Nemo Resideo

Part 9

Bedlam broke loose in the bullpen, postponing any further conversation between Voight and Olinsky. They both sat up straighter, Hank schooling his features into a firm blank mask once again, and Al ready to get up. However, before either of them had a chance to investigate what the commotion was about, the office door swung open with considerable force, revealing a less than happy Trudy Platt. She looked like a woman on a mission: determined and single-minded and beyond furious. Planting herself in the doorway, arms akimbo and with her back to the frame, she had a good view of the open space and the sergeant's quarters while also making sure everyone was aware of her presence as well.

Scanning both rooms to account for the people in them, the desk sergeant creased her forehead in bewilderment upon finding Dr. Arata's astute observations and her own sneaking suspicions confirmed: the entire unit sans Halstead was here, which meant none of them kept the missing detective company. A portentous unease settled in her chest. "What are you all doing here?" she asked straight from the shoulder. "Who's with Chuckles?"

A Mexican wave of confused frowns, shrugs and headshakes rolled over the floor. Trudy let her eyes roam and linger on each member of the team, hoping one of them would impart her with an answer, but they all remained quiet. The lack of a verbal response unnerved and irked her tremendously, but it was Voight's decided muteness that augured particularly ill. Glaring at the Intelligence leader, Platt sucked in a deep breath and gathered all her strength and willpower to remain calm and collected. It was a losing battle; she knew as much even before she launched into her rant.

"I just got a call from a doctor at Lakeshore Hospital," she propounded quietly yet with a sinister firmness. "He told me that Halstead was dropped off there this morning and that he's been there by himself ever since," she continued, her voice slowly crescendoing with her growing dismay. "Alone. For hours!" She forced another steadying inhale and held her breath, blowing it out in a controlled exhale to rein in her boiling anger, then took a couple steps into Hank's office, piercing the man in question with an intense stare. "Why am I just now hearing about the fact that one of my officers..." Voight parted his lips, ready to argue that Jay was his detective, not hers, but Platt shushed him." "...one of my officers is in the hospital? More importantly, why am I hearing this from a doctor and not you?" she thundered, eyebrows knitting in an angry scowl. "And why in God's name is he alone?"

The unit lapsed into an awkward silence, none of them brave or stupid enough to go up against Hurricane Trudy, even though she was still a relatively tame category one at this point. However, the lack of answers to any of her queries progressively ratcheted her fury up to a level that much rather resembled a harmful category two. Before she could unleash the storm of pent-up anger, Al's even-keeled baritone cut through the silence, temporarily curbing a new barrage of questions that was on the tip of her tongue.

"Kid was injured in the raid last night. None of us were aware of it until we saw him this morning," he admitted, then lowered his voice as he continued sullenly, "he was in pain, could barely stand on his own. Sumner drove him to the hospital, but with the case we caught this morning, we needed all hands on deck," he tried to reason in an attempt to placate the infuriated desk sergeant.

Platt, however, had no interest in being mollified, nor did she want to hear any poor excuses. Slanting her head and protruding her chin, she glared at him with an incredulous stare, her eyes dark and stormy. "Alvin Olinsky, that is a crock of shit if I ever heard one," she admonished him, denouncing his faulty logic. "Since when do we leave one of our own alone in the hospital, active case or not? Especially when they're injured on the..." Trudy stopped dead in her tracks, eyes growing wide as one specific detail belatedly caught up with her brain, leaving her speechless for all but two seconds. As soon as she was able to form words again, though, she tossed his words back at him like a grenade. "What did you just say? He could barely stand?! Just how badly injured is he? What the hell happened?" she bellowed, her voice screeching in a high pitch of exasperation.