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.

I close my eyes for a second as the muted blaring sirens of the ambulance sing in my ears. My body aches all over and I just want relief.

"Kelsey, stay with me here," the dark haired paramedic grabs my shoulder roughly.

My eyes open reluctantly. "I know," I mouth to myself. In training at the academy, we all had to take turns as the injured person. I remember the rules. I know them. Stay awake, I remind myself.

"You'll feel a pinch," the paramedic says to me as she preps to insert an IV in my arm. I wish I could say okay, or at least talk to her, but I can't. My body is strapped to a backboard and my neck is in a C-collar. More than that, the constant ache of my head and the nasty gash under the heavy gauze is keeping my mind very busy.

"Dawson!" the paramedic driving calls back. "Turning in."

"Copy that!"

Her hands fly around me as she prepares to unload me from the bus. I feel myself drifting off again, but I bite my tongue. The quick flood of pain sharpens my mind enough to keep me semi-coherent. Suddenly, the doors bust open and I'm moving. There are people all around me and I hear the dark haired paramedic, Dawson, shouting out my reports.

"Car accident victim, nineteen-year-old female, deep six-inch gash on right forehead running to about the right ear, possibly some internal injuries, blood loss…" the string of words continues, but I can only hear them now, not understand.

The lights of the emergency room flash above me as I am wheeled into the nearest bay. My vision blurs and my senses stutter… and then I'm gone.


Slowly, I open my eyes and peer around the hospital bed I'm in. I'm in a room split by a flimsy, light blue curtain that hangs about a foot and a half off the floor. The air smells stale, but that's because it was coming through a cannula that feeds it straight into my nose. There are no windows leading to the outside in my room, just into the hallway. The blinds are down on those, except I can see a few pairs of legs and feet walking by and there are two people standing outside the door.

I wiggle my fingers and toes and look down at myself. There's a cast on my right wrist and the pain is starting to make itself known in my head again. I reach up with my casted hand and feel the bandage covering the stitches on the fight side of my head. I groan and ease my arm over my stomach. The IV in my left arm is starting to bug me. My heartbeat picks up as I tune into the heart monitor of my roommate. I hate hospitals.

The door creaks open and I'm staring into the face of my doctor and another man with dark skin and a Chicago Fire Department jacket on. He turns to close the door and I realize that he's the chief of the department I'm scheduled to start with tomorrow… or today? I have no idea how long I was out.

The doctor opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. "What day is it?" I ask.

"Wednesday," the Doctor replies. I was here over night. Great. "How are you feeling?"

"My head is throbbing a bit," I say, searching for words. "My wrist is fine, but my neck is stiff and the cuts on my cheeks burn a bit. Other than that, I'm okay."

"Well, that's exactly what we expected. You'll be a little sore for a day or two, but you luckily don't have a concussion. As soon as those stitches come out, you can go straight to work."

The chief looks at the doctor for a second. He opens his mouth to speak as the door opens partially. The chief opens it the rest of the way as Keegan pokes his head in. He looks awkwardly around.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asks sheepishly.

"No, come in," the doctor smiles. Keegan steps in the room and walks up to me. He kisses my cheek and I catch sight of the bandage on his neck. I reach for it.

"What happened?" I whisper.

"Just a couple cuts, but you should see yourself," he smiles with laughter and love in his eyes. I grin. The chief clears his throat. I snap to attention and sit up higher and Keegan steps back and sits in the plastic chair beside my bed.

"Kelsey, my name is Chief Boden," his voice rumbles in the back of his throat. "I'm the chief at Station 51."

I smile at him.

"The doctor told me your stitches would be out within three to four days, but seeing your broken arm, you can't really start working until that heels up. Would you mind still coming to your shifts and staying at the station. When your stitches come out, you'll be on the truck, but not suiting up."

"Okay," I draw out the word slowly as I nod. "When's my first shift?"

"Tomorrow, 8:00 am."

"I'll be there," I smile nervously.

The chief nods and leaves the room. My eyes follow him out the door and I count him as a strange, difficult personality, but I like him.