Heeeellooooooo everyone :)

Welcome if you're new.

Surprise! I'm still alive. I hate that I keep finding myself in the same exact situation over and over again. I know it's been more than a month since I've posted and I promise you that not a day goes by, when I don't wish I could write a new chapter. Even though I can hardly find the time to write, I constantly read the reviews you leave me. As always, thank you for every single review you leave me, they mean the world to me. It's heartwarming to see, that you're still waiting patiently for the next chapter, no matter how long it takes me to post it.

The past month has been somewhat crazy. Right after I posted the previous chapter, my mom had to be taken to hospital, which was a big shock... it wasn't nearly the first time, but still. You can probably imagine I wasn't exactly in the mood for writing about injuries and other health related issues... About two weeks later, I ended up at the ER three times in one week, because the doctors misdiagnosed me, which almost resulted in an emergency surgery (thankfully I managed to fix the problem myself). On top of that, college has really stepped up its game and is driving me crazy, I love my future job though, so... I'm neck deep in schoolwork and try not to complain about it too much.

I know all of these are excuses, but I hope you understand. I'd love to post every single day, if I could. I promise I will not abandon this story though, because I love writing it and more importantly, I truly love and appreciate every single one of you. I do read every single one of your reviews multiple times, so it felt right to respond to every single one of them once again. (Please, let me know if personal responses are something you like or not.)

Sara2210: Thank you for leaving me a sweet review once again. I'm glad you liked the ending.

Victoria.Annxx: I can't explain how much I love reading your reviews every single time. You give really thorough feedback, which I am really thankful for. I'm really glad you liked the ending and don't worry, I'm definetly going to keep writing sories with a terribly injured Jay, but I will take your advice into consideration and not go above and beyond every single time. And thank you, that was one of my funny moments :)

Jelliegr: Thank you :)

Guest1: Hahah I'm glad you love it so much and thank you for your hillarious review. I will definetly write more stories about Jay and Will, because I adore their relationship.

Guest2: Thank you. The time for a new story has finally come.

Winchester: Thank you, I'm really glad you enjoyed the ending and all of the psychological torture I put Jay through.

Lima: Thank you so much for your prompt, I really like it. Please don't put yourself down, your ideas are great too. And can I just mention how mad I am that they (once again) completely ignored an opportunity for Jay to get treated at Med in the crossover. Um, hello? Fans who love Halstead brotherly love would really appreciate a scene with a hurt Jay and worried Will (or a whole episode... or season... whichever, I really wouldn't mind). I still loved the crossover though.

ChicagoPDfr: First of all, your English is great. It's not my mother tongue either, so sometimes I really struggle while writing these. And secondly, I'm really happy you liked the story so much :)

L: I'm sorry for keeping you waiting and thank you for returning to this story over and over again and encouraging me to write some more. Now for your review - I know, right? The crossover had me all over the place, but I do agree that they really could've included a few more scenes with Will and Jay. By the way, I've decided to keep my name to myself for privacy reasons, but it's starts with an N, hence my signature... My name is not Nat (don't worry about getting it wrong), but Nessie is my nickname though, so you can call me that if you like. Anyway about the crossover fanfiction, I did find a few stories based on the crossover, but if you'd still like me to write one, I will try to make your wish come true (I can't deny that I wanted to write a story based on the crossover anyway).

WondersWomans: Welcome and thank you from the bootom of my heart for one of the sweetest and kindest reviews I have ever received. When I first read it, I was almost in tears myself and it still gets me no matter how many times I've read it in the past few weeks. I literally have no words. Once again, thank you so much. It means the world to me. This story sadly isn't as deep as the other ones are, because I really didn't have the time to drown myself in emotions, but I hope you like it either way. By the way, I love your username :)

Once again, thank you for everything you've all given me.

I hope you like it :)

Al's P.O.V.

"Where the hell is he?" Voight exclaims walking out of his office.

"Um... sarge?" Ruzek responds with a questioning look.

"Do any you know where Halsted is on this lovely morning?"

"No-" Ruzek quickly says, before being interrupted by Voight's rambling again.

"In case you haven't noticed, he's twenty minutes late. And he's never late."

"Okay, no need to overreact, Hank. Maybe he just overslept" I try to defend my absent friend.

"Oh please, that kid couldn't oversleep to save his life."

I have to admit, he's got a point.

Just as I'm about to dial Jay's number, he walks through the door. Not really paying attention to any of us, he heads straight for his desk in silence and just about collapses into his chair.

"Good morning to you too" Adam jokes with a grin, obviously in a much better mood than Halstead. "Rough night?"

"Huh?" Jay says, almost oblivious to the world around him.

That's when I notice the green tint to his face. His pink cheeks stand out in comparison to his paleness and to be honest, it seems as if he's just about ready to puke.

"You okay, kid? You don't look so good" I ask unable to hide the concern in my voice.

"M'good, Al" he slurs in response.

That didn't exactly sound convincing. Apparently, we are on one word statements, as that's all the kid can manage.

"Sure you are." Crouching in front of him, I carefully study his face. Other than his flushed cheeks, nothing seems obviously wrong. "You getting sick?" I continue to assess his condition. It wouldn't be the first time Jay showed up at work with a fever.

"Nnn" he whines, quickly getting up from the chair, only to double over in pain, his hand clutching his head. "Argh."

I quickly grab his shoulders to steady him. "What's wrong?" he ask alarmed. The sudden change of events seems anything but normal, especially for Jay. This kid would never ever express pain in front of us. Unless he was unaware of it or unable to hide it anymore. This whole ordeal has gained attention from the whole team, which is why Dawson and Ruzek are now standing behind Jay, ready to help if needed.

"M'head" Jay whispers in response.

"You have a headache?" I'm about to give him Tylenol and let it go, thinking it's just a random migraine, when he speaks up again.

"Nnn" he whines. "Dfrnt"

Okay, so this is not one of the normal headaches. That could either be good news, meaning it was just a stupid virus, or bad news, meaning it was something serious. In that moment, Jay turns a shade greener and I barely manage to push a trashcan in front of his face, before he starts retching helplessly. We all wait silently, while I gently rub the kid's back in circles. Once Jay has emptied all the contents of his stomach, I continue.

"Alright, kiddo. Sit down" I say, pushing him back into the chair, and causing him to groan in pain. "Jay, listen to me. Did you hit your head?"

After a few seconds he shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

I don't remember Jay hitting his head in the past few days either. I glance around the room and get a negative response from everyone else as well, so this probably isn't a concussion. Unless, of course, Jay doesn't actually remember hitting his head due to a concussion.

This is brilliant.

I quickly place one hand to Jay's forehead checking for any sign of fever, but to my surprise, it doesn't feel warm. That's strange.

"You think he caught whatever Kevin has?" Haley asks, referring to the fact that our teammate has been sick in bed for the past few days.

"I don't think so" I mumble, trying to put the pieces together. "He doesn't have a fever."

"Jay, does anything else hurt?" Antonio tries his best to help figure out what's going on.

Again, the kid shakes his head in response, before he mumbles a response "Tired."

That makes my heart drop.

Not the migraine type of a headache, nausea, no fever, pink cheeks, tiredness.

"Oh my god." Finally putting the pieces together, this sounds all too much like carbon monoxide poisoning. "Guys, help me get him up" I usher Adam and Antonio who happen to be standing the closest to Jay. "We need to get him outside right now." I notice everyone tense up. Antonio gives me a look, but slides one of Jay's arms across his shoulders to lift him up nevertheless.

"What? What's going on?" Adam asks expressing everyone's confusion, but does the same.

"I'll explain in a minute, but we really need to get him out in the fresh air" I usher.

"Come on, buddy, let's get you up" Antonio says in order not to surprise a former ranger when he's half way passed out.

As soon as they lift him up, Jay's knees buckle and he would've face planted if it weren't for his teammates.

"Come on, buddy. You're gonna have to do a little more walking than that" Antonio gently encourages his friend. The dead weight probably isn't too bad, but the fact that Jay seems unable to stand worries the crap out of all of us.

"Cnt" Jay slurs, before gasping for air. "Dizzy." Another gasp.

Shortness of breath and dizziness. Another two symptoms agreeing with my diagnosis.

"Okay. You're gonna be fine, buddy. We got you" Adam soothes him, trying his best to hide his own concern.

After having successfully dragged our almost unconscious teammate out of the precinct, Antonio and Adam gently sit him on the ground, before crouching next to him. The rest of the team is obviously two seconds behind us, so the whole Intelligence is now gathered on the sidewalk. Jay's even paler than he was before, while his cheeks have become a very nice shade of red. His breaths are coming in sharp and shallow and he's also swaying a bit.

"Deep breaths, Jay" I instruct, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, before turning to Antonio. "Call an ambulance."

He immediately gets up and dials 911.

"How you doing, kid?" I continue, receiving no response. "Jay?" Nothing. "You with me?" Nothing.

I try shaking him a bit, while checking his pulse. Suddenly, I feel Jay tense up and go completely still.

"Jay?!"

Before I could do anything, Danny starts to convulse.

"Dammit. Antonio!" I yell, getting his attention, hoping he'll give the new piece of information to the EMT on the phone. Haley is one closer to losing her mind, if Kim's comforting words are anything to go by. Adam is staring at the scene in front of him, while Hank drops down on the opposite side of me, ready to help. We lower Jay into a laying position on, and helplessly watch him have a full-blown seizure, unable to do anything about it. Luckily, I remember to glance at my watch to keep track of time.

After 37 seconds, which seem to last an eternity, the seizing finally stops.

"How far out's that ambo?"

"About four minutes" Antonio responds, his voice breaking in fear.

Hank and I carefully turn Jay on his side to keep him from choking and once again I find myself rubbing circles on his back, except this time more to calm myself down than to help my unconscious friend. Haley also sat down and took hold of one of Jay's hands whispering soothing words to her partner.

True to their words ambulance 61 shows up minutes later with Gabby and Brett pushing the stretcher towards our group.

"What happened?" Gabby asks, kneeling next to Jay. There's a hint of shaking in her voice, which makes sense. They were a thing a while back and seeing your friend unconscious sucks. She calls Jay's name a couple of times while rubbing a hand on his chest. I immediately blurt out all of the information I have (which to be fair is not a lot), while both girls start working on Jay. They take his blood pressure, heart rate and connect him to an oximeter, which beeps at us angrily.

"His sats are low" Brett announces "Put him on 100% oxygen." Gabby places an ambu bag connected to oxygen on Jay's face and squeezes a few times, forcing air deep into his lungs for him. After that, she slides a mask over his face, letting him breathe on his own.

"Have you called Will yet?" Brett asks, making the knot in my chest tighten even more. As much as I hate seeing Jay hurt, having to deal with a worried overprotective Halstead brother is awful as well. Apparently my lack of response speaks a thousand words. "You want me to do it?" she offers, but I shake my head. I feel responsible for the kid, which means I have to be the one to break the news to his brother once again. How many times am I going to find myself in this situation?

After exchanging some more gibberish sentences, understandable only to doctors, Gabby and Sylvie strap Jay onto the stretcher and load him into the bus. I quickly jump in after him, not giving it a second thought. If there's even the slightest chance of Jay waking up during the ride, I need to be there. A confused former ranger strapped down inside of a loud ambulance, full of beeping machines isn't exactly an ideal situation.

I pat my pockets down and manage to find my phone rather quickly. Having no other choice, I dial the number of a person, whose day is about to be turned upside down.

"Hello?"

I can tell he has no clue who's calling him, otherwise he'd be freaking out already.

"Will, it's Al." I'm greeted with about ten seconds of silence, before a shaky terrified voice voices the dreaded words.

"Is he alive?"

"We're on our way to Med right now, so do him a favor and pull yourself together, okay?"

There's another pause filled with deep inhales and long exhales. "Yeah" he breathes out "yeah, okay." He hangs up after that, probably running to get the best possible doctors out there to treat Jay. Or he's trying to convince Goodwin he can keep it together and work on his own little brother. Either way, I know he's starting to fight his brother's battle just in case Jay's body decides to give up.

I put my phone away and grab a hold of one of the limp hands in front of me ans squeeze as hard as I can.

Before reaching the hospital, Jay suffers another two seizures, which aren't any less terrifying than the first one, but luckily, his condition doesn't change otherwise. More importantly it doesn't deteriorate. After eleven very long minutes the door finally opens to reveal more or less every doctor available in the city of Chicago.

Family always gets the best treatment.

"Jay? Jay, can you hear me?" Will immediately asks, grabbing the other limp hand as we move through the ER.

"What do we have?" Choi asks, giving the unconscious detective a once over.

"Suspected severe exposure to carbon monoxide. Complained he wasn't feeling well, then collapsed. He suffered three seizures in the past fifteen minutes. Oxygen levels are at 76%, BP 89/60" Gabby lists all of Jay's vitals.

"Has he woken up at all?" Will asks worriedly.

"Not since the first seizure" I answer, giving him a sympathetic look.

"Alright, let's get blood work and scans done, and start him on another IV. Keep him on 100% oxygen and let's get him up to the ICU. Have a vent on standby in case we need it" Choi orders, before looking at Will. "You stay with him in case he wakes up. We don't want him to panic."

We'll that's not what I expected to hear. Normally, every single family member gets kicked out rather quickly, especially if their name is Will Halstead. Choi must understand what waking up confused feels like to a former soldier.

Will gives him a thankful smile, never letting go of Jay's hand.

I don't follow the gurney inside the trauma room. Instead, I keep staring at the kid through the window. Every single doctor or nurse in the room seems to be rushing, except for Will. Will's time has stopped, just like mine and it's gonna stay like that until Jay's all bubbly and annoying again.

"Al?" Maggie startles me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you have a seat in the waiting room and I'll come get you as soon as there's any news, okay?"

"Yeah" I whisper after a second. Whatever is best for the kid.

Al's P.O.V.

The 'as soon as possible' turns out to be more than two hours, which is really starting to get on my nerves. Not because I don't understand that these things take a while, but because Adam's been pacing in front of my face and it's driving me nuts.

"You trying to break your high score?" I finally ask, referring to the pedometer on his phone.

He shoots me a glare, but is luckily interrupted by Choi.

"How is he?" I immediately ask while standing up.

"He's gonna be just fine. Your assumptions were correct, Al. The blood work showed that the carbon monoxide levels reached 37%. He's still on oxygen and we're keeping a close eye on him in the ICU, especially because of his previous lung problems. That being said, I strongly believe he's going to make a full recovery."

If you heard a loud bang it was the sound of a stone rolling off of my heart. "Is he awake?"

"Not yet, but that's completely normal in cases like this. Will's with him" Choi explains.

"What about the seizures" Hank asks, still visibly worried about the kid.

"You mean are they permanent?" After receiving a nod, the doc continues. "No, I don't believe they are. They were caused by oxygen deprivation, however we did put him on Diazepam, which is an anti-seizure medicine, which should prevent them as well. It's just a precaution."

"Thank god" I whisper. "Can we see him?"

"Of course. Follow me."

He leads us to the ICU and shows us to a private room. As promised, Jay is still very much unconscious and way too still for my liking. An oxygen mask is fitted tightly against his face and the IV connected to the crook of his right hand. Several wires run from his chest to the heart monitor and a blood pressure cuff inflates itself every fifteen minutes. Other than that, Jay looks as if he were sleeping.

"Hey" Will greets us, looking much more relaxed than a couple of hours ago. He's sitting next to Jay's bed, holding his hand, while keeping an eye at the monitors. The mean absolutely nothing to me, but the seem to be extremely interesting to him.

I walk to the other side of the bed, taking hold of Jay's other hand. "Hey, kiddo. Glad you're still with us." I can see Will tense up at the thought of losing his brother. I can't say I blame him. "Are you ever going to stop scaring the hell out of me?"

Will smirks at that, before a very quiet 'probably not' is heard.

We stay silent after that, so I decide to study all of the medical equipment, trying not to freak myself out in the process.

"Severide called" I announce after a few minutes. "He says the heater is responsible for all this drama. Apparently it's broken, so you're both staying at my place until further notice, okay? Just to be on the safe side."

Will gives me a glimpse of a smile.

"He's way too stubborn to go down this easy."

After that, we just sit in silence, watching Jay's chest rise and fall, gratefully listening to his steady heartbeat.

Al's P.O.V.

"Listen, kid. I know you really appreciate your beauty sleep and all, but you gotta wake up at some point, hear me? I'm getting old here and staring at you 24/7 isn't as entertaining as you might think." Once again, I'm met with silence, just like every single time in the past two days. "Alright, alright, Take your time, just promise me, you will actually wake up at some point."

As if on cue, Jay stirs. The movement is minimal, but it's definitely there.

"Jay?" I exclaim, clutching at his hand. "You with me, kid?"

"Mmm" Jay groans as his free hand tugs at the nasal cannula.

"Hey, sleeping beauty" I chuckle relieved, gently guiding his hand back down. "You took your time. You think you can open your eyes for me?"

"So bossy" Jay responds, his voice hoarse from the lack of use. He receives another laugh from me and eventually manages to pry his eyes open. His heart rate spikes almost immediately and he starts trashing around, successfully getting himself tangled up in the bed sheets.

"Woah, kiddo, relax. You're okay, just calm down" I try to soothe him, not succeeding whatsoever. Having no other choice but to pin him down to prevent him from hurting himself, I grab both of Jay's hands none too gently. "Jay, stop. Talk to me, tell me what's wrong."

Jay starts sobbing, making me even more worried. He's never this upset.

"I'm here, kiddo. You're okay, I promise. Everyone's safe." We all know he has some serious protective instincts, so maybe this outburst was caused out of worry.

"Al" Jay gasps "I can't-" He starts sobbing before he can finish the sentence.

"What, Jay? You can't what?"

He doesn't respond to me. He just keeps gasping for air. Suddenly, my chest feels tighter than ever.

There are about a thousand of things that could potentially be wrong with Jay, so I decide to let the experts do their job and figure this out instead of me. I carefully let go of Jay's left hand and slam the emergency button on the wall. "It's okay, help's coming. Just breathe."

Jay's free hand reaches in my direction and clutches my awaiting hand. Seeing Halstead so scared breaks my heart, but I need to keep it together for the both of us.

"I know buddy, I know" I whisper, squeezing his hand.

The door bursts open to reveal an extremely excited Will and a curious Ethan.

"Is he awake?" Will blurts out, before he notices the wailing of the heart monitor, the constant sound of gasping and the flying limbs. "Jay?" he says alarmed, before rushing over and stroking Jay's hair.

"What happened?" Choi asks once he approaches the bed and studies the monitors for any sign of trouble.

"I don't know, he just woke up and..." I trail off, since I honestly don't know what's wrong. Both doctors are obviously aware of Jay's elevated heart rate and he seems to be breathing way too fast for their liking.

"Jay?" Try to calm down" Choi warns, grabbing his stethoscope. Jay doesn't seem to acknowledge anything. In fact, his breathing gets even faster and more irregular.

"Shh, hey, it's okay. Just relax" Will keeps as constant flow of soothing words going.

"Jay, can you hear me?" Choi tries once again, silencing the alarm of the heart monitor. Again, he receives no response. "He's having a panic attack" he announces, preparing a syringe. "He needs to calm down or we're gonna have to sedate him."

"Okay" I say, refusing to let him sedate Jay if we can avoid it. "Listen to me, kid. You're safe. Everyone's okay. I promise."

Nothing either Will or I say seems to help in the slightest. Just as I'm about to accept the fact that Jay's not gonna calm down any time soon, Will motions for me to lift Jay up and I decide not to question it. He carefully slides behind Jay and leans him against his chest. Jay is now completely hyperventilating, which is why Choi reaches for Jay's IV.

"Wait" I whisper, making him stop midway. "Give them a second."

"Alright, buddy. Breathe with me" Will whispers into his brother's ear, over exaggerating his breathing. "In... and out. In... and out." One of his hands is resting on Jay's chest, monitoring his breathing.

Choi and I stand back, admiring the scene in front of us. Jay starts responding almost immediately and tries his best to mimic Will. His hand are still clutching the sheet though and the oximeter still isn't pleased with his oxygen levels.

"Put this on him" Choi says, offering Wil an oxygen mask. Apparently, he's aware of Jay's mild case of claustrophobia, which only appears when he feels threatened and is somewhat out of it (for example right now). There's no point in giving him another reason to panic.

Will holds the mask close to Jay's face, so that it never actually touches him, while he continues his encouraging pep talk. After a few more minutes, Jay finally starts to relax.

"That's it, buddy. Good job" Will whispers, relieved. "Just breathe."

Jay is now collapsed against Will, but both Choi and the monitors seem way more content than before. A few more minutes pass, before Jay shifts in Will's arms.

"Jay? Tell me if you can hear me now" Will says, earning a soft moan from his brother. "You okay?" Another moan.

I can see Choi chuckle, as he puts the sedative back in drawer.

Will glances at the monitor, noticing Jay's sats are still a bit low.

"I'm gonna put an oxygen mask on you, okay? Just to help you breathe a bit better." All Jay can manage is a nod. Once the oxygen mask is in place, his breathing evens out and Jay falls asleep in his brother's arms.

"It's amazing the kind of relationship you have" Choi comments, making Will and I smile. "You're obviously exactly what he needs right now. Be there for him."

"Trust me, he's stuck with me, whether he likes it or not."

The end.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one-shot. It didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it to, but I hope you liked it nevertheless. It isn't as raw and cruel as they normally are... I might be too sleepy to go that deep today. Next time... This was also shorter than I hoped it would be, but it's all I could squeeze into my schedule right now... My exams are coming up at the end of January, but I'll try to post again as soon as I can, whenever that'll be. Hopefully over Christmas break (or sooner)...

What kind of stories would you like to see me write? I have quite a few ideas of my own, but if you have any (new) requests, I'll try my best to eventually write them (I didn't forget about your previous requests, I actually made a to do list with them).

A guest reader requested a story based on the One Chicago crossover (6x02). Is that something you would like to see me write or would you rather get original storylines?

Please let me know what you think :)

Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) and have a great end of the year.

Love, N