Their miracle, a chicago fire fanfic

Hello everyone! Welcome for my new one shot ^^

When I saw that promo for the Chicago fire finale, my jaw dropped. You all can agree: WHAT THE HECK WILL HAPPEN DURING THIS CALL?!

SO, I asked a friend of mine (dawseyslinstead) if she had an idea about what would happen, and we shared our point of view. In fact, we had a similar idea, and I mixed them to create this OS.

I'm in hope that you will like this story, and excuse my English as usual, I finished the OS in a hurry (as my internet connexion cuts since yesterday all the time, and it will until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow).

See you soon in my regular stories!

All the firefighters were on the edge. When the battalion chief Wallace Boden had ordered the evacuation of the warehouse by the sight of the smoke coming out of it turning black, everyone executed in a marble silence. All of them? Not really. One of the firefighters, and not the least, was missing. As they all moved to the only usable exit, when almost everyone was out, an explosion resounded in the silence of the neighborhood, awakening the first responders. A few firefighters from Truck 81 and Squad 3 came out, shocked by the echo of the explosion and immediately taken in charge by Gabby and Brett to access the extent of the damage generated. Fortunately, it was only superficial, and it was only a slight transient deafness. But chief Boden was worried; he had seen everyone getting out of the warehouse, but not the Truck lieutenant, except Matt Casey. Looking around him to be sure everyone was out of the building, this was not a mistake. Casey was still inside. Immediately, he grabbed the radio on his shoulder, turning it on.

"Casey, I said everybody out", he said, keeping his composure.

The only answer he got was a long crackle. As all the radios were connected, he knew that each firefighter and paramedics on scene had heard what he had said on the radio.

"Casey?" he tried again, feeling all the worried look on him.

Instinctively, they gathered near their chief, as a support, but they had something else in mind. They were terribly worried as well, and wished to be close enough to the exit to help Casey if he could get out or go back inside to help him, but also far enough to not undergo a potential second explosion. A slight relief seized the group when the open radio of their chief stopped crackling; someone was trying to contact him. Maybe Casey?

"Chief! I'm stuck!"

Boden understood immediately that something was wrong. His voice was alert indeed, but clear enough to be distinguished. It meant that he didn't have his mask, either because he no longer had oxygen in his bottle, or because his mask broke for any reason. Moreover, the chief could hear the distress in the voice of his lieutenant, which worried him even more; Matt Casey was panicking, this wasn't a good thing. But Boden had made it clear; nobody could enter the building after the first explosion.

"Casey, tell me you found an exit."

Several seconds passed in an electric and tensed atmosphere, the time for Casey to respond in his radio.

"I am sorry chief… I… I can't get out."

This voice… Boden decided to look down and sigh, closing his eyes. This voice from Casey, changing from the panicking voice he had earlier, it was as if he had understood that there was no way to get out of here uninjured, or alive as if he had given up. It wasn't Casey to give up like this; it was even the first time in twenty years on the CFD. Boden understood as well; Casey had understood that there was no escape and that his chief wasn't going to let some firefighters go in for him, not until the fire was out. There was no way to get out alive unless to be lucky. And according to the icy atmosphere, everyone understood the situation. Now, as a leader, he had to be there for his man throughout the process, he had to show him that everyone was there until the end, that he had his family.

"Everything is fine, Casey", he explained with his calmest voice. "We're here, everything is gonna be alright."

"Gabby? Gabby… I love you so much, you know! I… I'm sorry, really… I'm really sorry… I… Thank you for all these years… Thank you… I love you."

Everyone turned toward Gabby, as everyone had forgotten about her with this awkward situation. She remained frozen, her radio on her hand as if she wanted to speak, but no sound, no word came out. Big tears were rolling down her cheeks, and by the sight of her red and swollen eyes, it has been awhile she cried. Closing her eyes, her head dropped slowly and she cried even more. She had understood as well. This message from Matt for her on the radio, it was his goodbye, a farewell massage. She never had the chance to tell him how much she loved him, and that she was there, as well as the other members of their family. She was in shock. And at the same time, while everyone wasn't expecting it, another explosion resounded, and the communication broke off, the only sound coming on the radio was the hard, deep and lifeless crackle.

Noise. A sharp and shrill noise storming his ears. And finally, the pain. First in his right arm, spreading from his fingertips to his shoulder, this pain radiated rapidly throughout his entire body. He wanted to scream, but he held it back, at least to understand what had just happened. His eyes were already burning as they were still closed, his lungs were crying in agony, even though he hadn't yet taken the slightest breath. Should he open his eyes immediately or wait? Did he have to breathe while he felt the heat around him? Unable to hold his breath any longer, he took a deep breath and coughed.

At least, for now, he had an unscathed mask. He almost choked on taking little shallow breaths, at least the time to regain his senses. He then decided to open his eyes slowly, quickly becoming accustomed to having a blurred vision. Suddenly everything struck him; The warehouse, the fire, Chief Boden ordering his men to evacuate, how he tried to find his way, the explosion. Everything. He stood up abruptly, fighting his dizziness and his still blurred vision, stifling a cry of agony. His radio screamed, shouting from time to time interspersed words.

"Casey… Ever… Out."

That was all he heard at the moment, and to understand and be understood he had to move quickly. He looked around, still trying to find a way to get out of his nightmare. And suddenly, a shrill scream in the darkness, in the flames. His bottle of oxygen had just stopped working. He took a last deep breath, and then removed his mask and the bottle on his back. It would no longer be of any use to him now, just a weight to support and using his strength. His right arm again sent him strong pain signals, sometimes unbearable, and he had to bite his lips and hold his breath so as not to misuse the little oxygen that remained in his lungs and in the opaque smoke. He then dragged himself to what seemed to look like a window as the radio creaked again.

"Ca…"

He recognized this voice among all those they knew; his chief, his mentor, someone he saw more like a paternal figure than his own father. He seemed calm and serene, but Casey knew him too well to know that his apparent coldness hid a man with a fragile, emotional and devoted heart for his men. Boden was worried. He turned on his radio, first trying to use his right hand, but the pain paralyzed him. He used his left hand, wriggling to get there.

"Chief! I'm stuck!"

Even if he didn't want to alarm everyone, he panicked. He had never really been in a place like this before, or maybe a few years ago when he had his famous head injury. But he didn't remember it at all. He sometimes had flashes, but everything was so incoherent and... Bizarre. It was as if he were becoming claustrophobic in this heap of debris and flames. For a fireman, it was almost a climax.

"Casey, tell me you found an exit."

He looked around again, but he found nothing at all. He sighed very slightly, lowering his eyes to the floor. A place surrounded by flames, having already exploded a first time and which could still explode, it was certain that Boden would not send anyone to this prison of flames. A very small space, filled with black smoke, ready to collapse with no visible output, this could only indicate one thing, and Casey understood it very quickly. The end. He shook his head lightly as he grabbed his radio, getting closer to what he saw as a window, even if it wasn't.

"I am sorry chief… I… I can't get out."

Matt came, by this sentence and the tone used, to declare his abandonment in this fight. His job was going to be the winner, and he was about to die as two of his fellows; Andy and Hallie. If Shay could be counted, it made three people who meant a lot to him, and who had died in the flames. There was no way out, no escape from those growing flames and this black invading smoke. It was all over.

"Everything is fine, Casey", he could hear on his radio.

His chief had understood; he had to abandon him, for the survival of the other men under his responsibility. Casey didn't want the other to risk their lives to come and save him, which a priori wasn't supposed to happen. If he had to get out in a body bag, so it would be better to get out at the end of this disaster rather than now, while he felt the walls cracking, the heat of the flames nearby and when he had the impression that the building would explode again. But more than anything, in this moment, more important that the end of his life, he had only one thought. Gabby.

"We're here, everything is gonna be alright."

"Gabby? Gabby… I love you so much, you know!" he admitted with a tear in the ye and a nervous smile. "I… I'm sorry, really… I'm really sorry… I… Thank you for all these years… Thank you… I love you."

A few seconds later, a bigger explosion than the first resounded, blowing everything in its path. Casey was even swept away by the violent winds the shock wave provoked. His body was propelled into the air, as if it were almost nothing at all, as if gravity were no longer master on Earth at that precise moment. What he remembered last was to meet a pile of debris and violently hit his head on one of the biggest blocks. And then it was total black. As if nothing was alive, as if there were no more sound, no more image, just the nothingness encircling him.

All the firefighters and paramedics, even the cops on scene had the same reflex when the building exploded once again: a few step back, close the eyes, turn the head and protect it as best as possible with one of the arms, even both. Was it useful? It was easier to repair a damaged arm than a head, a face or a brain. So yes, it was. But the strength of the explosion was such that the firemen, who were physically strong too, were swept away and thrown to the like pieces of wood recently blown like candles. Once the shock passed, they all straightened, shaken by what they had just experienced. The radio was still screaming, as chief Boden was in too much shock to deign to reach it. Cruz was one of the first to react to what he had just seen and heard.

"No, no! NO!"

As an instinct, the battalion chief acted in turn, to prevent him from stepping forward. Joe Cruz was one of the first candidates Matt had to train. He soon quickly became the driver, as Marotti, the previous driver, retired. The new driver and his lieutenant were close, even if this friendship wasn't as clear as the bromance between Severide and Casey or the romance between the latter and Dawson. He even supported him when he heard about his certification to join the team of his best friend, while with Mills, the firehouse had quickly turned into a war zone, a no man's land hard to support. This bond was so strong that Cruz wanted to do everything he could to save him, even sacrifice his life if it meant to bring back Casey alive. It was worth it according to Cruz.

"Cruz, I forbid it. Don't go back inside", he ordered firmly.

"We're talking about Casey for crying out loud!"

While Boden was struggling to control Joe Cruz, the rest of Squad 3 was still in shock, especially those who had known Matt since the beginning. They were looking at each other, they were talking with one glance. Jason Kannell and Kelly Severide didn't know each other for a long time, but they shared the same fraternal friendship and this blind trust with Casey. They had the same mindset, the same desire: change their SCBA discreetly and go back inside the warehouse to try to save Casey, thus in Boden's back. They didn't care about the blame it would imply, but they had to do it. Tony and Capp said nothing, they nodded, simply. They understood what they intended to do, but they would say nothing, quite the contrary: they were going to help them. They approached each other, while Kannell and Severide stepped back to their truck to change their bottles without being noticed. And once they did, they took their former place, waiting to find the best opportunity to go back inside, because Cruz and Boden were still fighting, under the shocked eyes of the firefighters and paramedics. After a few seconds, they had the perfect opportunity to run toward the entrance of the building. And they did it fast: with a step back for almost thirty seconds, they ran as fast as possible, taking great care to stay out of reach of their chief while Cruz, who had seen the scene when the chief had his back turned, grabbed his gear to allow his lieutenant and the new squad member to penetrate the building. The battalion chief couldn't help but smile, realizing what just happened: Severide and Kannell had taken advantage to the confusion of his struggle with Cruz to go back inside, in hope of saving Casey. But deep down, he was furious. He was because two of his men disobeyed his orders, and the other firefighters he had in charge had helped them, directly or not. They weren't firefighters, but some stubborn guys. In fact, the truck's goat had rubbed off on them. Otis once got offended because of the emblem of his truck, but it meant everything: a goat is never scared, not even of fire, and they are determined to obtain what they want. The behaviour real firefighters had to adopt. He was angry with his men, but he couldn't blame them, because firefighters never gave up another one behind them, not when there was still a chance to rescue him, which was still probably the case for one of his lieutenant. Now, he shouldn't fight his men, but hope that everyone would come back in one piece, with Casey alive. He looked at Cruz, the one who had been looking at him for several minutes, waiting for orders, but no sound could come out of his mouth. Hardly, he nodded, meaning that Joe Cruz could run to Severide and Kannell. He thanked his chief, going to his truck to change his bottle to have a higher autonomy in the warehouse and the fire. Boden turned toward the rest of his crew, observing each of them to see who to send to join his two stubborn men with Cruz.

"Mouch, change your SCBA. You go with Cruz. You'll have three minutes, no mire. After these three minutes, I want you out. Understood?" he announced, with authority.

The battalion chief wasn't joking, he didn't want this fire to trigger a suicide operation to bring back a body bag, or even more.

"Engine! Place a defensive shield. As soon as everyone is out, we must asphyxiate these flames."

"Got it, chief."

Once their bottle changed and on his back, Cruz and Mouch dashed into the warehouse to help Severide and Kannell. Fortunately, they still had in mind the plans of the building, and the corridors hadn't yet completely collapsed, which allowed them to use the wall to move without almost any visibility because of the air filled with thick dust. They turned to their right once, finding their way back to the lieutenant and Jason.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Severide screamed, seeing the two men joining his group of rebels.

"Boden authorized us to help you save Casey! We have three minutes!"

"Screw your three minutes! I won't get out of here without Casey!"

Was it real, or was it his last moments? His vision was only blurry, orange and gray. Or black. Or red. Or yellow. Everything changed all the time, it disoriented him too much. Something was running down his temple, his dusty and bruised face. Was it sweat? Tears ? Blood ? A mixture? Or did he smell the flames sticking and melting on his skin? Was he still alive, or was he already dead? Everything was so weird and so... Worrying. He felt all that was around him; the blocks of concrete beneath him, the ones that were embracing the features of his face, the one dangerously entering his back, his spine, his foot stuck under one of the rocks, as well as his right arm. But he felt no pain. There was nothing, as if the nothingness had taken everywhere and every object. He knew in what a delicate position he was, he knew that the pain had to be terrible to bear, but nothing. His ears were buzzing, crying endlessly, his mouth was ajar, allowing dust to enter his mouse and throat, settling on his tongue. He wanted to close his lips, but nothing responded. In addition to not feeling any pain, he was completely paralyzed. But he didn't panic. Maybe it was normal? Perhaps it was because his body was blocked on and under the concrete? Maybe it was because... Because he was already dead? Dead? How do you know if someone was dead or not? It didn't look like death as he expected, but was that it? Perhaps he had to force himself to breathe to know whether all this was true, or the pure product of his imagination? This could allow his body and mind to understand that he was still alive, or not. With a gigantic effort, he managed to move a few fingers and take a short breath. It was probably one of his worst ideas: the air was loaded with debris, dust, smoke, CO2, and little oxygen. Breathing was like inviting his body to choke freely, slowly. It was not what he hoped for, not at all. He would have liked to grow old by the side of the woman he loved, to have children with her, to die with her. But life had been so harsh and cruel with him that nothing he foresaw was working. He had hoped that his parents could reconcile and instead, he had lost them the same day, one of them shot in the head and the other went to prison. He had hoped to get married and have children with Hallie, but she didn't want to and was killed before the center in which she found herself was set on fire. He thought he was able to overcome all the obstacles blocking the road, but nothing worked. He had shouted loud and clear that he would never be engaged in politics because of all the combinations and tricks he had witnessed, but instead, he found himself candidate as an alderman for his ward, in order to fight the policy he knew too well. So why, when he was about to die, he had to trust his plans when they never worked as he intended? How ironic! The person who most hated seeing people die in fire would die as they did. He then thought of all those people he had lost, to all those he hadn't been able to save. Andy Darden, his friend since the Academy who had accompanied him to the firehouse 51 after his training as a candidate, joining Kelly Severide when he was promoted as the squad lieutenant. He had fallen in love with Hallie Thomas after a call while she was treating one of the patients he had brought in the ER with the paramedics. This little boy who dreamed of becoming a firefighter after an outing with his school at the firehouse, after the moment when he had lost Darden in a fire. Imogene, the girl who played with another girl of her age at the annual marathon of first responders and whose death had been unexpected. Leslie Shay, the best friend of his future wife, whose best friend Kelly Severide was in love with, but who respected the fact that she was gay. This woman, whose name he no longer remembered, but whose hands he had held for a few seconds before his death, promising to come and save her as soon as possible, but it was already too late. There were so many people he couldn't save, but he was proud to be a firefighter serving the citizens of Chicago. He had lost people, yes. But what he had to remember first was the immeasurable number of people he had saved during his nearly twenty years in the fire corps. As he felt his strength leave him faster and faster, at the end of this corridor with bright and warm colors, a light came to embrace him. A warm and lively light that would no doubt accompany him along the long road that awaited him to Heaven. A fine, graceful breeze settled on his face, allowing him to breathe properly for the first time since too long minutes. It was the end, what he was waiting for. His last thought before fading for good was for his love, for Gabby. For the woman he was going to leave behind with regret, the one he loved unconditionally.

"Casey! Can you hear me?! Casey!"

It was undoubtedly the only audible noise other than the din which the warehouse made and the collapses the explosions had created. The four firefighters had difficulty finding their way, counting on Mouch's memories to find out where he had seen his lieutenant the last time.

"Casey!"

The tension went up a notch when they stopped moving as a result of an order from Severide, who de facto directed the rescue operation. He had heard a noise and wanted to hear anything else to know whether it was his imagination that was playing a bad trick on him or if he had indeed heard something. Tilting his ear and concentrating on his hearing, several seconds passed in a silence only interrupted by local collapses. Kelly had not dreamed; there was noise in the distance, he was sure of it. He closed his eyes, thinking only of this noise to know what it was. Was it another collapse that would block the road in the near future? Was it something in preparation for a new explosion? Was it Casey who was trying to give them his position? He opened his eyes again, starting again to clear the concrete on his way to make a passage with the help of his three friends. The three minutes had passed for a long time now, but the firemen didn't care. They had disobeyed the direct orders of their chief, hierarchically more graded than they were. If they had been military, it would have been the martial course for sure. Risking a suspension or even a firing was worth the price to save Casey for each of them. Kannell didn't want to lose another brother and childhood friend during a call, Kelly didn't want to think about losing someone he considered a brother, not after Andy, not after Shay, not after Anna. Cruz didn't want that one whom he regarded as his mentor, the one who had learned almost everything from the job, to die like this. As for Mouch, he had seen Casey grow up in the firehouse, from his beginnings as a candidate to today as his lieutenant when he himself was close to retirement. All were determined to bring Casey safe and sound, if that was still possible. But they didn't think about it; for them, Matt was still alive, there was no doubt. Several seconds elapsed during which the four firefighters struggled to advance towards the sound that Kelly had heard. They moved forward several ft before the lieutenant stopped his race once again. The noise had intensified, they had approached it. This time, they could distinguish what it was, but also where it was. It was the pass-alarm placed on the jacket of Matt, which screamed to indicate the exact position of the unconscious or motionless man. It only started after about twenty seconds of immobilization, or voluntarily if the person was blocked, which could happen, but rarely.

"Casey!"

Severide couldn't help but shout his name as he continued to clear the way with his colleagues. They took several minutes before the leader could pass over the blocks of concrete and continue his route, ordering the other firemen to continue creating a path to leave the building before a possible umpteenth explosion that would scratch the warehouse for good. Through his mask, Kelly could see a dim light, red and blinking; the visual alarm device attached to the left shoulder of any firefighter.

"Casey!"

The lieutenant rushed toward the red light, staring at it as he advanced faster and faster.

"Casey!"

His first reflex was to cut off this continuous howl to ease his ears. Then, he knelt in the debris and analyzed the situation more closely. His best friend no longer wore his mask, his mouth was slightly open, his eyes were fixed and his eyelids open. This was the biggest shock for him at the time. He forgot one of the first rules of the firefighter, which said to never remove your own mask, but Kelly didn't think straight anymore; Matt was laying in the midst of the debris in such a frightful immobility that he thought he was already dead. In any case, his half-closed eyes let it appear. So, he removed his mask, taking a last breath before placing it on Matt's face and loosening the nut underneath to bring a continuous air loaded with oxygen for Matt. He removed his left glove and put his fingers on his carotid, waiting to find the beating of his heart. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt a slight flutter as he watched the blood flow out of the big cut at his head. At the same time, Kelly grabbed his radio to tell chief Boden that they had found Casey, but he was in bad shape. His right arm seemed stuck under the rubble, just like his right leg.

"Guys, I need help!"

At the same moment, he saw that he had no reply from the battalion chief; the message had probably not reached him? The smoke was perhaps too thick, too full of dust and debris? The three other firemen stopped clearing and joined Kelly to free Casey.

"His leg and his right arm are stuck!"

Together, they lifted the stone to release it on the side, and did the same for his right leg, not without difficulty; the rocks were relatively heavy and to move them required a great strength. Lieutenant Severide placed his mask again on his face for a few moments to catch a few breath, then managed to pass the strap behind Matt's head to secure it and allow him to have the exclusivity of the oxygen while the firefighters tackled to carry him. Seeing the compound fracture on his arm, Kelly ordered a splint to be made with the halligans and the straps they had in their pockets, in order to keep the fracture as stable as possible the time of the journey to get out. Cruz and Jason moved to Casey's left to take an arm and a leg respectively, while Mouch was taking care of his left leg, which was possibly fractured as well, and Kelly was busy with his upper body. Once in place, they gently lifted the unconscious fireman and carried him through the narrow passage they had managed to create. Turning to the left this time, they saw the exit as the building showed signs of imminent collapse.

"Hurry up!"

The four firefighters accelerated their pace, almost running with Casey in their arms to escape what was going to happen in the incoming seconds. Once out, the expected moment arrived: a last explosion resounded, and the building collapsed little by little as the firemen, instead of throwing themselves to the ground, began to protect the inanimate body of the lieutenant, the breath of the explosion passing them over and traveling to the other firefighters. After the explosion, the battalion chief ordered the engine guys to finally fight the fire as all the firefighters rushed over the group that had just gone out. Dawson then let out a slight sigh of relief, though she didn't know whether her husband had survived or not; at least they were all out now. After several seconds thanking God, she and Brett headed for the firefighter group concentrating around the heroes of the day. An image captured Gabby's attention: all firefighters on the spot almost put themselves on Casey to help transport him to the stretcher. Kelly had removed the mask he had affixed to his best friend's face, letting Brett take over with an oxygen mask.

"Compound fracture of his right arm, possible fracture of the right leg and deep laceration of the temple."

As Kelly described what he knew about Casey's wounds, Sylvie passed her stethoscope under his jacket to find out how he was breathing and whether his heart was still beating.

"Weak pulse, agonic breathing."

"W-we need to intubate", Gabby announced as she remained stoic in front of her husband's still open eyes.

She then placed a splint to protect his fractured arm better than the improvised splint of the firefighters as Brett made a great effort to pass a long tube in the mouth and then into the throat of Matt. Gabby didn't even dare to look at him as it hurt her too much to see her love seriously wounded. Once properly secured, Gabby passed a c-collar to block the movements of Matt's neck during the ride while Kelly had taken Brett's place so that she would reach a possible cranial and cerebral trauma. Firefighters accompanied the stretcher to the ambulance with the two paramedics, feeling all concerned by the situation. Kelly then turned to his chief, even if with his approval or not, he would go up to the back of the ambulance 61 to accompany Matt to the hospital. Boden nodded slightly as he saw his lieutenant, and the latter jumped off Gabby, Sylvie taking the wheel as at every call. Although the situation was urgent, Brett had to do her best not to drive too fast to reach Chicago MED. The ride didn't last long, but Kelly quickly noticed something no one had seen so far...

"Dawson?"

She turned, crossing Severide's gaze. The latter had his attention on Matt and seemed both focused and frightened.

"I think he's regaining consciousness!"

Gabby then rushed to the side of her friend, watching, in turn, the face of her husband. The latter had his eyes open and riveted on two of the people who mattered the most for him.

"Matt, can you hear me?"

But of course, he couldn't answer verbally. His only ways to express his feelings were his eyes and his left hand, which he both used. As he approached his hand from the one Gabby had laid on his, he shed a big tear. He was in pain and he let it know. The paramedic squeezed Matt's hand harder to make him understand that she was there.

"I am here, babe. I'm right here."

The force put in that grip loosened as the lieutenant lost consciousness again...

Orange, yellow, red, gray and black lights had changed into a blinding white light coming from all sides. He was breathing better, or at least it was the impression he had. Something was moving in his vision, there were sounds that flooded his eardrums and made him deaf. Above all, he was in pain. Yet, in his last memories, he had felt no pain. Why had the pain come back? Why did all these new sounds assault him? Why didn't he feel... More dead? He was alive? After all that he had gone through? Impossible according to him. But two presences near him succeeded in proving the contrary, two familiar and agitated presences. He felt something in what appeared to be his left hand, but nothing was less certain now. Despite the pain, he strove to signal his presence by giving the rest of his strength in a slight clenching of his hand. The suffering caused by this simple gesture quickly turned into tears on his face, as, little by little, this painless and colorless world called him more and more. He closed his eyes, letting himself be lulled by the dull music of nothingness…

As the ambulance parked outside the main entrance to the ER, Sylvie stepped out of the vehicle and rushed to the back doors to help Gabby and Severide pull out the stretcher. Then, they went to the doors and were joined by two doctors and a nurse.

"Thirty-eight-year-old man, extracted from the rubble of a warehouse. Pulse at 124, BP at 107 over 65. Compound fracture of his right arm, deep laceration in the face, possible fracture of the right leg", Brett announced while Gabby, the doctors, and the nurse were directing the stretcher to room 2, the one commonly called Bagdad. "Pupils are responsive, intubated on scene without anesthesia. Two liters of saline on the way and two milligrams of morphine, he briefly regained consciousness on the way. Head trauma known three years ago: epidural hematoma and fracture skull."

"On my count! One two Three! All right, I want a full blood test, a chest, legs and arms x-rays for now! We'll do a CT when we have dealt with the most serious injuries."

A nurse gently accompanied the paramedics out of the treatment room, joining Kelly in the waiting room. In shock, he collapsed to the ground, only supported by his knees, and then helped by the two women to sit on a seat. His heart was pounding in his chest. He was frightened, afraid of losing his best friend, his brother, after all he had gone through to save him. Hot hands came to reassure him, Gabby sitting next to him, followed by Sylvie. Everyone prayed that the worst wouldn't happen. Soon, the group was joined by the other firefighters of the firehouse 51. As the room was already crowded, ER doctors allowed their friends to join a much more comfortable waiting room while the diagnosis was being made. According to April, one of the nurses on shift, Matt hadn't yet been stabilized, but everything was going well so far. It was only a matter of time before a doctor would come to see them and explain what was happening. Welded together, the firemen waited patiently for the diagnosis, turning incessantly and biting their nails. Ten minutes passed in a tangible and unimaginable tension before a doctor came to the room bring the news. Kelly then immediately rushed to him before he could take another step in the room, quickly joined by the other firefighters.

"Doc, how's Matt?"

"Oah, oah... Take it easy! You let me in to talk to you?"

Reluctantly, the firefighters shifted to let Dr. Choi pass, then they gathered around him, with Gabby and Kelly in the foreground.

"So?"

"Well, he's very lucky I have to say. He has a compound fracture of his radius and ulna, and he will need surgery as soon as possible to reduce it. He also has sub-dislocation of the knee, fractured ribs, deep laceration in the face that requires sutures and a moderate head trauma. There are also a few bumps and bruises here and there, but nothing else significant. As I said earlier, he'll have surgery for his arm. He was very lucky, it was a miracle that he only got away with these injuries."

A miracle. Luck. The doctor had chosen his words because they had been lucky: within a few seconds, five firefighters could have been found dead in the rubble because of the last explosion that devastated the warehouse.

"Thank you, doctor."

Ethan Choi left the room and the firemen, and about two hours passed before he came back to announce that Casey had left the ER and was starting to wake up. The whole group was immediately relieved to hear this good news, Kelly and Gabby sharing a hug and embracing each other in a friendly way. Matt's wife followed the doctor to join him in the ICU, the physicians wishing to keep an eye on Matt's injuries and a possible infection because of the compound fracture and the circumstances of it.

It was an hour or so since Gabby was with Matt, waiting for him to wake up fully instead of being comatose, instead of opening his eyes every five minutes and closing them almost immediately. The nurse explained that this was due to the cocktail of painkillers and antibiotics that created this almost catatonic state, and that didn't worry Gabby, quite the opposite. When her husband was ready, he would open his eyes. This tube down his throat, which made her so uncomfortable, had been replaced by a nasal cannula, his deep laceration at his right temple had been sterilized, washed, sutured, and bandaged with care, his right forearm was placed in a plaster starting from his fingers and going up to the middle of his arm to immobilize his wrist and elbow and his right leg was slightly elevated by pillows to allow the edema created by the dislocation of the joint to come down. The surgeon explained to Gabby that he was going to be bedridden for almost a week before beginning rehabilitation for his knee, and he had to wait at least six weeks before thinking about releasing his right arm off the cast. And before he thought of going back to light duty, Matt had to wait at least three months, if not longer depending on the evolution of his healing. A grunt made Gabby come out of her negative thoughts, thinking about how to announce this to her husband, and then concentrated on the latter. He began to open his eyes again, but they remained more open than usual.

"Hey you", Gabby tried to see Matt's reaction.

His feeble gaze fell upon her. She smiled.

"m'live?"

She could not help but smile more in anticipation of what he had just said. She took his free hand and squeezed it.

"You are alive, indeed."

Matt tried to get up abruptly, not fully aware that he was seriously wounded, but was stopped by the suffering these gestures had engendered. He groaned in pain, his heartbeat increasing and resuming an almost normal rhythm as he resigned himself to stay in this warm and welcoming bed.

"Bad?"

"It could have been much worse. If Kelly, Kannell, Cruz and Mouch had not disobeyed Boden's orders."

"Bad boys..."

While laughing, Gabby couldn't help but shed a tear and kiss her husband. Her hot lips meeting his icy ones, he felt her crying against him.

"Don't ever, never do that again, never. You got it?"

"Will try," he assured. "Love you…"

On these last words, Matt went back to sleep, no longer fighting for his survival. He was alive, he had been saved, he didn't know how yet, but he had been brought back to his family, and especially the woman he loved. That was enough.

Surrounded by his men, Chief Boden had once again had a big scare, probably one of the most intense of his life. He sighed, watching each of the firefighters, so happy with this little miracle.

"Thank you", he surprised everyone, who turned to him.

No one really understood why he thanked them when almost all disobeyed his orders.

"Thank you for not believing in me on this call. Thank you for saving Casey from a certain death. Thank you for allowing this miracle to happen."

Visibly moved, the chief couldn't refrain from smiling while holding back a tear in the corner of his right eye. Kelly smiled at him and came to hug him, before being joined by the firefighters of the firehouse 51 and by Sylvie. A welded group, an unusual family. Burnt-headed ones who didn't hesitate to go beyond the orders of a direct superior to do what they thought was right, even if most of the time, they followed the orders of their chief. This time, it was different: Boden had been on the verge of sacrificing Casey for the survival of his team, which she had absolutely not accepted, and everyone had rebelled. It was also their strength. Brotherhood. It was because of this that they could do miracles. It was thanks to this united family that they had been able to save their lieutenant. He had become a miracle. THEIR miracle.

What did you think about this story? Please, leave me some review now ^^ It always pleases me to see how you perceived my stories :D