Voight walked over to Boden as soon as he saw him step foot out of his car. Al was trying to see if they could get a hold of the manager of the hotel to find out some information.
"Four of my people are in there still." Voight said to Boden without even saying hello first.
"We will get them out. Do you know where they are?" Boden asked. Seeing the hint of anxiety in Voight's face was concerning for Boden since nothing ever rattled him.
"Two were in the ballroom on the third floor, which from reports no one has come out of yet and two started at the top of the building and were working their way down." Voight explained.
"Our men are on it." Boden said. He went to walk over to where Squad 3 and Engine 81 were pulling into so he relay the information to Casey and Severide when Voight stopped him to say, "Tell them to be careful we have five fugitives loose inside and radios aren't working."
Boden nodded and then quickened his pace to the trucks. At this point Al made his way through the crowd of people to Voight. "Can't find the manager anywhere. Some employees said he was in the lobby when the explosions occurred but haven't seen him since."
"Did you tell me that girl Atwater took to the hospital was the assistant manager?" Voight asked to clarify.
"Yeah." Al said. He felt bad for the girl but she still left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Go for a walk since the signal is jammed here and call him and tell him he needs to be getting information from her. There is a reason this is all happening here. Maybe she knows something or can lead us in the right direction." Voight commanded since right now that was about all they could do until he got his team back.
"On it." Al said and started walking.
Kevin walked back into the waiting room of Chicago Med after stepping outside to take a call from Olinsky. It was just as much chaos here as it was at the hotel of people trying to get information on their loved ones and others trying to get medical attention. He was grateful to see April walking right at him as he came in.
"Is she okay? Can I see her now? We have questions for her." Kevin said to April asking about Emily who he pulled out of the building.
"Yeah you can go in. She is conscious now just batter, bruised, some smoke inhalation and a broken leg." April explained.
"Thanks." Kevin said and headed back into the ED.
He entered the room and saw her sitting up drinking some water. All the bruises were evident on her now.
"Hey." He said from the doorway. She looked up and a small smile washed across her face for a second.
"Hi. Come in please. I heard you saved me. I guess that makes you my hero now." She said in a mocking flirtatious voice. Kevin made his way to stand next to her bed.
"Its my job." Kevin said to her.
"Oh." Emily said at first. "Well thank you." She was a little more sincere now.
"No problem. I am glad you are okay." He said to her and then reached for his notebook.
"I'm guessing you have some questions for me?" Emily asked noticing him looking like he was ready for business. She was kind of hoping he was there for her not for work. She knew it was silly but she felt something.
"Yeah. I'm sorry but we need to know what happened." Kevin said and pulled his pen out now so he could jot down some things.
"After you and your partner left I went to straighten up one of the rooms. After I went to walk down to the stairs, I figured I wasn't going to get my work out in with my hotel being infested with cops today I might as well take the stairs for some exercise." She said with a small smile to him. "But saw a guy in a maintenance uniform in the utility room for that floor. I went to tell him to leave the building but realized I didn't recognize him. I know all my staff." Emily told him.
"What was he doing?" Kevin asked.
"He was doing something to one of the gas pipes. I assumed he was one of the guys you were looking for since I didn't know him and tried to find something in the room to hit him with while still pretending I didn't notice that he didn't work here so he didn't catch on. But I was not as slick as I thought I was because next thing I know he was hitting me the tool in his hand. I tried to get away but I couldn't." Emily was not trying to hold back some tears now as she recalled what happened. "When I was on the floor was when he broke my leg I can't remember what he did because there was so much going on but I remember feeling it breaking. Once I stopped fighting back he went back to what he was doing. I started trying to crawl out of the room and he didn't notice. I could see and smell the smoke so I knew he started a fire so I started crawling faster and then there was an explosion. The next thing I remember was being in the ambulance with you."
Kevin nodded his head. "If I showed you pictures would you be able to recognize the guy?"
"Yes. Definitely." Emily responded fast. She didn't forget faces, its what helped her be so good at her job she knew all her employees and regular guests.
"Okay. I'll see if we can get some to show you soon. We are going to need your employee list and guest list as soon as possible." Kevin told her.
"Can't you get it from Mr. Waterman? He is at the hotel still, right?" Emily asked.
"That's the manager?" Kevin asked. Emily nodded in response. "We haven't been able to find him."
"That doesn't sound good." Emily said.
"No. Don't worry though. The scene was chaotic and there were a lot of people I'm sure they will find him." Kevin said trying to reassure her. For some reason with the worry on his face his hand slipped closer to where hers lied on the bed. He then could see her brain shifting gears fast.
"What time is it?" She asked suddenly.
"About eleven." Kevin told her.
"Shit." She said.
"What's wrong?"
"I have to pick my daughter up from preschool at 11:45." She told him. Kevin's face fell a little and he moved his hand back. Of course she was married with a kid, he thought, there was no way a girl like her was still single.
"Do you want to call your husband and see if he can get her?" Kevin asked pulling out his phone. Emily could see the change in his face.
"No. No husband. I'll have to call my mom." She had a little smile on her face because she could see Kevin relaxing again as soon as she said 'no husband'. She wasn't sure what there was about him but she automatically felt the need for him to like her. She normally didn't get that way around guys. She was perfectly happy with her life of just her and her daughter, no man was needed. But something about him was different. And at this point, she didn't even know his name.
"Okay. Here is my phone you can call her." He said handing her his phone.
"Thank you." She said.
"I'm just gonna step out side. Holler if you need anything." Kevin told her.
"Thanks again." She said. Kevin went to leave the room. "Wait." She called after him.
"Yeah?" He asked from the doorway.
"You never told me your name." She stated.
"Kevin. Officer Kevin Atwater." He told her with a smile.
"Thank you, Officer Atwater." She said stressing the officer as if she was teasing him before she turned her attention towards the phone. Kevin smiled and walked out of the room. He went over to the nurses' station and asked if he could use the phone. He called Olinsky hoping he still had phone signal so he could let them know about the one being in a maintenance uniform. He got a hold of Al and told him the information. At the end of the call he asked, "Any word on the others?"
"Nothing on Burgess and Halstead yet but Ruzek and Lindsay are coming down now."
Erin and Adam sat with their backs against the main doors to the ballroom. They were exhausted. After fighting off the guy in the kitchen the ballroom was in a bit of a panic. No one had any idea what was going on and they couldn't get out. There were cries that they were all going to be burned alive which was not helpful. Erin and Adam had finally been able to calm everyone down by lying that they had talked to CFD and there were already on scene to get them out and the third floor was out of harms way. This was a blatant lie but it worked. Everyone was calm. Now as they rested by the door Adam adjusted himself hoping to find a way of sitting where his arm didn't hurt. He thought maybe it would feel better one way but was slowly realizing no way was going to make it feel better.
"I'm sorry about earlier." Erin told him.
"For what?" Adam asked. He had an idea but wasn't going to make this easier for her.
"For setting our ground rules. For bothering you about Kim. I was wrong." She admitted.
"Did Erin Lindsay just admit that she was wrong? I wish I could have gotten that on tape. No one is going to believe me when I tell this story later." Adam declared trying to make light of the situation.
"Very funny. I admit when I am wrong all the time. I just happen not to be wrong often." She jested back.
"Ahuh." Adam said. He paused and then decided to tell her. "The thing with me and Kim its still new. I mean I know its actually not new but it feels like it is. And she has been in a hard place with her family so I am just doing what I can to help her out right now. But I love her. I have always loved her to me my relationship with her has always been serious, even when we were apart. She has always been it for me. So I just don't want to do anything to fuck it up this time. I got a second chance I am not going to ruin it." He confessed.
Erin gave a light smile. She appreciated him opening up to her. "Have you told her all this?" She asked.
"Yeah. I have actually. We have talked about everything. Apparently we both sucked at communication last time so we are making sure we are telling each other everything this time around. And when I see her after this I will probably tell her it all again." Adam told her. He was so worried about Kim at this point. He would do anything to know she was safe and have her in his arms. "I really hope she is okay and out of the building at this point."
"Me too. I wish we knew something about him." Erin said slipping up. She meant to say them but her mind was on Jay as Adam talked about his relationship with Kim. She couldn't help but relate to his feelings. And she wished she knew where Jay was and that he was safe.
"You worried about Halstead?" Adam asked catching the 'him'.
"Yeah." She replied softly.
"What's going on with you two? You guys have been weird. " Adam told her.
"We are on a break." She explained.
"Ugh. Like Ross and Rachel? That probably won't end well then." Adam said. Erin gave him a look that said it all. It was 'you watch Friends' quizzical look. "Nicole and Zoe have been watching it." He explained.
Erin took this as a valid answer and then said. "It's not like that. He has some stuff he has to work through and decided it would best for him to do it alone." She explained.
"Sounds like that wasn't what you wanted." Adam said. Erin was a little surprised he picked up on that.
"I want to help him. I love him. Obviously I want to be there for him but he really won't let me." She confessed. She really didn't tell anyone that. She had been keeping that to herself. But to be honest no one had really asked. She knew normally Kim would have asked but she had been busy with her sister. So Erin really didn't have anyone else who would care that much since Annie was busy with her son. It was definitely weird having this heartfelt conversation with Adam Ruzek. He is probably the last person she thought she would be having this conversation with.
"You should tell him that. It's obvious he still loves you and I'm sure you being there would help. Whenever I have a bad case I used to think staying by myself and keeping Kim away was for the best but I quickly realized having her as my support made everything better." Adam confessed remembering the case with Felicia or when he lost his badge. At first he thought he could deal with it on his own but Kim hadn't let that last long and made him feel much better.
"It's a bit bigger than a bad case." Erin said. She wasn't going to betray Jay's confidence and tell him. Adam went to say something when they heard banging on the door behind them.
"Fire Department. Is anyone in there?" A strong voice said. Erin recognized that voice immediately. She stood up fast from where she was sitting.
"Kelly! Is that you!? We are trapped in here!" Erin yelled back.
"Erin?" Kelly asked from the other side of the door.
"Yeah. I am here with Ruzek and about 100 dentist and 10 catering staff." She told him. "We can get the doors to open." Adam chimed in now standing next to Erin.
"Alright just stand back. We will get you out of there." Kelly replied. Erin could then here him giving out commands to it sounds like Cruz and Capp. She was so grateful they were here. She turned to give an announcement to everyone else in the room when she noticed smoke coming in from a back vent. She turned back to the door.
"Kelly?" She called out.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"If you could hurry that would be great." She told him. Adam looked at her and she nodded her head to the back of the room and Adam saw the smoke. Thankfully no one else had noticed yet. They couldn't deal with another panic.
Erin's mind was racing of everything that could go wrong. Maybe there was something with the doors and they wouldn't be able to get them open fast enough and everyone would get smoke inhalation. Or there would be a riot once they noticed the smoke. Her mind was at the next scenario when suddenly the doors popped open and standing on the other side was Kelly, Cruz, and Capp in their gear.
Her and Adam moved to the side as Capp and Cruz started leading people out of the building. Kelly moved in against the currently of people to where Adam and Erin were standing off to the side.
"You okay, man?" Kelly asked Adam seeing him bleeding and holding his arm.
"I will be." Adam replied.
"Okay. We got to get you guys out of here. There is a fire on the second, fifth, and eleventh floor and it has been spreading fast. I'll radio down and let them know you need an ambulance." Kelly informed them.
"The radios are working again?" Adam asked. They had given up checking theirs a while ago.
"Yeah just started a bit ago." Kelly told them. The room was emptied now so they three of them went out. Kelly guiding the way incase fire shot out of somewhere. They hallway was filled with smoke but it cleared out once they got to the stairway. Adam wanted to kiss the ground when they finally made it out of the hotel but there was too much commotion to do anything. Sylvie and Dawson came up to him as they walked out quickly followed by Voight.
"You two okay?" He asked while he was making sure Erin had no visable injuries.
"We are good." Erin told him. "Adam definitely needs an x-ray of his arm and maybe some stitches but that's it. We killed one of them. He was posing as a waiter." Erin told him. She would give him the full story of the two dead bodies and the fight later.
"We have reports of another one posing as a maintenance man, as well." Voight informed them from the information Atwater had given Al just a few minutes ago.
While Voight and Erin were having this conversation Sylvie and Gabby were trying to get Adam into their ambulance.
"I'm fine I don't need an ambulance he" told them. "I'll just go later."
"You will go now." Voight told him.
"Is Kim out yet?" He asked.
"We haven't heard from her or Halstead." He informed the two of them.
"Then I am not going anywhere." He said. He looked at Lindsay for some back up.
"Go and we will call you when we know something." Voight demanded.
"I'll go with you." Erin told him. Hoping it would keep both their minds off of it.
"Fine."
Erin and Adam got in the back of the ambulance with Gabby while Sylvie went up from to drive. They weren't talking much. Erin assumed Adam's mind was reeling with worst-case scenarios likes hers was. Dawson was covering the wound of his arm when her radio went off with Matt Casey's voice saying, "We found Halstead and Burgess. We need assistance and paramedics to the West staircase now."
A/N: Trying to meld everything going on so it flows instead of having each thing being a different chapter. Let me know if you like this set up better or the separate chapters! I love hearing what you all think! Thanks again for all the follows, favorites, and reviews!
