17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Rojas jolted awake with her phone still in her hand, suddenly aware that she fell asleep watching dog videos on Youtube. The drool on her pillow gave that away, she laughed at herself before looking around trying to figure out what time it was. Her phone said 5 am but she was confused by the hallway light still on. She decided to get up and investigate.

She quietly walked towards Hailey's bedroom, fully expecting to find Jay in there too. The door was wide open, which was unusual, but made sense because Jay didn't have any spare hands as he carried her to bed.

She smirked when she saw them passed out beside each other. Hailey was on her back, sleeping soundly, Jay starfishing across her bed on his stomach. His hand was dangerously close to Hailey's, Rojas snuck in and threw a blanket over top of him before quietly leaving again.

Hailey started to wake up, slowly becoming more aware of her surroundings. At first she wasn't sure why her bed felt so hot, was she sick? No,she thought as she checked in with her body. Then she realized, it was the furnace sleeping beside her, actually more like on top of her, and she laughed.

He always ran a bit hot in his sleep, most guys did. It didn't help that he was still in his clothes from the day before. She knew that if it was up to him he'd slept completely naked, he's insinuated that a few times. She held in a laugh, looking at him sprawled out across her bed as if it was his own.

She could hear his voice in her head telling her that "Pants were too restricting." No one they worked with would ever believe her if she told them that, the Jay Halstead they knew was regimented, always put together. But the version she was most familiar with was this one. After he got shot and she spent more nights at his place than her own, she had become accustom to his sleeping habits. He couldn't fall asleep without brushing his teeth, and he liked to have some part of him touching her. He admitted he was not thatinto snuggling, not that surprising, he wasn't an overly touchy person. However, he did like some contact, to keep him grounded she suspected, and more often than not ended up close to her in some way shape or form during the night.

Just as she was waking up to figure out what time it was, she saw Rojas standing in her doorway, eyes wider than ever. She gave Hailey a devilish grin, the older of the two raising an eyebrow at that, daring Vanessa to say something.

Vanessa tip-toed in Hailey's bedroom, careful not to wake Jay, who looked as content as she'd ever seen him. He didn't strike her as someone who usually slept that well. She mouthed, "It's 6:30" to Hailey, who nodded. Hailey flashed 10 fingers back at her, reminding the young officer they didn't have to go in until later that morning. Rojas nodded face palming, forgetting that she could have slept longer this morning.

Hailey turned her head ever so slightly to not wake Jay, watching him sleeping soundly on his stomach, his right arm tucked under the pillow, his face turned towards hers. He looked so comfortable, she didn't want to move him. His left arm was like a weighted blanket laying over her stomach. His hand was brushed up under her rib cage, his fingers gently rising as she inhaled. She was trying not to breathe too heavily because that would surely wake him, but her heart couldn't help but race at the position they were in. His hands were dangerously close to…well…

"Hails we're out of milk", he randomly mumbled.

She put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Rojas bit her lip to contain her own giggles. Jay never talked in his sleep, this was out of character even for him. He told her that she did it all the time but she didn't believe him. He must be in a deep sleep. It was a good thing, definitely better than the alternative she was so used to seeing. He had been sleeping better lately she noticed.

"I'll go to the store tomorrow m'kay?" He added.

"Sounds good dear", Hailey replied back jokingly, much to Vanessa's delight. Jay was dreaming of living with Hailey in his sleep, Vanessa could barely contain the smile on her face.

"Okay, see you tomorrow", Jay said before drifting back into a deep sleep. Not before wiggling closer to her though.

She allowed it, setting her hand on his back, as he was practically lying on top of her now. She would make fun of him for this later, as would Rojas she was sure. She caught her roommate taking a photo for blackmail likely and scowled at her as Vanessa ran off, seemingly pleased with witnessing that. She checked her phone making sure she had an alarm set for 8:30 and then drifted back to sleep.

7:00 am

Jay woke up to a sharp pain in his shoulder. He tried to move around to make it go away but ended up yelping involuntarily in the process.

"Are you okay?" He quickly heard Hailey ask through the brain fog he was experiencing, sounding like she just woke up, confusion in her voice. He had successfully hidden this from her for a while now, but had a feeling she was about to find out the whole truth.

His eyes were tightly squeezed together, his right hand pressed into his left shoulder, trying to numb the pain. He forgot that she didn't know he had crashed in here last night.

"Fine-", he grunted, obviously not sounding very believable because next thing he knew he felt Hailey's hand slip under his shirt, trying to gently move his fingers to figure out what was going on.

Her cold hands felt good on his skin, it momentarily distracted him enough so that he could roll onto his right side from his stomach, taking some of the pressure off of his arm.

"Slept wrong", Jay muttered out a half sentence again, his eyes still closed. He feared if he opened them the nausea might overtake him. He was already feeling like he might pass out the pain was so sharp and so severe.

"Okay, it's alright, just breathe. What can I do?" She asked, keeping her hand on his back just beneath his shoulder.

He shook his head, not able to get any words out.

"Hey, open your eyes, look at me", she asked, her voice so gentle it almost made him consider it.

"Jay…", she tried again, noticing how forcefully he was keeping them shut, his forehead showing all of the tension in his pale face.

He felt her hand come up to his cheek, her thumb brushing against his face like she had done for him in the hospital. He let out a deep breath he forgot he was holding, regaining some control over the anxiety and panic building in his body.

She felt some of his facial muscles release, and watched him take a few slow breaths.

"Alright, that's good. Are you going to be sick?" She asked, growing more and more concerned that the familiar look on his face was going to shift into another.

"Maybe", he quietly said.

She was so confused. She didn't think his shoulder was still bothering him this much, maybe he hurt it again and didn't tell her? But when…she thought. Nothing unusual had happened at work the last few weeks, not that she had noticed anyways. The fact that this was lingering since he got shot and he didn't tell her made her feel a bit annoyed. But knowing Jay she understood, he always did whatever he could to hide his pain, both physical and emotional. Getting back to work was really important to him after being injured, but lying about it was only going to make a nagging injury worse.

She got out of her bed to rush downstairs to grab him a heating pack and some Advil. She ran into Rojas in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal at the island.

"Thought you were going back to bed for a while?" Hailey asked.

Vanessa shrugged, "Was already up. Couldn't get back to sleep."

Hailey nodded, understanding. "What are you doing up?" Rojas responded.

"Jay woke me up, his shoulder is bothering him he yelped so loud it scared the crap out of me", Hailey shook her head.

"Oh, that's not good. Is he alright?" Rojas asked, becoming more and more aware that the version of Jay she saw when he was here and with Hailey was one that no one else in the unit was privy to.

"I don't know, I'm actually a bit concerned. He told me he might throw up. Did I miss something? He hasn't hurt himself this week has he?", Hailey said confused by her own words, wracking her brain to see if anything came to mind.

"I don't think so…although you would know more than me. He must have just slept on it wrong, he looked pretty sprawled out when I came in", Vanessa smiled.

"Ya I guess so", Hailey paused as she waited for the microwave with the heating pack to go off.

Hailey hurried back upstairs to see what was going on. She could hear him whimpering as she turned the corner, his face scrunched up in pain.

Jay was still curled up in the fetal position in her bed, wearing his clothes from the night before. She laughed to herself, they were sort of past the whole needing to remain fully clothed while platonically sleeping in the same bed together. But here they were. The almost empty bottle of bourbon on her kitchen counter also reminded her that they both probably passed out as they were last night. Jay must have carried her to bed she had no idea how she got there.

"Jay….hey", she gently sat down on her side of the bed, since he was facing towards her.

"I'm going to put a heat pack on your shoulder okay", she told him, not really waiting for a response, not that he was giving her much anyways.

He nodded his head slightly, inhaling as he felt the warmth spread across his left arm. He felt instantly relaxed, well enough anyways. Distracting him enough from the shooting pain.

Hailey remained quiet for a few minutes, watching him adjust, the heat helping his tense muscles. She could feel how hard his muscles had been spasming when she put her hand on his shoulder, before going downstairs. He was in excruciating pain she could tell that much, he usually did a pretty good job of hiding it. So for him to actually be acting like this, it must be bad.

She waited until he calmed down a bit more, keeping her hand where it was on his back, rubbing small gentle circles with her thumb and holding the heat against his shoulder.

"Jay, what's going on?" She asked again. This time he opened his eyes and looked back at her.

"If I tell you, you're going to be mad", he said hesitantly.

She scoffed, "I'm not going to be mad. I'm just worried about you."

"Remember how I told you my shoulder was 100 percent and I was pain free?" He said sheepishly.

She knew where this was going right away. "Uh huh. That's not that case is it."

"Not exactly", he winced as he sat up in bed.

She gestured behind him as she carefully leaned him forward and put a pillow behind him so he would be more comfortable. She was holding his left arm in her hand until she propped it up under a pillow, the contact of her gently brushing past him sent shivers down his spine.

He relaxed back and exhaled, "Thanks", he sighed. His right hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"So you gonna tell me what's going on or what?" She pried.

He looked at her, like he wanted to tell her but held back.

"I'm not going to be mad, I promise. I want to help. It's obvious that you're in pain", she said sympathetically.

"I don't have full range of motion back. Well, comfortably anyways. When I wake up in the morning it usually hurts a lot and it's really stiff. But not this bad, it spasms hard sometimes. I guess because I slept on my stomach I don't usually do that. When I brought you up here, I just kinda crashed. Sorry I didn't mean to stay…", he rambled.

Hailey shook her head and grinned. "It's alright. Not the first time, probably won't be the last either. You know you can always stay here."

He had a little twinkle in his eye as she told him that, giving her permission to stay in bed with her. I am a lucky man, Jay thought.

"Have you told anyone about this?" She prodded.

He shook his head, "Well, Choi knows. I swore him to secrecy. He said that's normal after an injury like mine, the nerves and muscles and everything that tore is still healing. Might take a while but I'll be okay eventually, there won't be any permanent damage. Just have to tough it out. I didn't want to bother anyone, have anyone treat me like an invalid", he looked down as he said it, blushing.

"Jay, no one is going to think less of you. We all saw what you went through. It's a miracle you survived let alone had the injuries that you did."

"You won't tell anyone? I'm going to physio on the weekends and trying my best to rehab. It just hurts sometimes", he confessed.

"No I'm not going to tell anyone, don't worry. And I won't as long as it's not putting you or anyone else at risk. Whatever you need, okay?" She replied.

He nodded. "Thanks for this", he motioned towards his shoulder, she was still supporting his forearm, trying to take some of the pressure off.

"Of course", Hailey gave him a half smile, an unspoken you're my partner, at the end of that.

They agreed to stay up, no point in going back to sleep now.

"You want something to eat?" Hailey asked as they watched the morning news and sports highlights.

"Coffee please", Jay said.

"A given. I'm going to make myself some avocado toast, you want some?"

"That sounds good, I'll be down in a few I'm just gonna shower", Jay started to move, stiffly Hailey noticed.

"You don't have to move, just relax we have time. I'll bring it up", she motioned for him to stay in bed, he reluctantly smiled and agreed.

Hailey appeared again fifteen minutes later.

"Breakfast in bed? Hailey Anne", Jay smirked devilishly. The colour was back in his face, as was his cheeky grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't get to used to it. I do this for all the nice strangers who show up in my bed overnight unannounced."

Jay pretended to be hurt then laughed at that and ate his breakfast with her as they watched TV in bed.

Before they knew it, it was time to head into work. Jay had stood under Hailey's hot shower for a while and that seemed to loosen up the rest of his tight muscles.

"Jay we're going to be late", she yelled through the door.

He responded by shutting off the water and quickly drying off with the towel she left in there for him. He emerged from her bathroom wearing just the towel, his eyes searching her bedroom for his belongings.

Shit, he muttered. Realizing he had left his overnight bag in his truck.

"Hailey?" He yelled peaking his head out of her bedroom door and down the hall. But nowhere to be found.

"You need something Jay?" Rojas suddenly appeared. Even she couldn't resist a little up and down of the chiselled detective, who seemed to notice that and raised an eyebrow in return.

"I left my bag in my truck, do you mind running to get it", he asked dangling his keys at her.

"Ya, no worries", Vanessa smiled, leaving for a few minutes and appearing with his bag.

By that point Hailey had made her way back upstairs, surprised to see her partner still sitting in her room with just a towel. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the scar on his left shoulder, she shuddered.

"Here, Vanessa ran out to grab this for you." She handed him his bag.

"Thanks", he disappeared into the bathroom to change, coming out in just his jeans a few minutes later.

"We are seriously going to be late, and I know you really wanted your bag for your hair gel not clean clothes", Hailey poked fun.

"Ha, ha very funny Hails." Jay rolled his eyes as he finished getting ready in her mirror.

"Okay, okay I'm ready let's go." Jay made a point of putting his shirt on last, then following her down to the kitchen to grab a coffee and go.

As they were getting ready to leave all three of their phones pinged with news from Voight. Jay groaned as they each read what he expected them to do before coming in.

"Gang shooting. I'll meet you guys at work." Jay rushed to put his coat and boots on.

"Vanessa and I have to go do a follow up with one of the witnesses", Hailey replied ushering him out the door, handing him a coffee and a breakfast bar to go.

He stuck the oatmeal bar in his mouth as he scooped up his phone and badge.

Hailey opened the front door for him, and he rushed out, making it halfway down the steps before turning back and mumbling something not coherent enough for Vanessa to make out.

"I'll grab your bag and bring it with me", Hailey replied, and Jay nodded in a return with a smile knowing that she understood his gibberish, while trying to scarf down his breakfast.

"You guys are the most unmarried, married people I have ever seen in my life", Rojas stated in amazement as soon as Jay was far enough out of ear shot.

Hailey rolled her eyes at that one, but didn't deny it. "Ya, ya I know. Let's go."

I'm back! Sorry for the extended hiatus' over the last few months, school had to come first. Now that I'm on summer break I plan on writing a lot more! This was a bit of a filler chapter, have some fun things planned ahead. Thank you for all of the nice comments on this story so far. Hope everyone is doing well & staying safe wherever you are in the world. –K