Chapter 59

"Jay, do you have water for your pills, or do you need to..." Emma starts asking as soon as she arranges some things at their home and returns to the bedroom where Jay is. But her sentence is cut in half as soon as she sees him and runs quickly towards him. 

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" she asks anxiously, but Jay doesn't answer. 

He rests his back on the head of the bed with his eyes tightly closed, holding with his right hand his left shoulder, trying to ease the pain he feels. 

"Jay, baby let me see," Emma tells him quietly, and after removing Jay's hand she puts hers under his shirt wanting to see what's going on. She sighs relieved as soon as she realizes there's no blood, so none of the stitches opened, and she moves her hands to his face. 

"Jay baby can you open your eyes for me?" she asks him, and for a second Jay thinks about it. But he quickly decides it's a bad idea and tightens them even more trying to calm down the nausea he feels because of the pain. He shakes his head a little and Emma caresses his cheek. 

"It's okay. Try to breathe. I'm here," she whispers, and Jay obeys by taking deep breaths. 

"That's it, you're doing very well," she encourages him, removing a few strands of hair from his sweaty forehead, and after a few minutes, Jay opens his eyes to look at her. 

"Do you think you're going to be sick?" she asks him, noting how pale he is. 

"Maybe... I don't know," he replies honestly and his eyes tear up, making Emma's heart break. 

"Come on, open your mouth," she instructs him, and Jay obeys without protest, letting her give him some painkillers. 

"Careful," she says as she helps him drink some water. 

They stay quiet, with Emma continuing to caress his hair. A few minutes later his muscles begin to relax and he lets out a breath of relief when the pills start to kick in. 

"This is so frustrating. I'm sorry," he apologizes, and Emma goes to lie down next to him. 

"Hey, you're doing really well these days. We just got home after a huge surgery, it's going to hurt for a while" 

"I know. Maybe I should have stayed another night in the hospital, but I don't think I could survive it," he admits and Emma nods, while helping him lie down better. 

"I know Jay, it's okay, we're going to make it. Try to rest and it'll all be over soon, I promise" she tells him sweetly lying next to him, and very quickly she can hear Jay's breathing relax as soon as he finally lets the fatigue get to him and sleeps.

Indeed, just as Emma told him, everything ended much faster than they expected and they were starting to return to their previous routine, even though there were now some minor changes. In particular, these changes were no other than Jay's physiotherapy appointments as well as his sessions with Doctor Charles, something that made Emma really proud, since Jay was the one who had suggested it. And even though she had never told him anything in the last two and a half weeks as she didn't want to make it seem like a big deal, Jay understood just how happy that decision made her because of the smile she had on her face every time she drove him at Med, or when he talked to her about some of the things he felt comfortable admitting, and she listened to him carefully by pressing his hand whenever she felt he was having trouble expressing himself.

However, beyond that, a great amount of time from their daily routine was consumed in the wedding plans, because according to Jay, who counted down the days, their wedding was going to take place in less than two months. The best man would be Will and that was something that didn't need any discussion since it was decided long before Jay was shot. As for the rest of the groomsmen, thanks to their closer friendship with Jay, Adam, and Kevin took on the role who got asked one day when they had visited the couple to see how Jay's recovery was going. As for the bridesmaids without thinking about it, Emma chose Kim, Stella, Sylvie, and of course Vanessa as they all got stood excited next to her when she made plans, but also they were her support when Jay was in the hospital or recovering at home. So because of the extra number of women on the best man list, Kelly was added to accompany Stella, something that didn't surprise anyone since he had come very close with Jay. In fact, Jay was sure that if someone told him many years ago that the man who once dated his ex-girlfriend would one day have a role in his wedding, he would laugh, but now he felt happy knowing that he had friends to support him.

"We need to find a song," Emma announces as she prepares Jay's coffee and her tea. 

Like every other morning these days, they are now in their kitchen eating their breakfast, focusing on some other details of the wedding that they had to arrange soon. But the only difference of today is that Emma won't go to work alone. Instead, Jay will finally go with her as the doctor allowed him to work at a desk, after Jay's countless complaints about being ready and can't stand being at home all day. He smiles slyly when he hears the detail that Emma decides to cover today and without stopping to bounce his leg impatiently, he opens his mouth to speak. 

"I have one in mind," he announces, and the girl places his cup in front of him, looking at him curiously. 

"Oh, really? Which song?" 

"Oh, I'm not going to tell you," 

"What? Jay..." 

"No, no way. It's going to be a surprise," he tells her seriously and gets out of his seat suddenly unable to sit for another minute. 

"You know, I could be offended since I've been taking care of you for so long and you can't wait to leave the house" she teases him as she follows him into the living room and laughs as soon as she sees him struggling to wear his jacket. 

"You know I can't stand sitting around anymore, not talking about the fact that I have to sit at the desk all day," he complains while Emma helps him and suddenly looks at him seriously as soon as she hears what he's saying. 

"Jay Halstead, if you try to disobey the doctor's order, I promise you I'll be the reason you will need a second sling," she threatens him, and Jay tries not to laugh. He bends over and kisses her nose, making her quickly change her expression, and without being able to hold on any longer, he burst into laughter. 

"Can we go now?" he asks her a few seconds later like a little child, and Emma goes to the door, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, Jay, tell me," Emma complains as she parks the car in the parking lot of the district and Jay shakes his head negatively, enjoying how much he's got her thinking. 

"But why? How do you know I'm going to like it? What if when that time comes I hear it and I don't like it at all?" she asks, trying to convince him, and Jay shakes his head once again. 

"Maybe I'd tell you if you brought your wedding dress into our house," he suggests after a few seconds when they walk to the building, with Emma carrying both of their bags despite Jay's comments about being able to carry his own things. 

"No way," she says without a second thought and smiles as she thinks about her dress that is kept in Vanessa's house away from Jay's curiosity and the possibility of seeing it behind her back. 

"Then I won't tell you the song," Jay says stubbornly, and they both laugh as they know very well that neither of them is going to win.

Before they can say anything else, Trudy's voice greets them as soon as she sees them enter and the two detectives head smiling towards the front desk. 

"Sunshine and Chuckles, finally together," the Sergeant teases them and pretends to be surprised to see Jay in front of her. 

"Does Voight know you're here?" she asks him quietly as if to say something that shouldn't be heard, and Jay chuckles, vindicating his nickname. 

"He knows. Actually, he was the one who told me I could come, if you don't believe me, ask Emma," he replies. 

"Oh, believe me, Sergeant Voight knows. He came home the other day to tell him, and since then he hasn't said anything else," Emma teases Jay, and Trudy laughs, grateful to see the couple happy again. 

"It's nice to have you back, Jay," she says a few minutes later honesty and Jay nods. 

But before he can say anything, Voight comes down the stairs interrupting their little conversation. Like Platt, he smiles as soon as he sees the couple, and carefully without wanting to press Jay's wound, he hugs the detective. If Jay had to count the times he had embraced his Sergeant, these would surely have been enough to be measured with the fingers of only one hand, but for some reason, it doesn't seem as strange as it would have seemed to him a few years or even months ago when the whole Kelton thing had broken out. He hugs him back, lightly tapping the Sergeant's back with his good hand. Seconds later they separate and turn towards Trudy and Emma who are looking at them smiling. 

"I hate to do this, but Crawford just called. There's been another robbery, and he wants us to get there fast. Burgess and Ruzek are already on scene and the others are on their way," he announces to Emma, who nods, ready to start working.

After making sure Trudy will inform Jay of their new case and help him carry their bags to the locker room, the young detective leaves with her boss for the scene. But this time, the case looks different. 

Her partner's back!