To everyone else, I was arriving back to work after a particularly stressful case. I would have to admit it was strange letting everyone believe that it was, even knowing I would tell them all eventually. Two days in and I was still struggling with the fact I even had a daughter when so long ago I convinced myself I would never see her again. Yet, I knew if I wanted to roll the dice and let it spin out of control, I had to let things work out for better or worse.

Right now I just had to focus all hope on Voight being in his office at this time of the morning. Yet, as I climbed the stairs, I could see it was apparent that the whole floor was empty. I had to admit, it was a nice solitude after a morning of struggles to be able to take in a few deep breaths and let myself stare at the nearest wall for a few minutes.

"Hey." Jay broke through my thoughts as he quickly gazed over at Voight's office, then turned back to me. "How are you holding up?" I could only imagine what he was thinking, although I had a sneaking suspicion he knew why I was here so early.

"It was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be." I breathed out deeply, placing my phone in front of me on the desk like by some magic it was going to ring. "I told her she could call me if she was having a hard time at school."

"That good, huh?"

"Let's just say it was a rough morning," I told him, knowing I didn't have to say much without him knowing how I was feeling about all this. "What brings you to work so early?"

"I have some paperwork to finish from our last case." Pulling out a brown file from a locked drawer, he held it up before tossing it on his desk.

"Okay. So what's the real reason you came in?" I asked again, as he slipped down into his chair with a groan. By the slightly off look on his expression, I knew there was more to what he wasn't saying which is why I prodded him further.

"When you said you were coming in, I figured you would be talking to Voight. I figured you wouldn't mind me being here just in case things went south."

"Thanks." I was appreciative of him coming to back me up just in case. You had to give it to the man; he was one of the most loyal people I had ever met. "It's not Voight I'm really worried about. You know I'm not big about talking about my life."

"Yeah, I do. But if you don't, you know this will come out some other way. Besides, if you're worried about what Voight or anyone thinks, don't go down that road. You had no control over her coming back to you." Jay advised as we heard the squeak of the gate as someone else on the team arrived at the office.

"I have to take this." Pushing my chair back from my desk, I stepped back towards the break room just as I heard heavy footsteps approaching the office. "This is Hailey."

"Hailey, this is Ellen Reynolds, the school secretary at Adlai E Stevenson Elementary School. We talked earlier in the front office."

"Yes, hi. Is everything okay?"

"Eva came down to the office with Ms. Holliday a couple minutes ago. She got her to come into the classroom, but Eva is still having a little trouble with being here at school." Exhaling in and out, I busied myself with brewing a fresh pot of coffee while I was in the breakroom. It was the least I could do to keep my composure with this growing situation.

"Can you put her on, please?"

"Sure. Give me just one second." Ellen handed her the phone and I could tell by her heavy breathing that Eva had been crying.

"Hailey?"

"Hey, I'm here. What's going on?"

"I know you said to try and have a good day, but I can't." Eva hiccupped in between her words. "I'm really tired. My stomach really hurts now."

"I'm sorry you're not having a good day. Is your stomach hurting like it was this morning?"

"I don't know. It just hurts."

"Let me phrase it this way. Is there anything that's happened that made your stomach hurt? Did someone say anything that made you feel upset?"

"No one's talked to me but my teacher."

"And she didn't say anything that made you sad?"

"No." She took in a quick breath as she sniffled back more tears. "After you left, I came into class and sat down, but that just made me feel sadder. I want to go home."

"Which home?"

"The one with my mom and dad. How many hours until I get to come home?"

"I'm going to try and pick you up around five. Maybe I can come a little earlier after I talk to my boss, but it depends on how today goes."

"Are you going to talk to him soon?"

"I'm going to try. I'm just waiting for him to come into the office. Do you think you can go back to class so I can go talk to him?"

"Will you call me when you do?"

"I will call Ms. Reynolds after I talk to him."

"You promise?" Eva asked hopefully, her breath still shuddering a little as she tried to take in a deep breath. She seemed a little more collected than when I had first started talking to her, so I was hopeful she would be okay after this.

"I promise."

"Hey." Jay peaked his head into the breakroom. "Voight just walked in if you want to talk to him."

"Eva. I'm going to talk to my boss now." Heading towards the door, I could feel her anxiety picking up again. " I'll let you know when I talk to him, okay? Can you put Ms. Reynolds back on the phone so I can let her know what's going on?"

"Okay."

Jay stepped in, closing the door behind me as he grabbed two cups off the rack and poured piping hot coffee into both of them before handing me one. I nodded appreciatively as he hung back as I filled in Ms. Reynolds and hung up the phone.

"You okay?" He gauged my reaction as he took a sip of coffee. "That sounded intense."

"Yeah, I'm okay," I stated, feeling my voice falter as we walked back towards the office. "I'm going to let this cool off while I go talk to Voight." Taking deep strides back towards my desk, I placed the mug back by my computer before heading towards his office.