Gabby stood aside with Shay preparing the gurney and grabbing their response bags to assess the victims as they came out. Afterwards she watched as Casey and his assigned group along with Severide and his rushed into the burning building. Gabby knew that they had little time to search and rescue by the look on Chief Boden's face.
As Truck 81 and Squad 3 came out with victims, both paramedics went straight to work in assessing them. Luckily most of them only had minor smoke inhalation and scratches and bruises from falling debris.
"Casey, Severide, you guys have one minute left to continue searching. Any longer and this building will collapse." Chief Boden's voice crackled through their radios. Gabby exhaled deeply and tried to calm her racing heart. She knows Casey always obeys orders but there were times he wouldn't in order to save someone. And that's what made Gabby worry every time Chief told them to back out.
"All clear on the third floor, Chief!" Severide said.
"Fourth floor clear too, Chief!" Casey followed.
"Alright, I want everyone out now! The roof could collapse any second." Chief ordered.
Gabby stood by Chief as they both listened to Herrmann and Casey. It appeared they had found another victim with a baby and the screams for her baby could be heard. They could also hear Casey and Herrmann arguing over who would take the mother and who would take the baby. In the end it had been Herrmann who came out with the mother while Casey stayed back to look for the baby. Both Chief and Gabby let out a breath of relief when they heard cries of a baby come through the radio.
"Casey, I need an update."
"Almost there, Chief!"
Gabby bounced nervously on her feet as she waited for him to come out.
"Come on, baby. Come on." She whispered to herself, her eyes focused on the doorway waiting to see Casey walk out.
All of a sudden sparks spewed up from the roof and a creaking noise sounded before dust flew out of the entry door. Gabby felt her heart begin racing as Chief called a mayday and ordered everyone to go in and help Casey. She felt helpless as she stood there and waited for them to come out.
Moments later, Casey stumbled out of the building and fell to the ground but kept a strong grip on the baby. Gabby rushed forward and grabbed the baby from him and then handed her off to Shay. She took off Casey's mask and noticed the blood running down his head.
With the help of the others, she laid him on the gurney and put him in the ambulance. Without even asking, Severide immediately jumped in with her. Gabby knew if she told him he could stay back he wouldn't bother, he would never leave his brother.
As Shay drove towards Chicago Med, Gabby tried to stabilize Matt. His entire body shaking and even with the help of Severide she still struggled with putting the oxygen mask over him.
"Come on, Matt! Not like this!" She cried out as his eyes opened but immediately rolled back. She looked up at Kelly and wasn't surprised to see that he had tears in his eyes. The man already went through so much and losing his brother would certainly make it worse.
When they arrived at Med all they could do was sit and wait for the doctor to come out and tell them what was going on. It was only a few minutes later before the rest of 51 filled up the seats in the waiting area.
Gabby stood leaning against the wall with her head down and jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and relaxed when she saw it was Shay.
"He's going to be okay. He's young and strong and he will fight through this." She reassured Gabby.
Before she could say anything back, Dr. Halstead walked out through the double doors towards them. Gabby immediately knew something was wrong.
"Casey has an epidural hematoma and is in emergency surgery. This procedure could take some time so it's best if you guys are patient. But I have hopes he will make it through."
Gabby didn't hear the rest of what Dr. Halstead has to say as she rushed through the doors to see Casey. When she got there, she looked through the window to see his eyes getting taped shut and ventilator tubes coming out of his mouth. A sob escaped her as she looked at him. Matt had never looked so small and vulnerable in the entire time she had known him.
"Gabby, you need to go back to the waiting room and let them do their job. I promise he will be okay." Dr. Halstead said.
She nodded and spared one last glance at Matt before she went back. She silently sat down in one of the uncomfortable chairs and stared down at the floor. Shay moved to sit next to her and rubbed her back to calm her. Nobody said anything for awhile and Cruz was the first one to break the silence.
"Hey, Dawson, you okay? You're looking a little pale." Cruz asked.
Gabby looked up at him and immediately regretted when she felt a wave of nausea roll through. She groaned and instantly brought a hand up to her mouth. Before anyone could say anything she stood up and ran towards the bathroom. Shay followed quickly after.
"Dawson, you alright?" Shay asked and grimaced when she heard Gabby gag and throw up. A few seconds later the toilet flushed and Gabby stepped out to wash her face and rinse her mouth. When she looked up, Shay noticed her eyes were red and watery once again.
"I'm pregnant, Shay. I'm pregnant with Casey's baby and I haven't told him. Now I don't know if he's going to make it. What if he doesn't and he dies not knowing he was going to be a father." Gabby sobbed.
Shay wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug and let her cry a bit before pulling away. "You need to calm down and think positive thoughts. You and I both know that being in this much distress could harm the baby. Casey is going to make it and you will get the chance to tell him. And I bet you he will be the happiest man in the world."
Gabby nodded and smiled gratefully at Shay. She was glad to have someone in her life who she could talk to and lean on whenever she was going through a rough time.
"Come on, let's go back outside before we have all the firefighters break down the door to see if you're okay." Shay said as she opened the door for her.
Gabby chuckled and walked out back to the waiting room. There she was met with many worried looks and she smiled reassuringly at them.
"I'm okay guys. Don't worry."
"The hell you are," Herrmann spoke up, "You don't just suddenly go pale and run off to the bathroom after sitting down and be okay."
Biting her lip, Gabby looked around at her fellow workers and friends who were expecting an explanation from her. She knew there wasn't a way to get out of saying it.
"I'm pregnant."
Silence followed after and seconds later Gabby was swarmed by everyone on Truck 81 as well as Severide and Chief Boden. She couldn't help the smile and tears of joy knowing this excited everyone and that they were happy for her and well, for Casey too.
"It's about time. I've been waiting for this announcement since you guys got together." Mouch said.
Chief placed his hand on Gabby's shoulder and smiled at her. "How long have you been keeping this a secret? You know I don't like secrets in my house especially if it's something this exciting."
Gabby laughed. "Sorry, Chief. I just wanted to make sure everything was fine with the baby before making an announcement. I've known for five weeks now but i'm ten weeks along."
"Is there a reason you waited so long?" Chief asked.
Gabby sighed and swallowed roughly. "I wanted to make sure everything was okay. I didn't want to make a huge announcement like last time and end up losing the baby. But the doctors have said everything looks normal and now that i've reached the end of my first trimester the risk of miscarriage is lower."
"This time will be different, Dawson, I promise. Does Casey know?"
"No, I found out when we were going through a rough patch and it was just constant fighting and I wasn't sure if that was going to be the end of us. We finally talked things out and I was going to tell him but then this happened. Chief, what am I going to do if he doesn't make it?"
"You need to start believing he will, Gabby, and even if he doesn't, you will have everyone at 51 ready to help you get through this. You'd have to be a fool if you think we'd leave you on your own to raise this baby."
Gabby smiled with tears in her eyes and gave Chief a hug. Then she sat down in one of the chairs and rested her head against the wall. While they waited, Cruz and Otis left to go get some food, Herrmann and Mouch called their wifes to let them known what was going on. Only Chief Boden, Gabby, Severide and Shay were left in the waiting room. None of them wanted to leave incase a doctor came with some news.
Finally an hour and a half later, Dr. Rhodes walked through the double doors and came to them. Shay nudged Gabby who still had her eyes closed and jumped out of her seat when she saw him.
"Is he okay?" She immediately asked.
Dr. Rhodes nodded. "The surgery was a success and we expect him to make a full recovery and get back to work. However we don't know if the hit to the head caused any memory problems but we won't know until he's awake."
Gabby sighed in relief knowing he made it through the surgery. "Can I go see him?"
"Of course, he's in room 418." Dr. Rhodes said.
