Stay Calm

A Car Ride

Casey was in his quarters slouched on his chair as he went over some paperwork. There was a quick knock on the closed door; it opened before he could turn around so he assumed it was Severide, no one else would just waltz into his quarters. He was correct. "Hey, you good?" Severide asked as he popped his head through the doorframe.

"Fine," Casey replied shortly, "Do you want something or are you just enquiring about my wellbeing?" He wasn't in the mood for Severide's questioning especially if it was related to Dawson, he just wanted to forget about the matter.

"I meant to ask you something yesterday," Severide began as he entered, "But I didn't see you."

"I've been busy." He'd been out all day finishing off a small construction job and he'd returned to an empty apartment.

"Yeah, so, I wasn't sure if you'd be able to help but…" Severide began.

"But?" he questioned, already sensing where the conversation was leading.

"I'm going down to my dad's cabin tomorrow, the roof needs a lot of work after the storm a few weeks ago," Severide explained.

"You need my help?" he assumed.

"I'd like it," Severide replied, "And my dad's already got all the supplies we need."

"Ok sure, I'll come." He nodded and turned back to his desk.

"Thanks… hey are you ok?" Severide asked glancing down at his friends bruised and slightly swollen hand, it had been a week since he'd put his fist through the plasterboard. "If you wanna talk…"

He shot him a look. "Because we're both the talking type right?"

Severide shrugged. "Leave at 10am tomorrow? We'll be back late but at least we can sleep in our own beds."

The next day Casey and Severide set off for the cabin, they went in Severide's car since all Casey brought along was his tool kit. They stopped for fuel and coffee and spoke very little during the beginning of the journey.

"So…" Severide broke the comfortable silence with what he knew would be an uncomfortable question but it had been playing on his mind. "Have you spoken to Dawson?"

"I work with her," Casey replied stiffly.

Severide hadn't expected an easy answer. "You know what I mean."

He shook his head. "Outside of work; no, I haven't."

"Don't you think you should?" Severide suggested.

"I should? She left me," he countered with the exact words Severide had been telling him all week; that she was the one who decided it was over, but that didn't mean he didn't blame himself.

"I know, I know," Severide replied. "Thought it might make you feel a little better if you guys cleared the air."

"Yeah? And what would I say?" he questioned incredulously.

"I… I don't know," Severide sighed.

"Yeah 'I don't know'..." he repeated. "Look, she's made her decision, history's shown that she'll stick with it whatever I say. I don't want to discuss it… it's probably all my fault anyway."

"That's not true, Casey," Severide replied.

"Whatever," he dismissed.

Severide decided to try not to bring Dawson up again; not talking about the situation still seemed to be the best way forward, it kept Casey civil towards him at least, and they both needed each other right now.

"We're not far away now," Severide noted after they turned off the main road.

"Have you spoken to Brittany?" Casey asked, Severide hadn't mentioned her for a few weeks.

"Yeah," Severide nodded, "She's good."

"And you're still all right with it all?" he questioned.

"Yeah, it was the best thing, meeting her was great and… and leaving her was great. It worked out for both of us, just what we needed," Severide replied.

"I'm glad, you were…" he began.

"Spiralling down?" Severide questioned, he took his eyes off the road for a second and gave Casey a wry smile.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I wish I could have done something more…"

"You did," Severide replied, "I never would have come back, never gone back into the apartment… you gave me a place to stay."

"That's what friends are for, right?" he shrugged.

"Right," Severide smiled, "So…"

"Don't," he replied quickly, "Not today. I'm tired of it."

"Ok," Severide accepted.

"Do you…" he began to ask but he stopped as Severide slammed the breaks down flinging them both forwards, he looked up to see a deer in the middle of their lane. The breaks locked and the car jerked, there was a blinding pain as Casey's head hit the side window and he knew no more.

"Case, hold on!" Severide called out but it was too late, Casey was already unconscious, his body slumped in the passenger seat beside him. Severide fought for control as the car skidded on the wet tarmac and slammed through the guard rail but it was fruitless. The car flipped sending Severide's head forwards and his chest onto the steering wheel. He blacked out.

Everything sounded muffled when Casey cracked open his eyes, the air smelt like fuel, damp and mud. His head was throbbing fiercely, he wondered where he was, what had happened. Slowly he became more and more aware, there was a voice calling his name but he couldn't move, he couldn't reply.

"Case?" Severide tried again, Casey was conscious now, his face scrunched in what he had no doubt was pain. "Case?"

"Mmm…" he muttered, it had taken all the effort in the world.

"Come on, Case… Tell me you're fine so I can tell you that you're lying…" Severide almost begged, there was so much blood on the passenger side window. "Case?

"Sev?" he questioned, it wasn't much more than a whisper but Severide let out a sigh of relief. The sigh of relief turned into coughing and wheezing. "Sev?" Casey questioned again, stronger now, his tone full of concern.

"I'm all right," Severide spluttered out/ "How are you?"

"What happened? Where are we?" Casey slurred.

"I… I erm… I crashed…" he replied, "We've gone straight through the guard rail. I don't know how far away we are from the road, think I blacked out, I've called 911, they're on their way but…"

"But we're in the middle of nowhere?" Casey frowned as Severide coughed and spluttered again. "Are you ok? That doesn't sound good."

"You tell me what hurts and I'll tell you what hurts," he smiled sloppily.

Casey paused. "My head."

"My ribs are broken and… and it's getting harder to breathe," he admitted. "What else is wrong with you?" He suspected there was more but he got no response. "Casey?" he looked across, Casey was unconscious, he gritted his teeth in agony as he moved his arm to reach Casey's neck, he didn't let out a breath until he felt Casey's pulse thump several times beneath his two fingers.

He tried to wake Casey but he was growing weaker and weaker. Looking down through the splintered windscreen he also grew more and more concerned at their precarious position. The car had only stopped because of the high impact it made when it slammed into a large tree, the bonnet of the car had crumpled around it.

Severide must have drifted off because he woke to the sound of screaming, little did he know that Casey had woken up only moments ago confused and disoriented, he had tried to move and his body had been set ablaze with agony. Casey passed out before Severide could do anything.

Casey's lucidity and awareness continued to vary as they waited for the emergency services. "Sev? You ok?"

"Hanging in there," Severide replied, he was struggling to breathe, his breaths were coming at short sharp intervals because it hurt too much to breathe properly. "Is there anything wrong besides your head?" he questioned hoping he'd caught Casey mid-vulnerability, he needed the truth from him.

"Erm…" Casey hesitated.

"Case?" he questioned.

"I… I erm… can't really feel my legs anymore…" Casey admitted with a slur, his vision hadn't cleared since the first time he'd woken up, the throbbing in his head was persistent and he was finding it incredibly hard to focus.

"Are they trapped?" he asked urgently.

"What?" Casey misheard him.

"Are your legs stuck? I can't see from here," he replied.

"Oh erm…" Casey looked down but he couldn't make much out with his bleary eyes. "I don't think so."

"Ok, just try not to move," he advised. "You could have…" But he didn't want to finish that sentence, he didn't want to be the cause of damaging Casey's spinal cord, he didn't want him to panic and in his debilitated state that was likely.

"Sev?" Casey questioned.

"I'm here," he replied.

"What happened? Where are we?" Casey slurred tiredly.

Severide's worry over Casey's mental state increased tenfold. "We had an accident, you're going to be ok," he replied gently.

Severide woke up in the midst of chaos, there was so much movement going on around him and he could hear sirens in the distance. "… Fire department, can you hear me? We're going to get you both out of here."

"Casey? ... Get Casey out first," Severide muttered, he felt a c-collar being slipped around his neck. "Casey? Is he all right? He hit his head…"

"He's breathing," the firefighter replied after a brief pause. "What's your name?"

"Severide, I'm a lieutenant with the CFD, we both are," he replied.

"Don't worry we'll get you both out of here as quickly as possible," the firefighter assured him.

"I know you will," he murmured, slowly losing his grip on consciousness.

The sound of machines nearly drowned out Casey's voice when he woke. "Sev?"

"I'm here," Severide slurred. "It's going to be all right Case," he reassured him before passing out.

Casey let out an agonising scream as he was moved into the stokes basket, he passed out from the pain before they finished securing him. The rescue crew carefully made their way up the terrain with Casey and Severide before handing them off to the awaiting paramedics.

The pain Casey was in was nearly unbearable, it would have been unbearable if he weren't so worried about Severide, he kept asking about him, he couldn't see him anymore, they were in separate ambulances but that didn't stop him from crying out for him. "Sev…"

"Sir, I need you to relax," the paramedic reposition the oxygen mask, Casey continued to struggle under the restraints despite his suspected injuries. "Your friend's in the ambulance behind us."

The suddenly he was no longer in the ambulance, there were no loud sirens but there was an amazing buzz around him, everyone was moving so fast, or maybe he was moving fast, everything seemed to be happening without him. "Kelly…." he muttered through the mask, he struggled on the gurney, hands held him down.

The paramedics were calling out details to the ER doctors but he heard none of it. His eyes were frantically searching around. He couldn't move. There were shots of agony up and down his body. His head felt like it was going to explode. There was a copper taste in his mouth.

"Get me a CBC, renal panel and a tox screen," a voice called out sharply, "Pass me the ultrasound."

Blood was drawn as he tried calling out once again. "Kel…" He didn't know where Severide was, he called out his name again but there was something muffling his voice. He continued frantically searching around despite his blurry vision. There was a thick warm trickle of blood over one eye. Finally. He spotted Severide from the very corner of his left eye. He called out for him.

"Sev…" He tried to twist and turn, the c-collar and backboard were not only uncomfortable but a hindrance to his efforts. Severide was surrounded by ER staff. He continued to twist and struggle. Why wasn't Severide saying anything? Why weren't they telling him anything?

Casey continued to struggle, a friendly face leant over him. "Sir, I need you to stay calm. They're doing their best to make sure you friend is ok. Now, I need you to concentrate on me. Can you tell me your name?"

"Matt..." It was barely audible.

A light was tormenting him.

"Do you remember what happened?"

Casey opened his mouth to reply but he had no answer, he couldn't remember, he couldn't understand where he was and couldn't understand why he was in so much pain.

"Matt, do you remember what happened?" the voice was insistent. His vision was greying around the edges and suddenly there was a shrill beeping noise around him, his eyes rolled back and he knew no more as his body seized.

TBC