Mixed Signals.

127.

Reaching this 12 week point felt like nothing before. Knowing the risks had gone down by half. Jay was still running around like a headless chicken. Without Jay's mum we would be screwed. She picked the children up from school for us which was the biggest help possible.

"Oh for god sake are you joking?" I sighed as he handed me another bit of paper.

"No I'm not. Sorry.." He smiled kissing my head.

"Just go away." I laughed as I signed it and put it back in his hand. I looked over at the office door and Hank smiled waving me into his office. I smiled and headed in there, I pulled my jumper down and crossed my arms in front of my stomach. "Hey Dad." I smiled giving him a hug.

"Morning - how are you?"

"Yeah okay.. trying to get back into the swing of everything." I smiled with a little yawn.

"Yeah it can be difficult. Take it easy though. Need me to do anything?" He smiled.

"Cup of tea?" I laughed.

"Of course. Go chill." He smiled as I left his office and went back to my desk. Kim was sitting at her desk talking to Jay and she smiled as I went back over to her.

"What's the topic of discussion today?" I smiled sitting in my chair and turning to face them.

"Kids." She smiled. "Do you want anymore?"

"I'm happy with Florence and Harvey." I smiled. "But I wouldn't mind."

"But I suppose it's if you'd feel like you could do it. You've been through a lot."

"Yeah I know but I'll be fine. If it was too happen I know I could do it." I smiled. "I'm strong enough. The attack was hard to get through but I'm here now right? Alex has been a great support network and my god Jay has been great." I smiled looking over at him.

"What I'm here for." He smiled.

**

10:30am.

We were parked up. I finishing my drink. Jay was on the phone to Kim. I was writing out something onto a small notepad leaning against the car when my radio crackled. I turned the volume up but nothing come through. I looked at Jay but he clearly hadn't heard anything, he was chatting with people along the sidewalk. Just as I went to turn my radio down someone's EB went off.

"Halstead. Emergency buzzer. Let's roll." I called hopping into the car. Joe come over and got in the drivers side. He started driving to the location. "3325 we are en route to the location. Do you have any details for us?"

"All we can gather is a patrol officer has been the victim of a viscous attack and my concern at the moment is we aren't getting a response from them."

"Okay thank you. We'll check it out." I sighed clipping the radio back. Jay sped up and I flicked the lights on. I signed my gun out on the chart and made sure it was loaded. When we pulled up to the location and I pinged it in through the radio I couldn't get a hold of the patrol officer. "3325. Can you hear me?"

"Listen Erin you go through the first block. I'll find the second." Jay smiled. He kissed my head before running off in the other direction. I went through the back alleyways but couldn't find anyone or anything. I came to an end but there was clearly more to go so I hopped the fence then I found the patrol officer.

"Halstead come to my pinged location I've got him." I radioed. He said something to me but I couldn't hear anything. I rolled this officer onto his back and looked at his name badge. "Jones can you hear me?"

"Hmm. Where has he gone?"

"Jones come on. We'll get him. Right now I need you to stay with me and talk to me. Are you hurt?"

"Just a bit shook up." He coughed. He was shaking and quite pale, he had a nasty head injury that was bleeding heavily. I always carried stuff like this in my fleece which I was wearing, I got two gauze pads out and held them on the wound. Jay came running round the corner to me and radioed for an ambulance. I stayed talking to him trying to keep him awake. Jay went round for a patrol looking for the suspect. Jones tried to point behind me, he was shaking and then I heard heavy footsteps behind me.

"Jay when's the ambulance going to be here?" I sighed.

"It's not coming." An unfamiliar voice came out from behind me. I didn't have time to turn my head before a cold metal gun barrel touched the back of my head.

"You've injured one of us don't do it again." I raised my hands up to prove I was unarmed.

"Stand up." I stood up, took my belt off laying my gun and radio on the floor. "Anything else?"

"Take your jacket off."

"That isn't necessary."

"I said it is." He pushed the gun harder against my head. I gently removed my fleece. Tried to uncomfortably hide the bump.

"Okay?" I sighed. He turned me round to face him and he looked me up and down.

**

The ambulance had been delayed so I thought it would be easier to take Jones in our car. As I walked back around the corner Erin was stood hands on her head, fleece and weapons on the floor. A guy with a gun to her head and Jones was laying on the floor bleeding out. I whipped my gun out and pointed it to him. Erin looked at me and smiled. She wasn't scared, she'd gone past the point of being scared.

"Listen to me. You don't want to shoot a police officer. Not another one."

"One's dying... why not kill another?" This guy shouted.

"You really want too? You won't only be killing a police officer, you'll be killing a wife, my wife, a mother, the mother of my children and a pregnant women, the woman carrying my baby."

It took a matter of seconds for him to put the gun down. When backup arrived they took Jones away in an ambulance and I took Erin to Chicago Med for a check over. She was absolutely fine but I thought it was worth the check up. 12 weeks pregnant. It was the point where we had reached the safe point and we knew things were a bit better but she still wasn't ready to tell anyone.

*

We got back to the district and Hank practically pulled me into his office. He stood against his desk and pulled me into a hug.

"Woah Dad? What's wrong?" I smiled. I stood back and held his hand. He wiped his eyes.

"You can't continue working like this. It's too dangerous." He sighed. "Because you nearly got shot earlier. I'm not with it, I can't help you if you don't help yourself."

"Dad I've made it very clear I want to work. You know I'm working and you can't help me." I sighed. "I won't listen to you. I need you to help and let me work." He just looked at me through tearful eyes and shrugged. I walked out his office and was halfway towards my desk when his door opened.

"Fine. Work all you want but if anything happens to you or this baby I will flip my shit on you Erin." I turned round to face him as did everyone else in the building. Jay stood up and just looked at me, the blood rushing from my body to my head with pure anger.

"You had no right to say that!" I shouted, "no right. You know for a fact I didn't want to say. I hate you." I shouted from across the building. He went into his office and slammed the door. Everyone fell silent and Jay come over to me trying to calm me down.

**

I don't think there was any words I could use to calm her down, she was beyond fuming, she was the angriest I'd ever seen her. She just walked away down the stairs leaving me with Kim and Kevin.

"Is she..?"

"Pregnant. Yes." I sighed sitting at my desk. I didn't want to do this anymore. I really didn't want to. I wanted to just walk away out of the district. I wanted to be at home.