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.
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Enjoy!
Chapter Nine
It was to be a long night for the hospitalised members of firehouse 51. As tired and ill as she was, Shay was forcing herself to look admiringly at the massive bouquet of flowers and balloons brought by her mom, and the giant teddy bear from her sister, Megan.
News had reached Shay that Gabby was in the emergency department, and she very much wanted to be there to support her friend.
But no, she was in her own hospital room, entertaining two people (Kelly had gone home already) who she loved very dearly, yet could hardly stand at times.
"She looks positively dreadful, doesn't she dear?" Annette Shay, Leslie's mom said as she fussed over her daughter.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be back in a minute," Megan replied distractedly, cellphone pressed to her ear.
"Mom, I'm fine really," Leslie insisted, though she couldn't lift lift herself up to prove her argument. "It looks a lot worse than it is. You really could go home."
In his room Matt was almost out of his mind with worry. After all, how badly hurt was Gabby that she couldn't even come up to say goodnight before she left? How badly had he hurt her?
And on the pre-natal ward Gabby was fairing no better. In essence there was nothing that could be done other than to wait and see whether she would miscarry a baby she hadn't even known about.
Antonio was sitting with her, just in case she needed anything.
As dawn broke the next morning, Gabby was wheeled downstairs for a follow up ultrasound.
The ultrasound technician was very kind, but Gabby hardly noticed anything around her, until the other woman said, "There's still a heartbeat. Here, dearie, listen." She fiddled with the machine until a loud thumping sound was emitted - the baby's heartbeat.
"Oh wow," Antonio murmured. "It's a miracle. Are you hearing this, sis?"
Gabby nodded, wiping tears from her eyes.
"This little one's a fighter. It's still early days, but it looks like your baby will be okay."
"Really?" Gabby asked, not daring to hope.
"Really. Congratulations, Ms Dawson."
"Thank you," Gabby said gratefully as the technician returned to her work, and turned the sound off once again. Gabby looked to her brother, "Do you think I can go see Matt? I need to tell him that he's going to be a dad."
"I'm sure we can sort something out, sis."
When Matt saw Gabby being wheeled into his room in a wheelchair by Antonio, he very nearly jumped from the bed to meet her. Thankfully he stopped himself.
"Gabby! Are you okay? Why're you in a gown? Have you been crying?"
"Matt, calm down," Gabby urged her boyfriend. "Everything is alright, better than alright actually... We're going to have a baby."
After a very long evening Shay's mom and sister had gone to a hotel for the night, and thankfully were yet to return. Severide stopped by to see her.
"How's Gabby?" Were the first words out of Shay's mouth.
"Dawson's fine, they'll let her out tomorrow morning. I'm sure she'll come by later. How are you? Where are Annette and Megan?"
"I'm okay, as I spent most of the night convincing mom. They went to their hotel to get some sleep, they'll be back this afternoon."
"Oh, okay. Hey listen Shay, I'm not going to be coming around as much. I just can't keep missing shifts. My leave's run out, and Chief's already stuck his neck out to get me more time."
Honestly Shay didn't quite know what to say, though she had seen this coming of course. "...That's okay. When's your next shift?"
"Tomorrow. Are you sure you're going to be okay here?"
"I'll be fine."
"We're going to have a baby," Matt echoed in shock. "How?"
Gabby stifled a laugh, her brother couldn't quite manage as much, commenting, "Well bro, when two people love each other very much-"
"Shut it," Matt bit back, it was a little harsh, but not as bad as his reaction might have been. "Gabby?"
"My best guess is that night, you know when I did that thing, and you-"
"Geez sis, I really don't need to hear this," Antonio interrupted. "I'll be outside."
"So six weeks?"
"About that, yes. What do you think, babe?"
"We're having a baby," Matt murmured, the happiness in his voice was unmistakable, then, "...Wait, what does this have to do with you being in a hospital gown?"
"It doesn't matter, Matt. Please, just be happy."
"Damn it, Gabby! Tell me."
Gabby cringed. "Okay, just calm down. After we fell off the bed yesterday I started getting cramps, and the doctor in emergency told me about the baby, and that I might be at risk to miscarry. But that didn't happen, my ultrasound this morning was fine. I'll be going home tomorrow, a week of rest, and everything will be back to normal."
"Miscarry?" That word hung heavily in the air. "You nearly lost our baby because of me?"
It was around lunchtime that day when Shay's doctor came in to see her. "Good afternoon, Leslie," The doctor greeted her, as he pulled up a chair beside her bed.
"Good afternoon, doctor."
"I have most excellent news for you, Leslie. We have found you a donor."
"What? I've only been on the list for a couple of days."
"Yes, well your donor wasn't found through the national registry. They have however asked to remain anonymous to you."
"Why? Who is it?"
"I cannot tell you, Leslie. Are you willing to go ahead with the transplant surgery?"
It was possibly the most difficult decision of Shay's life. On one hand she needed a transplant to get well and get back to her life. But on the other hand one of her friends or family were putting themselves at risk. "...I'll do it, but you better tell whoever it is that they have to be okay."
To Be Continued...
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.
