Chicago PD: Hank Voight's Forbidden Love

Connecting the Dots

Voight sat in a chair in the hospital room at Chicago Med watching Elena as she slept in the bed next to him.  Upon hearing the news about Mark's suicide she had fainted.  Fortunately Atwater, who was standing closest to her, caught her in his arms before she hit the floor.  She only lost consciousness for a few seconds, but Voight immediately drove her to Chicago Med.

The diagnosis was neurally mediated syncope, which is a fancy medical term for fainting due to a sudden drop in blood pressure.  Such episodes are usually triggered by an extremely traumatic event.  Dr. Will Halstead, Jay's brother, was her treating physician who assured Voight that Elena was okay, but for precautionary purposes he wanted to run a few tests just to make sure nothing else was going on.  At any rate, he anticipated she would be discharged the following morning.

Dr. Charles went up to Elena's room to see Voight and asked to speak with him in the hallway.

"I spoke with Dr. Halstead," said Dr. Charles as they stood outside Elena's room.

"He says she's going to be okay."

Voight nodded.  "Yes, he told me.  Thank God. When I broke the news to her about Mark's suicide, she collapsed.  She gave me quite a scare."

"Sergeant, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Mark.  He seemed perfectly fine when we discharged him.  He hit every milestone in his treatment program.  And before we recommend a patient for discharge from a mental health facility we require two other consulting psychiatrists to confirm the treating physician's recommendation.  All of us agreed he was no longer a threat to himself or to others.  But somehow all of us missed it."

Voight raised his hand to stop Dr. Charles from talking.  "Doc, no one's blaming you.  Mark's demons were too strong for him to fight off, and he gave up.  He just gave up.  He was exhausted from the battle.  One doesn't have to be a psychiatrist to figure that one out.  You did your best, I know that, and so do Mark's parents.  You worked with them and me every step of the way, but in the end none of us could save him from himself, and unfortunately he saw suicide as the only way to escape his terrible torment."

"Thank you, Sergeant.  Maybe that's what I needed to hear.  Have you talked to Elena yet?"

"No, she hasn't said a word.  When she's awake she just stares off into space. If I ask her anything, she responds with yes or no answers and not much more than that.  She hasn't cried or anything.  I almost wish she would cry, yell, scream, curse God, throw something, break something . . . anything.  At least that would be normal behavior."

"Sergeant, grief is very personal and unique to every individual.  When a person is grieving there's no such thing as normal behavior.  She's been through a lot, and this is yet another blow that came way too soon after the last one.  She's grieving in her own way.  And she's probably still in shock.  The crying and screaming may come later . . . or not.  At any rate, you should go home and get some rest yourself and pick her up in the morning. I'll call you myself when she's ready to be discharged."

"I'm not going anywhere, Doctor Charles.  I'm staying right here with her until it's time to take her home."

"Sure. Of course.  I understand," Dr. Charles replied.  The psychiatrist studied Voight's face. His  devotion to the young woman was apparent, but the psychiatrist was beginning to suspect for the first time that his feelings for Elena were more than paternalistic.  He had never noticed that until now. 

The two men shook hands, and Voight walked back into the room and settled into his chair next to Elena's bed.

She was still asleep as he reached over and gently placed his hand on her forehead. She stirred a little but did not wake up. He stared at her until sleep finally overtook him.
                              ———————
Elena was discharged from Chicago Med the next morning. Dr. Halstead advised Voight that the tests came back clear, and she was good to go. When they got home Voight started to fix breakfast. It was his plan that he would work from home that day so that he could be with her. The truth was he needed to be with her.  However, she announced to him that she was going to school because she had a philosophy class that she didn't want to miss.