Pieces (7): Feelings are strange

Chapter 7: Feelings are strange

Chapter Summary: Y/N worries when Jay stops responding to her messages. Meanwhile, a ruckus in the waiting room attracts Y/N’s attention.

Word Count:1,879

Warnings: allusions to verbal abuse, threatening behavior

A/N: Things are… moving. Kind of. I hope you like this update! All the comments have really got me more excited to show you more chapters! Remember to stop by and let me know what you guys think!!!

SERIES MASTERLIST

JAY HALSTEAD MASTERLIST

You’d taken Chloe to school yourself the next day to talk to them and find out why Caleb was able to take her out of school and found out that even though you’d filled out the paperwork, they hadn’t processed it. It had taken a whole lot of effort not to scream at everyone in the room. Instead, you’d insisted on seeing the list of approved adults for Chloe just so you could rest easy that she wasn’t going to disappear right under your nose again.

So you’d definitely felt better for the rest of the day, your mind wandering back to what Jay had said to you the night before.

You’d always thought that when the day came again when someone, anyone, asked you out on a date again, you’d say no with absolutely no hesitation. That’s what you’d told yourself the day Caleb had walked out on you and Chloe. You’d never trust someone else with yours or Chloe’s happiness, ever again.

But that was before Jay Halstead.

You wanted to be mad at him, really. You wanted to be mad at him for crashing headfirst into your life, for wavering your determination to not let anyone too close, for making you feel like you mattered again. But you couldn’t even be mad at him.

You glanced at your phone.

You’d sent him a text to say that the two of you should talk but he hadn’t responded, so you stuffed your phone back into your pocket where it belonged. But now that you were anticipating a response, it felt like a boulder that you were carrying around all day, you literally had to fight the urge to check it every few minutes.

When he hadn’t responded by the next day, your initial annoyance had slowly shifted into worry. It wasn’t like Jay to not respond like this. At first, you’d thought he might have been annoyed that he hadn’t gotten a response from you, after all a guy like Jay Halstead probably didn’t face rejection much, or at all. But now, you weren’t so sure.

“Hey, Will.” You headed up to him where he was getting coffee.

You hesitated, now.

Will frowned. “What’s up? Everything okay?”

You nodded. “Is Jay okay?”

Will’s eyebrow rose. “Yeah, as far as I know. Why? Did you hear something?”

You shook your head. “I just… I haven’t heard from him. He usually doesn’t do that, so I was just wondering…”

“Oh, crap. I was supposed to tell you yesterday but I forgot.” Will said. “He came by my place in the morning to pass me some stuff and he told me to let you know he’s going under, probably for a few days, so he’d be uncontactable. I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“Under?” You asked.

Will nodded. “Yeah, they do some undercover work sometimes. When they have to.” Will paused. “He can’t have his personal phone with him when he does. He’ll show up in a couple of days.”

You nodded, a little absentmindedly. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Please don’t tell him I forgot to tell you. He will literally kill me.” When that didn’t elicit much of a response from you, Will paused. “Everything okay?”

You smiled and nodded. “Yeah, just needed to finish a conversation.”

Will studied you for a bit before he nodded again. “You know if you need anything…”

You smiled. “Yeah, I know. Thanks.”

By the end of the week, you still hadn’t heard from Jay.

But everytime you felt your mind go there, you yanked yourself back, wondering when this had begun. When had you begun to rely on someone again, when you’d told yourself again and again that you couldn’t go back down that road.

The worst part was that you had no idea how this had all happened and why it was Jay that gave you this sense of stability, this sense of security. And now that you found yourself here, you had no freaking clue what to do, but you had to figure it out before you spoke to him again.

The only good thing about a crazy day in the ED was that you didn’t have time to dwell on these little things floating through your mind. You’d come out into the waiting room to help Connor update his patient’s wife when a commotion near Leah’s counter caught your attention.

“I’ve been waiting for over an hour!” You heard his fist bang on the table. “And I want to know why I’m still waiting!”

You took a deep breath, wanting nothing more but to head inside. But there was no way a guy like that was going to let you leave peacefully.

Before you’d even taken so much as another breath, he’d caught sight of your white coat and pointed at you.

“You! Lady! You’re a doctor. Yousee me.”

Maggie raised her eyebrows at you and you’d turned around to look at him, controlling your expression as best as you could.

“Sir, we have to see patients based on their conditions. If you wait a while longer, we’ll try to move things along.” You kept your voice patient, before you tried to turn to go back into the ED.

“Lady! I demand to see a doctor now!”

You felt your irritation rise. You had a four year old that behaved better than this.

You moved towards Leah, peering at his registration sheet and you nodded at her, noting his non-emergent symptoms.

“Sir, as we have told you many times, we have to see patients based on the urgency of their condition. Please wait your turn.” Your voice was stern now. He moved forward as if to confront you again but eyed Earl keeping a watching eye by the corner, as you stepped backwards.

You glanced at Leah who nodded, before you turned and headed back into the ED.

You glanced at the clock as you pulled on your jacket in place of the white coat you’d been in all day.

“We’re going for drinks, can your babysitter do another few hours?” Will asked, as he closed his locker and pointed to Connor.

You gave him a smile. “Not today, she can’t work late. Sorry.”

Connor shook his head. “Come on, we can’t compete with a kid for her mom. We’ll do a kid-friendly one sometime.”

You laughed and nodded, grabbing your bag.

“Have fun guys!”

You headed out towards your car. It was already late, the streets felt a little darker than usual so you looked up at the sky for a moment before you continued walking. You’d been a little late at the start of shift thanks to Chloe’s school, so you’d had to park your car a little further from the entrance.

You were about two cars away when you felt someone tug roughly at your arm.

Spinning around, you frowned at the man who was holding your arm so tightly it was starting to hurt. It took you a moment before you placed him again - the man screaming at Leah in the waiting room earlier today. The man you’d told to wait when he’d yelled at you demanding you see him then and there for a flu.

You glanced down at your arm, attempting to pull it backwards out of his grasp but he was way stronger than you were.

You could still see the anger flash in his eyes even in the dark as he stepped forward and you stepped backwards. He pushed you roughly before your back hit the hard wall of the external hospital wall. “What do you want?” It took you some effort to keep your voice steady.

“You’re really rude.” He commented, not really answering your question. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that rude women need to be taught a lesson.”

You could feel your heartbeat quicken as you tried again to tug your arm out of his grasp with barely any success.

He raised his other arm now and even as you tried hard not to, you flinched as you saw his palm come swinging down at you.

And then, nothing.

You opened your eyes again and there he was. You felt the rush of something that felt suspiciously magical, before your brain and mouth connected. “Jay.”

Jay didn’t turn to look at you, almost like he hadn’t heard you. He’d caught the guy’s arm midair and you were sure if he’d been even a second later you’d have already felt the impact.

“Step the hell back.” Jay growled, speaking each word slowly.

It was the first time you’d heard this much anger in his voice. You don’t think you’d even heard it that few times he’d spoken to Caleb. This was different.

“What’s it to you?” The man didn’t look like he wanted to back down.

Jay didn’t respond, merely glancing down at the badge attached to his waist. “I won’t say it again. Walk away.” Jay looked pointedly at his other hand.

The guy wrenched his arm out of Jay’s grasp as he let go of your arm. Jay shifted, standing in front of you now. “If I see you anywhere near her again…”

The guy seemed like he was weighing his options but instead turned to leave.

Jay turned towards you now. “You okay?”

You took a deep breath. “Yeah, I think so.”

Jay exhaled.

“Great self-control there, Jay.” You said with a smile. “I’m not sure Will could have kept his cool.”

Jay smiled. “Oh, you have no idea the effort it took. If he’d actually hit you…” He paused. “I might have beaten the crap out of him.”

“ Oh Detective Halstead, you wouldn’t.” You teased gently, smiling as you watched the hard look in his eyes slowly give way to the gentle green eyes you knew so well.

Jay glanced down the street to make sure he was really gone. “Sorry I haven’t been in touch.”

You shook your head. “Will told me. Everything okay with you?”

Jay nodded. “Yeah, I…”

He was interrupted as his phone rang and you nodded at him as he answered it. You watched his frown deepen.

“I’ll be right there.” He said as he hung up. “Y/N, I’m sorry, I…”

You shook your head, smiling.

“You gonna be okay?” He asked. “Should I call Will?”

You laughed. “I’ll get home okay. Thanks for… I’m glad you were here when you were. Thank you.”

Jay nodded, squeezing your wrist a little. “I gotta…”

You nodded. “Be safe.”

Jay smiled and jogged towards his truck which was parked a little way away. Jay turned just as he was getting into his truck for one last look.

You raised your hand and waved, as he smiled and waved back before driving off.

You watched a little while longer as he drove away before you hurried to your car and sped off, taking two detours just in case before you got home. Truth be told, you were hoping you’d have the opportunity to talk and you had been this close to actually inviting him over. So you weren’t sure whether it was a good or bad thing he’d been called away.

The only thing certain tonight was one thing - the fluttering feeling in the pit of your stomach and the race of your heart.

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Pieces (10): Work This Out

Chapter 10: Work This Out

Chapter Summary: Jay keeps his promise to Chloe and helps Y/N make temporary arrangements for Chloe.

Word Count:1,928

Warnings: canon-typical mentions of injuries

A/N: In Resa’s effort to try to go to bed early I’ll be pushing up the postings to 10PM (GMT +8), so just an hour earlier! Updates will still be on Tuesday and Fridays in my timezone! Hope you guys like this update, please drop by to let me know what you think!

SERIES MASTERLIST || JAY HALSTEAD MASTERLIST

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Jay hoisted Chloe more securely onto his arm as he hurried into Med to look for someone, anyone.

It had been a hard decision, as Jay watched the paramedics pile you in and heard them say that he could come along for the ride. Technically, he could have had Hailey bring Chloe to Med but it didn’t feel like that would cut it. He’d glanced at you and turned back to the district to deliver his promise.

“Jay!”

Jay spotted Will and headed straight in. Will glanced at Chloe in his arms and nodded at him. “You should wait to talk to Connor.”

Will opened his arms. “Chloe, why don’t we go get something to eat?”

Chloe nodded slowly before she turned to Jay and Jay smiled, nodding. “Will knows the best snacks here.”

Chloe smiled and allowed Will to lift her from Jay’s arms.

Jay watched them disappear, just as Connor walked into the waiting room.

“Connor.”

Connor nodded, heading towards Jay. “Her injuries are extensive. We had to put in a chest tube when she first came in, she had internal injuries, two fractured ribs. Her arm is broken, and the stab wound caused even further damage.”

As Connor watched Jay’s expression change, he quickly added. “The surgery went well. She’ll need some time to recover, but she’s going to be okay.”

Jay exhaled.

“You can see her now if you want.”

Jay nodded. “Thanks.”

When Jay entered your room, he was glad he hadn’t gone to get Chloe first. Your arm had been put in a cast and the bruises across your face were now more pronounced.

“Hey.” Jay greeted, as he reached your bedside.

You looked back up at him, glad to see him. “Chloe?” You whispered.

Jay smiled and nodded. “Will took her to get some food. I’ll bring her by later. You feeling up to talking?”

You exhaled, but nodded.

Jay got as much information from you as he could without pushing, clenching his fist as he felt the rage course through him while you recounted what had happened in the bodega. The only thing you were thankful for was that they were so hopped up, they hadn’t noticed Chloe, merely thinking that you’d been trying to run. So they’d taken their anger out on you, hitting and kicking at you, a few times with the baseball bat. You could hear the rage turn into shrieks of excitement at the violence they were inflicting as they pounded into you.

As you recounted the attack, you exhaled as the memory of the moment you’d felt the knife slice into your abdomen hit you and Jay reached out for your good hand, gently squeezing. “It’s okay, we can stop.”

You glanced up at Jay and squeezed back. “How’d you find her?” You asked after a while.

Jay smiled. “She found me. Kind of.”

You frowned in confusion.

“Apparently her school had taught them how to identify police station buildings, fire stations, that sort of thing. One of the patrol officers found her somewhere outside the district and brought her in. When I came into the building, Trudy was already talking to her. You got a brilliant kid.”

“I was scared, Jay. Putting my four year old out on the street like that? What if someone took her? What if something worse happened because she was alone?” You whispered, your voice trembling. “But she would be in far more danger inside, so I…”

Jay leaned forward to stroke the top of your head. “Slow breaths, Y/N. It’s okay, she’s okay. I promise.”

You met his green eyes and nodded, your breathing slowing again.

“Get some rest. Connor said they’re moving you to a room. I’ll check on Will and Chloe and I’ll bring her by, alright?”

You nodded, as Jay smiled at you and disappeared out the door.

This had thrown a whole wrench in your plan to not fall deeper into what you already knew were feelings for Jay Halstead. You’d told yourself, and him, that you weren’t ready, that you couldn’t deal with anything romantic. But this? You weren’t prepared for. The way Jay just swept in to take care of you and Chloe even though you were holding him at arm’s length, the way you knew that if Jay was there, Chloe would be safe, and so would you.

“We got them, Jay. They were too high to worry about security cameras, Kim got them before they hit another store.”

Those were the only words Jay needed to hear right now. “Where are they?”

Jay heard his partner sigh over the phone. “Coming down from their high. It’ll be another few hours I think. Everything okay there?”

Jay glanced over where Will was bringing Chloe back in. “Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as I can. I want in on the interrogation.”

Jay hung up the phone as Chloe ran towards him. “Jay, can we see Mom?”

Jay glanced at Will but bent down to speak to Chloe. “Yeah, but can we talk first?”

Chloe nodded.

“Mom got a bit hurt. We can go see her but it might be a little scary, alright?”

Chloe studied Jay before she nodded. “I’m not scared.”

Jay smiled. “Alright, come on.” He picked her up easily, as Will led the way to your room.

Jay could see the relief on your face when you finally laid eyes on Chloe. “Gentle, okay?” Jay whispered as he put Chloe down next to you and she hugged you, burying her face into your neck. You held her close to you, finally feeling like you could breathe right.

“You okay?” You asked her.

Chloe nodded. “Jay kept his promise. And Will and I had pudding.”

You smiled, glancing back at them. “Thanks, guys.”

Will smiled, nodding before he joined Connor to peer at your chart. “I’m gonna have you here at least a week if not longer.”

“Connor… I can’t.” You said, glancing at Chloe who was lying comfortably beside you now.

Connor sighed. “Y/N, your injuries… you know this. There’s an equal chance of internal bleeding so close after surgery. A week is already pushing it, alright? Is there anyone… her father?”

Chloe’s eyes darted up. “No, I don’t wanna.”

Jay glanced at Connor, then Will, before back at you.

“Y/N, we’ll work something out, alright? Let me talk to Voight, see if there’s anything I can do.” Jay said, standing up. “I gotta go back to the district, but I’ll swing by later this evening?”

“What are you…”

Jay just smiled. “Trust me.”

He leaned forward to pat the top of Chloe’s head affectionately. “I’ll see you later, kid.”

Chloe grinned back up at Jay and Jay squeezed your hand discreetly. But not discreetly enough, as Will gave his brother a look accompanied by a small knowing smile.

Jay’s idea of ‘work something out’ was the village. Natalie had come by to tell you that Owen would be more than happy to have a playmate for a few days, Jay had said that he had a few days he could take and he’d be more than happy to take Chloe home or stay with her, whichever made you more comfortable.

So you’d let Chloe decide.

You’d been trying to ease Chloe back into seeing Caleb more, especially since he seemed more interested in reconnecting with his daughter. But it hadn’t been easy and you weren’t keen on shipping her off there while you were in the hospital. You’d rather have Chloe choose who she wanted to stay with. Chloe and Owen had been on a few play dates, even though you and Natalie weren’t terribly close, but you kind of knew what Chloe would choose even before she’d said it.

To say you weren’t happy with it was an outright lie, because you knew that Chloe would be safe and happy. But it wasn’t helpful to you.

“You sure you can take the few days? I don’t want to put you out more than…” You asked Jay. He’d been gone for most of the day but he’d just come back from the district.

Jay gave you a look. “I already took the few days. They owe me furlough anyway and it’s a…” He shrugged. “Family emergency.”

You felt the breath catch in your throat. Here you were, practically dangling him on the line, not wanting to cross a line with him, but there he was willing to do almost anything just to keep you at ease and to keep your daughter happy.

Jay smiled, putting his hands up. “I didn’t mean anything by it, alright? I’m not pressuring you or anything.”

“Jay.” You stopped him. “I know.”

Jay let his mouth fall shut before he smiled. “Anyway, we got them. I went back to do the interrogation. They were high and just…” He sighed. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

You just gave him a small smile and turned just a little to look at your daughter who was busy drawing on some papers that April and Maggie had delivered up to you.

“At least she wasn’t hurt.” You whispered.

Jay headed over towards you, stopping just a little distance away like he was being careful about pushing the boundaries. “You shouldn’t have been hurt either.” His voice was low.

“Did she give it to you?” You asked.

Jay raised an eyebrow.

“Chloe? Weren’t you going to give Jay something?” You asked.

Chloe’s head jerked upwards and she grinned before she reached for her bag and took out the paper she’d been carefully carrying around all day, before she handed it to Jay, her little features scanning his face and watching his reaction.

Jay took it from Chloe, the four-year old handwriting of “My Hero” scribbled at the top, along with a drawing of what could only have been Jay in a police uniform.

“And that’s me and Mom!” Chloe said excitedly, pointing to the two small figures next to him. “Do you like it?”

Jay glanced at you, smiling, before he turned back to Chloe, bending back down to her eye level. “I love it. Thank you, Chloe. This is for me, right?”

Chloe nodded and Jay smiled as she threw her tiny arms around his neck.

“I’ll keep it really well.“ Jay told her as she pulled out of the hug. "So what do you say we go home and let Mom rest? We can come back tomorrow.” He told her.

Chloe nodded. “Are we going to your house?”

Jay glanced at you and you pointed to your bag, where Jay found your keys so that he could go pick up some of Chloe’s things.

“Are you sure about this, Jay? You can still back out of this.” You asked him in a low voice.

Jay nodded. “We’ll be fine. Won’t we?”

Chloe smiled. “We’re going to have a sleepover!”

You laughed, feeling the pain from well, everywhere, shoot through your body and you winced.

Jay’s head snapped towards you and you shook your head. “I’ll be fine. Go on.”

Chloe came to the side of your bed. “Bye, Mom.”

“Be good.” You whispered, leaning out far enough to give her a quick kiss to her forehead.

Jay picked Chloe into his arms and grabbed her bag. “Jay.” You stopped him, as he turned to look at you.

“Thanks.”

Jay winked, before he left with your daughter, leaving you staring at the ceiling.

Everything hurt, and everything felt more confusing, but at the very least, you knew you and Chloe were in safe hands.

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