Chapter Text
22. 22 minutes. It was the only thing in her head. That awful, all-consuming number. The air tanks only held 30 minutes worth of air, max, meaning they were almost out if they weren’t already.
She wished she didn’t know that. The only reason she did was because of him, he had taught her that, as well as about a hundred other things, just to help her get ready for the Lieutenant's test. She remembered the way he had kissed her when she had gotten study questions right, the way he kept supporting her when she was spinning out about the results, and especially the way he had been so proud when she had passed. But now, now he might be...no, she told herself, don’t go there. For all we know, they’re just fine.
But that terrible, gut-wrenching feeling was getting stronger and stronger by the minute. She had first felt it when he and Casey went and jumped off that building, and she had to pull his unconscious body from the river. Then, when that chimney had collapsed in the house fire, and she was forced to stay outside while he was fighting for his life, she had felt it then too. She had hoped she’d never feel it again. But here they were, and once again, she was helpless. Even if she was trained to dive, which she wasn’t, there was no way she could save him, as well as the rest of squad, in an amount of time that would allow all of them to survive.
But still, there was no way this was how he was going to go. He had said it himself. When he went, he’d have her, he’d have his kids, even his grandkids. So this, this was not how it was going to end, and she hoped to god it was true.
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Severide came up just above the surface a few seconds after going under, coughing and spitting up water. He frantically tried to take in a few breaths, all while trying to keep his head above water, which was proving difficult with the small space they were in.
Once he recovered slightly, he realized that the boat had shifted, enough so where his head was brought above the water level. Thank god it had, otherwise he most likely would have gone unconscious. He looked around, desperately searching for any way out. He knew that there was back up on the way, but that wouldn’t help one bit if they all drowned before anyone could get to them. Keeping up his search, he looked for anything he could break or move in order to create an opening but came up short. Damn it, he thought. Time, as well as options, were running out.
Thinking fast, he decided his next best option was to work on keeping himself as well as his team above water as long as possible, hoping that backup arrived soon. He threw on his goggles, praying that they were all still somewhat conscious, and dove down, grabbing onto the first air pack he saw. When they broke above the surface again, Cruz appeared next to him, fighting against the water to take a breath.
“Cruz! Cruz, you’re good, you’re good,” Kelly said. “Nice and even, there you go.”
“We gotta...we gotta find a way out,” Cruz gasped in between breaths.
Kelly shook his head. “No go. I tried, but none of this is gonna give,”
“Ok, what if we…” But Cruz was cut off by the groan of the boat as it shifted again, forcing them back under the water level. By the time they had both pushed back above the surface, there was another loud thud from under the water.
“What the heck was that?” Cruz yelled, his head on a swivel.
In response, Severide pushed back under the water, looking around. Immediately he noticed that the piece of the boat that had originally been blocking their way out had moved again, revealing an opening large enough for them to get through.
“Everything shifted again!” he called when he came back up for air, “We have a way out, but we need to move fast, it could move again at any second! Find Capp and Tony and let’s get out of here!”
“Copy that!” Cruz shouted. They both dove back under in search of their team. Thankfully neither had gone far. Cruz grabbed a hold of Tony and used what was left of his strength to dive through the opening, getting them both to safety. Once they were out, Cruz was able to kick them up to the surface where they were quickly scooped up by the CFD rescue boat.
“Where’s the rest of your team?” the driver shouted to Cruz.
“They should be right behind us,” Cruz said, not caring about the goggles around his neck or the air pack on his back, only watching the water for signs of his team.
Meanwhile, Severide had gotten ahold of Capp and was about to make his escape when he remembered that they also had a victim to save. So, instead of trying to get himself to safety, he pushed Capp out the opening, knowing that he would be recovered by the other boats on scene, and went in search of the victim.
He pushed back above the water level, taking in another breath of air, before diving back down, thankful when he found their guy quickly.
He kicked back over to the opening, victim in tow, when he heard another creak, then the same loud thud from earlier. Only this time when he looked to see what had happened, it wasn’t a pretty sight.
The boat had shifted once again, but now their only way out was once again blocked. Not only that, but the water levels had risen, diminishing the little air access he had left.
Panic settled in his chest as he tried his best to conserve oxygen while he pushed and pulled at the piece of the ship locking him in, but the little air he had left was fading fast.
The last thing he remembers is a loud crack from outside the ship before his world went black.
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She wanted so badly to look away, to pretend this wasn’t happening, but it was, and she was completely helpless. Every nerve in her body screamed for her to do something, to jump in and help, but there was nothing she could do. All she could do was stand here and hope and pray for the best, which was becoming harder and harder to do every second they didn’t hear anything.
She hadn’t even noticed when Boden pulled up to the scene behind Engine 51, all of them leaving their rigs and continuing the waiting game with the rest of them.
“This is the CFD rescue boat to Ambulance 61,” Sylvie’s radio crackled to life. “We have 3 members of Squad here with us. They are conscious and responsive, but the lieutenant as well as another victim are believed to still be underneath and unconscious. We’re cracking the hull open now in order to pull them out and will be transporting them to you as soon as possible,”
“Brett, call for another ambo,” Boden instructed. The PIC nodded as she and Violet prepared to do everything they could for their friend.
The confirmation that Kelly was still down there and unconscious was about all Stella could take as her entire body shook while tears streamed down her face. She felt Casey’s arms wrap around her while she watched them pull his lifeless body from the water.
“Oh god…” she whispered as the boat began to speed back towards the shore. It felt like hours before they were finally able to get him out of the boat and onto the gurney, but once they did, she never left his side.
“C’mon Kelly,” she told him, “Don’t do this, don’t leave.” She helped peel off his turnout coat, just as he had done to her after the tower fire, though she’d never know it. The rest of 51 gathered around as Brett and Violet worked around him, everyone hoping and praying he would be ok.
“Let’s get him in,” Brett shouted, as they all helped load the gurney into the ambo. Nobody even thought twice about the fact that Kidd climbed in as well. They all knew she wouldn’t leave his side for anything.
“Violet, make sure Med knows we’re coming,” the blonde instructed.
“Kelly, you can do it, just fight,” Kidd told him as Brett worked, both women fighting back tears.
“Violet!” Brett yelled, “What’s our ETA?”
“3 minutes!” she responded.
“Make it less!” Brett responded, and the young paramedic pushed the gas even further.
“Fight for me Kelly,” Stella whispered, feeling the ambulance jerk to a stop outside Med.
The doors flung open with Choi and his team waiting on the other side. Kidd climbed out, letting Brett and Violet take control, rattling off his vitals and condition while she followed close behind.
“Let’s take him to trauma 1,” Choi called, as they pushed further down the halls.
No sooner did they get him into a room than the curtains were pulled shut and Kidd was left with the two paramedics, just hoping with everything in her that the love of her life was going to be ok.