Down and Out

Statement

"Matt?" Hallie watched as he slowly came around, his swollen lips parted and an almost silent groan left his broken mouth. "Matt?"

"Hmm?" His right eye opened partially, his left was still covered by the white gauze.

"Surgery went well, we'll know in less than a week if it was successful." She smiled down at him as he took in the surroundings of the ICU. "And more good news; you're getting out of here later."

"Home?" he croaked. He tried to clear his throat but it was painful just to swallow.

"Hope that's a joke," she responded, "To a private room, you don't such critical ca… monitoring anymore. It's really good news Matt."

"When?" He breathed heavily, it was such an effort to talk and no matter how hard he tried it didn't sound like his own voice, it sounded like less than a fraction of it; weak and slurred.

"After your next lot of meds. They've got to move you off the bed so after having some painkillers is the best time because…"

"I'm black and blue," he finished for her.

Hallie didn't comment and instead steered the conversation away from his injuries. "Antonio's going to come by once you're out of here, how about tomorrow?"

"Today?" he questioned.

"Erm…" she began hesitantly, she really didn't want him to come at all, she couldn't see what good it would do. "I think tomorrow would be better, give it some more time and..."

"No," he stated firmly, "It's already been... so... so long, right? I've been here... ages. Needs to be today."

"Ok, ok," she conceded, "I'll call him."

Just as Hallie had explained Casey was moved from the ICU to a private room on a less critical ward. And now he'd been moved they'd soon be helping him up and out of bed depending on his pain levels. He didn't notice his new surroundings until he woke up. The room seemed brighter than the ICU and there was still no window, not that he would have been able to see out of it if there was. He wondered where Hallie was, perhaps she was working, he hoped she was working, he'd hate to have caused her to have so much time off because now that he thought about it she had been with him for the majority of his conscious moments.

A nurse wondered in, she smiled politely and checked his monitors before making notes in his chart, she made sure he was comfortable, although Casey didn't think he was ever going to be comfortable on the hospital bed with his arms still propped up by foam pillows, wearing an un-modest gown and compression socks. The central line site ached, the tape holding down the IV port made his skin itch and nasal cannula irritated him every time it puffed out air. In fact everything seemed to irritate him now that he felt incredibly aware. Although the awareness wouldn't last long, he would soon fall asleep and awaken in a groggy state where it would take him a few moments to remember where he was and what had happened.

"Hallie," Antonio greeted. "Thank you for letting me see him."

"He insisted," she replied. They were standing outside Casey's hospital room facing the nurses station. "I'm against this. It was all Voight's doing and I don't see how Matt giving a statement is going to help the situation."

"If we can identify any of the attackers we can prove that they were doing Voight's dirty work then it'll all be over, both him and his son will be going to prison," Antonio replied reassuringly.

"You really think it'll all be over? He must have done this to others and…"

"And he'll do it to more if we don't stop him. We can get him, don't you want that?"

"He's put my fiancé in the hospital! He might never fully recover!" she said heatedly. "Of course I want that but he's got away with this before hasn't he?"

"Matt's not in danger anymore, he'll be off the man's radar now he can't give his statement against his son," he replied.

Hallie sighed. "Just… just don't expect much, he tires really quickly and… and sometimes it's difficult to understand what he's saying."

"Hallie, I will come back every day if that's what needs to be done," he replied, "I won't stay with him for long today and you're welcome to be there."

The nurse was administrating a feed when Hallie and Antonio entered the room.

"Hey Casey," Antonio greeted as he slowly took in Casey's battered form, he'd been given the police report and photos but seeing him in person made all too real. "I can come back a little later if you want?" he questioned as he glanced at the NG tube.

"Be asleep later..." Casey replied, it sounded like he was already on his way to unconsciousness.

Antonio took the seat by the bed and Hallie moved up to Casey's side and gently touched his arm, a small gesture of comfort that would have been much more appreciated if his body wasn't starting to protest at the growing pain it felt.

"I'll make this quick," Antonio stated at the obvious discomfort on Casey's face. "If you could give a few descriptions of the men that attacked that would be a great a start." He pulled out his notepad and pen ready to take notes.

"I'm sorry… probably wasted your time..."

"Anything Casey, anything at all? Tattoos, jewellery?"

"There was three of them… I think..." Casey let his eye close. "One of them had a... had a tattoo on his wrist."

"Left or right?"

"Left… " He looked up at the bright ceiling, thinking back. "No… right. I don't know."

"Do you know what it looked like?" Antonio tried.

"Was just black… writing maybe?"

"That's a good start," Antonio nodded as he jotted it down, "Anything else? Hair colour? Eyes?"

"They were wearing hoods, bandanas…" he replied miserably.

"Ok well, the tattoo is a start," Antonio replied, although he highly doubted it would get them anywhere. "I'll come by tomorrow with some mugshots, these guys will have a record, that's how they'll know Voight, we'll find them Casey."

Hallie walked with him to the door, spoke out of Casey's earshot and shut the door behind Antonio as he left. There was a pain filled expression lacing Casey's face when she returned to his side.

"Your back?" she questioned.

He just grunted in response.

"I'll be back in a minute." And soon Casey was propped up by several pillows onto his left hand side to help relieve his bruised back.

"Hals…" He was quickly losing his battle against unconsciousness now that he was comfortable.

"Yeah baby?" She smiled down at him.

"Going home?"

"Trying to get rid of me?" she laughed.

"Oh… no… I…"

"I was joking Matt."

When it became clear she wasn't leaving he asked, "Can I have my toothbrush?" They'd kept him clean shaven and he'd been given a sponge bath every day since his surgery but his mouth felt horribly dirty now that feeling was slowly coming back to his tongue.

"I was going to bring it but I've bought some mouthwash from the shop instead," she explained, "It'll hurt to brush your teeth for now."

"Oh," he sounded miserably, "Feels horrible."

Hallie rummaged in her bag and took out a book and several magazines before reaching for the mouthwash. He automatically tried to take it from her before looked dismayed down at his two cast hands. Instead he allowed her to help him take a few sips before he slowly swirled it around his tender mouth and spat back out into the emesis basin Hallie held in front of him, the mint flavoured liquid stung at his sore lips as he did.

"Better?" she smiled.

"A little."

"I'm sorry Matt, we'll figure all of this out," she reassured him, "You should be able to eat some soft foods soon, when you can do that I'm sure you'll be able to brush without hurting."

Casey was looking back down at his hands, dejectedly he stated, "How am I gonna do anything?"

"We'll figure it out, you're one of the most resourceful people I know," she replied.

"Before I was in a very one sided fight?" The comment went ignored.

"Kelly's dropping by tomorrow," she stated in an attempt to cheer him up. "Get some rest now, you're struggling to…"

"Why's he keep coming?" he questioned despite the overwhelming urge to let sleep claim him.

"Because you two have been friends longer we've known each other."

"Tell him he's not obligated to come," he stated.

"He's not coming because he feels obligated. Now go to sleep."

"Nice room," Severide commented the next morning when he saw that Casey was awake, he closed the door behind himself.

"Home from home," Casey slurred in reply, he'd not long been awake.

"It's very…"

"Very white," he supplied.

"Begging to get out of here already?"

"They operated on my eye yesterday," he stated, ignoring Severide's comment. "Hals didn't say?"

Severide shook his head and sat down. "No she didn't."

"Worst case; lose the sight in that eye."

"And best case? It's perfectly fine?"

"Might see, might not have 20/20 vision," he explained.

"Well that's all right. Mouch wears glasses around the firehouse," Severide tried to reassure him although he was still processing this new information.

"Yeah, reading glasses," he dismissed.

"So you might just need them for reading, driving," Severide replied optimistically. "You don't drive the truck Casey. You worried glasses will ruin were street cred?"

"Wasn't aware I had street cred…" his face dropped. "I don't want a desk job…"

"I know."

"What's the time?" Casey asked after a few moments of silence, being stuck in the hospital was incredibly disorienting. "I don't even know what day it is… Oh God... I had construc…"

"Taken care of," he replied before Casey could panic any further.

"What?"

"I read your diary when I checked your new place," he explained.

"You read my diary?" Casey repeated.

"Wasn't as sordid as I thought it would be." Severide smirked but Casey's face was now washed with pain. "That's there for a reason," he nodded towards the PCA. They'd given Casey a pump so he could receive painkillers as and when he needed them within reason.

"Felt worse," he replied.

"You're not breathing properly because it hurts to; you'll get pneumonia on top of everything else. I don't know much but I know that. Use it or I'll press it for you," Severide warned.

"Fine." Reluctantly he pressed down on the controller than had been left by his right hand, he was reluctant because it didn't take away all of his pain, he'd rather use it when he felt worse but Severide was right. Hallie had already warned him about his breathing and kept instructing him to breathe into the incentive spirometer every time she was with him.

"You gonna get high?" Severide teased as he watched the digits increase on the PCA

"Ha I wish." A hint of a smile spread across his lips, pulling at the stitches. "It hardly takes away the…"

"Pain?" Severide questioned when Casey's lips fell closed. "How bad is it?"

"Been worse, like I said," he replied.

"That's good," Severide beamed. He'd felt completely helpless as he'd sat by his side only five days previously watching him whimpering unconsciously in pain, a sight he never thought he'd be witnessed to, a sight he'd never tell anyone he'd witnessed.

"Sev…" he slurred, suddenly tired, "Not sure how much… how much longer I can stay awake."

"Don't stay awake on my behalf," Severide replied but Casey was fast asleep before he'd even finished.

A nurse Hallie didn't recognise rushed by her as she wandered up to Casey's room later that day, she'd been home, showered and collected a few items to make her fiancés room more homely. She stepped into the room expecting him to fast asleep; he was. She frowned. She wasn't expecting the monitors to be turned off. There was no power outage and even if there were the backup generators would have kicked in immediately.

"Matt?" She dropped her bag on the chair and rushed over to his side. "Oh God…" She couldn't feel a pulse and he was barely breathing. "Code blue! I need some help in here!" she called out frantically as she hit the code button. "Code blue!" she repeated loudly as she flicked the heart monitor back on and began CPR.

TBC