Mouse Returns

Med

Will was waiting at the doors of the ER as they rolled in. Ethan was readying the hybrid OR room to surgically realign Jay's ribs. Will's face dropped as they rolled Jay in and he could see the damage to his brother's torso and the splints on arm and leg. He followed the stretcher listening to the paramedics report. He knew to expect Jay to be in rough shape after seeing how Greg had come in. Dr Marcel was waiting for scans but x rays had already shown Mouse had broken ribs, broken collar bone and damage to the knee. He had gone up for surgery to put plates in to repair his ribs.

April put her hand on Will's chest to prevent him from following into the OR. "We'll take good care of him. You need to wait here, Will."

Will's face fell as he stood outside the OR with Hailey waiting for news.

"So tell me what he got himself into this time?" Will asked Hailey as the doors slid shut.

"The brother of one of the members of Jay's unit from overseas who died has been killing surviving team members from Jay's unit for months. He beat to death at least four people. Greg was taken first then Jay suggested we try to draw the offender out rather than going into hiding. The offender set off bombs outside Jay's apartment and managed to get him. We were working with the Feds and getting really close to finding them. Greg somehow managed to get out and phone us. We got there and had a standoff with the offender with Greg as a hostage. We managed to take him down but Jay was still missing. Fire and rescue found him buried in a box in the woods." Hailey explained, keeping the emotion buried until the last bit. The sight of him in essentially a coffin unmoving would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"Oh God Hailey!" Will was horrified. He pulled Hailey into a tight hug as she finally allowed herself to cry for a few moments.

"Transfer on my count." Ethan ordered when everyone was in position. They quickly moved the backboard onto the gurney. "Now we're going to slide the backboard out. Roll him carefully on three."

April gasped as the backboard slid out and she saw Jay's back. "Ethan, he's got marks all over his back. Deep bruising, maybe belt or whip marks. Some are bleeding."

"Hold him up for one second." Ethan hurried around the table to check quickly before they rolled him back. He sighed angrily when he saw the criss crossing marks on his back. "We'll have to deal with that later, none look deep enough to need stitches. We need to see what's going on in his chest right now."

They rolled him carefully back onto his back and started to assess the injuries.

"Will already decided that we should put plates in on the ribs if needed. The paramedics called from the road to give us an idea of what to expect. Halstead is so hard on his body, he needs the extra protection." Choi stepped back as they x rayed Jay's chest. He stepped up to look closer at the image on the screen. "Do you see that? He has internal bleeding, possibly from the broken rib. We'll need to go in and see where it's coming from. Doris, could you let Will know?"

Choi wasted no time making the incision in his patient's abdomen and found blood pooling. They worked quickly to repair the damage the broken rib had caused to the lungs and spleen. Before closing him up he repaired 3 broken ribs with plates.

"We need to fix this arm, it's been out of alignment for at least a day I would say." Choi looked at the x ray of the arm when he was done closing the abdomen.

"Are we plating his arm too?" April asked.

"I'll double check with Will but looking at this break, it's probably the safest way to go. Doris, can you let Will in for a minute so I can update him please?

Doris left the table and cracked the door open. Will put on a mask and joined them in the OR.

"He had internal bleeding from the broken rib. I repaired the spleen and his lung. I put plates on 3 broken ribs. I'm about to set his arm but I'm thinking about plating the break as well, have a look at this x ray." Choi showed Will the image and in turned Will's stomach to realize that the image belonged to his little brother.

"I think you are right. It will heal faster and be more stable with a plate. He must have been in so much pain. I can't imagine what kind of person is capable of doing this to someone." Will looked devastated. "Thanks Ethan. I'm glad it's you taking care of him."

Ethan nodded before getting back to work, making an incision in Jay's arm and realigning the bone before adding a plate with screws and closing him back up.

"Last is to look at this knee. We might not be able to see if it's soft tissue damage with all the swelling but at least we'll be able to see if there is a break. Apparently the offender took a baseball bat to it." Ethan sighed. April looked at him in alarm.

"Why do these Halstead boys throw themselves under the runaway train?? Where is the self preservation??" April sighed as they x rayed the leg.

"I don't see any breaks, it must be soft tissue. I think we will put it in a brace for the night and do more scans tomorrow. I think he needs to rest now. Let's move him to the ICU." Ethan carefully searched the scan before taking off his gloves and gown. Will and Hailey were waiting outside as the door opened anxiously.

"Surgeries went well. I don't see a fracture in his knee but I want to let the swelling go down and do another scan tomorrow. We are going to ice and brace it. Vitals were stable through all the procedures. We're moving him up to the ICU. I'm not sure how much you want to hear, but on top of the breaks and bruising on his chest and abdomen he also had marks on his back. It looks like he was whipped by a belt or something wide like that. We'll get those wounds cleaned up when he gets upstairs." Ethan explained to both.

"Thank's Ethan. I'm going to let Hailey see him for a few minutes before we bring him up." Will suggested putting a supportive hand on Hailey's shoulder. Ethan nodded and opened the door wider. The nurses had already cleaned up most of the mess from the surgeries but Jay still lay there unconscious with the ventilator, wires and monitors attached in every direction. Hailey took the hand that wasn't in the temporary splint and tears slid down her face.

"You need to rest and get better, Jay. I can't live without you." Hailey whispered to him. Will came up on the other side and put a hand on Jay's shoulder.

"Come on Jay. Fight through it. You're all I have left." Will bit his lip and touched Jay's face as Hailey glanced at him with surprise and concern.

"He'll make it, Will. He has to. And you have me as well now. I'm not going anywhere." She grabbed his arm briefly before the orderly came in to move Jay upstairs.