It was another gloomy day in the Windy City, the sun failing to shine and a layer of fog hovering over the skyscrapers. 16-year-old KJ was completing her routine 3-mile walk from school to Firehouse 51 when she saw a cloud of smoke coming from the top of an old warehouse.
She walked over to the crowd of people gathering, figuring the guys from 51 probably responded to the call. KJ carefully pushed through all of the people, walking all the way up to the yellow tape. The police officer, immediately recognizing KJ as Casey's sister, and knowing she would stay out of their way, let her under the tape.
As she neared the site of the fire, she noticed all of the guys were covered in soot, and looked very worn down. Peter Mills, whom KJ was fairly close with, was the first to notice KJ entering the scene. She immediately saw a look of panic wash over his face, and soon shared this nervousness with the other guys as she came closer.
"Hey KJ..." Mills said, nervously playing with the gloves on his hands.
"Hey Mills. What's up?" KJ responded, sensing that something was off with him.
"Um...Maybe it would be best if today you..." He was cut off with a questioning look from KJ, that would have scared anyone who didn't know her well enough.
"Mills. What is it? Just tell me!"
Annoyed with Mills' lack of response, KJ stormed passed him until she was standing in the middle of all of the fire trucks and ambulances.
After glancing around her surroundings, KJ spotted Dawson and Shay trying to rapidly get a patient into the ambulance. With a closer look, KJ saw something that made her knees go weak.
"No, no, no, no, no," she thought to herself. "This can't be happening."
"Kelly!" KJ screamed as she started running towards not only the man she loved as an uncle, but more of a big brother and best friend.
"Oh shit," Shay muttered as she saw KJ running towards the ambo. "This is not gonna end well."
"Casey!" Dawson screamed to get her boyfriend's attention. Casey and Chief Boden looked up simultaneously at her voice. Casey immediately recognized what was happening and jumped into action. They had to act fast, seeing as KJ was now only a few feet from the ambo.
Casey and Boden sprinted to KJ, easily holding her 110-pound figure back.
"Kelly!" KJ continued to scream as she tried to escape the strong arms of her brother and his chief.
"Come on, baby girl," Casey tried, but his words didn't seem to soothe her.
"Let me go Matty!" She started sobbing. "I need to see Kelly!" Matt could see that his little sister was starting to break down.
Her words became softer as the sirens were turned on and the ambo drove away. KJ slumped into her brother's arms. "I need to see him," her words barely audible. "Please."
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All the guys from both squad and truck were sitting in the hard, uncomfortable chairs of Lakeshore, staring at the bright white walls. On the other hand, KJ was pacing up and down the short length of the waiting room, as she had been doing for the past four hours. Several of the guys had tried to get KJ to sit down and relax, but she ignored all of them.
Finally, the long-awaited doctor walked through the double doors. Everyone stood up in unison, waiting anxiously for the update on their fellow firefighter. Casey, Dawson, Shay, and Mills also kept eyeing KJ, making sure she was okay.
"Hey guys. You must be Lieutenant Severide's friends. I can tell you that he is currently stable. The beam that fell on him caused some internal bleeding, along with a few broken ribs. He also has a broken leg and a broken collarbone, along with some extensive smoke inhalation. We were able to stop the bleeding and set all of his bones straight. Other than that, he should be good as new in a few weeks."
"When will we be able to see him?" questioned Casey, speaking on behalf of all the guys, and KJ of course.
"You can see him now in Room 231. But remember to let him rest. Only a few people at a time. And it will be a few hours until the anesthesia wears off."
Before the doctor had even stopped talking, KJ had sprinted off towards the elevator, with Casey in tow.
Everyone else thanked the doctor who then turned around and walked back through the double doors.
"Everyone go home and see your families. You guys can come back and check on Kelly in the morning," Chief Boden said defeatedly.
"I'm staying, Chief," said Shay, tears evident on her face.
"Me too," Dawson said in response.
"Alright," Boden said, "Everyone else go home."
All the guys said their goodbyes, wishing Dawson and Shay the best of luck.
Once everyone had left, Boden pulled Dawson and Shay to the side. "You two call if you need anything, okay?"
They both nodded.
"And watch over KJ too. Kelly loves that girl to death."
The truth is, everyone knew how strong the bond between Kelly and KJ were. Those two were inseparable. They did everything with each other and were best friends. Kelly saw KJ as his little sister, and would never let anything happen to her. Kelly was KJ's everything, besides Casey of course. Ever since both of her parents died in a car crash 10 years ago, Kelly had been KJ's rock. She looked up to him and wanted to be exactly like him. I mean, they didn't nickname her Kelly Junior for nothing, right?
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As Casey approached Kelly's room, he made sure to keep his distance in order to give KJ some space. KJ walked up to room 231, her hand hesitant to twist the knob on the door. When she finally did open the door, Casey heard a gasp come from his sister's mouth. She entered the room, but Casey decided to give her some time alone with Kelly.
A few minutes later, Dawson and Shay came and stood next to Casey.
"How's she doing?" Dawson asked, wrapping her arms around Casey's waist.
"I don't know. I haven't been in yet."
"Why don't we all go in together to check up on both of them," Shay suggested.
"Yeah, okay," said Casey, leading the two women into Kelly's room.
The sight they walked into, no doubt, shocked them. On one hand, Kelly didn't look like himself. His face was all beat up, and there were wires everywhere coming out of him. His sleeping form appeared weak and vulnerable, two things Severide definitely wasn't. On the other hand, KJ was asleep next to Kelly in his bed, her head resting on his shoulder.
Casey let her be because her position didn't seem to be affecting any of his injuries. The three of them decided to sit down on the hard plastic chairs, waiting for the anesthesia to wear off. Due to the exhaustion of the day, they all ended up falling asleep within minutes.
Casey woke up to the sun shining down on his face, leaking through the curtains. He realized Dawson's head was resting on his shoulder. He then tried to slip out from under his girlfriend without waking her, but was unsuccessful.
"Hey babe. Sorry for waking you."
"No problem," Dawson replied. "Why don't we go get some coffee and bring it back to the room. I'll wake Shay up."
Soon enough, the three friends were walking down the halls of Lakeshore, headed to the cafeteria.
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Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. The constant noise of the machines filled room 231 as Kelly struggled to open his eyes, the brightness hurting them. Finally, he was successful. He slowly observed his surroundings. White walls. The uber-clean smell. Ahhh, he was in a hospital. But why did he feel like there was a heavy weight on his shoulder. He looked down to see KJ, fast asleep, and softly snoring. He smiled to himself, thinking of the fun he and KJ had had, just the night before.
*Flashback
KJ walked into Firehouse 51, only to find it completely deserted. She sat down at the kitchen table, deciding to start on her homework as she waited for the guys to get back from their call. Half an hour later, KJ heard the fire trucks pull up and voices begin to fill the room.
"Hey Junior," Kelly said as he gave her a light kiss on the top of her head.
"Hey Kelly," KJ said, responding with a kiss to his stubbly cheek.
"How was school?" Kelly asked as he pulled out a chair next to her and sat down.
"It was okay."
"Okay? I think I might have something to make your day ten times better..."
"Really? What is it?" KJ asked excitedly.
Kelly smirked as he pulled out two white, rectangular pieces of paper and handed them to her.
"No way! A pair of tickets to tonight's Giants-Cubs game! Thank you so much Kelly! You're my favorite person ever!"
"Whoa...KJ, I'm hurt...",said Matt Casey, his voice feigning shock, as he wrapped his arms around his little sister from behind.
"Hi Matty," KJ said as she leaned her head back to look up at him.
"Hey baby girl."
"So Casey, Junior and I are gonna head out to Wrigley Field after shift if that's okay with you," Severide said, turning towards Casey.
"Yeah of course," Casey replied. "Make sure to catch a foul ball for me KJ. And don't have too much fun tonight," directing his last comment playfully towards Kelly, only half-joking.
Five hours later...
"Man, I can't believe the Cubbies of all teams swept us!" KJ sighed as she laid her head against the car window.
"Yeah, your G-men didn't really live up to their "2 championships in 3 years standard.""
"Hey! You just watch! Next year they're going to come back stronger than ever. It's an every other year kind of thing." KJ retorted.
"Yeah, okay Junior. Whatever you say." Kelly said as he pulled up to Casey's house.
"Thanks again for the tickets Kelly. I had a really fun time tonight."
"No problem kiddo. Anytime."
Kelly unlocked the car door and KJ hopped out. As KJ was walking to the front door, she turned around and yelled,"Posey's better than Rizzo!"
Kelly smirked as he sat back in his seat. He drove off into the night, thinking about how lucky he was to be the uncle of such a great kid.
*End of Flashback
KJ opened her eyes to find Kelly staring directly at her, with a huge smile on his face.
"Kelly!" she screamed, immediately turning around and giving him a huge hug.
"Hey Junior," Kelly said as he gave her a light kiss her cheek. KJ was silent for almost a minute, which was very unlike her. "Hey baby girl, what's wrong?" Kelly asked her, lifting her chin up with his fingers, daring her to look him in the eyes.
She finally looked up at him, tears rolling down her face. "I thought I was gonna lose you," she sobbed, burying her face into his shoulder.
This was a very unusual experience for Severide. It was weird to see KJ like this, full of emotion and very vulnerable, the complete opposite of her tough, ball-buster self. However, he knew the toughness she showed was all just a façade. Ever since her parents died, she kept her emotions bottled up and never really opened up to anyone. Kelly was the only one who could occasionally get her to open up. It was times like these that Kelly was reminded of the little girl hidden deep inside of KJ. It was moments like these that he treasured the most.