It's been a while since I wrote a story; so I hope it doesn't bite. I got the idea for this story via a response from Jesse Spencer to an interview question 3 or 4 years ago about life in Chicago. If you recognize the the topic of the story you might have read the interview too. I hope you enjoy. I'm sorry in advance for any mistakes. I also have this annoying habit of switching between first to last names of characters in my stories. All mistakes are mine and I don't own Chicago Fire or any Characters within. But its nice to play in the fandoms.
It had been a long shift at the firehouse, the whole crew at Firehouse 51 was tired and ready for end of shift. Chicago had just endured a major snowstorm and they had just finished at the scene of a twenty-car pile-up. Thankfully among the many injuries; no one had been killed. They had all talked about meeting at Molly's after shift but after the car crash decided to meet up the next night. Stella and Severide were headed back to the apartment for the evening planning to order in and asked if Casey would like to join them. He politely turned down their offer saying he was going to grab a pizza and a drink before meeting them back at the apartment a little later. Casey was still in the process of finding a new place after the fire thankful that Kelly had allowed him to stay at the apartment with him and Stella. He had a few prospects in mind he planned to check out within the next week or so. After finally handing over the reigns to 1st shift, they all went their separate ways.
Casey found himself at a new pizza joint near Severide's apartment perusing the numerous choices on the menu. He ended up ordering a medium deep-dish pizza topped with sausage, mushroom, pepperoni and green pepper topped off with a glass of wine. Casey was starving and dug into the pizza as soon as it reached the table. The restaurant had the Blackhawks game tuned in so over the course of an hour or so Casey enjoyed his delicious pizza and sipped his wine. Soon the game was over and looking down in amazement and maybe a little horror to realize he ate the entire pizza. Probably not a good thing he thought to himself. Feeling a little over full but satisfied he paid his bill and headed to his truck.
During the short drive back to the apartment Casey began to feel more uncomfortable. Shifting in the drivers seat he tried to adjust the seatbelt so it wasn't so tight around his midsection, but that did no good. The roads were still messy so traffic was a bit heavier than normal and it took him longer to get back to he apartment than he wanted. 10 minutes from the apartment he started feeling uneasy, 7 minutes from the apartment he started feeling queasy and mopped at the cold sweat forming on his brow. 5 minutes from the apartment he knew he was in trouble.
Finally reaching the apartment he parked his truck outside trying to breathe through the nausea and center himself for two story walk to the apartment. I can't believe I ate that whole deep dish he said to himself as he held back a heave, knowing all too soon what was coming. Taking the stairs as quickly as possible he was careful not to anger his already churning stomach. Fumbling for his key to the apartment he quickly found the right one and rushed into the apartment startling Kelly and Stella who were quietly watching a movie in the living room. They must have sensed something was wrong but he didn't stop to answer when Kelly shouted "Whoa Casey, you all right?" Instead he rushed for his room thankful that Kelly had moved to the other bedroom in the apartment leaving Casey with the privacy of his own bathroom. He barely lifted the lid on the toilet before he threw up every bit of dip-dish he had just consumed an hour earlier. It came in torrents at first, but eventually slowed down. His stomach ached and he felt miserable. As he flushed away the offending site he thought back to when he was a kid with some of his friends that thought it would be a great idea to drink a gallon of milk and they were sick for hours. Eating a whole deep-dish pizza was pretty much just like that. He groaned as his stomach revolted again. A human body is just not meant to consume that much dairy in one sitting. Soon there was a knock at the door and a quiet voice asking him if he was okay.
Kelly and Stella had been enjoying a quiet evening at the apartment, ordering Chinese and enjoying the Blackhawks win another game at home. They had just settled in to watch Avengers Infinity War when Casey burst into the apartment. They both jumped a bit startled by their friends' sudden entrance. As Casey brushed past them Kelly yelled out asking him if he was alright, when Casey didn't respond the couple knew something was up. "Did he look alright to you?" Stella asked looking at Kelly. Severide just shrugged and went back to the movie. After 10 minutes when their friend still hadn't emerged from his room to join them Stella paused the movie and said "I'm going to go check on him." Kelly just nodded and checked his phone.
Stella walked to Casey's room and gently knocked on the door, waited then knocked again. When she got no answer after knocking a second time, she entered the room to find it empty. Seeing the light on under the closed bathroom door she heard it; the unmistakable sound of vomiting. Quietly she walked to the door wondering if she should check on him to see if he was okay or needed anything. She waited a minute before knocking on the door. "Yeah" Casey coughed through a heave, "Just a minute." She heard the toilet flush and someone moving around in the small room on the other side of the door. She opened the door and found Casey resting against the wall panting heavily. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked. "Not really." Casey said as his stomach produced a dry heave. Stella walked into the bathroom taking a washcloth from the towel bar wetting it and handing it to Casey. Casey looked at her gratefully as he took it from her wiping his face and mouth. He got up shakily from the floor and rinsed his mouth at the sink.
Stella rubbed his back a bit as he stood at the sink, "What's going on she asked?" Casey took a few deep breaths bringing his fist to his mouth as his stomach lurched a bit. "I, uhh, was starving after shift so I went to that new pizza joint a few miles from here. I guess I was tired and got caught up in the Blackhawks game and ate a whole deep-dish pizza." Stella couldn't help but feel bad for him. "Aww Casey, is there anything I can get you?" "Some water maybe?" Casey looked at her longingly, "That would be great. Can you ask Kelly if he's got anything for a bad stomach?" She looked at him for a few seconds and said "Yes, Of course I will." I'm sorry you don't feel well. Can I help you with anything?"
"Can you take my coat for me and put my keys and wallet on the dresser? I have a feeling I'm going to be here a while." he said, feeling the nausea return again. Stella nodded and quickly grabbed his stuff and shut the door behind her as she left the bathroom. She hadn't even left his room before she heard him vomit again. Cringing she shut the door to his room and walked to the kitchen. "Everything Okay?" Kelly asked as she walked back into the living room to the fridge to grab a couple bottles of water for Casey. "Casey isn't feeling well" she said "Do you have any medicine for his stomach?" Kelly thought for a second then said, "No, I used the last of it when I got food poisoning a couple of months ago, I've been meaning to buy more."
"Could you go to the store around the corner and grab some more stuff?" She asked with a pouty face. Kelly couldn't say no of course, Casey was his friend too. Stella made a small list of stuff to grab from the store for Kelly and he left the apartment. After he left, Stella returned to find Casey dressed in pajama pants and a t-shirt sitting on the edge of his bed. Sweat dotted his brow and he was still breathing heavily. Handing him the waters, he took them gratefully; "Thanks"
"No problem" she said. "Kelly didn't have anything in the apartment, so I sent him out on a supply run. How are you doing?" Casey looked at her, sighed and said "I feel horrible, I never should have eaten all that." He sighed again. "Lesson learned don't ever order pizza when your starving. "Ugh, I never want to see a deep-dish pizza again." He groaned as he put a hand to his stomach. Stella couldn't help but smirk just a little.
"Kelly should be back in a little bit, hang in there." She said. Casey nodded laying down gingerly on the bed. "I'll try" he said. Stella turned to leave the room to give him some privacy, as she stepped to the door again, she heard him say "Thanks Stella" She turned as she left and said "You're welcome" before stepping back out of the room and closing the door.
A half hour later Kelly returned, store bags in hand. "How's he doing?" he asked. Stella shook her head as she helped him unload the bags. "He's in for a rough night, but I think he'll be okay." She said, "He ate a whole deep-dish by himself." "Yikes!" Kelly said cringing. Stella kissed him, grabbed a Gatorade, a glass of ice and the stomach medicine and asked Kelly to take them to Casey. Reluctantly he did. Walking down the hall he gently knocked on the bedroom door. "Casey? Can I come in?" after getting no answer he eased open the door and walked in. Finding the room empty he heard a small whimpering sound followed by heaving coming from the bathroom. As he walked to the bathroom door, he thought to himself; man, he is having a rough night. "Casey" he said knocking on the door. "Yeah" came the reply followed by some coughs. "I brought some stuff to help your stomach, I'm going to leave it on your bedside table." "Is there anything else I can get for you?" "No" came the reply from the other side of the door. As the toilet flushed Kelly paused by the door. Water ran in the sink and the door opened a few seconds later. Casey walked out holding his stomach looking pale and weak. "Here" Kelly said taking his arm around Casey's midsection and helping him back to the bed. "Thanks." Casey said. Kelly nodded and turned around to walk out of the room. "If there's anything else you need let us know." Casey nodded and lay back down on the bed. Kelly walked back to the living room and joined Stella on the couch. "How's he doing?" She asked. "He's pretty sick, but I think he'll be okay. I feel bad for him" he said. Stella just shook her head in agreement. "I think he'll be okay in the morning, but we should keep an eye on him." Stella said.
It was a little after midnight when Kelly and Stella went to bed, Casey seemed to finally be sleeping comfortably after getting all of the pizza out of his system. When they awoke the next morning, Casey was sitting at the counter in the kitchen nursing oatmeal and toast. "How are you feeling?" Kelly asked sitting down next to him grabbing some coffee. "Better than last night" he said, but I'm not very hungry. I got sick again a little after 3 am but, I don't feel so nauseas anymore. I'm just going to take it easy today." Kelly and Stella both agreed. Casey mostly lounged around the apartment watching TV all day. Severide and Stella went out to a movie and did some grocery shopping, returning in the early evening. Casey looked much better and stronger than when they left earlier in the day. Casey showered and they went out to a local diner for some dinner. All through dinner they laughed and carried on like last night never happened. Afterwards they met up with the crew at Molly's and enjoyed the night with friends. Casey recounted his night to the rest of the crew and was met with many snickers and sheepish grins. He vowed to them all he would never ever touch a deep-dish again and the guys would always have something to tease him about down the road.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed.