#chicago med fanfic

[deanstead]

Vows

Pairing: Connor Rhodes x Reader

Requested: yes, by anon

Summary: Y/N's pump malfunctions, causing her to pass out at the nurses' station while she's waiting for Connor.

Word Count: 907

Square Filled: Sick/Illness for #resa.3kfiestabingo

Warnings: mentions of passing out, mentions of chronic conditions

A/N: It has been a hot minute since I wrote a Connor fic, I know! So here it is! Anyway, the request was pretty specific so I hope there isn't any major mistakes. But once again, I'm in no way a medical professional so im sorry if there are!

CONNOR RHODES MASTERLIST

“Hey, Y/N.” You smiled at Maggie as you walked in and she spotted you immediately, pausing as she glanced at you. “You okay?”

You smiled back and nodded. “It must be the weather or something.”

Maggie nodded, even though her eyes watched you for a while longer. “Connor’s not down from surgery yet. You can wait for him in the lounge. I’ll call up to see if I can get an estimate.”

You smiled, nodding. “It’s fine, Maggie. Thanks!” Maggie took you to the lounge, putting a cup of water on the table for you. You thanked her as she headed back out and you put your head on the table, not sure why you were feeling off today.

Barely a minute had passed when a wave of nausea hit you and you closed your eyes, willing it away or pressing it down. Whatever it was.

You glanced down at the insulin pump you carried around and held back a sigh, afraid that you would end up emptying your stomach contents in the middle of the doctor’s lounge.

But it didn’t seem to want to die down and after sitting there for a while, you figured you’d better get help.

You got to your feet shakily, and you could feel your heart ramming itself against your ribcage like you’d just run a full marathon. Something was definitely wrong.

Connor tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the numbers on the elevator go down.

The surgery had dragged on for longer than expected since there was an unexpected complication. He’d managed to get the patient’s condition back under control and ended the surgery successfully, except that he was late.

He knew that you wouldn’t get mad or impatient but he didn’t like to keep you waiting. Especially since you should eat on time so you could take your medication. Besides, he’d missed you when he left early that morning so part of this impatience was that he was looking forward to seeing you.

The lift door opened, Connor spotting you almost immediately as he stepped into the ED. You were standing at the nurses' station just outside the doctor's lounge, but Connor paused.

Something was wrong.

You looked like you were propping yourself up against the nurses’ station and Connor frowned, taking another step towards you, your name hanging almost off his tongue before he saw you crumple towards the ground.

“Y/N!”

As Connor headed towards you, Maggie and Will were already getting you onto a stretcher and into a treatment room, with only a silent reassuring nod at Connor.

Connor could feel the thoughts racing a mile a minute in his head, running through all the possibilities of why you’d have collapsed. You’d both been really careful about managing your diabetes but even so, nothing had been this serious.

It felt like the minutes were crawling by as he waited outside, before Will finally opened the door.

“She’s awake.”

The two words made Connor feel like he could finally breathe again.

“Do we know what happened?” Connor asked, half afraid Will would say something more serious.

Will glanced up from the iPad in his hands. “Listen, it looks like her pump gave out on her. I’ve put in the tests to confirm but…”

Connor frowned. “We’re careful about that.”

Will shook his head. “This is not on either of you, alright? For whatever reason, I think the alarm failed to go off.” He paused, studying Connor’s face. “We’re giving her fluids right now, and if the test confirms what we think then she’ll get electrolytes and insulin as well. I’ll order a new pump for her too. Why don’t you go in and be with her, alright? I'll take care of everything else.”

Connor nodded. “Thanks, Will.”

Will smiled and just patted Connor reassuringly on the shoulder.

The tests had indeed confirmed Will’s suspicions but with the insulin, electrolytes and fluids in your system, you were feeling much better.

Connor had been pretty quiet and you glanced up at him, from where you were sitting up in bed.

He looked up almost immediately, like he’d felt your eyes on him. Giving you a small smile, Connor got up, scooting to the side of your bed.

“You okay?” He asked quietly, the way he did when you were feeling under the weather.

You reached out for his hand. “Sorry.”

He frowned. “For what?”

You exhaled. “Just…”

Connor put a gentle finger to your lips, effectively stopping you from saying anything more and shook your head. “This isn’t your fault. And Will reminded me it isn’t mine, either.”

You blinked back up at him.

“Look, for better or for worse. In sickness, or in health.” Connor paused, even as you felt the tears well up in your eyes. “That’s what I promised. And I intend to live up to those vows, Y/N.”

Connor put one arm around your shoulders, the other reaching for your hand. “And for the record, in sickness doesn’t mean for worse. I mean, I think we do great.”

“You do great.” You whispered, Connor smiling and reaching up to catch the tear that had streaked down the side of your face.

“We.” Connor corrected.

You smiled. “How did I ever luck into you?” You asked quietly.

Connor smiled. “Goes both ways, baby. Both ways.”

You lay your head against Connor’s shoulders, knowing that no matter what he would always be your rock.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

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Character taglists are open!

#resa.fics #resa.3kfiestabingo #connor rhodes #connor rhodes x reader #chicago med #resanoona request #chicago med x reader #connor rhodes imagine #connor rhodes fanfic #connor rhodes oneshot #connor rhodes x you #connor rhodes x y/n #chicago med fanfic #chicago med imagine #chicago med oneshot

[kiddbegins]

Laughing - Will Halstead

Requested: yes

word count: 454

warnings: none

note: i do not like this im sorry-

Masterlist

laughing when one drops their phone on their face? Will Halstead

Will laid on his back, elbow tucked onto his chest as he scrolled through the stupid videos his brother had sent them. You were laying on your side, head latched to his bare and warm shoulder as he laughed softly, tilting the phone so you could see the screen better.

“I swear, Jay finds the stupidest shit.” He muttered as you watched the short video on his screen, laughing along as it played.

“Yeah no shit,” You scrunched your nose up as it looped over. “Why doesn’t he send me funny videos?” You jokingly frowned, nudging Will’s arm.

In doing so, Will’s phone slipped out of his hand, hitting him right on the lip. With a quick laugh you leaned up, “I am- I am so sorry,” you couldn’t even say it without laughing, the man covering his smile with his hand, checking to make sure he was in fact not bleeding.

He rolled onto his side, pulling you underneath him and tickling his way up your stomach, “No! No no no!” You tried to move into the fetal position, aka the only way you knew to get your stomach covered but Will rolled with you.

“No, this is karma,” He said through his own laughs, his hands reaching the one spot on your sides that made you jolt up.

“William Halstead I swear to god-“

He raised his eyebrows at you, fighting wrapping his arms around your torso, his chin resting on your chest, “Yes?” His eyes were wide and he was giving you the most obvious puppy eyes.

With a sigh you looked back at him, “Get off of me, I didn’t mean to knock your phone out of your hand-“ You couldn’t help but crack a smile at the flash of the face he made when it hit him replaying in your mind.

“Are you laughing at my misery?”

“No…”

“YOU ARE!” He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to your chest before blowing out a raspberry and flipping onto his back, dramatically crossing his arms. “I’m officially offended by all of this and noooot talking the rest of the night.

He not so inconspicuously glanced over at you, fully still wanting your attention. Which you gave him as you rolled on top of him, looking down at him. “I don’t mind not talking if you’ll still hold me,” You offered, innocently smiling widely at him.

Of course he couldn’t say no to that so he sighed softly, opening his arms, “C’mere.” Will spoke softly, wrapping his arms tightly around you when you laid against his chest, his phone lighting up with another text from Jay.

“You should watch it.”

“Maybe when you’re not in the bed to make it hit me.”

If you liked this, apply to Will's tag list here :)

tags: @winchesterszvonecek , @everything-fandom

#will halstead #will halstead x reader #will halstead writing? #chicago med #chicagomed #chicago med fanfic #fanfiction #one chicago fanfiction #will halstead imagine #will halstead oneshot #one chicago x reader #teddy writes #teddy writes will halstead #teddy writes chicago med #teddy writes one chicago

[bellarkeselection]

This is my first ask so I hope I did this right. I was wondering if you could do a Will Halstead x reader where the reader is new to the ed and then caught Will staring and he was embarrassed or something. I’m really sorry about this ask I know it’s super bad. Thank you

You Cheeky Flirt

Entering the Ed building I was so nervous about getting thrown today since it was my first official day working here. Sitting my bag down underneath my desk I was a new nurse who came from Indiana being a simple country girl trying to make it in the big city. "Hey I haven't seen you around here before." A male voice spoke to me where I was met with soft eyes and auburn hair.

"Ah well I'm new here. So that’s why you ain't see me around here...Dr. Halstead." I shifted my gaze over his name tag.

He sat down the medical chart he had in his hands leaning on the countertop in front of him. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Will, what’s your name Nurse L/n?"

"Y/n, Y/n L/n." I extend my hand and we shook hands where he never moved his gaze from mine.

Will lowered his gaze from mine where I began to feel uneasy. He normally never had any problems talking to girls. But in this moment he was a blurting mess like he was back in high school. So he did the best thing he could think of. "Do you like burgers?"

"I guess so. Why do you ask?" I was curious to see where he went with this.

Will moved his gaze back up to mine. "Would you want to get one with me sometime?"

"Will...Actually that sounds great." I blushed, taken back by his offer to date. Will seemed releaved through by my answer and I can say that we ended up going on a few more dates and became official after the 5th one.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

- I am sorry that this is so short. I wish I could have wrote more for Will

#will halstead oneshot #will halstead imagine #will halstead writing? #will halstead #will halstead x reader #one chicago x reader #chicago med fanfic #one chicago fanfiction #chicagomed #chicago med #chicago med x reader #requests open #ask box is open for anything #comments really appreciated

[collecting-stories]

Lunch - Connor Rhodes

Request: No.

Summary: Kind of some mild flirting...establishing that Connor is interested in something more kind of thing. Might make a second part to it.

A/N: First time writing Connor...literally had this in drafts for like a year.

One Chicago Masterlist

✳︎ ✳︎ ✳︎ ✳︎

The ED was practically dead, a typical Sunday morning, especially with the snow outside keeping most of Chicago inside. Your tie-dyed NIH hoodie (not technically regulation but hopefully: what Goodwin didn’t know wouldn’t hurt you) wasn’t doing the job you’d hoped it would to keep you warm and your roommate, stuck on shift with you for the day, was already nearing annoyance levels.  

“Will,” you huffed as your phone dinged, another in a series of memes the doctor had been sending you all morning out of boredom. You left the device face down on the desk of the nurses’ station. “Stop texting me dumb shit.”  

“I’ve had one patient in the last three hours and they had a splinter.” Will complained, leaning over the counter and grabbing your iced coffee, taking a sip, “how do you drink iced coffee in the cold?”  

“I don’t know, you tell me,” you replied, taking the cup from him and putting it back where it’d been before. Just as you did the elevator doors opened, Goodwin stepping out with Connor Rhodes, obviously in deep conversation. Will laughed as you pulled your sweatshirt off, hanging it over the chair behind you and smoothing down your blue scrub top.  

“What’re you more worried about?” He teased, “Goodwin seeing your sweatshirt or Connor seeing you?” 

“Pigs would have to fly to make the second one a reality,” you replied. You deeply regretted telling Halstead that you had a crush on Connor, especially since your roommate took every opportunity to tease you about it.  

It wasn’t like you weren’t proud of yourself for the four years of med school that you’d completed to become an RN but there was no way someone like Connor Rhodes would ever think twice about dating a nurse. You’d heard from April about him and Dr. Zanetti and you were sure that was much closer to what he liked, actual accomplished doctors.  

You had it in your mind, whether it was true or not, that Connor had a type, and that type was doctors. Despite Will’s near incessant bitching about Connor having a stick up his ass and being too egotistical for his own good (as if Will was given the gift of humbleness) he was seemingly always in your corner when it came to your crush on the attending. Will was like your own personal cheerleader, constantly encouraging you to ask Connor out on a date and constantly trying to drop hints around Connor that you weren’t sure exactly panned out the way they were intended.  

“Dr. Halstead,” Goodwin greeted as she passed him, a raised eyebrow as if she was waiting for some new issue with him.  

“Ms. Goodwin,” he smiled, turning as she passed and following her with his eyes until she was out in the waiting area.  

Connor had stopped at the nurses’ station, taking one of the tablets that was docking on the counter.  

“Gracing the ED with your presence?” Will asked, reaching for your ice coffee again.  

You reached for it, fingers missing the foam holder around the plastic cup, as Will stepped a little further away. Connor watched, eyebrow raised in silent judgement as Will took another sip.  

“I’m filling in for Choi,” Connor finally supplied, the exchanging of the coffee cup happening once more as Will handed it back. “I thought you worked last night?” He added, looking over at you.  

The comment took you by surprise. You had worked the night before and knew for a fact that Connor hadn’t. “Uh, yeah, pulling a double. Were you in last night?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest as the doors to the ED slid open, Will leaving the two of you to pick up the patient.  

“No,” the doors opened again, cutting off whatever Connor was going to say and you followed him over, grabbing the end of the gurney Gabby was pushing as she relayed the patient’s information.  

You were significantly better when there was something that required your attention. Will commented on it once. Your ability to compartmentalize was remarkable. A skill you’d worked on and were ridiculously proud of, you weren’t some nervous idiot around Connor while you were with a patient, you were calm and collected and you knew exactly what to do. It made up for all the awkward staring, hopefully. You didn’t wanna seem like the fourth-year med students trolling around the hospital heaping praises on doctors they were trying to butter up or possibly sleep with. Not that you didn’t get where they were coming from, you felt like your insides turned to jelly whenever Connor so much as offered you a ‘good job’, you could only imagine what a fourth year shadowing him must be going through, but you kept it professional.  

Your patient with Connor ended up being a quick in and out, a broken bone that needed resetting and some bruising. It was nothing serious and you felt a little guilty wishing it had been a little more just so that you could spend extra time with Connor.  

“Lunch?” Will asked, coming up next to you and leaning against the counter of the nurses’ station, phone in hand, interrupting your thoughts. And your slightly obessive staring at Connor’s back while he was talking to one of the med students who had wandered down from Cardiology.  

You turned toward Will, “are you offering me cafeteria food or real food?”  

“What’s the matter with the cafeteria?” He asked, still looking down at his phone.  

“Besides the fact that it’s a cafeteria?” You countered, and then mistakenly looked away. Not that it was your fault really, just that you were actually doing your job, looking over a patient file, and you somehow didn’t have the hindsight to think that Will had caught you embarrassingly staring at Connor. But you really should have known better.  

“You want to grab lunch with us?”  

The question was enough to make you look up, clearly confused because that was Will speaking but who was he talking to and what did he mean us. And then there was Connor, staring between the two of you as if us had some kind of weight to it that he was supposed to know about and didn’t. Not that he would care, your brain reminded you.  

“Sure...” Connor dragged the word out like maybe he wasn’t sure at all.  

“Actually-” Will was already backing up toward the glass doors as they slid open and Gabby came through with Sylvie, transporting a woman on a gurney and you almost wanted to ask if he had somehow timed it. Morbid maybe but you wouldn’t put it passed a Halstead to have that kind of impeccable timing.  

“Do you need-” 

“No, I’ve got April, go have lunch,” Will replied, cutting you off. “Probably be quick anyway.”  

They’d all been quick today. Of the near nonexistent cases that come through the ED doors they had all been discharged within two hours, probably less. There were days when it felt like a revolving door that people just kept coming into but today ‘nothing serious’ seemed to be the motto.  

You stood there clutching onto your tablet as Will disappeared into room 3, unsure what exactly you were waiting for. Maybe another ambulance to pull up or someone else to come along that you could force into lunch with you. Will had abandoned you with Connor. You turned to look at him, surprised to see him already watching you, and reminded yourself once more that this was Connor Rhodes and he definitely had better things to do than get lunch with you.  

“I guess you’re off the hook.” You tried to sound casual, like it was no big deal that he would probably head back to work and you really would be stuck with the cafeteria.  

Connor looked amused for a split second before reaching across the counter and taking the tablet out of your hands, flipping the cover closed, “what are you hungry for?” He asked, then added, “my treat.” As if you weren’t already filled with excited anxiety about just going to lunch with him.  

“Oh well, if it’s your treat.” You joked, trying to play off the butterflies in your stomach as you grabbed your hoodie off the back of the chair so you could slip it on again. “Honestly,” you started to say, pausing as you struggled to pull the neck of your hoodie over your head and wonder why you didn’t just rough it and freeze in the cafeteria to avoid embarrassment, “shit.” 

“Here,” Connor stopped you in your tracks, gently pushing the hood down and freeing you from the confines of the cotton material, smiling briefly as he tugged one of the strings hanging down from the neckline. “Better?” 

“Thanks,” you huffed, “Anyway...I was gonna say honestly, whatever you want is fine. So long as it’s not pizza.”  

Connor quirked an eyebrow as he stepped onto the elevator with you, skepticism written all over his face, “not pizza? Why not pizza?” He asked.  

“Because I’m 100% sure that Will eats pizza every single night.” You replied, “I literally can’t stand the sight of it.”  

The skepticism didn’t fade as he glanced over at you again. He wasn’t entirely positive that you and Will weren’t dating. Maggie had laughed when he asked and sworn that you weren’t but he saw how close the two of you seemed to be and he couldn’t help being skeptical. Not that it had stopped him from trying to get close to you. This was as good an opportunity as any to find out right from the source, “Are you and Will?” He gestured with his hand between the two of you.  

“What?” 

“Are you together?” 

“Oh no,” you shook your head, “we’re roomies but that’s it.”  

He nodded. “Good.” 

Now it was your turn for skepticism, “Good?” You asked. You liked the way he said it, like he was happy to know that Will wasn’t any competition but also like he wouldn’t have been too worried even if there was something going on. And suddenly you wondered why you never thought he looked at you or why you thought he never would.  

“Good.” He confirmed just as the elevator dinged. The doors slid open and he held his arm out against the door jam for you to step out first. After you had, and he stepped out after you, there was the sudden and welcomed presence of his hand on the small of your back. “So, lunch?”  

“Definitely.”  

#connor rhodes imagine #connor rhodes x you #connor rhodes x reader #connor rhodes x y/n #connor rhodes fanfic #connor rhodes blurb #connor rhodes fic #connor rhodes oneshot #chicago med fanfic #chicago med imagine #chicago med fanfiction #chicago med oneshot #chicago med fic #chicago med blurb #collecting stories imagine

[anotherspnfanfic]

Rain Check

A/N: I finished a thing! For the first time in over a year! It is also my first time writing for One Chicago. Thank you @resanoona and @muchamusedaboutnothing​ for the beta reads!

Pairing: Halstead sister w/ best friend Kelly

Word count: 4,076

Square filled: Sick!fic for TMAS Bingo @supernatural-jackles

Warnings: illness, hospitalization, sibling bickering...

Summary: She says she’s fine. Luckily, Kelly and her brothers know when she’s lying.

Masterlist

-----

You heard your phone buzz from where you had dropped it on the coffee table three and a half hours ago when you got home from work.

You heard your phone buzz from where you had dropped it on the coffee table three and a half hours ago when you got home from work.

You, me, Jay - Molly’s in an hour, you read the new message from your best friend, Kelly.

Groaning, you shifted to grab and unlock your phone. I feel like shit. I left work early. Rain check.

Another ding as a sad face popped up at the bottom of the thread. You sighed as you set the phone back down, wishing you felt up to hanging out.

You spent the next forty-five minutes tossing and turning on your couch in an attempt to find a comfortable position. The second half of Safe Haven played across the screen, but you weren’t really paying much attention.

Suddenly, you heard keys jingling outside your door before the deadbolt clicked open. The only other people who had keys were your brothers, and they never used them to come in while you were home.

Before you could further analyze the intrusion, Jay hollered through the barely-cracked door. “We’re coming in. Am I going to be scarred by anything I might see?”

You rolled your eyes and sat up, wincing at the flare of pain in your abdomen. “I’m not naked, if that’s what you’re asking. And who is ‘we’?”

“We brought you soup,” said Kelly from the kitchen. “I also grabbed tissues, cold meds, Excedrin, and Midol. I wasn’t sure what you might need.” You heard the rustle of bags and clunks of things being set on the counter.

“I didn’t need any of that, but I appreciate the thought. However, I don’t really appreciate you telling my brother I feel crappy.”

A moment later, Jay was snatching the remote from you. “I just came for the beer and the game.” You knew he came because he was worried, even though he wouldn’t admit that.

“Hey!” You reached to take it back as he lifted it over his head. “I thought you guys were going to Molly’s.”

Jay tossed the remote back once he’d turned on the hockey pre-game. “Kelly wanted to come hang out with you.”

“Wow. I love you, too, bro.” You carefully laid back down, shifting a few times until you found a somewhat comfortable position. “But since you are here… can one of you go grab my heating pad from my bedroom closet?”

Jay simply nodded before disappearing down the hall, returning a minute later with the heating pad in hand. He also had your favorite blanket tossed over his shoulder. It was his way of silently showing his concern. He plugged in the heating pad and tossed it and the blanket on the couch next to you.

“Thanks, Jay.” You smiled gratefully.

“Do you want the soup?” Kelly asked. ”Or we have pizza coming shortly, too.”

“Um, no. Nothing right now.” You shook your head. “I’m too nauseous. Thank you, though.”

Jay sat down in the recliner as Kelly came in and handed him a beer.

Kelly then lifted your feet and set them on his lap as he sat down. “You sure you don’t want anything else?”

You shook your head and pulled the now-warm heating pad across yourself. “This is all I need at the moment. But I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”

You made yourself comfortable as the two of them started to discuss the hockey game as well as how the rest of the season had been going. A little while later, there was a knock at your door.

Jay stood quickly. “I got it.” He returned a minute later with two large pizza boxes as well as a smaller box you suspected held cheesy garlic bread. He set the stack on the coffee table and slid one pizza toward Kelly before opening the other. “We got your favorite. We will try to save you some.”

You leaned up and punched him in the shoulder. “You’re so mean.” You tried your best to hide the wince from your sudden movement.

“Ouch!” he said, grabbing his arm dramatically. “If I was mean, I wouldn’t have offered to save you any.”

“Mmhmm,” you hummed. “You said try, not that you would save some.”

Before long, there were several slices missing from both boxes and the two of them were cheering and booing loudly at the television. You laughed and silently hoped they weren’t disturbing your neighbors too much.

During the first intermission, Jay’s phone dinged with a new message alert. He pulled it out of his pocket and quickly read the message on the lock screen before pocketing it once more. “Will is on his way over.”

Tossing the heating pad over the back of the couch, you rolled your eyes and groaned loudly. “Seriously? You couldn’t let me suffer in peace? He’s gonna be all doctory.”

Jay shrugged. “He wanted to watch the game. I didn’t even tell him you didn’t feel good.”

You scoffed. “Uh huh. You told him you were here instead of Molly’s so he already knows something is up.”

About ten minutes later, you heard your front door open without so much as a warning knock.

“Do none of you have manners anymore?” You asked him as he entered the living room. “And for the record, I am fine so do not ask.”

Will chuckled as he raised his hands in surrender. “Hello to you, too.” On his way to sit on your loveseat, he grabbed a slice of pizza. You watched as he and Jay exchanged pointed looks.

Over the next half hour or so, you noticed all three of them sending worried glances your way until, finally, you poked Kelly in the thigh with your foot. “Can I have that soup now? Maybe it’ll help my nausea.” You didn’t think it would, but it might get them to stop looking at you like you were about to break.

He nodded and got up, walking into your kitchen to warm it up for you. You shifted to sit up while you waited for him. Struggling to find a comfortable position, you noticed that Will was watching you more intently.

Kelly brought in the soup and sat down once more. “How do you want to do this?”

“Umm, can you pull the coffee table closer for me?”

Jay stood from his chair to push the end of the table towards you and move the pizza boxes out of the way. Kelly set the soup in front of you and handed you a spoon.

“Thanks.” You smiled as you slurped a spoonful of broth. Continuing slowly, you drank about half the broth and ate some of the noodles. Unexpectedly, your stomach flipped uncomfortably. You dropped the spoon back into the bowl causing a loud clatter.

All three sets of eyes were on you as you stood suddenly. You didn’t even attempt to hide the pained whimper that escaped with the movement.

“You okay?” Will and Jay asked in unison as Kelly reached out, prepared to steady you if necessary.

You groaned. “Yeah, peachy. Stay,” you directed them as you moved as quickly as you could to the bathroom. Flinging the door shut, you fell to your knees just in time to empty your stomach into the toilet. The pain in your knees was almost unnoticeable with the stabbing pain that flared through your right side. You tried to breathe through your nose as another wave of nausea crashed through you. Maybe you weren’t fine after all, but you weren’t ready to admit that to anyone, especially Will.

When you were pretty sure you were done, you flushed before sitting back against the wall. A knock broke you from your thoughts. “You alright in there?” Kelly asked.

“I’m fine.” You stood slowly and rinsed your mouth out before pulling the door open and meeting his concerned green eyes. “I swear. I’m really fine,” you lied. “I shouldn’t have tried to eat.”

Kelly’s hand hovered behind you as you made your way back to the couch. As you sat, you pulled the heating pad back over your lower abdomen, even though it’d done nothing to help the pain earlier. However, now you were chilly, and it would help with that.

“Is that normal?” Will asked. “Nausea and vomiting with cramps?”

You shrugged, debating what to tell him. “It’s happened before, but not always, no.”

He hummed, clearly deciding if he wanted to push. “Is anything else weird today?”

“Not really. Not unless you count being four days early.” Spinning to lie back down, you pulled your blanket over yourself.

“Are you cold?” Jay asked.

You glared at him. “Maybe a little. I just like to have a blanket when I feel crappy. Does that mean something to you? You’re the one who brought it out here unprompted.”

“Have you actually started your period?” Will asked.

Groaning, you asked, “Can we not have this conversation?” He just stared at you waiting for an answer. “Ugh, fine. No. No, I haven’t yet.” 

Will stood and walked over to you. He placed the back of his hand on your forehead.

You knew there was no convincing them at this point, but decided to try anyway. “How many times do I have to tell you? I am fine!” Will narrowed his eyes at you before he walked away. You heard him opening the cabinet in the bathroom. Looking between Kelly and Jay you asked, “What is he doing?”

Jay shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”

Rolling to face towards the back of the couch, you groaned.

Will was back a moment later. He knelt down in front of the couch and rolled you back to face him. “Open,” he directed, lifting your thermometer into your view.

“No.”

Will just sighed. “If you're right, then this will be normal and you can say ‘I told you so.’ Just humor me?”

“When I’m right, you are going to buy me dinner next week. Somewhere nice.” You held out your hand for him to shake.

He took your hand without shaking it. “I’ll buy you dinner next week, regardless, if you stop being difficult.”

“Fine.” You shook his hand, took the thermometer from him, and placed it under your tongue.

It was quiet as you waited, the game having been muted at some point. When the thermometer beeped, you pulled it out and handed it to Will, not even bothering to check it as you gave him a smug grin.

Jay leaned over to see the reading for himself as Will announced, “101.6, you have a fever.”

You shrugged. “So what? I have cramps and the flu or something. I don’t know what that proves.”

Will shifted to sit on your coffee table. He pulled off your blanket and heating pad despite your protests. He pushed just above your left hip bone.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“Does this hurt?” asked Will. You shook your head as he pressed just below your belly button. He moved his hands over once more, and you started to shake your head again as he pressed down on your right side. As he started to pull away, you gasped, feeling a sharp pain similar to the one you had felt in the bathroom earlier. It was significantly worse, and you threw your head back hard against the armrest as you tried to recoil from the cause of the pain. “When did the pain start? Any other symptoms you aren’t telling me? How long were you using the heating pad?”

“Geez, one question at a time! It hurt a little, like barely even noticeable, last night around midnight. I don’t think so. And I don’t know, not that long. Why?”

Will stood. “Because it’s not cramps, it's appendicitis. We’re going to Med. Right now.”

“No,” you argued. You hated hospitals even more than Jay.

Jay pulled his keys out of his pocket. “I’ll pull the truck around.”

Will nodded to Jay before turning back to you. “This isn’t debatable. Sorry, kiddo.” He handed his keys to Kelly and bent over to lift you off the couch.

You grabbed his arm to stop him. “I can walk at least.”

Will proceeded to pick you up. “We don’t have the time to wait for you to make it down to the truck.”

Kelly flipped off the television and unplugged your heating pad before following you and Will out of the apartment and locking the door.

Will set you in the backseat of Jay’s truck and then ran around to get into the passenger side next to you. Kelly handed Will his keys as Jay peeled out of the complex.

“Jay, turn on the radio or something. It’s too quiet in here,” you complained.

Kelly looked over his shoulder at you. “Can’t take a comfortable silence with the three of us?”

“What part of this is comfortable?”

“It’s fine. We are only going to be in the car for ten minutes,” said Jay.

“Please? Just turn on someth—” you froze mid-sentence.

“Are you okay? Is the pain worse?” Will asked.

“Um, no. It actually doesn’t hurt anymore.” You frowned in confusion. “Why doesn’t it hurt anymore?”

“Damn it,” Will muttered. “Jay, go faster.”

Sinking further into the seat as Jay floored the accelerator, you glanced between Will and Kelly. “What? Why go faster?” You couldn’t help but finally start to worry.

Will took your hand in his and squeezed reassuringly. “Because if it stopped hurting, there’s a good chance your appendix just ruptured.”

“But that’s bad, right? Like, really bad?” You took a sharp inhale as the realization hit. “Like, I could die from an infec—”

Will squeezed your hand harder to get your focus back on him. “No. You’re going to be just fine.”

“I’m so stupid. Why didn’t I say something? I lied earlier. I’ve never had nausea or puking with period cramps. I knew I should have said something before you even came over because the heating pad wasn’t helping. The heating pad always—”

“Y/N, breathe!” Will interrupted your rambling.

Kelly reached over and squeezed your knee, almost painfully, in an attempt to ground you.

“It’s okay,” Will reassured. “You’re going to be fine. You are right—untreated, it can be very dangerous, but we are almost to the hospital. Look at me.” Your eyes met his. “Just take a deep breath. You will be fine, you hear me?”

You nodded and tried to focus on your breathing rather than the panic swirling through your mind.

Less than two minutes later, Jay was pulling up to the ambulance entrance to the ED. You barely even had time to open your door before Jay was there gently lifting you out of the truck and heading inside.

Connor saw the four of you enter, you in Jay’s arms, and immediately moved to meet you. “Hey, what’s going on, guys?”

You threw your head back in annoyance. “You could have at least gotten a freaking wheelchair. This is just ridiculous.”

Kelly just chuckled as Jay scolded, “I thought you agreed to stop being difficult so Will would buy you dinner.”

Will ignored the three of you in favor of answering Connor. “I’m pretty sure she’s got a ruptured appy. Pain onset was around midnight. She tried to eat some soup about twenty minutes ago and vomited. Temp was at 102, and she had right-sided rebound tenderness. About five minutes ago, she said it stopped hurting.”

“Let’s get an ultrasound to confirm.” Connor turned around to find Maggie. “Maggie, where am I going?”

“Treatment 3. Monique, you’re with Dr. Rhodes.”

Jay set you on the bed, kissed your forehead, and then shifted by the foot of the bed. He placed his hand on your shin. “Just let me know if I’m in the way.”

“No, you're good there,” said Connor. “Monique, let’s run a CBC and a BMP.”

Will handed Connor the ultrasound probe as Monique wrapped the blood pressure cuff around your bicep. She clipped the pulse ox on your index finger. To distract yourself while she placed the IV, you focused on Jay and Kelly, who was hovering in the doorway.

“It’s definitely a ruptured appy,” Connor announced, handing the ultrasound back to Will. “Let’s get her up to the OR.”

The panic you’d been trying to suppress since the truck bubbled to the surface again, and you started to hyperventilate. Jay stepped forward to take your hand.

Connor gently squeezed the opposite shoulder. “Just take a deep breath, sweetheart. I know you hate the hospital but I need you to try to calm down.” He shifted away to grab an oxygen mask before placing it over your face.

Will reached around Connor to take your hand. “What did I tell you? You’re going to be fine. Surgery and some antibiotics, and you’ll be good as new in a few weeks.”

You managed to take a couple slow, deep breaths. Locking eyes with Connor, you asked, “Can— Are you doing the surgery?”

“Yep, I’m all yours.” He and Will pulled the gurney out of the room and towards the elevators.

When they pulled you off the elevator, Jay squeezed your hand once more before letting go. Kelly took his place, kissed your forehead and squeezed your shoulder. 

Finally, Will placed a kiss on your knuckles. “We’ll see you on the other side.”

A moment later, Connor was pushing you into the operating room. He pulled the oxygen mask off and set it beside your head. “These nurses are going to get you settled. I have to go scrub in and then I’ll be right back, okay?”

You nodded. Connor turned to leave, but you stopped him. “Wait! I’m gonna be all loopy after, right? Like all those videos online?”

Connor cracked a smile. “Probably. It takes a bit for the anesthesia to clear your system, and you’ll get some pain meds.”

You scowled at that thought. “Okay. Do me a favor—don’t let those three see me while I’m still drugged and loopy. If they end up with something to tease me about, you are dead to me.”

Connor laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

The next few minutes were a blur, and before you knew it, someone was asking you to count backwards.

As you started to wake, there was a new, different ache through your abdomen. You groaned and peeled your eyes open, meeting Connor’s bright blue irises.

“Welcome back. How’re you feeling?” he asked.

Scrunching your nose, you considered how to answer. “Hmm, a little sore. Sleepy. And cold. Can I go home soon?”

“How about we talk about that later?”

“Can I have a blanket?”

Connor gave you a sad smile. “Sorry. Not right now. You still have a fever.”

“Please?” you whined. Before he could answer, another thought hit you. “Hey, where‘re my brothers and Kelly?”

“You threatened me to not let them in here yet!” Connor huffed. “They will be waiting for you once we move you out of recovery.”

You vaguely remembered what you’d told Connor. “Oh, yeah.”

“It’s late. How about you try to get a little more sleep?” Connor suggested.

You gave him a lazy thumbs up before quickly falling back to sleep.

—————

Connor found Jay, Will, and Kelly in the waiting room. All three were scrolling through their phones. “Everything went perfectly. She is in recovery now, and a nurse will come get you when she’s back in a room.” Connor explained.

Will huffed. “Why can’t we go see her now? Or one of us at least?”

“Nope.” Connor shook his head. “She threatened me to not let you see her while she’s loopy. So, no. You’re waiting until she’s moved. It should only be about half an hour.”

“Come on. She probably won’t even remember anything she says.” Will argued.

“She wasn’t worried about what she’d remember. Seems to think her big brothers might tease her,” said Connor. “I promise, she’s fine. She was sleeping when I left a few minutes ago.”

—————

About an hour later, Jay, Will, and Kelly were sitting around your hospital room, waiting for you to wake up.

You jerked awake suddenly with a gasp. The sudden movement pulled on your stitches. “Shit. Ow.”

All three guys were beside you in an instant, your brothers on either side while Kelly took up the space at the foot of the bed.

“Are you okay?”

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“What hurts?”

In your half-awake state you weren’t even sure who had said what as they spoke over each other. You simply groaned in response.

“Can I check your incision?” Will asked. “Need to make sure you didn’t just pop a stitch.”

“Not like you’re going to take no for an answer,” you said. You pulled on the gown to get it out of his way. Due to the sleepiness or the pain meds, maybe both, you were slightly uncoordinated. He helped you pull the fabric aside so he could get access to your bandage.

Connor came into the room as soon as Will had pulled the gauze up. "I'm pretty sure that's my job."

“Sorry, she had a nightmare and jerked pretty hard when she woke up. I wanted to be sure.”

Connor checked the incision as well. “It looks good.” He turned his attention to you. “Scale of one to ten, how’s the pain?”

“Not bad. Maybe a three.”

Connor nodded. “When you need more pain meds, just use the call button or tell Will. I’m going to let you get some rest. I’ll be in to check on you in the morning.”

“Thanks, Connor.” 

Jay, Will, and Kelly took turns shaking Connor’s hand as he headed out.

“Thanks, man,” said Will, following Connor to the door. “You here all night?”

Connor nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be in the ED.”

“Want to talk about it?” Jay asked as Will came back to your bedside.

“About what?”

“That nightmare,” Jay clarified.

“Oh. No, I don’t really remember most of it.” He looked like he didn’t believe you at all. You opted to change the subject before he could press. “Do I get to go home tomorrow?”

Will sighed, knowing you weren’t going to like his answer. “No. You’ll need IV antibiotics and monitoring for infection for at least a few days.”

“This sucks. What is the point of having a doctor for a brother? I want two fancy dinners.”

They all laughed.

“Sure. Next time you don’t feel well, are you going to just tell me up front?” Will asked.

“Eh, probably not.” You smirked. “But honestly, 9 times out of 10, it’s nothing.”

“Just continue to always tell me. I’ll loop them in if need be,” Kelly offered.

“‘If need be’?” You rolled your eyes. “You brought Jay over without even knowing anything!”

Kelly just shook his head. “I know you never leave work early. You had the stomach flu last year and didn’t even miss any work.”

“Well, clearly, you know me too well.”

“Clearly, it’s a good thing I do.”

“Alright, stop rubbing it in. You guys might as well go home and get some sleep,” you suggested despite not wanting to be alone.

“Nah, you’re stuck with us tonight,” Jay said.

Hoping your relief wasn’t obvious, you smiled. “You guys don’t have anything better to do than sit around and watch me sleep? Creepers.”

————

Five days later, you were signing discharge papers as Jay and Will argued about which one of them you should stay with.

“I have a guest room,” said Jay. “You want to make her sleep on a couch?”

“No, jackass,” Will countered. “She can sleep in the bed, and I’ll take the couch.”

“My place means no one is sleeping on a couch.”

“Guys!” you interrupted. “I’m going to my own apartment.”

Will sighed. “You shouldn’t be alone, at least for a few days.”

“My couch is open,” you shrugged. “Fight over that, take turns. I really don’t care. But I am going home to my own bed.”

“I’m off tonight,” said Jay. “I’ll stay.”

“I’m off, too. I can stay.”

“Quit arguing,” you groaned. “I love you both, and I appreciate that you both want to help me. But I will kick you both out and call Kelly instead.”

“Sorry,” they said in unison.

“We will figure out a schedule,” said Jay.

“Awesome. Now, will you guys, please, get me the hell out of here?”

Will grabbed the wheelchair a nurse had brought in earlier. “Gladly.”

-----

Tagging a couple possibly interested people: @mertes4cker @halsteadlover @i-like-sparkly-things @hereforhalstead @fighterkimburgess @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff @eagerforthesky​ 

#halstead sister #Tell me a story bingo #jay halstead x reader #will halstead x reader #kelly severide x reader #one chicago #one chicago fanfiction #chicago fire fanfic #chicago pd fanfic #chicago med fanfic

[winchesterszvonecek]

"I…I want to give you my heart. It belongs to… to you. How… how can I give it to you? I don’t want it anymore." "Let’s wait until tomorrow with the surgery”

Connor?

Drunken Confessions - [ Connor Rhodes ]

Prompt: “I…I want to give you my heart. It belongs to…to you. How…How can I give it to you? I don’t want it anymore.” “Let’s wait until tomorrow with the surgery.”

Word Count: 1171

Warnings: female!reader, drunkenness

Masterlist | Connor Masterlist

There was a reason you never allowed yourself to get drunk. A perfectly valid explanation as to why you never drank over the three beers a night limit you set for yourself anytime you went to Molly’s.

It wasn’t just because you were a firefighting Lieutenant with a reputation to keep and a handful of men under your command, who did not have a limit to the amount that they drank which meant it usually fell on you to make sure they got home safe and made it into work the next day.

No, it wasn’t because of any of that, not really. The real reason why you couldn’t loosen up fully after a tough day on the job was because of one man and one man only.

Connor Rhodes.

Since the day you met Connor, the day you rolled into the ER with an impalement victim and locked eyes with the new trauma surgeon, you had fallen so head over heels in love with him that you couldn’t bring yourself to think about any other men. Which is the exact reason you couldn’t get drunk otherwise you’d end up spilling your guts out to him.

And sure, you were constantly flirting with him when sober, hoping to God he’d reciprocate and oftentimes he did. He’d flirt back with you. Tell you how nice it was to see your face that day in the hospital. Anything he could think of to make you blush harder than a schoolgirl getting asked to prom by her crush, he would do. But it never usually went any further than that.

As the months went by you were beginning to just give up, to accept that you’d never be anything more than flirty friends. And sure, that hurt but what could you do? You’d never find the courage to ask him out properly, to confess that you loved him so much that it hurt to be around him, and therefore, there wasn’t much else you could do other than allow yourself to get blackout drunk for the first time since you laid eyes on his handsome face.

The only reason you’d been accepting the shots Herrmann kept sliding towards you was because you knew Connor was on call at the hospital that night and wouldn’t be anywhere near you, allowing you the relief of knowing that drunk you wouldn’t blurt out what sober you could never find the courage to say. Only when Connor showed up at Molly’s, beelining straight for you, you were far too wasted to care about the fact that you were probably about to expose yourself in front of him.

“There he is!” You cheered, giggling around a hiccup as you slid off your stool, almost face planting the ground had Connor not caught you. “The famous Dr Rhodes.”

“Famous?” Connor repeated, chuckling to himself as he got you steady on your feet, his hands held out at either side of you as you swayed back and forth, making him think you were about to pass out and almost hit the deck again.

“You’re like what’s his face from that doctor show.” You slurred, lightly poking the tip of his nose which acted like a button as the second you did a smile grew on his face. “The pretty one… You know who I’m talking about.

“Okay, I see someone might have had a little too much to drink… huh?” Connor had never once seen you so open with him as you were now, and even if you hadn’t smelt strongly of alcohol, he’d have probably assumed you were drunk anyway. “Why don’t I take you home?”

“Okay, doctor.” You sighed out, falling forwards a little to lean on him, your cheek smooshed up against his chest which drunk you didn’t even acknowledge was beating rapidly beneath you.

Guiding you out of the bar was easy, making Connor glad he was the one who found you and not some other scumbag who might only have taken advantage of you in your current state. The two of you had barely reached his car before you came to a stop, rounding his body to face him and gripping the front of his shirt so tightly that your knuckles turned white.

“I…I want to give you my heart.” You began, your words more coherent than Connor would have ever expected from you. He raised his hands, taking a gentle hold of yours and carefully prying your fingers from around the softness of his shirt. “It belongs to… to you. How… How can I give it to you? I don’t want it anymore.”

You shook your head, eyes filling with tears as though part of your sober feelings had moved past the alcohol clouding them, allowing for your vulnerability to be fully on display.

“I don’t… I don’t want it.” You whispered, locking eyes with him and seeing the reflection of the streetlight above you shine against them. “Take it from me.”

“I will.” Connor said softly, his hands leaving yours and going staring to cup your face, feeling how you relaxed instantly beneath his touch. “But not right now. Not like this, okay? Let’s wait until tomorrow with the surgery.” He joked, finding warmth over the way you smiled. “Once you sober up, then you can give me your heart. If you still want to.” He added quietly, praying to God or whoever was listening that this wasn’t just drunken nonsense he was hearing from you.

But with the way you’d looked at him, even through the copious amounts of alcohol he’s suspected that you’d drank, there was still a hint of the real you, the quiet, shy you who would have never said this to him sober, still lingering underneath. As though begging him to believe that what you were saying was the truth.

“Surgery?” You babbled, the return of your drunkenness pulling him from his thoughts about whether or not sober you felt the same way about him as drunk you seemed to. “I think you’re confused… I’m the firefighter… You’re the surgeon.”

You poked your finger to his chest, hiccuping quietly as you giggled to yourself, calling him silly under your breath and making him all but die on the spot as even drunk you were utterly adorable. Your hand fell to your side, your body once again falling against him, only this time it felt different, as though it wasn’t just a way for you to take some of the strain off your feet.

Connor’s arms wrapped lightly around your frame, engulfing you with heat of his body, hearing you hum softly to yourself as you slid your arms around his waist, underneath his coat which only had his heart wanting to leap from his chest. He glanced down, smiling over the way you nuzzled your cheek against his chest, as though you were exactly where you wanted to be right now.

Exactly where he wanted you to be. And exactly where he hoped you’d stay once you sobered up.

Prompt List

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[study-coffee-chicago]

You Got This, Kid (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister Imagine)

A/N: I'm back! Please enjoy this imagine about what I've been going through with grad school applications and everything else these past few months. It's a long one (the longest I've ever written, clocking in at 23.7k words), so grab you might want to grab your snacks now. Finally, thank you for reading, and don't forget to reblog/like and comment!

Enjoy!

Okay, so maybe checking your email when you were out to lunch just trying to have a relaxing afternoon before taking a nap before work was a bad idea.

"Yeah?" Jay asked when he answered his phone.

"I'll know if I got into East Carolina by 6 pm today," you told him. You had been researching and applying to Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology since August and had decided to apply to five in total. It was currently January and you had yet to hear back from a single one. And, East Carolina University was your top choice.

"Oh, wow. Just take a couple deep breaths. I guess today was a bad day to have us get the new appliances put in, huh?"

"Yeah."

For Christmas, Hailey's Christmas present to herself and Jay's Christmas present to her were all new appliances in the apartment. You had no idea how they got around that since they were renting, but you had a suspicion that them both being cops had something to do with it.

"Well, the appliance people just left, so you can come home any time," Jay told you. "Think positive."

You rolled your eyes. "You know you're talking to the world's biggest pessimist, right?"

"It wouldn't kill you to be a bit more positive is all I'm saying."

"It's not like you're a ray of sunshine either, Jay."

"Fair point."

"Well, I've got two pages left of this chapter and then I'm coming home."

"Okay, drive safe," Jay told you and then you hung up the phone.

You knew you needed to get home soon because the more time you had to sleep before work tonight the better. And, you knew it would be hell falling asleep because you'd be counting down the minutes until you knew whether or not you got into ECU.

***

"This is fucking ridiculous," you muttered as you walked out of your room and into the kitchen.

"Language," Jay warned from his place at the kitchen table, case notes spread out in front of him.

"I'm 23, Jay."

"Fair point. What are you doing up anyway?"

"I can't sleep," you whined as you grabbed the kettle from the stove and began filling it with water. "And, why are you working when you're not at work?"

"I can't relax. You know that."

"Apparently I can't either," you muttered.

You felt like you were going to throw up from nerves. What if you didn't get into this Ph.D. program? And, if you didn't get into this one, what if you didn't get into the other four? If you didn't get into a Ph.D. program and a Ph.D. was required for your degree, then what were you going to do with your life?

You dug the fingernail of your pointer finger into your thumb to ground yourself. You knew it wasn't the healthiest coping/grounding mechanism, but hey, it worked.

The kettle was whistling, so you turned off the burner and grabbed a mug and a peppermint tea bag. Maybe the peppermint would help your nervous stomach settle. After all, Will told you peppermint tea was supposed to help with period cramps, so maybe it would help with this, too.

"You want some?" you offered. "I'm making peppermint."

"Sure, why not," Jay agreed.

Once your tea was finished you handed a mug to Jay. "I didn't put any milk or sugar in yours because you're a health nut."

"Now you sound like Hailey," he said and stood up to add a splash of milk to it.

"I'm gonna go read until I can't keep my eyes open," you told him. "The faster I fall asleep, the faster the time will go, so the sooner I'll know if I get in."

"Night, kid," he said.

Then, you made your way to your room and turned on a calming instrumental playlist on Spotify, turned on a lamp so that the lighting was dim, but enough that you could see, and then curled up in your bed with the book you were currently reading and your mug of hot, peppermint tea.

***

As it turns out, sleeping for a long period of time to make time go faster was easier said than done.

You tossed and turned for half an hour until your eyes were finally drooping while you were reading. And then, you woke every hour for the next three hours. The last time you woke up was 5:45 pm.

The email said you'd know your results by 6.

A knot formed in your stomach as you reached for your phone. You opened your flagged emails and located the one which had the link to the application portal. Then, with shaking hands, you clicked on it.

You took a deep breath and logged in.

You felt your heart beating out of your chest as you hit the tab that read application status.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath and opened them.

Despite the contents of your application, we are a very competitive program...please don't let this deter you from applying to other or future programs...

Tears began to prick your eyes.

"Fuck," you muttered. "No, no, no, no."

You grit your teeth to keep the tears from falling and grabbed your phone and then left your room and walked out to the kitchen, where Jay was cooking dinner.

"Hey," you said quietly.

"Hey, you didn't sleep very long—" But then, Jay saw your face. "Oh no. ECU?"

"Denied," you told him as you continued to hold back tears.

"Hey, there's still what? Four other programs you applied to? And, you just emailed a school in Florida yesterday about how to check your application status, so maybe you got in there. Did they email you back yet?"

You shrugged, Jay was always the rational one though, so you opened your phone and once again navigated to your emails. Sure enough, University of Florida emailed you back with instructions on how to check your application status.

"They emailed me."

Jay nodded, but you didn't see because you were too busy hitting the link the school had sent you and then typing in your username and password.

When it loaded, your heart dropped.

There, in big, red, bold letters after application status, it read Denied.

"No," you choked out as tears began to stream down your face. "No, no, no no! If I didn't get into either of these, how am I gonna get into Wayne State because that's the best neuropsychology school in the country? And then I only have two left and—ugh!"

"C'mere, c'mere," Jay said softly and took a step towards you and wrapped his arms around you.

"I just- I worked so hard on the applications!" you sobbed as your tears began to soak his shirt.

"I know. I know you did, kid. It's their loss. There's a school out there for you."

"But what if there's not!"

"There is." He paused and then his parental/brotherly instincts kicked in. "Now, do you want to stay here and eat or go back to sleep?"

"Go back to sleep," you mumbled.

"Okay. I'll wake you up in two hours so you don't have to set an alarm. Sound good?"

"Okay," you muttered.

When you started to make your way to your way to your room, Jay said after you, "You go this, kid."

***

It had been two days since you learned you had gotten denied admission to East Carolina University and the University of Florida. You had thought about your plan and what you were going to do next. The only options you had come up with were (1) apply to PsyD programs (more clinical, less research, but also less funded) if you could find some with later deadlines that were still accepting, (2) go to school in Europe (but that might pose issues with licensing if you ever wanted to come back to the US and practice), or (3) take yet another gap year.

You had relayed these options to Will, Jay, and Hailey the night before when Will stopped over with some I'm sorry you got rejected from two Ph.D. programs so maybe this will make you feel better coffee from one of your favorite coffee shops before your shift last night.

"Morning," Jay said when you walked upstairs later that night. Despite it being 7 pm, since you worked night shift, this was technically your morning.

"Morning," you said, your voice monotone.

"You feeling okay?" Jay asked as you grabbed the container of cold brew from the fridge and then grabbed a glass.

"Physically, yeah. Emotionally...not so much."

"Good enough to figure out your next steps?"

Luckily, you had finished pouring your cold brew and put the cap back on the container or else you knew you would have spilled it everywhere at that question. "What? I'm trying to figure it out, Jay!"

Jay put his hands out in front of him in a calm-down gesture. "I know. I'm not saying you aren't, but well, I have access to tech at the district that you don't have that might make looking for more schools easier."

"Okay...and?"

Jay muttered something under his breath about having to spell everything out for you all the time...which luckily you didn't hear. "Me, you, and Will are going to the district to do some research on grad schools."

You cocked one eyebrow. "You're trusting Will to use state resources?"

"No. God, no. He's there to research on his own laptop and then read over some of your essays...if we get that far."

You nodded. This was all just so overwhelming that despite how grateful you were for both your brothers' help, that was all you could do.

"Leave in an hour?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine. Just, give me time to shower and eat something."

And by something, you meant a piece of fruit and maybe a granola bar. Seeing how riddled with anxiety and frustration and whatever other shitty feelings you had been feeling the past two days since you got denied from the only two schools you had heard from so far, your stomach hadn't been feeling that great and your appetitive was half as much as it was before you got your results...if you had an appetite to begin with. You felt like that last complete meal you had eaten was the night you had gotten those results and Jay had dinner for you. For the past two days, you had mostly eaten what you felt like you could stomach without feeling nauseous, which was mainly smoothies, fruit, protein shakes, and snack foods. You knew your appetite would come back eventually and your nausea would go away eventually, but for now, it was here and you just had to deal with it...much like you had to deal with the fact that you had to do even more work to get into grad school than you had previously thought.

***

"I brought pizza!" Hailey announced when she got upstairs and into the bullpen. You, Will, and Jay had been researching grad schools for three hours. Jay had found two that still had deadlines open and didn't require the GRE, so you were working on writing essays to get into those.

After you finished the first one, you emailed the essay to Will and he edited it. You figured he'd be the best one to edit these essays because he'd had to write them to get into med school.

While Will was editing and making notes in the margins of your essay on google docs, you opened the links to the other schools that Jay had sent you. And, you had added two more to your list (making the total you would currently apply to four at the moment) when Hailey walked in with the pizza.

"Thank God," Will said and quickly closed his laptop. (You thanked God that you were working in google docs and that everything automatically saved so that his edits wouldn't be lost.)

"You're literally just editing," you said and rolled your eyes at how overdramatic your oldest brother was being. "I'm the one who has to look over the programs, make sure they're a good fit for me, and actually write them, and then I have to email--" you cut yourself off as your eyes widened in realization. "Oh, God."

"What? What's wrong?" Jay asked as he entered the break room with Hailey since he had been out in the bullpen because he was using one of Intelligence's desktops.

"I have to email my profs and ask them if they'll write me more letters of recommendation."

You hated doing this part because it meant that the application process wasn't entirely in your control. One of the letters of rec might not be emailed to the right email address or the application system wouldn't let you put in a certain recommender and then you'd have to contact the school and--

"Y/N." You hadn't even realized Hailey had crouched down in front of you. "You need a break."

"But I can't! I--"

"Y/N, some of those schools don't have deadlines until March or April. You can take half an hour to eat," Jay told you.

But you couldn't; your stomach was in knots just thinking about all the work you had to do.

"I'm not hungry."

Will looked you up and down. Of course, your physical appearance hadn't changed in two days obviously, but he knew how stress held itself in the body, in a person's posture; in their facial expressions. But most of all, he knew how much stress he had gone through during his med school application process and how some of his classmates could barely eat without throwing up because they had been so stressed out.

"Y/N, we know you're stressed out. But, you have to eat something. You can't write great statements of purpose that are gonna get you into a program without food in you, kiddo."

You sighed. "But I feel like I'm gonna throw up."

"It's just nerves," Will reassured. "We just want you to eat something."

You looked at Jay, hoping for once he'd side with you and not Will. "One piece of pizza," Jay said. "And then, if you still don't want to eat, you don't have to. I'll even go get you a Sprite from the vending machine downstairs to help settle your stomach."

"And, we can talk about Outer Banks," Hailey bargained. "Me and Jay just finished the new season."

"I thought you guys had four more episodes to watch!"

"Just finished it yesterday," Jay said.

"We spent half of our RDO watching that," Hailey said.

Will just looked between the three of you. "I'll go get her the pop because I have no idea what you guys are talking about."

"It's a show on Netflix! It's really good! These kids are treasure hunting and--"

"Eat your pizza, Y/N, and then maybe you can convince me to watch it," Will told you.

You took a bite of your pizza while maintaining eye contact with Will, which made Jay burst out laughing and then Will stood up to go get your pop while muttering something about you being a creeper under his breath.

"I need a John B," you said after your second bite of pepperoni pizza. "The way he held Sarah's hand all the way up the mountain, just—ugh! I love it. At first, I thought I needed a JJ because of how he broke into Kitty Hawk for Kiara, but he's a little too crazy for me."

"Uh-huh, sure, that's why you chose John B," Jay said while rolling his eyes.

"What's that supposed the mean?"

Jay grabbed a piece of pizza and took a bite without even bothering to grab a plate. This caused Hailey to gently smack him on the arm and push a paper plate into his empty hand. He took another bite and then set the pizza on the plate. "I'm just saying, don't you like brown-haired guys more?"

"They're called brunettes, Jay. And, yes. But, how the hell did you even notice that?"

"Think of all the celebrity crushes you've had over the years, Y/N."

Of course, Will had chosen that exact moment to walk back into the break room with your pop. "Oooh, we're telling Hailey all about Y/N being a crazy teenager. I love this game."

"Like you didn't have a stash of PlayBoy magazines under your bed, Will!" you shot back.

"Did you..." Will trailed off as he looked at Jay.

You burst out laughing. "He never told me anything. But you just confirmed it! Ha!"

"Y/N's first celebrity crush was Zac Efron!" Will shouted.

"Technically, it was Troy Bolton," you corrected.

Hailey just shook her head and laughed at your banter.

"And then there was Bieber—"

"No, she liked Nick Jonas before him, remember?" Jay corrected.

"Oh, yeah," Will said. "There was Nick Jonas, then Bieber, then a couple hockey players, then 5 Seconds of Summer—"

"Specifically Luke Hemings," you butted in.

Jay laughed. "You really have no shame in this do you?"

"None at all. Continue, Will."

"And...I think that's it."

"And John B, from Outer Banks," Jay said. "That's her current one."

"Is he even a real person?" Will asked.

"Nope. Now, Hailey, if you were in Outer Banks, what character would you be?" you asked and then opened your Sprite and took another bite of pizza.

She thought for a moment. "Probably Sarah. Our dads are both pretty messed up."

She said it jokingly but also matter-of-fact. Despite this, Jay still gave her a sad look but quickly recovered to his neutral facial expression. (He knew how much Hailey hated people pitying her due to her past.)

"What about you?" you asked Jay. "Wait! You have to be John B because you have to marry Sarah and you and Hailey are married."

Jay let out a chuckle. "I mean, I guess, I was gonna pick him anyway."

"Why?" you asked.

He shrugged. "He's the leader of the group. He thinks things through more than JJ. And, I'm not as smart as Pope. Will would be Pope."

"Is that a good thing?" Will chimed in.

"Yeah," you told him. "Watch the show and you'll find out."

Will just rolled his eyes.

"Who would you be, Y/N?" Hailey asked.

"Me? Oh, I'd die in the first season. I'm not the kind of person to do crazy illegal shit."

"Oh, c'mon!" Jay groaned. "You gotta pick someone!"

"Fine. I'd be Wheezy. I'd still be helping, but not in like an illegal way."

"Fair enough."

The three of you continued talking about Outer Banks as you finished another piece of pizza and a breadstick, making the total you'd eaten while you were talking two pieces of pizza and one breadstick and, seeing as you hadn't technically had a meal since you learned about your first rejection, only snacks, you considered this a win.

You pulled your laptop back out and groaned. You didn't want to keep having to write essay after essay, but you knew you needed to because that was the only going to get into a school. Despite this, you still had that nagging thought in the back of your head that all of this was for naught and you were just going to continue to get rejection emails from all the schools you worked so hard to apply to.

You rummaged through your backpack, pretending to look for your chapstick, which you knew was there. Then, you groaned and stood up and walked to where Jay was once again seated at his desk in the bullpen.

"Jay, can I have your keys? I think I left my chapstick in your truck," you lied.

Jay fished them out of his pocket. "Here, but be quick. It's dark out."

You rolled your eyes. "You know if all of this works out, I'll be in a different state in less than eight months, right?"

"Don't remind me."

You just rolled your eyes again and made your way downstairs and out the back way to Jay's truck.

You quickly unlocked it and jumped in the backseat. You just sat there as your head spun with worry, each worry connecting to another like a spider connecting pieces of a web in your mind.

Will I have to stay at my job another year or God forbid forever because there's not much I can do with a BA in psychology?

If I don't get into a program this year, will I apply next year? And, will my profs even write me letters of recommendation next year because they won't have had me in class for two years at that point?

If I have to do this for another year, should I take a couple of classes next year so that I have other professors to write me letters of recommendation and so that I can show the schools I'm applying to that I'm still learning about the field I'm going into?

When should I start looking into schools and the process of going to school in Europe if I don't hear back from all the programs I'm working on applying to soon?

What am I going to do with my life if I can't get into a program?

You jumped when someone gently tapped on the window. Then, you scooched over so that they could open the door and come inside the truck.

"Jesus, Will!" you exclaimed when he was inside and had shut the door. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry, I would've texted you, but you left your phone inside. You find your chapstick?"

"Um...about that..." you trailed off and looked away. You knew that if you started telling him your worries, you'd break down and you really didn't have time for that as you just needed a few minutes alone and then you needed to get back inside to work on the stupid essays for these stupid applications because these other stupid schools didn't want you because you needed a stupid doctorate degree for you stupid career to make stupid money and have a stupid life.

Will nodded, quickly understanding that there hadn't been a lost tube of chapstick to begin with. "You know, I didn't match for a residency at first," he told you.

You turned to face him, even though you could barely see him because it was the middle of the night. "Really?"

"Yeah, and it was terrifying."

"But you're a doctor. You have to do a residency to be a doctor."

"Mhm," Will confirmed. "I had to do the SOAP process."

"What's that?"

"It's where all the kids who finished med school who didn't match to a residency try and apply for the ones that people didn't want or are left over."

"So, you got everyone's shitty leftovers?"

Will smiled and shook his head. "Basically. I never wanted to go into plastic surgery. It seemed so..." he trailed off while he searched for a good word to describe it. "Vain," he finally said. "Don't get me wrong, there are some people who need it because of accidents and things like that, but giving rich men's wives nose jobs, that's not what I wanted."

"So, what you're telling me is to go into another specialty if it's open? Even if I don't like it," you asked. If this is what he was getting at, his pep talk wasn't a very good one."

"Sort of," Will answered. "But, there's a bit more to the story. I always wanted to go into emergency medicine, so when a job opened up at Med, I jumped at it. So, even if there's roadblocks, you'll get the career you want; you just have to be patient. You need to be a doctor in clinical psychology for your specialty, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, and there's a lot of things you can do with a doctorate in clinical psych, right? You don't have to go specifically into neuropsych?"

"Yeah, I'll be a clinical psychologist with the doctorate so there's other stuff I can do," you confirmed.

"Okay. Then you get into a clinical psych program and you go from there. And, if you can't do your fellowship or whatever it's called--"

"Post-doc," you told him.

"Right. If you can't do your post-doc in neuropsych, then you can do it in another specialty. Once you make some money, you can always go back and do another post-doc, this time in neuropsych, okay? This whole process doesn't have to be linear to work out. And, honestly, the application part and getting in is harder than the degree itself."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, Hailey put on a pot of coffee when I came out here, so c'mon. Let's go drink some more coffee and look at more grad schools. Jay found some options in Arizona because we know you want to go where it's warm."

"Perfect." Will opened the door to get out and you scooted over to get out of Jay's truck next. "And, Will?" He turned back to look at you. "Thank you."

He smiled and gave your shoulder a squeeze. "Anytime, kiddo."

***

"You have actual food tonight, right?" Jay asked two days later, Sunday night, when you grabbed your lunch box from the fridge to go to work. "Not just snacks?"

You rolled your eyes. "Yes, Jay." Ever since your brother noticed you weren't eating full meals, he'd been on your ass about it. But, yesterday you ate like a normal person and so far today you have, too. "Shouldn't you be finishing the game and going to bed?"

"It's at intermission. It's—"

"Don't tell me! I'll watch it at work."

"Pretty sure those sites you use to watch it are illegal, but whatever."

"Shouldn't you know for sure if they're illegal or not?"

"Well, you're not on the dark web and you're not selling anything and you're not the one uploading the games, so I'm pretty sure I can't arrest you."

"Well, that's a good thing because if I get arrested, then I can't get into grad school...not that I'm sure I'll get in now, though."

"Hey, we found what? Six programs for you to apply to? You'll get into one. But, you better get going before you're late."

"Says the man who rushes to work every morning."

"Really, it's Hailey who holds me up in the morning."

"No, it's not!" Hailey yelled from the living room. "He's the one who hogs the shower!"

"Gotta go!" you said quickly and grabbed your keys from the hook by the door before you got in the middle of their arguing.

***

About half an hour into your shift, you got a phone call asking you to come over to another building to talk to a coworker.

"I have to go talk to Tia," you told your two other coworkers.

"Tia? What does she want?" your coworker, and also one of the veteran staff at your work, Tamara, asked.

"No idea. I haven't been over to that building since the beginning of last week, so if I did something wrong, I forgot about it."

"Okay, well, see you later."

"See you," you said.

Then, you slipped on your coat and buzzed yourself out of the current building, and made the quick and chilly walk to the other building.

"Hey, where's Tia?" you asked when you walked in and saw another one of your coworkers.

"Oh, hey, Y/N," she greeted. "She's in the office."

"Okay, thanks."

You made your way into the office where Tia was sitting at the computer.

"Hey, Tia. You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah. What's your problem with my schedule?" she asked you rudely.

You didn't have a problem with her schedule per se, you just had a problem with there not being enough coverage with her schedule. And, since you worked at every building, you'd have nights when you worked here alone—which you shouldn't be doing, but management didn't care—because she worked long shifts for eight days straight, and then the other six, it would usually just be you or someone else working here alone and you had brought this up to your supervisor when he asked if you'd come across anything you wanted to fix.

"I- I don't have a problem with your schedule. It's just that sometimes there's only one person here and it gets hard in the mornings." Since you worked with kids, sometimes when you were by yourself, you'd have to get them out to the bus stop and that made it hard to do because you couldn't leave all the other kids in the building alone while you went to do that, so you'd have to call other buildings to see if they had a staff available to come help you. Contrary to popular belief, you couldn't be in two places at once.

"Yeah. And that happens to me sometimes, too. But we do it. And now because of what you said, my schedule might get changed—"

"That wasn't my intention, it was just—"

"Can I finish?" You nodded. "And now my schedule might get changed and this is the schedule that works for me. You only pick up here, so if you don't like it, don't pick up shifts here."

Tears began to prick your eyes. "I get scheduled here. I don't pick up." You took a deep breath. "My intention was just to figure out a way to get coverage, not to have your schedule get changed."

"Well, maybe you need to tell your supervisor that you don't want to be scheduled here anymore if you don't like the way we do things over here."

At this, the dam broke. You frantically wiped at your eyes. "I'm sorry. It's- It's not this. I just got rejected from grad school and it's just everything. Sorry."

At this, she softened. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Don't let anyone here make you cry, not even me. It's not worth it."

You nodded. "Yeah. Can I- can I go now?" You asked while trying to stop the tears from falling. You didn't feel like walking out of the office and having yet another one of your coworkers see you cry.

She nodded and you quickly wiped your eyes once more and walked out of the office, just willing your eyes to stay dry until you got outside.

You sniffled all the way until you got to one of the buildings the kids used for gym class during the day that you knew would be empty because they were all sleeping. You buzzed yourself in and then quickly made your way to the bathroom and locked yourself in a stall.

You leaned your head against the door. "Fuck," you muttered.

Everything about the past few days came flooding through you and you began to cry so hard that you could barely catch your breath. And, you weren't even an hour into your shift.

Your breath was coming out in short bursts as you pulled out your phone to text Tamara and tell her that you were in the gym bathrooms because you needed a minute and that you'd be back soon. Then, not caring that this was a bathroom, you slid down and leaned against the wall and pulled out a breathing app on your phone that you had for times like this. You hadn't had an anxiety attack or whatever the fuck this was that was prompting your frantic breathing in a year and a half, but you had kept the app because you knew you might need it one day. Today—well tonight—seemed to be that day.

You were focused on your breathing—breathe in through your nose, hold, breathe out through your mouth—for three minutes before your breathing returned to a semi-normal rate. Then, you continued the breathing exercise for two more minutes just to be safe.

When you closed the app, you saw that Tamara had texted you and asked if you were okay and if she needed to come over there. You told her you were on your way back to your building now.

Then, you pocketed your phone and splashed some water on your face, and dabbed it dry with some paper towel. Your eyes were still red, but at least you didn't have tear stains on your face. After taking one last deep breath, you left the bathroom and then the building and began your quick and cold walk back to the other building and the coworkers you actually enjoyed working with.

When you got back inside, you told your coworkers what had happened and then Tamara asked if you wanted a hug, which you gratefully accepted.

You knew a bigger breakdown over grad school rejection was going to happen eventually, you just didn't think it was going to happen at work.

And, if the first half of January was anything to go by, you were in for one hell of a month.

***

"Well, look who's finally awake," Will chirped when you walked into the kitchen after waking up for your day...which was everyone else's night.

"I went to bed at 10 am," you shot back. "And I don't like to talk to people when I first wake up, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right. The one time of day when you're actually quiet."

You went to flip Will off when Jay quickly butted in. "Y/N, there's leftover pasta in the fridge for you to take to work."

"And there's loukoumades for you, too," Hailey added.

"Hailey's my favorite sibling!" you exclaimed and then began to make your coffee as you drowned out the noise of Will and Jay trying to argue about why they should be your favorite sibling...well, mostly Will because Jay knew Hailey was his better half by a long shot.

Once you made your coffee and a bowl of yogurt and fruit for breakfast, you made your way back upstairs to your room to read for a while before you started getting ready for work.

***

When you took a sip of your coffee, your lips puckered in disgust. It was way too bitter and...you had forgetter creamer.

"Ugh," you groaned and then stood up from your chair. You were so cozy with your robe and slippers on and a blanket covering your lap that you almost decided to forgo your coffee, but who were you kidding, you needed that caffeine.

You grabbed your mug of now lukewarm coffee and made your way out of your room. You started down the stairs as normal until your slipper caught the edge of one of the stairs.

***

Jay, Hailey, and Will were all still sitting at the table, each enjoying a cold beer when they heard a thump, thump, thump on the stairs above them.

Jay and Hailey's reflexes kicked in just a hair faster than Will's and they sprinted over to the steps to see you laying on the landing of the stairs with coffee spilled all over you and your head against the wall.

You swear you had never seen Jay run as fast as he did then. He cursed to himself as he bounded up the stairs two at a time and quickly crouched in front of you.

"Can you move your arm?" he asked. You hadn't noticed that your arm was placed between you and the wall. You lifted up your arm and nodded.

"My coffee," you cried.

"You can make more coffee, Y/N. Did you hit your head?"

You nodded tearfully and Jay looked back at Will. Your two brothers traded places and Jay picked up your empty coffee mug—thank God it hadn't broken—and then made his way downstairs to grab the first aid kit and some towels. Hailey followed him to give Will room to work if needed and made her way to the freezer to grab an ice pack.

"Where'd you hit it?" Will asked you and you leaned forward and put your fingers on the back of your head. Will nodded and you put your hand down and he felt around the area and looked for blood. "No blood, so that's good. There is a little bump, though. Any dizziness? Nausea?" You shook your head. "Okay, good. But, I'm still gonna have you stay home from work tonight because those symptoms can have a delayed onset, so I don't want to miss something and then have you have to be rushed to the hospital while at work. I'll write you a doctor's note if I have to."

You were about to protest because if you called out now since it was only three hours until your shift, you could get written up. But, you'd only used a single one of your sick days out of the five you had and they reset in April, so you figured you'd be fine if you explained the situation. "Fine," you agreed. "Can I go back to bed then?"

"Nope. I want you to stay up for a couple of hours. It's not good for you to go to sleep right after hitting your head even if you do feel fine. After that, you can sleep all you want. I just need to see if you puke or not."

"She good? No hospital?" Jay asked since he and Hailey had been waiting at the foot of the stairs with supplies.

"No hospital. Just stay home from work and ice her head. Doesn't look like the coffee was hot enough to burn her based on her skin and her not telling me, but if she says anything, give me a call."

"I'm right here you know!"

"Oh, we know," Will said. "But, you're still under Jay's health insurance."

You rolled your eyes and then held out a hand for Will to help you up. He did and you made your way back upstairs and to your room to quickly grab a different pair of pajamas and then head to the bathroom to take a shower to get all the coffee off of yourself.

Then, you made your way back downstairs—carefully this time—and saw that Hailey had made you a new cup of coffee and had a small plate of loukoumades sitting next to it.

"After you eat those, you need to ice your head," Hailey told you.

"Uh-huh."

"C'mon, the boys are getting the tv set up for us."

"What are we watching?"

"I may or may not have convinced them to put on Outer Banks since Will still hasn't started it."

You smiled. "Yay!"

Then, you picked up your coffee and plate of Greek donuts and made your way to the couch where Jay tried to steal one of your loukoumades, but Hailey quickly swatted his hand away.

"You already had yours. Now press play, Halstead."

***

"Y/N, hey, wake up," you heard as you felt someone shaking your shoulder. In your sleep-addled brain, it took you a moment to process that it was Jay waking you up. "Y/N, can you hear me?"

"Mhm," you answered. "Wanna sleep."

"You've slept for at least twelve hours."

This got you to roll over and check the time on your phone. 5:37 pm. You had slept for over twelve hours; Jay was right.

"What time did you go to bed?" You went to answer, but then Jay stopped you. "Wait, any dizziness? Nausea? Blurry vision? You feel like your head is going to explode?"

"I feel fine."

"Okay. So, what time did you end up going to bed?"

"I fell asleep on the couch until three, and then I woke up and went on Tik Tok until five and then I went back to sleep." You yawned. "I shouldn't be tired! What the hell?"

"Just, get up and get moving around and then you'll probably wake up more."

Then, Jay left your room, but not without turning your light on which then forced you to either get up or get up out of bed and turn off the light and go back to bed. You were already up anyway, so you figured you might as well have a slow morning before going into your shift, so you decided to just get up and go downstairs to get some food and coffee.

After making yourself breakfast and a cup of coffee, you went to the bathroom before heading back to your room and saw that you had gotten a surprise.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," you mumbled and then grabbed a tampon from the cabinet under the sink. You had just gotten your period two weeks ago, you weren't supposed to get it again! But, at least the panic attack made sense now.

You left the bathroom to once again be met with Jay.

"You didn't puke in there, did you?" he asked. "You were in there for a while."

"Jesus Christ, let me guess? Will put you up to this?"

"Yup. He told me to monitor you closely since you slept so long."

"But you still went to work today and left me by myself," you said. "And for your information, I got my period. So now I have a reason why I had a panic attack at work the other night and I'm not just crazy."

You went to grab your food from the counter but were stopped from going up to your room by your brother.

"Whoa, you had a panic attack at work? Why didn't you tell me? Or Hailey? Or Will?"

Shit. You had forgotten that you just went straight to bed after that shift and didn't tell anyone.

You sighed and sat down at the table with your food and coffee instead of going upstairs. "Because I was tired after work and I went right to bed and then I just forgot to tell you. I journaled about it though."

"That's good. Do you still want to talk about it?" he asked.

So, you launched into the story of your night of being chewed out by Tia and then having a panic attack in the bathroom.

"She had no right to talk to you like that, you know," Jay said once you were finally finished.

"I know. And she's on my shit list for it." You would've said she's on my fucking shit list for it, but you knew Jay hated when you dropped the f-bomb. A year ago, he would've hated you swearing in any capacity, but now you thought that he was finally coming to terms with the fact that you were a grown woman and would swear whether he liked it or not and whether he heard you or not.

"I knew the mental breakdown from all this school stuff was gonna come sooner or later, but I didn't think it was gonna happen at work."

Jay nodded; he honestly had no idea what to say at this moment. Did he agree? Comfort you? Finally, he settled on a mixture between comfort and encouragement while you focused on blowing on your coffee to make sure that it wasn't too hot.

"Hey, you'll get through this, alright? Just keep applying. You didn't work your ass off in school for nothing. And, it's their loss if they don't want you."

You smiled. Jay was oblivious to some things, but he always knew just what to say when you needed a pick me up.

"Thanks, Jay."

"Anytime, kid."

***

You were going to lose your damn mind. You had all this stuff to do and submit and one of the people who said that they'd write you letters of recommendation for your PhD programs said that they're really busy and they might not be able to get to the ones for the PsyD programs you were applying to. And Jay and Will heard all your bitching about this. How fucking hard was it for her to change the date and the name of the school on the letter and send it in? Unbelievable.

You couldn't think of anyone and you were running out of time to get these in.

"Fuck," you muttered.

You heard a knock on your door. "Y/N? You still up in there?"

Shit. You forgot it was Jay and Hailey's RDO today.

"Yeah, why?"

It was only half an hour past the normal time you'd be sleeping anyway.

"Me and Hailey are going out for breakfast. You wanna come? Or we can bring something back for you."

"Bring something back," you said quickly. You were not in a state to be out right now because you knew the minute that you saw lots of people, you were going to have a full-fledged breakdown.

"Okay, I'll send the menu so you can tell me what you want. Goodnight."

"Night," you answered.

***

"I'm just gonna go check on her," Jay said when Hailey asked him why he was walking towards your room instead of their room once they'd gotten home from going out for breakfast. The two had planned on having a lazy day of watching tv on the couch along with a few beers. And, instead of going to change into comfy clothes right away, Jay decided to take a peek into your room.

The sight he saw when he cracked open your door broke his heart.

You were pacing your room and pulling at the roots of your hair while your breathing came out in short bursts.

"Hey, hey," Jay said quickly as he opened the door wider and made his way into your room.

You turned around at the sound of his voice. "I- I—"

"Don't try and talk. Let's just sit down, okay?"

You nodded and he gently placed his hand on your shoulder and helped lead to your bed.

You both sat down and Jay offered you his hand for you to squeeze. You took it.

"Breathing app," you told him through your rapid breathing. "On—" Breath. "—Phone." Breath.

"Say cheese," Jay said as he put the phone in front of you, screen-facing, so that he could open it. "What's it called?"

"Ti-ide," you said and grabbed his arm.

"Tide?" You nodded. "I gotcha, I gotcha," he said and then sat down next to you and held the phone between the two of you. "In," he narrated as you watched the circle on the app expand. "Hold..." Pause. "Exhale." The circle deflated.

"It's not--"

"Just keep breathing," Jay encouraged. "Think of a bubble, just like on the app."

You continued to hold on to his arm and continued to follow the breathing on the app for six more minutes.

Jay handed your phone back to you after he saw your breathing had evened out and you confirmed you were okay.

"Is this what happened at work the other night?" he asked gently.

You nodded. "I think I need to go to the doctor. I can't keep living like this, Jay!"

"I know you can't. And I'll do everything in my power to help you. But, don't you mean therapy?"

"No, a doctor. My period's being all weird and my anxiety's bad and maybe I need to be on Xanax or something. I can't keep doing this!"

"I know. Do you know why this happened? For my PTSD, there's always a trigger, was there one for you?"

"Just all this grad school stuff."

"Still can't think of anyone else to write you a letter?" You shook your head. "Could you use your supervisor at work?"

"Probably," you answered. "Maybe I'll use my old one from when I was on dayshift though because I like her better."

"Okay, send her an email. The worst she can say is no."

"And then I'll have to think of another person--"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, just email her and then schedule a doctor's appointment. You should be able to do it online. And, me and Hailey got you some food so come out and grab it whenever you're ready. I'll put it in the fridge for you."

"Thanks, Jay."

He didn't know if you meant the help with the panic attack or the help with grad school or getting you food, but no matter which one you were thanking him for, the answer was still the same: "Anytime, kid."

***

"Okay, Y/N," Hannah said when you came to see her in the ED one day. (This was a planned appointment, but you knew she could possibly have to run out of the appointment if she is needed in the ED.) "So it says here in your online chart that you wanted to come in because of irregular periods and anxiety?"

"Yeah," you answered.

"And how long have your periods been irregular?"

"A month and a half, two months," you answered. "Around the time I started getting rejection letters for grad school."

"Yeah, Will's told me you've been applying. I bet that's really stressful."

"Yeah, it is. And now I have to apply to different degree programs because I didn't get into Ph.D. programs, so it's been a lot."

"Well, stress can play a big role in our cycle. So, what I'm gonna do is ask you some questions and then do the physical exam, see if there's anything I can find that could be causing this. I also want to run some labs just to check your blood work."

"Okay, but does it have to be fasted?" you asked. "Because I just came from work, so there's food in my system."

"I'd be concerned if there wasn't food in your system after working all night," Hannah joked. "But no, it doesn't have to be fasted. I mainly want to get your thyroid levels checked.

"Now, the anxiety, tell me about that. Is it more general? Is it panic attacks? When does the anxiety start? That kind of thing."

"Um, it's more general, I guess. I've only had two panic attacks, but I get like anxiety attacks when I see that there's gonna be a lot of people."

"A lot of people like what? Can you give me an example?"

"Like if I'm at the gym and there's a lot of people there, then I want to leave because I'm getting anxious."

"Okay, so in looking at your chart, I saw that you're on an antidepressant. So, based on what you just told me, there are two options. The first is that I can put you on hydroxyzine, which is an anti-anxiety medication that you can just take as needed. Or, I can increase your dosage of antidepressants and get you set up with one of our social workers here at the hospital who can teach you some coping skills or refer you to a therapist," Dr. Asher told you.

"Is there any way my body could constantly be PMS-ing? Because I used to get anxious around my period and now I'm having my period a lot more, so could that be it?" you asked.

"It definitely could be, which is why I want to have you get your labs done so we check your thyroid levels. But, if you don't want to do anything with your meds, we can always just have you meet with the social worker and see how that goes."

"What would you recommend? In terms of the hydroxyzine?" you asked.

"You've told me you've only had two panic attacks so far, so based on that, I think you could do either way with the medication. We could always increase your antidepressants and then when I follow up with you in a month, if nothing's changed, we can get you some hydroxyzine. It's completely up to you."

"Okay, let's just up my meds for now and if I need to go on the hydroxyzine later, I can."

"Okay, perfect, let me go get someone to get those labs done and then you're free to go."

"Thanks, Hannah."

***

3 days later

When you woke up, you saw that you had a voicemail and that it was from Hannah. You assumed it was regarding your labs.

"Hi, Y/N, it's Doctor Asher. I have some information I'd like to share with you concerning your test results from the blood panel that was done. These charts are also available in your online chart if you would like to see them. Please call me back when you get the chance. And if I don't answer your call, please leave a message with the best time that you can be reached. Have a good day."

You quickly logged into your chart to see the results yourself since you knew that your results would be there.

What you saw was something that you assumed might be the problem based on the research you had done on your own since you went to see Hannah a few days ago. (There was no way in hell you were talking to Will about this, and you had to beg and plead with Jay to convince him not to talk to Will about it. But, in the end, he agreed because you cited that he wouldn't be able to give you the check-up in the ED anyway since he was family, and by law, he couldn't do that. And, you also promised that if it was anything serious or if there was anything wrong at all, you would loop Will in yourself or that you would give Jay permission to loop him in.)

Your thyroid levels were slightly elevated, and in the notes, it said that during the physical exam, your thyroid did feel a bit enlarged. Because of this, Dr. Asher would recommend having an ultrasound of the thyroid...At least, that's what you gathered from all the medical jargon you read. And, because of said jargon, you assumed that this is why Hannah wanted you to call her back so that she could explain it to you.

You called her back.

"Hello, this is Dr. Asher," she greeted when she picked up.

"Hey, Hannah, it's Y/N Halstead. I'm calling because you told me you had my test results back."

"Yes, I do. Just give me one second to get it pulled up here..." There was a pause on the line and you could hear her typing away on the computer. "Here it is. Did you get a chance to look at your results from your online chart yet? If not, I can read the results to you over the phone."

"I looked at them," you told her.

"Okay, so what I'm going to do is just break down the results for you and then tell you the next step. Feel free to stop me at any time with any questions, okay, Y/N?"

"Okay, yeah."

She broke down the results for you and they were exactly what you had assumed from your online chart...and what was actually written in your online chart. But, you assumed that it was just standard protocol for her to have to break down the results to you over the phone or in person.

"So we just want to get an ultrasound of your thyroid to see if the thyroid is actually enlarged since your thyroid hormone levels were slightly elevated and your thyroid gland was slightly enlarged from what I gathered from the physical exam," Hannah finished.

"So, what happens now? Like, after the ultrasound?" you asked.

"If the thyroid isn't enlarged, then we just continue what we talked about, taking the increased dose of Zoloft and then meeting with the social worker and following up with me in a month about the anxiety and the irregular periods," she told you. "But, if the thyroid is enlarged, we'd put you on medication for that so that your levels can stabilize."

"Okay."

"Any more questions?"

"Nope," you answered.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna give you the number for scheduling so that we can get you scheduled for that ultrasound of the thyroid. But, feel free to call me or send me a message on your online chart if you have any other questions or concerns, okay?"

"Okay, thanks, Hannah."

"No problem, Y/N."

She gave you the number and told you to have a good day and then you said the same to her and ended the call.

You grabbed your book and started to walk upstairs to tell Jay when you thought of something: he might not even realize that you could get an ultrasound for other things besides being pregnant. Your other brother knew this, but you weren't sure if this one did.

These next few minutes were going to be really interesting.

***

At least, you thought it was going to be the next few minutes. Turns out, you had a few hours to talk to Jay because all he told you was a raid went sideways. Granted, it was mid-week, and for some reason, crime was slow during on Monday and Tuesday and ramped up a bit on Jay and Hailey's RDO, which was Wednesday, and they'd usually come back on Thursday to a full-fledged case. It was almost like criminals hated Mondays as much as the rest of the world did.

So, to calm your nerves about grad school and everything else that was a fucking mess in your life, you decided to make yourself—and Jay and Hailey—pasta salad with chicken for dinner.

You turned on one of the tv shows you had to catch up on and then started boiling the water for the pasta and took the veggies out of the fridge along with a cutting board from the cabinet and a knife from the knife block to start chopping up the veggies.

***

An hour later, you had let the chicken nuggets and the pasta cool in the fridge for half an hour and had just finished cutting up the chicken nuggets and were about to mix everything together when the door opened.

"Hey, I made pasta salad for dinner—" You turned. "Will? What are you doing here? I thought you were Jay or Hailey."

"Jay told me you had a doctor's appointment a couple days ago and I figured I'd come over and check you out, see what's the matter, and then start the Hawks game with you guys."

"And Jay knows you're coming over? Did he tell you to come over? Or just tell you I had a doctor's appointment?" you asked, stopping your stirring of the pasta salad so that you could give him your full attention...and to make sure you were making eye contact to try and figure out if he was lying to you or not.

"He just told me you had a doctor's appointment the other day and that he's worried about you. I told him I'd come and check you out, but that's all he told me." Will's phone buzzed. "Speak of the devil. It's Jay. Said he and Hailey are picking up Gino's on the way home." He glanced at the bowl in front of you. "But, it looks like you already made something, so..."

"I'll just save it for lunch for the next couple of days; I'm not passing up Gino's pizza." Will tapped his phone screen a few times. "What did you just tell him?" you asked and took the spoon from the pasta salad that you had begun to stir once again and pointed it at him.

"Just gave him a thumbs up. Now, tell me what's going on, and finish making your food so I can give you a check-up."

"Don't really wanna tell you," you mumbled.

"Hey, whatever it is, I promise you I've seen worse. Nothing will phase me. Unless you're pregnant. Then there might be some issues, more with Jay than with me, but still."

"It's the exact opposite of being pregnant."

"So, you're not pregnant?"

"No, I'm not pregnant, Will! Jesus."

"That's the same thing that Mary thought when she was pregnant with Jesus."

"Will!"

"Fine, fine. I won't push you. But, I can promise you that whatever it is, I've seen worse. Plus, If you don't tell me, I'll just convince Jay to tell me."

You sighed. Jay still didn't know that you needed an ultrasound for your thyroid, so maybe telling Will first would help so that Jay doesn't pop off on you when he hears the word ultrasound and his brain automatically goes to pregnancy.

"Just, let me stir this and cover it and put it in the fridge first."

Will nodded and sat down and you finished stirring the pesto into the pasta salad and then covered it with Saran Wrap and placed it on a shelf in the fridge.

Then, you sat down in your usual spot at the table.

"I've been getting my period a lot," you told him.

Will nodded, his eyebrows furrowing as you knew his brain was running through all the possible medical problems that have period issues as one of their symptoms. "How much is a lot? Like, constantly? And when did it start?"

So you went into the whole spiel you had already told Hannah, including the increased anxiety and what you and Hannah had decided to do about it.

"Does Jay know about this?" Will asked after you were finished.

"He knows about everything except the ultrasound. I just got those results a few hours ago."

"Do you have them on your online chart?" Will asked and you nodded. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Knock yourself out," you told him and then opened your phone and navigated to your test results on your online chart and then passed him your phone.

You sat in silence for a minute while Will looked over the results.

"So, you need an ultrasound of your thyroid?" he asked, even though he already knew that it was recommended from what he read on your chart, he didn't know if you had agreed to it.

"Yeah. I was gonna ask you to come with me though after I told Jay and Hailey tonight because I've never had an ultrasound done before," you said.

"Of course, I'll come. Just tell me the date and time and even if I'm working, I'm sure Maggie can cover for me after I explain what's going on. You want me to tell you what happens at an ultrasound?"

"I know what happens," you answered. "They put gel on me and then they put this wand thingy over top so that they can look at my insides."

Will stifled a laugh at how you described it, but he had to give it to you, you were right. "That's exactly what happens. Now, can I feel your neck so I can see if I can feel if your thyroid is enlarged?"

"On one condition." He cocked an eyebrow at you, silently urging you to continue. "You have to tell Jay that I'm getting an ultrasound because he'll flip out and think I'm pregnant if you say it."

"Deal."

***

"Anything from the doctor?" Jay asked as he put a slice of deep-dish pizza on your plate and then passed it to you.

"Which one?" you asked and looked at Will.

"I mean, did you tell him what's going on?"

"I did," you confirmed.

Now Jay's attention was wholly on Will. "So, what do you think is going on?" Jay asked Will.

"Well, I wasn't the one who examined her, but I did what I could here and read the results of her thyroid test."

"And what did they say?"

"I'm right here, guys!" you exclaimed, causing Hailey to laugh.

Jay turned to you. "Yeah, but you're not a doctor, so I want to hear it from someone who understands doctor language himself."

"Technically, it's medical terminology," you muttered and then began eating your pizza, curious as to how Will was going to reveal to your non-doctor brother that you were going to have an ultrasound and the reason for it was not because you were pregnant.

"She has to get an ultrasound," was what Will decided on.

"What?!" Jay exclaimed. "I thought you couldn't get your period when you're—"

"She's not pregnant, Jay! She needs an ultrasound of her thyroid," Will clarified.

Hailey was just laughing at how stupid her husband was while you just rolled your eyes. "I could've done that," you told Will.

"And I should've taken a video! That was priceless!" Hailey chimed in.

"And she needs an ultrasound because...?" Jay prompted Will.

And so Will launched into the details that he was better fit to explain than you were while you just ate your pizza.

"And you'll come to the ultrasound with me?" you asked Will once again, just to double-check. "I've never had one done before and what if something's really wrong with me?"

"First off, the worst case scenario is that you have to go on a medication for your thyroid," Will began. "And, yes, I'll go with you. Just tell me the time and date and I'll come and wait with you. I don't think I can go in, since the rooms are pretty small in radiology and you're not a minor, but I'll be in the waiting area the whole time."

"You promise?"

"I promise. And if it's a day I'm working, I'm sure Maggie could cover for me," he repeated.

"Okay."

"So, how's the applications coming?" Will asked.

You groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me. I've submitted all of them except I just have to resend my transcripts to one of them in Arizona because I sent it to the wrong email address."

"How do you send it to the wrong email address?" Jay asked.

"He wouldn't know because he didn't go to college," Will fake whispered to his sister-in-law who was sitting next to him. Jay just rolled his eyes.

"I sent it to the psych department, not the graduate admissions committee," you answered.

Jay nodded. "Any word from the school in Hawaii yet?"

"Nope. You'd know if there was."

"You just want to go to Hawaii, babe," Hailey said.

"Yeah, and? Beats winters in Chicago."

"And it's super expensive, so hopefully I'll get assistantships or scholarships," you said.

"What about the one in Chicago, Y/N?" Hailey asked. "I know that's bottom of your list because it's cold and because Jay would pressure you to stay at home—"

"I would not!"

"Yes, you would!" you, Will, and Hailey yelled, causing Jay's eyes to widen.

"Uh, that was freaky. How about you guys never do that again, okay?" Jay said. "I thought it was the beginning of February; not Halloween."

"Hailey, I don't know what you see in him," you told her, causing Jay's jaw to drop.

"Hey! For your information—"

"I didn't hear back from anyone yet," you said loudly, cutting Jay off before he said something that would discreetly hint at his sex life with Hailey. "And when I do, I'll tell you guys. Now, can we finish eating and watch the game? I really don't want to have to think about this more than I have to."

Hailey nodded in understanding, since she too suffered from anxiety and then she proceeded to tell the story of the antics that Adam and Kevin had been up to today in the bullpen while everyone had been listening to the wire for their latest case (which they now had a lead on and would be picking up tomorrow, hence Jay and Hailey getting home later than usual).

***

One week later

"So, Y/N, tell me about what's going on," the social worker, Marsha, asked you at 12:45 pm that afternoon as you sat in her office for your scheduled appointment on your day off (as in, you hadn't had to work the night before, but had to work tonight. Even Jay got confused with your schedule sometimes. Will, on the other hand, understood since he had worked many a night shift during his residency).

And so, you launched into the story about grad school and anxiety.

"So, I can definitely refer you to a therapist if you would like that," Marsha said. "Or, I can work with you and teach you skills to manage your anxiety."

You'd always had some anxiety, it had just increased in recent weeks because of the rejections you'd gotten and all the added stress of trying to find another program that still had open applications.

"I think I want to learn some skills," you answered. "Seems like this is just gonna be something I have to live with."

"Ok, so I want to tell you about anxiety and why it happens and how it's sometimes a good thing and then we can move on to some skills you've tried..."

***

"And I'm gonna give you some homework this week," Marsha said at the end of your session. She passed you a piece of paper. "All I want you to do is notice when you have anxiety and what the physical symptoms are. You don't have to write them on this piece of paper; it's just a list of possible physical symptoms and the anxiety pyramid that we talked about if you want to reference them if you want. All I want you to do is notice when your anxiety flares up. Then, we can figure out what to do in these types of situations."

"Okay, sounds good," you told her.

Then, she stood up and you followed her out of her office and back into the waiting room. "You know your way out from here?" she asked.

"Yup," you answered.

When in reality, you didn't. But, Will said he'd meet you outside the waiting room doors at 1:50 to go with you to your ultrasound appointment in the radiology wing, and it was currently 1:55.

"You're not in your scrubs," you said when you saw him right when you opened the doors to the hallway.

"Nope. Ms. Goodwin gave me a half day today, so we can get lunch after if you want."

"As long as we can get coffee for me to bring to work, sure." You noticed his backpack. "Can you put these in here?" you asked, holding the two pieces of paper out to him. "I only brought my lanyard with all my keys and stuff."

"Yup." He took the papers from you and put down his backpack and put the papers inside. "You ready?"

"Yeah. You promise it won't hurt?" you asked, slightly nervous.

"I promise. It might just feel a little cold at first."

***

"See? I told you it wouldn't be so bad," Will said once you were out of the ultrasound.

"Yeah. But I won't know the results for a few days so can you—"

"I'm not gonna look at your chart and tell you the results," Will stated as you exited the waiting room.

"But why not? I give you full permission so it's not against HIPAA."

"Technically, it is because I can't just go in there and look at a family member's chart. That, and I'm not a radiologist. When they send you the results, I can look them over if you let me see them. But, before then, I can't. And, I'd trust a radiologist's opinion on this more than mine."

"Fine. Now, how about IHOP for lunch?"

"Already a step ahead of you. It'll be ready for pickup in ten minutes."

"And you got me the pancakes I like?" you asked and narrowed your eyes at him.

"Yes, I got you the cinnamon roll ones."

You broke out into a smile. "You're my favorite brother...just don't tell Jay that. He thinks he's the favorite."

***

One week later, late February

You got your results back. After skimming them, you figured you'd understood them, but wanted to call Will just in case. And he confirmed it. There was nothing wrong with your thyroid.

"So it's all in my head?" you asked. "My body hates me because I'm stressed? God, I can't even do basic human functions right."

"Y/N, what did I tell you? It's normal to be stressed out like this. It's a big thing," Will said over the phone.

"Don't you think I know that?! This is my whole career here! My whole life!" You took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"It's okay," he said. "You're super stressed out. But, you'll get in somewhere."

"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps saying." Then, your phone vibrated. "Hang on. That might be a school."

"They're calling you? That's a good sign, Y/N."

"They're not calling me; I put their emails as important so it'll notify me. I'm putting you on speaker while I read this."

You quickly put Will on speaker and then navigated to your emails. "It's the one in Hawaii," you told him. You held your breath as you opened the email. You skimmed it. And you stayed silent.

"What? What's it say?"

"I didn't get in," you said quietly.

"Aw, man. I'm sorry, kiddo. But, you still have five more to hear back from."

"Yeah. I just...I really wanted to go to school in Hawaii," you lamented. "I know it was a long shot to get in because I missed their priority deadline because I was still waiting on my Ph.D. application results, but still."

"Hey, look at it this way," Will began, "when you're making bank as a world-renowned neuropsychologist, you'll have more than enough money to vacation there a few times a year. Just make sure you don't forget to bring your favorite brother with you."

You rolled your eyes. "I dunno about world-renowned."

"Fine. USA-renowned."

"Goodbye, Will," you laughed.

"Bye, kiddo. Have a good night at work. Maybe drink a glass of wine before going to work. Just... don't tell Jay I said that. You've got what, seven hours before your shift?"

"That's actually a good idea. I'll swipe some of Hailey's pink Moscato. She's fine with it. She barely drinks it anyway."

"Alright, just one glass," Will reiterated.

"Bye, Will."

***

Two weeks later, early March

You woke up and checked the time. 2 pm. You still had two hours to sleep until your alarm went off. But, as was customary for the past two months, you navigated to your emails.

There, at the top, was one from Southern Arizona University.

You felt like you couldn't breathe as you opened the email.

Hello,

We have reviewed your application, evaluated your credentials and letters of recommendation, and would like to invite you to interview in person for the Doctoral program (Psy. D.) in Clinical Psychology at the SAU campus.

Your jaw dropped as you continued reading the finer details such as the date, time, location, and how to RSVP.

Today was Wednesday, Jay and Hailey's RDO.

You ran out of your room.

"Jay! Jay! Jay!" you yelled.

He immediately woke up from where he had been dozing off on the couch with Hailey next to him who had been wide awake. She grabbed her phone while he jumped up.

"What? What's wrong? What hurts?" he asked as he quickly looked you over.

"No, no nothing's wrong! I got an interview with Southern Arizona! It's in person in two weeks!"

"That's great, Y/N!" Hailey said at the same time that Jay said, "See? I told you that you'd get in somewhere!"

"I didn't get in yet, Jay," you told him.

"I know, but you're still one step closer."

You pulled out your phone. "I know Will's working, but I gotta text him and tell him!"

Hailey groaned as she looked at her phone's calendar. "Shit, Jay. We have that mandatory training that week for our detective's recertification."

Jay threw his head back and groaned. "It's not even that important. Voight and Platt will let us out of it."

"You know this isn't their call. It's the Ivory Tower that schedules this one. And it's the last one of the quarter. We don't go to this one..."

"We can't work until mid-April at the earliest. We'll be suspended," Jay finished.

"Exactly."

"Will can come with me," you said. "I can't just not go and I'm not going to Arizona by myself."

"Yeah, even if Will has to work, we'd find someone to bring you," Jay said. "Maybe Kim as a backup. No way in hell are you going to Arizona by yourself, you're damn right about that."

"Listen, we'll figure out the logistics of everything later," Hailey said. "For now, you just go back to bed so you're not too tired at work and then focus on being prepared for your interview. Just forward the email to me and Jay so we have the right place and date and time and we'll get everything figured out, okay?"

You smiled. "Okay."

"Now go back to sleep. You're going to Arizona for that interview no matter what," she reassured you.

"And, you're gonna do great," Jay added.

"I haven't even prepped for this yet."

"Still, I know you," Jay started. "You're gonna practice and know everything and then you'll do great. Now try and get some sleep before you have to go in tonight."

You nodded and turned around, still with a giant smile plastered on your face.

***

Five days later, Monday

You rolled over and checked the time. Fifteen minutes until you planned to get up, so you knew you wouldn't be able to go back to sleep no matter how hard you tried.

You immediately navigated to your emails as you had done for the past two months.

There, at the top, was one from Kansas City Health College and University in Missouri.

Hi, Y/N!

We have reviewed your application, and the committee is interested in offering you an opportunity to interview. Are you available this week or next?

Your jaw dropped and you broke out into a smile.

Another school wanted you! You might have options now!

You knew Hailey and Jay were unlikely to be home right now, so you went to your text messages and opened the group chat between you, Jay, Hailey, and Will.

I got an interview for Kansas City! you wrote.

Not even fifteen seconds later, your phone rang.

"Did you get my text?" you asked when you answered Will's phone call.

"I did," Will confirmed. "Good job! But, is the interview in-person?"

"I don't know," you answered. "I'll email them."

"Okay, just let me know. They approved my PTO request to come to Arizona with you in a couple weeks, but I don't know if I can swing another vacation. Jay or Hailey might have to go with you to this one."

"Okay, and it's an eight-hour drive from here, so we don't have to fly there if the interview is in-person."

"It seems short now, but it won't feel that way when you're driving for that long."

You rolled your eyes. "Uh-huh. Did you look up flight tickets for Arizona yet?"

"That's what I was doing before I called you. Is it your weekend off before the interview or after the interview?"

"Before the interview," you told him.

"Okay. I work a shift on Saturday, so the earliest we could fly out is Sunday morning. Then we have all day Monday to look at Pheonix and apartments and stuff and Tuesday you have to interview and we could fly home Wednesday or Thursday. How long did you take off for?"

"I have to go back into work that Thursday night."

"Okay, so we'll fly back Wednesday night, then you can sleep all day Thursday because my next shift is on Friday."

"Okay. And, I can stay at your house the night before if it's an early flight, right? I am not driving to your house at 3 am. Or you can sleep on the couch here."

"If it's early, it's probably better that you stay over here because I won't get home from work until 8:30 and then I'll probably have last-minute stuff to do. You know how it is."

"Yeah."

"Okay, well I'm gonna go so you email them and I can keep looking up flights. I'll let you know everything when I figure it all out."

"Sounds good."

Then, the two of you said your goodbyes and you emailed the school and responded to Jay and Hailey's congratulations texts.

Even if it was only two interviews out of the eleven schools total you had applied to so far, you were getting somewhere.

***

Four days later, Friday, day of virtual Kansas City interview

You opened the fridge and grabbed a hard seltzer just when you heard someone clearing their throat. You turned around with a sheepish expression on your face to see Jay standing there.

"So, we're drinking at 7:30 in the morning now, are we?" he asked.

"Your 7:30 in the morning is my 7:30 at night," you told him. "And, I have my interview later. Need something to calm my nerves before I go to bed."

"You've practiced more than enough; you'll do great. You don't need alcohol to calm your nerves."

He was right of course, on both fronts, but you weren't going to tell him that. You had researched questions you might be asked during your interview and then wrote down your answers and quizzed yourself multiple times until you were confident that you knew everything. You even had your coworkers quiz you on them last night and had Jay quiz you on them Wednesday night so that you knew for a fact that you knew everything. There were obviously questions that could come up that you weren't prepared for, but you had prepared for it as best you could with the information you currently had.

"I know," you begrudgingly agreed. "But still, let me do this. It's not like you haven't drank to calm your nerves before."

"She's got a point, Jay," Hailey said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and maneuvering around Jay to get to the counter and begin making herself a cup of coffee.

"Why are you always on her side?" he asked.

"Technically, I'm not taking sides, just stating a fact. Let her have the drink. It's not like she's gonna get drunk. She's too smart to get drunk hours before her interview anyway."

"Thanks, Hailey," you said and then walked past Jay, who made no move to argue with you.

"Just, remember to put the can in the recycling when you wake up. And good luck with the interview later. Don't miss your alarm," he told you.

"I won't. I set one for like every minute from when I need to wake up to ten minutes after," you reassured.

And, when you made your way to your room, you could've sworn you heard Jay whsiper something along the lines of You're gonna be the death of me? You know that, right? to Hailey.

***

You felt like the interview went well. There were only two questions you hadn't practiced answering: (1) tell me about working with people from diverse backgrounds and (2) tell me about a time you had too much on your plate. How did you go about handling that?

Not to toot your own horn, but you felt like you gave pretty good answers to those questions despite being under pressure and not having practiced those beforehand.

Now though, it was time to calm down and try to go back to sleep for a few more hours before work. You had only gotten five hours of sleep before the interview and wanted to get at least another three before having to wake up again, do your morning routine, and go back to work.

So, now you needed to calm down and fall asleep without taking melatonin. So, you decided to go take a nice hot shower.

You didn't take long, only about fifteen minutes, and the minute you went and sat down in your bed to read to try and get your adrenaline to go down a bit more, your phone rang.

Will.

"Hey," you answered.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked. Honestly, he seemed more excited to talk about this than you did.

It was at this moment that you actually grasped how well you might have actually done during the interview phase.

"It actually went really well! There were only two questions I didn't know the answer to."

And then, you talked to Will about what the questions were and the answers you gave so that you could be prepared for your interview with SAU in a little under two weeks.

"Well, I'm gonna let you go so you can get some sleep, okay?" he said.

"Yeah. Hopefully reading for a bit will make me tired. I already took a hot shower to calm down, and it's calmed me just a little bit."

"It's the nerves," Will began. "You've been trying to get to this point for so long and all your adrenaline just hit you. You'll crash soon and sleep hard, though. Go, I dunno, make some tea to drink while you read or something," he suggested.

"That's actually a good idea. Thanks, Will."

"Anytime, kiddo. Now try and get some sleep. Make sure to text Jay and Hailey that the interview went well too because they probably want to know even if they're out chasing criminals all over the place."

"Doubt they could get to their phone to see the text if they're chasing people," you pointed out.

"You know what I mean. Now get some sleep."

***

5 days later, Wednesday

You woke up to someone gently touching your shoulder and saying your name.

"Y/N, you okay?"

Jay.

You grumbled, "Mhm. Why?"

"It's ten o'clock at night," he answered.

You rolled over and touched your phone, causing the screen to illuminate. Lo and behold, Jay was right. 10:02 pm.

You had worked six days straight since it had been your weekend on, and normally after these long stretches, you did sleep like ten hours, but you had never slept twelve. Granted, you did go to bed at around 10 am instead of your usual 8:30 because you had a doctor's appointment to follow up on your irregular periods (which were getting back to normal finally) and then you woke up around 1 pm for about an hour, but still, it was weird that you had slept this long.

"Guess I was just tired," you said. "I'll get up soon."

"Don't sleep all night. That's gonna mess you up for your shift tomorrow night."

"I know, Jay. I've been on nights for eight months now; I think I know what I'm doing."

"Okay, well, there's dinner in the fridge if you want some."

"Thanks."

Then, he left your room and you turned on your bedside lamp and sat up in bed, and opened your phone.

As was normal for you now, you navigated to your emails to see if you had heard back from any schools.

A few emails down was one that made your breath catch in your throat and your hands begin to shake.

From: Kansas City Health College and University

Subject line: Update KCHCU Admissions

You opened it and there was what looked to be a scanned document with the school's logo on top and the very first word was bolded and in cursive.

Congratulations!

Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped. You felt your heart beating out of your chest.

We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted *with a Conditional Acceptance* to our program of: Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD) for the Academic Year 2023-2024.

We hope this is one of many achievements in your professional career as a result of your continuous efforts.

*Please be aware that this is not your official acceptance notification. Official acceptance letters will be sent out upon completion of the required documents. Please fill out the attached documents as soon as possible.*

Sincerely,

The Admissions Office at Kansas City Health College and University.

A huge smile formed on your face as you shot out of bed and ran to Jay and Hailey's bedroom.

You quickly knocked on the door. "Nobody better be naked in there because I'm coming in!"

Without waiting for a reply, you opened the door. And, luckily, the only piece of clothing Jay was missing was a shirt (and you could see this because he had quickly sat up in bed and turned on his bedside lamp just as you opened the door).

"Some of us have to work in the morning, you know," Jay said.

At this, Hailey walked out of the bathroom, clad in her pajama bottoms and a t-shirt with her hair wrapped in a towel.

"You probably laid down two seconds before she knocked on the door," Hailey said.

"Technically, it was ten seconds," Jay sassed.

"Yeah, yeah," you said dismissively. "But I checked my emails and I got into Kansas City!" you exclaimed.

Hailey gasped. "Yay! Congratulations!" Then she made her way over to you and gave you a hug.

"See, I told you you could do it," Jay said and stood up and hugged you, too. "But, your first pick is still Arizona, right?"

"Yup," you told him. "But at least I have a backup school now if I don't get into SAU."

"So, what do you have to do now?"

"Fill out some documents." You passed him your phone. "Here's the email."

Jay told you to make sure you send in the documents by the deadline, which caused you to roll your eyes.

"Don't you have to pay something to secure your spot?" he asked.

"I think so," you said. "But it shouldn't be a ton, so if I get into SAU and have to tell them I decided to go to another school, I shouldn't be losing out on too much."

"Okay, good. See, I told you you'd get in somewhere."

"And I still have another interview."

"And you better text Will before he gets mad he had to hear it from one of us," Hailey pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," Jay agreed. "You better do that."

"I'll do that right now. Get some sleep, you guys."

"Night, Y/N, I'm so proud of you," Hailey said and gave you another hug.

"Night, kid," Jay said and gave you another hug as well.

Then, you made your way out of their room and into the kitchen to make yourself some food and coffee. As you were waiting for your coffee to finish brewing though, you made sure to text Will to let him know that you had at least gotten into one school, even if you considered it your backup school.

***

4 days later, Sunday

Your alarm sounded at 3:30 am and you silently cursed Will for wanting to get out on the first flight available. You rolled over and groaned into your pillow, but then quickly decided to get up because you knew if you kept laying down, you'd fall back to sleep and then Will would have to wake you up and you'd have to rush or you'd end up missing your flight altogether.

You heard the shower running as you grabbed your overnight oats from the fridge and then popped a pod into the Keurig.

Ten minutes later, you were rubbing your eyes and trying to stay awake while finishing your coffee when Will came into the kitchen.

"Morning," he greeted.

You groaned in response, looked up, and took another sip of your coffee. "I only slept five hours."

"And, I only slept three."

"That's not healthy for you."

"Neither is five."

You glared at him and he just smiled.

"Do you have Dramamine?" you asked.

"In my backpack. You should probably take it when we get to the airport, though."

"As long as I can get more coffee at the airport."

"You and me both," Will agreed.

***

You were not happy, let's just put it that way. There were so many people at Midway (since Jay wasn't flying with you, you and Will could fly out of Midway. Jay basically had a phobia of this airport now because he was abducted from here years ago) even though it was a 6 am flight on Sunday, that you and Will couldn't get more coffee.

"I'm gonna go find a vending machine," you said. "Can I have your card?" you asked.

You had time before you needed to board your flight and by finding a vending machine, you wouldn't have to waste time waiting in line. And, Will had told you to only bring your ID and some cash because he didn't want your debit or credit card getting stolen.

So, you went and found a vending machine and got yourself a Starbucks bottled frappuccino, and grabbed Will a boring plain latte.

"Here you go," you said and handed the coffee and his credit card to him.

"I didn't ask you to get me anything."

"Well, one it's your money, and two, don't take this the wrong way, but you look like shit."

Will rolled his eyes. "Thanks. I'm so glad I'm spending money to put up with you for a couple of days."

"Nah, you love me...at least, I'm your favorite sibling out of me and Jay."

"That's debatable. But you getting me this definitely earned a couple of points in that category."

Your phone buzzed. "It's Jay," you said after reading the text. "He said to have a good flight." Why your other brother was up at 5 am on a Sunday baffled you, but you figured it had something to do with his need for a consistent schedule and structure from his army days.

"He text it to the group chat?" Will asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I have my phone on silent and if he only texted you that, then I'd be offended."

"That would mean that I'm his favorite sibling then," you pointed out. "I'm both your favorite siblings."

"Oh, you're the favorite something alright," Will muttered under his breath. Then, he remembered something. He quickly unzipped a pocket in his backpack and handed you the packet of Dramamine. "You should probably take this now."

"And this is why you're the doctor because I probably would've forgotten."

Will just shook his head. "I know. And then you'd be miserable for the entire flight, which would make me miserable and it just wouldn't be a good time."

You just took the pill in response and handed the package back to him. "I get the window seat," you told him.

"I already planned on it," Will answered.

And fifteen minutes later, you were in line to board.

***

After waiting in line for an hour to get your rental car, you were finally out of the airport in Pheonix. Because of the time difference between Pheonix and Chicago, you got into Pheonix around 8 am, and it was currently a little past 9 am. And needless to say, you and Will were hungry.

"You sure you're good to drive?" you asked. "They said I could drive it, just that I can't be the main renter."

It shocked you that you could actually drive a rental car since you weren't 25 yet, which is the age that you could legally rent a car. But, turns out, you could be a driver, just not the one who was the primary renter.

"I was there, I know," Will said. "And, I'm good to drive. I've worked lots of 24-hour shifts running on little sleep, so I'll be fine."

"Okay. But if you need to switch drivers, let me know."

"I will. Now, what sounds good to eat?"

"I say IHOP."

"Pancakes and a pot of coffee it is then," Will agreed.

You put in the address for the nearest IHOP and made your way there.

And when you were at the restaurant, Will may or may not have taken a picture of you devouring your pancakes and sent it to the group chat that only contained him, Jay, and Hailey.

***

The next day, Monday

"I say we leave Jay home more often," you said when you woke up the next morning around 8.

Jay was always the one who was go, go, go while on vacation like he couldn't relax. He'd have had you running around Pheonix until midnight if he were here and he more than likely would've woke up at 6 to workout and then made a ton of noise rummaging around for his suitcase that he would've woken everyone else up in the hotel room, too.

"I would ask you if you slept well because you said that," Will began, "but I know you did because you were snoring. I should've smothered you with the pillow."

"I'm telling Jay if I come up dead in here that it was you," you said.

"And I'm telling him that you don't want him to come on vacation because he wakes you up early."

"He knows that! It's common knowledge!"

Will rolled his eyes. "Hurry up and get ready or do whatever you need to do so that we can go get some breakfast downstairs before all the good stuff's gone."

"Can we get coffee somewhere later? I looked up some coffee shops near here."

"Let's just get breakfast first and then we'll go from there."

***

The morning was spent looking at possible apartments, going to a bookshop that doubled as a coffeeshop (and buying a new book of course), and then going out for Mexican food for an early lunch (which had the best salsa you had ever tasted).

Then, you went back to the hotel and got ready to go to the pool.

"You can go down without me," Will said.

"You're not coming?" you asked.

"I gotta make a phone call. Work stuff," Will lied.

"Okay, see you down there," you said and grabbed a room key, and left to go to the pool.

Two minutes later, when Will was positive you were at least off the floor you were staying in, if not out to the pool by now, he pulled out his phone and dialed Jay's number.

"Everything okay?" Jay asked the minute he picked up.

"Yes, everything's okay."

"Well, if you're only calling me to brag about the chips and salsa you got, then it's in your best interest to hang up now." You had been sending pictures to the group chat between you, your brothers, and Hailey, and needless to say, Jay was jealous.

"Okay, fine," Will relented. "Everything's not okay. I don't know if I want Y/N staying here."

Now, Will had Jay's full attention. "Bad neighborhoods? What's it like? I can try and look into stuff for you, but I don't have jurisdiction there, so it might be hard to do."

"Dude, it's like Chicago, but it changes a bit faster here. You have wealthy people on one side of the street and then poverty on the other. The building her school is in is just down the street from a homeless encampment. And, she's a girl living by herself. I dunno about her living her, man."

"Well, all the schools she's applied to are in big cities, so she's gonna get that anywhere."

"I know, I know. It's just, the shit we see every day..."

"I get it," Jay agreed. "How did she react to the apartments? And the school?"

"Well, her face dropped when we saw the school. It was like in an industrial area and it's just a building. And, the apartments, the one she likes and the one she said would probably be safest would run her like $1800 a month just for the apartment, not including utilities, groceries, etc."

Jay whistled on the other end. "Shit. But, it's like that everywhere."

"I know. If she goes here, you're gonna need to fly out here and look at apartments with her because you might be able to figure some more stuff out."

"Yeah, if she gets in me and her will take some time to look at apartments out there. Maybe bring Hailey, too."

"Okay, good. And, I'm willing to pay a little bit of her rent if it means she'll be safe."

"Me too," Jay agreed. Then, he remembered something. "Hey, I think one of my old army buddies does construction for apartments out there. I'll see if he can give you some places to check out that he thinks are safer and text you if he tells me anything."

"That would be great, Jay. How's the training going?"

"Let's not talk about that when me and Hailey are on our lunch break, okay? It's a pain in the ass but I have to do it."

"Alright then. I'll let you wallow in your own pity while me and Y/N go chill at the pool. Bye, Jay."

"You're an ass," Jay laughed. "But have a good night. I'll text Y/N tomorrow before her interview and I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. I want to know how it goes." Will heard someone's voice on the other line, he assumed it was Hailey. "And Hailey wants to know how it goes, too." (Will was right.)

"I'll make sure to tell her. Have a good night you two."

Then, Will ended the call and changed, and headed down to the pool where you were soaking up the sun while reading a book on your iPad.

"Hey," Will said after he sat down next to you. "I talked to Jay. He's got an old army buddy that does apartment work around here. He's gonna talk to him and see if he can give us some apartments to look at."

"Okay, good," you said and then paused your reading timer. For the first ten minutes you were down here, you had began making a pros and cons list on your iPad. "Kansas City's looking pretty good after looking at rent prices and the cost of living over here."

"So, you're leaning towards Kansas City then?" Will asked. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't surprised. SAU had been your first choice since you had gotten the email saying that they wanted you to come for an interview.

You passed him your iPad. "You can look at my pros and cons list."

He took a minute to read it and then handed it back to you. "Kansas City has a study abroad program? You never told me that."

"Because I don't know if I'll be going or not. They have a campus in Spain and they saw that I minored in Spanish, so they said that if that's something I want to do, that it's an option. And, I had to miss my study abroad because of covid. It all depends on if I feel comfortable taking all my classes in Spanish though and how it will work out with my classes and my practicum schedule."

"That's great, Y/N! If you go to Kansas City, you should definitely look into it. And, I'm sure some of the students speak English and would be more than willing to help you if you needed it. The profs probably speak English too."

"I know. It's just, learning about the brain and psychology in my second language after not having learned much in undergrad even though I have my minor in it, is a little scary."

"Then you don't have to go. But, you have the option at least if you go to Kansas City. And, Kansas City doesn't have assistantships?" Will asked.

Assistantships are where a student does some kind of work for the university and, depending on how many hours you work, half or all of your tuition is paid for by the university and they'll give you a living stipend.

"No. But, SAU does. I just don't know if the assistantships are for the campus I'm going to or the main campus. It's more expensive here and if I don't get an assistantship, I don't know how I'm gonna be able to afford rent," you told him.

"What's the tuition cost for the programs?" Will asked.

"About the same," you answered.

"So, Kansas City: Spain, no assistantships, lower cost of living. And SAU: no Spain, possible assistantships, higher cost of living?" Will asked.

"Yeah," you answered. "Them having assistantships at that campus is gonna play a big part in if I go to school here or not."

"Let's just focus on the interview for now and make sure to ask them about that tomorrow. You got into one school for sure. Just focus on what you can control tomorrow and then decide. Okay?"

"Okay," you answered.

"I know it's hard to do right now, but just relax. Everything will work itself out eventually."

***

Tuesday, day of SAU interview

"You're gonna do great," Will reassured as you bobbed your leg up and down on the twenty-minute car ride from the hotel to SAU's south campus.

You went to open your coffee that Will bought you downstairs before you left (you weren't drinking nasty brewed coffee from the hotel and you cited the fact that you wouldn't have time to get coffee before the interview as the reason why you needed some now. Plus, you weren't going into arguably the most important interview of your entire life without caffeine in your system.) but you had to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths before you could actually open it because your hands were shaking.

"I don't know about that," you said after taking a sip of your coffee. "I could barely open my coffee."

"We practiced last night and you got all the answers right. You'll do just fine, Y/N. Did you and your social worker come up with strategies for this?"

"Mhm."

You and Marsha had talked about how to manage your nerves during your two interviews at your previous in-person session. Your plan was to remember that you had rehearsed these answers so much that you knew these answers. And to imagine yourself answering them at your desk at home with a candle and a cup of coffee in front of you like how you had actually practiced at home. Plus, the image was of a calming environment, so it might help slow your breathing and heart rate down. And, hey, you already got into one school, so why wouldn't you be able to get into this one?

"I just don't know what to expect in the group interview."

"Just be yourself while being professional. You'll be fine."

Your phone buzzed.

Jay.

You got this! You're gonna kill that interview!

Then another text came in.

Hailey.

Good luck, Y/N! You'll do great! Think positive thoughts (easier said than done, I know, haha). Love you!

You responded to each of them with a thank you and with Jay's, you added a smiley face emoji to the end, and to Hailey's, you added a heart to the end.

Fifteen minutes later, you pulled into the parking lot.

"Take a couple deep breaths," Will told you. You closed your eyes and did as he said. Then, you opened them and nodded. He squeezed your shoulder. "You practiced. Just remember that. Good luck."

And then, you stepped out of the car, grabbed your bag and your coffee, and walked into the place you hoped you'd be going to school at for the next five years.

***

Two hours later, 10:00 am

The group interview went fine. It felt just like a conversation more or less...which kind of made you nervous. Wasn't it supposed to feel like an interview? It was just sort of weird in your opinion. You basically just talked about how fucked the US mental health/foster care/social services system was and how each of you wanted to change that.

But now it was time for the part where you knew what to expect, and this part arguably had more riding it than the group interview: the individual interview.

You were interviewing with someone named Dr. Haldon.

She led you to her office and you sat down. She first asked you how you were doing and you said good, a little nervous, but good.

Then, she jumped right in.

"Your statement of purpose was a little confusing to tell you the truth," she said.

You furrowed your eyebrows. Your statement of purpose seemed pretty clear-cut and easily digestible to you. "It was?"

"Yes. You talked a lot about sports psychology, but why you want to go into neuropsychology and how you want to do more with the mental health side of things, but that you want more precision. So, explain that."

"Which part?" you asked. "The sports psych, neuropsych, mental health, or precision part?"

You swore she could hear your heart beating out of your chest.

"The precision part."

So, you went into it. You explained how you wanted to be a sports psychologist because you loved hockey and always wanted to do something with sports, but that you were also passionate about mental health. So, when you found sports psych, you thought it would be perfect for you.

But, then you took a class in sports psych and realized it was more behavior-based. Plus, it wasn't as precise as neuropsych where you'd be analyzing test results based on previous data and sometimes looking at brain scans.

You also explained how when you were little, you saw your brother becoming a doctor and, being the impressionable little girl you were, you wanted to be a doctor, too. But, then you realized you were scared of blood and weren't super good at hard sciences like chemistry.

So, when you found neuropsych after not wanting to go into sports psych, you knew this was what you wanted to do because it sort of married the two: you'd get to work in the psych field with more precision than sports psych and you'd get to work in a hospital and be on a treatment team without going to med school.

(This was all mentioned in your statement of purpose--minus the med school part--so you really didn't understand why she wanted you to repeat it all.)

"Define what you mean by precision," Dr. Haldon requested.

"Um, neuropsychologists get to look at brain scans and those are more precise than some psychological testing."

"Neuropsychologists don't look at brain scans," she told you.

"They don't? When I researched them, they did. I didn't get to take a neuropsych class though because the class was full when I decided I wanted to switch specialties."

"Well, they don't. That's the neurologist's job. And, sports psychologists get to work with mental health. Are you sure what you took was a sports psychology class?"

"Yes," you answered. It was a full-year class, not just one semester, so you knew the ins and outs of this class that you had taken your senior year of undergrad.

"Well, sports psychologists do still get to work with the mental health of the athlete."

"Oh. I was taught that they had to refer out since it would be a conflict of interest."

"No. I have my post-doc in sports psych, which is why I wanted to interview you."

There it is. That's why you weren't being interviewed by the faculty you said you wanted to work with in your statement of purpose. It was because she wanted to groom you into a sports psychologist...which made half as much as a neuropsychologist, but had the same of amount schooling required.

You just nodded.

"I think you close doors before you even open them all the way."

You just took a deep breath.

Then, she started asking you some questions, most of which you had not prepared for.

"Sorry," you started in response to one of the questions. "I'm thinking. I'm just nervous."

Without missing a beat, she asked, "So, how's your anxiety?"

You stared at her. "What?"

"Well, you've mentioned you were nervous several times."

Twice. You had mentioned your nerves twice. And, any sane person would be nervous during an interview!

You didn't know what to say, so you just blurted the truth out.

"I'm going to therapy," you answered.

"I see. So how is that going?"

You should have told her that your medical/mental health history was none of her damn business, but you wanted to go to this school, so you answered the question. At least, you thought you wanted to go to this school.

"It's going well. Helps a lot," you answered. Now you decided to take charge because, after the conversation you had with Will by the pool last night, you knew that your decision to go here would be riding on whether or not you could get an assistantship at this campus. "Do you have any assistantships available?"

"Oh, yes, I was going to ask you about that as well. We don't have assistantships available. I don't know where you found that information."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "But, on SAU's website, it said that there were assistantships available. Is that only for the main campus?"

"Yes, there are no assistantships for this campus, unfortunately."

"Oh."

There was a pause as if Dr. Haldon were waiting for you to comment further. When you didn't, she posed the question, "So, explain to me why you chose the PsyD route instead of the Ph.D. route."

"Well," you began. Did you tell her that you initially applied for PhDs and PsyDs were just the backup because you didn't get into any PhD programs?

Fuck it. She already knew you had anxiety, it couldn't really get that much worse.

"I applied to PhDs first because they're fully funded. But, since I didn't get into any of those, I applied for PsyDs. And, I like the clinical aspect more than the research aspect, so there's that," you answered.

"You were going to do research even though you don't like it? A Ph.D. is five years, that's a long time to do research if you don't like it. Why?"

"Because they're fully funded," you said quieter than you had answered all of her other questions but still loud enough that she could hear you.

"So you were going to do something you didn't like for that long because the program is fully funded?" You nodded. "I see."

You went through the rest of the questions she had been prepared to ask you and you asked her if she had any recommendations on where to live around here or where current students live, in case you got into the program.

But, during all of this, all you felt was defeat. Even if Dr. Haldon's behavior was making you want to go to Southern Arizona University even less, well you had just bombed your interview; even if you still wanted to go, there was no way they still wanted you.

***

"How'd it go?" Will asked with a smile when you got in the car.

You closed the door and scoffed and shook your head. "Shitty."

"What?" he quickly moved the car into a parking spot so that you two could talk. "Why?"

"I didn't even get to interview with the faculty I wanted to interview with! And the lady who interviewed me was bitch! She questioned my abilities and made it seem like I was supposed to know everything and- and- ugh!"

You blinked your eyes rapidly and fanned them so that you didn't cry and then have to wipe your face and smudge your mascara and foundation everywhere.

"Okay, calm down. Take a deep breath. What happened exactly?"

And so, you relayed the story of your individual interview with him.

"First off, she was wrong to question if you had anxiety or not. That was unprofessional. And secondly, if you knew everything, you wouldn't be here; you'd already be a neuropsychologist. She can't expect you to know everything. That's why you're going to school."

"Yeah, I guess," you agreed.

"And, at least you interviewed here. That way you saw this now instead of seeing it when you got in after deciding to come here. Remember, you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you."

You sniffled. "Thanks, Will. Sorry, I made you take time off work to just come down here and for me not to get into this school."

"Hey, no. It was a nice little vacation from the cold. And, you might still get in."

"Yeah, but I'm leaning towards Kansas City now even if I do get in."

"Okay. Wherever you want to go. It's your decision. I know you wanted somewhere warm, Y/N. But Kansas City might be the place for you."

"Yeah," you agreed quietly.

"I drove around and looked at some possible apartments for you, but now I think we should just go get some ice cream. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds like a great idea."

And then, instead of ice cream, you got the gooiest chocolate chip cookie of your life topped with caramel. It didn't fix everything, but it sure made it better.

And, when you called Jay in the car to explain to him everything that happened at your interview, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little relieved that you probably wouldn't be moving 25 hours away from him.

***

A month and a half later, early May

It was finally time for you to go to Kansas City to look at the school you would be attending and start apartment hunting. You had been apartment hunting as much as possible online, but it was really hard to know an area and know if you liked an apartment by looking online. So, you and Jay were driving down, and then Will was flying down after his shift later tonight so that he'd be with you to visit the school during the interview later morning tomorrow. (You figured he was the best bet to bring since he knew more of this stuff than Jay. And, you weren't gonna bring both brothers. You were in graduate school, not undergrad; bringing both of them would be overkill.)

You were a little over four hours into your drive and the sky had started to darken about half an hour ago. Since you were currently the passenger and Jay was driving (you planned on switching drivers when you got into Kansas City so that you could practice driving there with someone else in the car), he had you check the forecast to see when it was going to rain.

Your phone had told you in about two hours, and you hoped to be close to Kansas City by then.

And then, yours and Jay's phones went off at the same time, almost giving you a heart attack. You looked at the alert.

"There's a tornado warning near us," you told Jay.

"A watch or a warning?" he asked.

"Warning."

He cursed under his breath. "Hopefully we'll miss it. Keep an eye out for funnel clouds. How far away are we from where it was spotted?"

You went on your phone to start looking for more information, and not even two minutes later, it started hailing.

You grabbed your sweatshirt from the backseat so that in case the hail shattered your windshield, you'd have something to put over your face to protect your eyes.

The area beneath the overpasses quickly started to become full of cars and semis that were finding a place to hunker down for the time being. Jay reached down flip something and then cursed when he realized what he was looking for wasn't there.

"And, it's in your car. Great," he said.

"Why? You want a new truck if we were driving yours and the windshield breaks?" you asked as you continued to scroll through your phone for more information.

"No," he answered. "I could put on my lights and sirens and probably find us a police station to camp out at. And, I'd be able to listen to important stuff like where an accident is, from my scanner. And, my windshield and windows are bulletproof. The hail's small enough now that it shouldn't break your windshield, though."

You nodded. "And, that bulletproof glass isn't going to help much if we drive into a tornado."

"That is true," he agreed. "Can you text Will and Hailey and let them know what's going on?"

You did so and immediately got responses from both Will and Hailey.

Hailey: WHATTT???

Will: Go find somewhere to post-up.

You responded to the group, even though you were mainly responding to Will's question, by telling them that you were trying to find something to take cover underneath, but that the areas underneath the overpasses were all full, so you were gonna keep driving.

Then, Will and Hailey replied with some form of stay safe and Will told you to keep them updated. Hailey also said to tell Jay that she loved him.

"Hailey says she loves you," you told Jay.

Jay laughed. "This is arguably safer than us getting shot at every day. But tell her I love her, too. You can tell her the getting shot at thing, too, if you want."

"She'll probably send a middle finger emoji if I tell her that."

"Yeah, probably."

You texted and told Hailey that Jay said he loves her, too and Will responded asking if he's chopped liver. So, you told him that you and Jay loved him too, but that you should both be fine and that you'd stop driving once you found a place to hunker down at.

After driving for ten more minutes, the hail was coming down so hard that you and Jay could barely see, so he took the first exit he saw.

"Look for places with empty spots," he told you, referring to places with awnings over them so that you'd be covered.

You looked and there was a bank...full. A church with a small awning...full.

Then, Jay spotted a self-service car wash and did what was probably an illegal U-turn to turn into the parking lot.

There were three stalls and the last one on the right was empty. You both thanked your lucky stars and pulled inside.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief as he put the car in park. "Tell Will we're safe."

Then a thought came to mind. "You think Will's gonna be able to fly out tonight?"

Jay looked at the clock. It was almost 3 pm and Will's flight didn't leave until 11 pm. "His flight doesn't leave for another eight hours, so hopefully. If not, I'll just go tour the school with you."

"Okay."

"It's always an adventure with you, isn't it?"

You laughed and shook your head. "And we're not even to Kansas City yet."

After hunkering down for a bit, the hail had let up and you got back on the highway and continued driving. As it turns out, you had been driving the way the tornado was heading. Hail started up once more, but only kept up for five minutes. And, twenty minutes later, there were blue skies on the horizon.

You took a picture and texted it to Will and Hailey telling them you were safe and driving again and told Will to let you know if his flight got delayed or canceled.

***

The next day, Monday

The rest of the night went fine and Will's flight left as scheduled and you and Jay picked him up from the airport and then went for some late-night ice cream. The three of you got breakfast at the hotel and you bought a bottled latte from the market area—Jay and Will thought bitter and acidic hotel coffee tasted fine; you did not.-- Then, the three of you went back upstairs to your room and you and Will proceeded to get ready for the day while Jay got back into bed and proceeded to drink his coffee, call Hailey (who was on her into work), and watch highlights of last night's NHL playoff games.

You and Will went to Kansas City Health College and University and right off the bat, you already got better vibes than those at SAU. Everyone was friendlier, maybe that was just a Midwest thing, but either way, you'd take it.

You toured the school (well, it was more like a building) and you liked it better than SAU as well. They were all about their students here and it was obvious they cared about them and their success. There was a student area complete with a fridge where you could store your lunches for the day and a microwave to use, as well as some comfy chairs and a couch for students to study on and relax. There was a little bar area where students could eat or study. And, there were even two gaming consoles in front of a flat-screen tv, a foosball table, and a ping-pong table for students to use so that they can chill out and hang out with friends. The lady who was giving you a tour even said that last week, they even had a staff vs students ping-pong tournament.

Then, you went and looked at some of the classrooms along with the lab, which you would be using for your neuroanatomy lab and she went over some of the other things the school offered, such as counseling services.

Then, she gave you time to ask any questions you might have for her, you met with the program director and asked her program specific-questions, such as scheduling and the like, and then you met with the dean of students who just wanted to introduce herself and let her know that you could come to her with any concerns you might have.

The entire tour and meetings/question and answer sessions only lasted about two hours, but one thing was for sure: you had found the school for you.

(And, once you were completely finished, Will took a picture of you outside the school that you planned to post on your Instagram tonight.)

***

"How'd it go?" Jay asked when you and Will walked back into the hotel room. This time, Jay's hair was wet and you assumed he had gone to the gym and then taken a shower while you had been gone because you'd now been gone from the hotel for a total of three hours, and despite relaxing when you had left, you knew Jay couldn't sit still for three hours watching random sports highlights or shitty, unrealistic reality tv.

"She loves it," Will said before you could even answer the question.

"Really? Better than SAU, then?"

"Way better. They really care about their students." You then recapped everything you learned, including the student lounge area, how small the cohorts were, etc.

"I'm glad you like it. Ready to go look at apartments?"

That was what was next on your agenda, apartment hunting. You had used up the rest of your sick to take some time off in June to come back if you still needed to find an apartment, but you really didn't want to come back and look again if you didn't have to. You'd prefer to use that time to do things you needed to get done before moving such as going to the eye doctor to see if you needed new glasses and going to the dentist. And, not needing to use that time to come back down here to look at apartments meant that you could use those days for job interviews as well. That was another thing you needed to do after apartment hunting: job hunting.

"Just let me change first. I am not wearing dress pants to look at apartments. And, I'm putting my hair up," you told Jay.

After quickly changing into something more comfortable and putting your hair up, Will changed his clothes as well and the three of you went out to the car to start apartment hunting.

***

You had been looking at apartments online in a historic district called Regent's Circle. It looked very pretty in the photos, but they couldn't really do it justice. Once you parked and walked around, you knew this was where you wanted to live.

Since it was a historic district, it had old townhouses and cobblestone sidewalks, as well as a little coffee shop that Jay said you could go to after you looked at some apartments, a park right in the center of the area, and even a community garden.

It made you think of all the vintage cities you saw in photos and, since your grad school didn't have that old-timely Harvard/Yale feel, at least the place you were living would...if you could find an apartment here, that is.

You had three apartments you wanted to check out that you had found online, but if you found ones while walking around, you'd look at those as well.

The first one you looked at was nice, but it was really dimly lit and dark inside, which you didn't really like. You'd live there if that was the only thing available, but you didn't want to. (At least it was a loft and had exposed brick like you wanted. But, you had filtered for lofts. You wanted something like Kelly and Stella's apartment, but on a smaller scale...and something that you could afford.)

The second one you looked at, you absolutely fell in love with.

It was more expensive than the previous one, but it had a pool. And, something Jay liked was that the parking lot was gated and you needed a code to get in and you'd be on the second floor.

It was a one-bedroom and was a loft style, of course, so it was very open. There was a long marble island, so you wouldn't even need to buy a table, just a set of barstools. The main wall in the living/kitchen that faced the back of the building—as well as the dog park, so you could see cute puppies while watching tv—, was all exposed brick with some windows on it. There were also beams exposed in the ceiling.

The bathroom sink was separate from the shower/tub and the toilet, meaning someone could do their makeup while someone else was going to the bathroom if needed. But, this wasn't your favorite part about the bathroom. No, your favorite part was that it was a wide, circular bathtub/shower, a soaking tub if you will, which would come in handy for taking warm, relaxing baths after long days of classes, studying, and practicums.

And, something that Jay pointed out, the floor was concrete, so you didn't have to worry about spilling something on the carpet and staining it and getting charged for it. (You assumed Jay was speaking from experience during his bachelor pad days, but when you asked him, he said he was pleading the fifth.)

The apartment definitely gave you Stella and Kelly vibes and it was in a safe area.

Then, you finished the tour by looking at the fitness center and then gave the manager who had helped you your email address and phone number and he gave you a few pieces of paper with information as well as his business card.

"That's the one I want," you told Jay and Will when you were sitting outside at the little coffee shop a quarter mile away from the apartment you had just toured drinking a latte and eating a danish.

"It's a bit pricey," Jay pointed out.

"They're all like that if she wants it in a safe area," Will said.

"Would you rather have me be safe and live in a bit more expensive apartment? Or not be safe and live in a cheap apartment? Plus, there's an in-unit washer and dryer, which you know is a deal-breaker for me."

All the way back when you were in Arizona, you had told Will that having an in-unit washer and dryer was one of your non-negotiables for your apartment. You knew that being a busy grad student, you wouldn't have all day to spend at a laundromat or in a community laundry area in your apartment, so you needed an in-unit washer and dryer.

"She's got a point, Jay," Will agreed. "And, she's got some savings to pull from if she can't find a job right away."

"And it's five minutes away from school and I don't need to drive on the highway. I'm saving money in gas and time without all the traffic."

"And here I thought Will was the boujee sibling," Jay said, causing Will to roll his eyes.

You smiled. "I'll take that as your seal of approval."

And three days later, when you were back at work and had downtime during your shift, you applied for the apartment.

***

Two and a half months later, mid-July

Everything was in place. You secured the apartment you wanted in Regent's Circle in Kansas City, you had gotten an online tutoring job that was flexible where you could work from home, so you could work around your school and practicum schedules, and you were mostly packed up. (And you had gotten into SAU even after bombing the interview, but decided not to go because they—especially Dr. Haldon—absolutely did not pass the vibe check...and they got back to you two months later instead of two weeks like they had originally told you.) Your favorite coworkers had even thrown you a little surprise goodbye party complete with mini cupcakes and a few gifts, which included a card, two energy drinks, and a Starbucks gift card.

And now, you were leaving in two days, which was why you were very confused when Jay had made you stop doing laundry and packing up last-minute things and told you to get ready because you were going somewhere.

"Hailey, help me out here," you began, "where are we going?"

"Can't tell you that," she told you.

"Okay...how do I need to dress then?"

"Casual," she answered. "With a little bit of makeup."

You nodded. "Still didn't give me any hints. Rude."

And then you walked into your room to change and do your makeup with Jay and Hailey laughing in the background.

***

"Molly's? Really?" You asked when Jay parked on the street where Molly's Pub was located. "You couldn't have just told me that?"

"I'm just picking something up from Kelly," Jay answered. "And, I thought you might want to see Stella one more time before you leave and she's bartending tonight."

The three of you got out of Jay's truck—Hailey citing the fact that who knows how long Jay and Kelly would talk as her reasoning for not staying in the truck—and then walked into Molly's.

"Surprise!" was what you heard when you walked in.

You looked around with wide eyes to see a banner that said Farewell Y/N! and everyone from Intelligence, 51, and everyone you knew at Med. Even Voight was here and from snippets of conversation you had heard here and there, he was one step above being legally barred from entering Molly's.

You put your hand over your mouth as tears came to your eyes. "You guys."

"You didn't think we'd send you off without a party, did you?" Kelly asked.

"I wasn't expecting one, no."

Then Stella walked up to you. "Well, you got one. And all your drinks are on the house tonight." She handed you a drink. "Starting with this cherry vodka sour."

Stella knew that was your favorite.

A few minutes later, after everything had died down a bit, Voight came up to you while you were talking to Stella and Kelly at the bar.

"Congrats, kid," he said.

"Thank you," you replied.

"You've always been sort of like a daughter to me and to everyone in Intelligence for that matter, so I'm gonna keep it short." He handed you an envelope. A fat envelope at that. "For rent. And, there's the numbers of a sergeant and a couple of officers I know down there in case you run into any trouble."

"I can't accept this. It's too much." You hadn't even opened it, but by the thickness of the envelope, you knew it contained a lot of money.

"You can and you will. Justin never really used his college fund, and I wanted it to go to something worthwhile."

(This was in fact, a lie. This was money from Voight being Voight, but you didn't need to know that. And more importantly, Jay didn't need to know that...even though, after you counted out the bills, Jay would have his suspicions.)

You nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Stay out of trouble."

And then, he gave you a hug and left the bar because even though he was legally allowed to enter, he knew he still would never be accepted there. And, the less time he spent there, the better.

***

After talking and laughing with everyone for about an hour, Hermann yelled to be heard over the noise.

"Okay, everyone! Listen up!" The room quieted. "It's time to give Y/N her presents."

Then, Ritter came out one of the employees-only doors, pushing a food service cart containing multiple gift bags and boxes wrapped in colorful wrapping paper.

You were just about to say something when the door opened and you whirled your head around.

You jumped off your barstool and ran up to him.

"Casey!"

He pulled you into a hug. "You didn't think I'd miss my favorite kid's going away party, did you?"

"I thought you were in Oregon!"

"Just in time," Will said.

Then, you looked between your two brothers and at all of the firefighters in the bar. They didn't look surprised to see Casey at all.

"You knew about this?"

Jay laughed. "Who do you think told him?"

"Enough with the logistics," Casey yelled. "Get this kid a drink! On me!"

"Her drinks are already free tonight!" Kelly yelled. "Which you would've known if you got here on time."

"Nice to see you, too, Severide," Casey shot back.

There were a couple of chuckles heard throughout the bar and then Hermann spoke up again.

"Open the gifts so we can get this cart out of here, will you?"

You laughed and shook your head and then opened your gifts, thanking every single person as you went.

51 got you a fire extinguisher and a Slamigan, which Kelly explained was less about opening doors and more for whacking someone over the head if they tried to break into your apartment. All the doctors and nurses got together and made you the best first aid kit you had ever seen, complete with more stuff than even Jay had in the first aid kit at home and you thought his was the best at-home first aid kit around. And, Intelligence got you a master lock for your door just for some added security. Also, Kevin and Adam got you a Taser. (They had to specify that it was just from them because Jay vetoed it for the joint gift, so they got it for you themselves.) And, Gallo, Ritter, and Violet gave you a case of their lightest IPA and a 12-pack of grapefruit seltzer so that you Jay, Hailey, and Will would have something to drink while working on moving you into your apartment.

Then, they did something that was even more unexpected than giving you all these gifts: they started chanting speech.

"Here, take this," Stella handed you a shot of what you assumed was vodka. "Liquid courage."

You took it and then took a deep breath.

"I wasn't really prepared to give a speech—I wasn't prepared for any of this since it was a surprise—so it might not be the greatest," you began. You looked around the room at everyone who had come out to celebrate you tonight, of all people. "Thank you all for coming, it really means a lot. Stella, thank you for making my hair beautiful for all my dances senior year. Sylvie, thank you for helping me with my biology homework when Will was busy at work so he couldn't help me. Thank you to all of 51 for making me laugh when I had to spend days there when I was younger when Will and Jay were busy and couldn't stay with me. Kelly and Matt, thank you for teaching me how to use a fire extinguisher and how to change the batteries in a smoke detector.

"Everyone at Med, thank you for putting up with me when I went to Med to find Will even if I was pulling you away from your jobs. I'm also sorry about that." That got a couple of laughs from some people. "Hannah, thank you for all your help earlier this year. I would've been even more of a mess if it weren't for your help.

"Trudy, thank you for putting up with me when I'd run into the district looking for Jay and for always giving me money to go get a snack and a pop from the vending machines. Kim, thank you for helping me with my Spanish. Kevin, thank you for taking me for my very first ride in a cop car when you were on patrol and Kim was pulled up to Intelligence for the day. Sorry, Trudy." She glared at Kevin, but then laughed, so you knew it wasn't that serious. "Adam, thank you for teaching me how to pick locks because Jay told me that he'd never teach me that."

Now, you turned to face Hailey and your brothers and the tears started to fall.

"Hailey, thank you for coming into my brother's life and for loving him and during that time, for loving me as well. Thank you for becoming the closest thing to a mom that I've ever had."

Hailey put her hand over her mouth and blinked rapidly to hold back her tears, but then just gave up and let a few of them slide down her cheeks.

"And to Will and Jay, God I can't even put into words how much you two mean to me. You became like father figures to me. Your both have put your careers on the line whether that be to pick me up from school on time, or to leave a shift to come to one of my academic awards ceremonies. Thank you. And thank you for putting up with me for these past six months and for being there and helping me through this process. I couldn't have done it without you both."

By the end of your speech, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

And, despite saying that you didn't really think you'd miss Chicago and would relish living on your own, by the end of the night, you knew that in two days, you'd feel pangs of homesickness when you drove away from all these people who had become like a family to you over the years.

***

4 days later

You looked around your apartment at all the hard work you, Jay, Will, and Hailey had put in during these past two days. The four of you had hauled ass the past two days to get you completely moved in by Sunday night so that Will, Jay, and Hailey could leave and be home at a decent time in the morning so that Will could make it to his 3 pm-3 am shift on time.

"We should probably get going," Will stated. He had said that an hour ago, but there had been a silent agreement between the four of you to prolong your brothers' and sister-in-law's stay as long as possible. Even though you said you were more excited than nervous, it didn't mean that you wouldn't miss them.

You were not going to cry because you knew if you started crying, you'd want to jump in Jay's truck and go home with them, and you knew you couldn't do that.

"One last picture," Hailey said and pulled out her phone, and handed it to Will, who was the tallest of the four of you.

You all crowded together while Will held Hailey's phone and took a selfie.

Now, it was time for goodbye.

Hailey was up first.

"I'm gonna miss you," she told you.

Tears sprang to your eyes. "I'm gonna miss you, too. Make sure Jay doesn't get shot, okay?"

"I'll do my best. You know he's a bullet magnet."

"Unfortunately."

Then, you gave her a big hug. She knew how much she meant to you and vice versa, so there wasn't a need for a long, drawn-out goodbye between you two.

Next up, was Will.

He pulled you into a hug and told you he'd love and miss you and then pulled away and put his hands on your shoulders.

"You call me if you need anything, okay? And I mean anything."

All you could do was nod because you knew if you said anything, you'd just start crying.

Last but certainly not least, was Jay.

He gave you a bone-crushing hug, during which you tried not to sob.

But, when he pulled away and you saw him trying his best to hold back tears, that's when the waterworks started.

"I'm gonna miss you, so much!"

Jay hugged you again. "And I'm gonna miss you, too. But I am so, so proud of you."

You nodded and wiped your tears. "I love you, Jay Jay."

"Love you, too, kiddo."

Jay took a deep breath to steady himself. "We need to go, but if you need anything at all, I'm only eight hours away, about five or six with lights and sirens."

"I know. Voight might kick your ass for using them all the way to Kansas City, though."

"That would probably be Platt, which is arguably scarier."

Then, you walked the three of them to your door and watched them leave.

Hailey sent you the picture and you posted some highlights of these two days including another picture in front of your school of the four of you that you had a passerby take and some funny videos you took while moving in, one of which was Jay and Will arguing over how to build a couch because Jay refused to read the directions.

Then, you posted all of these on your Instagram with the caption Onto the next adventure.

Jay and Hailey both reposted the post on their Instagram stories with Jay captioning it Not a dad, but I think this is what being a proud dad feels like with a heart emoji at the end, and Will posted the picture of the four of you in front of your school on his account with the caption Soon, there will be two Dr. Halsteads.

And, little did you know, Jay, Will, and Hailey did not have to be back tomorrow because Will had to work. That was a lie. They were getting a hotel room to make sure everything went okay on your first night alone in your apartment.

Because even though you were living on your own and would be a state away, they would do anything to help you succeed, whether that be helping you with applications, going with you to an ultrasound, or telling you a white lie so that they could make sure you were okay.

You wouldn't trade them for the world.

And, Jay had been right: you got this.

A/N: If you made it this far, congratulations! You finished my longest imagine ever! If you liked it, don't forget to reblog/like and comment because I love hearing what you guys think! As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’ll add you!

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @911ls-tarlos @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88 @glitterquadricorn @luvreading67 @smoothdogsgirl @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff@actlikesummerr @lcothr523 @star-wars-lover​

#imagine #fanfic #fanfiction #chicago pd #chicago med #chicago pd imagine #chicago med imagine #chicago pd fanfiction #chicago med fanfiction #chicago pd fanfic #chicago med fanfic #jay halstead #will halstead #halstead sister #hailey upton #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead fanfic #jay halstead fanfiction #will halstead imagine #will halstead fanfic #will halstead fanfiction #halstead sister imagine #writer #writing #my writing

[h4lfaheart]

Invisible String, a Halstead!Sister fanfiction

Chapter 8 on!

#chicago med fanfiction #chicago pd fanfic #jay halstead #jay halstead fanfic #will halstead #chicago pd imagines #halstead!sister fanfic #halstead sister #halstead siblings fanfic #halstead!sister fanfiction #halstead siblings #lizzie halstead #halstead brothers #halstead!sister #ao3 #ao3 update #ao3 fanfic #chicago pd fanfiction #chicago med fanfic #will halstead fanfic

[delusionalmultifandomwriter]

Would you read this pairing? (Chicago Med)

So i have this idea sketched out in my brain and was wondering if you would read it.

#my writing #chicago med #one chicago #david downey #dr downey #sam abrams #dr abrams #david downey x sam abrams #chicago med poll #chicago med fanfiction #chicago med fanfic #would you read this?

[carolina-skies]

Just Me

Pairing: Will Halstead/Natalie Manning

Word Count: 1.7k

My Published Works

Read on AO3

Requested: Yes, by @flyingpotstickers! Thank you for the idea, friendo!!

Tags: Manstead, Season One canon-compliant-ish, mentioned death, death of parent, hurt-comfort, comforting a friend, crossing romantic boundaries

--

Summary: With the stress of Jennifer Baker threatening to sue the hospital, Will finds himself making career-altering mistakes and friendship-ending comments. The trauma of losing his mother was hitting him harder than he expected. After a particularly sensitive conversation with Natalie, he finds himself rushing to see her.

--

The energy in the ED was something just under hostile. The tension could practically be sliced with a knife, and a large one at that. Will Halstead screwed the pooch with the Baker family, wrongfully convincing the husband to retract his wife’s DNR. Not that he’d ever admit it, though.

One thing that made Will an excellent doctor was his persistence in ensuring that his patients received the best of care, even if he had to bust someone’s balls to get it done. He truly believed that he had good intentions in persuading Zoe, the new pharmaceutical representative, to make an exception for the dying woman on a drug trial she’d mentioned. Nosy nurses and even some of their fellow doctors would’ve argued that Will went as far as he did with the drug trial because he had gotten quite friendly with the pharm rep.

Hearing these rumors made his blood boil. That was the furthest thing from the truth. When Will looked at Jennifer Baker, he didn’t see a patient that hated him. He saw his mother. The red-headed doctor watched his mother give up on her cancer treatment, and he couldn’t watch it again. He made his way to the elevator with a mission in mind, unknowingly being spotted by Dr. Manning. 

“Will!” She called, chasing after him. 

The sound of her voice stopped him in his tracks. He spun around to face her with a pained expression. This entire situation was killing him, but she didn’t know why. 

“Will,” she repeated. “What’s going on?”

He let out an exasperated sigh as he tried to gather his thoughts. 

“I can’t watch that woman die, Nat. I can’t just sit back and do nothing as she leaves her child motherless.”

Natalie reached out and placed a hand on his arm.

“That’s not your call to make. Jennifer has tried everything to beat this, but she’s done. She just wants it to be over.” She explained. 

“How can you say that? With a brand new baby at home, you can’t see why I’m still pushing for this? She has to keep fighting.” Will pressed. 

She took in a sharp breath, not expecting such a rash reaction from her attending doctor. 

“Will, don’t-,” she tried.

“No, come on, Nat. As a parent you should want to do everything in your power to be there for your child. I was hoping that you of all people would get that,” he said, turning back around and stepping into the elevator. 

“Don’t expect me to save you, Will,” she spat. 

“I don’t expect to need saving,” the red-haired doctor called over his shoulder. 

Natalie couldn’t describe what she was feeling. She was hurt by Will’s words, especially because they came from him. He’s been so supportive of her ever since Jeff’s death. They’d become really close over the past couple of months, some would suggest they’d gotten too close. She’d even had similar thoughts recently, contemplating that his motives were more than platonic. Still, she couldn’t think about that right now. 

She walked towards the elevator, knowing she wouldn’t be able to catch him before he got to the Baker family, but she could get to Ms. Goodwin’s office. As the elevator brought her to another floor, she tried to calm her nerves. She didn’t want to bring administration into this, but she didn’t have a choice. 

“Ms. Goodwin?” She asked, poking her head into the woman’s office. 

“Yes, Dr. Manning, come in.”

Natalie stepped into the office, wringing her hands as she carefully considered her words. 

“What can I help you with?” Her boss asked. 

Natalie let out a nervous sigh, bringing a hand up to her head.

“I think Will- er, Dr. Halstead is currently on his way to doing something very stupid, both for the hospital and his career.” 

—

“Goodnight, Dr. Manning,” the ED charge nurse called.

Natalie looked over her shoulder, waving at her friend. 

“Goodnight, Maggie.”

She walked to her car, trying to forget the stressful workday and leave it behind her as she walked away from the hospital. The drive was uneventful, as she’d mostly zoned out during the entire thing, relying on muscle memory to bring her home. 

She didn’t really pay attention to where she was until she was walking up the stairs of her apartment building, careful not to trip over one of them. The brunette sighed as she fumbled with her keys, searching for the right one. As she finally selected the appropriate key, she heard the sound of someone coming up the steps she’d just ventured. Assuming it was one of her neighbors, she didn’t think anything of it, and went to unlock her door. 

“Natalie,” a voice called. 

She turned towards the sound of her name, practically startled to see the last man she wanted to be around right now. He had a desperate look in his eyes, and another emotion written across his face that Natalie couldn’t quite read. 

“Will,” she nearly gasped. “What are- what are you doing here?” 

He ran a hand through his messy curls, disheveling them even further. Whatever was on his mind was eating at him. 

“Ms. Goodwin came to me. I, uh, I’ve been suspended for a few days.”

She dropped her shoulders, feeling bad for him. Part of her wanted to feel guilty for reporting him to Sharon, but she didn’t feel that she had a choice. Will was on a fast track to doing something that would cost him his career, and she couldn’t stand by and let it happen. 

“Will, I’m so sorry. I went to Ms. Goodwin and told her everything. I was only trying to help,” she admitted. 

He shook his head.

“I know, I know. It’s okay. Look, I just wanted to come by and apologize for the way I spoke to you today. You didn’t deserve that, especially from me.” 

She crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head as a concerned look spread over her face. 

“Why don’t we go inside? We can sit down and talk. Helen won’t be home with Owen for another hour or so,” Natalie offered. 

He hesitated for a moment, not knowing if this was a boundary they should cross. Finally, he nodded and followed her into the apartment. She set her purse down on the kitchen counter and grabbed two glasses from a cupboard, filling them with water. On any other night, she would’ve been desperate for a glass of wine and a relaxing bath, but alcohol was the last thing Will needed. 

She guided him over to the living room, expecting him to take a seat on the couch. Instead, he took a seat on the floor in front of it, letting his head fall back onto the cushion.

“What’s going on, Will? What’s with you and this family?” 

He let out a sigh, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before opening them, staring at the ceiling. After what felt like a lifetime, he opened his mouth to speak. 

“My mother. I saw my mom when I looked at Jennifer Baker.”

Natalie paused, trying to understand.

“Your mother?” She asked.

He nodded, taking a moment to breathe before continuing.

“She, uh, she died a couple of years ago. My dad was too preoccupied with getting wasted in his spare time and Jay was deployed overseas, so it was just me taking care of her.” 

His voice was shaky as he recalled the memories that he’d clearly tried to forget about. Natalie desperately wanted to reach out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but she wasn’t sure if they were there yet. 

“And then her illness got worse. She became s-so weak and fatigued, but there wasn’t anything else that they could do,” he started. “There were no experimental drugs that she could try. But Mrs. Baker has that opportunity, she has that chance. She could beat this and give her daughter many more years with her mother. Why wouldn’t she want to take that?”

As he spoke, his voice cracked. This prompted Natalie to give in, resting a gentle hand on his forearm in a comforting manner. 

“Will, this isn’t on you. Mrs. Baker has been through hell and back trying to fight her cancer, and it’s okay that she doesn’t want to fight anymore. It’s okay.”

At this point, he broke. The dam of tears that had been building up finally let loose, streaming down his face. Natalie moved closer to him, putting an arm around his shoulder. He tilted his head, leaning against her as he cried. 

“I-it was just me, I was all she had. J-Jay couldn’t come home and Dad d-didn’t care. I failed her,” he sobbed. 

Natalie brought her hand up to his face, brushing the stray tears away, shushing him. 

“Shh, it’s alright. You didn’t fail her, you did everything you could,” she murmured. 

He didn’t have it in him to speak anymore as the two sat there in silence, with Will occasionally sniffling and Natalie humming a calming tune. She sat next to him, holding him until he fell asleep. She nudged his shoulder and whispered soft instructions to him, convincing him to bring himself up to the couch. He adjusted his position, laying on his side on the soft surface below him. 

Natalie sat on the cushions, positioning herself in front of his legs so that she wasn’t entirely encroaching on his personal space, but close enough for him to know that she was there. After a moment of watching him to make sure he was asleep, the room was filled with the sound of light snoring. She took that as her sign to get up, leaving him on the couch. 

“Nat…,” he mumbled, eyes still closed. 

She turned around, seeing him still laying on the couch with an outstretched arm. She stood there, stunned.

“C’mere,” he tried again, beckoning her to him. 

She sat back down on the couch, assuming her previous position. He groaned and reached his arm out again, wrapping it around her waist to pull her down next to him. This shocked her, but she quickly recovered as Will buried his face into her hair, quickly falling back asleep. His breathing patterns were calm, and Natalie found herself listening to them like a lullaby as she drifted off to sleep next to him. 

#my writing #one chicago fic #one chicago fanfic #one chicago fanfiction #manstead #manstead fic #manstead fanfic #manstead fanfiction #will halstead fanfic #will halstead fic #will halstead #natalie manning #natalie manning fanfic #natalie manning fic #will halstead x natalie manning #chicago med #chicago med fanfic #chicago med fanfiction #chicago med writer

[land-sh]

“Del carbón se hacen diamantes” (Hannah Asher x Dean Archer) Chicago Med Fanfic

Desde que ella llegó, él no tenía la menor intención de aceptarla como un miembro “honorable” del equipo de Urgencias. La señora Goodwin la contrató, pero el experimentado cirujano siempre iba a tener sus reservas. Todos son propensos a cometer errores, pero algunas personas nunca dejan de balancearse al borde del abismo. Quizá se debía a que él era muy duro con sus propios errores, quizá se debía a ese urgente sentido del deber que siempre llevaba a cuestas, pero no iba a dejar que la joven doctora Hannah Asher perdiera el camino así de fácil.

Dean Archer fingía llenar los formularios de alta en una de las computadoras frente a Tratamiento 3, dónde Hannah revisaba con su característica dedicación a una paciente.

– Hola, Dean. – La conocida voz de Ethan le hizo volver en sí. Por lo que cerró su sesión y se dio la vuelta para tomar nuevamente su tableta. –¿Qué tal va tu mañana? – El otro médico militar le regaló una de sus sonrisas afables mientras el mayor intentaba ocultar sus verdaderas acciones.

–Bien, supongo. ¿Qué tal la tuya, Ethan? ¿Quieres un café? – Dean miró de reojo hacia donde estaba Hannah, quien ahora cerraba la cortina para iniciar un examen. Exhaló lentamente para relajarse y que fuera menos notorio su nerviosismo.

– Estoy intentando disminuir mi ingesta de cafeína, pero te acompaño. – El jefe de urgencias comenzó a caminar hacia la sala de descanso. – ¿Cómo sigues después de tu pequeño altercado? – Ethan sonrió de medio lado, intentando restarle importancia al asunto aunque genuinamente estaba preocupado por el contrario.

– Me encuentro bien. No tienen que preocuparse más por eso. – El ojiazul tomó la cafetera ya terminada para poder servirse en uno de los vasos de papel. Siguió añadiendo un sobre de azúcar y dos cucharadas de crema.

– Hannah mencionó hace unos días que no podías operar y supuse que podrías necesitar algo de ayuda con los casos o quizá en tu propio tratamiento. – El castaño se recargó contra uno de los estantes, cruzándose de brazos y a la expectativa de lo que pudiera decir el mayor. Pero hubo una larga pausa. – Espero no te lo tomes a mal, después de todo somos colegas y… amigos. – Dean suspiró con pesadez, no estaba de humor para lidiar con este asunto. Alzó una de sus cejas para denotar la molestia que sentía porque de nuevo la joven rubia estaba causando alboroto. Primero le receta una dosis de analgésicos menor a la necesaria, luego lo hace sentir obsoleto y ahora estaba poniendo en evidencia que no podía realizar su trabajo.

– Fue un malentendido nada más. Ella… – El cano doctor bebió su primer trago del oscuro líquido y volvió a recordar que últimamente no estaba odiando tanto a Hannah Asher, sin embargo, aún le creaba cierta incomodidad tener que lidiar con ella. – Ella ya me está ayudando. – Dean se relamió los labios y fingió una sonrisa para acompañar la mentira. – Pero te agradezco, Ethan. Ahora, si me disculpas, tengo que seguir trabajando. – De pronto el café le supo tan amargo como el hecho de tener que pretender que no sentía dolor y que la molestia hacia la obstetra ahora fluctuaba entre la incomodidad y la desconfianza. No estaba seguro de por qué no podía quitársela de la mente desde que habían operado juntos hace apenas unos días. No estaba seguro si podía confiar en ella o no para que lo apoyase en una situación tan problemática como lo es tener que aumentar cada vez más la dosis de las pastillas después de que un paciente drogado le rompiera las costillas y la nariz.

– Doctor Archer, Doctor Halstead. Viene paciente grave, irán a Bagdad. – La voz de Maggie lo hizo volver a la tierra. Dejó el vaso de papel a un lado y se apresuró para recibir a los paramédicos.

– Gregory Mccoy, 35 años. Automóvil contra peatón. Intubamos y canalizamos en el lugar. Fractura expuesta de fémur, controlamos la hemorragia. Presión 90 sobre 60, pulso 120. – La paramédico Courtney relataba conforme empujaba la camilla hacia la sala de trauma correspondiente.

–Bien, vamos a transferir a mi cuenta. 1… 2… 3… – Todo el grupo pasó al hombre inconsciente de la camilla a la cama ya instalada en el hospital y las enfermeras comenzaron a conectarlo a los monitores y a despojarlo de su vestimenta. – Necesito rayos equis. – Añadió Dean mientras abría sus párpados para verificar la actividad cerebral. –Pupilas reactivas. –

–Es un milagro. Sonido de respiración bilateral. – Añadió el pelirrojo y enseguida tuvieron que hacerse a un lado para que se acercara el técnico de rayos equis. – Atrás…– Todos dejaron que Mike tomara la radiografía, que enseguida apareció en la pantalla. – Tres costillas rotas. – Dean hizo una mueca de empatía.

–Hay que hacer un escaneo rápido para descartar hemorragia interna. – El más joven de los médicos asiente y acerca el aparato para realizar el examen ante las indicaciones de su superior. – Al parecer tiene una laceración de hígado. Doris, avisa a quirófano, hay que intentar resolver eso antes de seguir con sus fracturas. –

– Enseguida. – La enfermera asiente y sale de inmediato para informar a Maggie sobre los pasos a seguir. –

–¿Necesitará asistencia? Hannah mencionó que… – Empezó a expresar el pelirrojo y por mucho que Dean quisiera decir que no, sabía que no podía arriesgarse.

– Claro. Prepárese, doctor Halstead. – No tenía que sonreírle al menor, sabía que él y Hannah no habían sido solo amigos. O al menos esa impresión daban a todo el mundo últimamente. –Vamos a transportarlo y a prepararlo para operación. – Quitó el seguro de las ruedas y avanzó junto al equipo para salir de la sala de trauma. Camino al elevador su mirada se cruzó momentáneamente con Hannah Asher, la rubia parecía desconcertada ya que el jefe de Urgencias tenía sus ojos fijos en ella. ______________________________________________

– ¿Sabes qué le sucede a Dean Archer últimamente? – Preguntó Hannah a la jefa de enfermeras quien estaba como siempre ocupada en la estación de enfermeras.

–No lo sé. Supongo que nadie vuelve a ser el mismo después de ser golpeado con un extintor. – Maggie se encoge de hombros restándole importancia al asunto.

La rubia pasa por alto el chiste de la castaña y aún consternada se acerca un poco más para hablar bajo. – Maggie, me parece que el dolor no le deja hacer su trabajo como es usual. Alguien debería hablar con él. Quizá si lo reportamos a Goodwin…–

–Creo que antes de escalar el asunto, deberíamos intentar hablar con él directamente, Hannah. – La actitud maternal de Maggie sale a flote, tomando con mayor seriedad la conversación. –No creo que debamos empezar con acusaciones…–

–No hablo de acusarlo. Simplemente no sé si Dean Archer realmente escuchará a alguien que no sea su superior. – La rubia suspira y niega con la cabeza. –¿Intentarías hablar con él, Maggie? –

–Hannah, ya lo dijiste. Nadie realmente es tan cercano a él como para…– La mayor se detiene al notar que el doctor Choi pasaba frente a ellas. –Ethan…– Le hace una señal con la cabeza para que se acerque. –¿Intentaste hablar con Dean hoy? –

–Claro. Después de lo que dijo Hannah, creí que lo mejor era abordarlo como en una charla casual y tratar de que me confiara su situación pero… – El pelinegro se encogió de hombros. – … no conseguí que me dijera nada. Dice que todo está bien y que de hecho, ya te había pedido ayuda a ti, Hannah. –

–¿A mí? – La rubia enarcó una ceja y después negó. –No, en lo absoluto, le ofrecí mi ayuda pero la rechazó. – Ethan Choi se cruzó de brazos. –Opino que deberíamos acudir con la señora Goodwin… –

–No, creo que es pronto para reportar a Dean. Todavía hay alguien más indicado para encargarse del asunto. – El médico militar desvía su mirada hacia la jefa de enfermeras. – ¿El doctor Charles está de guardia hoy? –

–Sí, como casi siempre. Pero hoy no lo he visto bajar a consulta. – Respondió Maggie mientras echaba un vistazo a los horarios en la computadora.

–Bueno, yo de hecho iba a pedirle una consulta para mi paciente. Creo que tiene depresión post-parto y me vendría bien una segunda opinión. – Añadió la rubia. –¿Puedes llamarlo, Maggie? Le comentaré el asunto de Dean cuando baje. – El otro par asintió y Maggie alzó el auricular para comunicarse con el psiquiatra.

______________________________________________

Dean Archer se esforzaba para que sus gestos y sus movimientos no pusieran en evidencia el malestar que sentía. Las operaciones podían tardar horas en condiciones normales, pero con dolor, todo el tiempo que estuviera de pie en el quirófano podría ser verdaderamente una tortura. Respiraba lentamente para intentar concentrarse en lo que hacía y nada más.

– Doctor Archer, si está de acuerdo, creo que podría apoyarlo desde este ángulo. Solo indíqueme lo que necesita que haga. – El pelirrojo intentaba no sonar demasiado preocupado, pero por el semblante del mayor, su primer instinto era solicitar el apoyo de otro cirujano en el quirófano híbrido.

– Sujete el cauterizador y ayúdeme a controlar la hemorragia de la laceración. – Dean pasó saliva, no estaba seguro de cómo podría realizar el trabajo hasta el final sin desmayarse del dolor. El tiempo de efectividad de sus pastillas era cada vez menor. – No, así no. El ángulo no está bien. Deme eso. – A final de cuentas, había sido soldado. Necesitaba cumplir con su deber sin importar lo que él estuviera experimentando.

–Su presión está bajando. – El anestesiólogo en turno intentó alertar al cirujano y todos comenzaron a sentir la tensión.

– Doctor Archer, creo que debería solicitar el apoyo del doctor Marcel o…– Will Halstead comenzaba a preocuparse por su paciente y no estaba dispuesto a que lo culparan de no sonar la alarma en el momento adecuado. Siempre había sido de los médicos más rebeldes del Med pero esta situación no era la indicada para eso.

– Guarden silencio y dejen que me concentre. Pinzas… – El mayor no iba a dejar que su carrera se viera mancillada por un dolor de cuerpo. Tenía que hacer lo necesario para salvar a su paciente y si eso requería soportar el terrible dolor que le taladraba los costados, eso haría. El sudor comenzó a aperlar sus sienes y su pulso comenzó a acelerarse mientras su mirada se fijaba en la mesa de operaciones y lo que estaba haciendo.

Will se debatía entre salir corriendo para llamar a Crockett o si intentar hacer algo para ayudar al jefe de Urgencias aun contra su voluntad. Cerró los ojos un momento, anhelando la iluminación del creador.

– Presión estabilizándose. – Al fin Marty hace un anuncio que le devuelve la vida al pelirrojo. Sin embargo, el experimentado cirujano estaba al borde del colapso. – Doctor Halstead, ¿cree que pueda ser capaz de cerrar? – La voz de Dean sonaba un poco más débil, pero al menos lo más difícil había pasado.

– Me parece que sí. Siempre y cuando pueda guiarme, doctor Archer. – El pelirrojo se posicionó a un costado de donde estaba el mayor. – ¿Podrían traer un banco al doctor? – Dean no se resistió esta vez, se encontraba demasiado adolorido para discutir. Asintió al mismo tiempo que daba espacio para trabajar. 

– Aguja y sutura para el doctor Halstead. – Hizo una mueca de decepción. Sentí que muy pronto escucharía la voz de la señora Goodwin reclamándole por su imprudencia. Pasó saliva e intentó concentrarse únicamente en supervisar el trabajo del más joven.

______________________________________________

– Bueno, no me parece una depresión post-parto demasiado grave. Le he recomendado una buena terapeuta para estos casos, así que tengo esperanzas en que pronto vuelva a la normalidad. – El doctor Charles recién salía de Tratamiento tres y daba su reporte a la doctora Asher sobre su diagnóstico sin notarse preocupado en lo más mínimo.

–Muchas gracias, doctor Charles. Es un alivio. – El mayor se acercó a una de las computadoras y comenzó a llenar los formularios correspondientes. La rubia se acercó al psiquiatra y se aseguró de que nadie más a su alrededor escuchara. – Doctor Charles, quería pedirle un favor. –

– Dígame, doctora Asher. – Seguía con la mirada en la computadora mientras daba clics a las casillas correspondientes.

–Se trata de Dean Archer. Me preocupa… Bueno, a varios de nosotros, honestamente. – La menor se aclaró la garganta. – Tengo la impresión de que está pasando por una situación complicada pero no se anima a hablar con nadie al respecto y encima de todo el dolor que siente creo que comienza a afectar su desempeño en el trabajo. Tal vez usted pueda hablar con él…– La rubia se mordió el labio inferior, realmente no estaba del todo convencida de por qué tanta preocupación por el médico que con más dureza la había estado tratando desde que regresó al Med.

–Entiendo, doctora Asher. – Charles le dedicó una de sus sonrisas características al mismo tiempo que se acomodó la armazón de los lentes para tranquilizar a la obstetra. –Hablaré con él e intentaré llegar al fondo de este asunto. ¿De acuerdo? – El psiquiatra cerró su sesión en la computadora y después tomó su tableta para dirigirse a los elevadores.

Sin estar muy segura de por qué, Hannah seguía intranquila. Will entró a la estación de enfermeras e inició sesión en una de las computadoras para seguir llenando el historial de su paciente. –Hola, Hannah. ¿Cómo va el día? – El pelirrojo miró de reojo a la rubia que seguía pensativa.

– Hola. Todo en orden, ¿qué hay de ti? – Volvió en sí y tomó su tableta para disimular con una media sonrisa. –¿Estabas en el quirófano? — Notó que Will todavía tenía la cofia de cirugía.

–Sí, estaba con el Archer. Últimamente parece más gruñón de lo normal, pero tuve que cerrar yo porque él apenas podía estar de pie y…–

–¿Dónde está ahora?- Hannah lo interrumpió con suma preocupación en su expresión.

–Creo que en la sala de descanso. ¿Sabes lo que pasa? – Apenas terminó la primera frase, ella corrió hacia el lugar mencionado. Doris y Will se miraron el uno al otro con desconcierto mientras la gineco obstetra se alejaba.

______________________________________________

Hannah abrió la puerta de la sala de descanso con tal urgencia, que parecía una policía a punto de allanar una casa. –Dean…– Zach, el interno llevó una mano a su pecho para contener el gran susto que le había provocado la mayor. Dando lentas bocanadas de aire, intentó hablar de nuevo. –Zach, disculpa. ¿No has visto al doctor Archer? Me dijeron que estaba aquí y…– La rubia se acercó al contrario para ayudarlo a tomar asiento en la mesa del centro. El castaño negó.

–También… también lo estoy buscando. – Hanna le acercó una botella de agua y él la aceptó con gusto. – Me dijeron que estaba aquí, pero al parecer se acaba de ir. No lo veo desde hace mucho. –

–Perdón por asustarte así, escuché que no se había sentido bien en el quirófano y probablemente debería estar descansando. — La gineco obstetra no podía ocultar más su enorme preocupación por el jefe de Urgencias.

–Bueno, doctora Asher, ya conoce al doctor Archer, no es muy asiduo a tomarse descansos. Es probable que esté detrás de alguna cortina, revisando a un paciente. – Ella se quedó pensativa unos instantes, el menor sin duda tenía razón. Era mucho más lógico suponer que Dean estaba en alguno de los cuartos de tratamiento intentando “arreglarse” a sí mismo.

–Tienes razón, Zach. — Hannah se dirigió a la puerta. –Gracias y de nuevo, lamento haberte asustado. – Al salir nuevamente, se topó con Maggie. –Maggie, ¿hay cuartos de tratamiento desocupados? —

La jefa de enfermeras se quedó pensando unos segundos. – Me parece que se acaba de desocupar el uno. ¿Por qué? — La rubia no le dio oportunidad de terminar su pregunta.

— Si lo encuentra, ¿podría decirle que ya le envié los resultados de los análisis de la señora Jones? – El residente permaneció sentado y la castaña lo fulminó con la mirada.

– ¿Si encuentra a quién? – A Maggie no le gustaba estar al margen de lo que sucedía en su Sala de Urgencias. El menor se encogió de hombros, a juzgar por las acciones de la doctora Asher, no estaba seguro si debía ser discreto respecto a toda la confusión que él también sentía.

______________________________________________

Hannah Asher abrió con sumo cuidado la cortina en esta ocasión. No solo había entendido que quizá estaba actuando de una forma algo descolocada, tampoco quería volver a sorprender a la persona equivocada. Sus ojos brillaron cuando encontró a Dean Archer recostado en la cama, estaba conectado a un monitor y tenía los ojos cerrados. La rubia se acercó a revisar sus signos vitales en el aparato y se esforzó para no perturbarlo.

–Sé que estás ahí, Hannah. – La voz del mayor embelesó sus oídos apenas los alcanzó. Ella sonrió.  –¿No tienes pacientes que atender? –

–Bueno, me parece que estoy viendo a uno ahora mismo. – La rubia se acercó al contrario mientras se acomodaba mejor el estetoscopio y amagó con colocarlo sobre su pecho.

–Oye, oye, ¿qué haces? — El exoficial de la Marina, se incorporó sobre la cama para evitar que la doctora se le acercara aún más. Comenzó a quitarse los electrodos del monitor y fingió que no sentía dolor a la hora de ponerse de pie.

–Will me dijo lo que ocurrió en el quirófano y solo quería asegurarme de que estuvieras bien, es todo. – La menor frunció el ceño sin dejar de mirar a Dean con genuina preocupación y este llegó a sentir culpa por causarle tal reacción, pero la culpa fue opacada de inmediato por el borboteo de unos celos rebeldes que surgieron de la nada. Los ahogó con un pesado suspiro.

–Exageró, no es nada. Solo no dormí bien. –

–No sé, pero no nos solemos conectar a los monitores cuando no dormimos bien. Déjame revisarte… Por favor. – Hannah no había retrocedido y sus enormes ojos azules podían desarmar a Dean en un segundo. Él apenas asintió cuando la contraria ya estaba alzando su filipina, lo cual desató todas las alarmas en su sistema.

–Woah. Al menos invítame un café primero. – Quiso bromear cuando apenas podía dibujar una sonrisa con sus trémulos labios.

–Sin duda los doctores son los peores pacientes. – Hannah por su parte intentaba no mirar demasiado al rostro de su superior, de alguna forma presentía que no tardaría mucho más en perder la batalla y se sentía ridícula porque no había encantos a los cuales sucumbir en este caso, al menos no los convencionales.

Dean bufó, sus miradas se encontraron por unos segundos y él sintió como si le oprimieran el pecho por lo que esbozó una mueca de dolor. La mano de ella sujetaba el extremo del estetoscopio sobre el varonil pecho por debajo de la filipina, pero de pronto con las yemas de los dedos comenzó a rozar la piel y fue como un choque de electricidad para el mayor. Su corazón comenzó a llamarla con urgencia desde la caja torácica. El cano doctor puso la mano sobre la ajena y miró fijamente a la rubia, empleando toda su fuerza de voluntad para no acabar con los pocos centímetros que los separaban y besarla.

–Doctor Archer, la tomografía del señor Jones…– Zach recorrió la cortina y el tiempo volvió a funcionar como siempre. Hannah se apartó de Dean, sintió que no lo había hecho lo suficientemente rápido y ahora todo lo que sentía se notaba en sus mejillas sonrojadas.

–Zach, ¡por un carajo! – El carácter del jefe de Urgencias hizo erupción y el pobre residente retrocedió un par de pasos. De pronto, recordó que ella estaba ahí y asintió, extendiendo su mano hacia el menor. – Déjame ver eso. Eh… Muchas gracias doctora Asher. – La aludida comprendió el mensaje y se apresuró a salir del cuarto, murmurando apenas un “de nada”.

#chicago med fanfic #Chicago med fanfic en español #chicago med #hannah asher #dean archer #hannahxdean #hannah asher x dean archer

[deanstead]

Promise

Pairing: Will Halstead x Reader

Requested: no

Summary: Y/N overhears a comment Natalie makes about their relationship. Later, Y/N witnesses a scene that makes her a little uncomfortable.

Word Count: 1.9K

Warnings: Not a Natalie friendly fic

A/N: Again, I want to emphasize that this is not a Natalie/Man*tead friendly fic so read at your own risk! I set sometime during Season 2 during the time Natalie is dating Clarke. I’ve been wanting to write something like this for ages but I didn’t have the courage to so… I rewatched early Med and got back in my feels lol. Also an anon requested something similar while my requests were closed. Thank you bestie @sheetsonfire for beta-ing <3

WILL HALSTEAD MASTERLIST

“Is the offer for drinks still on the table?”

That’s how it had all begun. You remembered it, as if it was just yesterday.

It wasn’t as if you’d never seen the way Will looked at Natalie but you’d figured you had nothing to lose by asking him out for drinks. And you knew that when he’d come back to see if the offer was still standing, it probably had something to do with the fact that Natalie and Clarke were spending a lot more time together.

But there was also something different, like he was much more determined.

Will had surprised you with how forthcoming he seemed when you went for drinks, and somehow very naturally, a few more drinks over a couple of months later, the two of you were here, a couple that had just made a very important decision about 24 hours ago.

“Y/N?”

You glanced sideways at Will Halstead, a smile spreading across your face. Your Will Halstead.

“You gonna get off and go to work?” Will teased, before he paused. “You’re okay, right?”

You smiled and nodded. “Just thinking.”

“About what?” Will asked gently, one of his hands reaching to the back of your head gently.

You shrugged. “About the first time we went for drinks.”

Will gave a small confused frown, even though the smile lingered on his face, as he waited for you to explain.

You just smiled. “Just marveling at how we got here.” You answered, glancing at him. “I’ll see you back at the... our apartment tonight.”

The smile on his face widened as you answered his unspoken question.

Moving in together seemed like both a great and horrible idea at the same time, especially considering that it felt like something that needed a lot more consideration. But other than the fact that you’d both be saving a lot of money, it was also something that you felt was important in order to understand each other as a couple, which was what you had also communicated clearly to Will the night before.

Your last relationship had been a car wreck. You’d been ready to marry him, or so you thought. Until you’d moved in together and everything fell apart piece by piece. In hindsight, you knew that the problems had always existed, that you’d been ignoring them until they couldn’t be ignored. But that didn’t change the fact that you’d wasted 6 years of each others’ time.

So you’d decided that if and when you entered into a new relationship, this was something you should try out early on. You’d expected Will to turn you down so you were pleasantly surprised when Will was game for it. And here you were now.

You turned to leave but Will’s hand closed around your wrist, tugging you back towards him. “Forgetting something?”

You let out a chuckle as Will gave you a kiss. “See you later.” He whispered, his eyes lingering on you as you quietly alighted, slipping into the crowd of hospital staff that were coming in for their shift as well.

It wasn’t any surprise that the news of you and Will moving in together moved quickly, not that you were trying to keep it a secret.

In fact, you thought everyone was handling the news pretty well. Will had already been in a good mood but now, bolstered by everyone's well wishes, he had offered to buy drinks at Molly’s that night and asked both your friends to stop by if they could.

You felt pretty good about how everything was panning out, until you went down to the ED later that day.

You weren’t on your ED rotation this week so you weren’t expected to be down in the ED but you’d been paged about one of your frequent flyer so you’d gone down to take a look. You’d just stopped by one of the computers to key in what you needed to, bending to pick something off the ground when you heard it.

“Moving in together for convenience? A little weird, don’t you think?” Natalie’s voice was low but you were close enough to hear every word.

You exhaled quietly, your hand closing around the pen you’d just picked off the floor.

“I’m just looking out for Will.” Natalie’s voice continued, probably responding to a silent expression Maggie had given her. “He’s my friend and she…”

Just as you were wondering if you could slip away without being noticed, Connor blew your cover. “Y/N, you okay?”

You couldn’t even be mad at Connor.

“Yeah, pen took a nosedive.” You said in a quiet voice, getting to your feet.

At least Natalie looked sheepish, you noted, unable to stop yourself from glancing at her before you left the ED.

Connor fell into step next to you, both of you heading towards the elevator and you glanced at him as the both of you stepped in. “What?” You asked, feeling his eyes on you.

Connor raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

You nodded, not sure how much Connor had heard or picked up on. “Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” You said, shrugging.

“You coming to Molly’s later?” You asked as the doors opened on your floor.

Connor smiled. “For you and Will? Absolutely.”

You waved, as the doors closed and you headed further into the ward, ready to put whatever you’d heard out of your mind.

“Hey, you okay? You seem a little…” Will paused. “Distracted.”

Will called back for your attention and you glanced back at him, giving him a smile before you shook your head.

“Just a weird day.” You answered him, your eyes drifting over to where Natalie was sitting with Clarke just a table away.

Thankfully, Jay arrived to interrupt both of you and you were grateful that the night was spent in laughter with the Halstead brothers. This was definitely much better than a party. Will paid for almost everyone’s drinks and people stopped by yours and Will’s table to chat but other than that you weren’t really the center of attention.

Natalie cast a few glances at you but you didn’t say anything. You hadn’t even said anything to Will, and she’d probably figured it as well, as she gave you a polite smile.

You just nodded back at her before you turned your attention back to what Jay was saying.

Things were going so well, you found it a little hard to believe yourself.

You’d mentally psyched yourself for something, well, anything to knock you and Will off balance. But it hadn’t, not really. Sure, it felt a little strange at first but every morning when you woke up next to Will, it reinforced your belief that everything would be okay.

You’d gotten all the way up to the ward when you realized that you were still holding Will’s phone.

Shaking your head at yourself, you took the elevator right back down, heading towards the ED where you’d left Will.

You took a quick glance around the ED, realizing he must still be in the doctor’s lounge and headed straight there, pushing open the door almost naturally.

Will’s back was to you as he spoke in a quiet voice to Natalie, Natalie’s hand on his arm.

You hadn’t felt anything in particular until Will turned and his expression changed. You felt your heart twist but your expression didn’t, and you raised his phone. “You left your phone with me.”

You gave him a forced smile and turned to leave, feeling the air grow heavier with awkwardness.

“Y/N. Wait.”

Will took a few more steps, catching up to you easily just as you stepped out of the lounge. He grabbed your arm gently and turned you back around to face him.

“Y/N, listen.”

“Will.” You warned, reminding him you guys were not alone. “We’ll talk later, alright? I’m late.”

You paused, hesitating before you reached forward, pushing yourself onto your toes to give him a quick kiss, leaving without saying anything more.

You couldn’t shake the look on Will’s face - a look that was almost guilty. It was that look that haunted you for the rest of the day so you were grateful for a busy day full of surgeries, consultations, rounds, anything you could get your hands on. It wasn’t so much that work kept your mind occupied, more that it cleared it.

So by the time your shift was over, you were ready.

You met Will by the doors as usual, throwing him a small smile, even though the atmosphere seemed a little more awkward but you didn’t say anything until you got in the car, throwing him a casual “let’s order in” before Will nodded and drove the both of you back to the new apartment you now shared.

There was silence for a bit as you took off your jacket and Will glanced at you.

“Y/N, please say something.” Will said in a quiet voice.

You glanced up, before you frowned. “What?”

“Say something. Anything. Scream at me, do something, don’t… don’t shut me out.” Will’s voice shook a little at the end and you looked him directly in the eye.

“I’m not mad, Will. I’m not pissed.” You said, your voice even now. “I’ve thought it through.”

Will angled his head to the side a little, the way he did when he was confused.

“Look, I get it. It’s Natalie.” You said, unable to stop the tinge of sadness from lacing your words as you spoke, watching his expression change. “Just promise me one thing, Will.”

Will didn’t say anything.

“Just promise me that you’ll tell me when it’s over. Don’t make me guess, don’t leave me hanging.” You said, the words slipping out so fast you felt like you didn’t have control over what you were saying and you caught yourself wishing you’d had this conversation before you moved in.

“What are you talking about, Y/N?”

“Just promise me, Will. I’m fine with everything else, just…”

Will stepped forward, reaching for your hand and closing it around yours. “Nothing is over. I’m not… I don’t want to be with anyone but you.”

You remained silent so Will continued. “Natalie and me, that’s… it’s in the past. Nothing ever happened and nothing will happen.” Will paused before he continued. “She was checking in on me. To make sure everything was going well, and I told her that it was. It was going perfectly and I have never been happier, so…”

“I trust you, Will.” You said, smiling now. “I do, one hundred percent. I’m not mad, I just… it just got me thinking, you know? About losing you, about everything.”

“You’re not going to lose me.” Will said, his voice low now as he pulled an arm to your back and pulled you against him.

You gave him a look and Will sighed. “Fine, I promise.”

You nodded but Will shook his head to tell you he wasn’t done. “But what you're worried about is not going to happen. You're not going to lose me.”

You just smiled, as Will’s fingers closed gently around your hand. “I’m sorry if I was weird today.”

Will shook his head. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“I would trust you with my life, Will Halstead.” You whispered.

Will cupped the side of your face, his thumb resting on the side of your face, the rest of his hand resting along your neck before he pressed his lips gently against yours.

“I love you.” Will whispered.

You looked up at him, blinking. Knowing he’d caught you by surprise, Will grinned before he easily lifted you up into his arms, laughing as you squealed in surprise but quickly pressing his lips over yours.

“I love you too.” You answered, as you hooked your legs around his waist before he continued the kiss, this time the kiss going deeper before he headed straight for the bedroom the both of you shared, your lips still pressed together.

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#resa.fics #will halstead #will halstead x reader #chicago med #chicago med x reader #will halstead imagine #will halstead fanfic #will halstead oneshot #will halstead x you #chicago med fanfic #chicago med imagine #chicago med oneshot

[kiddbegins]

Late Night - Will Halstead

Requested: yes

Word count: 561

Warnings: cuteness idk

A/n: guys I need him.

Masterlist

Those nights when they come home late and see you asleep on the couch and they come, pick you up and tuck you into bed with a kiss on your forehead

Will was used to coming home late. The emergency department wasn’t exactly known for its predictability. Thought it did start to bug him when coming home late interfered with seeing you for the day.

Coming home past midnight when he was supposed to be home by ten and seeing you passed out because you tried to stay up always made him feel horrible.

Like maybe he didn’t try hard enough. Maybe he should push harder to make it home to you in time. Of course that wasn’t even something on your mind.

You’d wait up for him every single night of the week if it meant being able to be there when he needed you. If he had a bad shift you wanted to be there when he got home to hug him, to kiss him.

Sadly there were times you couldn’t keep your eyes awake, your own job taking a toll on your sleep schedule that meant falling asleep on the couch with the tv on, curling up into yourself.

Tonight was exactly one of those nights. Will was stuck in the ED, a small text message was sent when he could to inform you, pleading that you don’t stay up but what could you say? You were stubborn.

So you stayed up. Well, tried to. By the time it was 9:30 you were hardly able to keep your eyes open, then fluttering shut for seconds at a time.

When your body gave up and went to sleep you didn’t know, but some time later you felt like you were lifted from the couch, your eyes just barely opening.

“Will?”

“Sh, it’s okay. I got you.” His voice was soft, quiet. Like he’d disturb the slumber you were in and true sleepiness that covered you if he spoke any louder.

Only a couple seconds later you were laid down on the bed, the blanket lifted up over you. “Go back to sleep.” Will whispered softly, a light kiss pressed to your temple.

Almost instantly you reached out, grabbing onto his wrist. It should’ve been too weak to actually stop him but Will stopped in his tracks.

“Come to bed, baby.” Your words mumbled but clear enough that he understood them. Will turned his hand in your hold, squatting down in front of you.

“I will, but I need to shower and change. I won’t be long.” He ran his thumb over the top of your hand, his gaze so full of love that you couldn’t help but smile.

Just faintly you nodded, releasing him to go wash up and change which truly didn’t take much time. Not even thirty minutes later he was shifting to lay in bed.

Sure you had dozed off but the movement of the bed had woken you again. Will took no time in sliding right up to you, knowing that feeling him next to you was the equivalent of an extra warm blanket.

Another added layer of protection to let you fall asleep fully and actually get a good nights rest.

“Did you have a good day?” You muttered out, eyes closed as your head rested against his chest.

“I did,” Will pulled you closer, running his fingers through your hair. It wasn’t an entire lie, sure it had its difficulties but coming home to you made all of it fade into the background.

JOIN WILL’S TAGLIST HERE!

tags: @winchesterszvonecek , @everything-fandom , @mrspeacem1nusone , @wnbweasley , @alexxavicry , @halsteadbrasil , @firetruckstuckley , @lilithblade , @angelicbxtchthea

#will halstead #will halstead x reader #will halstead writing? #chicago med #chicagomed #chicago med fanfic #fanfiction #one chicago fanfiction #will halstead imagine #will halstead oneshot #one chicago x reader #teddy writes #teddy writes will halstead #teddy writes chicago med #teddy writes one chicago

[otter-love-asl]

Chicago Med Fics Masterlist

Multi-Chapter

Holding On to You | Prepping

Series

One-Shot Sunday

Fairytale Ending

#Chicago Med #Chicago Med Fanfic #Chicago Med Master List #Chicago Med Fics Master List

[halsteadlover]

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞

*Gif not mine credits to the owner*

• Pairing: Will Halstead x Female!Reader.

• Requested by @klovesreading: I was wondering if you could do a story where the reader is married to Will but is a detective with Jay and is really close with Jay. But one day a case goes bad and the reader gets shot and almost dies and just a lot of angst but the reader survives in the end!

• Warnings: mention of blood, drugs, gunshots, tiny bit of angst and swearing.

• Word count: 5018.

• A/N: this is my first Will Halstead fic and it’s ugly as fuck, I don’t like one bit how it turned out 😭 you can actually notice I didn’t want to write anything else but I know if I kept going it would’ve ended up being so much longer than this so here is this piece of shit. I hope you’ll like it anyway but please bear with me 😭 comment, like and reblog if you want. I love you all so much ❤️

You, Will and Jay had been good friends for as long as you could remember.

The three of you grew up in the same neighborhood, your families being friends for a very long time. They were like big brothers to you or, at least, only one of them was.

You never managed to hide the crush you had on the redhead since you were a teenager, no one missed this detail – not even Jay who never wasted time teasing you about your crush on his brother – only Will seemed to not to see it.

You spent years of your adolescence and youth pining for him, trying to suppress your feelings knowing he didn't feel the same. You tried to move on, you had some boyfriends but it always ended the same way: you leaving them because you could never completely get Will out of your head. And as time passed you had resigned yourself to it, accepting you’d never be anything other than best friends.

There was a time when the three of you drifted apart, Will had gone to medical school, Jay had joined the army and left to go overseas and you spent a lot of time training to get in the police academy.

But fate really seemed to work in wonderful ways.

You thought you’d never reconnect with the Halstead brothers again but this was proven wrong when one day you met Jay at the police academy. You were a patrol cop with about two years of experience and he had just joined the Chicago PD after returning from his mission overseas.

And just like that you learned that Will had recently returned to Chicago and started working at Med's. It was as if time had never passed for the three of you, returning to having the deep bond that had united you since childhood.

But just as you thought your love for Will had somehow passed, it was enough for you to spend just a day with him to understand those deep feelings had never faded and that Will would forever be in your heart.

As time passed though, Will realized he was starting to look at you differently, continually craving your company. He didn't know when it happened or how it happened but he found himself inexorably losing his mind for you, in a way that shouldn't have happened with his best friend.

So for an amount of time you found yourselves lusting for each other from afar without either of you growing any balls and confessing your feelings.

The turning point came when the morning after spending a night at the bar and drinking too many shots and cocktails, you woke up in Will's bed with only a sheet covering your body. You were both too drunk the night before to remember what had happened but that blurry sexual encounter didn’t only happen once.

In fact after this rendezvous, it was as if a magnetic force attracted both of you and no matter how much you both fought it, one way or another you ended up having sex at one or the other's house.

Jay's teasing was pure torture as he could see from miles away that something really had happened between the two of you.

It was Will who confessed his love first, in the grip of emotions and no longer able to pretend you were just friends with benefits for even a second. You told him it took him a long time and that you loved him madly too, and the rest was history.

So here you were several years later, married to the love of your life and living the fairy tale you've always dreamed about.

“Babe please…” you sighed, eyes half closed as his lips worked their magic on that particular spot on your neck. You had to go to work but that seemed to take a backseat as your mind was completely dazzled by the hurricane that was your husband.

His arms wrapped around your hips and his hands went down to your ass, which they squeezed and groped without any shame. That made you sigh as you wrapped your arms around his neck, threading your fingers through his soft hair and pulling it lightly.

“Fuck,” he hissed, making him lose the last bit of control he had in his body and you grinned knowing how much he liked it when you pulled his hair. Before you could say or do anything, his lips had captured yours in a deep, passionate kiss as you took slow steps towards the bed

You both fell onto the mattress, bouncing slightly and you both let out a laugh before kissing again, him on top of you. It didn't take long for both of you to undress and throw all your clothes on the floor, losing yourself inexorably in each other.

Needless to say, you arrived at Intelligence incredibly late, thanking all the angels in heaven when you realized Voight hadn't arrived yet by the time you entered the unit.

“Why were you late?” Jay asked as soon as you arrived, handing you a cup of coffee he had set aside for you. He only had to look at you for his question to be answered, the stupid smile on your lips clearer than sunlight. “Actually never mind, don't answer. You're disgusting.“

“Hey! First of all you asked and second, go talk to your brother, he’s always so insatiable,” you replied with the sole purpose of annoying the younger Halstead. You succeeded in your aim when an expression of pure disgust and horror appeared on his face.

“You make me sick I don't want to know about you having sex with my brother for God's sake!” He exclaimed as you continued to laugh out loud.

You and Jay were now detectives and members of the Intelligence Unit for quite some time and as luck would have it, Voight even assigned you as partners. It was great to work with a friendly face, to have someone to deal with all the shit that humanity presented, to be there for each other when the other felt like everything was too hard to handle.

You and Jay continued to have a little banter but that little idyllic moment was interrupted when Voight entered the unit with Sergeant Platt and from their expressions you immediately understood they didn’t bring any good news.

Badly cut drug was circulating through the Chicago streets, causing numerous overdose victims, and there was pressure to get this case solved immediately.

Something told you this case would take much longer than necessary, so you took advantage of every free moment to text Will and update him on the evolution of the situation.

Will was afraid he’d be committed to Dr. Charles' psych ward sooner or later due to the stress your and Jay's job brought him.

He couldn't help but feel the anxiety eating his stomach up every time you told him you had some kind of field operation to do. It was a horrible feeling, having no idea what was going on out there, not being able to protect you or his brother if something horrible happened.

Every single day was a prayer. He prayed you both would come home safely, he prayed he could hug you both again at the end of each shift.

He tried not to give too much weight to his paranoid thoughts and convince himself it was only his sense of protection speaking. You and Jay were more than capable of defending yourselves even in dangerous situations, Will knew that, but that didn't make it any easier.

Many times he had wondered why neither you nor Jay had opted for a safer career, so he wouldn't risk a heart attack every time you left the house. You could’ve been teachers, or cooks, coaches, anything, but no, you both had to choose one of the most dangerous professions in the world. And so he didn't have to worry about his wife or just his brother's, but both.

His heart could only bear it to a certain extent.

And that day was no different when you texted him you and Jay were on your way to question a suspect.

Knowing you were in the district would calm him down a little since you were safe there, but knowing you were both out there with the risk of dying just around the corner was pure torture.

“How much you wanna bet he’ll run away as soon as he sees us?” You asked Jay as you got out of the car and walked towards the driveway of the house where the suspect was supposed to be. He wasn't directly involved with the drugs but, after the team started the investigations, you discovered he knew who was indeed involved and both you and Jay were determined to find out who that person was.

“Nah I pass, I know for sure this will happen so let’s just get ready to do some running,” he replied and you laughed before knocking twice loudly on the door.

“Chicago PD! Open up!” You exclaimed and you and Jay waited a few moments in which there was nothing but silence.

Jay moved away from the door and went to the window to check if there was actually anyone inside and you knocked again with two more loud thuds. “Open the door we just want to talk!”.

What happened was so quickly you wouldn't have been able to tell it if someone had asked you.

The suspect you were supposed to question – a guy in his mid-twenties – opened the door but you had your guard down so you couldn’t react as quickly as you wished. You saw him hold the gun and point it at you, you had tried as quickly as possible to take your gun from its holster but before you could do so a shot had already been fired and a bullet had already passed through your abdomen.

As you said, everything happened quickly.

The bullet shot immediately triggered Jay who quickly pulled out his gun and only then realized with pure horror you had been shot.

Before he could attempt to shoot the suspect, the bastard had already run away at the speed of light even if at that moment Jay didn't care.

He ran towards you and picking you up he dragged you away from the porch of that house, not wanting to run the risk that someone else might shot at you, and he carried you behind your car.

“Hey, hey, hey it's okay, don’t move. Everything's going to be okay, you hear me Y/n? You’ll be fine,” He tried to reassure you, to no avail as you had a bullet in your abdomen and were bleeding profusely, before immediately calling for help as panic coursed through his veins.

You were still shocked even as you lifted your head for the asphalt and saw your wound bleeding more than it should have. You tried to cover it with your hands but Jay did it for you, after taking a jacket he had in the car and pressing it to the wound.

“Shit,” you hissed. The pain was excruciating, even if the adrenaline helped to dull the sensation a little. A flood of emotions overwhelmed you, panic, fear, confusion. Your eyes looked around frantically as if to try to convince your mind you were still alive, that everything was going to be okay.

“Help is on the way Y/n, please hold on okay? You’ll be fine I’m sure,” Jay continued to babble, more to himself than to you.

“It-it hurts…” you stuttered, closing your eyes for a few moments as you felt your heart pounding in your chest.

“Hey, hey, hey, don't you dare fall asleep, just hang on for a minute. Please… Everything will be fine...“ he kept repeating.

But his voice began to reach your ears far away. That warm, burning sensation coursing through your abdomen was starting to fade and the weakness was instead starting to take over you. You were fighting so hard to try and stay awake, even though you were in that state you knew this didn’t mean anything good.

“Y/n!” Suddenly you heard Jay's voice and your eyes widened. You didn't even realize you had closed them.

“Jay can you believe…” you winched “Can you believe for just one second I will live?” You continued trying to smile seeing the way Jay was looking at you. You saw him so scared and worried for other few times in your life, and if it hadn't been for the bullet, you would probably have made fun of him.

“Of course you’l live Y/n, of course I believe it. Who will make my life a living hell if you're gone?”.

You giggled at those words. “L-look at my little brother-in-law worrying about me,” you whispered, as you got weaker with each second that passed. Your eyelids felt heavy, you were struggling to keep your eyes open, or even just to speak.

Your mind was racing, a thousand thoughts were invading it, which was in stark contrast to your physical state as you struggled to even lift your hands.

But the first thought was your husband, your beloved Will. How would he react? What would’ve he said? You hated the thought of not being the first to tell him, to comfort him knowing how worried he would be.

“No of course I’m not,” Jay replied, letting out a sound of mock disdain, making you smile weakly again. “I'm just worried about Will, I don’t care about you. I know he’s going to fucking kill me once he’ll find out.”

You tried to let out a laugh but a cough stopped it.

You fought for Will above all, because you refused to leave like this, to give up right when you were living the life of your dreams with the love you had wanted for so long. But in that moment, as your strength slowly left your body as quickly as your blood spread across the asphalt, you needed him so much.

You wanted Will, you wanted him to hold your hand, you wanted him to whisper it was going to be okay and you’d be fine in no time, you wanted him to hug you and make you forget all the pain and fear that was paralyzing you, you wanted to run a hand through his hair and tell him to calm down when he’d freak out.

And you really tried to resist.

But you were tired, so exhausted, you just wanted to be able to rest a little.

And that was exactly how you let yourself slip into the darkness of oblivion, the last thought being Will's eyes.

“Y/n? Hey! Please don't play with me right now,” Jay shook your shoulders slightly when he realized you had closed your eyes. “I know you're joking, just wake up it’s not funny.”

But nothing, he didn't receive any response.

And after several attempts to wake you up he had to accept you had lost consciousness and you weren't joking at all.

He looked around waiting for the damn ambulance to arrive and when he finally saw it from afar, he thought it was a mirage, too good to be true.

Meanwhile Will was unaware of everything that was happening out there, that his world was collapsing on him without even realizing it.

“Your tests came back normal but we'll keep you here for observation for another couple of hours just to make sure everything is fine, and we'll keep you hydrated in the meantime, okay?”.

“Okay, thank you so much Dr. Halstead.”

Will gave the lady lying on the bed a smile before leaving her room and closing the door behind him. He sanitized his hands and walked over to the nurses' station where he took the patient's medical records, updating her tests and treatment.

He couldn't help but take his cell phone from his uniform pocket, noticing with disappointment there was no message from you. He let out a sigh, trying to stay calm and convince himself he was just overreacting even if anxiety was gripping his stomach.

He put down the patient’s chart he had just seen, playing with the ring on his ring finger while a nurse informed him of the arrival of another patient who was already waiting for him.

If only he had waited a few seconds longer, if only he hadn't immediately entered that room, he would’ve seen that the person who had just entered the emergency room, unconscious, was the very last person he would’ve ever wanted to see in those circumstances, the person whose safety he worried about night and day, one of the people he loved most in the world.

Jay couldn't reach you at the hospital right away since he was waiting for Voight's orders on what to do but nevertheless he didn't stop thinking about you for a second and hoping that you were still alive.

Will treated the patient who came to the hospital following a chainsaw accident while chopping wood. With the help of a nurse, he sutured and dressed the fairly deep cut on the patient's leg while in the next room Connor and the rest of the team worked to revive you from the cardiac arrest you had just fallen into.

It took about twenty minutes for him to finish treating the patient, who he recommended to return to check the wound and assigned medicines in case of infection or pain. When he left the room, he did again what he had done earlier: disinfect his hands and update the medical records.

“Woah, what happened in there?” Will asked one of the new nurses that had recently started working when his gaze fell on the now room.

He saw the state in which that room was, copious traces of blood stained the floor on which numerous bright red patches were scattered, soaked in the same blood of the victim he thought he didn't know. The defibrillator was nearby and positioned crookedly on its trolley indicating it had been used and Will hoped that whoever it was, had managed to survive.

“A gunshot victim, bad story. She went into cardiac arrest twice but they were able to revive her and Dr. Rhodes just took her to the OR,” explained the nurse who, being new, didn't know that said victim was his superior's wife.

Will nodded, looking away from the room for a second before handing her the patient’s medical record he had just seen and putting the pen back in his white coat’s pocket.

He took out his cell phone again, noting with equal disappointment that no message had arrived from you. He sighed again before putting it down and his gaze fell on that room again.

His gaze fell on the victim's objects which were in a transparent bag placed on one of the bedside tables next to the now absent bed. He didn't want to snoop but curiosity got the better of him and he thought maybe he could help track down the family.

His heart almost stopped when he recognized your clothes in that bag.

“What the fuck?” He whispered as his brain struggled to process what he was seeing. There was a police badge, among other items. Anxiety gripped his stomach in a vice, twisting it until he almost felt like he was going to throw up.

“No, no, no, no,” he babbled to himself as his eyes continued to scan the numbers on the badge again and again.

It was yours.

No, it couldn't be true, there had to be an explanation. There had to be a reason why your badge and clothes had to be there.

While his heart continued to beat voraciously in his chest, Will continued to look among those objects. There was also the gun and a cell phone, yours.

His hands began to shake as all of his worst nightmares seemed to come true. He couldn't believe it, he just couldn't, until the very end he hoped there had been some kind of misunderstanding, that it was definitely someone else but for some strange reason they had managed to take your gun, badge, cell phone and even your bloody clothes.

But it was when he saw the ring that he felt as if a train had hit him. There was no doubt it was your ring, a ring that was stained with your own blood.

Will felt as if the ground had slipped beneath his feet, for a moment so out of his mind everything seemed to happen in a blur.

He immediately ran out of that damned room, making space among his colleagues and passers-by and running like a madman towards the ORs. He looked crazy, but he didn't care, he didn't care to stop and apologize to the people he was clashing with, he just wanted to reach you.

This can't be true, please God.

He had to make sure, it couldn't really be happening.

He didn't even wash his hands before entering the OR, he simply took a surgical mask and placed it in front of his nose before entering where Connor was operating.

If Will had to describe how he felt, he would’ve said he felt like he was dying, that he felt the air stuck in his throat and his lungs collapsing. He felt his legs give way and had to lean on the doorframe leading to the OR to avoid falling on the floor.

It was you.

It was really you.

Unconscious and with a tube down your throat, but it was you.

“Why the fuck didn't anyone call me!” Will almost shouted, his hands shaking with fear and anger, holding back the desire to run to you and grab your hand since he wasn't sterile.

“Will, get out of here,” Connor replied, looking up from your open abdomen for just a second so he could look at his friend and the desperation he had on his face.

“How is she? Connor please tell me something,” the redhead begged as his eyes filled with tears.

“Will. Out. Now.”

“I'm not going anywhere until you tell me how you she is. She's my fucking wife, I'm her husband! I have to know!”.

“This is exactly why you can't stay here! I can't operate if you're here and I'm trying to save her fucking life so get out of my OR immediately!” Rhodes exclaimed loudly, feeling guilty for the tone he had used since Will was only worried about you, but thinking it was necessary. He looked up at one of the nurses and nodded at him at which he nodded back and walked over to Will, inviting him to come outside.

“Don't fucking touch me,” Will spat through gritted teeth, his eyes shining before walking out of the OR.

He slumped against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor, legs bent and elbows resting on his knees while he had his hands on his face.

What the fuck happened?

It was unbelievable, he couldn't process it.

How did you go from making love that same morning to you having surgery a step from the death?

Where the fuck was Jay? Why wasn't he there?

Will let out a sob, praying with all his heart that at least his brother was okay. God only knew he wouldn't be able to survive if Jay got hurt too.

“Will!”.

But when he heard Jay's voice calling him out, a wave of relief washed away some of the anguish that had been plaguing him. Will stood up and saw Jay running towards him. He hugged him, in tears, holding him so tight his bones almost broke.

“What the hell happened Jay? Where the fuck were you? Why didn’t you call me? You okay?” Will peppered him with questions, taking a look at his brother and noticing with horror the blood staining his shirt.

“I'm fine… I-I'm so sorry Will, this shouldn't have happened I…” Jay blathered, also scared to death even though he knew what he was feeling was nothing compared to how Will must’ve going through at that moment. He told him what had happened. “How is she?”.

Will shook his head, as if to tell him he didn't know, and collapsed, letting himself go into tears full of terror, fear, fright. Jay wrapped an arm around his shoulders and helped him sit down, trying in vain to comfort him.

What would he have done if you hadn't survived? How could he go on with his life if you weren't there?

He didn't even want to imagine it, he didn't want to find answers to these questions because there actually weren't any answers. Will couldn't be without you.

He had known you since they were only a few years old, he had grown up with you, he had laughed, he had cried, he had fun with you, he had confided to you his deepest secrets, his deepest fears, he couldn't even think of not being able to do all this anymore. He remembered your friendship with so much warmth and joy before falling in love with you without even realizing it.

You made him happy, you understood him, you were his best friend, his lover, his wife, his confidant. Loving you felt like winning the lottery, marrying you was the most beautiful gift life could ever give him, he couldn't even think that all this was hanging by just a thread.

What would he have done without your laugh, your horrible jokes, without your smile, your eyes, the warmth of your hugs? How was he going to survive?

No, no, no, she’s going to be fine. She will be okay.

You were strong, one of the strongest people he had ever met in his life, there was no difficulty you wouldn't have solved, there was no obstacle you wouldn't have overcome. If anyone could do this it was you, Will knew you were going to be okay.

He jumped up, no longer able to sit still. Time seemed to stand still, passing so slowly that every minute was pure agony.

“Will…”

“Shut up Jay!” Will exclaimed loudly, not caring about other people. Jay remained silent as he stood up as well, letting his brother vent. “Where the fuck were you! You were supposed to protect her why weren't you there?!”

Will was not thinking clearly anymore because of the anger, not anger directed towards Jay – he knew it wasn’t his fault but only of the bastard that pulled the trigger.

He approached Jay and pushed him but Jay didn't react, his heart actually clenched as he saw the suffering Will was going through. He would probably have reacted the same way if his wife was fighting between life and death.

“If anything happens to her Jay… Fuck!”.

Jay raised a hand and shook his head when one of the doctors passing by tried to intervene, telling him he had everything under control.

“She’ll be fine brother. C'mon, this is Y/n, we know her, there’s nothing that woman can’t do.”

“How do you know huh?!” Will exploded, running his hands through his hair in frustration and desperation.

“I just know Will, she’ll make it, I'm sure of it,” Jay replied more calmly, moving closer to his brother. This time he was the one to hug him although Will resisted for a while, telling him to let him go. Jay didn't do it, he continued to hug him and hold him until he gave up and returned the hug.

Will cried on Jay's shoulders for the longest time, praying with every fiber of his being and whoever was up there to make you survive, to make you okay.

“I just want her back…” he whispered, not sure if Jay had heard him.

Jay helped him sit back down. “And you’ll get her back, just have a little faith. She is so strong man, do you really think she’ll leave us like this? C’mon, she has to be here and annoy us for the rest of our lives.”

Will chuckled through his tears, his eyes so blurry he couldn't make out the objects in front of him. He and Jay sat in that waiting room, waiting for hours to hear from you as he kept desperately praying.

Will sat with his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees while he continued to move a leg obsessively.

He had always tried to calm the patients' families, never fully understanding how they must really feel. But now that he knew, he felt guilty for not trying harder.

Please stay with me baby. Please just hang on for a little bit, please fight for us.

He had never understood what it felt like to be completely useless, what it felt like to be unable to do anything for the person you loved most in the world, to be unable to do anything to prevent that person from suffering.

He had always sworn to protect you, to not let anything hurt you and he felt like a failure for not being able to do this. He wished that damned bullet had hit him, that it had been him on the operating table having to fight for his life.

At every slightest noise he jumped, hoping it was Connor bringing good news but when he finally actually saw him appear in front of him, he feared it was just a hallucination.

Connor approached Will and Jay who jumped to their feet as soon as they saw him arrive.

“How did it go? Is she okay? Please tell me he's okay, Connor,” Will stammered, his heart beating so fast he thought he was going to have a massive heart attack.

“It was tough but she did well. The bullet had hit an artery and I managed to extract it but she lost a lot of blood and the next few hours will be delicate. But I'm pretty optimistic and she'll make a full recovery.”

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Main Masterlist

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[callsign-dexter]

Requests are temporarily closed!

This Masterlist does have 18+ fics in it so please heed the warnings.

All fics are separated but I do:

Top Gun

Top Gun Maverick

One Chicago (Chicago Med, PD, and Fire)

Criminal Minds

9-1-1

9-1-1 Lone Star

The Rookie

I will do:

Sister!Reader

Daughter!Reader

x Reader

A/N: All fics not underlined means that they are planned and a wip this just helps me to keep track of what fics I need to do.

A/N 2: All fics are fem!reader unless stated otherwise or requested otherwise.

Series

(Discontinued) I'm Already There (Bradshaw!Sister)

My Daughter, My Heart (Jake Seresin x Daughter!Reader, OC!Elizabeth Taylor x Daughter!Reader)

Whisper in the Wind (Natasha Trace x OC!Benjamin Bradshaw, Natasha Trace x Daughter!Reader, OC!Benjamin Bradshaw x Daughter!Reader, Bradley Bradshaw x OC!Wife!Leah Winters)

Universes

A Forever Home (Grace Ryder x Daughter!Reader and Judd Ryder x Daughter!Reader, Grace Ryder x Judd Ryder)

Baby Bradford: A Little Fighter (Tim Bradford x Daughter!Reader, Lucy Chen x Tim Bradford)

Blizzard (IceMav x Daughter!Reader, Maverick x Iceman)

Littlest Halstead (Jay Halstead x Daughter!Reader)

Little Nash (Bobby Nash x Daughter!Reader)

Lil' Severide (Kelly Severide x Daughter!Reader)

Mini TK (TK Strand x Daughter!Reader, Carlos Reyes x Daughter!Reader, TK Strand x Carlos Reyes)

Our Little Girl (Jake Seresin x Daughter!Reader, Bradley Bradshaw x Daughter!Reader, Jake Seresin x Bradley Bradshaw)

The Firehouse Miracle (Eddie Diaz x Daughter!Reader, Evan Buckley x Daughter!Reader, Eddie Diaz x Evan Buckley)

x Daughter!Reader

Top Gun

Maverick

Safe and Sound (Maverick x Daughter!Reader, Bradley Bradshaw x Mitchell!Reader)

Always Daddy’s Girl (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

Light of His Life (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

Maverick is a dad!? (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

Crossing Paths (Maverick x Daughter!Reader, Penny Benjamin x Adopted!Daughter!Reader)

Always With You (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

Maverick's Little Co-Pilot (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

A Father's Fury (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

Night Ride Rescue (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

Echoes of Talent (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

The Lost Keepsake (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

A Father's Comfort (Maverick x Daughter!Reader)

Love, Laughter, and Little Pranks (Maverick x Daughter!Reader, Penny Benjamin x Daughter!Reader, Maverick x Wife!Penny Benjamin)

Just Like Daddy (Maverick x Daguther!Reader, Penny Benjamin x Daughter!Reader, Maverick x Penny Benjamin)

Never Again (Maverick x Daughter!Reader, OC!Nichole Bradshaw x Daughter!Reader, Maverick x OC!Wife!Nichole Bradshaw

From Fear to Family (Maverick x Adopted!Daughter

Jake Seresin

Nightmares (Jake Seresin x Daughter!Reader)

One Chicago

Kelly Severide

Daddy to the Rescue (Kelly Severide x Daughter!Reader)

A Home in His Heart (Kelly Severide x Foster-Adopted!Daughter!Reader)

911

Bobby Nash

Unspoken Reunion (Bobby Nash x Doctor!Daughter!Reader)

911 Lone Star

TK Strand

"911 what is your emergency?" (TK Strand x Daughter!Reader)

The Rookie

Tim Bradford

I'm Fine (Tim Bradford x Daughter!Reader)

Surprise at the Station (Tim Bradford x Shy!Adopted!Daughter!Reader)

x Sister!Reader

Top Gun

Bradley Bradshaw

Brotherly Love (Bradley Bradshaw x Sister!Reader)

The Sibling Connection (Bradley Bradshaw x Sister!Reader)

Jake Seresin

Together Against the World (Jake Seresin x Sister!Reader)

Heart to Break (Jake Seresin x Sister!Reader)

One Chicago

Connor Rhodes

Blood Ties, Broken Bonds (Connor Rhodes x Sister!Reader)

Fics

Top Gun

Bradley Bradshaw

Be Mine Forever (18+ MDNI) (Bradley Bradshaw x Floyd!Pilot!Reader)

I Apologize (Bradley Bradshaw x Benjamin!Air Force Pilot!Reader)

A Flight of Insecurities (Bradley Bradshaw x Reader)

Meet and Greet (18+ MDNI) (Bradley Bradshaw x Reader)

Behind Closed Doors (18+ MDNI) (Bradley Bradshaw x Simpson!Reader)

Out in the Open (Bradley Bradshaw x Simpson!Reader)

Hearts on the Edge (Bradley Bradshaw x Wolfe!Reader)

My Brother's Wingman (18+ MDNI) (Bradley Bradshaw x Seresin!Navy SEAL!Reader, Jake Seresin x Navy SEAL!Twin Sister!Reader)

Love's Second Chance (18+ MDNI) (Bradley Bradshaw x Adopted!Mitchell!Reader)

From Fear to Forever (Bradley Bradshaw x Pilot!Seresin!Reader)

Intoxicated Confessions (Bradley Bradshaw x Pilot!Kerner!Reader)

Knight in a Hawaiian Shirt (Bradley Bradshaw x Reader)

Shadow of Protection (Bradley Bradshaw x Reader)

Jake Seresin

Surprise! (Jake Seresin x Best Friend!Reader)

Hangster

Doppelgänger (Hangster and Bradley Bradshaw x Daughter!Reader)

Dagger Squad

Fight for Freedom (Dagger Squad x Reader)

Learning to Love Again (Dagger Squad x Reader, Bradley Bradshaw x Reader)

Tangled Hearts (18+ MDNI) (Dagger Squad x Reader, Bradley Bradshaw x Reader)

Maverick

A Guarded Heart (Maverick x Reader)

One Chicago

Connor Rhodes

Heartbeat Promise (Connor Rhodes x Nurse!Halstead!Reader)

Unexpected Reunion (18+ MDNI) (Conor Rhodes x Assistant!Reader)

Emergency Love (Connor Rhodes x Paramedic!Severide!Reader)

Blazing Hearts (Connor Rhodes x Paramedic!Severide!Reader)

From Exes to Lovers (Connor Rhodes x Nurse!Reader)

Lovers Forever (18+ MDNI) (Connor Rhodes x Fiancée!Nurse!Reader)

Surgical Serenad (Connor Rhodes x Surgical Resident!Reader)

Will Halstead

Unspoken Desires (Will Halstead x Doctor!Reader)

Daniel Charles

A Hug to Remember (Platonic!Daniel Charles & Platonic!Oakley Finn)

Jay Halstead

Dispatched Love (Jay Halstead x Reader)

Antonio Dawson

Heartstrings Tangled (Antonio Dawson x Reader)

From Tough to Tender (18+ MDNI) (Antonio Dawson x Reader)

Undercover Temptation (18+ MDNI) (Antonio Dawson x Reader)

From Colleagues to Lovers (18+ MDNI) (Antonio Dawson x Intelligence!Reader)

Gossip and Glances (Antonio Dawson x Intelligence!Reader)

Flirting with Risk (18+ MDNI) (Antonio Dawson x Intelligence!Reader)

Love in Sickness (Antonio Dawson x Sick!Reader)

Undercover Desires (18+ MDNI) (Antonio Dawson x Cop!Reader)

Shattered Lives, Mended Hearts (Antonio Dawson x Paramedic!Reader)

Drunken Confessions (Antonio Dawson x Halstead!Reader)

Fighting Fate (Antonio Dawson x Intelligence!Reader)

Love Conquers All (Antonio Dawson x Halstead!Twin Sister!Reader)

Lost in Lust (18+ MDNI) (Antonio Dawson x Intelligence!Reader

Frostbitten Love (Antonio Dawson x Firefighter!Reader)

Undercover Seduction (18+ MDNI) (Antonio Dawson x Intelligence!Reader)

In the Line of Fire (Antonio Dawson x Reader)

Hank Voight

Snapshot of Justice (Hank Voight x Intelligence!Reader)

Blake Gallo

Two Hearts, One Firehouse (Blake Gallo x Severide!Reader)

Kelly Severide

Taming the Flame (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Paramedic!Reader)

Sizzling Heat (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Paramedic!Reader)

Heatwave of Emotions (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Paramedic!Reader)

Broken Promises, Rekindled Flame (Kelly Severide x Paramedic!Rhodes!Reader)

Ignited Desires (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Firefighter!Reader)

Flames of Courage (Kelly Severide x Firefighter!Reader)

Passionate Nights (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Reader)

Saving Grace (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Fiancée!Paramedic!Reader)

Fireside Romance (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Paramedic!Reader)

Snowy Embrace (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Reader)

Beneath the Bubbles (18+ MDNI) (Kelly Severide x Reader)

Christopher Herrmann

Surgical Sparks (Christopher Herrmann x Surgeon!Wife!Reader)

The Rookie

Tim Bradford

Love's Wake-Up Call (Tim Bradford x Police Officer!Reader)

Love in the Moonlight (18+ MDNI) (Tim Bradford x Police Officer!Reader)

Late Night Confessions (18+ MDNI) (Tim Bradford x Evers!Lawyer!Reader)

Unraveling Desires (Tim Bradford x Police K-9 Officer!Wife!Reader)

Forever Yours (18+ MDNI) (Tim Bradford x Reader)

Bulletproof Love (Tim Bradford x Reader)

911

Bobby Nash

Surprises and Smiles (Bobby Nash x Wife!Reader)

911 Lone Star

Owen Strand

Love and Homemade Treats (Owen Strand x Wife!Reader)

Crossovers

Fight to Survive (9-1-1 x Criminal Minds) (Evan Buckley x Nash!FBI!Reader)

Burning Jealousy (One Chicago x The Rookie) (Kelly Severide x Paramedic!Reader)

Love in the Danger Zone (One Chicago x Top Gun Maverick) (Bradley Bradshaw x Halstead!Pilot!Reader and Kelly Severide x Halstead!Pilot!Reader)

#top gun fanfiction #top gun imagine #top gun fan fiction #top gun fanfic #top gun maverick fic #top gun maverick fanfic #top gun maverick imagines #top gun maverick imagine #top gun maverick fandom #one chicago fanfic #one chicago imagine #one chicago fanfiction #one chicago fandom #chicago pd fanfiction #chicago pd fandom #chicago pd fic #chicago pd fanfic #chicago pd imagine #chicago med fic #chicago med fan fic #chicago med fanfiction #chicago med imagine #chicago med #chicago fire fanfiction #chicago fire fic #chicago fire imagine #911 fanfic #911 imagine #911 imagines #911 lone star imagine