Title: Aftermath of The Apocalypse
Summary: As soon as the chaos ends Casey knows there's only one place he should be – at his best friend's side. Based on eppy 3.19 'I am the Apocalypse' Has spoilers. Missing #sevasey broment
Disclaimer: Same as always. I own nothing but my muse and my love for my boys #teamsevasey and of course putting them into danger.
A/N: Okay so I personally could care less about the medical parts and am not excited about another spinoff and was ANGRY that there were no broments lol come on writers! I mean how wrong was it that Severide woke up alone after all that? come on! Grrr so I had to remedy that with a little #teamsevasey aftercare to make myself feel better. Hope you all enjoy just as much!
NOTE: As 'always' "words in italics and double quotes taken directly from the eppy." Just italics are thoughts and single is a past convo.
It all happened so fast…he recalls the young, sickly looking man sort of standing aimlessly in the middle of the packed ER waiting room, soft of listing from side to side; eyes watery and almost bloodshot but the look on his flushed face angry and determined. Then before anyone could react, the man in question got up onto a chair and uttered something that so chilling it forced all of them to literally freeze in place; no one daring to breathe for a few short milliseconds. He remembers looking at Severide and then his entire frame was hit with another chill.
Kelly nooooooo
But actual, audible words never escaped past his lips; instead his eyes could only widen in horror as Severide hurled himself toward the suicidal bomber – a few seconds later their world exploding around them. He remembers squeezing his eyes shut as his body was flung backward and to the right, slamming into something hard before crumpling to the ground and being rained upon by all kinds of debris and shrapnel. It seemed like a small, painful eternity before he was forced back to reality by the stench of putrid smoke, scorched flesh and…death.
He called out to his team but it wasn't until he heard Mills talking about Severide and then one of the doctor's saying it was time to black tag his best friend and move on.
"NO!" Casey shouts, drawing all eyes to him as he pushes himself fully upright and slowly shuffles over to where Severide's body is lying motionless.
"I've seen this before and…"
"No one is leaving…you have to help him."
"I'm not a surgeon."
"Get one!" Casey shouts before he slightly recants. He looks at Dr. Halstead and then at Mills and finally back down at Severide's unmoving frame, knowing that there is no way Severide would ever just leave him there to die and not fight to the very last second to get every possible resource to save his life. He had to do the same for his friend.
"Please…you need to help him," Casey literally begs with a small waver in his voice.
"Okay."
The voice isn't from the man in front of him but from a female behind him. He can only nod and step back and watch helplessly as his best friend is loaded onto a stretcher and then whisked away into the nearest emergency surgical room they can find.
Getting back into working mode wasn't easy but it was necessary as it would help keep his mind focused on something other than the possibility Severide's life would end because of another man's ugly vendetta. The day seemed to drag on with painful slowness; his mind urging him to take a few moments whenever he could to just peer into the room Severide was being operated on.
"We're losing him…"
But each time he did, he'd almost regret it because seeing his usually strong and in charge friend was more painful than he could explain. Working this kind of traumatic scene without Severide at his side as normal was…almost surreal and in the worst possible way.
Casey paused for a few moments to just stop and look around, the background noise fading until only a soft rhythmic beeping was heard – the heart monitor in Severide's operating room. His weary eyes look at the aftermath of what the man had aptly titled himself – the apocalypse. Blood, dirt, smoke, Severide limbs, downcast faces, broken spirits, crushed hopes and shattered dreams. In the near distance a child cries, a mother screams, a silent prayer is offered and his heart starts to race. He turns and looks at the door to Severide's room and feels his heart sink. He has to pull through…he has to.
It was almost unspeakable. However, in the end, after all the dust had settled, they'd be cleared to leave and life would go on. But he knows one thing is certain, he wasn't leaving the hospital until every single member of 51 was also given their walking papers – Severide included. Even if his was in a few days, Casey knows he'll not leave his friends side until it's Severide's voice telling him to go home, clean up, get some rest and then come back and get him the hell out of the hospital.
A small smirk tugs his lips upward. But a few seconds later the sounds slam back into him full force and he's back in action – trying to diffuse another tense situation.
"Kelly!"
Casey turns, his brain elated that his friend is out of surgery and back at his side. His hopes are quickly dashed as he looks at a woman calling to her daughter with the same name.
He has to pull through….he has to.
Right now he's filled with doubt and uncertainty. However, a few hours later when the smoke and dust had finally started to settle his brain reveled in four words he was told.
'We have him stabilized.'
He had breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Maybe two…maybe more. His fists rubbed his watery eyes and his heart elevated for the first time in hours.
"Severide is stable Chief."
Casey's lips can only twist upward as he smiles at Boden's relieved reply on the other end of the radio. "I'm going to see him now Chief." Casey tells his team good work and go home and rest as he opens his jacket and slowly heads toward Severide's recovery room.
"Knock knock," Casey mentions softly as Severide's eyes lift to his and he offers his friend a tormented smile. "Welcome back…sleeping beauty."
"Hey…" Severide replies with a soft whisper. "Did you get…the number of that…Semi?"
At first Casey wants to be angry…get after Severide and ask him just what the hell he was thinking! You're not indestructible and how dare you take chances like that with your life! But he can't. Especially when Severide looks up in abject torment.
Casey slowly eases himself down into a chair beside Severide's bed and looks at his friend in concern. "I uh…they nearly black tagged you." His voice sounds sharp at first; as if he wants his friend to feel some sort of blame for his seemingly reckless actions.
"Really?" Severide asks in shock as Casey nods.
"We uh…didn't let them." This time his tone is audibly apologetic.
"Glad…you were there."
"You call me…reckless," Casey retorts with a soft smile. But his smile quickly fades as Severide coughs and his face crunches with pain. "Hey…can I get anything?"
"No…just hurts to…help me turn over," Severide asks with a small huff as Casey hands carefully rest on his hip and shoulder and help him turn onto his left side. "My back…damn it Matt they pulled out some…nasty shrapnel. I thought…I thought that was it."
"I want to yell at you for what you did but um…I can't."
"Trust me…it wasn't one of my smartest…moves."
Casey slumps back into the chair as his mind starts to ponder Severide's fate had they not been able to remove the pieces of metal or if the debris hitting him had been larger. It would have been game over.
"I saw her."
"What's that?" Casey's gaze is drawn back up by Severide's soft comment. "Saw who? The doctor?"
"No…Shay. I saw…images…her saying she loved me…always…"
"Always," Casey whispers as he tries to swallow.
"She was happy and…her smile. Damn I uh…I miss it," Severide whispers as his eyes water. "I miss her."
Casey hears Severide's monitors starting to slightly elevate and reaches out his hand and rests it on his friend's exposed forearm and gives it a little squeeze of comfort. "She helped you fight. Just like she always did," Casey tells him as Severide looks up with a watery glance.
"She…should be here," Severide manages as Casey quickly looks around for a box of Kleenex and then hands one to his friend. "It was…so surreal. I could hear voices…at first…"
"What do you remember?"
"About…what happened?" Severide asks in a strained tone as Casey nods. "Not much. I saw him raise the grenade. I charged at him and then…I saw Shay. And now you."
Casey looks at his friend, his mind almost thankful that he didn't recall the panicked noise from all the verbal and physical carnage going on around him.
"Did I miss much?"
"Ah…the usual," Casey replies with a slight snicker as he looks downward, his fingers absently playing with the bottom folds of his dirty jacket. A few seconds later he looks up with a morose glance, trying once again to swallow back a lump of hard emotion. "So much anger in that man…but…it could have been worse I guess," he sighs as he slumps back into his chair and looks at Severide with a heavy frown.
"You know if Shay were here she'd have told us to quit whining and clean up the mess already," Severide states with a small labored laugh that ends up sounding more like a hiss.
"Yes…yes she would," Casey agrees as he looks at Severide trying to move again. "Hey buddy you just gotta lie still."
"Ah…hurts to lie still!" He snaps and then slumps back down with a growl. "I…I should have been there helping you all."
"We got it done. But charging him with a live grenade…"
"Thought the damn thing was…I don't know what I was thinking…I wasn't…I just reacted," Severide stammers as his face crunches and he gently gasps. "Go…ahead…get…Matt…"
"Kelly?"
But a few seconds later his breathing starts to shallow and his lips continue to gasp. "Matt…need…"
"What's…hey! We need some help in here!" Casey shouts as Severide's frame starts to slightly convulse. "Kelly…Kelly! HEY!"
Casey can only stand back and watch helplessly as the two nurse's work to get his friend's shaking body back under control and his heart rhythm to return to normal. "What's um…he'll be okay right?"
"His body's been through a lot," the reply is given as Severide's frame starts to subside; Casey's concerned gaze fixed on his friend – unwavering. Another small eternity seems to pass as Casey's agitated frame remains fixed in place until the medical team steps back and Severide's eyes flutter open once more and he looks up at his friend with a weary glance.
"Gotcha…" Severide tosses at Casey with a soft huff as Casey removes his jacket and looks at the nurse.
"I'll kick your ass for that later," Casey shakes his head; the closest he can come to being upset with his hurting friend. "I won't stay too long."
"He really needs his rest."
"Think…I can get a…sponge bath…in the morning?" Severide groans as he tries to shift his position. He slumps down once more and looks up at Casey with arched brows.
"From me?" Casey retorts with a chuckle. "Now that's something Shay would have suggested."
"And then…recorded it," Severide smiles as he tries to tug the covers up over his shoulder.
"And then bragged about it," Casey adds as he helps his friend cover his shoulder and then eases himself back into his chair and exhales heavily. "It was near chaos at first…people were panicked and scared…Boden and the guys outside tried to get them all to get back inside. They used the trucks to block people's cars…it was at first pandemonium."
"Boden…he rounded them up?"
Casey goes on to relate what happened up until the time he was told the news that Severide had finally stabilized and would be okay.
"What'd you use to take him out?" Severide asks with a hoarse hiss.
"I didn't take him out," Casey gently snickers. "He was in shock and just…I can't blame him. If I was waiting on news about being exposed to something worse than Ebola I think I'd be on edge also. I get it."
"Thank God it was nothing," Severide states with a small exhale, as his face winces and Casey's concern grows.
"Kelly?"
"Just…it hurts to move…to breathe…ah damn it hurts to lie here and think I did this to MYSELF!" Severide's voice rises and then quickly fades as his monitors jump and Casey looks around for some medical help. "I'm okay…okay," Severide chants as Casey settles back down.
"You tried to diffuse the situation."
"In true…Severide style," Severide groans as Casey can't help but smirk and then nod. "Can I blame my father for that?"
"Sure, he's not here right now."
"Did you call him?"
"He's finishing up a case but he'll be here as soon as he can," Casey informs his friend in truth as he looks up at Severide's monitors. "Just relax okay."
"That's…all I can do…" Severide looks up with a heavy frown. "It was Shay…I loved her but…not ready to join her yet."
"Better not be," Casey counters with playful fist bump to his friend's raised shoulder. A few moments of silence pause before Casey's phone buzzes and he's quick to pull it.
"Gotta go?"
"Told you I'm here for the night. It's your dad…asking if he can bring beer," Casey snickers as he looks up with a weak expression.
"Tell him…anything but…American," Severide says with a small wheeze. "He…what?"
Casey holds up the phone to show his friend a picture of his father…a selfie with a can of Budweiser.
"Bastard," Severide playfully curses as Casey chuckles and puts his phone away. As much as Severide wants to tell Casey to go away, he knows with the frenzied activity outside, he'd be alone in the room and despite not being able to do anything but relax, he's glad he's not facing this recovery alone. "What else…happened?"
Despite the fact he knows his friend needs his rest, Casey tells Severide more about the past few hours excitement that me missed as he reaches for a clean, damp cloth and gently wipes away the dried blood splotches from his friend's sweat dotted forehead. "Hey gotta look good…for the nurses," he softly smirks as Severide nods in agreement. "There." But when he sees his friend struggling to keep awake, he knows he needs to let him get his rest. "Okay if I don't stop talking the nurse is going to come back and kick me out. I'll stay here until your dad gets here and then I'll go home and clean up and…"
"Matt…"
"You're going to argue with me?" Casey counters in haste.
"Wake me…when he gets here."
"Okay."
Casey watches Severide fall asleep and then turns and looks at the people outside the little recovery room, inside the belly of the devastated hospital. They were all moving about…almost in slow motion. But unlike before when they were all moving about in a seeming haze of uncertainty and fright; the movements now are purposeful and determined. That determination was something the doomed bomber failed to realize or even destroy – the human spirit cannot be crushed by the wills of one just person.
If anything, in the aftermath of the Apocalypse it seemed to make that will stronger and certainly showed the members of Firehouse 51 just how short…and how precious life is.
Casey's eyes quickly dart back to Severide's sleeping frame, looking up at the monitors as they excitedly jump for a few seconds and then subside; much like his friend's sleeping frame. He had promised both Kelly and Benny that he'd remain at his friend's bedside, a personal vigil as he knows he'd get the same in return – leaving only briefly when Benny arrived to go home, shower, change, do a few things and then come back. And when Severide was to get his release papers, he'd be the one there…taking him back to their shared apartment and helping him get back on the road to recovery as quickly as possible.
He pulls his phone once more and looks at a picture…a selfie taken by Shay of her, him and Kelly; all looking at the camera with goofy grins. He looks down at the date and then at the caption below it – his eyes instantly watering.
'always'
Casey's watery eyes look up at his friend's sleeping expression and knows…as much as it was the skilled medical team that helped save his life and keep him alive, it was Shay's enduring love that helped him fight his way back to them. He closes his eyes for a few brief seconds. But it would be a few hours later when they'd open to see Benny Severide watching over both of them. The aftermath bringing the three of them back together and cementing an already strong brotherly bond.
THE END!
A/N: Haven't done many OS's this season and I hope this wasn't weak! I hope you liked this little broment a little and it would be so appreciated if you were to review before you go. Thanks everyone!