#I haven't slept in days | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cynicalone94 · 1 year

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I haven't slept for days, but who's counting?

“You have to bench him.” Hailey argues, standing across the desk from her boss.

“I don’t have to do anything.” Voight says, a warning in his voice.

“He hasn’t slept in three days.” she insists, carefully backing her tone off to pleading instead of demanding. “He’s not eating or drinking other than to guzzle coffee so he can stay awake. And I know he’s hurting from those rounds to the vest yesterday.”

“Paramedics didn’t think anything was broken.” he says tiredly.

Truth is that he would rather Jay had gone to Med for x-rays himself. And for a CT after the way his head had bounced off the curb during a scuffle with a perp who’d turned out to not be their guy.

But Jay is fixated on this case. Four teenage boys raped and murdered in the last two weeks.

He’s been relentless, like a dog with a bone and Voight worries that if he tries to pull him back, tries to make him step down to get properly checked out it won’t go well.

He remembers all too clearly last year after the kid’s dad’s death how the result of his attempt to redirect Jay’s single-minded focus had been a lucky bullet graze and a round to the vest directly over his heart.

So he’d let him off with the examination from the paramedics and not forced him to go to Med in favor of keeping him where he could keep an eye on him.

“He can’t do this forever.” she says, the last of her anger drifting away and leaving the truth behind all of this laid bare.

She’s worried about her partner.

And so is he.

“We can’t make him take it easy.” he reminds her. “And I’d rather not see him go off lone wolf again.”

She sighs and they step back into the bullpen.

Jay stands up.

“I got something.” he says, “It didn’t stand out at first glance but Whitfield has called nineteen payphones in the last two months. I plotted the locations and they are all outside of check-cashing places. This guy,” he pauses to hang up a photo on the board, “Is Alexander Drake. He works as a security guard for the company that services those joints and I just got off the phone with the company. He made a stop at each one of them around the time that Whitfield called.”

“They did time in Juvie together.” Adam says, eyes going wide as he skims a list on his desk. “He didn’t pop as a likely associate because, on paper at least, he cleaned up after he got out. No record as an adult.”

“We have an LKA on Drake?” Voight asked.

“1278 S Elmore.” Jay says, eyes fixed on his computer screen.

“Let’s roll.”

They bring Drake in, settling him into interrogation for the long haul. Voight and Atwater take the lead on the interrogation while Jay, Hailey and Adam camp out in the observation room.

An hour later, they are getting nothing and Jay is sitting, chin propped in his hand, watching the interrogation without even blinking.

“I’m going to get some food.” Adam says stretching. “You guys want anything?”

Hailey requests a sandwich but Jay just shakes his head, eyes never leaving the window.

“You sure, man?” Adam asks. “Brain needs fuel to keep spinning out leads like this.”

“I’m good, Adam. Thanks.”

“Come on, Jay.” Hailey says, sounding frustrated. “You need to eat. You aren’t superman.”

“I’m well aware of that, thank you Upton.” Jay snipes back.

She throws up her hands and stalks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Adam stares at Jay for a few minutes longer before heading out the door.

In the early hours of the next morning, Jay walks into the interrogation room, propping himself up on the wall while Kevin tries another angle of attack. It doesn’t get any further than the others and Kevin sits back. Suddenly Jay speaks.

“Why don’t you tell me about Matt, Alex?”

“W-What about him? Matt doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“I think he has everything to do with this.” Jay said, stepping forward and leaning to put both hands on the table next to Alex. “Travis met him right? When you guys got out of Juvie.”

“Yeah, they talked a few times. Matt always wanted my friends to like him. But Travis never had time for him. Who wants to talk to their friend’s kid brother?”

“Travis did. He just didn’t want you to know about it. And knowing what you do about the guy, I think you can guess why.”

“No.” Alex said angrily. “No, you’re wrong.”

“I don’t think I am. And I don’t think you think so either.”

“He swore he never touched Matt.”

“He lied. He needed your help and he knew he wasn’t going to get it if he admitted that he raped your kid brother.”

“He…”

“Where is he, Alex? Don’t protect the guy who hurt the person you care about most in the world. And then lied right to your face about it.”

“I… I don’t know where he’s at. But I know how you can find him.”

They hit the house like a wall of water. Jay’s steady confidence in the interrogation room has put the cap on the team’s doubts. Even Hailey seems to realize that she’s managed to underestimate her partner.

Whitfield splits out the back door and Hailey and Jay sprint after him. Hailey falls back half a step to radio their location and gets an unobstructed view as another bullet slams into Jay’s vest. He stumbles but doesn’t go down.

“You okay?” She asks putting on a burst of speed to catch up.

“I’m good.” He calls back, looking relieved when she doesn’t argue. “Stay with him. I’m going to try to cut him off.”

He splits to the right and she keeps after Whitfield. Five minutes later Jay comes out of nowhere between two buildings taking the man to the ground. He wrestles him onto his stomach while Hailey stands over them with her weapon poised.

“Travis Whitfield you are under arrest.” He says, slightly breathlessly.

Hailey stands back, listening while he reads the man his rights and nodding to Voight as he rushes up with the rest of the team.

A few minutes later, Jay is handing Whitfield off to a pair of patrol officers when a silver sedan pulls up. His brother leans out the window.

“Your chariot is here dumbass.” he says but there’s no heat behind his words.

“I—” he starts before Hank cuts in.

“Go.”

He nods and slides into the passenger seat, Will waving to the team before driving away. He reaches into the backseat and grabs a takeout bag and a bottle of water.

“Eat. And drink all of that.”

“I presume we’re heading to Med.” He says, opening the bag, somewhat relieved that his stomach doesn’t protest the smell of food.

“You are getting a CT.” Will says, eyes on the road. “Then some x-rays and a bag or two of IV fluids. And then, provided there’s nothing alarming on the CT scan, I’ll take you home so you can get the sleep you so desperately need in your own bed.”

“Really?”

“Really. Now eat, dummy.”

He finishes both sandwiches and most of the water before they reach the hospital.

Ethan is waiting for them, and they are quickly ushered back to a room where Jay is handed a pair of soft blue scrubs and the other two step out into the hall while he changes.

When Jay calls them back in, Ethan starts an IV and then whisks him off to imaging. Will heads off to make a run to the 24 hour Starbucks downstairs.

An hour later, he is back in the room. The IV bag is already empty and Ethan removes the line upon seeing Will waiting with more takeout and another bottle of water, which Jay takes without complaint.

“Alright.” Ethan says, looking over the results of the scans on his tablet. “CT looks okay. You definitely have a concussion which I’m guessing you’re still feeling?”

Jay nods, and he continues.

“There’s evidence of a minor bleed, but it stopped on its own and seems to be resolving itself. You’ll wanna be cautious with any nausea or headaches for the next week or so but I think we’re out of the danger zone. As for your ribs.”

He turns the tablet around before continuing.

“Here, here, and here are the impact points which matches the external bruising. You’ve got some hairline fracturing associated with each, but nothing severe. You said the whole team is off tomorrow. I’m going to recommend that you take Wednesday as well and then light duty through the end of next week. We’ll get you in for a follow-up next Friday and you should be signed off to return to the field then.”

Jay nods, and his next question is a surprise to nobody.

“Can I go home now?”

Will huffs a laugh and Ethan cracks a smile.

“Yeah. We don’t need discharge paperwork since you were never admitted but let me grab your post care instructions while you change.”

He leaves the room and Will hands him a bag.

“I swung by your apartment before I picked you up to grab these.” He says, handing over flannel pajama pants and a worn Army t-shirt. “I figure no point in changing back into your work clothes now so that you have to change again when you get home.”

“Thanks.” He says, the exhaustion clearly finding a foothold in his body by this point.

Will nods, face blank.

“I’m sorry I worried you.” he says, avoiding eye contact as Will helps him slide out of the scrub pants.

“I know.” Will tells him, helping him into the pajama pants, “Voight said they never would have found this guy without you. At least not before he killed another kid.”

“There was no way I was going to be able to sleep before we found him.” Jay says, that lost look Will hates to see on his face. “But uh—I probably could have spared an hour for a CT. To make everybody feel better.”

“Look at you, being all kinds of self-aware.” Will jokes, pulling the scrub top over his brother’s head to block the expression for a moment. “Next time, huh?”

Jay wants to protest that there won’t necessarily be a next time, but there probably will be. There are plenty more people like Travis Butler out there. Another case will suck him in like this.

“I promise.” He says, catching Will’s eye as he turns back from throwing the shirt in a soiled linens bin.

Will holds his gaze for a long time before nodding.

“I appreciate that.”

“You might have to remind me.” Jay admits, ducking his head.

“What are big brothers for if not to nag you occasionally.” Will jokes, pulling the neck of the t-shirt over his brother’s head, prompting him to stiffly maneuver his arms through the sleeves.

With the t-shirt on, Will presses his luck and tugs his brother into a brief hug, careful of his ribs.

“I know those kids needed Detective Halstead to find the guy who hurt them, to protect more of them from him. Just… try to remember that I need my little brother too, okay?”

“I will.” Jay promises, returning the hug.

“Alright.” Will says as they separate, “You should have been in bed hours ago. Let’s get you out of here.”

#whumptober 2023 #no.12 #i haven't slept in days #Chicago PD #fic #sleep deprivation #mentioned rape tw #Jay Halstead

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