When One Falls - Upstead

Part 2

"5021 George, we need an ambulance to our location now!" Never had Hailey ever heard the man sound so panicked. 

"My partner's been shot! Officer down- I repeat, officer down!"

Hailey grimacing in pain bought Jay's attention back to her as she tried to pry his hand off her to take over holding pressure. Jay refused however, either oblivious or choosing to ignore whatever his injured partner was trying to get him to do.

"He's getting away, Jay," she managed to force out, her vision growing darker and darker with every waking moment.

"You h-have to go-"

"Hailey, there's no way in hell that I'm leaving you here alone!"

"We're gonna lose him-"

"I'm not gonna lose you, Hailey!"

Silence filled the already tension filled air for a few long seconds as Jay franctically tried to stop Hailey from bleeding out, only to cry out in frustration- nothing he was doing seemed to be working. Hailey wasn't exactly sure when, but at some point he had stripped her of her vest to allow him to hold more pressure on the wond above her hip before tossing it to the side as he tried to find a balance between putting enough pressure on the wound and not hurting her any further. She looked so small and fragile as her skin slowly drained of all color and her eyes slipped closed once again- Jay screamed for somebody, anybody to help them. Nobody came. Nobody seemed to even hear him. For the first time, it dawned on him that saving his partner who was lying lifelessly in front of him was entirely up to him. Jay wasn't one to get scared often, but in that moment? He was absolutely terrified.

"Hailey, stay with me," Jay sobbed, his body shaking as he tried everything to wake Hailey up again. 

"Come on! Hailey! Goddamit, wake up! Wake up!"

He felt like a helpless child.

When he heard sirens wailing in the background after calling out on his radio at least another three times, he was surprisingly angry. What took them so long? Hailey was laying there, unconscious, and they were taking their sweet ass time.

"Did you stop for coffee on the way or something?!" Jay yelled at the paramedics, his throat raw from screaming for so long.

"Help her!"

Jay felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him away from Hailey's body as the medics whisked her into the back of the ambulance to stabilize her, the same hand helping him stand upright as he rubbed his face anxiously. His heart was pounding and his chest tightend, Jay felt as though life was being squeezed out of him as he watched them incubate his partner. A small squeak left his mouth as he furiously wiped his tears off his cheeks- he hated crying.

Behind him was Kim, who was wearing a stressed expression while being comforted gently by Adam. Kevin was standing alone, hands held behind his heads. And Voight. Whos eyes usually seemed so cold and distant- but not that day. That day Hank Voight's eyes held worry and concern for his detective as well as sympathy for Jay, who was crumbling worse than he ever had in front of his unit. Everybody watched on, waiting for somebody to say something- that was until a paramedic poked their head out of the back of the Ambo and looked directly over at the Intelligence unit.

"Which one of you is coming with us?"

Nobody argued when Jay practically launched himself into the back of the ambulance, nor was anybody surprised. Just because both Jay and Hailey were blind to their attraction towards each other, it didn't mean everybody else was too. They could see how infatuated they were with each other, they caught them staring longingly at one another from across the bullpen even when they didn't realize it. Jay and Hailey had been working up to an exploding romance since the day they met- this was sure to be the tipping point. Jay had gotten hurt on the job so many times, leading Hailey to become a mess every time- this was the first time Hailey had gotten herself into a situation where her life was hanging in the balance.

It was safe to say that Jay knew how she felt.