Back at Med, Will and Maggie were waiting at the ED ambulance entrance with a stretcher as Ambulance 61 pulled up. Maggie opened up the ambulance doors. Will extended a hand and Ellie jumped out of the ambulance her purse and duffel bag swung over her shoulder.
Sylvie jumped out of the drivers seat of the ambulance and she and the Gabby got Jay out of the ambulance.
Ellie looked at Will and Maggie. "He can't see, and it's scaring him."
Both Will and Maggie nodded.
"I can only imagine," Maggie said.
Will and Maggie went to transfer Jay onto the Med stretcher with the help of Sylvie and Gabby.
"It's Jay obviously so I'll save all the professional details. Vitals are stable, no fever, GCS 15, heartrate 65, pulse ox is 99, and BP a little elevated 130/105 most likely due to anxiety."
"Hey Jay" Will said in a much more softer tone than he was used to when talking to his brother.
"Will?" Jay said whipping his head around, looking for his brother.
Will touched his brothers shoulder as he walked beside his stretcher. "Yeah buddy I'm right here, everything's going to be ok bud. We're going to get you checked out and figure this out ok?"
Jay kept reaching his arm out. And thrashing around the stretcher. "Ellie? Ellie left?"
"No honey I'm right here. I'm right here. " Ellie said grabbing his hand.
"Ellie don't leave me"
"I'm not going anywhere Jay. I'm right here" She assured him as she walked with him.
"Maggie get him to Trauma 2 Rhodes will be right in there. He's been waiting on him." Will instructed.
"On it, Dr. Halstead." They wheeled Jay off into the ED.
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Back in Trauma Room 2, Maggie had Jay hooked up to a vitals monitor, a blood pressure cuff on his bicep, a pulse ox reader on his forefinger, his shirt unbuttoned with EKG leads on his chest.
Dr Rhodes walked in. "Will, Ellie," he addressed them, shaking Will's hand, and hugging Ellie.
"Hey Connor, thank you for coming in. I didn't mean for you to come in on your day off. We just wanted you to look at him. I trust - "
Connor stopped her midsentence. He knew as a Dr, it's always harder when family members and people you love become patients, it's hard to differentiate between your role as a Dr and your role as a family member. It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
"Absolutely. Dont you have better things to do on your day off than hang out in the ED?" He asked trying to make the situation light.
Ellie just gave him a concerned look. He patted her arm. "We'll take a look and figure this out."
He walked up to Jays bed.
"Jay how we doing?"
"I've been better. I don't like this"
"I bet but we're going to fix you up. I'm pretty sure Dr Reagan is correct with her diagnosis but we need to be sure."
Jay nodded, even though he couldn't see Conner.
"Alright Jay, I'm going to feel around and behind your head ok?"
"Yeah, ok"
Conner put on a pair of gloves and felt around Jays head and behind his head. He stopped when he reached an area behind Jays head. That was not lost on Ellie and Will. They both looked at each other, not being able to shut off the Drs within themselves.
"You find it?" Ellie asked her colleague.
Dr Rhodes nodded.
"Yeah. And I agree with you. You're probably right given what we know so far. I did talk with Officer Ruzek. He called and he's on his way. So I'm confident in my diagnosis and that this is temporary but we need to be absolutely sure before I start treating this. You both know that. Will, Ellie..."
Both Will and Ellie looked at Dr Rhodes, nodding their heads.
Connor took out a penlight and shone it in Jay's pupil.
"Can you see anything Jay? " Connor asked.
Jay shook his head.
"No not really."
"Jay, be specific. What does not really mean?" Will instructed his little brother as Connor then shone the light in Jay's other eye.
"I can't see you or any of you. I can't make out shapes but I see colors. It's wierd. And some of the colors just changed" he explained as Connor put his penlight away "and now they're back to the way they were before. I know I'm not making sense. "
"Jay, you're making perfect sense and that's good news ok? Ok so let's move him and get him up to radiology, Maggie. Im ordering both a CT and a full MRI"
Maggie nodded and began unhooking the necessary equipment and that's when Ellie noticed something important on Jay's vital monitor.
"Wait, stop!"
All eyes were on Ellie with the exception of Jays of course but she had his full attention. What they say is right. When you lose one sense, all of your others become heightened. And for Jay, that was his hearing. He couldn't see Ellie, but he knew exactly where she was from the way her voice carried and the acoustics in the room.
"His BP is elevated" she said.
"Ellie, it's because of the head injury." Connor told her.
She shook her head.
"No it's too high. I'm not letting you put him in CT or MRI with his pressure that high. "
Everyone looked at the reading on the screen. The monitor showing his blood pressure reading read 140/115.
"She's right, it's way too high for him. He could stroke out." Will agreed.
Maggie placed a comforting hand on Jay's shoulder.
"Jay, honey, it's ok. Everything is going to be ok, just try and stay calm for me ok?" Maggie said to him in a soft and reassuring voice.
Jay anxiously nodded his head. He couldn't see Maggie but he knew it was her.
Will, Ellie, and Connor had taken notice that in that short amount of time Jay's blood pressure had rose even more and had shot up to 150/120.
"Connor" Will warned.
Dr Rhodes nodded his head and walked to the entryway of the trauma room and called out.
"Monique"
Monique stopped and turned in his direction.
"I need a 4 milligram injection of Lorazepam for Detective Halstead, stat please"
"On it Dr Rhodes"
Ellie stepped forward and took Jays hand and sat on the edge of his bed facing him. Again, he couldn't see her but he knew it was Ellie.
"Ell?" He asked turning his head towards her even though he couldn't see her.
"Yeah honey I'm right here with you." She said placing the palm of her hand on his right cheek.
Monique came in and handed Dr Rhodes a syringe. "Here you go Dr Rhodes."
"Thank you Monique"
She smiled, nodded, and began to walk out of the room. "Hope you feel better Jay" she told him.
"Monique" he asked.
"Yeah that's right. Thanks Monique" Will said as she patted Wills shoulder on the way out.
Ellie tightened her grip on Jay's hand and caressed his cheek.
"Jay honey we're going to give you something to help keep you calm ok?"
"Sorry El it's just I can't see and I -"
"I know I know. And it's ok. We're going to give you something to help with the anxiety. Your blood pressure is a little high right now so we need to keep you calm and it will help you rest so we can do the tests we need to do to figure this out and fix the problem so we can get you to see again ok?"
Jay nodded his head, squeezing Ellie's hand.
"OK"
Ellie turned to look at Conner and nodded, and he injected the medicine into Jays IV port. And just like that, most of Jay's anxiety washed away. All he needed was Ellie to tell him everything would be ok. Will looked on at his brother and best friend and just shook his head. Ellie had managed to completely transform him in the short time she'd been in Chicago.
Jays eyelids were getting heavier and Ellie felt his grip lighten and go limp. She looked up and saw Jay fighting sleep.
"Hey" she whispered.
"I can't...stay...awake. I'm so tired. "
"That's ok. The meds are making you a little drowsy. "
"My head really hurts, Ell"
"I know it does, sweetie. I know. We're going to take you in for testing. And we'll figure everything out, ok?"
Jay exhaustively nodded his head. "Love you."
"I love you too"
He was out of it within minutes. By the time 20 minutes had passed, Maggie looked at Jays vital monitor. "BP's 115/80"
Connor nodded. "Yep. Let's get him to radiology. We don't have time to waste. Let's go. NOW."
Connor and Maggie unhooked what was necessary and rolled Jay out. Ellie watched after him as Connor and Maggie stepped onto the elevator with a sleeping Jay. Will stepped up and wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulder, pulling her into him.
"He's gonna be ok" Will assured her.
"You trying to convince me or you?"
"That's my line remember?"
She looked at him and smiled.
"This is different Will, there's swelling somewhere in his brain."
"That is most likely accurate. I graduated from the same med school you did remember?"
"You know what I mean. His appendix ruptures, I go in clean him out and take it out, He has an arrhythmia, I shock him back into rhythm, he's poisoned with anthrax, we load him up on antibiotics and I take care of him for weeks. But this, this is his brain."
"Hey, you're doing it"
"Doing what?"
"That thing you do. It's a Reagan thing. And I'm pretty sure only I and Jamie can snap you out of it, unless I need to call Frank."
She shook her head facing him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"No"
"Get out of your head. Your thinking with your heart, not your head. And then your mind starts going into overdrive, going places you don't need to go, not yet anyway. Ok?"
She nodded.
"Yeah, I know"
He's my brother you know?"
"I know I'm sorry I've known him for a short time and then I'm not considering how you're feeling"
"But you're in love with him"
"I am"
"He's been through worse you know"
"Has he gone blind before?"
"No not exactly. But he's been shot. He's been abducted, tortured, tased, branded, stabbed." And that's here on US soil. Not even talking about what happened during his time in Afghanistan. He doesnt like to talk about it, you know how it is. Joe and Danny were over there."
She nodded, understanding what he was trying to tell her. Just then Adam came running through.
"Will, Ellie. I was out of town with my sister and nephew. I got back as soon as I could."
"Oh, Adam I didn't know, i didn't mean to be so demanding over the phone, you could have just -" Ellie tried to say.
Adam put his hands on Ellie's shoulder
"Hey are you kidding me? Jays my brother." He looked over at Will. "Well you know what I mean. I'd do anything for him."
Ellie tearfully nodded. "So he hit the back of his head?"
Adam nodded. "Yeah we were chasing this perp. You know Jay, always out front during a chase. Well you know Chicago weather well you do, " he said directing his comment to Will. "It was freezing out. But it wasn't sticking. Instead of snow on the ground, it was ice and well you can figure it out. Jay, running, ice. He just slipped. It could have happened to any of us but of course it happens to Jay. Legs went right out from under him, head goes back, smacks the pavement, lands flat on his back. I stopped to check on him but like i said you know Jay, he says he's fine and for me to keep going to catch the SOB, damn it, I should know by now not to let things go with him," Adam continues running his hands through his hair and Ellie reached up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey this is not your fault. It's not" Ellie told Jays best friend.
"He seemed ok after though? He wasn't having any problems seeing at the time" Will asked, trying to get as much information as he could.
"Yeah he seemed fine. He was walking around like nothing happened. He had to be seeing fine, he drove away from the scene, went back to the district, did his paperwork, and I assumed he went home. He was talking about making dinner for you when you got home." he said, looking at Ellie.
Suddenly a light went off in Ellie's head as she nodded.
"He's right Will. He was texting me back and forth and said he had dinner waiting for me. I figured he had take out in the refrigerator. But Adams right. He cooked. Fried Rice and teriyaki chicken. So he had to be seeing fine at that time. When I got home though, he was in bed and asleep and I did think it was odd that he didn't wake up easily until I got in bed with him."
"So fatigue was setting in." Will offered.
Ellie nodded. "This morning when we woke up he slept later than normal. I was talking to him, he just layed there not opening his eyes. He was speaking clearly, making sense but he did tell me he was tired. When I came back in the bedroom with coffee that's when it happened. He kept asking where I was and why it was so dark. When he realized he couldn't see, that's when the panic set in. "
Will nodded, "Ok so when he layed down, and went to sleep that's when the brain started swelling. "
"Hailey said she was worried about him, that he promised her he would tell you what happened." Adam said to Ellie.
"He was asleep when I got home. He went right back to sleep when I got in bed. We both did. "
"And by the time he woke up, the brain had already swelled. I mean this is Jay we're talking about but he is different with you Ellie," Will thought out loud, " Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was going to tell you, but by then memory loss had kicked in."
Ellie nodded in deep thought. "The whole time ever since I heard he hit the back of his head, I'm thinking it's Cerebral Edema but what if it's a bleed."
"You're doing it again. Get out of your head, Ell."
Ellie just looked at Will.
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Jay was back from radiology and they had a diagnosis. Dr Rhodes explained the situation to Will, Ellie, and Adam as Jay lay sleeping in his hospital bed.
"You were spot on Reagan" Dr Rhodes confirmed.
"So it's edema" Will asked
"Cerebral Edema. Yes"
"But are you sure that's it? The intracranial pressure could be caused by a bleed, there could be an aneurysm" Ellie started spouting off again absolutely unable to get out of her own head. It was her own worst enemy.
"Or by trauma Ellie" Will finished.
"Exactly. In this instance the intracranial pressure caused the swelling which was caused by a traumatic brain injury. When Jay hit the pavement that was surely more than enough force to cause a TBI which caused the temporary blindness" Dr Rhodes explained.
"And we know for sure that the blindness is temporary?" Adam asked.
"We'll know for sure in a couple of days maybe even in hours but let's give it some time. We've got him on hypersonic saline, and IV mannitol to work on decreasing that ICP and bring the swelling down. Once that happens, the pressure in his eyesockets will decrease and the sight will return. The fact that he's at least seeing colors but not quite visions that's good news. "
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The following day, Ellie had curled into Jays hospital bed with him hours before. She lay snuggled up next to him, her head on his chest, his arm wrapped around her as they slept. The sunlight was coming in despite the shades and when he opened his eyes, the bright lights forced him to close them again. Ellie stirred beside him.
"Mmm what's wrong? Are you in pain?" She asked her eyes still closed
"No. The sun woke me up."
Ellie's eyes flew open.
"What did you say?"
"The sun it woke me up."
"You can see the sunlight?"
"Yeah."
Ellie shot up in bed and turned to face him.
"Jay look at me."
He turned his face and looked right into her blue eyes.
"Can you see me?"
He just smiled that bright smile of his.
"Yeah I see you."
They smiled together. He put his hand over her cheek and pulled her in to kiss her.
"I missed you" he murmured against her lips.
"I've been here" she reassured him.
He smiled as he placed his forehead against hers.
"Yeah I know you have"
She pulled away from him.
"Hey we need to have a serious conversation though"
"Oh no"
"It's not that bad. Just remember the pact we made when we agreed to go forward with this-"
"We're in this together?"
"Yeah. Always. No matter what it is. And for the record, if your sight had never come back, I would still be here. I wouldn't have gone anywhere."
He nodded.
"Yeah I know that"
"Just no matter what happens you come to me, talk to me ok? The minute something happens come to me, so I can help you fix it. If we weren't living together - "
"Ellie, I wasn't hiding it from you. I swear. It happened, I probably should have gotten checked by med but I wasn't keeping it from you. You got tied up here so I went ahead and made dinner. I was going to wait up for you, but I was so tired. And then I got a headache and I was going to tell you when you got home. But then you did and I swear Ellie I honestly didn't think about it. I know that sounds like an excuse but its not. I completely forgot."
She nodded her head.
"Yeah I know. I get it. Swelling in your brain will cause memory loss so I'll buy it - this time. "
He smiled at her they interlocked their fingers together
"I'm not going to make you promise me that you won't get hurt again because I'm not naive, I'm a Reagan for God's sakes, honestly we should have a wing named for us at NY Pres."
Jay chuckled at her comment.
"But I do want you to promise me that the next time you hit your head, or bruise a rib or your vest takes a bullet, you come here and let one of us make sure you're ok"
"I promise"
"Good. Because I know I'm new here but I have my sources in your unit so the next time you're injured I will find out about it" She said giving him a serious look.
Jay laughed as Ellie then cracked a smile. "Oh Ruz is your snitch?"
"Oh yeah"
They laughed together and as she was leaning back into him, he stopped her and held her at arm lengths distance. He just wanted to look at her.