Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Chicago Fire or it's characters. This is purely for fun, and I am making no money from this story.

Thank you for the wonderful reviews :) You guys are the best!

Enjoy!

Chapter Four

After Devon stormed out, Kelly was left fuming at the woman's nerve to show her face here, now. And for sometime nothing could calm him, but then in the corner of his eye he thought he saw Shay move.

Instantly Kelly's focus shifted. "Shay," He murmured, going to his best friend's bedside.

Shay then made an uncoordinated, yet purposeful movement to grab for the breathing tube. She was waking up.

"Hey there, take it easy, Shay," Kelly said, pressing the nurse call button before gently holding her arms to keep her from hurting herself. "You're gonna be okay, Shay. Take it easy."

"Can I help you?" One of the ICU nurses, Mary said as she entered the room, "Oh, Ms Shay you're awake. Here, let's see if we can take out that breathing tube."

Mary checked several of the machines, before nodding her head approvingly. "Very good, well I think we can take that tube out now, Ms Shay. Get you feeling a bit more human." Without further delay, the experienced nurse deftly undid the endotracheal tube's fastenings, and then pulled out the tube itself, which in turn caused Shay to cough violently, until she finally lay back.

Grimacing from the pain, Shay spoke to Severide, "What happened?" Her words were hoarse, but clear. It was a good sign.

"There was an explosion. You got hurt pretty bad, but you're gonna be okay. Everything's okay now."

"I'll go get the doctor," Mary told Severide. "They'll want to do a full neuro check. But everything looks good."

"Wait! What does that mean?"

"I'll go get the doctor," Mary replied evasively.

Shay looked to Kelly with fear in her eyes, and truthfully he wasn't fairing much better. "It's okay, Shay," Kelly tried to calm his friend, gently stroking her hair. "Everything's going to be okay."

From her seat by Matt's bedside Dawson noticed an increase in activity in Shay's room across the hall. Gently setting Matt's limp hand back down on the bed, thinking the worst Gabby rushed to see what was happening with her friend.

Through the glass wall that separated off the room from the hallway, Gabby saw a doctor examining Shay. Shay was okay, she was awake.

Relief rushed through Gabby, but that relief was short lived, as she watched the doctor frown. Something was wrong.

"Try again, Ms Shay," The intensivist instructed from his position at the end of the bed. "Press against my hands as hard as you can. Alright, you can rest, Ms Shay."

"Is something wrong, doc?" Severide asked worriedly, he too had seen the doctor's expression.

"There is moderate weakness in her arms and legs, there may have been an injury to the part of her brain that controls her muscles. It is not uncommon in such situations, and with physical therapy it may improve." The doctor turned his attention back to Shay, "Otherwise you're doing very well, Ms Shay."

"So when can I get out of here, and go back to work?"

"Well, it's a miracle in and of itself that you are awake and talking. You have to understand that you're recovery will take time. You have been through a massive trauma, and been in a coma for close to two days. It will be a long road just to get you home, you shouldn't even be thinking about returning to work at this stage."

"Why not? I know it won't be easy, but I'll do it."

"Leslie, you have a fractured pelvis, that will keep you in bed for at least four weeks, you also have rib fractures, and signs of mild brain injuries, but ultimately it will be the injury to your kidneys that will prevent you from returning to work. Being on dialysis, and working in a physically demanding job is just not an option. I'm sorry."

"What injury? No one's told me anything," Shay said, craning her neck to see more of what was around her, looking in particular for a dialysis machine.

"Your kidneys sustained major injuries in the explosion. The right one had to be removed, and the left one was severely bruised. Currently you are receiving dialysis through a central line in your neck, we'll continue with three hours sessions four times a week, and monitor for signs that your remaining kidney is starting to function again."

"How long are we talking here? Days? Weeks?"

"Kidney trauma is actually quite rare, and so there really isn't a specific timeframe that I can give you. At this point it is a waiting game. That said, if we don't see any improvement in function in say three months we will need to consider the option of a kidney transplant."

"Transplant?"

"It is a possibility, but let's give that kidney of yours a fair chance to heal before we go making any decisions."

After the doctor left Dawson tentatively entered the room. She hadn't heard their conversation, however from the tears streaming from Shay's eyes it was fairly easy to guess.

"...am I going to do, Kelly? I can't not work," Shay was yelling at her best friend. "I can't spend the rest of my life hooked up to a damn machine."

"And you won't have to," Kelly replied, only to notice that Shay's attention was elsewhere.

"Gabby," Shay said in greeting, relieved to see that her partner was okay.

"Hi Shay. How are you doing girl?"

"Been better," Shay replied offering her partner a half smile. "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt at all, did you?"

"No, I'm okay. But Matt... Matt got hurt pretty bad, he's in a room across the hall."

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. Is he going to be alright?"

"Um, we're not really sure yet. He had an epidural bleed, and he um lost his legs, so even when he wakes up, it's not going to be easy."

"Maybe not, but he'll be okay, we all will," Kelly said. "We'll all be okay."

"Oh my poor baby," Nancy Casey murmured as she walked into her son's hospital room. "Gabriela, I am so sorry that I couldn't get here sooner. Parole curfew, you understand. How is our boy?"

"He's got a long road ahead of him," Gabby said tentatively. "But so far so good. They have him in an induced coma at the moment, but he's going to wake up soon, and he'll be okay."

"I just... I can't believe that they took his legs. When I heard- All he ever wanted to do was be a firefighter, and now..."

"He'll be okay," Gabby said perhaps a little too quickly. "We'll get through this just fine. Yeah, he'll wake up tomorrow, and they'll fit him for prosthetics, and he'll be okay. Even if he can't be a firefighter, we're going to get through this."

"I hope you're right, Gabriela. I hope you're right."

To Be Continued...

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.