Shaken

Chapter 7- You Don't Have To Carry This By Yourself

Hank hung up the call, a new sense of urgency in his chest. He needed to get to the hospital. He started to make his way back to his car. It was like he had tunnel vision; All the chaos and confusion seemed to melt away. His good friend Alvin Olinsky had once told him that Erin was his weakness. And Al was right. Erin, the girl he'd rescued from a life on the street, was his biggest weakness and right now she needed him. Nothing would ever stop him from being there for her.

He pulled on his car handle with such vigor that he narrowly missed the door hitting him in the face. Voight tossed his phone on the passenger seat and plopped down at the wheel. He guided the key into the ignition and felt the motor of the SUV hum to life.He backed out of his parking spot with great care, making sure no children or cars were behind him. Hank paused, taking a deep breath before putting the car in forward and took his place at the back of the line.

As the line of cars crawled along, Hank gazed out the window at the snowy disaster scene. Children stood in lines near the road, there was a look on their faces; It was a look of pure terror. He could feel the anger rising inside of him. The son of a bitch who had done this needed to pay.

The car in front of him began to move, breaking him out of his thoughts. He sighed impatiently, tapping his thumb on his steering wheel.His phone buzzed in the passenger seat. He picked it up, knowing it was one of the unit, probably Upton.

The screen illuminated as he brought it closer to his face.

*Where are you?* A text from Upton read.

He moved up in the line and checked to see how close he was to the road. "Two more cars." he muttered to himself before turning his attention back to his phone.

He typed out a response, *On my way to med, something came up with Lindsay and Halstead's daughter. I'm putting you in charge until I get back. Keep me in the loop.*

Hank watched the ". . ." appear and disappear again. He glanced up again to see the car in front of him turning into traffic. He turned his phone to "do not disturb" and gently tossed it to the seat next to him, beginning to turn into the road.

He felt more at ease as the car sped down the city streets. At least now it felt like he was actually getting somewhere. He did his best to focus on the road ahead, trying to keep his mind from spiraling.

As he was nearing the hospital, thoughts of Justin and Camille popped into his head. He could feel an old, familiar, achy sadness fill up his chest, the kind of sadness he couldn't push away. The kind of sadness that lingered and festered deep inside, weighing down every part of the aged man. It'd become a painful reminder to him of everything he had lost over the years.

He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the aching in his chest as he pulled his car into a parking space. He slid the keys out of the ignition and shoved them in his jacket pocket. He snatched up his phone and pushed open his door, stepping into the bitter Chicago cold. He locked his car door and started to make the way towards the entrance.

He slipped his phone out of his pocket, checking to see if Upton ever responded. Instead a text from Erin popped up on screen, *I'm in the coffee shop by the main entrance*

As he entered the building, he could feel the warm air rush to greet him. He made a beeline for the coffee shop which was slightly to the right of the entrance.

Erin was sitting at a table near the window, mindlessly tracing the edge of the plastic lid. Hank approached quietly, doing his best not startle her. He slipped his jacket off and hung it on the back of a chair at the table.

Erin looked up to see Voight standing in front of her. Her eyes were puffy from crying, residual tears were still visible on her face. She stood up and threw her arms around him. "Thank you for coming." She said choking up a little bit, before pulling away from his grasp.

"Where's Jay?" Voight asked, as he and Erin sat down.

"He went to the roof to get some fresh air, he was pretty upset after.... everything." Erin said, quietly.

"And how are you holding up ?" Hank asked gently, noticing tears welling up in Erin's eyes.

"I-I'm scared, Hank," her voice was shaky as she continued "We got to see Piper before they took her to surgery. The way she looked at me....". Erin's lip began to quiver as a few tears spilled from her eyes, streaming down her cheeks.

Hank reached out and grabbed her hand reassuringly. He softly rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand.

She took a deep breath and started to speak again, " I want to just hold her as tight as possible and tell her that everything is going to be alright. Even though I don't know that. I can't help but think, What if that was goodbye, Hank? What if that was the last time I ever see my baby alive? Piper's my whole world, I..." Erin swallowed hard, "I can't..... I can't lose her, not now, not like this".

Hank squeezed her hand, he understood the pain she was feeling. "Piper's a strong kid, you know she's going to put up a fight until the very end."

Erin nodded, staring down at her coffee cup.

Hank continued, "And you don't have to carry this by yourself. I'm here for you, you've got the whole team behind you. You and Halstead have each other to lean on too. Just... don't cut yourself off from everyone like-"

"Thank you Hank." Erin interrupted, looking back up at him.

"For what?"

"For always being there."

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A/N Heyyyy....How y'all doing? So...I haven't updated in a month. I'm so sorry!!! It took me so long to even figure out the direction I was gonna take with this chapter.

Fun fact: this is version number THREE of this chapter, so that should tell you something 😎

ANYWAYS, I'm starting school this week but I'm going to try to get back to/maintain a weekly posting schedule, though I haven't settled on a set day but as of now it's probably going to be Sunday, at least until I get settled into my school stuff for this year.

Moving on, FEEDBACK, I'd love to hear it. Any pointers you can give me or just a general overview of what you think of the story/how I'm doing, are welcome.

Also, SUGGESTIONS! If you have an idea/plot point/small detail/dialouge I would be more than happy to hear it! I can't promise I will use all the ideas you give me but I will seriously look at them and try to encorporate as many as I can, you have my word on that.

Now on a bit more personal note, thank you so much for being patient with my procrastinating ass. I really appreciate you all for reading my work, you guys are AMAZING. I hope you are enjoying the story! Anyways thats all for now!

Sending love to each and every one of you out there ❤❤❤! Stay Safe 😷!