Tolerance Book I (Chicago PD/Med FF) by Frances51163

Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: Accidental Meeting

Herrmann stood inside the bar chatting to Kelly as he watched the scene unfolding at the back.  He could tell from the strained features of Jay and Will that something was wrong. The Surgeons' back was now facing him but he noticed the man tensing up.  Kelly clicked his fingers to get his friends' attention.

"You bored with me?"
"What? No," Herrman answered distractedly then tore his gaze away and focussed on the man before him with a frown before lowering his voice, "I don't know what's going on back there but something is wrong."
"You sure?" Kelly didn't need to ask who he was talking about.
"Yeah," Herrman sighed, "any ideas?"
"Could go over and eavesdrop."
"That's a good idea!" the part-time Barman stated enthusiastically as if his friend hadn't been sarcastic.
"No it's not!" Kelly struggled to keep his voice low.
"Jay doesn't look happy."
"Let's face it we haven't seen him smiling in a long time," Kelly reminded as he tried to look for the table in the mirror view but too many bodies made it impossible, "at least not genuinely."
"So what do we do?"
"Herrmann what's got into you? His brother is there as well as Conor and Dr. Charles."
"I know, I know," Herrmann conceded as he put down the glass he had been cleaning before suggesting, "maybe they need another round at the table."
"If there's something going on they're hardly going to discuss it with you there," Kelly argued reasonably but he was also feeling uneasy for the other man had good instincts, well except when it came to his money making schemes of which the very bar they were in was an exception to the rule.
"Oh damn!"
"What?!" it took all of Kellys' self control not to turn around and see what was happening.
"Conor is signalling for another round."
"Herrmann a second ago you wanted to go over there!" Kelly whispered in exasperation as he shook his head and let out the breath he had subconsciously been holding then went back to his crossword puzzle in an attempt to prompt the older man to snap out of his self inflicted panic.
"Hell who knew barkeeping could be so stressful?" Herrman grumbled as he put up a hand in acknowledgement to the Surgeon and quickly set up a tray full of drinks.
"Try to find out what's going on," Kelly winked.
"Oh you're a real funny guy!" Herrman tossed back as he headed off with the full tray.

As he moved through the crowd Herrmann decided upon a plan of action.   He hoped it wouldn't be needed but felt better now that he had come up with something.  Reaching the table he placed the tray on the table as the Surgeon leant back to give him room. Glancing at Jay he noticed if possible he had got even paler since he came in.  This was not good.  He handed out the drinks quickly and as the used glasses were piled on the tray by the helpful men he turned to look at Jay hoping he was doing the right thing.

"Hey Jay listen man Kelly said if you want to give tonight a miss it's okay," Herrmann said a silent prayer the young man played along and didn't sink him, "but he needs to be going in about ten minutes."
"Oh sure Herrmann," the Detective didn't miss a beat as he looked up at the older man then glanced at his watch as he picked up the fresh glass of beer, "just give me five minutes so I can down this."
"Sure Kid," Herrmann grinned and checked only full glasses stood on the table before instructing the other men, "let me know when ye need another round."

"Where are ye going?" Will asked curiously, he had hoped he could get his sibling to go home to bed early.
"Now you know why you're lucky you're an only child," Jay winked at the young Counsellor opposite him, "no one to act like you owe them an explanation for your every move."
"I think it would be nice to have a brother or sister," Sam disagreed as he assessed the man seeing the underlying weariness in his whole countenance as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"A sister would be okay," Jay directed giving his sibling a sideways glance, "brothers can be bossy."
"Hey who are you calling bossy!" Will demanded in a huff.
"Think he's got you there," Conor sided with his younger friend and reluctant patient.
"I think I'll abstain from commenting," Dr. Charles decided as the redhead looked to him for help then continued with a smile, "you wouldn't like what I would say."
"Hell it's a conspiracy," Will played along with the lighthearted banter willingly.
"Probably," Jay grinned after finishing his drink and stood up holding out a hand to the recent arrival to Chicago purposefully ignoring the other three pairs of eyes at the table watching him, "Samuel it was nice to meet you."
"You too Jay and like I said call me Sam," the Counsellor returned a firm handshake, "and sorry again about the mixup."
"These things happen " the Detective glanced over at the bar to see the two Firefighters looking his way and held up a couple of fingers to signal he would be there shortly, first he needed to go to the washroom, "see ye around."
"I need to make a pitstop myself," Conor announced and followed the younger man to the toilets glad to find the place was empty when they went in.
"What do you want Conor?" Jay asked knowingly as he quickly did his business while the other man leant against the door ensuring no one else could get in.
"I need you to call into Med this week to give you a proper workup."
"Not necessary," Jay made short work of washing his hands and pulled off a sheet to dry them.
"You're still getting headaches."
"Migraines," Jay admitted softly, keeping his eyes down, "reckon it's like when I was a kid."
"Jay you may be right but you had two concussions one on top of the other, not to mention your other problems, so please take it from me when I say it's important you get checked out," Conor walked over to stand in front of his friend making him raise his gaze, "you know I wouldn't suggest it if it wasn't really necessary."
"Damn," the Detective caved, "when do you want to do it?"
"Like I said any day this week.  You telephone me the day before and I'll book the tests and get you in and out as fast as possible."
"Okay," the young man pointed towards the door and Conor took the hint and headed out.
"It's up to you if you want to tell Will."
"You tell him," Jay instructed unhappily, "he's still worried about me.  Maybe this way he'll calm down a bit."
"I told you before he's always going to worry about you.  It's part of being a brother," Conor reminded as he came to a halt before they parted ways, "try not to be out all night."
"Bye Doc," Jay shook his head refusing to address the order and headed over to the bar where Herrman and Kelly were busy debating the correct word for a row of the crossword puzzle.

"Well he's agreed to a check up," Conor informed his companions as he retook his original seat beside the redhead.
"That's great," Will nodded but his concern was obvious.
"So what's going on with him? Or should I ask?" Sam queried as his gaze wandered over to the bar to the object of their conversation.
"You didn't tell him?" Will frowned in surprise as he looked at Dr. Charles.
"All I told Samuel was that I was meeting some friends from work," the rotund man explained evenly, "at a nice bar."
"Well can ye tell me now or is it private?" Sam checked although he could guess the answer.
"Not our story to tell," his older cousin observed.
"I thought you wanted him to ...," Will began.
"I think I know what my cousin wanted," Sam stated sending the man beside him a pointed look, "he has a habit of manipulating things and people to get them to dance to his tune."
"Hey that's not ....," Conor automatically began to defend the resident Med Psychiatrist but found himself cut off.
"He didn't deny it did he?" Sam noted evenly.
"No," Will raised an eyebrow at that realization.
"The good thing is he only does it to help people without threading on their privacy."
"I hoped Jay would find a kindred spirit of sorts in Samuel," Dr. Charles stated candidly, "but I didn't want to betray whatever trust he has in me.  No matter how insignificant it might be."
"Okay so I'm definitely keen to help," Sam admitted before becoming sombre, "but ye saw how quickly he shut down my attempt at talking about the rescue."
"He's an expert at deflection," Conor acknowledged, "but he didn't take off like I thought he would so maybe he likes you."
"Or maybe he's just going through the motions," Will spoke with a tinge of sadness, "but if you think you could get through to him I'd be very grateful."
"Hell all of his friends would be grateful too," Conor added sincerely.
"Well it's a good thing I moved here then," Sam looked at his three companions before  continuing honestly, "besides I owe him everything."

tbc