That Guy—A Chicago Fire Story
**Picks up Kelly and Alyssa's relationship immediately after she wakes up from her medically induced coma. Kelly is there when she wakes up and now he turns a complete 180…but it won't be easy.**
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The doctor asked everyone to clear the room as she conducted her examination.
Alyssa looked at Kelly in a panic and squeezed his hand.
"It's okay…" he reassured her.
But she held onto his hand with a strength that surprised him.
Kelly looked over to the doctor…a silent question in his eyes.
And the doctor looked at her patient…her posture, the look in her eyes…the way her knuckles were turning white as she gripped Kelly's hand. She nodded her head. Kelly could stay.
"It's okay…I'm not going anywhere." He told her again.
The doctor looked into Alyssa's eyes to see how her pupils reacted to the light…she asked her to blink her eyes and track her pen…she asked her to wiggle her fingers and to squeeze her hand. She checked her reflexes.
Satisfied with what she saw she decided to try to take her off the vent.
She explained what she was going to do…to adjust it to a different setting and see how Alyssa did. The important thing was to relax…
Alyssa gave Kelly a long look…and he smiled encouragingly.
The doctor reset the machine and Kelly pulled a chair over to Alyssa's bedside.
She did okay that first day.
She was breathing on her own for two hours before she got tired. And all the while, she never let go of Kelly's hand.
Every day she remained off the vent a few hours longer…and every day she got a little stronger.
It was an emotional roller coaster though…for everyone.
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One night, Kelly sat in a corner booth at Shannahan's with Joe, Alyssa's brother. He'd gotten to know the guy a bit in the past week since he had finally swallowed his fear and gone to the hospital. He'd gotten to know the whole family…but Joe…and Nick were the ones he really felt a connection to.
Joe was struggling with the whole situation…that was pretty clear. He and Alyssa were so close…they were a little less than three years apart, and they'd always done everything together. But Alyssa had never confided in him about Bradley Paul and the fact that the sonofabitch was stalking her.
That night, when visiting hours ended, Kelly placed a gentle kiss on Alyssa's forehead and whispered that he had to work the next day, but he'd call her and text her as often as he could. Her eyes brightened…even though she couldn't talk to him through her wired jaw, just the sound of his voice was reassuring to her. And it gave her something to look forward to.
As they left the room he came up beside Joe.
"Hey…" he said. "You wanna go grab a beer or something?"
Joe was…a bit surprised at the invitation. But it sounded like just what the doctor ordered…it wouldn't do any good to sit at home and brood. He had to get out of his head for a while.
"Sure…" Joe replied.
So the two men sat across from each other…sipping their beers, contemplating their companionship.
Joe spoke first.
"Nice place…"
Kelly nodded.
"Yeah…Lyssa and I come here a lot. This is where we met, actually."
Kelly took another long swallow of his beer…
"She wiped the floor with me at pool." He added with a rueful grin.
That broke whatever tension there was in the air…
Joe laughed.
"I don't even feel sorry for you…"
Then he smiled at a memory…
"She was like…five…when she started to play. She was so tiny…she used to drag this little pink step stool around the table. Tony and Jimmy bought her a little cue for Christmas…it was only about this long…"
He held his hands about two…two and a half feet apart.
Kelly chuckled at the mental picture of a tiny version of Alyssa and the pure determination in her eyes as she tried to best her older brothers…
But Joe got serious again.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. Shoot…"
"Did you know about this animal…Bradley Paul? Did you know what he was doing to Lyssa?"
Kelly took another swallow of beer.
This was the conversation he had been hoping to avoid. He was still wrestling with his own feelings about Bradley Paul…and regretting he hadn't "escorted" the sonofabitch outside when he had the chance.
He studied his companion. And he told him the truth.
"I knew there was an 'ex'. Actually Alyssa said you couldn't even call him that, 'cause she only went out with him a few times. I knew he scared her enough to move apartments…and change jobs. But I didn't know he was still harassing her. I didn't know about the restraining order."
"The detective told us that you and your colleagues were the ones who identified him…" Joe said with a look of confusion on his face.
"We identified the man who grabbed Lyssa's arm in a bar. This bar, in fact." Kelly told him. "We were over there…"
He nodded his head in the general direction of the tables by the dart boards.
"Lyssa humiliated our candidate in a fourteen game shutout…then me and the other guys went to get another round, and I heard Alyssa's voice telling someone to let go of her. I saw some guy had his hands on her…so I went and got in his face. If I'd known who he was then…I'm not sure even the three medics could have helped him."
He wasn't sure what more to say…so his just polished off his beer in one more swallow.
Suddenly, Joe filled the silence. He cleared his throat.
"There's some kind of pre-trial thing…day after tomorrow…I think he's trying to get out on bail or something. My brothers and I are going… you wanna…maybe go down there with us?"
Kelly straightened up…the animal was trying to get out on bail?
He nodded firmly.
"Absolutely…I'm in. Just tell me where and when."
Joe nodded.
Kelly was a good guy. And Joe was certain his feelings for Alyssa ran deep. He had seen that the first night at the hospital…while they were waiting for news.
A couple of his brothers thought it was weird that Kelly hadn't come to the hospital when Alyssa was in the coma…but Joe didn't. Some people couldn't deal…there were times Joe felt like running away himself. The silence in the room…except for the beeping of all those machines, and the vent huffing and puffing…sometimes he felt like he was about to jump out of his skin.
Besides, he'd more than made up for it since Alyssa had been awake. He was there every day now…every day he wasn't working. And anyone with a pair of eyes could see how much more relaxed Alyssa was when Kelly was around.
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Kelly sat in the courtroom with Joe and Nick and the rest of Alyssa's brothers. He had gone immediately after his shift ended to meet them at the 26th and California.
The tension hung in the air as they waited for Bradley Paul to be led in to the court.
The side door opened and a tall, skinny bean pole of a man was led in by two sheriff's deputies.
Kelly studied him through narrowed eyes. It was definitely the same man who'd manhandled Alyssa at Shannahan's almost three months ago. He was a little skinnier than he'd been then, his face a little paler. And he wore an arrogant smirk on his face.
Kelly couldn't help thinking how he'd like to wipe it right off…
There was a flurry of activity…the judge entered from his chambers and court was called to order.
There was some talk back and forth…Kelly wasn't really paying attention. He was still fixated on Paul. In his mind's eye he tried to imagine how everything had gone down in Alyssa's apartment that night.
He'd been there only once since then…once the CPD had released the crime scene he had quietly gone to get his stuff…the clothes that he kept accumulating there, his razor, and the other odds and ends that had found their way over in the few months he'd essentially been living with her.
The sight had just about made him sick. Broken glass from the mirror in the dining room, the picture frames Alyssa had on just about every surface in the house…furniture smashed or overturned…blood everywhere. Lyssa had apparently fought like a tiger…it just didn't do any good.
Suddenly something brought him back to earth…
"Your Honor…the fact that Mr. Paul is still incarcerated is causing great financial stress to his family. My client is the sole caretaker for his elderly mother…and having to hire outside help is a great hardship on the family."
Kelly sat up a little straighter. He didn't like where this was going…
"And furthermore, Your Honor, my client is innocent of the crimes he's accused of…which we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial…"
"That's bullshit!"
Before he even knew what he was doing, Kelly was on his feet. It was a knee-jerk reaction.
"YOU LYING SONOFABITCH!"
Pandemonium broke out in the court. The judge pounded his gavel calling for order. Alyssa's brothers all jumped up and grabbed hold of Kelly who was ready to rip Paul's head off. It took all five of them to get him to calm down enough so Joe and Nick could walk him out of the room.
Out in the hallway he just paced back and forth…trying desperately to regain some control.
That lying SOB…how the hell could someone stand there with a straight face and say he was innocent? Alyssa had told him…right when she woke up…that it was Bradley Paul who assaulted her. And the cops had DNA evidence to prove it!
Kelly continued to pace and rake his fingers through his hair in sheer frustration.
Nick and Joe just watched him…not saying a word.
They both felt the same way.
Finally…Kelly drew a deep breath…and let it out slowly. Back in control again, he turned to his new friends.
"Sorry about that, guys…" he said. "I tend to just shoot from the hip sometimes…well, almost all of the time."
"It's okay…" Nick told him. "The sonofabitch is lucky I'm not carrying."
Kelly had to think for a second…oh, yeah…Nicky was a cop.
There wasn't much time for conversation. The court room doors opened and Mark, Tony and Jimmy Boungiovanni came out to join them.
"Is it over?" Joe asked.
Tony, the oldest of the brothers, nodded.
"Yeah. The judge denied his request for bail."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank God.