"Grace Everly, I swear that if you walk out that door it will be the end of us."
I looked down at my hand, resting on the doorknob. The diamond ring on my left hand shimmered as the sunlight from a nearby open window hit it. I released the doorknob and turned around slowly. Andrew stood there, his hazel eyes ablaze with anger and frustration.
"Oh, Andrew. I love how you think that threatening me would make me stay. You made your bed when you cheated on me with your ex. Now go lay in it."
I pulled the ring off my finger and shoved it into my pocket before turning and walking out the door.
"Everly!"
A loud voice in my ear forced me out of my thoughts, bringing me back to reality.
"What do you want, Dawson?" I asked, pushing my partner/PIC away from me.
"There she is!" Hermann said, laughing.
I stuck my tongue out at him before turning to Gabby and punching her in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" she asked, sitting next to me at the table.
"Don't yell in my ear like that!" I said, laughing.
"I only yelled because you weren't responding," she defended, holding her hands up in surrender.
"Sorry. I was just thinking," I explained.
"Were you thinking about Andrew again?" she asked quietly, sympathy flashing in her brown eyes.
I sighed and nodded. It had been three months since I had left Andrew alone in our apartment. I had finally decided it was time to stop hiding and had left my ring at home before coming to shift this morning. I had been living with Gabby and Matt, but nobody else knew what had happened, so I was dreading the questions that were sure to arise when people realized there was no diamond on my finger.
"Grace, it's okay to be sad," Gabby said, squeezing my hand gently.
"I'm not sad. I'm just disappointed."
Dawson rolled her eyes but didn't push further. I pushed away from the table and headed towards the bunkroom in search of my phone. I dumped the contents of my bag onto my bunk, riffling through the contents to no avail.
"Looking for this?" I heard a familiar voice ask.
I turned and saw Severide standing there, holding my phone. I took it and shoved it into my pocket.
"Where was it?" I asked.
"I found it on the apparatus floor. I meant to give it to you at roll call, but I completely forgot," he said, watching with amusement as I shoved all of my things back into my black leather duffle.
"It must have fallen out of my pocket. Thank you," I said, shooting him a smile.
"No problem. Are you okay though? You looked pretty distracted earlier."
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just been a crazy few days," I explained.
A look of skepticism played across Severide's face as he opened his mouth to say something. He was interrupted by the sound of the alarm bells.
Truck 81. Squad 3. Ambulance 61. Person trapped.
"We're not done with this conversation," Severide said as we headed towards the door.
I rolled my eyes and followed him out towards the apparatus floor. Dawson was already in the ambulance when I got there.
"Let's go, girl!" she said, starting the engine.
I slid into the passenger side and shut the door, buckling my seatbelt as Gabby pulled out into the street, sirens blaring.
"You're awfully quiet," I said, looking over at my best friend.
"I was just thinking about some stuff that Matt said over the weekend," Gabby said, still focused on the road.
"What did he say?"
"He feels guilty. He was the one who introduced you to Andrew and he hates seeing you hurting. Matt sees you as a sister," she explained.
"He shouldn't feel guilty at all. I've played matchmaker for multiple people who have broken up before. It's not his fault at all. Should I talk to him about it?" I asked.
"If he doesn't listen to me then I might bring in reinforcements," Gabby joked, pulling up to the scene.
We hopped out of the ambo and took in the scene in front of us. A young woman was sobbing hysterically in front of Chief Boden, pointing towards a nearby building. We looked up and saw a man dangling from one of the windows on the top story. The only thing that was keeping him from falling was the hood of his jacket snagged on the windowsill.
Severide and Casey started shouting orders to the rest of the guys while Dawson and I pulled the gurney, backboard, and jump bags out of the ambo. Boden headed over to us with the young woman.
"Dawson, Everly. This is Hannah," Boden said, handing off the still crying woman to us.
"Hi, Hannah. I'm Gabby and this is Grace. What happened?"
"Ryan was trying to fix the window and he said he got really dizzy all of the sudden. The next thing I knew, he was unconscious and he started to fall out the window. I tried to stop him but I wasn't fast enough. Luckily, his jacket got caught and stopped him from falling," she explained, wiping tears from her eyes as Gabby turned her so that she couldn't see what Squad and Truck were doing.
"We need a medic!" Capp yelled as Squad managed to free the man.
Dawson handed the woman back over to Boden and we raced over to the man.
"His jacket was cutting off his air supply. He's barely breathing," Severide said, his eyes full of concern.
Dawson grabbed her stethoscope and listened to his lungs while I opened the jump bag and got an IV into his arm.
"Severide, put pressure on that laceration on his forehead. Everly, push Etomidate and Sux. We need to intubate." Gabby instructed.
I grabbed the requested medications and tossed Severide a wad of gauze. While he applied pressure to the cut, I pushed the medicines through the IV.
"Meds are in. He's ready for intubation," I said, handing the kit to Gabby.
"Check for lung sounds," she said a few moments later.
I pressed my stethoscope against his chest, listening carefully.
"You're in."
"Okay. Let's get him in the ambo. Hannah, you can ride up front with me," Gabby said.
Severide and Casey helped me load Ryan and the supplies into the ambo while Dawson directed Hannah to the front seat. When everyone was ready, Gabby turned on the sirens and headed towards Chicago Med.
I kept squeezing the bag, delivering much-needed air into Ryan's lungs. We made it to the hospital in less than 10 minutes. The doors opened and Maggie was at the doors, waiting for us.
"23-year-old male. Arrived on-scene to him hanging out a window by the hood of his jacket. The jacket was cutting off his air supply. Intubated on scene and stats remained in normal range throughout the rest of the call," I said as we wheeled Ryan into the ER.
"Okay. You're heading to Trauma 2," Maggie directed.
Once Ryan and Hannah were settled, I restocked the ambulance while Gabby finished up the paperwork. After everything was settled in the ambo, I headed back inside to find my partner. I found her at the Nurse's Station, talking to April and Maggie.
"Hey, Grace!" April said with a smile.
"I was just about to ask about you," Maggie said.
"Oh yeah? What did you want to know?" I asked.
"I noticed that you weren't wearing your ring when you brought in your patient. I was going to ask, but now that I think about it, it's probably just so you don't have to worry about losing it on a call. So never mind," Maggie said, laughing.
I didn't say anything. I just smiled and laughed, quietly grateful that I didn't have to tell anyone the truth just yet. Gabby and I said goodbye and headed back to the ambulance. Once we were moving, I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes.
"You okay?" Gabby asked, glancing over at me as we waited at a stoplight.
I nodded, not opening my eyes.
"I just don't know what I'm going to tell people. Andrew is still a good person deep down. He just made a mistake," I said, leaning my head against the window.
"Grace, he cheated on you. He is not a good person. Good people don't cheat on their fiancées."
"I know, I know," I said with a sigh.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're going to have to tell everyone soon. They all think that they're attending a wedding in two weeks," Dawson said, pulling the rig into the garage and killing the engine.
"Hey, girls. How's Ryan doing?" Severide asked as we made our way past the Squad table.
"He was stable when we left. He should make a relatively full recovery as long as there isn't any brain damage. Hopefully we got there in time," I said, with a small smile.
As I was talking, a strand of hair escaped my ponytail and I reached up to brush it out of my face. I saw a look of confusion on Severide's face when he noticed my bare ring finger and I quickly shoved my hand into my pocket and headed inside. I made a beeline for the bunkroom, but I wasn't fast enough.
"Everly!" Severide called out.
I stopped and took a deep, calming breath before turning around. Severide was standing there, concern in his blue eyes. He gestured for me to follow him and I reluctantly walked towards his quarters. He shut the door behind us before sitting in his desk chair.
"You aren't wearing your ring," he said, looking me in the eye.
"I just took it off for the shift," I said, not looking at him.
"Everly, we've been best friends for six years. I know when you're lying."
I sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, looking down at the floor.
"He cheated on me, Kelly. He cheated on me with that blonde bitch that he dated before we met. He slept with her so many times and I was just too blind to see it. And then I caught them together when I left shift early because I was sick. We were supposed to get married. He was supposed to love me."
As I talked, tears began to roll down my cheeks. I had been holding everything inside because I didn't want to subject Dawson and Casey to my misery, but for some reason I just couldn't hold it all in any longer.
"I'm so sorry," Severide said quietly.
I wiped away my tears and pulled myself together, taking a long breath.
"It's okay. It's fine. I'd rather it happened now then after we got married," I said, standing up.
"Don't do that, Grace," Severide said.
"Do what?"
"Shut down. You were with Andrew for five years. Don't act like this isn't hurting you."
"Kelly, I can't let this affect me. I have more important things to do than sit around and cry. I have to make phone calls to cancel things and try to get deposits back. And I have to see if I can return my dress. I've got too many things to do."
"Let me help you."
I shook my head and turned to leave.
"I have to go tell everyone so they know they don't have to go to the wedding," I said.
Severide followed me out to the kitchen, but the alarm bells went off before I could say a word.
Ambulance 61. Child in distress.
"Ready?" I asked, looking over at Dawson.
"Kids are always the worst," she groaned, standing.
"Be safe," Casey said, kissing his wife while Severide gave me a quick hug.
We arrived on scene to find a four-year-old passed out on the floor with his mother sitting next to him, trying to wake him.
"What's your name? What happened?" I asked, kneeling on the opposite the mother and opening the jump bag.
"My name is Ella. I was making lunch and Max was playing around the house. All of the sudden he came into the kitchen and asked for a glass of water before collapsing," the mother said, clearly panicked.
"Does your son have a history of any medical conditions?" Dawson asked, grabbing a glucose meter while I took the boy's pulse.
"No, but he hasn't gone to the doctor since he was two. He's been terrified of doctors since his dad died," she explained.
"His blood sugar is at a 32. We need to give him a glucose injection and get him to the hospital," Dawson said, looking at the blood sugar meter.
I grabbed the syringe from the jump bag and injected it into Max's arm. I put a bandage over the injection site and Dawson collected our supplies while I picked Max up and carried him out to the ambulance.
"Can I drive?" I asked.
Dawson looked at me with concern for a second before nodding and jumping in the back with Ella and Max. I drove quickly and carefully, sirens blaring. April greeted us at the doors and helped us get Max settled.
As Dawson and I turned to leave, Ella grabbed my arm.
"Thank you for saving my son," she said, tears in her eyes.
"Anytime," I said, giving her an encouraging smile.
When we got back to the rig, Dawson looked over at me from the driver's seat with a confused expression.
"You hate driving," she said, turning out of the hospital lot.
"I was on the call when his father died. It was when I picked up that extra shift a few weeks after you and Matt got married. That kid is a spitting image of his father and there was a picture of them all in his wallet," I explained.
"What happened to the dad?"
"He got hit by a drunk driver when he pulled over to help a single mom whose car broke down. By the time we got to him, he had already gone into shock. He had four broken ribs, a broken femur, internal bleeding, and dozens of lacerations. We did everything we could, but it wasn't enough. He died right in front of me."
"Wow. That's crazy. Why didn't you tell me about it?" Gabby asked.
"You had your own thing going on with Louie and everything that entailed. I didn't want to drag you into more despair. You were also newly married and in that little happy bubble of you and Casey. I couldn't pop that," I said.
"Grace, don't be ridiculous. I am always here for you. You know that," Gabby said, stopping at a light and turning to look at me.
"I know, Dawson. I'm always here for you too," I reminded her with a smile.
When we got back to Firehouse 51, I took a deep breath and hopped out of the ambo. I looked around and noticed that Squad 3 was missing.
"Did Squad get called out?" I asked.
"No, they didn't. Severide wanted to gas up and take a quick ride," Casey said, kissing his wife on the forehead.
"Damn it," I muttered, walking towards the refrigerator.
"What's wrong?" Otis asked, sitting on the counter next to me.
"Nothing. I'm just tired," I said, grabbing a bottle of water and a cup of applesauce from the fridge.
I sat at the table and had just stuck my spoon into the container of applesauce when the alarm bells went off.
Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61. Structure fire.
I sighed and tossed my spoon into the sink before grabbing a plastic one and hauling ass to the ambo, applesauce in hand.
"Seriously?" Gabby asked, laughing.
"What? I like applesauce," I said, shoveling a spoonful into my mouth as we pulled onto the street.
"Everly, you single-handedly keep the applesauce companies in business," she said.
I didn't respond. I just stared at her as I ate another spoonful. We turned onto the street of the fire and got out. Truck and Squad ran into the burning building while Dawson and I grabbed the gurney and our jump bags. Hermann came out of the building a minute later, his arm around a man who seemed to be arguing with the firefighter.
"I don't want treatment," the man yelled at Hermann as they walked over to us.
"Sorry, Kenny. My job is to take you out of the burning building and over to the medics. They choose what they want to do with you," Hermann said, clearly not sorry.
"Just let us check your vitals and put a quick bandage on that cut on your leg, Kenny," Dawson said calmly.
"Fine. But I ain't paying you," the man said, sitting on the gurney.
Hermann just laughed and headed back towards the burning building. Dawson started checking the man's vitals while I grabbed a handful of gauze and a bandage. We finished with Kenny pretty quickly and sent him on his way with strict instructions to watch for infection. He took one look at Dawson's serious expression and nodded quickly when asked if he was going to change the dressing like instructed.
"Sweet guy," I said with a laugh.
Dawson just made a face at me while we loaded the gurney back into the ambulance. We climbed into the back and started to put things back while the boys finished up fighting the fire. When the fire was out, Severide and Casey walked over to us.
"Where's the man Hermann pulled out?" Casey asked, smiling at Dawson.
"We patched him up and sent him on his way. He refused further treatment," she replied, pointing to the signed refusal form on the gurney.
"Well, he didn't seem too bad so I think he'll be fine," Severide said with a laugh.
I nodded in agreement and climbed back into the ambo to continue putting things away. Dawson joined me a few seconds later and Casey and Severide started back towards their men. I was about to radio Chief Boden and let him know we were going to head back to 51 when a semi came out of nowhere, slamming into Ambulance 61.