Chapter Text
"Oww....", Jay groaned, slowly trying to sit up, but ultimately just settling down onto the ground with another groan. "Nope, staying on the floor."
"Jay? Oh my god, are you okay? Babe?", Kelly calls out, running down the set of stairs that Jay totally did not just epically fall down.
Jay weakly raises a hand and makes a vague movement. "I'm fine, Kel. Just- Just resting.", he says as Kelly's face appears in his line of vision, and he can see the eye-roll in the man's eyes even before he does it.
"Yeah, fine my ass. What hurts? Ribs? Head? Neck?", Kelly says, already using his hands to feel Jay's body for any obvious injuries, his hands coming away practically drenched red at the back of Jay's head. "Got my answer, I guess. Just stay still, I'm calling Sylvie."
"Nooo, don't do that.", Jay moans before gritting his teeth and hissing as Kelly presses his sweatshirt to the back of his head.
"Right, cause you're totally okay.", Kelly says, throwing another eye-roll at his husband before pulling out his phone and pressing it in between his ear and shoulder while pressing the sweatshirt into the back of Jay's head as gently as possible.
"Severide? Aren't you taking the day off with Jay?", Sylvie says, and he can hear the blonde walking into a quieter part of the house to talk to him.
"Yeah, I am, but I was wondering if you and Foster could make a run. Jay's apartment building, stairs between the first and second floor?", Kelly says, hoping Sylvie would say yes.
"Be right there. Foster!", she yells out, her voice echoing as the call ends.
"Alright babe, you know the drill. Toes, legs, fingers, arms.", Kelly says, watching as Jay moves them all, wincing slightly at his right ankle, but still giving Kelly an annoyed look and his toes wiggle in his socks.
"Can I sit up now? It's disorienting, being on the ground."
"Fine, just- lean against the wall.", Kelly says, helping him sit up and then leaning the Halstead against the wall, still pressing the sweatshirt against his head.
Kelly hears the sirens just as Jay closes his eyes, taking deep breaths and leaning heavily into Kelly's hand, which is still pressed against the back of his head. Based on the fact that the sweatshirt's starting to get heavy, Kelly can see why.
"Hey Jay? Open your eyes for me? There you go.", Kelly says, smiling at his husband, who smiles back. "Remember our first anniversary?", Kelly asks, like he always does when he needs to keep Jay talking.
"Mhmm... was gonna get all dressed up and go out to... dinner and dancing, but you couldn't keep your clothes on long enough to do anything but... but me.", Jay says with a soft chuckle, and Kelly breaks out into a grin.
"It's not my fault you're irresistible.", the grey-haired man says, giving Jay a soft kiss just as Sylvie and Foster come up the stairs.
Foster's gloved hands with a pressure pad replace Kelly's hands and sweatshirt behind Jay's head, who's sitting there with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths. "Hey there Jay, whatcha up to this time?", Sylvie says, taking her brother-in-law's vitals.
"Nothin' much, I guess..", Jay says, and Sylvie looks at Kelly.
"Right, since we can basically clear spinals, fastest way would be to just walk him down. Can he walk?", Sylvie says, and Kelly shrugs before turning to Jay.
"Jay? Babe? Do you think you can walk down the stairs?", the firefighter helping Jay up after the weak nod he receives in response.
Jay's leaning so heavily against Kelly that Kelly eventually switches Jay to a bridal hold, walking him out to the ambulance
It's 15 minutes before Kelly's washing his hands off in the hospital bathroom, the water red as it washes off his hands and into the drain. Jay's getting fixed by April and then an X-Ray on his ankle, nothing majorly wrong, but they just want to be sure.
"Kelly? Kelly, what happened?", Will says, running into the bathroom with his chest heaving like he just ran a marathon.
"I-", Kelly starts, stopping as he takes a minute to think. He watches the red water stream into the sink, and his mind keeps playing the moment Jay fell down the stairs over and over in his head. He keeps hearing the resounding crack of Jay's head against the floor and his hands stay in the sink long after the water has run clear.
"Kelly?"
Kelly mentally shakes himself, turning off the water and turning to Will. "We were messing around. Jay fell down the stairs, hit his head at the bottom. Was conscious and talking fine up until Sylvie got there. I think it's really not that bad, head wounds just bleed a lot... right?"
Neither man mentions the uncertainty in the firefighter's voice as he seeks reassurance, Will just nods, holding the door open.
Thanks to Will, Kelly's able to hold Jay's hand as the back of his head gets stitched up, with 10 neat black lines fixing the gash. Jay was knocked out for another hour, and Kelly's hand was tangled in his hair, brushing the locks out of his face and just playing with the neat curls of hair, trying to distract himself from the fact that they weren't at home. When the hour passes and Jay's still not awake, it's all Kelly can do to keep the facade of "strong, firefighter husband", and not break down into tears.
After the second hour passes, Kelly feels a few hot droplets stream down his cheeks. He lets the tears dry into salt tracks on his face, his hand just curling into Jay's hair tighter, not tight enough to pull the hair, but tight enough that Kelly can stop more tears.
Jay wakes up with a soft hum, pushing his head gently against Kelly's hand, still tangled in his hair. "Kel?", he mumbles, reaching out a hand which Kelly quickly grabs, squeezing with reassurance.
"Hey there babe. Kinda gotta learn how to aim, don't you?", Kelly whispers, and Jay pops open an eye, looking at the firefighter.
"I know how to aim. I'm a cop, remember? I can shoot people. Bang...", Jay says, still feeling the effects of the drugs, and Kelly has to refrain from laughing.
"Oh really? I thought we were going to be avoiding the stairs as we slid down the hallway. Specifically so we wouldn't fall down them and need 10 stitches.", Kelly said back, and Jay pops open both eyes, looking into Kelly's blue eyes.
"Alright... okay... I guess you're right. But you wanted to play the game in the first place. And admit it, you love me.", Jay says, pushing his head gently into Kelly's hand again so that the firefighter starts massaging the top of his head again.
"I do love you... bad aim or not.", Kelly said, and Jay rolls his eyes, accepting a kiss from the firefighter.