Gunshots in the Night

Chapter 3

Jay came walking into my apartment with exhaustion written all over his face. It was a face I had gotten used to seeing those first few months following Jay's medical discharge from the Army, but now I only see it after he's had a really, really rough day.

"Rough day?" I asked, abandoning the ground beef on the table for a moment to approach him.

"Uh yeah. You could say that," he said slowly, hanging up his coat.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not yet," he replied, jamming his hands in his front pockets.

"Want a beer?"

"Hell yeah."

I shot him a smile as I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, placing it in his hand. He popped the top as I returned to making our dinner which was tacos.

"I've got the game on in the living room if you want to watch it."

"Thanks little sis."

The two of us spent the evening watching the game and cheering on our team. I couldn't help but notice that Jay always had a beer in his hand. As the game came to an end, I decided to talk to Jay again.

"You ready to talk yet?"

"Mik please."

"Jay, I've seen you act like this before, and I don't want to repeat what followed..."

"I'm fine!" he snapped, causing me to flinch, "We've just got a rough case. That's all. Now I should head home."

"Oh no. You're not going anywhere. You've had ten beers and your well on your way to drunk. Your bag of stay over stuff is still in my closet. Go change and take care of yourself and take my bed. You're staying here tonight."

"Fine."

With an annoyed sigh he walked down the hall to my bedroom. Immediately I picked up my cell and dialed Hailey's number. After the first two rings she answered.

"Upton."

"Hey Hailey. Sorry to bug you this late."

"No worries. I was up anyway. What's up?"

"I know we've all been having a hard time with this case, but Jay's starting to act strange and is drinking a lot. I was wondering if you've noticed anything since you guys are partners."

"I think it's because it's a case involving an ex-military guy. Jay's been working close with another military CI on it. So it's probably triggering-"

"His ptsd. That's what I was thinking," I sighed, pausing to think for a moment, "Ok. He's too intoxicated to get himself home, so he's crashing at my place tonight. He should be on time, but if he's a little late that's way."

"Alright. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. Thanks for filling me in."

"Of course. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks Hailey."

I hung up and headed into my bedroom to see Jay fast asleep in my bed. I shook my head, grabbed my pajamas, and headed to the bathroom to change. When I came out, I decided to call Adam.

"Hey babe."

"Hey," I said, trying to hide the sadness and anxiety in my voice.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm a-I'm just worried about Jay. I don't want to relive what happened when he returned from the war."

"What happened?"