The group sat down in the waiting room. They were still in utter shock. It had been 24h since the accident and Mouch was still in the ICU, most probably needing a surgery if things didn't improve in the next 24h. None of them understood what had happened. The building was secured, so what the hell had gone wrong for it to collapse.
Kelly looked at Matt. "Is there any family that we need to inform"? Even though they had worked together all these years, he realized he knew little if nothing about Mouch and his personal life.
Matt nodded. "I did already. I called his sister yesterday, she's flying in as we speak".
They all looked at him surprised?
"Mouch has a sister"? asked Hermann.
"Yes. She's much younger than him. She lives in Paris".
"Paris, Texas"?
"No. Paris, France".
"What is she doing in Paris"?
"She works there. She's a cardio-thoracic surgeon".
Joe and Otis looked at each other.
"Mouch has a sister, who is a cardio-thoracic surgeon in France? How come we didn't know this"?
Matt stood and started pacing the floor. "You know Mouch, he's very private when it comes to his personal life. Plus I'm more than certain that no one ever asked him".
Kelly smiled, this was true. "How come you know her Casey"?
Matt stopped pacing and looked at him. "Emily, Hallie and I kind of grew up together".
He looked at his watch, she was going to land in an hour.
Chief Boden in turn looked at his watch.
"Casey, we should get going".
Matt nodded in agreement.
Chief Boden looked at the rest of his men. "Casey and I are headed for the airport to pick up Emily. If there is any change, call me immediately"!
They watched as they headed out of the waiting room.
They all looked at each other and it was clear without saying a word that they all wondered about Mouch's sister.
Emily got off the plane. She was exhausted. Ever since Matt's call the day before, she had been constantly worried about Randy. Matt had not been able to say much about Randy's condition but being a doctor she knew that if Matt had called, it must have been serious. She headed to the arrival hall along with her carry on. The hall was packed. It was summertime and apparently filled with either a lot of tourists or people returning from vacation.
She heard her name being called out and turned her attention to her left. There, behind a group of people stood Matt. She caught her breath. He was still the same and hadn't changed after all these years.
She walked over to him and he took her in his arms. The hug was genuine and natural. A minute later they pulled apart.
"Hello Emily".
"Matt. Thank you for calling me".
"Of course, it's normal".
He turned his attention to the man standing at his side.
"Emily I'd like you to meet Chief Boden".
Emily put her hand out. "It's a pleasure to meet you Chief Boden. I've heard lots about you".
Chief Boden took her hand and shook it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too. Please call me Wallace".
The Chief took her carry on. "Allow me".
"Thank you Wallace".
Matt escorted Emily out of the building and to the priority parking spot they had just outside the arrival hall.
Once they were in the van and started they route towards the hospital Emily leaned in from the back.
"How is he"?
Matt sighed. "It's hard to tell. We really have not received any update since I called you yesterday. I'm taking that as good news".
Emily nodded. "Yes, usually when we don't give an update, it's usually because there has been no negative change to a patient's situation, but it doesn't mean things are improving either".
"They gave us some info last night but we are not really aware of all the medical terms they use. I'm sure it will be clearer for you", said Chief Boden.
"Of course. I understand. You being there for him and picking me up is already much more than you can imagine. And just in case I forget in all of this chaos, I want to say thank you. Randy has always considered all of you like family".
Otis was walking in the hallway going back to the waiting room after having gotten himself a coffee when he saw them coming in. He stopped at the door opening of the waiting room and watched from afar. He looked in the waiting room at Joe and Kelly.
"Now, I did not expect Mouch's sister to look like this"! He had a huge smile on his face.
Kelly looked at him perplexed. "What are you talking about"?
Otis shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I thought she'd look like Mouch".
Seeing them on the approach, Otis entered the waiting room.
When Matt and Chief Boden came in they were accompanied by a beautiful woman in her early thirties, about 5'6", brunette with medium length hair, beautifully almond shaped brown eyes and glasses. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a sleeveless button down shirt and a pair of flat shoes. Kelly immediately understood what Otis had meant. It's not that Mouch was ugly but he too would never have imagined his sister as charming and gorgeous as she was. It left them all speechless.
Matt looked at them. "This is Emily. Emily this is Otis, Joe and Kelly".
Emily smiled and all three literally melted. She shook their hands one by one. "It's nice to meet you all. Randy has told me so much about you all. It's nice to be able to put a face to the name".
The timing had been perfect. Less than a couple of minutes later. Mouch's doctor came in.
He looked at Chief Boden.
"Chief, have we been able to locate a family member"?
Emily stood forward.
"Doctor Emily McHolland, I'm Randy's sister".
The doctor's eyebrow lifted in interest. "Doctor Andrew Baxter, neuro".
He put his hand out to shake Emily's.
"What is your specialty Dr. McHolland, if I may ask"?
"Cardio-thoracic surgery".
"Impressive".
Kelly and Matt looked at the doctor who was good looking and around the same age as Emily and realized that he was totally into her.
"How is Randy"?
"His vitals are stable but the edema in his brain hasn't resorbed. If the situation remains the same I'll have to perform a craniotomy in the next 24h".
Emily nodded. "I also assume that if his vitals become unstable, you will go in before that"?
"Naturally. I will perform another CT-scan first thing tomorrow morning and then we'll decide what we do".
"Is he conscious"?
"He comes in and out of consciousness but he does remain somewhat responsive to things going on around him".
He paused for a moment and looked at her. She was charming and more attractive than any of the cardio-thoracic surgeons they had in the hospital.
"Would you like to see him"?
She nodded. "What is your ICU policy"?
"Two people and for 30 minutes maximum twice a day. I assume that your policy is somewhat similar"?
She nodded and turned her attention back to the group of firefighters.
"Would someone like to go with me"?
Kelly was surprised. In her voice he almost heard a plea. He guessed she didn't want to be alone, at least not for the first time she saw him.
Matt walked up to Emily. "I've already been, but if you need me, I can come with you".
Kelly spoke up in turn. "I haven't had the chance to see him yet. If you are more comfortable with Matt by your side, I'd understand".
She looked at Otis and Joe. "Have you been to see him"?
They both nodded affirmatively.
She looked at Matt. "It's OK. I'll go with"…
She turned to Kelly. "Oh my God, I'm sorry, it's really not like me but I've forgotten your name".
"It's not a problem. It's Kelly. Kelly Severide".
"Ben's son"?
Kelly nodded but wondered how Emily knew her dad. Yet he didn't press for an answer and followed her and Doctor Baxter. He stood behind as Dr. Baxter and Emily took the lead down the long corridor. They were apparently talking about her job in Paris and he let his ears stray into their conversation. As he talked Dr. Baxter put his hand on Emily's back and gave Kelly a quick look. Kelly could have initially thought that it was an amicable gesture between a doctor and a patient's family, in order to support them but the way he was looking at Emily and the look he had given Kelly, meant that it was much more than that and Kelly couldn't help but find that it was misplaced.
Dr Baxter stopped in front of a fully windowed room. He turned to Emily. "I'll leave you. If you need anything, day or night, don't hesitate to have me beeped. I literally live here".
With that he left the two of them standing. They stood there for a moment watching Randy through the window.
Randy looked frail and pale. Cuts and bruises could be seen on his face and arms and Emily guessed his body was in a similar condition. She sighed and looked down at the floor. What she did next amazed Kelly. She took a deep breath and looked forward again. He could tell she was fighting back tears. She grabbed the door handle and opened it. He followed almost feeling like an intruder in a brother and sister's intimacy. Emily walked up to Randy, put one hand on his face, took his hand in the other and leaned in.
"Randy, it's me. I'm here. If you can hear me, I want you to squeeze my hand".
Her eyes never left his face as she waited for some kind of response. It came slowly and softly but Kelly could see it, Randy was moving his fingers around Emily's hand.
Emily smiled and he noticed how beautiful her smile was.
She bent down and gave him a kiss on his forehead just as he usually did with Katie.
"I want you to rest as much as you can. You are in good hands and they are going to do everything they can to get you back on foot in no time. I'll be here as much as I can. I love you".
She again leaned in to kiss his forehead.
"Oh and your friend Kelly is here with me. All the guys are here, they are rooting for you and want you back on your feet as quickly as possible. We are all going to be here for you, every step of the way".
Kelly walked over to the other side of the bed and placed his hand in Randy's.
"Hey Mouch, you gave us quite a scare, but as your sister says, you're in good hands. And don't worry about her, we'll take good care of her too, so just get better, ok buddy"?
He knew he wouldn't get an answer back from Mouch but felt him move his fingers around his hand.
Before they knew it, they were interrupted by a nurse.
"I'm sorry, visiting hours are over. You can come back tomorrow morning between 10am & 11:30 am".
Once again Emily leaned down and kisses Randy. "I'll be back first thing in the morning. Hang in there big brother"!
Kelly squeezed his hand before letting it go and following Emily out of the room. The both exited the ICU ward in silence and once behind the double doors, Emily stopped dead in her tracks, put her head down, brought her hand to her face and started to cry.
Kelly felt helpless and didn't know what to do. He looked around and then eventually his instinct kicked in and he took her in his arms to comfort her.
Matt who had come looking for them, was witnessing the entire scene from afar. He and Kelly locked eyes. Matt gave him a dirty look and then walked away.
Kelly wanted to know what all of that was about. He would need to talk to Matt about it and fast!