Voight had managed to get the unit the day off on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Hailey and Jay planned to have a small party with Voight and Trudy. Kevin went out of town to visit his siblings and Kim and Adam had plans with Kim's family. Both Hailey and Jay were a little anxious about the night. They both didn't do well with loud noises so fireworks weren't their favorite thing. They spent the first half of the day cuddling and watching TV. They spent the second half of the day preparing for the party. They cooked and cleaned up the apartment. Voight and Trudy got there around 7. They played party games, ate, and talked until 10:00. There had been a few fireworks during this time which caused both Hailey and Jay to both jump. Voight and Trudy both noticed. After a couple of fireworks went off Haileu grabbed Jay's hand and they held hands under the table and it helped. Although holding hands with each other helped they were still extremely on edge and Voight and Trudy could both tell. After they were done playing games they decided to watch a movie. They decided to watch John Wick. Jay and Hailey sat close to each other on the couch. Voight sat next to Jay and Trudy sat next to Hailey. Halfway through the movie, there was a loud firework that shook the whole apartment. Jay and Hailey both jumped. Jay started to have a flashback. Hailey grabbed his hand and squeezed it and Voight put his hand on Jay's shoulder to help ground him.
"Ssh you safe you're in Chicago. Everything is ok" Hailey soothed. Jay snapped out of it a few minutes later.
He tightened the grip he had on her hand and they cuddled closer together. They didn't care they were doing this in front of their bosses.
"You ok kid?" Voight asked.
"Yeah sorry" Jay replied.
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault you can't control it. We can tell that the both of you aren't ok and we are here for you" Voight told them.
They were glad they had Voight and Trudy to help them get through this. They both felt safer with someone else with them. It made them both feel less alone. They were able to finish the movie almost incident-free. The movie ended around 11.55. There had only been a couple of fireworks at that point. Most of them would start when the clock hit midnight. Hailey knew this so she turned on some music to hopefully help drown out some of the sounds. They sat nervously until the clock hit midnight. As soon as it happened, fireworks started going off all around their apartment. Their neighbors and people outside started cheering. They were both panicking. The fireworks reminded Jay of the gunshots and bombs going off when he was fighting overseas. For Hailey, the fireworks reminded her of when her dad would throw and slam things when he got mad. The cheering reminded her of when her dad would scream at her, her brothers, and her mom. They both clung to each other and were crying in each other's arms.
"Ssh you safe you're ok. Your here with me and Voight. Everything is ok" Trudy soothed. She wrapped her arm around them both. She went into mom mode and was trying her best to comfort them.
Voight didn't really know what to do. He wanted to help but he didn't want to scare them. Another loud firework went off which caused them both to jump. They tightened their grip on each other. Jay used his free hand and started scratching at his chest and neck. Voight slowly got in front of him and took his hand. Jay jumped at the contact.
"Your ok kid it's just me I'm not going to hurt you" Hank reassured him.
Jay looked up and saw Voight and calmed down a little. The fireworks went on for another hour before calming down. By the time they were over Jay and Hailey were both exhausted.
"You guys ok?" Voight asked, Jay and Hailey looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Can I give you guys a hug?" Voight asked, they nodded and Voight hugged them as well as Trudy.
"It's ok not to be ok/ we're here for you. You guys aren't alone in this" Trudy told them.
"Thanks guys for everything it means a lot," Hailey told them. "Sorry for ruining your guys's night. You should be having fun and celebrating" Jay added.
"You guys did not ruin our night. There's no place we'd rather be. We are going to help you guys get through this your not alone" Trudy responded.
"I just wish I could enjoy the fireworks without it reminding me of my dad. He's taken so much from me" Hailey said.
"I'm so sorry Hailey" Trudy said as she pulled her into a hug.
They talked for another hour before Voight had to leave. He didn't want to but he had a very important meeting that he couldn't miss early that morning.
"I'm going to head out. I'll swing by with lunch in the afternoon. Call me if you need anything" Voight told them.
They thanked him and walked him to the door. Trudy had decided to spend the night and sleep on the couch so she could help if anything else happened. Hailey gave her a sweatshirt and some sweatpants to change into and they all got ready for bed.
"I'll be right out on the couch, come and get me if you need anything. Leave your door open" Trudy told them.
They all hugged and Hailey and Jay thanked her again. They were extremely grateful for this. Trudy waited until they fell asleep to go to sleep herself. She made sure she was facing their door so she could hear if anything happened. An hour after she fell asleep, Hailey had a nightmare. She woke up to a bang coming from their room and ran in. Hailey was having a nightmare. She had hit a picture frame that was on her nightstand and knocked it on the floor. Jay was trying to calm her down.
"Ssh Hails your safe It's okay it's just a nightmare its not real" Jay soothed.
Trudy went to the other side of her and rubbed her back. It took a couple of minutes but she was able to snap out of it and calm down.
"You ok honey?" Trudy asked,
"No" Hailey replied as she started to cry again.
Trudy and Jay both hugged her. Haiey cried herself to sleep in Jay's arms and Trudy went back to the couch, not even 30 minutes later Jay had a nightmare. Trudy ran in and he was crying out for mouse in his sleep.
"Sssh Jay your ok your safe. You're not there anymore you're in Chicago your with me in our apartment your safe" Hailey soothed as she rubbed his back. He shit up and looked around the room and was hyperventilating.
"Ssh Jay I need you to breathe for me in 1,2,3,4 out 1,2,3,4" Hailey soothed.
Trudy saw how pale we were and ran out to get some water. When she got back his breathing had calmed down but he was still very pale and shaking.
"Hey, kid can you drink some of this for me?" Trudy asked as she put her hand on his shoulder. Jay nodded and took the glass and drank it. Once he was done he set the cup down on his nightstand.
"You ok kid?" Trudy asked.
"No, I can't stop seeing it. I just want to sleep I'm exhausted." Jay replied.
"I'm so sorry kid. Hailey and I are both here for you you aren't alone your safe" Trudy said as she pulled him into a hug.
Trudy decided to stay in their room for the night and slept on the chair in their room. They both had multiple more nightmares that night and woke up exhausted.
"Stay here and relax for a bit I'm gonna go make breakfast," Trudy said.
Hailey turned on the TV in their room and they held each other until breakfast was ready. Once it was ready, Trudy brought it to them in bed and they ate. After breakfast, they went out into the living room to watch movies to get their minds off of everything. Jay and Hailey were both still extremely on edge. When the first movie ended and they were scrolling through Netflix looking for a second one to watch, Trudy and Hailey heard hyperventilating. They looked over at Jay and he was staring at the wall.
"Jay?" Hailey called. He didn't respond. he brought his hands up to his ears and covered them and started to rock back and forth.
"Shit he's having an auditory flashback," Hailey said as she went over to him and hugged him tight. This was the only way to snap him out of an auditory flashback. She hugged him for 30 seconds until he snapped out of it. Jay was plane and his breathing was shaky. Trudy noticed and went to get some water. She brought it over to him and he drank it all. He started to disassociate for a couple of seconds. Hailey recognized what was happening right away. She held him and whispered words of comfort in his ear until it was over. Once it was over he went to the bathroom and splashed his face off with water. Voight came over with tacos an hour later.
"How are you guys doing?" Voight asked.
"Tired" Hailey replied.
"I'm sorry guys" Voight replied and hugged them.
They all hung out until dinner time. Voight and Trudy went home and Hailey and Jay decided to order doordash and relax for the night since they had work the next morning. They ordered Panera and ate it while watching TV. An hour after they ate they went to the gym to run on the treadmill since it was too cold to go on a run. When they were done they stopped by Starbucks for hot chocolate on the way home. Once they got home, Jay started a bath and they both got in. They went to bed right after they got out of the bath since they were exhausted. They didn't sleep great that night but still wanted to go to work. When they got there Voight pulled them into their office.
"How are you guys doing?" Voight asked.
"We're still tired but it's getting better. Thank you again for everything" Jay replied.
"Of course, you guys are like my family. I'd do anything for you" Vought told them. They all hugged again and then got to work. It took a couple of days but Hailey and Jay were able to fully sleep through the night and weren't on edge all day. They were both extremely grateful for what Voight and Trudy did for them. They all got closer because of all this,