Work Text:
Will was on the vampire shift- one he despised but he got to do it with people he was okay being with during those hours, so it was bearable most of the time. He’d just finished with a patient when Connor grabbed his arm.
“Hey, Jay’s here. He’s with Maggie in the break room.”
Will frowned, turning to look toward the room where sure enough, the blinds were closed but Will could hear Maggie’s voice.
“Is he sick?” Will murmured. Connor shook his head.
“You need to talk to him. Now, while you’ve got time.”
So Will went.
“Jay- Jay, hey hey…”
Will rushed to grab hold of Jay as he fell to the floor. Will caught him just in time and lowered him carefully. Jay let out a sob, and Will frowned.
“Oh man… Jay…”
“I- I’m good, it’s just- been a long day and I needed to talk to you.”
“About what? Shit, you’re burnin’ up…”
“No, I’m not sick it’s just- it’s just uh… thinkin’ too hard and I get a fever when I’m stressed sometimes.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s medically impossible to get a fever from stress. Jay you’re sick; you’re shaking. Let’s get you into a bed-“
“-no, Will. I don’t want to be admitted, I’m not sick.”
“Then tell me what’s going on, Jay.”
“People keep murdering children, Will, and it’s messing with my head.”
There it was. Will sighed, holding on tight to his brother.
“M’sorry Jay, that’s just- that’s inhumane.”
Jay straightened a little and when Will looked up Connor was poking his head into the room. Connor raised an eyebrow and Will shook his head; no medical attention needed for now. Connor left the room, softly closing the door behind him. Will’s attention went to his brother, still shivering in his arms, and he squeezed Jay’s shoulder.
“What about this has you so riled up?”
Jay squirmed again and Will let him readjust to lean against the coffee table. Will reached for the break room blanket and wrapped it around his brother’s shoulders.
“Get it out man.”
“Me and Mouse… there- there- there was a kid… in Afghanistan…”
“Oh Jay, I don’t-“
“We thought it was the enemy, and technically it was, but a child…”
Will sat back, not touching Jay. When he got like this sometimes it was best to just let him decompress and sort out where his mind was at.
“I’m trying to catch this person who’s killing kids but… but am I just as bad as them? Will, I murdered a ten year old boy.”
Will remained silent and Jay slammed his fist into the floor, tears beginning to stream down his face.
“I’m just as bad as them. That poor kid had no way to defend himself, and these kids we’re finding… they’re completely defenceless.”
Jay shoved himself back against the coffee table, head falling back when he burst into sobs. Hard, heaving sobs that made Will want to go back in time and stop Jay from ever enlisting. He reached out a hand and was surprised when Jay turned to bury his head into Will’s chest. He held the back of Jay’s neck, using his thumb to draw soothing circles and making gentle hushing noises.
“Shhhh, Jay, shhhhh… it’s gonna work itself out… I wish I could help man, but I don’t know what to do.”
“Just- just… just-uh…”
“We can sit here for a bit, you just focus on calming your breathing. I’m here.”
“I’m a monster, Will. I’m a child-murdering monster.”
“No, Jay, you’re not.”
Will pulled Jay to meet his eyes but Jay focused on his lap, tears falling. Will sighed, and pulled him into a hug again.
“You are not a monster Jay. You’re a war vet; you’re someone people thank for your service. You were medically discharged man; that happens sometimes. You’re a hero and I’m sorry that by being a hero you’re also suffering from things you’ll probably never tell me about.”
Jay sniffed, and after a minute he got up from the floor. He swiped away the tears and stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets, nodding awkwardly.
“Thanks, Will. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
And just like that, he was disappearing out the door.
“Connor, I gotta find Jay.”
“Will, babe, Jay’s going through a lot-“
“-and I need to be here for him. I think he went home, but he- he had a fever… maybe he called Natalie, I should-“
“-Will. Stop for a sec.”
Connor grabbed Will by the shoulders as they stood together in the shower, washing off the night’s events before they would climb into bed. Will sent Connor a look, earning a sigh in return.
“There’s no stopping you. Fine; at least let me grab the emergency kit.”
There was silence between them for a moment, except the water running, and Will stepped into the stream to dampen his hair.
“Okay.”
Will opened Jay’s apartment door, glancing around. As usual the apartment was cleaned from top to bottom; the only sign of occupancy were the shoes at the door and a recently used glass sitting on the sink. Will bumped Connor’s shoulder, heading for Jay’s room while Connor went for the bathroom. For a minute it was quiet, until Will made the signature ‘calling Rhodes’ noise and Connor appeared just in time. The image in front of them made his stomach clench, his heart dropping and he turned to Will.
“C’mon, we gotta help him.”
Will seemed to remember where he was then, and his first instinct was to rush over to be beside Jay, who had curled up on the left side of the bed; the opposite side to where Will and Connor were standing. He put a hand to Jay’s forehead, swearing under his breath as he gestured for Connor to come in. His fingers went to Jay’s jaw, feeling his pulse strong but rapid. Connor dug around in the emergency kit for a second before producing a bag of saline and an IV line. Will looked at him in panic, and Connor took him by the shoulder.
“He’s out for the count, he’s been puking and the first thing we always need to check for is dehydration after finding a pulse.”
Will did the pinch test on Jay’s arm, frowning at the dehydration showing. He looked up to Connor who had already wiped down a spot on Jay’s arm for the line and gaped open-mouthed. How could he not have realised his brother was so sick when he’d turned up hours earlier? The self-doubt was building and he pulled Jay’s body into recovery position when he heard gurgling deep in Jay’s throat. His fringe, usually styled to perfection, was damp with sweat and his hair was sticking up in various places; evidence of the distress Jay had been in. Will didn’t bother slipping a towel under Jay’s head when his brother begin to try and clear his mouth, vomit oozing out of his mouth due to his weak muscles. Jay had been the king of high fevers when he and Will were younger; the second he got a fever their mother immediately put him to bed, even in his teenage years.
“Will?”
Will felt Jay grasping at his knee, grip varying as he began to gain consciousness. Will rubbed Jay’s neck gently, searching for the bottle of water that Connor had placed on the bedside table before leaving the Halstead brothers in peace. As Jay tried to sit up Will stopped him, running a hand through his brother’s hair.
“I gotcha Jay, you’re safe. You’re okay; you’re in your bed. Me and Connor changed your sheets, you barfed all over ‘em and I didn’t think you’d want to be lying in that.”
“Mm… what time is it?”
“Nearly 9, Jay,” Will explained, but pushed Jay down when he made an attempt to get up.
“Woah steady, Rhodes’ got an IV going in your arm; you gotta lay still for a bit.”
“I’m so late for work, Will… Voight’s gonna kill me.”
“Well he’s gonna have to wait until you can at least sass me.”
Will ruffled Jay’s hair, glancing at Connor who had come in to check the IV drip. He shook his head, holding up the half full bag.
“Just a little longer, Jay.”
Jay weakly attempted to push Will away, but Will held on to him. The attempt became more violent but Will kept a hold on him, refusing to let Jay out of bed despite his yelling and complaining about being late for work. Voight would prefer Jay to come to work when he was 100%, rather than the state he was in now. Finally, the thrashing around stopped and when Will looked to Connor questionably the other doctor just grinned, showing the low dose of sedative he had secretly pushed into Jay’s IV port while he’d been trying to get out of bed. Will snorted, shaking his head as he looked down at his little brother. He felt for a fever again, turning back to Connor.
“I think he’s on the way out… what do you think it was?”
“Probably just something he picked up at work. He’s in close confines with all sorts of people at all times, babe. It happens.”
“Yeah, but for it to come on so suddenly…”
“I’m just as confused as you are.”
Connor hung up the IV bag so he could approach Will’s side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he tentatively pressed a kiss to his hair. Their relationship was relatively new; sometimes Will felt uncomfortable with displays of affection still, but this time he leaned into it. Connor rubbed his shoulder, leaning against Will in response. The last few months of personal therapy and talking with Will had helped him in learning how to be in a safe, healthy relationship and how not to treat the people he loved as though they needed to be saved.
When Jay woke up again it was beginning to get dark outside and he nearly shit himself when he spotted Connor sitting on the chair in the corner of his room, reading something on his ipad. He shot up, reaching for his gun instinctively but Connor leapt up, holding his hands high to show Jay he wasn’t a threat.
“Jay it’s me man, it’s Connor. You’re at home, in your bed. Will went to take a shower and call in sick from work. He’s coming back in a second, but he’d only go if I promised to watch you.”
The fear in Jay’s blue eyes faded, and he slowly settled back against his pillows. Connor checked the time, running a hand over his face.
“How are you feeling? Is the nausea gone?”
“For the most part… yeah, I think so. I don’t have a headache either. Those were some damn good drugs, doc.”
Connor smirked, a laugh threatening to escape.
“The more recent sedative was Will’s idea. He didn’t want you to wake up without him, but apparently we didn’t quite give you enough. Our bad.”
“Jay, you’re up.”
Will appeared at the bedroom door, dropping the duffel bag he’d brought to the floor so he could check Jay for a fever again. When he pulled away smiling Jay took it as a positive sign.
“Fever’s down?”
“It’s getting there. No more headache?”
“He said it’s gone,” Connor filled in and Will grinned, ruffling Jay’s hair.
“Bed rest for the rest of today for you. I’ll come check on you tomorrow morning and we can talk about you doing a half shift in the afternoon.”
“Damn Will; doctor, parent or my brother?”
“All of the above. From a medical perspective you need to let your body rest at least another 24 hours or so, and from a family perspective I can tell you’re still not 100%. Let’s get you back to full health before I let you go off risking being shot again, okay?”
Jay rolled his eyes, huffing.
“Fine.”
“I don’t think you see how similar you and Jay are. It’s freaky; if you didn’t have red hair and brown eyes I might have thought you were him.”
Will looked up from where he’d had his head resting on Connor’s chest, a smile of amusement tugging at his lips.
“What makes you say that?”
“Well for one; he literally tried to fight you so he could get to work and you’ve definitely done that to me a couple times. You’re both stubborn as hell, and it’s your way or the highway which causes a rift between you two. You and Jay both have this smirk that you wear when you’re amused and trying not to show it, which is really cute by the way-“
“-did you just call my brother cute?”
“-I called you cute, Will. Jay’s my sidebitch.”
Will threw his head back and laughed, reaching up to kiss him.