Severide was shaving when he got Dawson's phone call. The next minute, he was speeding down the road and wiping a remnant lather of shaving cream off his jaw.
Dawson met him in the waiting room. Her face reciprocated the fear on Kelly's, but she gripped his shoulders and held his eyes to tell him that Shay was going to be fine. She had to repeat it twice for Kelly's brain to register it.
What happened?" he demanded.
"We got a call to treat someone carrying a bunch of coke that some thugs wanted. They chased us and shot at the ambo just when Shay was getting out to get to the wheel," Dawson explained. Her brow immediately tightened and she pulled away from Kelly. She crossed one arm over the other and cupped her hand over her eyes.
"Hey, hey, Dawson," Severide said. It was his turn to comfort her. "It's not your fault, and like you said, Shay's gonna be fine." Their friendship— which really only existed because of their common link, Shay— permitted the consolation of a hug and the suggestion for her to have a seat. They sat together in silence for an immeasurable amount of time. The hospital was irritatingly quiet. None of the five or so people in the waiting room talked, but they all watched the doctors' movements with anxious anticipation. The medical professionals seemed busy but not faced with any urgency. Every minute of this that passed seemed to make the atmosphere thicker and thicker until Kelly found it a bit hard to breathe.
A shrill ringtone threw Kelly out of his haunted trance. In one abrupt motion, he snatched his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans and held it up to his ear. "Hello," he husked. Dawson turned toward him with interest. "Yeah, hey, Hermann. No, I don't know— Wait, hold on, the doc's here." With the call still going, Kelly let his hand hang at his side.
He and Gabriela both stood up to receive the doctor's news. The doctor was still wearing his medical scrubs. As he approached, he pulled off his face mask, took a big breath, and smiled at Kelly and Gabriela's distressed faces. "Leslie is fine." Upon hearing those words, an insufferable heaviness launched from their bodies. "She suffered a gunshot wound to the right shoulder area, but we were able to remove it. She's going to be just fine." Severide and Dawson were far from best friends, but they turned and wrapped their arms around each other, grinning.