Epilogue

We have arrived at another ending to a story. Thank you all for going on this little journey with me. I am ever reminded that you guys are the best and your words of encouragement were truly little highlights to my day. This has been a fun one and let's close it out together.

"Have you had braces before?" Jay nodded.

"Ok. So this will be very similar to that. It'll sound like I'm ripping your teeth out but everything is fine. You ready?" Jay nodded before looking up at the drop tile ceiling, just wanting everything to be over. Out of all the doctors in the world, his least favorite were dentists. And while this wasn't a dentist office and the person removing the wiring on his jaw wasn't a dentist, it had that eerie feel to it. The awkward chair that was impossible to get comfortable in. The extra bright circle light above him giving him a mild sunburn. And the poking with shiny instruments sorta sealed the deal. He hated the process but couldn't wait for the result. And so, as the ortho doctor began to relieve the pressure on the jaw and clip things free, Jay's mind wandered to the last six weeks.

He went home four days after the second surgery and had Will stay at his place with him for the next week. He took for granted the act of eating and preparing food because that almost became a full time job. Will made protein shakes three times a day and it only took Jay two days to throw them back up. He never had one of those again. The journey transitioned, or tumbled, into something that could pass off for a Good Mythical Morning episode. Jay wanted a burger, Will would make one, shove it in a blender with a mystery liquid, and then encourage Jay to consume the mystery brown goo. That experiment was a low one. They tried Chinese take out, pizza, steak, you name it, they tried it. There was one particular night around week 3 after a revolting chicken and rice shake. Will was gagging whilst cleaning up the mess when Jay placed his palms on his forehead and spoke through gritted teeth, 'oh this really freakin' sucks.' Will turned around with wide eyes, delighted with his brother's first words and the two wound up having a good laugh, despite the pain it all caused. It was the only time he spoke the last six weeks and it was fitting those were the words. Now, as Jay looked down at the clothing just hanging off his thin frame, he half wished he'd taken the words of advise from Will, the doctors, and nurses and kept the feeding tube in for awhile longer. It would have saved him the trouble and scaring of the last six weeks and he'd probably not be down twenty-six pounds. On the bright side, bring on the eating sessions. A tap on the shoulder brought him back to the weird chair in the procedure room.

"Can you bite down for me?" Jay did as requested, resisting the urge to run his tongue over his brace-free teeth. The doctor ran a mirror along the bite before poking different parts of the upper and lower jaw.

"Does any of this hurt or do you have numbing?" Jay shook his head.

"Ok, open your mouth as wide as you can. Don't push it." Jay did as instructed, getting the same pain free results as the last step.

"Say, hi."

"Hi."

"That felt weird, right?" Jay nodded his head, getting a funny face from the doctor.

"Sorry, yes." The doctor laughed.

"Everything looks good! I'm going to clean your teeth really quick and then you're all set." It was a relaxing procedure and soon Jay was sitting up, now running his tongue all over his strange feeling teeth.

"So, when can I eat something?"

"What, the liquid diet isn't a keeper?" Jay laughed.

"No, sadly."

"You can eat whenever. Just take it easy for a couple of days. Everything is healed, but you haven't used your mouth in awhile so go easy. Don't eat steak or anything but most foods are fine. After those couple of days, you'll be fine." Jay stood and grabbed his coat before heading for the door.

"Thanks, doc."

"My pleasure. I hope we don't have to see each other again." Jay smirked before opening the door, nodding in agreement with the surgeon.

…

The ED was running per usual when the elevator doors slid open. Maggie was instructing someone to go somewhere while nurses and doctors were chatting at the desk in the middle of the room. Natalie noticed Jay looking around the room and grabbed his attention, pointing to trauma 2 before jerking her head in that direction. Jay thanked her with a wave before venturing over to the room and standing outside the door.

"…You are all set Mr. Avery. Remember to elevate that knee and ice it twice a day. I'll go get your discharge papers." He pulled the curtain back to be startled by Jay's standing at the door.

"Hey, don't scare me like that." Jay smirked, raising his eyebrows before stepping back.

"How did it go?"

"Good. Everything looks fine and I got the go ahead to finally eat."

"It's so weird hearing you speak."

"Yeah," Jay laughed while scratching his forehead.

"It's an odd feeling but good also." Will handed off a file to a nurse at the desk as Jay looked down at his phone, Will glancing over at him quickly typing.

"Hailey?"

"Uh huh."

"So, you two…"

"Oh my word, we're not in high school anymore. I don't need you checking in on my personal life."

"Yeah, but I saw you two that day and you both went through stuff." Jay nodded, putting the phone away in his pocket.

"Do you need a way home? I get off in a couple of minutes."

"It's fine. Hailey's coming by in a couple of minutes.."

"-But there's nothing going on between you two," Will teased. Jay rolled his eyes while throwing his head back.

"I'm leaving."

"You look good, Jay,' Will somewhat yelled across the room.

"Thank you," Jay annoyingly replied, waving as he walked through the sliding glass doors.

…

They sat on a bench somewhere on North Avenue Beach, watching the crazy runners jog in below freezing temperatures. They watched while eating combos from Portillo's, Hailey giggling at Jay's over exaggerating of his ability to eat.

"You have no idea how badly I've wanted to do this," Jay confessed about halfway through his hot dog.

"The wire cutters were pretty tempting that last week or so." She looked over at him and smiled while chewing.

"Out of all the places in Chicago, Portillo's? I mean, it's good and all…"

"I'm starving, I didn't really care." They sat there for a while before Jay got up, walking further towards the lake with Hailey close behind. They didn't speak at this time, just sight seeing while feeling the wind whip against them. Walking around the lake in January is an end of the world feeling. There aren't any people, nothing is open, and everything is silent. Buildings are boarded up for the season and things occasionally squeak and groan against the ever present wind. They reached the end of the trail and kept walking, now feeling a combination of sand and snow under their shoes. They reached the concrete drop-off and stood, taking in the beauty of the Chicago skyline. It was a cloudy, slightly foggy day, the very top of the larger buildings behind cut off by the clouds. The vary shades of gray and brown were a stark contrast from the calm blue water of the lake. Lake Shore Drive was in their forefront, but silent moving blips in the grand view of it all. It was late afternoon now and the street lights were popping on again, signaling the incoming loss of light. Hailey silently shivered before looking to her right, getting a good view of Jay's face.

By now, the incision sites were thin, red lines from the newness and healing of the skin. The point where the bullet made contact with Jay's face was a small, purplish circle with a thin line through the middle. The surgeon during the second surgery placed a skin graft in that spot, hoping to alleviate the scaring and deformity of the area. His eye had returned to normal and all the swelling had subsided. So far, things looked good. With time and exposure to the sun, the scars would fade to undetectable lines. Hailey remembered the when Jay finally saw himself for the first time. It was the night he got home and he had excused himself for the night, shooing away Will's help as he walked into the bathroom. Will and Hailey sat in the living room talking about something when they noticed the bathroom light and door hadn't changed in awhile. Will got up to leave and knocked on the door, getting nothing in return. Will called Jay's name several times before the lock sounded off, door still unopened.

"Jay? I'm coming in," Will responded before turning the knob. Hailey didn't venture in, but stood close enough to hear sniffing and reassuring. Will kept repeating that everything was fine and things would heal, but the sniffing continued. It was quite some time later before the door opened, a clearly distraught Jay coming out first with Will rubbing his back and escorting him to bed. Hailey didn't know what to say or do, other then nod and step away. From that night, Jay got more comfortable with things, even showing up to work three weeks after the shooting. He got that people stared at him, but he didn't care. His face went through something horrible and the scars told the tale of a healing body. It made for an interesting story some day.

"Briggs gets incarcerated today," Jay asked, interrupting Hailey's thoughts?

"Um, yeah. He and the accomplice are heading in today."

"Who was the other guy?"

"His name is Jeremy Bois. Briggs met him during one of his rehab stints and the two bonded over you, in a way. He helped him with surveillance and volunteered to take on the final act when Briggs was arrested." Jay shook his head, not breaking his gaze of the city.

"You throw an idea like that in a place like that, it won't take long to find someone willing and able to do something of that caliber."

"Yeah." They stood in silence for a few minutes after that, hands tucked in pockets while they rolled their head into their chest. Jay turned to face Hailey before speaking.

"So, we need to talk about..this." Jay motioned his finger between the two of them, getting a held breath response.

"Yeah, we probably should."

"That night, why did you really follow me out to the car?" Jay looked at something behind her before replying.

"Because as much as I don't like to get in the way of things, I was a little jealous of Adam. I don't know, when you left, it was hard to not chase you down and convince you to stay longer. So if nothing else, I wanted to be with you. Let you know that I'm here whenever you're ready." Hailey smirked.

"All that in handing me a jacket?"

"Yeah, sure. Definitely." They both laughed.

"Look, it's pretty obvious there's something here and…I'd like to play that out. But, you and Adam.."

"-Don't worry about it." Jay raised his eyebrows a little bit, clearly unaware of the break up.

"When?"

"The second night after the shooting."

" I hope it wasn't my fault." Hailey shook her head.

"No. It was actually Adam who called it off. Said he didn't want to get in the way of us."

"Oh really…" Jay trailed off, laughing as Hailey looked at him oddly.

"Didn't realize it was that obvious. So.." But Jay didn't get to finish that, because Hailey stepped in and did something she'd wanted to do for some time now. They stood there for a couple of moments embracing each other's compassionate kiss, not caring if someone saw them. They waited forever for this and almost didn't get the opportunity to see it through. If there was a lesson to learn from all this, it's that life is too short to not answer the 'what if.' It may have taken a near death moment to finally push them into gear, but in some twisted way, each was glad for the strong encouragement. Without it, who knows when things would've positively changed. At some point, they released the other person, holding their heads close together while breathing, eyes locked on each other before smiling. Someone whistled behind them and Jay's head snapped around, laughing at the admirer. They didn't say anything nor did they need to. Hailey and Jay just looked at each other, knowing what was coming next.

"Yes, let's do this." Jay humorously gave Hailey two thumbs up.

"So, I feel the next step is to take you out."

"Sounds good, but I'm picking the place this time." Jay looked at her horrified as she laughed, eventually shrugging his shoulders.

"Deal. Let's get out of here, I'm freezing." And so the two strolled off under the twinkling lights of the city and quiet lull of the lake's waves. Neither knowing what the next day had in store, but suddenly not caring. For the moment, life was projecting upward and they were completely alright with this.

Screen fades to black. End credits roll.