A/N: I was kind of just hanging out when I thought of this, so I got right to it immediately. Let me know what you guys think! :)
Disclaimer: I own notta.
Casey's POV:
"Pull back!," I yell, my eyes suddenly flashing in fear as I look at what's in front of me. Flames were quickly racing towards combustible chemicals, and I only had time to warn my guys as I turned towards them. "It's flammable! Fire closing in! Out! Out! Now!"
It was only Herrmann, Otis and I in the room. Mouch and Cruz were on their way to the roof, Severide and his guys were searching for people somewhere else in the building, and Dawson and Shay were on the first floor, taking care of a guy who I told them to take care of.
If anything happened to Gabby...I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go on. She was my everything, I planned on us being together forever, and without her, life wouldn't make sense. She's always been there for me, through thick and thin, through better and for worse, and I felt like the luckiest guy in the world to call her mine.
So as I race out of the room behind Herrmann and Otis, my mind is on her, the love of my life. And she's the last thought I have before I'm blown forward by the explosion, pain and heat wrapping around me instantly like a suffocating blanket.
I can hear Herrmann's cry of agony despite the loud buzzing in my ears, and it takes me a few seconds to realize I was also screaming in pain. The buzzing in my ears gets accompanied by another loud, piercing noise, and I realize it's the sound of a PASS alarm only a few feet away from me.
I turn my head towards the noise, feeling myself get lightheaded by the action. I can see Otis' body, looking limp and lifeless, and the bright light coming off of his PASS alarm is enough to bring me into complete darkness.
Gabby's POV:
I could hear Casey's frantic voice through the radio, which was enough to send me into panic mode, but I could barely understand what he was trying to say. His words cut in and out of frequency and the only word I ended up picking on was "out". He sounded urgent, but what alarmed me the most was the fear in his voice.
Casey never got scared. He was always reasonable, realistic, level-headed, and calm. The only time I've ever seen him scared was when we didn't know if Hallie would survive or not after Casey pulled her from the lethal fire. Even when Voight was after him - to kill him - he remained brave and faced the dirty cop and his son head on.
So when I glance over at Shay, her expression holds the same amount of worry as mine does.
And then there's a loud explosion from above us, and on instinct, both Shay and I cover our victim with our bodies. I feel what has to be about a million shards of glass hit my body, and the next breath I take is full of smoke. I squint my eyes shut as I hear Shay cough next to me, and I hold my breath for as long as possible so the smoke doesn't damage my lungs.
But the smoke keeps coming, and so does the debris. I have no other choice than to take a breath, so I do, and cough violently as the smoke enters my lungs again. I reach for the medic bag to get a few oxygen masks for the three of us, but as more smoke enters my lungs, the more lightheaded I get.
I can hear several PASS alarms from above us, and I suddenly remember Casey again. My fears come back and they're stronger than before, and I can't help it when my eyes start to water as I imagine the very worst.
I keep reaching for the bag, trying to put my worries for Matt and the rest of the guys aside. But it's easier said than done. I hear Shay's body go limp next to mine, and I follow suit seconds after, my mind on Matt as the darkness surrounds me.
Two hours later, Lakeshore hospital, Casey's POV:
I wake up to the steady sound of beeps. My first thought is that the noise belongs to somebody's PASS alarm, still unmoving in the aftermath of the explosion. I even shake my body a little to see if it was mine, but that does nothing other than produce pain, making me clench my jaw.
I open my eyes then to see what was actually going on, immediately being welcomed by bright fluorescent lights. I squint against it, then turn my head, recognizing hospital monitors. The last time I'd seen one of those was after my head injury, and I had hoped to be done with them after that. I guess they would have to be my company once more. Same with the ridiculous hospital gown they put me in again.
"Ah, Lieutenant Casey, I see you have woken up," a voice says from the doorway, making me turn my head towards the person. A nurse smiles at me, and I try to sit up, only to inflict more pain upon myself. "Easy there," the nurse says, walking over to my bed and adjusting the elevation. "You've got a couple of cracked ribs from the fall, some burns on the back of your neck from the actual explosion, and a concussion."
A concussion? No, no, I can't get those anymore, not when my head was already compromised. "Can I go to work again?" I ask her, my voice hoarse.
"Yes, your recovery may take a month or two, but you'll be putting out fires again in no time," she tells me happily, handing me a cup of water. "Your guys also got lucky, Some of them are worse than others, but they should all be making a full recovery. It's a miracle none of you died."
It suddenly clicks in my mind again that I wasn't the only one in that building. I had been so dazed and confused when I woke up, I forgot about the rest of the firehouse. I had temporarily forgotten that Gabby was in harms way. It was like the terrorist attack all over again. I gotta keep better track of her.
"What about Gabriela Dawson?" I ask the nurse worriedly, my eyes wide with fear. She looks at me curiously, flipping through some of her notes. I watch her expression, and when it lights up, I wait for her to talk again.
"She is a paramedic at your firehouse right?," she wonders, glancing down at me before reading her notes again. I nod, waiting for her to continue. "She was brought to the emergency room for a lot of smoke inhalation. She also had several cuts and lacerations from the shards of glass in the explosion. She's still in the ER getting oxygen."
"Is she okay? Is she conscious? She's gonna live, right?" I ask, my words fumbling over each other as my worry for Gabby trumps everything else in my mind. The nurse chuckles at me, which I find very unamusing at the moment.
"Yeah, she's going to be just fine. I'm not the one treating her, but from her file, she looks like she's going to be okay."
I let out a big breath I didn't even realize I had been holding. Relief. That was the only thing running through my head. It even covered the throbbing headache. "Bring me to her, please," I tell the nurse, not even bothering to ask her if it was possible. There wasn't any way I was going to let her tell me "no" on this one.
"Lieutenant, that's against-"
"I don't care about your protocol," I interrupt, surprised at how rude I was probably appearing to be. "I'm sorry, I just, I gotta see her. I need to know she's okay, because without her, I can't function. I don't care if that's some sort of cliche, because that's the truth."
The nurse studies me for what seems like hours, but then nods in one swift motion. "Alright, but you only get ten minutes, got it?" I nod, grateful for her answer. If I really wanted to push my luck, I would've asked for twenty minutes, but I decide not to risk it. My main objective was to see Gabby, I could beg for more time later.
The older-looking nurse comes back in the room with a wheelchair a couple of minutes later, and ignoring the pain, I climb into it. "Feelin' alright?," she asks as she watches me clench my jaw again, and I nod, placing my arms on the rests.
She pushes me out of the room and down the hallway, stopping at the first elevator we come across. She pushes the "down" button and we wait until the doors open before entering. I take a deep breath, preparing myself. I was anxious to see Gabby, and I wished I was in the condition to stand, because I'd be running down the stairs right now to her room.
"So you must really love this Gabby, huh?," the nurse asks as we wait for elevator to reach the first floor. I nod, smiling a little.
"Yeah, I do," I answer softly. I feel her hand make contact with my shoulder, avoiding the burns on my neck that I wasn't too eager to see.
"I'm a sucker for those kind of things, that's why I couldn't say 'no' to you when you asked to see her." Her hand squeezes my shoulder gently, and I produce another small smile in gratitude.
"Well, I appreciate. I really do, and if your boss catches us, I promise I'll take the blame," I promise, earning another shoulder squeeze.
The elevator doors open and I take another breath as she pushes me out, my IV following close behind. We enter the Emergency Room and she wheels me up to the nurse's station, asking one of the other nurse's about where Gabby's room is.
They answer her after checking the computer, and a few seconds later, we're on the move again. And a few seconds after that, I see Gabby sitting up in her bed as the nurse wheels me into the room.
Gabby's eyes light up when they see me, and once I'm at her bedside, I don't waste any time to reach for her hands. The nurse leaves us be, and Gabby lowers her oxygen mask to talk to me.
Except she doesn't talk. We just sit there, smiling and gazing into each other's eyes, knowing we almost lost each other today. Again. She produces a couple of tears and I wipe them away with my thumb, leaning in for a kiss at the same time.
She instantly responds to my lips, and another wave of relief washes through me. She's alright. We're both alright.
Our kiss is full of love and passion. In a lot of ways, it was like the first kiss we shared, but it was also so different. Her lips taste absolutely wonderful on mine, and it was the type of kiss that you wanted to last forever. But when she pulls away, I don't argue, because I got to look into her beautiful brown eyes.
"I was so afraid I was going to lose you today, Matt," she whispers, and my stomach churns at the vulnerability in her voice. I rest our foreheads together and caress her cheek, my other hand reaching for hers.
"Hey," I lightly soothe. "I'm right here, and I'm not goin' anywhere. I'm alright. Okay?"
She nods, but more tears fall from her eyes. I gently wipe them away with my thumb again, smiling lovingly at her. "You scared me to death, Gabs, you've been making a habit of that lately."
My voice also shows vulnerability, but I'm not ashamed because of it. I could sob in front of Gabby and still not be embarrassed. We were just so comfortable with each other. Her hands cup my face and I instantly swell with love for her just under her touch.
"I'm okay, Matt, I promise," she says softly, looking straight into my eyes. I slowly nod, and once again, her lips meet mine.
All of the worry we held for each other, all of the admiration, and all of the love was spoken through our kiss. I have never felt so content, so secure as I do in this moment, with Gabby.
"I love you so much," I murmur as she pulls away, and we smile at each other.
"I love you too," she replies, caressing my cheek softly. "You asked me a question earlier, and I didn't exactly get to answer…" she trails off, but I shake my head.
"You don't have to answer now," I assure her, smiling warmly. But she shakes her head, returning the smile.
"No Matt, I want to marry you," she tells me, smiling happily. "I want to be with you forever, I want to have our kids and watch them grow up." My face breaks out into a smile, and I shake my head, overwhelmed by my love for this woman and by the excitement of our future.
"I don't even have the ring with me right now…" I trail off, but unable to keep the smile off of my face.
"That's alright," she assures me, laughing a little. "I don't need the ring right now. I just want you to know that my answer is yes."
Our lips crash together again, and our kiss is full of happiness and excitement. "You're sure?," I ask against her lips, and she nods immediately, laughing.
"I've never been so sure of anything in my life."