So here it is, I know some of you have known about this for a few days and its here! This is the 220 Dark Day Chicago Fire One Shot I have been talking and hinting about. I wrote this for an amazing friend of mine who means the absolute world to me. She is funny and sassy and understands my love for Jesse and I have no idea where I'd be without her. I wake up most mornings with a beautiful message from her and a collection of GIFs that make me smile like a crazy person. Thank you for always being there for me Kristen, you really make my day everyday. I love and appreciate you more than you will ever know.
I hope you all like this OS and don't forget to leave a review of what you think!
I love you all, Freya!
It was a normal day. Piles of snow had been gathered up on either side of the of the sidewalk to make room for the public to move freely among the streets. The freezing temperatures that living in Chicago brought to the air had no effect on the brave Chicagoans who lived and worked in the city.
Chicago Med was buzzing like usual but for a different, more exiting, reason rather than for sick people. Everyone was milling around, getting ready for the race that was put on yearly to raise money for charity by the CF and CPD. Blue and red flags, balloons and the odd costume expressed the friendly rivalry that the two departments shared. However, they all knew that there could only be one department winner and the CFD was looking to hold its five year winning streak!
Gabby was bouncing on her toes, her hands being rubbed together to create heat as she watched her boyfriend try and hang a CFD poster on a pin board. He had been trying to set up the CFD desk for the past half an hour and the majority of it was don't, it was just the last finishing touches that Matt had been instructed to add.
Watching on from the other side of the tent Kim Burgess was looking over her shoulder every once and a while to check that she was putting the main frame of the board together right. "You guys running in the race?" she asked not looking up from what she was doing.
"I am, Matt over here chickened out." Gabby laughed as she looked lovingly at her boyfriend again.
"More of a sprinter." he corrected as he reached for the other poster on the table.
Gabby looked over and smiled. "You're Officer Burgess right?" she asked making her way over to her, her gloved hand outstretched. Burgess nodded, grasped her hand and shook it. "My brother is Antonio Dawson, up in intelligence. He's mentioned you a couple times."
"He has?" She asked as she looked up from the pole that was in her hand with a large smile. It was clear that she had no idea what she was doing and quite frankly, Gabby had no idea how Matt had managed to put the display up as quickly as he did.
Gabby smiled again and replied, "Yeah, he said you were good police." Looking round to her boyfriend her smile grew. She could see that he was getting frustrated at the fact that his department decorating wasn't going how he had planned it to go. "Matt, hey baby. Can you come and help Burgess over here real quick?" she asked. Knowing that he would take some time to rethink his approach to his project would aid him in overcoming his problem. Matt turned and began walking towards them. "Thank you." she mouthed as he walked past - he gave a faint smile.
"The fire department rescuing a cop, that's how it always works right?" he smiled as he took the pole out of her and and slotted it neatly into the end of the other.
Burgess watched his movements carefully as he slowly built the remaining structure. "Hey that's not true! I mean there was this one time where…" She paused for thought and Matt took the opportunity to stop what he was doing at to look at her. "…I've got nothing, literally nothing." They both laughed as Matt made his way back over to the CFD side of the tent.
Looking up from the clipboard that was now in her hand Burgess sighed. "Thanks for the help again." she said as she put it down and headed for the street. "I'll be back in a minute. I forgot the t-shirts! Would you mind -"
"We got you covered!" Gabby called from still inside the tent as she turned back to face her boyfriend. "And I thought it was only the clowns in the CFD that sold t-shirts." she said to herself.
"What was that?" Matt asked over his shoulder. He wasn't taking the mick or anything he just generally didn't her what she had said.
"Nothing baby." She replied letting out a little giggle, she walked round and placed her hands on either one of his shoulders. "It's not straight." she whispered in his ear as he through the poster to the floor and turned to face her.
"You know you're not helping right?" he exclaimed as he through his arms up in the air and then placed them on his hips. He was annoyed but not at her. The stress was getting to him and he was kind of thankful for Gabby's messing around.
"A little nervous energy I see?" Gabby teased pushing his shoulder lightly before she walked around and opened a sealed box. She pulled out one of the layers of fabric then gave an over exaggerated gag so Matt would look at her. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the pin board. "Goat shirts? Really?"
"They're a valuable collectors item!" He protested in defense of his company's insignia over his shoulder.
"Yeah, a garbage collector maybe." she laughed.
He gave a little grunt as he tried again to push the pin into the frozen board. A red mark coming on his finger as he pressed the pin in harder and harder. "Damn it!" he cursed.
"Woah, woah baby. It's just a speech!" Gabby reassured looking round at him. "And that pin board is really kicking your ass." she finished as she folded the t-shirt back up and continued with her pre-run warm up stretches.
"It's a speech with the fire commissioner." Matt said dryly as he finally looked round to her. "I don't see how I got roped into it anyway."
"You were hit on the head in a fire trying to save a baby, baby." she smiled at him as he gave an embarrassed shake of his head. "The chief wants to congratulate you, that's all." The memories of that day were not the nicest. She decided that thinking of the better parts of the time he was in hospital were the way that she coped with the story. Not now did she get upset when that day was mentioned but she would smile. He risked his life for a defenseless child and she knew that he knew she was proud of him. The whole house was. Gabby smiled as she thought about how that action of dedication and bravery described Matt as both a man and a firefighter. He had always wanted to have a family, and the fact that it was a child that was in need of rescuing must have put his parental nature into overdrive.
Walking lazily over to her, Matt replied, "he could congratulate me back at the house," he stopped for thought as she grabbed his coat and pulled him towards her. "Or not at all." he grumbled, his eyes closed and a little sigh escaping into the cold air - a small cloud dissipated around them.
Continuing to look at him as he opened his eyes she placed her hands on his chest and looked up to meet his eyes. "Oh, stop your moaning!" Gabby giggled as she rolled onto her tip toes to kiss his cold cheek. "the whole department heard about what happened and they're all proud of you - just like I'm proud of you." She finished with a flirty smile.
"Oh give over." Matt smiled finally as he let her go and began his path back to the board - he was determined to get that poster up. "You need to go and sign in for the race. I'll see you in a bit?" He said over his shoulder as he crouched down to pick both the pins and the poster up from the floor. With a little grunt he stood up and continued on with his task.
Looking up from her watch Gabby nodded. "Yeah, errm, I'll see you later." she replied as she jogged up and planed a kiss on his temple from behind. He only looked round in time to see her jogging to the entrance of the hospital.
Looking round to see that Burgess was now back at her stool he called over to her. "You sure you don't need a hand with anything else?"
She turned and smiled as well, her hands full of t-shirts she let out a little giggle. "Nah. I'm sure I'll manage."
"Okay, well I'm going to go and find Gabby. You know, wish her good luck for the race?" he said as he moved away from the stool and began walking down the street.
Moving out of the way of the athletes, Matt made his way down the street towards the entrance of the hospital. It was the busiest part of the whole area because of the sign in desk was in the inside of the hospital and the main staring line was right outside. People had been beginning to gather there for a few hours so Matt had to squeeze through the crowd to try and get through. He thought about Gabby for a second and how he gave her a blunt goodbye before she left. He felt a little guilty and wasn't sure why. He'd been feeling a little off and with the headache he kept thinking about his injury. That lead to his mind thinking about the speech he was going to have to do at the start of the race, and - dang, it was a vicious circle. His stomach had begun to churn as his mind spiraled out of control. Just as he began to make his mind think straight he heard the most horrifying explosion and before he had worked out what had happened his whole body was thrown to the floor. A little dazed from the sound and the impact in which he hit the floor at, he heard a loud buzzing noise and before long his whole world faded to black…
"Herrmann, come in!" Chief said as he stood up from behind his desk and welcomed him into his office. "Take a seat, take a seat."
Doing as he was instructed, Herrmann took a seat opposite the chief in one of the green leather chairs and tried to keep his nerves at bay. Clasping his hands together Herrmann took a deep breath and spoke out. "Everything okay Chief?" he asked as he watched Boden take a seat opposite him and through his glasses down on the desk before them both.
"Yeah!" The chief was overly exuberant for a reason Chris couldn't quite work out. "Casey and Dawson have ducked out this shift as you know to run the stall at the charity run. I've had to sub in Rafertey to cover as PIC for Dawson but I never got a chance to contact HQ about a cover lieutenant. I was-"
"Chief…" Herrmann stood up and ran his hand though his short gray hair. "… you can't do that too me! I have to sike myself up you know, I have to prepare myself mentally. I can't do this without -"
"Can you just take the position until I can get a relief Lieu in, Christopher please." Boden encouraged as he stood up from the desk and took him by the shoulders. " You'll make Casey proud." He teased making Herrmann roll his eyes.
"Truck 81, Truck 96, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, Ambulance 95, Battalion 25… Explosion. 24th and Indianna." the klaxon called as it rang out over the air of the firehouse.
Herrmann turned to look at chief as he rose from behind his office - the look on Chris' face was a picture of excitement and fear as he headed for the trucks. "Is that?"
"Yeah."
Herrmann's heart was pumping fast as they pulled out of the bay doors and began to hammer it down the street. The lights and sirens blazing as they passed by the public. He watched as a young woman stopped and looked round with her little boy. The child smiled and waved as the firetruck sailed past them. It was at that moment that he knew he could do this. He could lead his men into the unknown just like he'd seen Casey do for as long as he'd known him. He remembered the way Casey dealt with situations as fast as he did, sitting in the truck at that moment Herrmann knew what he had to do. He began running calls through his head, asking himself 'what would Casey do?' and it was at that moment he knew he was ready. He could do this. The whole team knew he could.
Cruz turned the wheel and they glided round the corner and they were faced with something only nightmares were made of. The whole front face of the ED had been blown out, debris were everywhere, upturned cars were on fire and it was only then when he had taken the whole situation he realized - Matt and Gabby were in there. Herrmann cleared his throat and spoke. "It's a day like today where we put all our training into practice."
As Cruz put the truck into 'park' he looked at his boss-for-the-shift and said "Herrmann, I,I, mean Lieutenant - you've got this."
Herrmann gave a nod that told Cruz that he was thankful for the encouragement and also the respect that he was given. He looked round to his fellow firefighters and shoved open the door with his shoulder before he headed out into the chaotic street and made his way towards the chief. "Come on boys, we have a job to do."
The sounds and the feeling was nothing like he'd ever experienced before. He we aware that he was laying down in a busy area but other than that he had nothing. Slowly letting his eyes flicker open Casey began to push himself up. Instantly feeling like he was going to pass out, Matt let himself lay back again. Trying to shake his head clear so he could grasp the concept of what was going on around him. Now out of desperation to loose his feeling of disorientation, Matt began blinking hard and forced himself to stand up. As his vision emerged out of the blurry tones of colour and as soon as his eyes focused, he felt his stomach drop.
All around him he was faced with people, unconscious or awake, with limbs missing; wounds that needed to be treated and medical attention in desperate need. As he got his bearings, Matt became aware that the people around him were not the only ones that needed help. He looked up and saw that the whole front of the building had been ripped off and now people were trapped on the gaping floors of the building. He closed his eyes for a brief second to try and compose his thoughts - his firefighter training instructor's voices bouncing around in his head, distracting him, making it harder to put together a plan of action. As far as he knew it was him, with no equipment, no tools and no help. He was stuck on his own trying to help over five hundred people that were dead or alive. The task ahead made his head spin.
Composing himself he looked around. There was an empty tent that had not been used or set up for anything. Then it clicked. He pulled his hands up to him mouth to amplify the noise and began to shout. "Anyone hurt or injured needs to go to that empty tent for triage. If you can help then help! Get everyone you can off the street and onto the pathway!"
As soon as he'd finished he heard the wail of sirens and at that point he knew he was going to be okay. Looking over his right shoulder he saw his company pull up and his heart skipped a beat. Looking round for more fire personnel that had invaded the area his eyes landed on Boden. Matt began running. His legs and arms pumping as he maneuvered round the injured people to reach someone of familiarity. "Chief!" He called as he reached him.
"Matt, thank god. You-"
"Huge explosion." Matt interrupted breathlessly from the physical exertion, not missing a beat he began to relay his gathered information and let the words fall effortlessly out of his mouth. "I don't know when, how or why it happened but I'm guessing a car bomb." Taking a breath he directed his on-duty boss to see the triage tent. "Triage is over there, I don't know how many people are under the rubble but the sign in desk was inside. I-"
"Where's Dawson?" Chief asked dismissing everything he'd said before.
Matt's whole face changed. Every moment, every calculated decision being rerouted through the decision making part of his brain and then it was at that point he knew what he had done. "Oh god." he said, his eyes lighting up with panic. "She went inside!"
"Dawson's in there?" Severide asked as he came up behind Matt with a spare turnout jacket and he helmet.
"Yeah, I think so. She went in to sign in and I-" he stuttered as he put on the gear he was given.
"We'll get her." Kelly cut in to try and calm his babbling friend. Severide began scanning the debris. Large clumps of concrete and brick were strewn across the road and people had to be trapped underneath. "There looks as if to be a large amount of air pockets in there Chief." Kelly said to hint what he was about to say. "Me and Casey could do down and-"
"I'm going." Matt began as he lurched into action and headed into the crowd of people.
"Casey wait!" Boden boomed making Casey stop instantly and look round to him. Boden could see the desperation to get in there in Casey's eyes. It hurt him a little to see one of his strongest men almost brought to tears because the one person he loved more than anything else in this world was trapped and needed saving. Boden knew the dangers. He also knew that both of his Lieutenants knew the risks, but they were willing to risk their lives to save her. "Go get her." Boden said with a proud smile as he watched Kelly and Matt spring into action again.
Turning to the two firefighters that were now standing by his side he took a breath. "Cruz, Mills what do you think."
"Looks like a car bomb chief." Mills spoke confidently. "Looks exactly like Oklahoma City."
Boden closed his eyes for a brief moment to remember the people who were lost on that horrible day. "That's exactly what I thought. What do we know about these types of calls - when there's one bomb, there is usually another. You took bomb disposal for your squad class right?"
Mills nodded. "Yes sir I did."
"I want you and Cruz to search every car in every single on of the lots. Look for rentals and radio me of you see anything!" He called as the two firefighters sprinted off into the sea of people.
It seemed like ages since they had seen daylight. Matt and Kelly had been crawling through the little tunnels that the fallen debris had caused. Heading in the direction that Matt thought was the main reception of the hospital, he had lead Kelly farther than he knew himself. He was so determined to find Gabby his brain had started thing irrationally. He didn't even want to begin to think of what could have happened to her, and so he decided to block it out of his head all together. Not much had been said between the two lieutenants as they crawled in and out of the small air pockets but Casey knew there would be something from Severide soon.
"Matt, if we keep going down these narrow ones we'll be doing this backwards." Kelly said as he stopped for a breath. Watching as he friend carried on moving he called out to him. "Matt, wait! Take a break! We've been going for nearly an hour!"
"I'm not leaving her!" He called over his shoulder. "It's my fault she's here and I'm not leaving her down here!"
Kelly chased after him and grabbed him by the base of his jacket. He pulled making Matt stop and turn to face him - the look in his eyes was nothing he'd ever seen in Matt before. "None of this is your fault."
"What if I'd just spoken to her a little longer or…or…"
"Matt, we are going to find her. She's down here and we aren't gunna stop till we get her okay?"
All Matt could manage was a nod as he looked back round and continued crawling. He didn't want Kelly to see that he was letting his emotions slip, he didn't need that - they both didn't. A while later Matt was shining his light on a large hole in the debris to take a breather. As Kelly was cracking some joke, he saw something and he'd never been so thankful. "Seve, I've got one!" he called as he started crawling towards the body, he was unaware that Kelly hadn't heard him and was still talking to himself a few feet behind him. Matt carried on and reached the body, his heart pumping so loud he could hear it in his ears. As he fought to get the rubble off the body he suddenly realized that it wasn't Gabby. Disappointment flooded his veins as he called over to Severide, "It's not Gabby!"
"What?"
"It's not Gabby!" He called louder, his voice shaking with desperation and anger, as he turned to look at his friend. "This ones dead."
Pain. That was all she could feel and a lot of it. It was seeping to every cell in her body as she fought to open her eyes. Although nothing was making sense in her head she did know one thing - it was eerily quiet. Blinking hard to try and clear her vision, Gabby brought her hand up to her head in the place it was throbbing and pushed against it. Pulling her hand away she saw that it was covered in a red substance. How could she be bleeding? Things slowly clicked into place. The darkness. The quietness. The loneliness. They all led to one thing - she was trapped. Although she had no idea what had happened she was slowly able to put a theory together. The building couldn't have just collapsed - it must have been a bomb. Panic. Panic started to set in as she thought about her situation. She was the only one could see in the dimness of the area and the first responders were probably busy on the surface. She was trapped and there was no way of getting out.
Gabby thought back to all the movies she'd seen and the calls she'd experienced as well as been told about. Then it hit her. She needed to make a noise. One that could be heard on the surface that could let people know where she was. That was when she desperately started looking round for something she could make a noise with. Although her movement was restricted because of the pain she was in, all of the strength she could muster was put into one small movement and with a desperate grunt she got it. The metal pipe that was sat beside her was the one thing she knew that may be able to save her life. Lifting it over a piece of concrete, Gabby saw something that was going to greatly amplify her noise making. Another metal pipe was stuck out of a chunk of brick and it was only then that she felt a spark of hope. Mustering everything she could, Gabby began to hit the pipe against the other as hard as she could, striking it harder and harder in desperation and fear. Every part of her was hurting but she knew that this was the one thing that could possibly save her. Suddenly a wave of nausea came over her and she felt instantly like she was going to pass out. She tried everything - breathing slowly to try and get as much oxygen into her lungs as humanly possible but it was just no use. With a final clatter of the pipe against the other her eyes fluttered shut and she returned to her unconscious state once more.
Calling out to Matt to stop moving Kelly paused mid motion. "Hey Matt, can you hear that?"
Matt stopped and desperately listened out for the sound that his friend was describing to him. He held his position and rotated the torch around the area in search of the culprit of the noise. "It sounds like…"
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." Kelly grabbed his radio from around his chest and held it up to his mouth. "Hey Herrmann can you hear that?"
Up on the surface Herrmann yelled out for everyone to kill all the tools and to listen out for the unknown sound. The demolition site fell silent as the whole group of firefighter listened. It was eerie. Everyone fixed in a similar position as they concentrated hard on a noise that may lead them to saving another person from the rubble of this horrific accident. There it was again. Tink. Tink. Tink. "Is that you Severide?" Herrmann asked through the radio.
Seconds later Kelly's voice filled the air. "No, no it's not!" His voice seemed joyful and strangely exited. "Casey and I are going to head in further to try and find the source."
"We'll start diggin' up here!" He replied before he dropped the radio and signaled for the rest of the firefighters to carry on with their jobs, now all working harder with the hope of pulling someone out.
Down below Casey and Severide scrambled through the rubble in double time. Working together to move the larger pieces of concrete out of their way to get closer to the sound. As they reached a canyon sized hole in the debris they stopped. Matt froze and Kelly followed his lead, confident that what his best friend was doing was for a valid reason. "What is it?" he whispered from behind Matt.
Casey, still frozen lowered his head to the floor and pressed his ear to the concrete. He stayed there for a minute just waiting. "I can't hear it anymore." he whispered back as he finally looked at Severide. Matt looked up and moved the torch around the massive contained area. Both their eyes scanned for anything that was moving and at the most unlikely time he felt hope. Over in the distance there was a body. Matt couldn't work out if it was male or female, but it was a start. He pulled out his phone and turned on the compass. "You son of a bitch." he smiled as he showed Kelly the screen. The compass showed that they were facing south. Matt did a little calculation that could give him a rough idea of how far they'd come in the time in which they had been moving.
"It's pretty accurate." Severide replied as he replied to the expression on his friends face.
Matt started moving. Crawling faster through the area. Moving like an ant around the towering bricks and structure reinforcement. Kelly had trouble keeping up with him because Matt's desperation to find Gabby was driving him faster and faster. Their heavy breathing was bouncing off the walls but that didn't stop them. As the distance closed up Matt suddenly stopped and looked up. Kelly almost going into the back of him. "What is-"
"Gabby!" Matt called as he surged into action again. He kept calling her name and the emotion that was audible from his desperate calls made a thankful lump grow in Severide's throat. The love that Matt had for Gabby was unmeasurable. He had never seen his best friend so happy since he was with her and the fact that he had been away from her for so long… Kelly knew that Matt was being ripped apart from the inside. But they had found her - that was all that had ever mattered - now she was in their sights nothing was going to stop them.
Casey crawled up to her, his knees raw after scrambling over the rough surfaces but he didn't care that he was in pain, he'd round the girl that he loved and that's all that mattered. As he reached her he realized that she wasn't responding to his calls and now that he was sat in front of her he could see why. There was a gash on the side of her head and blood had been dribbling down. He braced her in his hands and he shook her slightly. He could see that she was breathing so that was a good sign but she still wasn't awake. His heart started beating quicker as he desperately tried to think of ways to get her to wake up. Shaking her a little harder she still didn't spring into life. "Kelly, I need a light." he called as Severide reached his side.
Shining the torch at her Matt opened one of her eyes and watched her pupil retract in the light, he tried the other and took a deep breath. "She's okay, her head injury hasn't made her like this." he looked her over again and saw her hand rested on the concrete separating them from each other. He took her index finger and pressed his thumbnail into the cuticle. Her hand retracted back sharply but again she still didn't move - she was reacting to pain though. Matt racked his brain for anything that would work. Her body was working, she just wasn't waking up. He thought of something then, he reached forward and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her lightly and cupped her cheek in his dusty hand.
Pulling away his eyes studied her. His lips shaping a prayer to wake her up. "Gabby please!" He whispered desperately. "Gabby wake up, come on baby please. Let me see your eyes!" He felt the lump in his throat begin to grow as he looked from Gabby to Severide then back again. Leaning forward one last time he closed his eyes as his lips were just about to touch her's "Please." - that's when it happened. That's when she let out a cough and swallowed to try and get rid of the dryness in her throat.
"Matt?" she whispered, he voice barely audible but he knew what she was saying as her lips brushed against his. "Matt?" she said a little louder as her voice shook. He leaned in and kissed her hard and she reacted to him. She leaned in and kissed him back. Matt pulled away, his blue eyes shining out in the dimness as she gave him a little shy smile. "You came." He nodded, unable to find any words in his mouth - he was in awe of her beauty as well as her smart inquisitive thinking with the pipe to make noise.
"Damn Dawson, you look like hell!" Kelly laughed making both Casey and Dawson look round at him.
She smiled as Matt moved some hair out of her face. "How bad is it?" he asked making her smile again.
"It's okay but I can't be one hundred percent sure I'm not dreaming." she giggled as Matt kissed her again.
With a smile, Kelly raised his radio up to his mouth and laughed. "Kelly here. We have Dawson, she's alive."
On the surface the loudest cheer rang out over the debris. The firefighters all taking a breather as all of their hard work had paid off. Herrmann turned to the guys from 51 that were closest to him and lovingly shoved them as they continued to cheer. "Alright boys!" he called, the biggest smile shining out. "Lets get this lump of concrete off of them!" Another cheer rang out as they all returned back to their work.
Within a few minutes, Otis called out "I see them!" From down below he saw Casey and Severide gathered around Gabby - their clothes dirty but their thankful smiles shining in the darkness. Looking over to Herrmann, who was scooting over to see them he laughed. "Howdy there lieutenant's." they all laughed, both Herrmann and Otis watching as Casey kept looking round at Gabby.
Kelly took the lead in ordering the equipment. "Lets get a latter and a basket down here. I'm getting sick of it!" he called making Casey and Dawson laugh.
As the ladder was lowered down, Casey helped Dawson into the basket and looked at her. The smile she was giving him was a picture like no other. "Lets get you out of here hey?" he asked with a smile.
Gabby looked up at him as he moved some more hair out of her face. She giggled as she took one last look at the area that she had been stuck in for the most part of the day. "I love you." she whispered as she began her accent up the ladder in the basket. Matt and Kelly following her up the ladder as she went.
When they reached the surface they were met by two rows of firefighters that were carrying Gabby down to safety. The cheers and the celebration that filled the air were extremely moving. Around them the death and destruction was still there but it showed that at a point that people think no happiness could be seen, the hard work of the Chicago Fire Department shone through. As Casey and Severide were running down the debris path to catch up with Dawson, who was now standing, their fellow firefighters were greeting them with pats on the back and cheers. However, there was only one thing on Casey's mind.
As she got her bearings she turned around and was instantly surrounded by her boyfriends arms. Matt had pulled her into the biggest, most love filled, hug he could muster. His heart was finally happy as he had her contained in his safety. The firefighters cheered again behind them as he pulled away and pressed his lips to hers - the whole situation expressing Matt's desperation to get her back. All the hard work had paid off and now she was safe.
Coming up behind them, Kelly wrapped his arms around them both and whispered a thankful prayer that they all got out safely. Leaving the couple to be by themselves he headed over to chief to let him know that they were all okay.
Pulling away from her, Matt took both her cheeks in his hands and looked at her. His dirty face making his eyes seem like they were an even lighter blue than usual. He forced himself to peal his eyes from her's for a second as he took the whole scene in. The upturned cars were now not on fire. The people that were in the street now safely inside the hospital. He'd done the job he'd set out to do. He looked back at Gabby, her eyes glittering in question as to what was making him act the way he was. "Matt what's-"
"I'm so thankful you're okay." he released as if to show that he'd been waiting to say that for a long period of time.
The emotion that Gabby could hear in his voice brought a lump to her throat. He was smiling, smiling down at her because he knew that she as finally safe. "I'm glad you're safe too!" she laughed as he pulled her into a hug again.
It was at that point that Matt knew he could relax. Everything, luckily, had gone his way and know he could let his panic go. He'd been lucky, they all had, but now it was a chance for him to be thankful. The day had been dark, bad things had happened but at the end, there was always a light at the end of the tunnel. In the end, all you had to do was believe and you never know what could happen- sometimes a miracle might just appear…