A/N: Wow! I was not expecting so much feedback, thank you all! Replies to reviews are at the bottom :)

Chapter 2

Following the given directions, Dawson and Severide were soon standing outside of Shay's private room. Almost everyone left sometime between hearing the news and the two going up to Shay's room, so there wasn't much discussion regarding who should see her first, seeing as though they didn't want to crowd her.

Stopping and peering through the open blinds in the window, they could see she was indeed still sleeping, looking sound and peaceful, as if she were just taking a relaxing nap—despite the angry wounds. Dawson noted that she looked cleaner since she last saw her, the soot and dried blood wiped off. Four butterfly bandages closed the large laceration on the left side her forehead, and the surrounding area was a mixture of reddened skin and light bruising. A few minor cuts and grazes dusted her face: the one half an inch under the largest, one coming out from her hairline and another on the lower side of her left jaw. The monotonous hospital gown revealed a white bandage around her left wrist and an IV in her right arm.

Severide opened the door and gentlemanly gestured for Dawson to walk through. She walked in and went over to the closest side of the bed, looking down at Shay. She looked so small and fragile, and she was tempted to slip her hand into Shay's. That would be okay, right; it wouldn't be weird or anything? It would just be platonic... Dawson suddenly felt very self-conscious about her actions. She never really had been before, but after that previous thought she found herself being more observant, looking back in retrospect and wondering if maybe she did seem more... friendly around Shay.

But that was a ridiculous thought. They were just friends. Just friends.

Dawson grabbed and adjusted the plastic chair in the room so she could be closer to the bed, and sat down, gently taking Shay's hand anyway. Severide was only there for ten minutes before he left, sensing part of Dawson wanted to be left alone with Shay. Besides, he wasn't a fan of hospitals; despite his regular drop ins during his line of work, and seeing Shay was enough to put his mind at ease. "I'll leave you alone with her," he'd said, clapping Dawson's shoulder a couple of times. "Doctors said she can leave tomorrow if everything's okay. Do you want me to give her a ride home or do you?"

"I can do it," Dawson had said. "I'll probably end up staying the night anyway."

And she did. Inevitable exhaustion settled in and eventually took over, and Dawson fell asleep in the chair she was occupying. However hard she had promised herself she wouldn't, she couldn't help but close her heavy eyes, telling herself that she was just resting them for a minute. Famous last words.

—

After the initial blurriness of waking up passed, Shay lethargically looked around and recognized the unmistakable sight of a hospital, if her gradually increasing identification to the steady beeping of a heart monitor, and the off-putting, so called "sterile" smell didn't give it away. Upon looking around she saw Dawson to her right, still in uniform and sleeping in a chair with her legs dangling over an armrest and torso and head curled into the backrest. It looked wildly uncomfortable and surprisingly cute.

She reached her hand out to touch her, sending a spasm of pain radiating through to her ribs. She hissed sharply and retracted, bringing her arm back to its previous residency by her side. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to pass. Once it settled to a somewhat tolerable degree, she opened her eyes again and looked down at herself. Noticing a bandage her on wrist, her first instinct was to touch it. She was glad the sudden movement didn't cause all too much pain like before, but as she caressed her wrist a new pang arose there. She stopped before she caused herself any more discomfort, and her mind diverted surprisingly fast to her current dull, lingering headache. Now that she thought about it, she felt something of a minute weight sticking against her forehead. She knew better than to reach up and touch it, for if it hurt to reach out horizontally it would more than likely hurt more reaching vertically.

Pushing through the thick haze, she briefly remembered the possible injuries Dawson told the doctors as she was being wheeled in: broken ribs, sprained wrist, internal damage, and concussion. She figured she had all of them, although wasn't sure about the internal damage. She tried to set aside her wonder but it soon bunched up, nagging her for knowledge.

She looked at the clock above the door and squinted through the distance and dullness. It read 2:38, and judging by the darkness, the surprising quietness of nurses in the halls, and the fact that when she was brought in it was daylight, Shay figured it was night. She wondered if waking Dawson up at that time would be selfish. But it wasn't like it was for a bad cause.

"Dawson," Shay said, coming out quieter than expected. Knowing not to clear her throat again by coughing, she licked her lips, as if that would magically make her voice louder. "Dawson."

Although not much more vocal, it did the trick and Dawson stirred, sluggishly looking around before quickly landing her gaze on Shay. A smile consumed her face and she swung her legs over the armrest to better face her, reaching her hand out to touch her arm. "Hey, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"A little tender," she replied. "It's almost three, what are you doing here?" She asked softly. She felt as if she must've been on some kind of medication that caused drowsiness since she was already feeling drained of energy. Since when was lying down such a hard task?

"I didn't want to leave you alone," Dawson said truthfully. "And I figured you'd want a familiar face to wake up to."

Shay smiled in response.

"Speaking of which, I should probably go let someone know that you're awake."

"You should probably go home, Dawson." Shay said as Dawson stood, mimicking Dawson's previous sentence.

Dawson frowned. "You—you don't want me here?"

Shay was quick to answer, much to her body's dismay as she inched to sit up. "No! No, of course I do. It's just, I'm really tired and you look exhausted as well. Go home and sleep."

"No, it's okay. I'm not tired. I'll just stay here. The doctors said you can leave tomorrow—well, later today. I'll keep you company in the meantime."

"You don't have to do that." Shay said, shaking her head slightly, not wanting to burden her.

Dawson put her hand on Shay's arm again, warmth spreading on touch through Shay's arm and sending a small tingling sensation down to her fingertips. "I want to." Dawson said. "Now I'll be right back."

As Dawson pulled away and walked out, Shay felt a longing for her touch. It was comforting, calming. It made her feel grounded and forget about the dull, lingering pain. It was no secret to herself that she wished she could be more than just friends with Dawson. But by telling Dawson how she felt would and could possibly ruin their friendship, and she really didn't want to compromise that. Besides, Dawson was straight, and she'd seen the way she looked at Casey. Stored away in an ever locked vault in the back of her head, she wished that Dawson would look at her like that some day.

Dawson was back within a minute followed by a nurse. After the nurse introducing herself, she asked her the basic questions like if she knew what happened, if she was in any pain, and then she ran down the injuries she had sustained. Although understanding it all, it didn't quite stick in Shay's head, going in one ear and out the other. She blamed exhaustion for that. And maybe a bit of Dawson as well—her hair out of its constraints and flowing around her effortlessly beautiful face was becoming somewhat of a distraction.

"You really don't need to stay," Shay said once they were alone again. "I'm fine."

"I'm not going anywhere," Dawson replied. "You know, I really am feeling like you don't want me here." She said truthfully, although trying to come off as a casual, observational joke.

"I do, I'd like it if you'd stay. But you should go home. Sleep. Your bed's gotta be better than that chair." Shay stated.

Dawson seemed to be fighting her internal hesitancy and didn't reply for a good minute or two. "Okay, I'll compromise. I'll go home and get changed, and then stop by your place and get you some clothes for later, and then come back. Deal?"

"Deal." Shay agreed, thinking that it was better than nothing. Anyway, she knew Dawson, and she hoped that when she saw her bed, sitting there in all its glory, she'd cave in to her impulses and sleep there the rest of the night. That way, Shay might actually have more of a chance of sleeping, what Dawson being somewhat of a distraction and all. She also put her blame on the drugs for that. She could usually control her feelings and push them back into that vault they'd managed to so deviously escape from.

Dawson got up from the chair and grazed her fingertips over Shay's forearm. She couldn't help herself. "All right. I'll be back soon." She said, and started to walk towards the door. "Don't die on me." She added, turning to point at Shay, hoping to elicit some happiness or entertainment to the not so fortunate situation.

Shay chuckled in response, careful not to do so too hard for fear of returning the pain that had just started to fade. She watched as Dawson walked out, slowing at the window almost to the point of stopping to look through before continuing down the hall. It didn't take long for Shay's mind to clear of thoughts and fall into a fitful sleep.

EviganLover87 – Thank you! And it's funny because someone else recently also told me I'd make a good nurse.

jh126 – That's okay. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I think I actually take it as a compliment anyway because that means I did a somewhat believable job at making Dawson sound like "something she's not."

miss-isabelle – Exactly! You never know! :)

Babygurl1982 – I am!

Tomari – Thank you so much! I didn't want to favourite reviews or anything, but I have to say that what you said is one of the best reviews I've had, so thank you again! :D

RaneJizzoli – I know right. Tumblr's not just wasting our time like everyone in real life seems to say hahah!

Sukerpunch94 – I will be, don't worry!

Jquackers – Okay, I'm glad! And I'll be doing both those things, so.

SkySwimmer17 – Well now you don't have to wait haha!