Chapter Text
Will was up early. His sleep had been interrupted by yet another dream of his building up in flames. Once he was up, the stress of the financial fallout from the arson kept him up. All of a sudden, his phone screen lit up with Jay’s contact. Why was Jay up at 5:30? And why was Jay calling him at 5:30? “What’s up Jay? Everything ok?”
“Yeah, I’m good, but Voight needs your help. His bullet wound keeps reopening and I finally convinced him to let me ask you for help, but the only way he’ll come in is if it’s off book. If the department gets wind of this, they’ll bench him again, and you know Voight….”
“Lucky for you, I can’t sleep and my shift doesn’t start until 8, so I can meet you at the hospital at 6:30.”
“We’ll be there. Thanks, Will.”
Well, at least now Will had a reason to be awake. He got himself ready and drove to Med. He pulled into his parking spot just in time for Jay’s truck to pull up next to him.
“No Hailey?” Will asked as Jay and Hank got out of the truck.
“No, I let her sleep in.”
“Morning, Hank”
“Thanks for coming out so early, Will. I appreciate it. The damn thing won’t stop bleeding.”
“I’ll have you good as new in no time. When we go in, just take my lead. Hopefully the ED won’t be too busy this early and we’ll be able to use an empty treatment room.”
The trio walked into the Med ED, Jay and Hank hanging back a bit behind Will. The doctor went up to the nurses’ station. “Maggie, I need to give another statement to PD about the fire and Jay and Voight were nice enough to meet me here. Is there an empty room we can use? I’d rather keep it out of the lounge with shift change coming up.”
Maggie gave will a knowing look. “And will you be needing a nurse for this statement-giving?” She asked a slightly shocked looking Will.
“How did you know?”
She pointed her pen at Voight. “He hasn’t stopped rubbing at his shoulder since you walked in, and I think I see blood on his shirt.”
Will looked over at Voight. A small spot of blood had started to spread where he was pressing the fabric into his wound. He looked back at Maggie. “OK, you got us. Hank can’t have anyone knowing why we’re here so keep it between us. And no, I don’t think I’ll need a nurse, but I’ll let you know.”
“You can have treatment 7. I’ll mark it as decon so you’ll be good for a while.”
“Thanks Maggie, you’re the best!”
Will motioned at Jay and Voight to follow him and led them to Treatment 7. “Maggie marked this room for decontamination so no one should bother us. But she spotted the blood on your shirt, so at least one person knows why we’re here.” Will looked apologetic as he closed the door behind Jay.
Hank looked down at his shoulder and spotted the blood on his shirt. “I guess my bandage job didn’t hold up that well.”
“Sit down on the bed and take off your shirt. I need to see what I’m dealing with so I can grab some supplies. Will took a pair of gloves out of the box on the wall and sat on a stool. “Here, Jay” he said as he rolled a second stool towards him. Jay sat down and leaned his back against the wall.
Will rolled himself over to a now shirtless Voight and gestured to the bloodstained bandage covering his shoulder. “May I?” Voight nodded. Will started removing the bandage. “How bad is the pain from 1-10?”
“3”
“Is that a Jay 3, or a regular person’s 3?” Jay rolled his eyes at Will and Hank gave a little laugh.
“Let’s say it’s a regular person’s 5.”
Will nodded. He stood up for a second to look at the back of the sergeant’s shoulder. “So not a through-and-through?”
“No, doc pulled out the bullet then sewed me up.”
“Did that doc also recommend you wear a sling until the stitches were out and did you wear that sling?”
“Yes she did, and no I did not. I had a job to do.”
“Tell me, do they teach Ignoring Medical Advice 101 at the academy? We don’t just give instructions because we like hearing ourselves talk.”
Hank shrugged, wincing in the process. “I had a job to do.” He repeated matter of factly.
Will poked around a bit at the bullet hole. He rolled himself back and took off his gloves. He handed Hank a piece of gauze. “Hold light pressure for now. So I think that a fragment was left behind, and in combination with the excessive use, is preventing the wound from healing. I’ll need to wash it out, debride and stitch it back up again. I’ll throw in some extras to make sure it holds this time. Sound good? I just need to grab a few things from the supply room and I’ll be back. Jay, want to give me a hand?”
The two brothers walked out of the treatment room, making sure to close the door behind them. Will made sure the coast was clear and led Jay to the supply closet. “We’ll have to find a really creative excuse if anyone walks in on us here. So how did you end up helping Voight with his less-than-legal activities? I thought that was Hailey’s job.” Will asked casually as he began taking what he needed off the shelves and handing them off to Jay.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on him the last few months, ever since him and Hailey decided to hide a body and it nearly killed her, as you probably remember. I’m still thankful for the sleeping pills, even if she still says she never needed them.” They walked over to the other side of the room and Jay was starting to run out of arm space. “Do we really need all this?”
“Yes. This is what happens when you don’t follow medical advice.” Will said pointedly. “So how’s it been going trying to keep Voight in line?”
“I never said I was keeping him in line. No one could do that. I’m just trying to keep him out of another FBI investigation.” Jay saw Will’s eyebrows shoot up. “Yeah, I didn’t tell you about that one. But it’s OK, we worked it out in the end.”
Will was worried, that’s what big brothers do. Especially big brothers who didn’t have any parents left to worry about them. Jay had always been a rule follower. It was why he was drawn to the army and later the police force, needing the structure they provided. Right and wrong. Good guy and bad guy. But, as it turned out, good and evil weren’t as easily defined on the streets of Chicago as they were in wartime, and Will knew Jay had been struggling. Jay overseeing Voight’s more unorthodox methods was his attempt at redefining those boundaries. What Will was unsure of was the toll it was taking on his younger brother.
“Jay, be careful. You’re too good a person to be getting up close and personal with the inner workings of Hank Voight.”
“You know, some days I hate it, but some days I actually like it. Honestly, maybe a bit too much.”
Will watched as Jay got lost in his thoughts. He could tell that his brother knew this couldn’t go on for much longer. The Jay he knew would not be able to live in the moral grey zone Voight operated in. But that was a realization and decision he would have to come to on his own.
“I got everything. Let’s go. I need you guys out of here before my shift actually starts.”
Will sneaks them back into Hank’s room. The cop was in the same position as when they had left. “Give me a couple minutes to set up and then we can start. Hank, lie back on the bed.” As Voight got comfortable, Will got to work setting up his supplies and draping several towels over Hanks shoulder. “You never realize how much the nurses do until they’re not here.” Will said quietly.
“Can I help?” Jay asked.
“Considering the needles are about to come out, I’d say no. I don’t want to deal with two patients. I’ll tell you when it’s safe to look.”
Jay went back to his seat against the wall as Will got to work numbing up Voight’s shoulder.
“Can you feel that?” He asked as he pressed around the wound.
“No.” The sergeant answered.
“Then I guess you’re ready to start. Now I could use you Jay. Hand me that bottle of saline.” The doctor asked pointing to a bottle near the bed.
Jay walked over to where Will had set up the supplies and started handing things over as his brother asked for them. Will worked quickly and silently. He didn’t really feel like making conversation with his brother’s boss this early and what he wanted to say to his brother he couldn’t say in front of Voight. So he chose silence.
Will cut the final suture and taped a bandage over his handiwork. “You can sit back up now.” He said as he removed and threw out his gloves. “I’m not going to bother with the standard instructions since I know you won’t follow them. What I did should hold through normal activity, but should it reopen, come back. Change the bandage every day and that’s about it.
“Thanks, Doc.” Voight said as he inspected his new stitches.
“Anytime. Now let’s get you out of here.”
Will opened the door and poked his head out. He looked back at the cops. “You should be good. Just a couple of nurses, but they won’t ask any questions.”
Will led them out of room, making sure to close the door behind him. He thanked Maggie as they passed the front desk. “I’ll clean up my mess as soon as I get back in”
Maggie shook her head. “Don’t worry about the mess Will, I got it. Just be back in time to start your shift.”
“You’re the best, Maggie” will said with a smile and guided the two officers out the door.
Once they were outside, Will turned to Voight “I just need two minutes of Jay’s time then he’s all yours”. Voight nodded and started walking over to Jay’s truck. Will turned to Jay “Listen, I know you know what you’re doing here with Voight, but if ever you need to talk about it, or talk about making a change, I’m here for you. Ok?”
“Yeah, I know. I might take you up on that soon actually. Thanks again for doing this.” Jay gave Will a quick hug.
“My pleasure, and tell Hailey I say hi.” Will said hugging him back. He took a step back and watched Jay join Voight and drive off, his face full of concern. Jay admitting he needed to talk was both reassuring and concerning, but he’d have to wait to find out what was on his brother’s mind.
To be continued