Work Text:
I may not have the softest touch
I may not say the words as such
And though I may not look like much
I’m yours
And though my edges may be rough
I never feel I’m quite enough
It may not seem like very much
But I’m yours.
I'm yours - The Script
With arms wildly gesticulating Herrmann came to the end of his current train of thought, “and that’s another reason CPD should be pulling their thumbs out of their asses at…”
Boden’s radio crackled into life, cutting off Herrmann mid-rant, “Main to Battalion 25, radio check”.
Picking up his radio, Boden held in the talk button “Battalion 25 to Main, all clear”.
“Main to Battalion 25, are you in contact with Ambulance 61?” the disembodied voice questioned.
Furrowing his brow Boden tried to recollect if he had heard any radio traffic from his medics, “Negative Main, Ambulance 61 was dispatched to a man down call at Wabash Bridge”
“Chief?” Herrmann questioned, a concerned look on his face; Boden shook his head indicating his friend should remain quiet for the moment.
Chief Boden gripped his radio tightly, “Battalion 25 to Main, how long has 61 been out of contact?”
“Main to Battalion 25, since arrival on scene approximately 18 minutes ago”
Herrmann was rising from his seat, about to make his way out of the Chief’s office, “Lieutenant, sit down” Boden commanded knowing that his next move would be to load up the rigs and race out to Wabash Bridge underpass without knowing what was happening.
“Battalion 25 to Main, have you any other units in the area?” Boden needed information quickly, any close by emergency response units would get him that information.
“Main to Battalion 25, please standby” there was a crackle of radio static “Main to Ambulance 78 please divert to Wabash Bridge Underpass, check in with Ambulance 61”.
“Ambulance 78 to Main, show us enroute to Wabash Bridge Underpass; eta 2 minutes”
“Main to Ambulance 78, affirmative; 2 minutes noted”
“Chief…the guys” Herrmann knew the rest of his friends and colleagues would not appreciate being left out of any incident involving their medics.
“No Lieutenant, not until we know more; it could just be a faulty radio in the underpass” Boden tried to convince his long-time friend and colleague, and more importantly himself.
“3 faulty radios?” Herrmann asked uncertainly; he knew one faulty radio was a possibility but there were three radios running out on 61, the 2 medics wore their personal ones and 61 itself had one in the cab, all 3 couldn’t be on the fritz at the same time.
Time ticked by, too slowly for Boden who began pacing behind his desk with his radio in hand, just as he was about to call for an update his radio crackled to life.
“10-1, Ambulance 78 requesting a 10-1 at the Wabash Bridge Underpass; send 2 additional ambulances at the rush – one civilian DOA and paramedics down, I repeat 2 paramedics down”
Herrmann, momentarily stunned at the radio chatter, barely had time to turn his head as he watched Boden rush from his office before he stood and raced out after him; he could hear Main confirm CPD and Ambulance 23 were currently being dispatched to the scene also.
“Woah, woah where’s the fire?” Capp laughed as Boden, quickly followed by Herrmann pushed past him in the doorway onto the App floor; by this time all the guys sitting at the Squad table heard the commotion and had turned their heads towards the exchange going on.
Herrmann shouted out, “Chief, what are we doing?”; Boden stopped in front of his buggy, his hand on the drivers door to open it, and turned round to his friend, “I’m headed to the scene, stay in the House until I know what’s going on”
“Scene? What’s going on Chief?” Severide questioned while standing up from his recliner and striding towards Herrmann and Boden; there hadn’t been any calls over the Bells since 61 was pulled out of the Station earlier so he was at a loss about what scene their Chief was rushing out to.
Herrmann looked round at Severide, who had been followed by the Squad 3 guys over, “It’s Brett and Lin”
“What about them?” Severide asked with dread, Boden rushing out of the Fire House looking thunderous was concerning.
“All rigs are to stay in the Station until called otherwise – am I clear gentlemen?” Boden questioned, before getting into his buggy and peeling out of the station, his lights flashing and siren wailing.
“Herrmann, what’s going on?” Severide closed in on the Engine Lieutenant, something serious had to have happened to spook both officers so much.
“I don’t know, 61 was out on a call and went radio quiet – Main sent Ambo 78 to back-up and they’ve just called a 10-1, both medics are down – gees, that’s our medics, Brett and Lin - we need to be there” Herrmann swung round and kicked a tire on Squad 3’s rig.
Severide took a beat to plan their next steps, “Go to the Tower and listen to the radio, I’m going to go grab Casey – Cruz, Tony, Capp go tell the rest of the House what’s happening and meet us there”
All colour drained from Herrmann’s face, “Aww gees, Casey! He’s going to be…” Herrmann knew the Captain was more than a little sensitive about any situation that involved Brett; he had noticed they seemed to be on the verge of something but as far as he knew, they had never taken the final step. He actually thought that last night at Molly’s was going to be the night, 51 had come together again to celebrate Mouch’s commendation and he watched Casey chase Brett out of the bar; he was disappointed when Casey came back in again, alone even if he did look much more at peace with himself for more than he has in a long time.
“Don’t worry about Casey, I got him” Severide grimaced, not relishing the task he was now facing; he watched Herrmann take off in the direction of the Tower before he himself ran through the Station to his best friend’s quarters, hoping that he would get to him before one of the others broke the news to him. Casey had told him only this morning before they left for work that he had laid everything out to Brett the previous night; Severide hoped whatever had happened wasn’t too serious as he wasn’t sure his friend would come through it if something bad happened to the PIC.
Luck thankfully seemed to be on his side, when he got to the bunkroom he found it empty and he could see the Captain sitting at his desk through the glass wall of his office; taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door and walked in closing it behind him.
Turning round in his chair to face his interruption, he smiled “Hey Sev” Casey greeted him, “what can I do for you?”
“Case” Severide fumbled to find the right words, “there’s been an incident involving 61”.
Casey stood quickly, his chair knocked back against his desk before righting itself, “What’s happened? Are Brett and Lin ok?”
Severide shook his head, “Honestly, I don’t know, Ambo 78 have just called for a 10-1 and additional medics” – he watched as his friend pushed past him, opening his office door, “Matt” he called out, getting his attention and hating what he was about to say, “Boden’s ordered us to stay in the House”.
“What?” Casey spun round, his face furious, “he can’t be serious? That’s Sylvie out there, I need to get to her” he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears.
“By the time we get there both Brett and Lin will have been taken from the scene; go back into your office and take a breath, everyone’s in the Tower listening for news – we’ll go join them, once you take a minute” Severide could see how emotionally compromised Casey had become; he knew his best friend struggled to contain his emotions at the best of times when someone he knew or loved was hurt but with Brett, he knew Casey would struggle – that’s why he came to him, and he didn’t let one of the other guys tell him.
“Kelly, we need to get to them” Casey all but pleaded, “Sylvie…”.
Walking up to his friend and squeezing his shoulder, “Matt, go back into your office and take a beat, then we’ll go to the Tower with everyone else and see if there’s news” – he gently about turned him and pushed him towards his office; Casey’s body walked on autopilot into his office, not bothering to close his door and he sat on the edge of his bed.
Severide was leaving his office when Kidd came running through, “Kelly, where’s the Captain?” she called out; Severide reached and pulled her into his arms for a hug when he saw the unshed tears in her eyes, “He knows, he’s taking a minute and then we’re headed to the Tower. Has there been any more radio chatter?”
Both were too caught up in each other to realise Casey was standing at his door frame and was listening to the exchange between them.
Kidd took a deep breath, “Kelly they were shot, both of them have bullet wounds”; he felt Kidd hug him tighter, “Lin was being loaded up and transported to Med in Ambo 23; Brett…”, she buried her head deeper into his neck seeking out much needed comfort in his embrace.
Unable to contain himself any longer and walking towards his two friends, “Sylvie, what about Sylvie?” Casey asked, his voice thick with emotion.
“Matt…” Severide wasn’t sure what he wanted to or could say at this moment.
“I don’t know Captain” Kidd detached herself from Severide’s arms and walked towards Casey, “78’s still working on her at the scene” tears that had threatened to fall when she reached Severide finally fell when she saw the upset on her Captain’s face, “she’s bleeding out, they’re trying to get her stabilised before they move her”. Kidd had heard Ambo 78s updates over the radio, but she couldn’t bare it any longer – this wasn’t an unknown, faceless victim they were working on it was one of her best friends and it hurt to listen to 78s crew ask for additional permissions to undertake lifesaving treatments, listing off her failing vitals to a listening ER doctor and trauma team.
The three fire fighters moved quickly to the Tower where they found the rest of Station 51s fire fighters standing gathered around the radio, there was silence as everyone was focussed on the radio exchanges.
“What’s goin…?” Kidd started to ask, before she was harshly shushed by everyone.
“78 to Main, show us loading now, eta to Med 7 minutes”
“Main to Ambulance 78, affirmative eta to Med 7 minutes…make good time guys”
“Jesus” Severide uttered, “Any news on what’s happened?”
Herrmann answered, “Nothing, CPD are on the scene now; Ambo 35 called time of death on the victim 61 was sent out for; Lin’s already at Med and they’ve just got Brett stabilised enough to move after she crashed. Boden is there, and is following Brett and 78 to Med too”.
Kidd gasped loudly, “they’d to restart her heart?”, Matt’s hands turned into fists at his side, he needed to get to her and was planning to disobey Boden’s direct orders about remaining at the House before the radio crackled to life again, “Battalion 25 to Main, show House 51 out of Service” the Chief yelled into his radio; they could hear the siren’s and horns from his buggy and Ambulance 78 in the distance over the radio.
“Affirmative Battalion 25, House 51 is out of call rotation – please advise when this changes. Please know that everyone in Main is hoping for a good outcome”
There was a burst of static across the radio, Boden had wanted to respond but he knew he couldn’t formulate any words – his medics were being rushed to hospital, one in serious condition and the other in critical condition.
As soon as everyone had heard Boden call the House out of service they knew this was their cue and ran to their rigs, grabbing their turnout gear and throwing it into their cabs with them before taking off to Med, with Truck 81 leading the convoy with lights and sirens blaring.
Boden arrived at Med closely behind Ambo 78 having followed in its wake from the scene, he helped open the ambo doors and unload Brett’s gurney, pushing it to the doors into the hospital and watched closely as she was rushed through to the ED; he tried to follow through with her but was quickly redirected to the waiting room with promises that he would be kept up to date with any developments. Dr Halstead had caught his eye during the handover from the paramedics and gave the universal nod that signified the understanding that he and Med now bore the responsibility to save her life.
Remembering he had a second medic on the ED he approached the nurses station and requested information about Violet Lin; the receptionist promised to get an update and directed him back to the seating area to wait.
Boden had no sooner sat down when Casey and the rest of Fire Hose 51 came running through the door, seeing the new arrivals Boden stood up; he looked confused when Casey’s face drained of all colour when he approached him, his Captain and a few of the fire fighters were staring at him. When he looked down on himself, he registered the red stains that had saturated his white shirt – it was Brett’s blood, he had helped the medics on 78 when he arrived on scene. Lin had been prepped for transport by the time he got there so there wasn’t much he could do for her, but Brett was still bleeding out from her wounds so he helped while the medics did everything they could to stabilise her. He didn’t realise he had gotten so much blood on his uniform.
“Is that…?” Casey couldn’t finish his question and took a step back from his long-time friend and mentor; the amount of blood on his Chief’s shirt was beginning to make him feel nauseous.
“Brett’s in the ED with Halstead and Choi – I’m waiting word about Lin” Boden reported in a monotonous tone.
“Chief, maybe you should sit down” Mouch coaxed, before he gently pushed him back into the seat he had just vacated.
Moments later a nurse approached the congregated group of fire fighters, “Chief Boden?” she questioned – Boden rose from his seat and moved to the nurse, giving her a nod to continue.
“I have some information about the paramedic, Violet Lin” she paused as the group of fire fighters drew closer to her, “she’s going to be moved to a room within the hour, she has a concussion, one gunshot wound to her left side that required cleaning and stitching and some smaller, superficial lacerations that required cleaning and steri-strips to close; she is conscious and aware of her surroundings, but she’ll likely be here for a day or two for observation”.
Everyone collectively released their breath, Lin was concussed and injured but awake; Gallo spoke up, “can we see her?”. The nurse smiled and nodded, “once we get her settled we’ll make arrangements to have you visit with her”; “what about my other medic, Sylvie Brett?” Boden asked.
The nurses smiled dropped, “unfortunately I’ve no information to share – I was working with Ms Lin when they brought your other medic in” she saw the upset in the faces of the fire fighters before her, “but rest assured she’s in good hands and as soon as we have any information someone will be out to let you know”. She then took her leave and returned through the doors leading her back to the ED.
Severide turned to Boden, “what happened out there Chief?”, asking the question everybody wanted answered.
Boden shook his head, “Honestly I don’t know, CPD are still trying to piece it together; 61 got called to a person in distress under the Wabash bridge, only the guy had been shot and was on their gurney in the back of the rig, but there’s no witnesses to what happened next. 78 found Lin unconscious with a gunshot wound at the backdoors, Brett bleeding out from 2 gunshot wounds in the back of 61 and their casualty was dead.”
The scene he was met with on arrival was one that would stay with him for many years to come, one medic unconscious being loaded into the back of an ambulance – he didn’t get to check on her before she was taken away and his attention was called to his PIC. When he arrived she had coded, the medics from 78 was fighting to get fluids into her and restart her heart – he rushed over, helped where he could, wrapped her wounds in an attempt to stop the blood escaping her body. When the medics finally got her stable enough to transport, he helped lift her to their gurney and slammed the ambulance doors closed himself before racing to his buggy and following them through the streets of Chicago to Med, helping to unload her and push her into the hospital.
Boden sat down on the chair then abruptly stood, moving to the closest wash room – he needed to wash the blood off of himself, the tang was assaulting his senses. Herrmann and Mouch shared a look, and followed their long-time friend at a discreet distance; the majority of the fire fighters who remained found seats scattered around the waiting room, while Casey moved to stand at the doors leading to the ED – to where he knew Sylvie was. Severide tried to get him to sit down with the rest of the guys, but realising how fruitless a task this was, he stood beside his friend with Kidd soon following to stand beside them.
Eventually Boden, Herrmann and Mouch returned – the Chief was wearing Mouch’s CFD jacket, zipped up over the bloody white officers shirt he couldn’t clean in the bathroom; he gently patted the shoulders of his 3 standing fire fighters before he walked to the seat Capp had vacated for him.
“Chief?” an arriving Detective Burgess called out, she and Ruzek had just arrived at Med having left the scene at the Wabash Bridge Underpass; Boden stood and like with the nurse updating them about Lin, all the other fire fighters gathered in a tight circle around the detectives.
Ruzek nodded his head at a few of the gathered fire fighters, “what’s the word on your medics?” he asked; Boden looked at him “Lin will be fine, she’ll be out in a couple of days; they’ve stitched up the bullet wound on her left side, she’s a concussion and some cuts.”
“And Brett” Burgess pressed; turning his gaze from Ruzek to Burgess, Boden shook his head “she’s still in ED, they haven’t told us anything yet; when I got to the scene she’d 2 bullets in her and was bleeding out. What do you know, what the hell happened out there?” the Chief asked.
Ruzek took over, “we’ve been out to the scene, the guy 61 was called for is a known gang banger, Val Lopez; from what we can piece together it looks like he was shot and left under the bridge for dead. A dog walker called it in, she saw him lying on the ground from a distance and phoned 911; that’s when 61 was called out. It looks like Lopez was alive when the medics got there; they’d him loaded up and were preparing to leave when his killers arrived. They shot up 61, Brett and Lin must have got caught in the cross fire; Lopez is dead”. On hearing this, Casey walked away from the group and kicked a chair which went flying across the waiting room; Boden looked at his Squad Lieutenant, “Severide” he muttered, his eyes darting to his Captain and back again.
Taking the hint, Severide grabbed his friend by the shoulder and urged him outside of the hospital; Kidd followed a close distance behind them.
Once they were outside, Severide grabbed his friend by the arm and stood directly in his line of sight; “Matt, it’s Brett – she’ll get through this, she’s tough”
Casey let out a high pitched laugh, “tough? She’s been shot Kelly! Not once, but twice! If it wasn’t bad enough she’s one bullet in her, they had to hit her for a second time – and nobody will tell us God damn thing”
“Matt…”
“No, don’t do that – don’t try and make me feel better when Sylvie is the one fighting for her life. All she did was answer a call now she could be dead” he twisted himself out of Severide’s arm hold.
“Matt don’t do this to yourself – don’t go down this road, she’s at Med and the best of the best are fighting for her”
“What if the best isn’t good enough?” Matt put his head in his hands, “what if she doesn’t make it?”
“Matt look at me” Severide commanded, his best friend eventually raised his head and held his gaze, “this is not how Sylvie Brett goes out, you’ve finally got your head out of your ass and told her how you feel – this is not how your story ends”.
“Captain” Kidd called quietly from where she stood, “Brett was planning to talk to you this morning but 61 kept getting called out – she wanted to tell you…”.
“Please Kidd, don’t tell me; I think I need to hear it from Sylvie herself, if…”
“when” Severide interrupts
“…she pulls through this”.
The three of them stood there in silence, until Cruz came looking for them “guys, come quick – they’re going to bring Brett though to the elevators, come on” he shouted before running back inside; the other three chased closely behind.
When they returned to the waiting room they found 51 had moved through closer to the ED and had split themselves in 2 rows, flanking the corridor to the bank of elevators; they joined at the head of the lines making themselves the first persons who would lay eyes on Brett when she was wheeled past. A nurse came running out of the ED, making her way straight to an elevator at the end of their line – Tony got there before her, and pressed the call button – “I got it” he told the nurse, who acknowledged his gesture and returned through the double doors back to the ED. Moments later, the doors were flung open again only this time a bed was pushed through – Matt momentarily froze when he got his first look at Sylvie, she was lying deathly still on the bed her face devoid of all colour, black circles under her eyes, she was attached to various machines and had IV lines hooked up. Dr Halstead and Dr Choi were helping push the bed and simultaneously keeping an eye on readings showing on the various machines; Matt pulled himself together when he felt Kidd wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him forward everyone else following behind, following Sylvie’s journey until they got to the elevator that Tony was holding open for her. Dr Halstead turned to the fire fighters standing outside the elevator, “this is as far as you go guys – I promise I’ll get her handed over to the surgeons and then I’ll be back” the elevator doors closed and they could hear it begin it’s ascent up through the building.
Matt stood in front of the bank of elevators, waiting for Will Halstead to return to their floor; he had the information that Matt needed. Eventually the doctor appeared before him, he led Matt to the waiting area and all of 51 gathered round him, “we stabilised Sylvie the best we could in ED – she’s now in Surgery, the bullet to her thigh doesn’t appear to have done much damage; it didn’t hit any bones and was easily retrieved, the wound has been cleaned and stitched.”
“What about the second bullet doc?” Kidd asked fearfully.
Halstead took a deep breath, “the 2nd bullet is why Sylvie has been taken to surgery, it appears to have hit her liver and in turn has caused significant blood loss; she coded again in the ED despite us having transfused her and the medics having pushed fluids at the scene. Surgeon’s will only be able to assess the extent of the damage once they open her up, hopefully they’ll be able to successfully debride or resect the affected area. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to tell if there has been any further damage any of her adjacent organs, including her intestines, stomach and spleen as our focus was to get her stable enough for surgery.”
Will allowed his words to sink in with the fire fighters surrounding him before he continued, “We’ve given her the best chance we can, the Surgeons will have a better idea of any damage once they start repairing the damage caused by the bullet”
“What are we looking at doc? Will she pull through?” Herrmann asked the question everyone else was too fearful to voice.
“As you know I’m not a betting man, but I have absolutely no reason to think she won’t make it through the surgery; once I know more I promise I’ll come find you all” Will Halstead knew Sylvie Brett would pull through the surgery, but he wasn’t prepared to give guarantees just incase.
- X – X – X – X – X -
A couple of hours later Dr Halstead came back to the fire fighters having requested to give the update he knew they were all waiting for, once they were gathered around he began “I’ve spoken to the Surgeons who operated on Sylvie, the surgery went better than expected. The bullet has been successfully removed, it had hit the periphery of her liver and they were able to resect the affected area; the bullet thankfully failed to cause any damage to any of her other internal organs”.
51 let out a collective exhale at the good news, Boden then asked “When can we see her?”
“They’re closing her up now, she’ll be in recovery for a bit and then we’ll transfer her to her own room”.
“What’s the long term prognosis doc?” Mouch asked, everything sounded promising so far but they all needed to be sure.
“All being well, she’ll heal nicely and will make a full recovery; if she follows instructions and doesn’t develop any post-operative complications she should be discharged in a few days; after an agreed period of rest and recuperation she should be back on 61 with no long-term effects” Halstead smiled.
He then continued with a request which would be less than favourable to the family gathered before him, “I promise I will make arrangements for you all to visit with Sylvie as soon as it is medically safe to do so, but may I suggest as it’ll be a few hours yet at the very least, you return to your Station and finish out your shift or at the very least, get changed and return in smaller groups?” From previous experiences with 51 and the Houses of other injured first responders he knew this would not happen.
As Dr Halstead turned to walked through the doors to the ED, the fire fighters returned to their seats determined not to leave until they had seem both of their medics for themselves.
X – X – X – X – X
Dr Charles, having heard through the hospital grapevine that his favourite paramedic had been injured came to the Surgical floor and got an update of his own; expecting 51 to still be hanging around he found all of the fire fighters congregated in the ED waiting room. He gazed around the room, feeling their despair in the air and focussed his attention on a pacing Captain Casey, noting that most of the fire fighters were watching him, mostly with sympathy in their eyes.
“Captain” he called out, attracting his attention, this also served to attract the attention of everyone else also, “can we talk”.
Casey made his way over to the doctor, “what can I do for you Doc?” he asked, unsure why he had been summonded.
Dr Charles smiled, “actually, it’s more about what I can do for you…I can probably arrange for one person to sit with Sylvie once they’ve finished settling her in her room – have you any suggestions about who this should be?” He looked around at the waiting room and the various fire fighters who had taken up residence, but ultimately knew who he would be escorting upstairs.
“Me, it needs to be me” Casey replied with a second thought, if there was a chance he could be with Sylvie he was taking it – it was time for him to be selfish for a change.
“Follow me then” he winked and Casey stuck to Charles heels like glue; when they were in the elevator Charles turned to speak with him again, “Captain”.
“It’s Matt” Casey corrected him.
“Matt” Charles addressed him, “Sylvie isn’t in great shape right now, I need you to understand that over the next few hours she will improve, but right now she’s in a bad way; there’s a lot of machines and different lines hooked up to her – as she improves, I assure you these will be removed”
Matt nodded, he’d kept vigil at enough bedsides over the years with his line of work that he knew the importance of all the medical equipment, “Doc, I’ll be fine – I just need to see her” he pressed.
Sensing that this was the truth, Dr Charles smiled “talk to her, I’m sure she’d like to hear a familiar voice while she’s coming to” the elevator doors opened, and Matt allowed himself to be led to Sylvie’s room. He took a deep breath before entering, Sylvie was lying with her eyes closed, machines humming in the background and a nurse was injecting something into her IV line. Dr Charles put a reassuring hand on his back, “hold her hand and talk to her” before he turned and headed towards the nurses station for another update on the paramedic.
Matt moved over to her bed and allowed the nurse to pull up a chair for him, “She’ll be out for a few hours yet; just be careful of the lines, and press the buzzer right here if you need anything”
Matt reached out and enveloped her hand in both of his, “Sylvie, please you’ve got to be ok – I love you so much”. He sat there, holding her hand talking to her about whatever he could think of, waiting for her to wake up.
X – X – X – X – X
“I wanted to formally introduce myself, I’m Sylvie Brett”
“You quit giving somebody a second chance, they stop having one”
“I earned by place as PIC after years of experience in the field, I chose this life. It wasn’t a backup plan, it wasn’t a consolation prize.”
“Greg is a great guy. It had nothing to do with him. I’m the problem, looking for something I can never have”
“I’m in love with you Sylvie, nobody else”
Sylvie came back to consciousness, her eyes remained shut but she could feel pain blooming throughout her body and gripped her hands into fists against the cool scratchy fabric beneath her – one hand however was engulfed by someone else’s, “Sylvie, please God Sylvie, open your eyes” she had a faint notion she recognised the voice, but her head was fuzzy and her body was in pain – as she squeezed the hand tighter it squeezed hers back, “Sylvie, if you can hear me, please open your eyes” the voice pleaded.
She found the strength to open one eye, closing it tightly when she was caught out by the bright overhead lights, “come on Sylvie, wake up” the voice called to her through her haze.
She lay there unmoving, trying to reorientate herself to her surroundings, then came realisation of everything she’d been through and recognition of who was holding her hand; “Matt” she croaked out while forcing her eyes open.
“Hey, there she is” Matt smiled brilliantly as her glazed eyes cleared by the second; he held out a glass with a straw, she took small slow sips to soothe her parched throat; “you’re in Med, all of 51 is here – oh God Sylvie, you’re awake”
“Matt, what…”
“Shh, don’t try to talk – let me get someone, let them know you’re awake”
Sylvie suddenly tensed and gripped his hand tighter as he tried to take his hand away, he looked at her in terror “what Sylvie, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Violet?” she had a flash of her partner being shot while closing the ambulance door and falling to the ground.
“She’s fine, in a room of her own recovering – she’s a concussion and a wound to her side but she was lucky and will be released in the next day or so” Sylvie’s grip on his hand relaxed; he held her hand for a little longer before planning to leave her room briefly, as before though when he tried to take his hand away her grip on his tightened, “Sylvie?” he questioned.
“I just wanted to make sure you’re real” she whispered hoarsely before releasing his hand; Matt picked up her hand again and leaned down to gently kiss her forehead, “I’m very much real and very relieved to see you awake” before he left her room briefly, returning with a doctor and nurse.
The Doctor and Nurse immediately began running some post operative cognition tests before Matt was asked to leave so they could continue some more invasive physical investigations, “Sylvie” he called out, seeking her attention, “I’m just going to let 51 know you’re awake and then I’ll be back”
She gave him a small smile, “send them all home, please; they’re bound to be exhausted and Matt”
“Yes Sylvie” at this moment he would promise her anything she wanted, no matter what she asked.
“Tell them thank-you, they really didn’t need to stay here waiting”
He nodded his head, “I will” before heading to the elevators.
Matt exited the elevator at the ED floor and walked up to the congregated fire fighters, some were passed out on chairs or sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall – he noted that the bins were overflowing with empty coffee cups. Kidd was the first person to notice Matt, she lifted her head from Severide’s shoulder, “Captain?”; he smiled and nodded understanding her unasked question, “thank God” she said.
Matt waited for everyone to come round, wanting to give one update before he returned upstairs “she’s awake, sore but awake” there was a loud round of applause and cheering before he could continue, “the doctors are checking her over now, but everything looks good; she’s passed all their tests so far – they’re just checking out the wounds; I’m headed back up there but she wanted me to let you know how thankful she is that you stayed and more importantly, send you all home – well, back to the Station” he smiled at Chief Boden.
“Tell Brett we’re just made up that she’s back in the land of the living” Herrmann shouted out, the rest of the guys nodding and agreeing with his words, “first drinks are 30% off tomorrow after shift to celebrate”.
“Alright 51 it’s time to load up those rigs and put our House right” Boden ordered, “Captain, I presume you’ll be here for the rest of your shift?” he questioned. With everyone’s eyes on him, Matt nodded “I can’t leave her here alone Chief”.
“Damn right you can’t” Kidd called out, “go tell our girl we’ll be back tomorrow and she better be prepared to receive a butt load of attention”.
Matt stood there as his friends and colleagues walked up and shook his hand or squeezed his shoulder, all asking that he pass on their best to Brett before they returned to their rigs; Boden, Severide and Kidd hung back, “Captain Casey I expect you to be on the phone at the rush if you or Brett need anything during the night, or in the coming days” Boden ordered, “yes Chief” he dutifully answered.
“Tell our PIC I’ll be back in the morning to see her – I expect to see you both have had some sleep before then” he smiled before walking out.
Kidd hugged her Captain, “tell Brett to expect me after shift, we’ve got some talking to do about getting her fitted for a bullet proof vest – something pink and sparkly I’m thinking”, Matt hugged her back, “Kelly and I are going to swing by hers and pack a bag, but text if there’s anything she really wants”.
“Thanks Kidd, I will” Matt smiled, releasing her; Severide then reached out and slapped his shoulder lightly, “I’ll grab somethings for you too” he shot him a knowing grin, “can’t see you leaving here anytime soon”.
Matt laughed lightly, “nah, I’m where I need to be for now”; he had no intention of leaving Sylvie’s side any time soon and was unashamed about his friends knowing this.
“Well, get back to your girl man” Severide reached out and pushed his friend in the direction of the elevators, laughing at Matt reached out and stabbed the elevator call button repeatedly.
Matt arrived back at Sylvie’s room and quietly opened the door, she looked to be sleeping peacefully and he was pleased to see that a number of the machines she had been hooked up to had been removed whilst he was away. He walked back over to the seat he had spent the last few hours in waiting for her to wake and grabbed her hand in both of his.
“Hey” came a less groggy voice than he had heard when she first woke.
He flashed her a megawatt smile, “You’re awake?”
“Yeah, playing possum hoping the nurses would stop coming in and out to poke and prod me” she smiled back.
“How are you feeling?” he reached out his free hand, brushing it lightly over her forehead.
Her smile deepened and her eyes crinkled, “Like I got shot…twice”.
“Sylvie…” Matt was not in the mood to underplay what had happened today.
Seeing the grimace on his face, she allowed her smile to drop “Sorry, too soon for jokes – got it!” she furrowed her brow and did a proper self-assessment, “actually they gave me some pretty nice drugs, so uncomfortable but not in pain”
“Really?” his eyes searched hers for any sign that she was withholding the truth from him.
“Really” she assured him, she then pinned him with her own searching gaze “Matt can we talk?”
“We are talking”
“No, I mean talk about us – what’s going on”
“Sylvie you’ve just woken up from major surgery after having been shot, I’m not sure now is the time to…”
“Matt…”, there was an edge of frustration to her voice.
His heart was beating a mile a minute, if she was going to tell him they couldn’t be together he didn’t want to hear it – not here and not now, “No, we can talk tomorrow, you need to rest and…”
Sylvie needed to say what she was feeling, today’s events proved that tomorrow was guaranteed to no one; “we belong together” she stated.
“We do?” he isn’t sure how he managed to make a statement he was so sure of almost sound like a question at the same time, but his brain hadn’t quite processed where she was going with this.
“We’re right for each other” despite her head being fuzzy with the pain killers they were pumping her with, she was clear about what she needed to say; she had wanted to speak with Matt at the Fire House but the Bells kept sending 61 out on call after call.
“We are” he gripped her hand tighter with a smile breaking out over his face, and began to rise from his chair.
She smiled, “when you know, you know”.
“You do” he was beaming, leaning closer into her.
Tears pooled in her eyes, “I’m in love with you”.
Matt couldn’t hold back any longer, it wasn’t the perfect time or place but he reached out and cradled her head while pressing his lips to hers; it wasn’t a passionate, breath taking kiss but it was one full of promise and hope for the future.