Chapter 19

Days later, everything was pretty quiet. Worryingly quiet, some might say. All the cases they took on were relatively easy, and relations between the team were getting better. There were still some tensions, but now they were rare, and almost every night they were at Molly's, having fun. Some nights Emma even found herself at Jay's house or vice versa watching a game. Some nights even Will was with them. Yet no one was ready for what was coming.

A 25-story apartment was engulfed in flames and it turned out that Jay's father, who had recently undergone bypass surgery, was one of the victims 

"Sarge, that was Halstead. His dad was in there. They found him a while ago, they are on their way to Med," Emma says as soon as she hangs up the phone, and everyone turns their attention to her. Behind them, the TV shows live the fire, informing about the developments. 

"Oh my God. How did all this happen?" Kim wonders sadly.

"I have no idea," Kevin replies and continues to watch the news. 

"I have a bad feeling about it," Adam says, and everyone agrees. Her phone rings again, and this time Herrmann's name lights up on the screen. She picks it up with worry, without caring that all her colleagues and her boss are looking at her.

"Chris, what's going on? Are you there? Please tell me you are okay" she bombards him with questions. 

"I'm all right, kiddo. I just talked to Cindy and I assumed you'd see the news too. I'm fine," he tells her, but his voice trembles. 

"Christopher what's going on?" 

"We're at Med for Kidd. She swallowed a lot of smoke and lost consciousness while we were inside the building," he tells her slowly, and Emma can hear the pain in his voice. 

"Oh, Chris. I'm so sorry. But, it's going to be okay. I'll come as soon as I can from there," she says and ends the call. 

"What happened?" Voight asks. 

"Stella Kidd is at Med," she tells them, and everyone's eyes get darker. Everyone knew Kidd and of course, everyone liked her. 

"Go. See Herrmann and Halstead. Make sure everyone's okay. If anything comes up, I'll call you," Voight tells her. 

"Thank you, Sarge," she says, smiling sadly.

"Christopher" Emma's voice makes Herrmann raise his head and search the space. As soon as his eyes land on her some of the tension he feels manages to leave and before he realizes it, the girl is in his arms. 

"When I saw it on the news I was so scared," she whispers, resting his head on his chest. 

"I know kiddo. But I'm fine. Don't worry," he reassures her and eventually breaks the hug. 

"How's Kidd?" she asks, and this time she takes a look at every one. 

"We don't know yet. We're waiting for the doctor to let us know," 

"I've seen Stella. She's strong. She'll be fine soon, you'll see it," she tries to encourage everyone, and indeed some offer her a sad smile. After sitting down with them, Emma heads to the room where she was told Jay's father was.

But as soon as she gets there, she sees Jay storming out of the room and leaving. He didn't even notice her presence. Will follows his eyes glistened. He doesn't look at her either. 

"Will?" her voice makes him look at her surprised. 

"Emma, what are you doing here?" 

"Jay told me your dad was on that building. I came by to make sure everything was okay," she explains. 

"Oh, thank you. That's very kind of you," he replies, but Emma can see that he's hiding something from her. She rests her hand on his shoulder and her eyes soften. 

"Will, what's going on?" 

"Our dad...he...he is brain dead," he tells her and looks down, trying to hold back his tears. 

"Oh Will, I'm so sorry," she says, and without caring, she hugs him. Her movement catches him off guard, but after a while, he wraps his arms around her, grateful for her gesture. They sit like this for a while until they finally separate. 

"I saw Jay leaving" 

"Yeah, he didn't take it well. I guess he needs his time," he says. 

"Or someone to talk to," Emma continues his sentence and eventually Will agrees with her and goes to find his brother.

"Sarge, no, things don't look good," Emma begins as soon as she answers Voight's call. 

"Why?" 

"They constantly bring in new victims, Kidd's in surgery, she's in danger of losing one lung, and Jay's father is... he's brain dead," she informs him. 

"God. That's horrible. Stay there. Be with your partner. Everything here is quiet. Call me if anything changes" 

"I'll do it. Thank you, Sarge" she replies. The air hit against her face and she admires the view of Chicago.

"I see you found the place we like to sit," Will says as he sees her on the edge of the roof. 

"Yeah, it's very beautiful up here," she tells him, but her gaze falls on his swollen lips. 

"You got into a fight with Jay?" she asks him, and his forehead furrows. He can't believe how well she knows his brother. 

"It's nothing. He just didn't take it so well. I was too hard on him" he tells her and sighs. 

"Will, what happened was something sudden and something that hurt. And I'm not just talking about Jay. I'm talking about you too. But right now just like you need your brother, Jay needs his. He doesn't need another doctor to help him come to a decision," she tells him and makes him think.

"You know Jay told me you have a way with people, but now I can only understand it," he tells her and she smiles at him. 

"Oh God, Emma, I could have been a better son. I could have been a better brother," he admits. 

'Will, I don't know you for a long time, and I don't know what happened with you and Jay in the past, but I know you're very lucky to have each other. Jay loves you. Every time he talks about you, he always has a smile on his face. And I'm sure your father loved you very much, too. Give Jay some time. Be there for him, and everything will be fine," she tells him, and he squeezes her shoulder to thank her. He leaves for his father's room.

A few hours later their team showed up at Med, for a girl who ran away, and Platt informed everyone in the parking lot. When they finally found her, it was too late and she succumbed to her injuries. However, she managed to reveal to them that the fire was not an accident, but someone started it on purpose. As soon as everyone returned to the station, they started analyzing the case. Antonio finally managed to find a name: Edgar Torres. 

"You are saying Edgar Torres of the Sinaloa Cartel just got hit in Chicago?" Jay asks. Just then Platt climbs the stairs. 

"Hey, Hank you've got a problem downstairs," she says without explaining what's going on. 

"Come on, Antonio. You and me. Hey, find out what Torres was doing in Chicago, Jay" Voight says and walks downstairs with Antonio.

"Carlos Mendoza, 56 years old. He's been in Chicago for the past 30 years. DEA caught him up seven years ago, though he was Torre's driver. Held him for 48, grilled him, and they got absolutely nothing. Carlos never says a word" Kevin says and puts a picture of the man on the board.