie once and had to go tell our parents. That little snitch."

Hailey continued laughing and coughing, leaning into Jay as she worked to catch her breath. As he joined in laughing with her, she couldn't help but realize how today really did turn out as best it could.

Yes, she had twenty-five stitches in her side and she wasn't drinking wine at a fancy restaurant downtown, but she was spending all her time with Jay and did get to unbutton his uniform, letting it fall around him as he recounted his day to her. They were drinking shakes and enjoying peanut butter cookies, and it was the perfect end to Jay's first day of school. It could be a tradition of their own, both now with the two of them and in the future with their kids.

It was something else Hailey realized she was looking forward to.

A/N: Let me know what you think? :) Talk to you next week!