familiarity

she has to

Jay and the unit followed the ambo to med but by the time they had gotten into the waiting room Riley was already being treated, "hey man, is this your victim? You needing me to keep you posted or..." Will walked over and started speaking but jay cut him off, "it's Riley" jay spoke in a low tone. Wills heart dropped, "what? H-what?" He stumbled on his words.  Jay sat down on the chair before he could pass out, "jay..." Will done the same.  Jay couldn't speak, he was too shaken up, so hailey stepped in and sat down next to Will. 

              "Someone broke into jays house and shot Riley in the neck, we got there straight away..." she squeezed his shoulder.  Will let out a shaky breath, "why-who did this?" The red head stuttered.  Hailey looked up at hank then sighed, "it was someone from an old case, but there are patrol cars looking out for him right now" she spoke sympathetically. Will nodded then turned to look at jay, "but she was alive when you brought her in right?" He held his breath. Jay looked at his brother and nodded as he watched the doctor sigh in relief, "I'm gonna go see what's going on" the red head stood up and walked into the ED.

              About 3 hours later, jay and Will were sat outside of the OR in the waiting room, "jay man, sit down you're making me dizzy" Will sighed. Jay shook his head, "we have no idea if she's alive right now" he continued pacing. Will put his magazine down, "I know jay, I know. But stressing yourself out isn't gonna speed up the surgery" he sighed.  Jay finally sat down after thirty minutes of pacing around, "it's all my fault" he sighed.  Will shook his head, "no, not it's not. You did what you had to do to that guy, just because his son came back and did this to riles does not mean it's your fault" he spoke sternly. Jay sighed but he knew Will was correct, he couldn't have stopped Parker even if he tried, which he did.

At around 7:30pm, after a very long 5 hour surgery, Riley was finally in a hospital room. She was still out from the anaesthesia and the pain meds, but she's out of the OR at least. Dr Marcel threw off his hat and gloves then took a deep breath before leaving the wash room. Jay and wills heads shot up at the company, "how is she?" Jay jumped to his feet. Crockett smiled, "she's in recovery, surgery was a little bumpy but we got everything fixed up. She's not awake yet but she's stable for now" he folded his arms. Will nodded, "for now? So she's not out of the woods yet?" He sighed. Jay held his breath as dr marcels face turned serious.

                "She had 3 cardiac arrest scares during the procedure, 2 times we got her back right away but the third time she was without oxygen for a minute. Now the signs look promising for recovery but as soon as she's stabilised a bit more I wanna take her for a brain scan, just to see if there's any brain damage" dr Marcel frowned. The brothers were silent so Crockett nodded, "c'mon you can see her now" he changed the subject knowing Will could answer jays itching questions since she is a doctor himself. The pair nodded and followed dr Marcel into a treatment room just around the corner. The sight was painful to see, Riley was hooked up to all kinds of machines.

                  The brothers sat down now that they were alone, "she could have brain damage? W-how bad?" Jay shook his head and grabbed her small hand.  Will frowned, "uhm, well it could be motor loss, you know, like functional stuff or it could be things that'll affect her education. But 1 minute without oxygen isn't typically enough to have a big impact on someone, dr Marcel just wants to be sure" he nodded sadly.  Jay nodded, "but she's gonna wake up right?" He stiffened up.  Will paused so Jay looked at him in worry, "uhmmm, i can't answer that jay. No one knows" he shook his head.  Jay let out a shaky breath, "she has to" he looked back at their sister who seemed so peaceful.

At around 9pm Crockett walked back into the room, "hey, I've checked over her stats and she's a lot more stable so I wanna take her up to get the scan now and then I can put you both at rest a little more" he smiled. Jay and Will nodded, "yeah, thanks Crockett" Will smiled then turned to jay, "you go and call the team, let them know what's going on. I'll go with her" he smiled. Jay hesitantly nodded then watched as dr Marcel unhooked her from the wall machines. Once Crockett was done and Riley was ready for her scan, jay planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. Will smiled sadly before watching his brother leave, "let's go" dr Marcel smiled.

                 Dr Marcel walked back into Riley's hospital room to find Will sipping on coffee and jay with his hand in Riley's still, "good news, there's no brain damage. Now we won't know until she wakes up if there's been any physical damage, but we can deal with that later on if there is any" he smiled.  Jay and Will both let out a relieved sigh, "thank you" jay nodded and smiled. Will nodded at him, "thank you" he mouthed back. Crockett smiled before checking in on Riley then leaving them to spend time with her.

               "Hey riles, I'm back" jay spoke as if she was awake since he wanted her to know that she wasn't alone. He sat down and grabbed her hand again, he just wants her to be okay. After a while of thinking about random things he decided to try something, "Riley honey, if you can hear me squeeze my hand okay?" He sighed, Will was currently getting another coffee. There was a small pause before he felt Riley's small hand squeeze his own hand, "Riley? That you? Can you hear me babes?" He sat up straighter. Once again she squeezed his hand in response, she's heard everything all along.  He let out a small chuckle of relief as he let go of her hand and left the room to find Will practically right in front of him.

               "Woah" Will lifted his coffee up so he couldn't spill it, "she moved, she squeezed my hand when I asked if she could hear me Will" jay quietly got excited. Will grabbed his arm, "it might just be an automatic response jay..." he shook his head but jay was already dragging him back into her room.  Jay forced wills hand into Riley's right hand, carefully of course, and he moved to grab her left hand.  He thought of a good question first, "okay riles, who's the best football team in the whole world? Squeeze wills hand for the bears and my hand for the jets" jay smiled hopefully at will. It took nearly 10 seconds but Riley eventually squeezed wills hand with enough force for him to feel it. Jay smiled at Will as the red head nodded, "that's right, of course they are" Will laughed a little.

"Alright, squeeze my hand twice if fields is your favourite quarterback" Will nodded, he just wants to know if she can hear them or not and it's not just a reflex to someone holding her hand. After about two seconds she eventually gave both brothers hands two light squeezes.  Will let out a small chuckle, "you're gonna be okay riles" he rubbed her hand and sat down as jay planted a kiss on her head, it's good that she can hear them, but it won't mean she'll wake up any sooner.