Hello :)

I was very pleased to see that so many of you are still interested in this story, despite the long break I took by accident. I almost fell of my chair when I looked at the stats and they read 1.2 K readers in the first 24 hours. That is insane. You continue to surprise me every single time. Thank you so so much for the amazing feedback you always give me. It means the world to me, it really does. I'm sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, but life keeps being crazy for some reason. I had exams these past three weeks and I failed one of them, so I'm technically still not on vacation. I hope you guys are having a great beginning of summer though and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

: Hi! Once again you're the first to review my story :) It's always so nice to read your reviews. Thank you for not rushing me into writing. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you liked the new chapter so much. I agree with everything your good side says, but my evil side is rooting for the door to be jammed really firmly, so… A bit more torturing won't hurt anyone, right? Oh my, I'm so evil. I more than obviously love torturing Jay too, so I guess we're partners in crime. Thank you for your good wishes and thank you so much for your opinion. Hearing that you like my story and style of writing really makes my day. Thank you for always leaving me such nice reviews. I hope you like what I've come up with :)

The Fridge loves food: First of all, I love your username. It definitely made me do a double take and laugh. Thank you for the good wishes and positive feedback. I'm really glad you like my stories and thank you for taking the time to review :)

Sasa Camilla: Thank you so much. You're more than welcome, thank you for giving me the idea in the first place. It fit really well into this story. I hope you like what I've done with it :)

WhyDoIWrite: Once again, such a sweet review that gives me confidence and motivation. I can't even begin to explain how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much for leaving me a review and thank you for your good wishes. It means more than you can imagine. As for the fact that you are clearly so happy that I read your stories, trust me, I'm honored to read them. I'm just a random girl who happens to like writing, so I'm just the same as you are. I was pumped to see that some of my favorite writers actually read my stories. It's insane, because I think so highly of you, I'd never even dare to hope that you would actually read my stories. Let alone leave me reviews. I look up to all of you, so the honour is all mine. And I am very familiar with what school can do to a person, so I completely understand. Whenever you do manage to write more though, I will definitely be there to read it :)

Andreatassinari: Congratulations, you have awaited the next chapter. I hope you like it.

Trisha06: Aww, thank you so much. I'm glad you like them. And don't worry, I love writing them, so I won't stop anytime soon.

taylorandmacster10: Firstly, thank you for sharing your personal experience. If I'm being honest, my heart kinda dropped the first time I read your review. Whenever I'm writing I can get carried away and I sometimes forget that some of you might have personal experience with situations like this. I never ever want to offend any of you, so writing about something I haven't experienced myself… is risky. Same goes for writing about asthma. I only know what I've learnt in college or read online, so I know these stories may get very unrealistic. I hope I still manage to portray these health conditions well enough not to offend anyone. I really cherish your review, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wasn't sure how far I wanted to take this next chapter, so I hope I did it justice… Also, let me just point out that your new story is one of the best things I have ever read :)

Extraordinarygirl116: First of all, thank you for your good wishes. Reviews like yours really make this all worth so much more. Don't get me wrong, I write because I love writing, however there's nothing like getting positive feedback. Hearing you like my style of writing and enjoy reading whatever I write truly means the world to me. Thank you for being so thoughtful. I'm glad you appreciate my personal responses. I want to let people who take the time to leave me reviews how much I appreciate them, plus I love talking to all of you, so there's that. The previous chapter had more of a long distance worried brother Will, whereas this chapter might see some changes in that aspect… If they only manage to get the door open.

floopdeedoopdee: Thaank yooouuu :) I hope this next chapter tastes just as good. By the way I ADORE your stories as well. I hope to read more of your work someday (but no rush).

Carol: Thank you, I'm really glad you like it and thank you for leaving a review.

: Thank you, so much :) The day has come and you get to read the new chapter. I hope you like it.

Ina: The time has come when you get to find out how the story ends. I hope you like it :) Thank you, for your compliment. As for your prompt, I have seen quite a few requests for a story with Will getting hurt and Jay suffering emotionally. I personally prefer writing about Jay, but since many of you want to read about that I'll make sure to come up with something.

Ianteaddicted1: I have decided to grant your wish. The story continues.

Jade: Thank you so much, I hope you like this chapter.

larutanrepus89: Whoa, 8 reviews. I gotta say, I was surprised when I saw them, but unconditionally thankful that you took the time to write them. First of all, welcome to this story. I hope you haven't fallen off your seat yet while waiting for the next chapter. I'm sorry, my schedule never used to be this bad, so you're seeing me at my worst. Thank you again for leaving me reviews. They mean the world to me :)

charmlily: Thank you :) The day has finally come. The new chapter's here.

I had quite a lot of reviews to respond to this time, so this took a while. But I love doing this, so… Without further ado, let's take a deep breath and continue with the story. I hope you like it :)

Part 3

Antonio's P.O.V.

This day is so not what I thought it would be. Seriously, how much worse could it possibly get? Actually, never mind. I'm sure something else could throw us a curve ball at any second, so I don't wanna jinx myself.

"Are you saying it's gonna get a lot worse?" I ask cautiously, fearing Will's answer.

"I'm not saying it will, but it might. You need to be prepared."

Great. Well, this conversation didn't make me feel better whatsoever. No time for self pitying right now though. I have Jay to worry about.

"Okay… what do I do?" I ask, willing to do just about anything to help.

There's a pause before Will responds. "Whatever happens, try to keep him calm because if he freaks out..." he trails off and I want to add he's as good as dead, but I manage to stop myself just in time. And I almost make my stomach turn at the thought. "If he gets all tense, it's gonna make it even harder to breathe. Keep him in a sitting position and keep his airway open. It will make him breathe better. Try to get him to steady his breathing. Slow, deep breaths. And pray."

The last bit gets me. It feels as if I've just been stabbed with a knife. How did we get ourselves into this mess? This is crazy…

"Oh and Antonio?" he says after a few seconds as an afterthought.

"Yeah…?" I don't think I'm gonna like where this is going.

"Make sure he doesn't get caught up in a flashback or something. I don't want him to suffer even more."

There really isn't anything I can say to that. I know how bad Jay's PTSD can get and I can't even imagine what it can do when it's combined with an asthma attack and an oxygen deprived brain.

"Do you have any water?" Will asks next. I look around the room, hoping to find something, but I guess it's not my lucky day. I give him a negative response, eliciting a curse from the doctor. "Okay, doesn't matter. How's he doing?"

I kneel back down next to Jay, who's now slumped against Adam's chest. He looks just about dead. You know what bodies look like? The half frozen, half drowned kind of bodies? They have a very specific bluish tint to them. And they're pale. And sometimes their sparkless eyes are open and they're left staring at nothing. That is exactly what Jay looks like. He's as pale as a ghost, his lips are more blue than red or pink and his eyes are lifeless. It's not a look I ever wanna see on one of my friends.

"Uh… He seems to be breathing a bit better, but his lips are blue. And he's staring at the ceiling as if it's the most amusing thing he's ever seen."

"Crap" Will whispers. "Okay, do as I said and keep me in the loop, okay?" I grunt a response, before he continues. "And put me back on speaker, so I can talk to him."

I do as Will requested and put the phone on the ground right next to Jay.

"Jay?" Will asks, clearly hoping to get a response from his brother, but I see no change in his condition. "You're doing great, Jay. Just hang on a little longer, okay? We're almost there, Jay. I'm almost there."

Jay's P.O.V.

I specifically remember that I never gave the truck driver permission to park his truck on my chest. So rude. I also don't remember laying down on ice. Or how I ended up anywhere near a frozen surface for that matter.

I can hear voices around me, but I can't quite tell, who they belong to. They seem panicked and rushed though. Kinda annoying really. At first I thought I was under water. That would explain the muffled voices and the lack of air I'm experiencing. But then the air returned once again, so maybe I'm not drowning after all. But why is it so cold?

Something rouses my shoulder, causing actual pain to ellict all over my body. That shouldn't happen, right? That seems wrong. Although I'm not entirely sure at this point. I probably couldn't even spell my name right. I'm dead tired.

"Jay!"

Speaking of the devil, there's my name. Three letters, one syllable. It's kinda nice that my parents decided to give me a simple name since my last name is so complica-

"Halstead!"

Are you kidding me? What kind of a coincidence is that? Both my name and my last name getting said at the exact same time as I think of them. Funny. How do these mysterious people know my name?

"JAY! Can you hear me?!"

Man, this guy's screaming. Dude, I can hear you just fine, what's the rush?

Wait.

I know that voice. It's my brother's voice. The same voice that has been annoying me for the past three decades. He seems scared. He shouldn't have to be scared. Not on my watch.

I try to respond him by using his name, but the only thing that comes out is a groan followed by a sudden loss of air in my lungs. That send me into a coughing fit, reminding me of the truck that's parked on my chest.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Will asks, appearing a little less panicked than the previous time. His voice is a little strange though. Sore throat maybe? I go to ask him about it, but this time, nothing comes out. Except for an unpleasant wheeze.

"He's wincing" Antonio announces. His voice seems much louder than my brother's for some reason.

"Jay, does breathing hurt? Nod yes or no" Will instructs me a second before I try speaking once again. Now that I think about it, nodding sounds like a much better idea.

I nod and Antonio narrates my response once again. I wonder why he's doing that. Maybe Will can't see me. But that doesn't make any sense.

"How bad is it on a scale of one to ten?" Will asks. "Worse than an eight?"

I nod once again. My chest is actually really starting to bother me. I can barely seem to catch my breath and it's starting to feel dangerous.

"Okay, I'm right outside the door, Jay. Just keep taking nice and slow breaths. As deep as you can, okay? I'm gonna get you out in no time and we're gonna get you help" Will says in a comforting voice. "Just relax. Everything's gonna me okay."

Just as my brother's voice starts to relax me, a loud bang erupts, making me jump. My breath hitches and I tense my muscles in preparation for a disaster.

"Hey hey, it's okay. They have to break the door down to get us out. Nothing to worry about, buddy."

I understand that Antonio's trying to comfort me but the sound of metal things banging one against the other and the phrase break down the door don't make me feel any calmer.

"What's happening?" Will asks, receiving an explanation from Antonio.

"He doesn't seem to like the noise. It's making him freak out."

"Try to get him to calm down or it's gonna make his breathing even worse" Will says.

Antonio goes to say something, but another loud crashing sound interrupts him. I don't like this. I do not like this. It reminds me of mad times overseas. I need to get out of here.

"Hey, no no no, stop moving, buddy. You need to relax" Adam's voice says from right beside my ear, making me jump. Why is he so close to me? Something tight is encircling my chest. A rope maybe. But it's to wide. And it keeps constricting me more and more. I have to get it off of me.

"Jay! Relax, you're safe" Antonio just about screams. " Adam, stop squeezing him! Switch places with me."

Something pulls me into a sitting position and the tight thing leaves my chest. Thank god. The thing that's holding me up now, seems pretty tight as well. I need to escape, before it's too late. There's a lot of shuffling, before I'm laid back again. Something warm and soft. Almost comforting. Maybe this isn't so bad after all. Until the next banging sound echoes. And then everything seems to be threatening me once again.

"Please calm down, Jay. Everything's okay. Just relax" Antonio whispers in my ear. He must be the soft thing behind my back. "Please" he practically begs.

"We're getting you out, kid. Relax. We're all here, your brother's here. You're going to be just fine. Just breathe."

I have no clue where Voight suddenly came from, but he seems calm. He must have things under control.

"You're doing great, Jay. Just a little longer."

The words might seem calm and collected, but I can hear the fear and concern in my brother's voice. I'd recognize it any day.

There's more banging and more and more voices join in. Things are squeezing my hands and rubbing my chest, but nothing seems to help. There's a lot of bees around me and the water must be muffling the sounds again. But the banging. It won't stop.

I try to entangle myself from the embrace once again, but my body doesn't have the strength to hold me up anymore. This is it then. It finally got the best of me.

I'm sorry, Will. I tried.

Antonio's P.O.V.

Suddenly, there's a loud bang, and Voight comes crashing in through the metal door, freezing on the spot once he takes in the scene in front of him, while something like "oh, kid" escapes his mouth. A split second later, Will stumbles in after him and collides with Voight's shoulder in a rather comic way, before yelling his brother's name. I honestly would've laughed at this, if my best friend wasn't halfway dead.

The exhausted and half unconscious body laying in my lap, suddenly jolts and starts wiggling again. "Wil-" he wheezes out, before his breath is cut off, but it's enough. Will's eyes snap towards us and before I know it, he's running as if a bear was chasing him. He drops down on his knees right next to us, immediately grabbing his brother's free hand.

"It's okay, I'm here, Jay. I'm here" Will blurts out just as my sister and Brett come rushing in with a stretcher. Thank god. I was starting to think I was gonna have to watch him take his last breath in my arms. That would've been… No, I can't think like that.

"How is he?" my sister asks, rather loudly, taking Adam's place and setting down her equipment.

"I don't know" I blurt out. It's the most honest answer I can give her, but probably not very helpful from a medical perspective. "He seemed to be doing better before, but than the banging… It freaked him out and his wheezes got way worse than they were before. He's barely breathing anymore."

I'm well aware of the fact that my voice breaks at the end, but nobody says anything. An oxygen mask appears and is soon strapped over Jay's face, providing air his body desperately needs. I notice the mist coming out of the mask and shoot my sister a glare.

"It's a nebulizer. It's mainly used in treating patients with asthma" she explains. I nod. It's kinda nice to have family members treating one of your friends. Makes it less scary.

"It's freezing. Let' cover him with a warming blanket and get him out of here before hypothermia sets in" Brett adds, after setting up an IV in the crook of Jay's elbow.

"Wait" Will says. "He's all clenched up."

He let's go of Jay's hand and starts rubbing his muscles. Both of his arms and then his legs. "You're clenching your muscles, buddy. Try to relax for me, it's gonna make it easier to breathe" he explains to his little brother. Brett joins in and together they manage to pry Jay's fists open. They proceed on to rubbing every single one of his fingers until his body finally starts to relax a little more.

After a little more breathing in mist, being covered in blankets, rubbing tight muscles and coaxing, Jay's eyes finally open.

"Heey" Will whispers, letting out a small chuckle. "You did it. You held on" he says, tears slipping down his cheeks as he cradles his brother's hand close to his chest. As much as I hate seeing Jay like this, the brotherly bond these two have makes up for it. Well, almost.

Will's P.O.V.

I cannot even begin to explain how happy I was to break down that door. And not just because I had enormous amounts of adrenaline rushing through my veins, but because I honestly thought I was gonna go nuts. Listening to my brother's wheezing for almost an hour and a half… not so great. Also not the way I wanted to spend today, but I gotta admit I'm kinda excited to spend it in the ICU now. You know, next to my non-wheezing brother, who isn't in life danger anymore. So great. But just being able to hold his hand is amazing. Much better than being locked on the other side of the door.

I keep reliving the moments over and over in my head. I'm guessing I'm never actually gonna be able to get them out of my head.

"He's struggling way too much, Will" Gabby says, checking the oxygen levels displayed on the heart monitor. They read 86. As soon as she reaches for a syringe and an ET tube, I know what's coming, so I nod to her, before focusing on my brother again. His eyes are still locked on me as if I'm his lifeline. I can't tell if this is his PTSD or just the asthma attack, but he's terrified and needs to be consulted.

"It's okay, Jay. You can relax now, we've got you. We're giving you something to make you sleep so we can help you breathe better, okay?"

He looks at me with panicked eyes and squeezes my hand even tighter. Just then, Gabby injects the sedative into his IV.

"Calm down, everything's gonna be okay. We're going to take care of you and I'll be with you the whole time. I promise. I'll be there when you wake up. Just relax." I keep a steady flow of words going until his eyes lose the spark and he finally slips under. "I love you, Jay."

It's been about an hour since Jay's been brought in. He's been intubated and scans have been taken to ensure that his lungs were working properly. Once they came back satisfactory, he was taken up to the ICU, where he was once again covered with a heating blanket to bring his temperature back up. I refused to leave his side until now, but I know I need to be the one to update his team, so I have no other choice, but to walk back down to the waiting room.

As soon as I walk in, everybody springs to their feet. I can't suppress a laugh and I have to admit it feels great to finally be able to express happiness again.

"You gonna torture us forever or what?" Voight asks before I get a chance to compose myself. So I laugh again.

"He's okay" I say, getting a bunch of exhales in response. "Extremely exhausted, but okay."

"Oh my god, you have no idea how nice it is to hear that" Antonio says, doubling over and leaning on his knees. I know exactly what he feels like. I've felt like that many, many times. Whenever Jay would get hurt. And I'm sure there's more days like this to come… I just hope they all end on a good note like today has.

"He's in the ICU at the moment, just to be on the safe side" I explain, waiting for the information to sink in. "Due to the fact that he had four severe attacks in one day, we felt it was better to give his lungs a break and let them recover. We sedated him and put him on a ventilator, until the attack stops and his lungs recover enough to do all the work."

"Wait" Antonio interrupts me with a judging glare. "I thought you said he was fine." I can tell this event is really taking a toll on him. Add that to him being very protective of Jay on a daily basis and you get a very stressed out Antonio.

"He is. This is just a precaution." He keeps stabbing me with his eyes, so I feel the need to further explain. "Asthma attacks can be extremely tiring, you know that. Normally, putting someone on a vent isn't advised, but in Jay's case, we felt it was in his best interest. You saw yourself that he was barely conscious when I got there, which would only get worse with time. He needed rest, and the only safe way to ensure that was sedating him and putting him on mechanical ventilation. Yes, it's risky, but he's strong. We'll be arguing with him to stay in bed in a few days, trust me."

Voight smirks at that, before exhaling in relief. He might not admit it, but he's got a soft spot for Jay.

"So what caused his asthma to appear again after all these years?" Ruzek asks eventually.

"We can't exactly say for sure. It's freezing cold and it hasn't rained in a while, which means the air is really dry. That alone can trigger an asthma attack. Add that to the fact that he wasn't feeling well and he ran up ten flight of stairs… Plus you said the room was moldy and dusty, which are also big triggers. The air flow inside the room was bad and all that combined… Let's just say it could've been a lot worse."

"But he'll still be able to be a cop, right?"

"Yeah, I can't see why not. With the right medication and treatment, he should be as good as new" I say, immediately noticing smiles on their faces. This team is like a family to them. It wouldn't be the same without Jay.

I think we can all agree on that.

"Dibs" Haley yells all of a sudden, causing an argument to erupt. I am clearly unable to hide my emotions right now so my confused look doesn't go unnoticed.

"I call dibs on going to see him first" Haley explains while strolling past me in a cocky way, ignoring all of her teammates who keep pointing out reasons on why they should me the ones to go visit him first. I start laughing and follow her lead, kinda enjoying the fact that I always get to be the first to visit and hold his hand.

I may be Jay's only brother, but his family's much bigger than that.

The end.

There you go, we've reached the end of another story. I hope there was enough brotherly love and crazy emotions :) It's literally the middle of the night so I'm really tired, but I wanted to get this up. Thank you for reading and please let me know what you thought.

I haven't quite decided yet what I'm going to write about next. I have quite a few ideas including many of your amazing prompts, but I'll see where I end up. I've been wanting to incorporate Mouse into one of these stories, but I also love the brotherly bond between Jay and Will. And at the same time, I'm a sucker for Al or Voight and their fatherly figure towards Jay. We shall see where my imagination takes me.

Recently, my grandma had to have her leg amputated, which you can probably imagine is crazy and it's taking a toll on all of us. I have one more exam before vacation starts, so I'll try to write something new as soon as I can. However long it takes me to post the next chapter, know that it is coming eventually, because this is by far my favorite story to write. And thank you for your endless support.

Until next time :)

Love, N