Work Text:
Kelly watched the offender get closer to the bathroom stall where he knew Stella was hiding. He took a deep breath, feeling a twinge in his ribs from the kicks to the stomach he’d taken earlier on the apparatus floor. The offender took a step forward, putting his hand on the stall door, and Kelly launched forward.
Kelly grabbed the hand with the gun, firing it once before using his leverage to launch the offender into the sinks, shattering the mirrors. They fought their way into the other side of the bathroom. Turning the corner, the offender got the upper hand and shoved Kelly backwards into the shower, his head slamming into the tiled wall, disturbing his equilibrium and vision enough for the man to get his hands around Kelly’s neck. Kelly felt himself running out of air, his face turning red, and groaned, trying his best to get his feet under him. As his vision started to darken, Stella took the offender by surprise, hitting him in the head from behind with his own gun, and shoving him to the ground.
Kelly took a couple deep breaths, letting his aching body sag into the corner of the shower for a moment as he regained his vision. He reached up for Stella’s outreached hand.
“You okay?!” she checked, helping him stagger to his feet.
“Yeah…” he groaned, using all his strength to move.
“Let’s go! C’mon!” she yelled, pushing him forward, away from the offender who was still writhing on the ground.
They made it out of the bathroom to the hallway.
“Side door,” Severide said, not bothering to turn around.
As they passed the bunk room, Stella noticed movement around the corner in front of them and reached out, pulling Severide’s arm back.
He stopped and looked back, noticing the SWAT team moving in, telling them to stay put.
He and Stella crouched behind the concrete wall. Within moments, they heard a gunshot from the apparatus floor and the SWAT team moved into the bunk room, swiftly arresting the two offenders.
Just as SWAT led the offenders out, he and Stella stood up, coming face-to-face with Casey and Otis.
Casey held his hand to his shoulder, the blood slowly oozing between his fingers, and Otis’s face was pale and sweating. Kelly let out a sigh of relief, seeing two more members of the firehouse safe.
The four made their way quietly to the apparatus floor, barely catching the tail end of the scuffle. As Ambulance 61 pulled away with the gunshot victim and the SWAT team dissipated, Chief Boden turned and took assessment of his team.
“Cruz, call for an ambo for Casey,” he said.
Casey nodded, accepting the order to seek treatment.
“Kidd?” he asked.
“I’m good, Chief,” she said. “I lost consciousness for a minute, but I’m good.”
Wallace sighed, taking one last look at the rest of his guys.
“Two ambos, Cruz,” Boden said simply.
“Chief, we can just take them in the Squad,” Severide offered.
Wallace considered for a moment, and then gave a single nod.
Kelly watched as Casey climbed into the truck and Stella begrudgingly followed. He hesitated for a moment before reaching up to climb up into the passenger seat beside Cruz.
“Severide?” Boden asked.
Kelly turned, too quickly, and felt his world tilt. He shook his head, blinking away the dizziness before nodding at Wallace’s battalion car, “Meet you there, Chief.”
---
“Are you guy okay?! We heard what happened!” Maggie said as they all trudged through the sliding ED doors.
“Casey got shot in the shoulder. Kidd got knocked out. I think everyone else is okay,” Severide reported, steering Kidd and Casey toward the trauma rooms.
“We’ve got two beds in Four,” Maggie said, pointing. “Ethan, Will, Connor, I need you!” she called.
Matt took a seat on one stretcher, still clutching his right shoulder and Stella sat on the other.
The medical team immediately filled the room, surrounding both stretchers to assess their new patients. Severide leaned back against the doorway, sighing. He closed his eyes for a moment, his head pounding, letting the bustle of the department fade to white noise. He startled, someone putting a hand on his shoulder, and he winced as the sudden inhale made his chest hurt.
“You okay, Lieutenant?” Maggie asked. “Why don’t you let us check you out? Casey said you took a couple good hits.”
“No, no, I’m good. It was just Casey and Kidd,” he said, shaking his head.
As he shook his head, his vision shifted. He bent over quickly, putting his hands on his knees to steady himself. Maggie put a hand on his back and he inhaled sharply, sending a bolt of pain from his ribs through the rest of his body. He coughed, a spray of blood hitting the floor beneath them, and groaned.
“Severide!” Stella called out from across the room, watching him struggle.
“Get me a gurney!” Maggie called into the department.
Severide felt himself being lifted to a standing position and then backwards onto a stretcher. He coughed again, bright red blood covering his hand and his vision blurring.
Ethan Choi appeared suddenly at his bedside, looking between him and the monitors that Maggie was quickly attaching to him.
“What’s going on, Lieutenant? Tell me what you’re feeling,” he asked, calm but urgent.
Severide winced, “Ah, I don’t know. My head, and my chest, and my back. I don’t know. I was fine.”
“It was the adrenaline,” Ethan said, as the nurses started to cut off Kelly’s clothing and an oxygen mask was placed on his face.
Stella appeared at the side of the bed, grabbing his hand.
“Breathe, Kelly,” Dr. Choi instructed, placing his stethoscope on Kelly’s chest.
Kelly steeled himself and inhaled. Dr. Choi ran his hands down Kelly’s sides, feeling his ribs, and he groaned as the slightest pressure sent shooting pains through the rest of his body.
His vision started to swim and he felt his face break out in a sweat.
“Kelly?” Stella questioned.
He looked over at her, his jaw clenched. Suddenly he felt cold, and his hands started to shake.
He opened his mouth to say something, but the alarms from the monitor beside him interrupted.
“Dr. Choi, his pressure is tanking!” someone called out.
“Hang another liter and call the blood bank,” he answered before turning back to Kelly.
“What’s—” Severide started to ask.
“You’re bleeding somewhere,” Ethan answered quickly, not breaking his gaze from his assessment of Kelly’s injuries.
Severide felt Stella let go of his hand, and then felt the pinch of another IV being started. She put her hand on his face and stared at him, clearly worried. He let himself stare back at her for a moment before Ethan’s voice snapped him back to reality.
“Roll him on my count,” Ethan said, “One, two, three.”
Severide didn’t have time to brace himself and cried out as the team rolled him to his side and everything shifted, his whole body lighting up in pain.
He panted a few times, fogging the mask on his face, trying to catch his breath while they held him suspended on one side.
“Any of this hurt?” Dr. Choi asked from behind him.
“All of it--” Kelly choked out between gasps, feeling tears sting his eyes and blinking them away quickly.
“Hang in there, bud,” Ethan answered.
“Ah, no, there! There!” Kelly called out as Ethan prodded his lower back.
“Lower him,” Ethan instructed the team.
Kelly groaned as they laid him back down and he felt Dr. Choi put a hand on his shoulder.
“Okay, we’re going to get you something for the pain and get you up to CT, man. I think it’s your kidney,” he said, making deliberate eye contact with Kelly.
Kelly nodded once, bringing a hand to his head and covering his eyes.
---
Stella sat with her elbows on her knees, her head in her hands. She felt a hand on her back and looked to find Cruz had taken a seat beside her. Across from her, Matt was sitting next to Gabby, his head laid back against the wall and his eyes closed, his bandaged shoulder in a sling. Chief Boden was pacing back and forth, the other members of the firehouse scattered throughout the waiting room.
“Kidd, you should get some rest. You’ve got your own concussion to heal,” he said softly.
Stella shook her head and sighed, sinking back into the chair.
Dr. Choi walked into the room and everyone looked up. Boden stopped pacing and Stella stood, Cruz putting a hand on her back to steady her.
“He’s okay,” Ethan started, hearing the collective sigh of relief. “They took him to surgery. The bleeding was definitely coming from his kidney.”
Everyone nodded, looking between each other for reassurance.
“I’ll come get you when I know more…” Ethan trailed off.
---
Severide felt like he was underwater, the lights and sounds muffled and his movements slow. Without opening his eyes, he brought his hand to his chest, feeling the bandage around his ribs and the surgical dressing taped to his side. He pressed lightly, assessing his own injuries, and groaned before feeling someone pull his hand back and hold it.
“Hey, don’t do that…” he heard.
He opened his eyes, taking a moment to focus his blurry vision, before his gaze landed on Kidd sitting beside him, Boden and Casey standing behind her.
“Hey…” he said, his voice barely a whisper.
“Maybe next time you can tell us you’re hurt?” Boden said seriously.
“I didn’t feel it,” Severide said, wincing as his ribs protested the change in breathing to speak. “But I do now…”
“A concussion, some fractured and cracked ribs, a surgery to stop your kidney from bleeding. Yeah, I’d say you’re going to feel it now,” Matt smirked.
Kelly nodded, digesting the report on the extent of his injuries.
“They said to press the button when you need more pain meds,” Stella said, placing the pump button on his lap.
“I’m good,” Severide said, almost automatically, managing a half-grin of reassurance but being careful not to move.
“We’ll check on you later, Lieutenant,” Boden said, he and Matt putting a hand on his leg before turning toward the door. “Get some rest.”
As soon as the two men left, he closed his eyes, his jaw tight, and clenched his fists. Stella leaned forward, putting her elbows on the side of his bed, and he groaned as the bed shifted.
“Kelly…” she started. “Don’t be a hero…”
He opened his eyes, sighing as he reached for the button and pressed it.
“Thank you,” she said, rolling her eyes and putting a hand on his arm.
Almost instantly, his vision started to blur again, the pain from his mid-section fading, and he put his hand on top of hers.
“Thanks for being here…” he said, letting the darkness take him back into painless sleep.