After what has felt like an eternity, Patrick John Flueger finally returns to Chicago PD on March 11. One Chicago Center was first to confirm Fleuger’s return in episode 14, “Meant to Be,” and the return immediately brought a lot of understandable excitement among fans who have been counting down the days until Ruzek’s return.
Ruzek’s absence has definitely been felt in the last several months, and the Chicago PD writers certainly didn’t make it easy on the fans. Flueger’s exit came after the fifth episode of the season, which aired on October 29, 2025, as a result of the actor taking a leave of absence from the show. Due to the sudden and unexpected nature of his leave, the writers had to retool several episodes to rework scripts in order to accommodate the leave.
Given the circumstances, we understood that Ruzek’s absence might not be addressed in the show right away, but there was a level of expectation that we’d get an update sooner rather than later. Sadly, the update came much later than expected, with the show not addressing Ruzek’s absence until early January.
In the winter premiere, we learned that Ruzek was unavailable, as there had been an emergency with his father, Bob. The following week in the show’s ninth episode, we learned via Atwater that Bob was not doing well and that Ruzek was taking personal time to be with his father. Those updates were the full extent of the information provided, as the show did not provide any further updates on Ruzek, with not even a mention of him coming up in the crossover event.
While the show has kept fans in the dark, that should finally begin to change upon Ruzek’s return in episode 14!
“He, story-wise, was taking some time to be with his father. We’ve kind of established that his father was not doing too well. And so when he comes back, we’ll learn a bit more about exactly what that looks like and what that means for him and how that’s also affecting a lot of decisions he’s trying to make right now with Burgess and for his family,” Chicago PD showrunner Gwen Sigan told TV Insider. “So, he’s got a lot to deal with when he gets back. And then we’ll see [in the rest of] the season some of that sort of play out with his father and how it affects his choices moving forward.”
Chicago PD kept the circumstances around Bob’s medical emergency vague, but it seems we should learn more about the situation as Ruzek returns. Given Sigan’s comments, it’s looking likely that Bob’s health has taken a turn for the worse and that Ruzek’s dad, sadly, might not have much more time.
As we saw on Chicago Med as Goodwin and her family faced a similar situation with her ex-husband’s health declining, the imminent loss of a loved one can greatly impact one’s decision-making and lead to buried secrets and emotions coming to the surface. It would make sense that as Bob’s health worsens, Ruzek would be approaching situations in his life differently, and we’re glad that show won’t stray away from exploring how Bob’s declining health will impact Ruzek.
Fans will recall that Ruzek struggled with the news of Bob’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in season 12 and his first instinct was to move Bob in with him, Burgess, and their daughter Makayla. Ultimately, he’d come to see that Bob needed more care than he could provide, which led him to make the difficult decision to put his father in an assisted living facility – a decision that weighed heavily on Ruzek.
Knowing how much Ruzek struggled with the decision to put Bob in the assisted living facility, we imagine he’s going to struggle even more with the reality of his father passing. We’re not ready to have to watch Ruzek go through that emotional heartbreak, but we are looking forward to seeing Flueger attack the storyline and deliver what we’re certain will be an incredible performance!