AJ had seen some pretty hellacious wrecks in her lifetime, but this one had to be one of the worst. And it had literally just happened a few cars ahead of her – other cars were still screeching to a halt and trying to go around the debris path. A semi had blown a red light and t-boned a pickup truck. If the pickup driver was still alive, she'd be surprised. Yanking her car into the closest parking spot, she jammed it into park, killed the engine, swung out of the drivers seat, grabbed her jump bag and a pry bar from the trunk, and ran as fast as she could to the scene, trying to avoid being hit herself.

The semi truck driver was already climbing down from his rig. "I couldn't stop!" he cried, "I swear, I couldn't stop!"

"Are you hurt?" AJ called as she approached the carnage. The pickup was bent almost into a C around the semi's massive grille.

He shook his head.

"Okay. Call nine-one-one and grab a seat somewhere." The passenger side door had bent with the impact. Damn, what a hit. Great. Getting that open was gonna suck. Good thing she had her crowbar. Quickly, she dropped her bag and looked inside the ruined cab.

The driver was slumped to one side, covered in blood and shards of glass. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. Even though she knew it probably wasn't gonna work, she tried the door anyway. Nope – no luck. Why did everything have to be done the hard way?

"What can we do to help?" a man asked from behind her.

AJ glanced over her shoulder and was pleasantly surprised that there were four men standing a few feet away. Faith in humanity restored. "I'm gonna try to get this door open and get him out. I really don't want to have to take him through the window." Because heaven only knows how badly he's hurt. she silently added.

"Here, let me do that." one of the men offered, stepping forward with his hand out.

He was a big dude, so AJ handed the pry bar to him and moved out of the way.

With one mighty swing, the man jammed one end of the pry bar between the door and the cab and pushed. The damaged metal creaked and groaned as it gave way.

The pickup truck driver likely had some serious head, neck, and spine trauma going on, and no telling what kind of internal injuries. With that severe of a hit, AJ couldn't rule out the possibility of a subdural hematoma, either. She needed a backboard and c-collar, but there were no ambulances in sight, so she would have to make due with what she had. It just so happened that the pickup had a couple of scrap pieces of plywood in one of the racks on the back. One piece was snapped almost in two, and the other was damaged but still relatively intact. It'd look redneck as hell, but it would work. She tugged the plywood off of the racks and leaned it against the truck. As soon as that door came off, she was going in.

The big man grunted as he jammed the pry bar into the top of the door and pushed, making the metal squeak and pop. It wouldn't be long before he had it open.

Turning to her assistants, AJ began giving orders, "Okay, guys, our friend in there is pretty critical. As soon as that door pops open, I'm going in." She indicated her improvised backboard, "I'm gonna get him into this plywood as best I can, and then I need all of you to get him out. You have to be careful; the slightest bump could worsen his injuries." Distantly, she could hear a police siren. Good. There should be an ambulance coming soon. Pointing to an open spot in the road, she continued, "Lay him down over there and I'll see what I can do until the ambulance gets here. Okay?"

The men nodded.

With one final push and an equally hard pull, the damaged door screeched open. Wasting no time, AJ scrambled into the cab as soon as her helper stepped aside. Glass dug into her hands and jeans as she reached her patient. Wedging herself between the seat and the crumpled dashboard, she finally got a semi-decent look at the man.

She knew him! Sort of. He lived on the floor below her. They'd greeted each other in the halls and elevator before, but that was it. In the urgency of the moment, she hadn't recognized his truck. Gently, she pressed her fingers against his bloody neck, expecting stillness.

He had a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.

A new sense of urgency flooded her veins. There was still hope! She needed to get him out now. If EMS wasn't either there or within earshot when she had him on the pavement, she was taking him to Chicago Med herself. Carefully, she held him up with one hand as she pushed the release button on his seatbelt. The mechanism clicked easily, almost as though nothing had happened. Typical. "Board!" she shouted.

Without hesitation, the men fell into position as they slid the piece of plywood into the truck. Two men stood on either side of the door, one waited for the head, and one for the feet.

AJ wasn't entirely sure of how to go about executing her next move. She needed to get him onto the board without furthering his injuries. Time wasn't exactly on her side, either. Crap. There was no good way to move him by herself, and there wasn't enough room for another person in the truck. Crap, crap, crap! She would have to just do it and pray for the best.

Carefully, she began to ease him down onto the board. This was gonna take a minute that she didn't have. He would have to lay on his side until the men could get him pulled out enough to put him on his back. Someone would have to pull him up the board a little as they went, too, so that she could get his legs up. And then she would have to put him on his back.

A soft groan escaped the pickup driver as his shoulder touched the plywood. His eyes fluttered, then opened. He looked up at AJ.

"Hey, neighbor." she said, "Hang in there, okay? We're gonna get you out."

The man's eyes lost focus and slid closed.

AJ checked his pulse again, expecting him to be dead. He wasn't. This boy was tough. "Okay, guys, I need a set of hands!"

"Has anyone seen Casey?" Chief Boden asked, trying to mask the concern that was building within him. Matt Casey was never late for work. He was thirty minutes late today.

"We've been trying to call him." Otis answered, indicating Dawson, who was pacing the floor, cell phone pressed against her ear. "It goes straight to voicemail."

"Something's wrong." Cruz said, "He's never late."

"Can we go look for him?" Dawson asked, ending her call.

Boden didn't get a chance to answer – the tones dropped as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Ambulance Sixty-One, Squad Three, Truck Eighty-One – please respond to the intersection of Eighth and Upper for a two-vehicle accident." the dispatcher announced. That intersection was only about two blocks away from the firehouse.

Without a word, the entire house scrambled, a sense of dread filling each of them.

"Bear!"

AJ's head popped up as a familiar voice called her nickname. Chili and her partner were running toward her with a stretcher. Two fire trucks eased into position around the scene and immediately emptied. Help had finally arrived. "S'about damn time you rolled your ass up in here! Do I gotta do everything by myself now?" she teased, giving her old partner a smile.

"Girl, that boarding job is redneck as hell." Chili kidded as she and Brett dropped to their knees beside AJ. "I see you found our missing Lieutenant. What's the damage?"

"Well, he's not dead." AJ answered. "Not yet, anyway. Uh, multiple rub fractures, left arm has three beaks that I've found, left leg has one in each bone, I'm not sure about his neck and spine, but I'm sure there's significant damage there. Pupils are reactive, but slow – he woke up for a couple of seconds while we were getting him out. He's been breathing on his own so far. His pulse has been all over the place. Last time I checked, it was down knockin' somewhere around fifty-five over thirty-seven." She pointed to the wreckage, "Semi blew the light. He never saw it coming."

Chili shook her head, "Damn. Okay, let's get him properly boarded." As Brett moved the board into position, Chief Boden, Herrmann, Dawson, and Severide came to help.

AJ caught the look of panic on Dawson's face. That was interesting. Was she the girlfriend?

"On three." Brett said, "One…two…three."

As they moved Casey from the plywood to the backboard, his eyes fluttered open again, meeting AJ's.

"Hey, Lieutenant." she grinned as she helped to carefully lift him. "You're doin' great. Help's here, okay? Just hang on a little longer for me."

Casey's eyes rolled backward as they closed. He went limp.

Author's Note: AJ (Bear) and the plot belong to me. I'm not really sure where this is going just yet, so hang with me. Reviews are appreciated!