Hailey was nearly asleep when Jay suddenly stirred, whined, and let out a choked scream. His feet bumped into her back. She stood up. He was certainly having nightmare. She wanted to wake him up, but she felt bad because he woke up every hour to check on her concussion. Going around the couch, she carefully put her hand on his shoulder, ready to move back if he fought her. When he didn't jolt awake, she started to rub his shoulder while making shushing sound. Slowly, he calmed down. His breathing evened out and he stopped trashing around, back to being calm. Hailey went to the kitchen. Suddenly Jay started to stir again, whimpered and clutched the pillow; distress was clear in his face, and he was covered in sweat.

Hailey rushed back to his side to hold his shoulder. The stress was still visible on Jay's face, although he looked more relaxed. Hailey soothed him until he stopped moving and his breathe was back to normal, then resumed her venture into the kitchen. She was pouring cold water from the fridge when she heard sound from the living room. She hurried back, bringing the pitcher of water with her.

Should I wake him? Hailey contemplated. She wanted to; she couldn't stand seeing him sleeping in distress. However, she also noticed that he needed sleep more than anything. He had a hard week, with his dad died, getting shot, and his PTSD came back at full force. Not to mention argued with Will and her, although it was resolved. If he couldn't sleep well since his dad was admitted to the hospital, it means it was nearly a week ago. Contrary to what Jay thought, it was easy for her to know when he was sleep deprived, and in the past week, he had been more often sleep deprived than not. That's why, like Will, she was relieved to see him relaxing and sleeping with Owen, because he needed it so much. She also knew that he didn't sleep well during the weekend. And last night he constantly checked on her every hour hence he definitely really need the rest now.

She wasn't sure what to do when his sleep became restless again, so she squeezed herself on the end of the couch, her thigh nearly grazing his head, keeping her hand on his shoulder, rubbing his shoulder to soothe him. She wasn't surprised to see him sweating, she knew he was having nightmare. She kept rubbing his shoulder and making a shushing noise, which seemed to be working as his breathe went back to normal and his sleep became peaceful. She decided to stay there, trying to get as comfortable as possible, and scrolled through her phone with her hand in the sling. Her phone is lighter than her firearm, so she considered it to be safe. As stubborn as she is, she didn't want to compromise her recovery.

Hailey cursed silently when Jay stirred half an hour later. He looked up and saw Hailey sitting beside him, holding him.

"I had nightmare?" asked Jay hoarsely.

"Yeah," answered Hailey. Jay sighed and pushed himself sitting. He buried his head in his hands, upset. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No. Same old thing, dead children in Afghanistan," said Jay.

"I'm sorry." Hailey rubbed his back with sympathy.

"What time is it?" Jay panicked.

"Easy. We have the day off."

"No, you need painkiller," said Jay.

"I had the 9 am already," said Hailey. "My head is getting better, I had painkiller and iced my shoulder earlier. Oh, and it's noon."

"I told you not to touch me when I'm having nightmare. What if I hit you?" scolded Jay.

"You shouldn't wake up with panic attack. You're tired already as it was… you woke up every hour," reasoned Hailey.

"It kept me from having nightmare though," Jay shrugged. "I didn't have nightmare until the last time. My alarms failed me."

"No, I turned them off. Figured you need to rest, you look like a ghost," said Hailey. "What did you do all weekend though? You look like you didn't sleep at all."

"Not really. I tried to sleep, and all that, but… I mean, with all this… If I have nightmare, and wake up in panic, I am more tired when I wake up than when I went to sleep," Jay rubbed his eyes.

"You still get nightmare every time you sleep?" asked Hailey concerned.

"Sometimes. I got a good sleep, but I also got nightmare a couple times. I think… it depends on what I was thinking, or talking about, before I sleep. I don't know. It's tiring. I mean, I'll take nightmare about ghost anytime. To see something I'm trying to forget, over and over again… it's hard," Jay buried his face on his hands, his breathe rapidly increasing. Hailey rubbed Jay's back to guide him breathe normally.

"Alright, don't remember it. Keep it out of your head. Hey, Jay. Open your eyes. You're not there, you're in my place. You're safe, nobody's dying. Come back," Hailey's voice soothed him. He concentrated on her voice and her hand to bring him out of the warzone. Once Jay's breathe went back to normal, Hailey let out breathe she unconsciously had been holding. "That's it. See? You're safe," Hailey waited until she got a nod from Jay, then squeezed his shoulder.

"Thanks. For risking it, staying when I sleep. I don't know many who dared to stay through a panic attack, or PTSD nightmare," Jay said quietly, looking down.

"As I said earlier, I want to help. You didn't have enough rest, and with what you went through, an hour of sleep might be precious," Hailey stated. "And earlier, I noticed that every time I held you, you stopped tossing around. So I stayed," said Hailey. She briefly wondered if she crossed boundaries, but justified her action because she couldn't stand seeing him in that state.

"Yeah, thanks for that," Jay smiled. Hailey smiled back and went to the kitchen, patting his back when passing him.

"What are you doing? You are supposed to rest," Jay stood up.

"I have a sprained shoulder, I'm not incapacitated. I'm just making tea and coffee and getting something to eat," Hailey replied from the kitchen.

"I have meeting with the therapist at 7," announced Jay, following Hailey into the kitchen.

"It's good. It's a step. Go back to sleep, you look like you're about to pass out," said Hailey. "It's okay, I've seen the nightmare. You don't have to worry about it," Hailey looked at him, successfully reading his doubt.

Jay considered. He was supposed to keep an eye on Hailey. But hell, he was really tired. The lack of sleep and yesterday's case already caught up to him. He wanted to sleep at home, feeling uncomfortable to get nightmare in Hailey's place. However, she had seen him getting one, so why was he being hesitant? She could calm him down, even a couple times when she stayed, he didn't get nightmare at all. He would have his first session with the therapist later that night, so it might be best if he came wide awake. From his experience, some sessions drained his energy.

"Here. Eat, and go to sleep," Hailey gave him two bowls from the cabinet, spoons, and milk and cereal box. Jay assembled two bowls of cereal while Hailey made tea and coffee. She passed the tea to Jay, glaring as he pointed to the coffee. They both ate in silence.

"Be careful if you touch me when I have nightmare," Jay reprimanded her. "Please, I can't bear the guilt."

"I will," said Hailey. She ate slowly. Once she finished, she put the dirty bowl in the sink, decided to deal with that later. Jay was ready to take a tumble from the stool. "Back to the couch, sleepy boy," ordered Hailey, taking his empty bowl. Jay dragged his feet to the couch and sipped the tea.

Hailey sat beside him, bringing an ice pack for her shoulder. She changed the movie on Netflix and settled herself on one end of the couch. From the corner of her eye she saw Jay already asleep, head tilted back. She poked his shoulder.

"Lie down," ordered Hailey, pushing Jay so his head fell on the pillow near the armrest. He put his feet on the couch. Hailey sat on his feet's end, leaning back on his feet so his feet were nearly grazing Hailey's back. Jay wanted to warn Hailey not to sit near his feet, he might trash around in his sleep, kicking and punching. But he felt comfortable with the way Hailey put her hand on his knee in a protective way.


It was 4 pm when Jay stirred awake. He stretched and looked around, looking for his phone. He was pleasantly surprised to see the clock and realised that he had been asleep for a while now without getting nightmare. He peeked to Hailey's bedroom. She was sleeping, head and arm propped up with pillows. He went back to the couch and scrolled through Netflix. His appointment was at 7. He decided to order in pizza for both of them. When the pizza delivery arrived, Hailey walked out of her room.

"Sorry, you must be awake because of the doorbell," said Jay. Hailey put on the sling.

"It's okay, maybe I shouldn't sleep too long with the concussion," said Hailey. She grabbed the pizza and sat beside Jay. "You slept well?"

"Yeah, I did. It was peaceful," Jay smiled.

"Good for you," said Hailey. "What time is your therapy?"

"At 7. How's your head? And shoulder?"

"Head is fine. Shoulder… I'm working on it," Hailey shrugged. Jay realised that Hailey was down about not being able to spend time with her nieces.

"Is this about babysitting?" asked Jay. Hailey looked down. "You can still babysit them, you just don't lift them."

"I'll see what I can do," said Hailey. Jay knew not to push the matter. They ate the pizza in silence.

"Voight said I need clearance to go back to work, and another to go back to field," Hailey read her email, annoyance was clear in her voice.

"Sorry, Hailey. It shouldn't end like this," Jay felt guilty. Just a couple days ago, he was angry because she got hurt when he wasn't around. And now she got hurt right under his nose, literally and figuratively.

"It's not your fault, I blame the perp for this," frowned Hailey. "Both perps."

"Guess what, I'll do your paperwork. You shouldn't look at screen too long with the concussion," said Jay.

"No, I'm good. I need to find something to do eventually at home," Hailey smiled. "Thanks, though. For you, it's big." Jay hated doing paperwork, and usually she picked up the work for him.

"Oh yeah? Contrary to popular opinion, I can do paperwork," Jay smirked, trying to sound displeased. He went to the kitchen and brewed two mugs of tea. He figured it's time for him to return the favour she did him last week. He learned that despite all the coffee they had on the job, she found tea comforting.

"Ah, I thought it's beer," teased Hailey.

"Nope," said Jay. Hailey turned on the TV to a relay of baseball game from last night. She cursed when realised that her favourite team was losing. Meanwhile, Jay was battling sleep again. He laid his head on the armrest and closed his eyes, figured he would catch a little sleep before going to the shrink. Hailey smiled when she realised that he had fallen asleep and turned the TV volume down. Despite being on the mend emotionally, deep down he was not fine.


"Hey, Jay," Hailey poked his shoulder. "It's 6 something, you need to leave in a bit," she said when Jay stirred awake. He yawned and stretched before sitting up straight.

"How come I don't have nightmare on your couch… but had one every time I sleep on my bed," commented Jay nonchalantly.

"I'll start charging you BnB fee," Hailey laughed. "Or you should try sleeping on the couch at home, maybe you were destined for the couch life."

"Cute," Jay rolled his eyes jokingly. Jay went to the bathroom to freshen up, then sat back on the couch beside Hailey. He felt very familiar with Hailey's couch lately since he slept on it often.

"You feel better after sleeping the whole day?" asked Hailey.

"Yeah, a bit," said Jay. "Hope this session won't be too bad. You know, sometimes memories rushed back…" Hailey nodded understanding.

"Tell me if you need anything?" asked Hailey. "Even if you need someone to talk to, anytime."

"Likewise. You too, if you need to have a beer bottle opened, I'll come, open, and drink it for you," Jay smirked. Hailey laughed. "I'll pick you up after work tomorrow, bring you to Med for a check-up," said Jay. "Thanks for letting me crash."

"Duh, thanks for staying last night," said Hailey. She walked Jay to the door. "You need to get better, Jay. Make peace with everything," she said, pulling Jay in a side hug. She felt proud, like a parent who sent their kid to school the first time. Last week Jay was resistant toward therapy, even mad at Will when he suggested it. Now he voluntarily went to one.

"Soon you'll start charging me therapy cost," quipped Jay, returning the hug gently, avoiding touching Hailey's injured side. "Thank you," he smiled and jogged to his car.


A short chapter to carry us through until next episode. Cannot wait for the next episode 6x20. I wanted to incorporate more Will in this story, since I really enjoy their interaction. In my mind, Hailey and Will are casual friends-they sometimes had a drink with Jay at Molly's, or when Hailey went to Med to interview witness, etc.