New Family

Bruised

Jay ended up staying the night in the hospital with Jess, she was slowly calming down and even allowing Will in to check up on her whilst Jay went to get himself a coffee.

"So, Will Said your good to go. The only problem is because your only 17 we need a guardian to sign the paperwork." Jay Said, studying her for a reaction as she still hadn't told him the full story of what had happened yesterday.

"No." She Said adamantly. "I'm not going back there." Jessica stated, returning to the same balled up position she had been in when he had arrived.

"Is it about what happened yesterday?" He Asked. "I'm a cop remember, you can tell me, I'll help you." Jessica nodded slightly.

"I can't go back there." She Said shakily. "He'll kill me."

"You won't have to." Jay Said. "How about you come to the district with me, we'll talk and take it from there." 

"Okay." Jessica Said, relaxing slightly. "What about the paperwork?" She asked.

"This guy hurt you, that's child abuse. That means CPD can open a case and I can sign it." Jay explained, taking the paperwork from the table and swiftly signing it.

"Thanks." She Said with a small smile.

----------

"Hey, you okay?" Jay asked as he pulled into the car park at the district.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." She said with a small smile.

"Come on then." He said with a smile, getting out of the car. "Just so you know, someone else might sit in when we're talking. It'll either be my boss or a female officer." Jay explained so she wouldn't freak out when someone else came into the room.

"Okay." Jessica said with a small nod as they walked up the stairs to the district.

"Sargent." Jay said as he caught Trudy's gaze fall on them. Jay and Jessica walked up into intelligence and several pairs of eyes landed on them. "Go sit in there, I'll be in in a minute." Jay said, guiding Jessica towards the break room before heading into Voights office.

"Halstead." Voight said expectantly. "Is that the girl you were telling me about?" Voight asked.

"Yes, her names Jessica, she's 17 and I'm pretty sure her last foster father was abusive." Jay explained.

"Take Upton with you." Voight said with a nod.

"Hailey." Jay said, shutting his bosses door behind him and gesturing to the break room. 

"Jessica, this is my partner Hailey. Hailey this is Jessica." He introduced as he took a seat opposite Jessica.

"Do you want a drink or anything?" Upton offered. She had seen Jessica walk through the bullpen but now looking at her close up she could see how skinny and bruised this girl was, both physically and emotionally.

"No, I'm alright thank you." Jessica said. "So... um... where should I start?" She asked shakily.

"Do you know the person who attacked you?" Jay asked.

"I wouldn't call it an attack." Jessica said. "And yes, it was my foster father." She added.

"What do you mean it wasn't an attack?" Upton asked.

"He always called it a punishment, whenever I did something wrong. The severity varied if he was drunk it would be worse." Jessica explained, desperately trying to hold it together.

"How long has it been happening for?" Jay asked, trying to control his anger towards the man who had harmed the girl he was beginning to see as a little sister.

"About eighteen months. It was a week after I moved in with him." Jessica said.

"It was just you two in the house?" Upton asked.

"Yeah, CPS thought his wife lived there and that she was always at work when they came to check up." Jessica explained, finally letting a single tear roll down her cheek. "It was pretty convincing honestly, he had a wedding ring, photos of them all around the world. They didn't even look photoshopped." She added, wiping it away.

"What happened yesterday?" Jay asked, watching for a reaction.

"I went home after seeing you and he wasn't there, it wasn't unusual he was probably at the pub. One of his drinking buddies must have seen me talking to you because about half an hour later he came storming in and started shouting at me for snitching to the cops." Jessica paused and glanced up at the ceiling to try and stop the tears from spilling out.

"Take your time." Upton said with a kind smile

"He threw me against the wall got a couple of punches in, I fought back and got away. I ran up the stairs and tried to barricade myself in my room but he got in. He kicked me, bashed my head against the wall and tried to..." She stuttered. "He tried to rape me." She said, the tears racing down her cheeks. "I pushed him off and ran, he pushed me down the stairs and the next thing I remember was being in the hospital and screaming at everyone to get away from me."

"I know this is hard, but it means he can't do this to you again." Upton said, leaving the room.

"Come here." Jay said, standing up and enveloping Jessicas small, shaking frame in a hug. "I've got you." He said, allowing her to cry into his shoulder.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Jessica asked, a few seconds later when she pulled away from him.

"I told you last night that Mouse is like a brother to me." Jay said, Jessica nodded, remembering the conversation. "That means you're basically my little sister." Jay said, wrapping his arms around her again. "And I'm taking it upon myself to be your big brother until Mouse comes home." He added

"Jay, can we borrow you for a minute." Upton said, knocking on the break room door.

"Will you be alright in here?" Jay asked, pulling away from the hug.

"I'll be fine." Jessica assured him.