Macie's Story

7

(January 17th, 3 days old)

"Okay, Hailey, looks like you're good to go," Doctor Marcel shot the aforementioned detective a grin as he tapped the foot of the bed. "Your stats are stable and you're recovering well, but remember, light duty for the next few weeks, give yourself time to heal, that was quite something to go through. Once Doctor Andrews comes by, I'll be back with your discharge paperwork." He says before turning on his heels and leaving the room.

Hailey felt a small smile rise up on her lips and she couldn't help but be glad to be getting out of the hospital finally. It had only been three days since the shooting but it had felt like she had been stuck in here a lot longer than that. She couldn't wait to get back home and she knew Jay was itching for that too because despite his dislike to hospitals he had barely left her side since she was brought up from the OR - and had stuck beside her even more since he returned to the room two nights prior to find the wreckage her parents had left behind them.

Jay tightens the grip he had on her hand gently and it brought her gaze down to meet his. "I can't wait to get home."

She nodded, silently telling him that she couldn't wait either. She couldn't wait to be able to sleep in her own bed again, eat normal food again, hell even go to the bathroom without informing one of the nurses so they could make note of it. Yet regardless of how glad she was to be able to head home, there was a thought in the back of her head that knotted her stomach.

She didn't even notice the shift in her face, however, that the smile on her lips was short-lived when her mind started to wander until Jay's eyebrows creased together with concern.

"What is it?" He asks.

She shrugs slightly and bites the inside of her cheek. "I guess I'm just nervous about being far away, you know? We're not just a two minute elevator ride away."

Jay nods and shifts in his seat, leaning his elbows against the mattress, wrapping his second hand around the one he already had a hold of. "I know," he brings her hand up and presses a kiss to her knuckle. "But we'll come by every day, sit with her, let her in on everything that's going on. And she's never gonna be on her own, I'm pretty sure she's the nurses' favorite and I can definitely see why, not that I'm biased or anything." He replies, making Hailey chuckle slightly before she shakes her head.

"Don't make me laugh, it's still a little tender." She warns him and he sends her an understanding nod.

He waits a beat before carrying on from where he was before. "And you do know that even when we're not visiting, Will is gonna be sending us hourly updates because he's sneaking up there to see her, right?"

"Oh yeah, I know." She says, another small smile creeping up on her face.

xxx

When Jay pulled the truck to a stop in front of the building, he wasted no time unbuckling himself from his seat and jumping out from the truck, beating Hailey to the passenger side door and opening it before she had the chance too. He helped her out of her seat and down from the car, only moving his hand away from her back for a moment as he grabbed the duffel bag of clothes Kevin had brought over the night of the shooting from the back seat.

He slammed the door shut and walked slowly behind her as they made their way to the front door. There they both stopped as Jay dug through his pockets for the house key, Hailey taking the time to peer around the building as it was hard not to think about the last time she and Jay left the house and about how little they knew about what events would transpire that day. That day changed their lives entirely and they had no idea, they left the house naively thinking they would be back home in time for their dinner sitting in front of the laptop shopping online for their impending arrival.