Nathan grunted a sloppy 'I'm awake' and fluttered his drooping eyes. Severide stared in horror for a moment before looking at the boys backpack and then the rest of his surroundings. From the backpack he pulled out some books and papers to try and find something useful - which he did. He detached the metal grip from the papers and then pinched the wound with it. Now he had two free hands, this should be much easier - or so he thought...
He began to form a plan but before he had the chance to test or ask about his theory, the creaking screamed and metal began to grind above them. Kelly looked up only to see the large steel girder falling dead on to them. Severide, as instinct, dived and shielded Nathan from the razor metal pieces which fell beside it. Most of the shards missed but two in particular made their mark in Kelly. To top of the stabbings, the girder landed on top of his lower leg, crushing it.
Severide roared in pain which made Nathan wince and look up at the man hiding him from the metal, red from the sudden screams. Nathan looked at the man squeezing his eyes shut from pain in horror. "K-Kelly! Are you okay?" He tried but it came out as a weak, broken whisper.
Severide took several deep breaths and calmed himself down but his eyes looked like they were about to pop! "I'll be okay..." Severide reassured not knowing himself of the damage. He continued back to his plan knowing the situation had just become far more serious now that there were 2 men down. "Nathan..." Severide tried, struggling for words. His breathing was deep and fast, not good. "How did you start this tractor?" He questioned realising there was no key about.
"Put metal..." He couldn't speak well enough to explain so raised his hand and pointed weakly to the compartment.
"What did you use?" Kelly questioned confused, his mind going fuzzy.
"Screwdriver..." Nathan tried but failed so pointed to the nearby corner of the tractor. Kelly nodded again but as he tried to move his arm, the pain came back, radiating throughout him.
The metal had penetrated his shoulder, breaking it from being useful. He roared more but at a lower degree as his arm rested close to his body. The other had gone through his side but luckily it wasn't so bad... or as he thought. His forehead pressed against the tractor's roof, getting a small cut from the shards of glass, as he strained to hold back the scream. He grunted and caught his breath. "K...lly?..." Nathan tried pleading he'd be 'okay.'
He nodded once then reluctantly a few more times. "Fine! I'm okay!" He called out staring the bleeding boy in his eyes. "How are you holding up?" Kelly tried to ask him but his voice was strained and the pain broke through.
"I'm'kay" Nathan tried but he was dehydrated with cracked lips and a dry voice.
Kelly stared breathing heavy as he stared up and scream "SOMEONE HELP US! HELP!" He tried again and again.
C*F*C*F*C*F
Shay quickly ran around the firehouse confused as she bumped into Casey. "Shay? What's up?" Casey asked concerned wondering what was driving her mad.
"Kelly" She breathed "He's still not here." She looked at the clock. "He hasn't... Jogging... Not here!" She tried catching her breath and trying to calm her panicked self down.
"Wait - what?" Casey raised an eyebrow staring at her lost words. "Calm down and tell me what happened." He looked her in the eyes as she spoke.
"Kelly went jogging early this morning, he hasn't been seen all day. I've asked everyone, no one's seen him! Its been over 14 hours Casey... no contact." Shay explained terrified, her voice shaken.
Casey stared wide eyed "Right... lets go see Boden and try to -" But before their plan could be put together, the alarms buzzed and their business was required. Casey and Shay stared at each other for a moment before charging down the halls to their vehicles.
'One man, one boy. Tractor accident, steel girder pinning man. Both heavily injured.'
C*F*C*F*C*F
"SOMEONE! HELP!" Kelly screamed at the top of his lungs before his world span and he lost his breath. He squeezed his eyes and regained his consciousness only looking up to find a man replying to his call.
"Hey? Hello?!" Kelly tried again. "Hey! Help us! We're trapped! He needs medical attention now!" Kelly screamed trying to hear him back but all that came back were muffled replies. "Help..." He tried before he lost his breath again.
C*F*C*F*C*F
A local jogger froze as he heard the cries for help. His dog's tail wagged happily with innocence up until the cries ate their ears and screeched down them. The dog stared shocked at the tractor and began to bark at the smell of blood which lingered weakly in the air.
The man approached worried and curious as his dog dragged him forward. It was a minute before he realised how unsettling the silence was. "Hey! Dude! Can you hear me? Wh-who's in the-" The man called back as loudly as he assumed it would be suitable but his words were cut off from the sudden screams thrown back at him.
"Hey? Hello?!" He heard the stranger reply in a broken voice. "Hey! Help us! We're trapped! He needs medical attention now!"
The man stood horrified at the screams and quickly flipped out his phone. "Okay! Okay! I'm dialling 9-1-1!" It was another moment before he realised the silence was back "Hey! Come on dude! Reply okay!" He grunted and tied his dog to a broken piece of fence a small distance away as he pulled himself up on debris to look through the smashed windows. The man had pastel brown hair and bright green eyes, pale skin and wore a bright red and black tracksuit. His face sunk with absolute dread as he saw the bodies barely moving. His call was answered and he threw the phone to his face. "Hello! 9-1-1! I need help!"
C*F*C*F*C*F
Fire engine sirens roared and 2 ambulance sirens beamed and screamed down Kelly's ears who was quietly speaking with Nathan, trying to keep him awake. The fire engine was barely able to fit in the small road but it pulled up behind the smaller vehicles - the ambulances. The man in the tracksuit ran over to the emergency services in panic "Here! Over Here!" He screamed fear painted on him.
Shay jumped out her ambulance with Gabby following as they ran over with a gurney, another ambulance team followed quickly. Casey followed after them with Capp by his side. The jogger met the tractor again with the medics and firemen next to him. "They're in here! They're quiet, I can't hear them that well..." He confessed as he was politely but urgently asked to go speak to one of the other firemen for details. Casey found broken pieces and a steady, balanced part of the tractor and climbed up slowly only to find "KELLY?!" With that everyone stared with pale faces at the shocked Lieutenant on top of the tractor. "Kelly?!" Shay questioned in fear.
"Kelly! Hey, can you hear me-"
"Matt! The boy - Nathan! He won...Won't last much longer! He nee...needs..." his words were breathed rather than said and he lost track of the sentence as his vision blurred again.
Matt nodded and understood seeing the amount of blood which soaked the child's sleeve. "Capp, lets get this steel girder off and get them out." Casey tried calming his panicked voice.
Capp nodded and they began the operation.
C*F*C*F*C*F
"3,2,1." Clarke spoke as he and Herrmann steadily lifted the steel girder off of Severide, handing it down to other members (Capp, Cruz and Otis), forcing a strained whimper from Kelly, as Casey steadied his small team and they prepared the razor.
They were easily able to saw the roof of the tractor and detaching it from the collapsed vehicle. Kelly couldn't look at them so kept his head against the broken glass and hid his red face. "Hurry and take him!" Kelly ordered with a pulled and broken voice.
Clarke stared amazed at the severely injured man as he tried desperately to still save the bleeding child. "Let's go! Herrmann! Lift the boy, keep his arm on his chest." He ordered peering to the extra medical team who were waiting beside them with a gurney and other small pieces of equipment. Herrmann nodded and carefully took the child into his arms and carried Nathan to the gurney which secured and rolled him to the ambulance instantaneously. "Shay! Dawson!" Clarke ordered and they were by his side within a moment. "How should we play this?" Clarke looked down to the women who were horrified at the sight of the fallen fireman and friend.
"We need to removed the metal and then place him on the gurney." Gabby quickly spoke up. "Is it okay to go on?" She questioned staring back at the man, wearing a mask of calm/serious.
"I'd think one would be okay." Jeff suggested and without a second though Shay hopped on by Kelly's side.
"Kelly?" She questioned looking at the metal piercings. One was holding into his shoulder, not budging and the other was on the opposite side, it had sliced deep into his hip, a flesh wound but a bad one... His face was slightly pale but red from strain and his breathing was fast and shallow. There was sweat drops slowly falling from his forehead and his eyes were shut. She attached the blood pressure device and began to pump "Kelly can you hear me?" Shay tried again. She took his pulse which was narrow and uneven, not good!
"Yeah..." He mumbled with exhaustion. He had a deep cut just above his temple. This wasn't from him pressing against the glass for 'comfort' but from the impact.
He didn't seem to realise that it had been bleeding and that he might have a concussion "Do you feel dizzy? Sick?" Shay continued, Gabby pacing slightly as she waited for the diagnostics.
"Yeah... Everything's.. sp'nnin' an' my h'd 'urts." He slurred as his weak voice trailed off. He knew that lying was useless and didn't help anyone so the truth was all he could give.
She looked down his body and reached his leg, it was heavily bruised from the outside "How's your leg?"
"Kills..." Kelly tried to comfort her with some sort of chuckle but he dry coughed instead.
Meanwhile, Clarke had moved to the bottom of the tractor with Herrmann again and they quickly sawed the other side off, making it easier to move.
"Dawson! Concussion, Penetrated shoulder, Metal still in place and Gash in Left Hip, both still bleeding! Leg badly bruised but doesn't seem to be anything bad. Narrow pulse and BP is at 98 - likely going into Hypovolemic shock!" She called out as clearly as she could.
Dawson took a moment to take in the information and Casey arrived by her side just on time to hear the full diagnostics. "Shay - remove the metal from his side, we'll have to do the shoulder in the ambulance!" Dawson ordered trying to keep professional but that plan wasn't working.
Shay nodded and looked at Kelly's shut eyes "Kelly?!"
"Mmm..." He grunted.
"Good... Okay I'm going to remove the metal from the side, then we're going to move you onto the backboard and take you to the ambulance, okay?" Shay questioned. He knew of the pain that would come but he nodded a yes and bit his lip softly preparing for the pain.
With the backboard in place, Shay placed her hand on the metal and within heart-wrenching moments of hearing Severide's cry the metal was taken out and his body was lifted onto the backboard. The bleeding didn't stop and he was in a awkward position with the metal being irremovable.
"It's gonna be okay man." Casey told him confident in Shay and Dawson's abilities to keep him safe.
"I know..." Kelly tried to smile but the pain forced a grunt instead.
Casey sat in the back of the ambulance with Dawson (getting permission from Boden beforehand) and helped stabilize Kelly who fell unconscious moments before. They drove violently with the sirens blaring. Severide could hear the muffled voices, sirens ringing and the wheels zooming but all he saw was darkness.
"Okay, Casey... This metal is in his bone, there's no way to remove it without better equipment." Dawson informed him as she tried to stop the bleeding from his side. "His concussion has been stabilized." she called out.
Casey stared horrified at the drifting Fireman. "C'mon Kelly, stay with me!" Casey ordered moving down to meet Severide's eyes.
"I'm okay Matt..." Kelly mumbled with shallow breaths. "Nathan... Is Nathan - "
"He's going to be fine." Matt lied. In truth, he had no idea. The boy looked only slightly worse than Kelly. "Just stay awake, okay?" Matt tried and tried. Talking with Kelly seemed to be helping.
"We're nearly there Kelly, just hold on a little longer." Dawson tried now having stopped the bleeding from his side. She felt so guilty having to leave him on his stomach, depriving him from some oxygen but the metal...
"'t's okay, Gabby..." Kelly spoke weakly before dropping his lids completely.
"Kelly?!" Casey screamed. "Kelly! Wake up! Ya hear me?!" Casey wanted to hit his idiot friend for falling asleep like this. "Kelly!" He tried again only to hear a mumble from Kelly's lips. "Don't you give up on me." Kelly fluttered his eyes slightly to be welcomed by Casey's bright blue, terrified eyes. "Good..."
"We're here!" Dawson claimed and instantly Kelly was wheeling inside.
C*F*C*F*C*F
Hours had passed since arriving at the hospital. It was only 12 minutes later that the rest of 51 came and joined Casey, Dawson and Shay in the waiting area. They were all sat in a large group at the front of the waiting area.
Waiting...
Waiting...
When finally, a doctor emerged and called out "Kelly Severide?"
Casey jumped to his feet along with Shay and the rest of 51. "Here." Casey replied hurrying over with Shay by his side.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Karmon. Is one of you a Ms. Leslie Shay?" Shay raised her hand and walked closer "You're written down as his 'Next of Kin'." The doctor explained. "Would you care for a private brief or -"
Shay cut him off "No, I think everyone should hear." She pled, worry plastered on her face.
"Very well..." The doctor sighed and took a breath before explaining. "Well good news is his leg had severe bruising but nothing was broken - most likely going to be sore for a week or so. His minor concussion had quickly passed as well." The team sighed in relief.
Except Shay. "Bad news?" She tried squeezing Casey's hand.
"He had a severe gash wound on his left side. It didn't hit and vital organs but it did cause quite severe blood loss. His shoulder had been shattered from the metal, as well as an artery popped. Right now he's on Blood Transfusion and under a heavy amount of I.V to help him rest... He's had stitching on both wounds but there is still a chance of the wound reopening. His right arm, with the shattered shoulder, will not be abled for at least a month."
The team all gasped and stared horrified. "Can we see him?" Casey asked worried.
"Right now he's just sleeping so maybe in ... " He checked his watch "3 hours? Maybe." The doctor nodded and left.
Shay gripped Casey's hand tight as tears fell from her eyes. Dawson hugged her tight for a moment, rubbing her arm for comfort as did Casey. Boden rubbed his eyes and looked around at his slightly depressed Firemen.
"Don't worry... He's going to be fine." Dawson confirmed for everyone.
"We know." Boden sighed patting some men on the back before taking his seat back.
C*F*C*F*C*F
3 hours had gone by and most of the crew had gone home - under Boden's persuasion. Casey, Shay and Boden were the only ones left. They waiting for the Doctor to return which they were beginning to doubt he would. When, at last, Dr. Karmon made his return. "Hello again. I see most of you has gone home." It was just past midnight.
"Is he alright, Doc?" Matt asked on his feet again, Shay and Boden by his side.
"He is, and he's awake. Would you three care to see him?" Doctor offered smiling at their enthusiastic nods. "Very well, follow me." He guided them down the hall and to the door with clear windows. Kelly was partially awake, staring around the room, mainly toward the ceiling. He had a sling on and wore white scrubs with pale blue dots. He was connected to a heart monitor and a blood line.
Shay opened the door, tears in her eyes, as she made her way to Kelly quickly. "Kelly!" She smiled quietly calling his name.
Kelly flinched and woke up completely, he looked at the three and smiled weakly. "Hey guys." He whispered.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Casey asked smiling going to his side.
"Oh, well, been better." He smirked looking at the pair then to Boden.
He smiled and nodded "Glad to see you're okay, Kelly." He spoke in his deep voice, it was calm and caring, fatherly. "Now that I know you're in order, I'm going to head back." Boden smirked.
"Send my love!" Kelly joked waving 'Goodbye' to Boden with his good hand.
The night was pretty quick. Shay and Casey left after half an hour of Kelly falling back asleep. It was all going to be alright.
