Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Chicago other than the idea and my characters Keegan Howard and Kelsey Aarons. All other characters and ideas belong to Dick Wolf and NBC.
"Evening Lieutenant," Otis greets me as I walk into the house. I give him a nod and continue to my locker to drop my bag off.
"Mills," I smile tensely.
"Hey Casey," he grins.
After he leaves I roll my eyes. That kid looks like he just won the Stanley Cup or something. His first day without having to wear "Candidate" on every item of clothing and he just can't contain himself. Chief told us all yesterday that Mills was no longer a candidate and that we'd be getting a fresh face in here within the next few days. After shift we all went to celebrate with Mills, and since he's finished his Squad classes, he can now strongly pursue that spot in Squad. Now all he needs is the okay from Severide and the Chief.
I walk back into the common room and sit down with the paper in my hands. Skimming it slowly, I hardly notice when Gabby offers me some coffee. She hands it to me with a hello and a nod. I smile back in thanks and watch her as she goes to Mills and kisses him on the cheek. A scowl starts to form on my face so I look into my mug before taking a big swig. Got to get through this graveyard shift.
For a few hours everything is quiet. The Ambulance gets called out once for a man down, but other than that everything is still. I look at the clock as the Hawks game finishes. It's ten thirty.
Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, West 73rd and 5th, two-car collision
I set down the remote and race for my truck. I pull my gear on and hop in the front seat. The guys pile in behind me and Cruz turns the sirens, and lights on full throttle as we pull out of the station.
Thankfully the main streets are pretty quiet, except for the main street in town, which of course happens to be right where we were called. Cruz makes the turn and I see the accident in a parking lot of a restaurant. We pull in and I hop out with my crew to survey the scene.
It looks like the Navy Suburban was out of control and it jumped the small median between the busy street and the restaurant parking lot. It slammed directly into the side of the smaller, silver car, which has rolled and is now resting on the passenger side.
"Alright, guys, lets go!" I yell. I run up to the car on its side and climb up onto it and peer into the driver's window. A boy looking to be in his twenty's looks back at me. He's pretty banged up, but it looks like nothing serious. "Hey, how you doing? What's your name?"
"Keegan," his voice shakes as he speaks.
"Okay, well I need you to keep still and we'll get you out of here okay?"
He nods. "My girlfriend hasn't said a word since before the crash."
"Okay, don't worry. We're going to take care of you first," I turn away form him. "Herman!"
"Yeah Casey?" Herman looks up from putting blocks under the car to keep it from moving.
"I need a C-collar and some saws. Lets get the top off this car!"
"Alright!"
Herman's back quickly with the C-collar and saws. He hands me the C-collar before getting to work with the other guys. I fit the C-collar around Keegan's neck and he groans a bit.
"Does anything hurt?" I ask him.
"Not to badly," he says. "I just feel like I've been on the wrong side of a hit from Alex Ovechkin."
I laugh. "That's one way to put it, but you need to tell us if anything gets worse so we can help you."
He sort of nods before flinching as the roof begins to crack off. I reach over him and push it away from Keegan and I. Chief directs the second ambulance that arrived on scene to get Keegan on the stretcher. He grabs my hand right before the get him out.
"Where are we going?"
"Their going to take you to Lakeshore," I watch his eyes dart down to the girl below him. "We'll take care of her."
They stretcher him away and I hop down off the car to where the dark haired girl lays. Blood stains the shattered glass beneath her head and she's covered in minor cuts from what I can see. Suddenly she groans and shifts.
"Dawson!" I yell. "We need a C-collar over here. Be ready when we get her out!"
Dawson brings me the C-collar and I get on this girls neck. She groans again and opens her eyes.
"Stay still," I say softly. Her whole body stiffens before relaxing. "What's your name?"
She coughs before answering, "Kelsey Aarons."
My radio buzzes to life as I hear Chief's voice, "What did she say her name was?"
I put my radio to my mouth, "Kelsey Aarons."
I hear an intake of breath and the silence. I shake it off and cut Kelsey's seatbelt away from her body. She coughs again.
"Kelsey, are you in pain?" Chief's voice booms from behind me.
She struggles to look up at him, "m-my head is the worst."
"Dawson, you ready?" I yell, ignoring Chief behind me.
"Yeah!"
"Okay let's go," Chief helps me pull Kelsey from the car and get her onto the backboard and stretcher.
Chief grabs her hand, "you're going to be okay."
She smiles weakly at him as Dawson and Shay take over. Dawson holds gauze to the side of her head as Shay fits an oxygen mask onto her face and takes vitals. They load her and Shay jumps in the front before speeding away to Lakeshore.
I turn to Chief. "What was that about?" I ask him.
"That was our new Candidate," he says simply. My face must express my shock because he hurries to explain. "She graduated from the Academy this morning at the top of her class. Chief Watson, the teacher, called me a few days ago and recommended her for the space on Truck. He says sh-"
"What space on Truck?" I cut him off.
"Mills is moving up to Squad."
I narrow my eyes. "Are you sure he's ready?"
"Both Kelly, the guys at the academy, and I think so. You're the only one left."
"So you're telling me that my opinion really matters in this situation?"
"You're his lieutenant now. Yes, your opinion matters now," Boden looks at me really hard. He must see the resolve in my eyes as I realize that Mills is moving up to Squad no matter what. He grasps my shoulder roughly before heading back to his car.
I ball my hands into fists before turning to help my men clean up.
