It took a while for the person on the other side of line to pick up. Stella was getting more worried by the minute. This was so unlike Gabby. But just as she was about to give up, there was a soft "hey" on the other end of the line.

"Thank god you picked up! What is going on? Are you actually leaving?"

"I...ah...yeah...yeah I am."

"Is this because of the fight you had with Casey?"

"How do you know about that?"

"He's here at Kelly's."

"Ah yeah, okay" She avoided to answer the previous question and just remained quiet.

"You know what? How about we talk some more in person? Stella offered. She was probably not going to get much more out of Gabby over the phone anyway.

"Shift is starting soon, so do you think you can stop by the station today?" She continued.

"Stella, I don't think that is a good idea."

"Look, I know it's difficult, but you do not get to leave without saying goodbye to me." She hoped that steering the conversation away from Casey would help to convince Gabby.

"I...Stella...I don't think I can stop by 51 with Matt being there and everybody is just going to ask questions and ..." Gabby trailed off.

"He is not coming in today and you don't actually have to come in to the station. I can meet you outside. I just need to talk to you. Okay?"

Gabby let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. Yes, I'll come by."

"Okay, good. We all care about, you know."

"I know."

"Okay. See you later. "

"Yeah, bye."

Stella ended the call and walked back into the living room where the guys were still sitting. In the time that she had called Gabby, Kelly had convinced Boden to give Matt the shift off. He knew that not working was probably not going to help his friend, but Casey's current state was only going to put people at risk.

"So, Gabby is going to stop by the station. I'll talk to her some more then." Stella stated.

Casey just nodded.

"Uhmm...I have to go to the station now." She directed her words towards Kelly. He took that as a cue to walk over to her.

"Here, just take my car." He said as he handed her the keys. "I'll come in a little later."

He brought her in for a hug and softly kissed her lips. "Thanks for calling" He whispered.

"Yeah" she smiled to him. With that she left for work.

Stella arrived just in time at the station to hear Boden's opening speech. He had not mentioned much by about the circumstances surrounding the absence of Casey, Dawson and Severide. He had merely pointed out that a relief lieutenant was coming for Casey and that Stella had been put on Ambo for the shift. Although she was grateful that not much had been revealed, this also meant that everybody was going to turn to her for answers. So, she made sure she was out of the room before everybody started to ask questions.

She decided to camp out in Kelly's office for the time being. He was not going to mind and it gave her some space to think about her upcoming conversation with Gabby.

However, it only took a half an hour before her hiding place was discovered. The door swung open, revealing Hermann.

"Hey, Kidd, did you get promoted to lieutenant?"

"Ha, I wish." She tried to sound as upbeat as possible.

"So...Severide, Casey and Dawson are not here, and now you are hiding. That is not really going to stop the rumours, you know."

"yeah, I know. I'm just not the person that should be telling everyone."

"Well, if you're done hiding, that relief lieutenant is here and you are gonna want to know who it is."

"Anyone good?"

"Let's just say interesting for now. Just come and see for yourself" He turned and left her alone again.

She was about to do what Hermann had told her, when her phone beeped indicating a text from Gabby saying she was at the station. So, she got up and headed for the parking lot instead. That lieutenant will have to wait for now.

Once there, she gave Gabby a quick hug. Gabby didn't look that much better than what Casey had looked like this morning.

"So, what is this?" Stella started. "Are you really leaving Chicago because of a fight with Casey?"

"Not exactly. But Casey and I...we're just not on the same page right now. With everything that has been going on lately I just need some time, I think."

"Did you tell him why you're going?"

"No"

"I kind of was a rushed decision, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was" she sighed. "I was still really mad at Casey."

"I figured something like that was going on."

"But, I still think I would be good if we have some time apart. And, it's really good offer. I'll be helping a lot of people and I'm not going to be there forever." Gabby sounded desperate, as if she still needed to convince herself.

"Well, I'm not here to talk you out of it. But if you're really going, you need to talk to Casey. He needs to know. The sooner you talk to him, the better"

Stella was about to add more to that, but their conversation was cut short by the siren going off.

"Truck 81, ambulance 61. Car accident, 1733 West Madison Street."

"Gabby, just go and talk to him now. He's at Kelly's apartment." Stella said while giving Gabby a hug, irritated she didn't had more time to talk to her.

Just before hopping into the ambo, she texted a quick message to Kelly.

I talked to her. I think she's coming over, but I'm not sure. XX