Forever and Always

Just a few things to note about the universe this little story is based in; Shay is very much alive, Casey never suffered a head injury and Dawson isn't part of their lives. Casey never met Hallie. Severide and Casey are in an established relationship. As always, I'm not a medical professional but a lot of time and research has gone into making all this as accurate as possible with limited resources.

Concrete Tomb

When you wake up in the morning you never really think that it could be the day that your life changes forever. With Casey's job it was always a possibility every time he walked into the firehouse. But he couldn't think like that, none of them could, or they wouldn't be able to do their jobs. If everyone lived in constant fear of something dreadful happening they would never step out their front doors. Of course no one ignores the fact that their job is dangerous but overthinking and fear can scare the best of men. Casey, like many other firefighters and first responders, never hesitated to step outside his own home and never once hesitated when the alarms rang out in the firehouse. He knew full well that life could change in an instant, in the blink of an eye. He had seen it many times. Experienced it too. But he didn't dwell on the thought and lived life the best way he could.

"Morning, sleepy, you got in late last night." Severide's smiling face was just inches from Casey's as he opened his eyes and he smiled back, enjoying the comfort and warmth as he heard the rain hammering down outside.

"Yeah, sorry, didn't want to wake you." Casey sat up and stretched. The bed covers fell down to his waist.

Severide admired Casey's athletic form, he reached out a hand, stroking his back muscles lovingly. "So what was the emergency at Molly's then?" he asked.

"Herrmann had managed to jam the back door, he just needed a second pair of hands," Casey replied with a small shrug.

Severide sat up and sighed. "Wish you hadn't gone…"

"You think I'd rather be at Molly's than lying in bed with you?"

"You need to learn to say no," Severide teased.

"You want me to say no next time you bring out the handcuffs?" He grinned back.

"The next twenty-four hours can't go fast enough… I hate pretending…"

"So do I..." He nodded in agreement. "But until we figure it out I guess it's what we're gonna have to do." He let his weight fall into Severide's body, welcoming it's support and heat, Severide was always so much warmer than he was. "As soon as a lieutenants position opens up at another house I'll jump at the opportunity."

"You're really willing to do that?"

"51 has been the family that I never had, but I want you, and I don't want any secrets," he replied. "Besides, I'm much more likely to get an opportunity than you are…"

"Unless I speak to my dad, get something in arson or…"

Casey shook his head. "And stop fighting fires? I don't think either of us could ever do that."

"I'd do anything for you, Matt."

"You don't need to, an office job will make you miserable… I don't want to make you miserable… it'll all work out." He smiled. "Everything always does eventually."

From the start it wasn't an average call. A terrorist attack. A bomb had exploded by an office building. In the end it turned out to have been a mistake, the timer had been set incorrectly, in a way it was fortunate because more people would have been hurt or killed if it had gone off when it had been planned. It was when a second explosion occurred that the real damage happened though, the emergency services were still on the scene getting people to safety.

"We're clear, Chief," Casey called into the radio as he made his way out of the office building, the bomb had caused half of it to cave in, they were fortunate that there were only a few people inside since it was early in the morning. "Severide's just coming out with the last victim," he explained as he followed Severide and the victim.

Boden nodded, pleased with all their efforts, the bomb had not caused any fatalities. "Good job, Ca…"

The sound of the second explosion was deafening. Everyone within a few feet of the building was flung back with the force, and showered with rubble and dust. Severide pulled himself up, recovered himself and carried his victim to the triage area. His ears were ringing from the explosion. His head was all over the place. He could barely think, but when he could, his first thought was Casey.

"Casey's still inside…" he muttered as he turned back to the collapsed building, dust was still accumulating in the air, his ears were still ringing. "Casey's inside," he said louder this time.

Severide started towards the entranceway where he knew Casey had been following him. All his thoughts were on him, he'd been right behind him, only a few feet away and now a pile of steel and concrete lay in between them. His heart was pounding in his chest, his legs were marching towards the structure but they felt numb, they didn't feel like his own, he could feel his hands trembling just as he reached the edge of the disaster zone.

A strong hand grabbed him and pulled him back, it was Boden. "Severide, stop, the whole structure's unstable…"

"He was right behind me, I'll get him…" He managed to tug away from Boden's grip.

"Kelly! Wait!" Boden yelled after him. "Use your head. Let's do this properly."

When Casey regained his senses he could hardly move. He'd managed to pull his right arm out bit by bit, but his glove had remained entombed under the rubble. He couldn't move anymore. There was too much weight pressing down on him. His helmet was lying near him, its small light was cracked and flickering but for now it was still illuminating the tiny space around him and highlighting the blood on his free hand. He could see the dust in the small pocket of air around him. He was pinned down on his left side, his back twisted on his oxygen tank. Adrenaline was coursing through his body hiding most of the pain. He thought he could hear someone groaning but after calling and hearing nothing, apart from some creaking and groaning where metal and concrete were moving against each other as they settled, he realised the small moans were slipping out of his own dry lips. He let his eyes close, it was too much effort to keep them open any longer, and he wondered if anyone would ever find him down here.

When he woke again he was still alone and in pain. Adrenaline gone, depleted. He was exhausted. He'd given up with his radio, all he was getting was static. He was in and out of consciousness, in and out of lucidity, at points it felt like he was floating and at others he could feel his bones grinding against each other. "I'm down here…" he tried to call out but his voice was weak and his throat was dry, he didn't even know if anyone was trying to listen. "I'm down here… down here…" his voice faded. What if the whole area had gone up? There'd be so many casualties, so many deaths and injuries, and he couldn't even help himself, never mind help anyone else. His eyes closed. He was trapped in a concrete tomb.

"Matt, can you hear me?"

He recognised that voice. It sounded like it was coming from the distance. He opened his mouth to reply but all that came out was an unintelligible groan.

"Matt, open your eyes for me… show me those eyes…"

The voice still sounded like it was coming from far away but he forced his dust coated eyelids open, and a very familiar face was right by his own. "Kel?"

"Hey..." Severide smiled at the recognition in Casey's eyes. "This is an odd place to hang out, you've found yourself a little quiet spot…" he said lightly, trying to hide all the worry from his voice and features but it was difficult. He could see how most of Casey's body was well hidden underneath mounds of rubble and two solid slabs of concrete. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Erm… I erm..." he coughed and spluttered, his chest burned. "I erm…"

"It's ok." Severide nodded and touched his cheek in an act of assuredness from the view of the rest of his crew, but really it was an act of love, his skin was cold to the touch. He pulled of his jacket and slipped it under Casey's head, it was warm down here, stifling even, the oxygen was thin and the fallen walls around them were thick.

"Bomb…" Casey whispered after a while.

"There was a second explosion," Severide explained, trying to keep Casey's attention.

In the torchlight he looked so incredibly pale, almost as grey as the stone around him and there were tear tracks on his cheeks, he'd been down in this concrete tomb for some time before he was located and found. Severide dreaded to think of his thoughts during that time, he almost hoped he'd been unconscious for most of it but somehow he doubted that. He was covered by dirt and dust, his breaths were shallow and rapid, he was in pain and he wasn't trying to hide it, he was trembling and looking around numbly.

"How are we looking?" Severide pulled his eyes away from Casey's and looked towards his crew who were quickly assessing the situation.

"Kelly?" Casey's voice broke through the air.

The look Severide gave told him what he already assumed. "It's gonna take some time, Case, there's several floors of steel reinforced concrete on top of you…"

"Sorry…"

Severide laughed. "You would be."

"It hurts…" With the adrenaline gone he was being overwhelmed by almost unbearable pain. It hurt to breathe. Hurt to think. Really he just wanted to close his eyes and disappear from the world, but the logical part of his brain was telling him he shouldn't do that, and that Severide wouldn't let him do that.

"We can do something about that." He smiled down at him. "Can we get a paramedic down here?" Severide questioned into his radio. "Painkillers, fluids… can we have oxygen down here yet?"

"No oxygen, Lieutenant, you're using cutting torches and there's live wires around the place. Waiting for the power to get…"

"Painkillers sound good…" Casey slurred. "How bad is it? Can't feel my legs… or much else… just hurts… God... it hurts…" His face scrunched up in pain.

"Hey, hey… you're fine, you're ok. Not called the rescue squad for nothing."

"How bad is it?" he repeated because Severide hadn't answered his question.

"It's not good but it could be worse." Severide forced a smile, still keeping his tone light. Casey tried to move but he stilled him. "Don't try to move. You've got half a building on top of you."

"Shouldn't you be calling for a trauma surgeon?" He laughed through gritted teeth.

"We're gonna get you out. All of you."

"How many… people… people are hurt?"

"Few got caught in the blast, no fatalities." Severide watched as he nodded, as he gritted his teeth and clamped his eyes shut. "Get some painkillers in you soon, I promise…"

Casey tried to take some steadying breaths, tried to slow his heartrate down, he could feel it pounding against his chest, he could feel himself trembling and shaking on the cold ground. "I'm going into shock…" He'd seen it many times before, he knew exactly what happened to trapped and crushed victims. He knew that sometimes it was impossible to get them out, and he knew that they didn't make it even after their exhausted efforts to get them out. He'd called for trauma surgeons himself, and from what he could see of the rubble he was sure he'd have called for one in this situation. Severide was being too hopeful but he knew soon that he wouldn't have any say in the matter, he wondered how much longer he'd remain conscious, how much longer he'd remain lucid, before Severide and the others would be making all the decisions.

"I know, I know..." Worry was evident in Severide's voice, he couldn't hide it. "We're gonna get some fluids into you and..."

"Crush syndrome," Casey stated simply and weakly. Telling Severide he knew how bad the situation was and the quietness of his voice showing him that he was fading. They both knew what crush injuries did to the body. They also knew he was losing too much blood trapped underneath the rock and stone.

"We're gonna give you fluids and besides, you're not crushed you're just stuck," he replied, glancing over to the others who were working on freeing Casey's lower body before smiling back down at him.

"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself." Casey laughed and started coughing, the air was thick and full of dust. The tonnes of concrete on top of his torso and lower body weren't helping his breathing either. Soft groans and whimpers were escaping his lips involuntarily.

Severide heard movement, he smiled with relief when he looked back and saw Shay making her way through the gap in the fallen debris and rubble. "Here comes Shay."

Casey smiled up at her once she reached his side, it was a tight fit with Severide there as well, and the rest of Squad 3 working a few feet away. "Shay... I'm glad it's you..." he slurred.

"Hey, Matt..." She smiled back, looking around for visible injuries. "How you doing?"

"Little stuck." He forced a smile.

She could feel Casey trembling fiercely as she took his pulse. Weak and thready. They needed to get him out of there. His eyes were dull and she could tell he'd been crying.

"I'm gonna give you some fluids and some meds, all right?" She nodded down at him as she prepared a large bore IV. "This is gonna hurt just a little…" She bit her lip as she concentrated on the IV and passed Severide the saline bag to hold up. "All done, you're getting some fluids now." She emptied a syringe of Dextran into the IV because they didn't know how long it would be until he would get some blood, and by the looks of things he was losing too much. "How's the pain? Scale of one to ten?" she questioned him.

"Erm... what?" He was gazing up at her, a small crease between his brows.

"Give me your pain on a scale one to ten?" she repeated.

"Erm... seven?" He didn't really know. He just knew that it hurt, the most pain he'd ever felt, he wanted to say ten. He want edto say a hundred. It hurt. Everything hurt.

"Where's it hurt most?" she probed, trying to keep him talking and thinking whilst assessing the damaged, although from his position it was clear there was going to be damage to his torso and his legs although she hoped there was not.

"My stomach... erm... my hips..." he muttered. "I erm… I can't feel my legs… I'm no doctor but I'm sure that's not a good sign…"

She injected some morphine after she watched his eyes flutter closed. "He's fading." She shook her head. "He's bleeding... internally, probably externally… we need to get him out," she stated, her eyes wide with worry as she spoke to Severide.

"We're working on it," Tony called from just a couple of feet away, where he and the rest of Severide's crew were working on extracting Casey without risking further collapse to the building.

Severide was focused on trying to rouse Casey once again, he wanted him awake and alert, wanted him fighting. "Matt? Come on... wake up for me…"

It took some time but eventually Casey's eyes opened. "Kel..." It was so quiet it couldn't be heard above the groaning of the fallen concrete and rubble.

"Hey, bud." Severide smiled down at him.

"What happened?" Casey tried to look around. "Can't move…"

"We're getting you out," he reassured him.

"Out of what?" Casey questioned, coughing on the dust filled air.

"There was an explosion…"

"Oh, sorry… yeah… yeah..." Casey slurred. "The bomb… everyone out?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "You did good, Matt."

Casey was shaking his head. "Tired…"

Severide cast a worried glance to Shay who spoke to Casey now. "Matt, you need to stay awake for us, ok?"

"Uh huh…" he mumbled.

"Talk to me," Severide insisted, Casey was slipping and slipping fast. "Tell me about…"

Something shifted sending a shockwave around the collapsed building, dust and rubble erupted and Casey screamed. It was an all consuming agonising sound until unconsciousness took over. Severide just covered his head and hoped that he would still be breathing when he pulled away. He was.

"Shay, get out of here…"

"Kelly, I'm…"

"It's not safe, go," he ordered, eyes focused on Casey's unconscious and ashen form. He heard Shay leave, leaving him with another bag of saline and some morphine. He relaxed just a little knowing that at least she was out of danger. "Matt? Matty?" He rubbed Casey's upper chest and eventually his eyes opened once again.

"Kel…"

"Talk to me, tell me what you wanna do for Christmas this year," Severide insisted in an attempt to keep him lucid and alert.

"Kelly, if I don't make it…"

Severide shook his head, telling Casey not to continue. "You're gonna be…"

"Kel... if I don't make it just... carry on, all right? Don't pause your life. Keep living…"

"Wouldn't be living without you... so hang in there. You'll be out of here in no time, you're not dying, you're just stuck. Now, tell me what you want to do for Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, what do you wanna do? Have it at yours or…"

"I erm… I…"

"Casey?"

"Erm… I can't…" he struggled as his eyes slipped closed.

"Damnit, Matt…" Severide muttered, staring down at Casey's unconscious form.

"Lieutenant, we can slide the hydraulic pump in now if you can pull him out, won't have time to stabilise him in case it shifts," Capp warned.

"All right." Severide nodded. "Get out of here, you guys don't need to stay, I can operate the…"

"We're not going anywhere." His crew stood their ground.

Their position remained stable as Severide slid Casey out from underneath the wreckage as careful as possible but Casey woke. He woke and he screamed again. There was no holding back the pain he felt, the scream was made from raw terror, Severide thought the whole world must have heard it and stopped on its axis because it sounded like someone had just torn off all four of his limbs simultaneously. It was an agonising sound. Casey was still whimpering noiselessly once Severide lay him still, he had no sound left. His eyes were dull and glazed. His skin was the colour of ash underneath the thick coat of dust and grime.

"Send down the stokes basket!" he called up, eyes still fixed on Casey. Severide could see his legs were a mess. "Stay with me, Matt, you're almost out of here."

But Casey didn't acknowledge Severide's words, there was only pain in his mind. He remained entirely unaware as he was strapped into the stokes basket and pulled up towards the light. Severide and his crew scrambled out afterwards. He broke through from the darkness, chucked off his helmet and immediately followed Casey as he was taken to the ambulance where Shay and Rafferty were waiting for him.

Casey was unconscious as Shay cut through and stripped off his clothing in the back of the ambulance as they sped to the hospital. She paused after his turnout trousers fell away. She almost gasped at the sight of the crushed, splintered, shattered and broken bones. She could see the whites of bone, torn muscle and flesh. There was blood, so much blood. She quickly and carefully began wrapping the wounds to stem the flow, only stopping to replace the bag of fluids, at the rate he was losing blood into his abdomen and from his legs she knew he was going to need a transfusion as soon as he got to the ER.

"Kel…" Casey voiced weakly, almost drowned out by the sound of the heart monitor.

"He'll meet us at the hospital, Matt," Shay informed him as she moved up to his head, his eyes were half lidded and searching around. "You're in the back of the ambo. Want some more painkillers?" she asked, aware that he'd not had any since the moment just before he was released from the concrete tomb.

Casey just nodded slightly, tears in his eyes, he barely had the strength to think let alone speak.

"Here we go..." She emptied another syringe of morphine into the IV line. "Won't take long to work."

He suddenly let out another cry of pain, Shay gripped his hand. "What's wrong?" he questioned through gritted teeth.

"You're bleeding internally, I think your pelvis is broken," she replied honestly, she wasn't going to hide anything from him, she knew he understood how grave his injuries could be after being crushed and trapped for such a length of time.

"Tell Kel… I…"

"You can tell him yourself," she insisted.

He shook his head, tears were making tracks in the dust and grime on his face. "I love him… make sure he… doesn't... doesn't do… anything stupid…"

"I will." She smiled down at him as his eyes fluttered closed. She glanced at the monitors and his constantly dropping blood pressure. "What's our ETA?" she yelled.

"Two minutes out."

She squeezed his bloody hand comfortingly. "Hang in there, Matt…"

TBC