Title: Chicago Fire; Looking Out For You; Chapter one Matt's Bad Day.
Summary: Matt Casey has a bad day. He is missing the late Hallie Thomas it almost has been a year since her death. Matt meets a couple who later he sees at a fire and one of them dies. He feels bad about it. He should have done more and it brings back memories of when he lost Hallie. Also other stuff happening.
Disclaimers: The show is property of Dick Wolfe, and NBC. I don't own anything. Just borrowing the characters to practice my writing. Only thing I own is Season 1 DVDs and they are getting well worn. LOL
A/N: This idea came to me and I just wanted to see where it would go. One Chapter is Matt's Bad Day and I was thinking of doing Kelly's bad day. How each are their for the other through their bad day. Should I keep going? Also this AU. Please tell me what you think of the story. Thank you. Also mistakes are mine. I don't have PTSD just looked it up so if it isn't right just let me know. Thanks. Also the Herrmann children I know three of the five names. Lee Henry, Luke, and Kenny James. If you know let me know. WARNING; This does touch on suicide. If it is a trigger please don't read. I mostly write about the person dealing with it., and the friends and family helping.
Matt Casey, rolls over and slams his hand down on the alarm clock going off. He slowly sits up and yawns. His shift starts in two hours. His gaze wanders to the calendar hanging on his wall. He is trying not to think about the one year anniversary fast approaching in a few months of, Hallie Thomas's death. He is dealing with it but some days were better than others. It has been going quite well. He has things in prospective but some days he misses her a lot.
He gets up out of his nice warm bed and heads to the shower to get ready for his twenty-four hour shift at firehouse fifty-one as truck lieutenant. He gathers his clothes together and heads to the bathroom. He undresses and steps into the nice warm shower as the water cascades down around him. Waking him up. He lathers up and rinses off. He washes his hair and washes the shampoo out.
He turns the water off and steps out of the shower to dry off and dresses in his uniform. He takes time to shave and to brush his teeth. He cleans his bathroom a little since he won't be there for awhile. Matt makes his bed and packs his bag for his shift at the fire station. He likes things neat and clean. He also likes to be in control of certain things in his life. Ever since his childhood was beyond control.
Matt looks at the clock and it is still early but he leaves because he wants to stop at the cemetery to visit Hallie's grave. There is a chill in the air, as it rains. Matt is glad for his firefighters jacket he has on. He locks the door to his house and heads toward his truck as the rain slowly but surely falls.
He opens the truck door and places his bag in the passenger side seat and gets in and shuts the door. He buckles up and starts the truck and pulls out when he sees it is clear.
Moments later he in pulls into the cemetery that Hallie is buried at. Matt parks his truck and gets out. Memories swirl in his mind of Hallie. While she was alive she was beautiful. Average height for a woman but she was and exotic looking. Shoulder length dark hair and light mocha colored skin. Hallie was a life saving doctor but when she came back from her trip she worked for a medical clinic for low income people. Matt and she were starting to get close again but Hallie was murdered and left in a fire to hide evidence.
Today was one of those melancholy days. His heart hurts. Matt doesn't notice the tears running down his face, mixing with the rain coming down. He stays a few moments more but the rain isn't letting up so he gets back into his truck and starts it and drives to a near by coffee shop.
Matt parks his truck and heads into the coffee shop. He orders a coffee after waiting in line for a few moments. As he gets to the counter the young man behind the counter smiles at him and says, "What would you like today Sir? Don't worry about paying for it. The young lady over there paid for it. As a thank you for your service."
Matt turns to the young lady at the table and smiles his thank you. "Coffee please." Matt answers. Teddy who is behind the counter smiles and hands him a large coffee. He heads over to the young lady.
The young woman smiles at Matt whom is heading her way as she sits with her fiancé. "Good morning Sir. I saw you wearing a firefighters jacket and I just wanted to do something nice for you. I also wanted to cheer you up a bit. You seem so sad." the young woman stands up and gives Matt a hug. "Thank you. My name is Matt Casey. I work at firehouse fifty-one." Matt smiles and steps away as the young woman sits back down.
"My name is Jennifer Richardson. You can call me Jenny. This is my fiancé William Quinn." Jennifer smiles at Matt inviting him to sit down. "Thank you so much. It's my job to do what I do." Matt says sitting down at their table.
William smiles at Matt. "No trouble at all. Just thank you for all you do." William says. "When are you getting married?" Matt asked the young couple. "Next year in May." Jennifer smiles. "Yeah we've moved into a new house and now we're working to fix it up." William says. "If you need a contractor I do that as a side job. Just let me know." Matt hands William his card. "Thank you we may call you about that." William says. "You're so sweet to offer. Thank you." Jennifer says.
"I know how it is starting out. I just want to make it easier for you both." Matt says looking at his watch and noticing the time. "Thank you so much." Both Jennifer and William say. "I better get going. I'll see you around. Take care both of you." Matt says standing up and getting ready to leave. Both Jennifer and William stand up also getting ready to leave. William shakes Matt's hand and Jennifer gives Matt a kiss on his cheek. Matt blushes a little.
All three head outside into the pouring rain. Matt puts his coffee in his cup holder and gets in. He sees the young couple pull out and leave the parking lot. Matt starts his truck and heads out onto the road when it is clear to go.
Matt Casey heads onto a highway going slowly since it is raining. A gasoline tanker passes him going extremely fast. He just keeps his eyes on the tanker, staying back just a little in case he had to stop suddenly. Matt has a gut feeling that something is going to happen, praying nothing did.
The older man driving the tanker truck is going to fast for the weather conditions. The rain is coming down faster than before. His tanker truck Jack-knives and he loses control of his truck. He hits one car that is beside him and the young lady goes out of control and her SUV flips twice before coming to rest at the side of the road and the tanker truck slides into her SUV again as it comes to rest near her car.
Matt Casey saw the accident happen and he pulls over as soon as he could and as far away as he could. . Matt gets his cell phone and calls Nine-One-One. "Nine-One-One What is your emergency?" A woman's voice asks Matt. "This is Matt Casey. I'm Truck Lieutenant at station Fifty-One. I saw a gasoline tanker Jack-knife in front of me on the highway. Going to fast for conditions. He ran into another car and it flipped twice and the tanker slid into the car and came to rest near to the car. I don't smell gasoline yet but I don't know if it will leak or not. I'm not even on shift yet. I was heading to the station house when the accident happened in front of me. I'm going to need help." Matt Casey says, jumping out of his truck and going to check things out.
"I'm sending units your way. Be careful." the dispatcher says. Matt places his cell phone on the dash, shuts the truck door, and runs over to the cab of the truck and climbs up after his feet slide a bit from the rain making it slippery. Finally he makes it up and checks on the guy in the cab of the truck.
The older man seems to be unconscious and is hanging from his seatbelt. Matt knocks on the window and the guy stirs. "What?" The man mutters waking up just a little. "SIR ARE YOU OKAY?" Matt yells through the window.
The man test's out his arms and legs. He seems fine. Both men start to notice the odor of gasoline. Both determine that it is time to get out of the area before anything explodes. Matt tries the driver's door but it seems jammed. "WATCH YOUR EYES SIR!" Matt yells punching the glass out of the cab of the tracker trailer. The man shields his eyes and turns his head away, as glittering glass rains down around him.
Matt, grabs the Man's left hand as he unbuckles his seatbelt so Matt could pull him out. The man is helped through the window and Matt helps him down carefully. Sirens can be heard in the distance as they race to the scene of the accident. "WAIT OVER THERE!" Matt yells pointing over to his own truck. The man does as he is told and waits.
Matt runs over to the flipped over SUV and checks on the young woman who is trapped. Matt lays down on the ground. The young lady is hanging by her seat belt upside down and the driver's door is jammed. Matt knocks on the window to get the young ladies attention.
"PLEASE HELP ME! " the woman yells seeing Matt at her window. The gas is spreading closer to the SUV. Matt stands up and goes to the passenger side door. He yanks on the door but it is locked. He runs over to his truck and goes to get his crowbar.
"MISS TURN YOUR HEAD, I'M GOING TO BREAK THE GLASS!" Matt yells through the window. She nods her head and turns as Matt shatters the glass in the passenger door. He wipes the extra glass out of the way so he can crawl into the car.
"My name's Matt. I'm a firefighter but I was just heading to work when the accident happened. What is your name?" He asks the young lady hanging upside down. "My name is Hannah. Please get my nephew out of the backseat. He is One year old. His name is Jefferson" Hanna told Matt.
The sky is getting darker as the rain gets heavier and thunder booms overhead and lightning flashes moments later. The sirens get louder as the fire trucks get closer and stop, along with the police cars. The Officers directing the traffic to one lane.
CF~~~~~~CF
Kelly Severide, hops out of the squad three truck when it has stopped. He sees Matt Casey in the SUV at the side of the road. He smells the gasoline in the air along with the rain. Before anybody could move closer to the scene lightning strikes the ground close to the tanker truck and the gasoline ignites into raging flames.
"CASEY! GET OUT OF THERE!" Kelly screams to his friend, his brother. Matt stands up just in time as the fire spreads toward the car, Jefferson in his arms as he turns to run and get the child to safety.
Screams can be heard coming from the car, as flames set the car on fire. Matt hands the child to Leslie Shay a paramedic and fellow colleague at station Fifty-One. Before anyone can stop him Matt runs back to save Hannah.
The car explodes into a large fireball, Knocking, Matt Casey back and onto the hard unforgiving ground. Everyone waits. A fire truck called to the scene that shoots chemical foam pulls up just in the nick of time. The firefighters on that truck jump out and start to spray the flames that are dancing in the rain.
Matt slowly sits up. He just has scrapes and bruises. He hangs his head, as he notices that the screams from the car have stopped. He looks up as he feels a hand on his shoulder. Kelly kneels down beside Matt. No words need to be said. The stricken look on Matt's face is enough to tell Kelly how Matt is.
The man that was in the tanker truck is checked out and taken to the hospital. Jefferson is also taken. Matt stands up and stumbles, feeling dizzy since the adrenaline rush is fading and he didn't get to have breakfast. Kelly grabs a hold of Matt to keep him study so he wouldn't fall. The scene is slowly but surely cleaned up. Hannah's remains taken by the coroner.
The fire trucks are packed up and everyone gets in. Kelly goes over to Chief Boden. "Yes Kelly?" the Chief asks of his Squad Lieutenant. "I'm going to drive Matt's truck back for him. I don't think he is in any shape to drive." Kelly looks at the Chief who is looking over at Matt. Chief Boden nods his head.
Kelly drops his gear off at his Squad Three truck and goes over to where Matt's truck is parked. He gets into the driver's side. Kelly tries not to notice Matt holding onto the side of his truck dry heaving since he threw up what little was in his stomach which was the early morning coffee.
Matt slowly stands up and rests his head in his folded arms. Giving his stomach time to settle down with the nausea he was feeling. He takes slow deep breaths. Finally he is ready and he gets into his truck. He is cold and shivering with the rain coming down. Matt lays his head back on the seat. Wishing he could go back home and hide from the world because it was one of those days. All bad. He is sure of it with the things that already happened before he even got to work.
Kelly buckles up as does Matt and he starts the truck. He glances at Matt who stays quiet. Matt closes his eyes, feinting sleep because he doesn't want to talk about anything. Kelly lets Matt go knowing he is pretending to be asleep.
Kelly puts the truck into gear and goes when it is clear and heads to the fire station. He turns on the radio to drown out the silence of the truck. The song; I'll Stand By You comes on. Matt gets his cell phone out and looks at it. He needs to get in touch with Hannah's family. He has a message he needs to share. He blinks back tears to keep them from falling and just looks out the truck window.
"If you need to talk I'm here." Kelly replies quickly looking at Matt. "Thanks. I'm fine." Matt says not admitting that he is having a bad day. A really bad day. Kelly parks Matt's truck where his friend usually does and gets out along with Matt. Matt grabs his bag and heads inside. He is soaking wet from the rain. He showers and changes into some dry clothes.
He heads to his locker and puts his bag inside. He than goes to his office and fills out his paperwork. He even fills out the paperwork on the latest accident even if he wasn't officially on duty when it happened. Matt pauses as he looks at his picture of Hallie that he pulls from his drawer. He places it on his desk. Kelly is in the hallway near Matt's office as he sees what his friend is doing.
He is missing Hallie today. Kelly can understand why Matt is feeling the way he is. The last shift they had was a tough one to handle. When a husband and father Mr. Brooker gathered his family into a pile in the bedroom and laid on top of them to save them but in doing so giving his life for his family. Mrs. Brooker the wife left behind filed a wrongful death suit against the CFD but she later dropped it. Poor Matt had to give testimony in what happened in that fire. Kelly who was seated next to his friend and brother, had to finish what had happened because Matt got choked up with emotion. It was tough one for all of them. One that would haunt their memories for awhile. Some more than others.
Kelly watched Matt for awhile but went on ahead. He'd keep his eyes on Matt and be there when he was needed. Matt knew where to find him. He'd stay close by for when that time came.
Matt dials a number to Hannah's family. The answering machine comes on and says "No one is home please leave a message." Matt takes a deep breath and leaves a message. "Hi this is Lieutenant Matthew Casey at Firehouse Fifty-One I need to get in touch with you about Hannah. She gave me a message to pass on. You can either call me or stop by the Firehouse. I'm so sorry for your loss." Matt hangs up after he leaves a message.
Matt stands up and heads to the gym. He puts on the boxing gloves and starts punching the bag hanging in front of him waiting for him to expel some of his pent up emotion. Air whooshes from his lungs as he hits the bag repeatedly.
For half and hour he is doing well but he tires out and he stops. Chief Boden goes up to Matt and waits until Matt notices him. "Oh hey Chief." Matt says. "There is someone here to see you." Chief Boden looks at Matt with concern.
Matt heads out to the hanger where the person is. "Hi. I'm Timothy MacDonald. Hannah's father." Mr. MacDonald said. Matt gets his phone out to play the message that she left on his phone. He hands it to her father and he watches the last message he will ever get from his daughter.
The message ends and he hands the phone back to Matt. "Thank you so much for all you could do. Thank you for saving my Grandson." Mr. MacDonald told Matt. Mr. MacDonald is clearly upset. Tears unshed shining in his eyes. Matt puts his arm around the grieving father. "I tried to save Hanna but lightning struck the ground with the gasoline on it and it went up. I couldn't get to her in time. I'm so sorry for your loss of your daughter." Matt says pulling back.
"I understand. She didn't suffer did she?" Mr. MacDonald looked at Matt. Matt shook his head no. "No Sir she did not." Matt told the father. He knew the truth but why share something so devastating when in reality Mr. MacDonald didn't really want to know.
"Thank you again for all you did and for what everyone did out there. I know you all tried your best to save her but I guess it must have been her time." Mr. MacDonald says, as he starts to sob. Matt pulls the father into and embrace as he sobs against him. Everyone gathers around Matt and the father.
Mr. MacDonald wipes his eyes after he gains control of his emotions. Chief Boden goes up to Mr. MacDonald and shakes his hand, telling him "I'm so sorry for your loss." "Thank you everyone for your help." Mr. MacDonald turns to go. Everyone stares after Mr. MacDonald then they all get back to what they were doing.
Matt sees Kelly at the squad table playing cards with the guys. He heads over and takes a seat. He is very quiet and pensive. "You want to play?" Kelly looks over at Matt. "Sure." Matt says hoping for a little distraction away from his depressing thoughts. The guys get in two games which Matt actually won. "Lady luck is with you Man." Kelly tells Matt. "For a change today." Matt looks at his friend with a sad expression.
The alarm tone sounds as a woman's voice is heard saying: Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61...Engine 51...Shed fire in the back yard of a residents' home…Everyone heads to their receptive trucks and gets their gear on and heads out in matter of minutes. Sirens are blaring as they head to the fire.
When they get to the scene the fire is out of control and the owner is standing back, having given up in trying to put the fire out. "Is there anybody in there?" Matt asks the man who has soot on his face from trying to fight it himself in the beginning. "No." the man says. "How did it start?" Matt asks the man. "The lawn mower caught on fire and before I knew it, it was out of control." the owner says.
The firemen on the Engine put water on the fire getting it under control. Matt steps closer to the fire and he hears something. "Chief I hear something." Matt tells Boden. "Are you sure there is no one in there?" Chief Boden gruffly speaks to the man. "I don't know. I don't think so." the owner says. "Casey, Severide gear up and check." Chief Boden tells his best two firefighters.
The two firefighters step into the fire and the unknown. Matt hears something again. He follows the sound and goes toward it. Kelly checks the other side of the shed. Matt comes to and over turned Wheelbarrow and finds a surprise.
A three year old child a girl is laying beside the Wheelbarrow not moving, and he sees a mother cat and her three kitten under the wheelbarrow. "SEVERIDE I FOUND A LITTLE GIRL! I'M TAKING HER OUT!" Matt shouts over the radio.
Matt takes his mask off and puts it on the little girl so she can get fresh oxygen. First he places the kittens and mother cat in his turnout coat and re-closes it. He than picks up the little girl in his arms, holding her close as he heads outside. Gabby Dawson and Leslie Shay are eagerly awaiting for the little girl to check her out.
Chief Boden is watching for Matt Casey and Kelly Severide to come out. Both men finally do come out. Matt goes over to the gurney and lays the little three year old girl down as he takes his air mask off of her. He glances at the Chief who gives him a disapproving look for removing his air mask but understanding why he did it.
Leslie Shay put oxygen on the little girl and Gabby is checking her over. She has a heartbeat. "Emmy!" the owner and apparent Grandfather shouts going over to the little girl. The little girl's eyes flutter as if they are going to open. Everyone is watching and praying. Big green eyes stare up at everyone.
"Thank you God!" the Grandfather shouts out hugging his little Grandbaby. Leslie and Gabby load her into the ambulance to take her to Lakeshore Hospital to be checked out. The Grandfather gets on with them. Leslie gets out to go drive the ambulance to the hospital. Everyone watches as the ambulance speeds away.
Kelly looks over at Matt who is standing at Truck Eighty-One, wondering what he is doing and heads over to him. "What's up?" Kelly watches as Matt opens his turnout coat and pulls out the mother cat and her three kittens, and places them in the front seat of the truck, all meowing. "The little girl was beside the wheelbarrow and the cats were underneath so I'm assuming the little girl was petting the kittens when the fire broke out and her Grandfather didn't know she was there." Matt says petting the kittens which seemed fine.
Kelly shakes his head and laughs and gets back to work cleaning up as does Matt. The crew cleans up and heads back to the fire station. The trucks are parked in the hanger. Everyone takes off their turnout gear and hangs it back up neatly on the trucks ready for the next call.
Matt gathers up the little kittens and the mother cat follows him as he heads outside to give them all a bath. The kittens don't like it much as he washes them and dries them off. Matt washes up the mother cat who calmly sits as he finishes up the job. Matt puts the things away that he gathered together for the baths and put it all away.
Matt finds a box and puts some old blankets in it and takes it outside and places the kittens in the box. He then puts the box in the common room in and out of the way place and the mother cat is sniffing around checking things out. Pouch comes over checking the kittens out. The mother cat bristles as she stands ready to defend her little family. Pouch lays down beside the box which holds the kittens. The mother cat finally goes over to Pouch to check her out. Nothing happens as the mother cat settles down in the box along with her kittens and closes her eyes to sleep.
"Casey my office now." Chief Boden tells his truck lieutenant. Matt leaves out a sigh and follows knowing what this is about. "Close the door and have a seat." Chief Boden tells Matt. He closes the door and sits down.
"Next time on a call leave your mask on. If you have share, do it but take your mask back and leave it on. Do you hear me? I'm saying this once, Casey. Your move was a rookie move and you're a Lieutenant of Truck act like it. Show your men the right way." Chief Boden looks at Matt in his eyes. "Yes sir. I hear you." Matt stands up and leaves the office slamming the door.
Kelly Severide looks up from what he is doing when he sees Matt angrily walk past heading to the gym in the firehouse. Kelly follows kind of knowing what has Matt upset. He steps into the gym and watches as Matt goes over to the punching bag and picks up the gloves and pulls them on.
"Hey Matt you okay?" Kelly looks at concern at his brother, who has a look of sadness on his face and fatigue. Matt looks over at Kelly with a look of despair. "Yeah, I'm fine." Matt answers not ready to share his feelings yet. "Okay. You know where to find me if you need anything." Kelly gives Matt a pointed look. Matt nods his head as Kelly takes his leave.
Matt looks at the awaiting punching bag, just hanging there. He throws a punch and it feels good. He lets out all of his frustration. He goes strong for half and hour and then stops and takes his gloves off.
Matt heads to his office. He is caught up on his paperwork. He stands up and goes out to his men. "Hey my men meet me out front. Now." Matt tells everyone leaving no room for argument.
The men groan long and loud. "We're doing drills. We need to be ready and we need to stay in shape." Matt says. For the next hour the men do the drills. Finally Matt nods his head for the drills to be finished. "What is his problem?" Mouch says looking at Herrmann. Herrmann just shrugs his shoulders and heads inside.
Candidate Rebecca Jones made the meal. It wasn't to bad. She made hamburgers, French fries, and apple crisp for everyone. It wasn't to hard to mess up. "Thanks Jonesy. You did good." Herrmann takes another bite of his hamburger. "Thank you. That means a lot." Candidate Jones smiles at the compliment.
Matt Casey just pushes his food around on his plate not really hungry. This shift isn't going fast enough. I just want it to be over with. Matt is thinking as he stands up and put his plate by the sink.
Kelly Severide watches as his friend leaves the kitchen and heads back to the office. Kelly sees grief on his friend's face. He stays where he is at. Matt knows where to come. He looks down when he feels something at his leg. It is the mother cat rubbing against him.
Kelly pets the mother cat as she settles on his lap, purring and content. Pouch is having fun with all the kittens crawling all over her. The small kittens settle and lay with her for a little warmth. One little kitten is brave and wanders away from the safety of momma, its siblings, and Pouch. Following one certain man who left the kitchen.
Matt gets to his office. His work is done. He lays down on his bed and toes his shoes off, hoping to catch some sleep before the next call. His eyes close as sleep claims him. He begins to toss and turn. The covers getting tangled around him as images assault his mind taunting him. Nightmares haunting him about Hallie's death and how he couldn't save her.
Matt is crying out in his sleep, the nightmare not letting go of him. The little kitten sits beside the bed wanting to get up onto the bed. It is still to small to leap onto things that are to high. The little kitten lets out a few small meows.
Matt sits bolt upright in his bed as the nightmare finally lets go. He covers his face with his hands trying to wake up. He looks on the floor as he hears the small meows coming from that direction. He sees a kitten and picks it up.
The little thing settles down beside him, meowing at him. He smiles down at the kitten petting it. The nightmare is forgotten as Matt swings his legs to the floor and puts his shoes on. He gets up to make his bed and picks up the kitten and places the kitten in his left arm as he walks out to the common room.
Matt sits down on the couch and turns on the T.V. in the late hour that everyone is asleep between calls. He grabs the throw blanket hanging off of the couch and covers himself with it after placing his feet up on the coffee table and placing the kitten on his chest petting it as it settles down content. Matt changes the channel and comes up on the rerun of the T.V. show House. He leaves it for a second as he see the character of Dr. Robert Chase on the screen. Matt shakes his head in amazement at how similar he and that actor Jesse Spencer look. I guess everyone has a look alike somewhere. He changes the channel again and sees the movie Backdraft playing and leaves it on.
Kelly Severide opens his eyes at hearing someone up and he can guess who. He sits up and gets his shoes on and goes to check who is up. He sees Matt watching a movie petting one of the kittens. "Hey. Couldn't sleep?" Kelly sits down on the other end of the couch as Matt looks over at him.
"No. I had a nightmare and I couldn't go back to sleep. If I woke you I'm sorry." Matt says turning to look at his friend. "No you didn't wake me. It's all good." Kelly says. "I just wish this shift would end soon." Matt says and doesn't elaborate on why. "I guess everyone feels that way at one time or another." Kelly says to his friend.
The tones sound. Truck 81...Engine 61...Squad 3...Fully involved house fire on…Kelly and Matt rush out to get their gear on as everyone else does. Within minutes everyone is ready and in the trucks as they all rush to the fire.
As they pull up onto the scene the house is fully involved. "It looks bad." Herrmann says seeing the fire. All the firefighters jump out and get busy listening to order being shouted out. "My fiancée is still inside. I tried to go back in but it got to bad. I had to grab my niece from her bedroom. We were babysitting." William Quinn tells the firefighter as they head in.
"What part of the house was she in?" Matt questions the young man he saw this morning. "She was getting my nephew. That is the last I saw of her." William says. Dawson and Shay checked William out along with his niece.
The two lieutenants head inside to do a search of Jennifer Richardson and the nephew. Joe Cruz and Candidate Jones do the venting on the roof. Engine gets the hoses ready. "I'LL LOOK UPSTARS!" Matt yells to Severide. "OKAY I'LL SEARCH DOWN HERE!" Kelly yells back. Matt takes the stairway upstairs. He calls out, "FIRE DEPARTMENT! CALL OUT!" He checks the big bedroom and finds it empty. Matt than heads to the small bedroom. Shouting as he goes.
Matt gets low sweeping his arm back and forth. He finds Jennifer on the floor at the window. Her body covering that of her would be nephew when she would get married to William. "Chief, Severide. I found them. I'm on the second floor in the small bedroom." Matt Casey says into his radio. Matt rolls Jennifer off of her nephew. He is moving but unconscious.
Chief Boden orders the ladder on truck to be extended to the bedroom window since the fire is getting worse. Kelly Severide goes up the ladder having searched and cleared the rest of the house downstairs. Matt opens the window as the ladder is right outside. He sees Kelly coming.
Matt hands the young boy to Kelly. Matt climbs out the window and carries Jennifer down with him. All make it to the bottom and Matt lays Jennifer down on the gurney ready and waiting.
"Please save her. We're getting married next year in May." William say watching as Shay and Dawson try to save her. Both paramedics try to do their best but it is to late. "NO!" William shouts as he goes up to Jennifer and keeps doing the CPR. Everyone watches helplessly as he tries to save his fiancée. For the longest time he keeps it up but Leslie Shay and Gabriela Dawson put their hands over his to make him stop. William stops and steps back, total grief consumes him as he lets out a wailing sob. "NO! NO! IT CAN BE!" William is sobbing as he falls to his knees. Matt stands by the ambulance as memories come to the surface. Matt remembers that he tried to save Hallie in the ambulance by giving her CPR but sadly it was to late to save her. Kelly puts his hand on his shoulder to remind him that he isn't alone in the memories. He just can't believe that sweet young lady with hopes and dreams is gone. The one that was kind and bought him that coffee before he started shift.
Matt goes up to William to a least try to comfort him but he himself knows how hard the journey is. No matter how many people want to be there for you, always in the end you have to go the dark path alone but at least the few people that are there make the pain easier to bear.
William's nephew is loaded onto a second ambulance on scene, along with his sister to be taken to Lakeshore Hospital. William stands up. He is grief stricken. The love of his life is gone. His high school sweetheart, his once in a lifetime love which he was so lucky to find is no longer with him in his life.
William turns toward Matt, he is feeling so much grief at losing the love of his life and doesn't want to feel it. Instead he goes with anger for the moment but blames the wrong person. "WHY COULDN'T YOU SAVE HER? IT IS YOUR FAULT SHE IS DEAD!" William shouts at Matt Casey.
Matt just looks at the young man as he is blamed for the death of the young woman. William gets onto the ambulance with his niece and nephew to head to the hospital. Kelly goes up to Matt and pats him on the shoulder.
Matt looks at Kelly despair and grief. His eyes shining with unshed tears in his eyes. The firefighters get back to work fighting the fire. Everyone cleans up the scene and heads back to the firehouse.
Everyone hangs up their gear so it is ready for the next call. Matt is very quiet and says nothing. Everyone on his team is keeping their eyes on him. They are concerned for him. They know this fire will bring back memories for Matt. Everyone heads to the common room. Matt goes over to the kittens and picks the one that followed him to his office up.
He sits on the one end of the couch that Mouch isn't sitting in. Matt pets the kitten absent-mindedly as his thoughts wander. Jeff Clarke looks at Kelly with his concern for Matt. "Who did he lose?' Jeff asks Kelly in a quiet voice. "In a few months it'll be a year since he lost, Hallie his on again off again, girlfriend and fiancée. They were just starting to get to know one another again when she was killed and left in a fire at the clinic she worked at. He is having a bad day. He is missing her." Kelly tells Jeff who understands loss.
Jeff goes over to sit by Matt. No words are said. Just a friend being their for another. Pouch sits by Matt's feet. Whining at the sadness she feels coming from him. The kitten meows as it climbs up Matt's shirt with its tiny sharp claws and settles down onto Matt's shoulder. Matt takes the kitten and puts the tiny thing with its mother and heads out to the hanger.
Matt watches as the sun comes up over the city of Chicago. A promise of a new day. Some people are touched by tragedy and change while others are still blessed with what they still know and love.
In the kitchen Candidate Jones is making breakfast for everyone. Scrambled eggs,