Fighter

Chapter 27

This one is much longer in comparison to any other chapter & is veryyyyy Jay centric, hope y'all enjoy!!likes & reviews are always appreciated ❤️

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When visitation was over and Voight has returned to the room, Erin had long since been asleep. Jay lifted her arm gently and slid out from her side, careful as to not wake her up.
"Thanks for being here for her." Voight spoke, lifting his eyes from the stack of evidence that Al had brought by. Jay nodded. "She needs anyone she can possibly have right now. I know that's what my mom needed." Voight empathized. "I just wish I knew what to say to her." He mumbled. "Kid, you're doing exactly what she needs, don't think too much into it. You'll drive yourself crazy." He ran his hand over his head and sighed, dropping it back down to his side. "Well, I'll be back. Night boss." "Have a good night, Halstead."

On his way out of the hospital, Jay found Natalie and Will near the emergency bay chatting. "Jay?" Natalie called him over drawing him out of his deep thoughts. "You look like crap." Will said bluntly, taking in the exhaustion written across Jay's face. "Will. Be nice." Natalie nudged him. "What's going on?" She asked. "I figured normally news travelled fast here...Erin was admitted." Both doctors were stunned. They had just seen their  detective friend only a few days ago. "Wait. What? What happened? Nothing came through the ER?" Jay shook his head, suddenly holding back the urge to cry. "She was admitted into the cancer wing." If they could have, both jaws would have hit the floor. "Oh, Jay. I'm so sorry. How is she? Any ideas on her diagnosis?" Jay nodded, inhaling a deep breath. Will pulled his younger sibling into a hug. "I'm sorry, man. I know how much she still means to you." The two drew back from the hug, before Jay responded to the questions. "She's doing as good as she could be. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. They're treating her with some kind of new, super strong chemo before they try surgery. I have to be honest though, it's doing a number on her.
She's only through one round and she's just so...not Erin. Really exhausted, sick. You know." He shrugged. "She'll be okay. You should head home and get some sleep. I don't think her worrying about you not being okay is what she needs right now. Take care of yourself too, Jay. You okay to drive home?" "Yeah. Yeah I know. I'm good, I'll give you a call later. Bye Nat, say hi to Owen for me." The two watched him leave, shoulders sagging ever so slightly beneath his coat, hands shoved aggressively into his pockets. Natalie looked to the oldest Halstead with evident worry in her eyes. "This is going to put them all through the ringer. She means a lot to 21." Will nodded. "They always come out on top though, I think she'll be okay."

Jay had tossed and turned for nearly two hours before he threw in the towel on sleep. Once he was dressed and showered, he grabbed his jacket and headed out.

Pulling into his spot in the 21 parking lot he glanced at the clock, alerting him it was nearly one in the morning. He leaned his head back against the seat and took in a breath, gathering himself enough to head inside to work on the case.
He had settled in on the break room couch with files in his lap, working under the dim light. The office was so quiet, and the files had been forgotten after awhile. He had folded up his jacket, laying down. Jay wasn't by any means a crier, but that's exactly what began to happen. An outpouring of emotion he kept locked up, and hadn't experienced at such a high level since his mother had passed years ago. Eventually he had finally nodded off.

That was how Hailey and Kim had found him when they entered for their early morning start. Glancing at each other, wondering if they should wake him. Hailey grabbed the coffee pot and began a brew, while Kim kneeled down next to the couch, gently nudging Jay's shoulder. The break room couch wasn't exactly an ideal place for a sleep, and she was certain he was going to be sore today. "Jay?" He opened his eyes in confusion as he took in the two female detectives. Hailey had finished pouring up their mugs and sat them at the table adjacent to the couch where Jay was sitting up, rubbing at his sleep filled eyes. "Did you sleep here all night?" Kim asked with concern lacing her voice. Jay shook his head. "Got here about midnight, I think. Wanted to work some more on the case." He and Kim joined Hailey at the table, and he generously took the coffee. "You want to talk about it?" Hailey asked softly. He sighed. "Just couldn't sleep, is all." "Erin on the brain?" Kim asked bluntly. Staring down into the mug of coffee, he nodded ever so slightly. "Jay, it's okay to talk about how you're feeling. She is really important to you, to all of us. This hit everyone pretty hard. But not talking about it, and taking it in all on your on, isn't helping. We're here to lean on." She said reaching across the table for his hand wrapped around the mug, Hailey mimicking her actions. "This is a team...a family, and we support each other." Hailey said. At that moment, Jay realized how truly blessed he was to have such a great unit to work with. "I'm just afraid we're going to lose her to this, you know? This isn't a criminal with a gun we can talk down. I can't be her backup this time." He pulled his hands up to rest his forehead in. "Maybe not, but we can still be there while she goes through this. She's tougher than any other person I've ever met." Kim said. "Something just tells me, that Erin Lindsay has a lot of life left in her to live. Keep that in your mind instead of the doom and gloom." Hailey finished. He nodded, finishing off the coffee, and picking up the files, they headed out to the bullpen to work.