Erin sat rigidly on the bench in the OR waiting room, Jay by her side. The detectives had been waiting to hear what was going on with their little girl after they woke up to her unconscious in the hallway after throwing up blood. Erin was overcome with guilt, but Jay was trying to remain positive about the situation.
"There wasn't anything we could have done other than what we did." Jay told his girl. "She's in good hands now. She's going to be okay."
Maggie emerged from the OR with Dr. Manning beside her. "She's in surgery right now. Looks like a stomach perf."
Jay looked helpless and troubled as Erin sobbed into his shoulder. "Halstead, why don't you go take a walk? I think Will was headed to the cafeteria. You may be able to catch him." Maggie suggested. She shot him a knowing look, and he nodded.
"I'll be right back babe." Jay kissed her forehead, and left his girl sitting on the sofa bench, crying harder than he'd ever seen her cry before.
Dr. Manning sat on the couch beside her colleague and took her hand. "She's going to be fine, Erin."
"But what if she isn't?" Erin could hardly make out Dr. Manning's face because of the constant stream of tears.
"You did everything right." Natalie placed her hand on Erin's back. "What you need to do now is take a few deep breaths and just wait until the surgery is over."
Erin took a deep breath in, but let it out accompanied by sobs. "You didn't see her." Erin cried, her head in her hands. "She looked so tiny, so fragile, so...dead!" She burst into a fresh set of sobs. "What kind of mother doesn't know when her child is vomiting blood?"
"You did everything right, Erin. She's alive." Natalie said calmly. "You can't blame yourself for this." She wrapped an arm around the detective's shoulder and leaned against the wall, allowing Erin to softly weep onto her maroon scrubs.
After a half hour, Jay returned with Will in tow who looked just as haggard as his brother. Dr. Manning stood as they approached. "I'll go check on her surgery." She touched Jay's arm. "She's going to be okay," she promised, then headed down the hallway.
"Erin." Jay said softly. His partner was sitting against the wall, her head in her hands. Her knees were drawn to her chest and her body was shuddering as she struggled to get her breathing under control. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes as he observed his distressed girl, who was normally so calm and collected in horrible situations.
Gently, Jay sank onto the couch, where she turned her head into his shoulder. Will sat on her other side, placing a comforting hand on Erin's knee. Tears continued to stream down Erin's cheeks as her partner stroked her hair and awaited the news.
After a few hours, Dr. Manning returned with Dr. Choi. She pulled up a chair and quietly sat down across from Will, Jay and Erin, Choi standing behind her. The detectives looked at the doctors expectantly. "Kate had a stomach ulcer. It perforated the lining, and they had to repair it. That's why she was throwing up blood," Choi reported, his arms folded across his chest.
Jay drew in a breath and tears welled up in Erin's eyes. "It's been almost five hours," The Doctor Halstead said, "Repairing a stomach perf doesn't take that long."
"There have been some complications," Dr. Manning said evenly, "She had a large tear in the abdominal wall as well, separate from the ulcer."
"Oh my God." Erin turned her head into Jay's shoulder, tears threatening to spill over.
"It's alright, she's stable now." Dr. Choi said sympathetically. "It also looks like she had some extensive injuries to her stomach that led to secondary peritonitis, which is an infection the abdominal wall, probably what caused the tear that was induced by the ulcer."
