Safe Haven

Officer Down

Quick little steps drift across the wooden floor. Shortly before she put a full stop and opened the door.

The neighbor stood opposite her, panicked and chalk-white in her face, "I need your father," she said.

"Daddy!" Charlie shouted. It was not long before Jay appeared behind her. You could clearly see that he was pissed that Charlie opened the door again without his knowledge. But when he saw the panicky face of the neighbor, he knew something was wrong.

"I don't know what to do. My door was broken open," the older woman said, pointing to the front door on the other side of the hallway, "I don't dare to go inside. What if he is still there?"

"All right. Stay here. I'll check it out." Jay said, grabbing his weapon for safety. He entered the apartment carefully. Everything was criss-crossed in the living room. The offender was clearly looking for something. Shelves were emptied, spread over the floor were broken objects, books, paper and other materials.

Jay heard a rustling behind him...

"Why does it take so long?" Charlie asked the neighbor when they heard a shootout at the same time. While the neighbor stared in shock at the figure running out of the apartment, Charlie ran inside the neighbors apartment.

"Daddy!" Charlie cried. She knelt in front of her father and place her cold little hand on his cheek, "I'm here, Daddy."

Jay gasped. He could not speak properly and the blood gushed out of the gunshot wound. Jay tried to hold the wound on his neck with his own strength while he looked into his daughter's eyes. Charlie barely moved, looking shocked at her father. She did not know what to do.

"Call 9-1-1." he tried to get a grip in himself for his daughter's sake.

Charlie nodded and took his smartphone out of his pocket. Like Jay had taught her, Charlie unlocked the phone and called the number.

"My Daddy is bleedin' very bad." 4 year old Charlie explained to a man on the other end of the phone.

The man told Charlie what to do. So she took her sweat jacket, put it on the bleeding wound and squeezed.

"You gotta keep talkin' to me, daddy. You gotta stay 'wake." Charlie said.

"Honey, tell the man on the phone my name." Jay gasped. Er wollte, dass die Intelligence benachrichtigt wurde.

"My daddy's name is Jay Halstead." Charlie explained to the man, who stayed on the phone to make sure the kid is alright. "He is a detective with the CPD." Charlie added.

"You're doing great." Jay gasped. The bullet stuck in the neck hurts too much. He tried hard to squeezed Charlie's hand, which remained on the wound.

"I love you, sweetheart." Jay whispered. It took a lot of strength to talk.

"I love you too." Charlie said, "Daddy, you're not dying, are you?"

He gently stroked her little hand with his thumb, "I hope not."

"Pinky swear?" Charlie asked.

"I can't promise you that." Jay whispered.

"In a few minutes, a detective with a gunshot wound will be admitted." Maggie shouted through the ER and nodded to Rhodes and Choi.

"Detective Jay Halstead. A bullet in the neck. We intubated him. Blood pressure at..." a paramedic told the details.

"Surgery, right now!" Rhodes instructed.

Stunned, Will looked after his brother. He could not believe what he saw and heard. His brother was shot. In the neck. And his values did not sound good at all.

"Uncle Will!" Charlie yelled, trying to escape from the arms of the 2nd paramedic to run to her uncle.

"Hey Charlie, are you alright?" Will asked worriedly and took his little niece up in his arms.

"What about Daddy?" she asked, crying.

"I don't know, but he is in good hands." Will whispered in her ear. Charlie buried her face deep in her uncle's red scrubs outfit.

"Your Daddy is a strong man." Will said, "He'll make it."

The girl's outfit was covered in blood as well as her little hands. Will carried her to the Doctor's Lounge. Washed her hands while Nat brought her fresh clothes.

After that he carried the child into the waiting room. A moment later, members of the intelligence came running. Kim squatted down in front of Charlie's chair and hugged the little crying girl. "We're here, Charlie." she whispered, kissing her forehead.

"Did you see the person, who did it?" Hank asked and knelt on Charlie's height.

"He was tall and looked like uncle Kevin." Charlie sobbed.

"Uh-huh. Do you remember what he was wearing?" Hank asked.

"He wore a dark hoodie." she thought.

"That's Good. I'll go to the apartment with Hailey and Kevin and bring you and your Dad a few things, okay?" Hank said and left.

Together with Kevin and Hailey, he questioned the local resident, the neighbor, and secured a trace before returning to the Med with a travel bag full of toys and clothes for Charlie. The girl will probably have to live with one of them for the next few days.

Stunned, speechless and shocking, they waited for a message from Jay. Charlie cuddled up to Kim and sucked like a little baby on her thumb. She realized that the situation was serious.

"Calm down, Dr. Halstead. You make me confused." Trudy snapped.

"Will, please sit down." Kim said.

"How could it happen?" Will sighed. Everyone of them puzzled how it could happen. Jay was a good cop. He does not let himself be shot like that.

The big sterile doors opened and Dr. Rhodes came in front of them.

"Family of Jay Halstead?" he asked in the round. He knew that they all belonged to Jay, but he needed the consent of the next relative to announce it in the round.

With her favorite teddy bear under her arm, Charlie freed herself from Kim's arms and padded to the doctor.

Confused, Connor looked at the cops and Will. However, he squatted down to her height. He gently put his hand on her slender shoulder.