Chapter 33

"Hey, Sarge," Emma says as soon as she manages to get out of the cabin and forces a smile when she sees them all outside. Jay is by her side, helping her to walk, without caring that his hand is in her waist. He doesn't intend to leave her that easily just when he found her.

"How are you, Spencer?" Voight asks with a sympathetic look. Kim had warned him about the girl's condition, but Emma's bloodied face was no easy sight at all.

"I'm fine now," she tells him and continues to hold Jay with one hand to maintain her balance, while she holds with the other one the spot where she was hit in the stomach.

"The ambulance is a few minutes away," he announces.

"I'm not discussing it, you're going to go to the hospital for a check-up," he continues as soon as he sees how she's ready to resist. Indeed, a few minutes after the ambulance shows up, and before she knows it she is at MED.

"Emma?" Will's voice makes her raise her head as she sits in the bed of a treatment room in the ED.

"Hey Will,"

"What the hell happened to you?" he asks her, terrified with her face, and as much as he worries about the girl in front of him, he can't help but think about his brother.

"He's fine. He's not hurt. I was alone with Kim, she's fine too," Emma explains like she can read his thoughts, and Will sighs.

"All right, let's focus on you now. Let's see what we have here," he begins to examine her.

"What happened here?" he asks, looking at how she touches the spot close to her stomach, after first checking the wounds to her head and the possibility that she has a concussion.

"There was a nail on a piece of wood," she explains, and Will's eyes widen when he understands the details.

"Oh my God, and I thought my brother was the one who usually got it all," he tries to joke, and indeed Emma chuckles.

"When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?" he asks her as he cleans her wound.

"I don't know, a few years ago"

"Okay, I'll have a nurse to do one. So, if you are anything like my brother, I can imagine you don't want to stay here" he tells her again, and Emma nods immediately.

"Okay, as much as I don't like this, the fact that you don't have a concussion, is on your side. However, we're going to have to do a CT scan just in case, and if all is well, you're free to go home. I would certainly be calmer if you had someone with you at night," he explains.

"Something tells me your brother won't leave me alone," Emma admits, and her cheeks blush.

"He'd better. Well, I'm going to write you something about the pain and get you ready for the exam. I'll come and see you again, okay?"

"Yeah, thank you," she says sweetly, and she stays alone in the room with her thoughts.

"Is she all right?" Kevin asks as soon as he sees Will returning to the room.

Emma still sits on the bed after the necessary tests and the shot are done, while in the chair next to her is Kevin, whom Voight sent to take her home. But why did he send Kevin and not Jay, Emma wonders disappointed.

"The exams are all good, you're okay to go. All you have to do is promise me that until you feel 100% okay, you'll rest as long as you can. As for work, I'd feel better if you didn't push yourself and maybe for a few days you'd sit at the desk," he explains, and Emma moans unhappily about that, making Kevin and Will laugh.

"I will talk to Jay about your address and I'll come by tomorrow morning to check on you," he continues, and with a squeeze, on her shoulder, he leaves.

"So, ready to go home?" Kevin asks when he helps her get into the car.

"Actually, would you mind if we stop by the district?"

"You're not holding on to seeing Halstead, are you?" he teases her, and her cheeks turn red. Why did everyone realize how much she wanted him?

"Don't worry. He is being held there by force. You should have seen him when Voight told him to go back to the station and me to come with you," he tells her as he starts the car and laughs with the image of Jay in his mind.

"I've never seen him like this before," he adds, and Emma looks at him surprised. She wants to ask more, but eventually holds back and changes the subject.

"How's Kim?"

"She's fine, she was checked by the second ambulance in the cabin, she didn't need to come at MED," he replies, and they continue the conversation without mentioning Jay anymore, although Emma's heart is still pounding with what was said earlier.

"Emma, what are you doing here?" Voight asks as soon as he sees her coming into the room.

"She wanted to come by, boss, I couldn't hold her," Kevin explains.

"Yeah, I wanted to come by and say hi," Emma replies smiling.

"How are you now kid?"

"Better, whatever Will gave me, it works," Emma tells him, and Voight clenches her shoulder while smiling at her. Maybe in the end, apart from Jay, he had a soft spot for Emma too. Maybe he had for everyone on his unit.

"Sure you're all right?" Jay whispers to her as the sergeant walks away.

"Yeah, I'm good" she tries to reassure him with a smile and their boss's voice makes them look at him again.

"All right, uh, well, I mean... first of all, obviously, we're all very happy Kim and Emma are okay. Look, what happened today... it cannot happen again. Okay, we don't take those kinds of risks. I mean, the object of this game it's... it's simple. We come home. Alive. There's never gonna be a case or a criminal, that is gonna trump that, ever. You understand? Now I realize we all have private lives, we exist... we exist as people outside this building. But when we are here working, we are one team with one purpose, period. And no matter what's going on at home, good or bad, it's gotta stay at home," Voight tells them, realizing the bond this family shared.

"Now go home and get some rest. I don't want to see any of your faces until Monday," he tells them again and smiles at the end as soon as he sees them agree.

"Hey Jay, you are going to take care of her, right?" he asks, and Jay's eyes for a moment widen.

"Of course, Sarge," he replies and gives Emma her jacket.

"Good, have a nice weekend," he tells them, leaving them shocked that Hank Voight was okay with all of this.

"What do you want to eat?" Jay asks while they're in the car.

"Do you think we can go to Bartoli for pizza?" she asks him innocently, knowing the shop was far away from her place.

"Of course, yeah, sure," he replies without looking at her, and Emma begins to worry about how he didn't tease her about her choice. The rest of the way to the store is quiet.

"It's not your fault," Emma blurts as Jay parks the car.

"Jay, you did nothing wrong"

"Of course I did Emms. I let you down. Both you and Kim, but you... you're my partner, I had to be there," he tells her, and he runs his hands through his hair.