Best Friend To The Very End

Better to Lie

'Hey Han its dad, call me back when you get this' Kelly said as he walked out to his car
'Hannah still not picking up?' Casey questioned as he and Dawson walked out to their car
'Nah' Severide replied
'Maybe she's at school already, or just left her phone at home' Dawson added
'Maybe' Severide said as he unlocked his car
'You coming back to the apartment' Casey asked
'Nah I've got a house to look at'
'Connies?'
'Yep' He replied as he got in his car
Before he could start the car his phone began to ring. Hannah.
'Han?' He questioned as he answered the phone
'Hey Dad' She replied
'Shouldn't you be at school today?'
'I didn't go'
'Why?' Severide questioned
'I wasn't feeling well'
'Is mom home?' He asked
'No shes at work, Cooper too'
'I'll come and get you, you can spend the day with me'
'No it's OK, I'm fine by myself'
'Is everything OK?'
'Yeah, its fine' Hannah lied
'Alright then, I'm gonna go look at the house then I'll call you back'
'OK, have fun' Hannah replied before hanging up the phone
Hannah put the phone down on her bed and walked into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She could see the bruises. She lifted up the side of her shirt to see a large dark purple bruise under her ribs. She carefully touched it and flinched from the pain. They were getting worse. She struggled to breathe. She was scared. She didn't know where to go. She didn't know what to do. Go to her dad? Erin, only to have her mom take her home again. She was worried that no matter where she went, she would never be safe. Hannah went back to her room and got her school bag. She began to throw her clothes in, photos, everything. Packing up and running away had become a common occurrence for her lately. She put her bag on her back and ran down the stairs. She pulled her hood up and walked out the front door. She took her phone out of her pocket. Dad? Erin? Who could she call? Casey? Dawson?
She pressed dial and put the phone to her ear
'I need help' Hannah asked 'Its gotten worse'
'Where are you?'
'At home'
'Stay there I'm coming to get you'

Erin's car pulled up out the front while Hannah sat near the front door.
'Hannah?' She questioned as she got out of the car
Hannah ran down the steps and wrapped her arms around Erin.
'Its OK' Erin reassured while Hannah cried in her arms
'You wanna tell me what happened' Erin asked
'Cooper just snapped'
'Did he do this?' Erin asked as she looked at the bruise on Hannah's cheek
Hannah nodded her head
'Come on, I'll take you to the hospital'
'No' Hannah replied quickly
'What about the firehouse?'
'Dad's shift finished this morning, sometimes it's better to lie'
'Not about this Hannah'
'I don't want him to know what Cooper did, He'll kill him'
'You don't know that Hannah' Erin reassured 'I'll take you back to the district, we can call your dad from there'

The 21st district was busy. Hannah finally had a chance to hide from everything, be invisible for a moment. She went upstairs with Erin. It was quieter. Only Ruzek, Antonio and Jay.
'Hey Erin, I need your help with something' Ruzek asked as Hannah and Erin walked pas
'Not now Adam, I'm busy' she said as she walked past
Jay watched as Hannah and Erin went into Voights office.
'So why didn't you call your dad' Erin asked
'Because he'll go all Kelly on this'
'He'll find out eventually'
'I know but it will be better if he hears it from you'
Erin looked at her confused.
'There are very few people who he listens to, and you're one of them'
There was a knock at the door. Jay opened it and stuck his head in.
'Can we talk' he asked
'Not now jay' Erin replied
Jay looked at her
'Just wait here a minute han' Erin said as she walked out
'What do you want jay' Erin asked
'Did cooper do that to her?'
'Jay just stay out of this' Erin demanded
'It was, wasn't it'
Erin ignored him
'You're just gonna let him get away with this, again'
'You know it's not up to me jay, it's up to her mom and dad'
Jay thought for a second 'you do something Erin or I will'
Erin went back into Voights office as Jay walked away. She sat down next to Hannah.
'What do you want to do about this?' She asked
'I want to get out of there, away from him'
'What about pressing charges?'
'No' Hannah replied quickly 'He'll kill mom'
'Hannah you can't let him get away with this'
'You let him last time'
'That was your mom, and look what's happened'
Hannah didn't reply.
'I'm gonna call your dad'
Hannah didn't say anything.

'Erin where is she?' Kelly asked panicked as he met with her out the front district.
'She's upstairs with Jay'
'Did he touch her?'
Erin nodded her head
'She alright, just a bit scared'
'I knew I shouldn't have let her go back there' Kelly said to himself
'Hannah won't let me press charges against cooper'
'Of course she won't, she's looking out for her mom'
'How long till you find a house?'
'You know about that?' Kelly questioned
'Hannah told me you were looking at a house today'
'Yeah' Kelly replied as he looked off distantly
'Hey, Kelly'
Erin's voice brought him back to earth
'Hannah's gonna be fine, we'll sort this out'
'Yeah' Kelly replied

Jay knocked on the door before he went in.
'Hey Hannah' He said as he walked in
'Hey' She replied quietly 'Where's Erin?'
'She's outside with your dad' He said as he sat next to her
'Does he know?'
'I don't know, probably'
Hannah sat there quietly
'Do you want to press charges'
Hannah looked down and shrugged her shoulders
'Hannah you can't let him get away with this, he c-'
'-I don't want him to kill my Mom!' Hannah yelled
Jay sat there quietly
'You don't know what he's capable of' Hannah explained, beginning to cough.
Hannah groaned
'Hannah whats wrong?' Jay questioned
'I can't, I can't breathe' She said doubled over 'My rib'
Jay shifted Hannah's shirt to reveal a dark purple bruise
'Just try and take deep breaths'
Hannah shook her head
'Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital' He said helping her up
'Olinsky! Adam!' Jay yelled but no one came
Hannah still struggled to breathe as she walked to Jay's car
Jay got his phone out of his pocket and tried to call Erin
Erin's phone buzzed in her jacket pocket, she took it out to see who was calling her. Jay. She ignored it and put it back in her pocket.
'Erin call me back when you get this, I'm taking Hannah to the hospital' He said as he started the car
He watched as Hannah slowly began to drift in and out of consciousness
'Hannah stay awake for me, please' He asked as he headed towards the hospital
Hannah coughed quietly.
Jay got his phone and called Will.
'Jay whats up?' Will asked
'Somethings wrong with Hannah'
'Wrong as in how?'
'We were talking then she started coughing and she couldn't breathe and she's got a massive bruise under her ribs'
'OK it's probably a collapsed lung, how is she now?'
'She's drifting in and out' Jay explained 'Were on our way to the hospital now'
'Does Kelly know?'
'No, He's with Erin and she's not answering her phone'
'OK, I'll meet you when you get here, drive safe'
'Yep' Jay replied hanging up the phone

Erin knocked on Voight's office door with Severide behind her
'Hannah?' She questioned as she opened the door
The room was empty
'Hannah?' Erin questioned
'Where is she?' Kelly questioned
'I don't know' Erin replied 'Jay?'
She got her phone out of her pocket and called Jay back
'Erin' He said as he answered the phone
'Where's Hannah?'
'She's with me, were at the hospital'
'Why, whats wrong?'
'She's got a collapsed lung from the rib fracture'
'Were on our way' She said before she hung up
'What's going on?' Kelly asked
'Jay's taken Hannah to the hospital' Erin explained 'She's got a collapsed lung'
'What? Why?'
'She had a fractured rib'
'From Cooper?'
'Yeah' Erin replied

'Do you know how it happened?' Will asked Jay
'Shouldn't you be asking Hannah this' Jay replied
'I will, but I wanna hear what you know'
'Not much, Just that it was Cooper that did it'
'Katherine's boyfriend?'
'Yeah' Jay replied
'Jay you know I've got to report this'
Jay sighed
'If I let slide I could go to jail'
'I know' Jay replied 'Someone has to'
They were interrupted by Erin and Kelly walking in.
'Where is she?' Kelly asked
'She's at X-ray at the moment'
'Is she OK?'
'She's fine, we re-inflated the lung and she's breathing fine, but she'll need to stay overnight for observation'
'What about her Asthma'
'It's OK'
'Can I see her'
'I'll let you know when she gets back' Will said before he walked away
'Thanks' Said Jay
'He's gonna have to report this now isn't he?' Kelly asked
'Yeah' Erin replied 'And she's gonna need somewhere to live'
'It gonna be a few weeks till we can move in, but I think Casey should be fine with it'
'Move in?' Jay questioned
'I found a house, and I was gonna surprise her this afternoon'
'She'll be wrapped' Erin replied
'Even under the circumstances?' Kelly questioned
'Especially under these circumstances'
'You can go see her now' Will said to Kelly
Kelly followed Will to Hannah's room
'Dad' She said as Kelly and Will walked in
'Han' He said hugging her
Hannah flinched
'Sorry' Kelly replied 'Why didn't you tell me what happened?'
'I didn't want to worry you' She replied
'Han, not knowing worries me more'
'I'm sorry' She replied hugging her dad
'I gonna be OK'