Chicagofireforever- I'm so glad you like the story, it means so much to me, and all of your supports keeps me going. I really, really appreciate it. Anyway, here's your update

Hope06- Yes, Emily is scared and confused, but that's the way the storyline was supposed to be and I strayed from it. Emily truly loves all the support you are giving her and the way you would stick up for her if you were a friend of hers that she knew. Yeah, they may have made things worse, but they're cocky, overprotective dads and brothers. Thank you for your input to that one, probably annoying check-up chapter. I do think she has the balance, but I think I need to find a way to make the things that balance it come through so that it balances… that didn't make any sense to me. I need to bring forth the balancing factor.

Dixiewinxwrites- Thank you for your review. I am working on her insecurities, and this chapter could be a disappointment to some because I wrote it before this chapter that you reviewed. You are correct, Hippotherapy is riding, but it is focused, actually is only, for people with disabilities who are unable to control the movement in their body. I could add it into flashbacks which is something I hadn't thought of before so I appreciate the idea and the suggestion.

RayRay- I am going to start being more true to that initial storyline, since it is what I said I would do. I did already write this chapter before I put up this "review to" nonsense, which is the review I am responding to here. Thank you for your support and your review. I appreciate it.

Bella- WOW! Thank you for the encouragement and your kind words. Here's your chapter that I wrote before putting up the chapter you reviewed to, thank you so much, really really appreciated.

IMPORTANT: YOU ALL HAVE RESPONDED TO CHAPTER NINE, THEREFORE YOU CANNOT POST A SECOND REVIEW TO CHAPTER 9. I would still love for you all to either find a chapter you didn't review to and put your chapter 9 review there, or you could PM me, or wait for the next chapter. Your reviews still keep me going though.

I wrote this chapter before putting that "PLEASE REVIEW" nonsense up, so your suggestions will take effect in chapter 10. Thank you so much for the support, I hope you like it.

She sat rigid in the chair in the private waiting room, her leg bouncing nervously and without direction. She hadn't yet seen her sister, she hadn't yet heard anything on shay, and Alexx wasn't yet there with Seth and Haley. Things weren't yet going well for her so far.

Basil sat up and rested her chin just above Emily's knee on her thigh. Emily looked down, eyes red, and gag her wolf a small, sad smile. She picked up her hand and let it fall heavily onto Basil's head, sliding it down her neck it a long, heavy stroke and resting to grasp the fur at the base of her neck, holding it tightly to maintain some of her sanity. Emily could almost feel the whine building in the Wolf's throat and pulled on the hair wadded tightly in her fist. It cut off and Basil looked up with sad eyes, her tail twitching slightly. The movement, somehow, caught the eye of Christopher Herman, who had looked up from a slab of blue tiled nestled randomly in with the white ones around it and reverted his eyes to Emily to check on her.

He was met with the sight of her staring at basil, her head cocked slightly to the side. He noted the grasp she had on the fur of her service dog and continued to let his eyes wander to finish his analysis of her current state of mind. Her eyes were red and puffy, currently filling with new liquid waiting to burn a salty path down one of cheeks. And then one dripped off her nose, where she watched it land in a small; wet circle on her jeans. He noticed the way her leg twitched, more than once as it so often did when she was holding back. And then it began to bounce again, as it had stopped when basil placed her chin there to soothe the girl. He noticed another tear as she concentrated on trying to hold the emotion back. He saw the pain in her face as of a sky writer had painted it in cloudy letters so everyone would get the memo. He caught the way her fist began clench, unclench, and clench again unconsciously as it did when there was an Impending attack.

And then he was on his feet, moving towards her with deliberate speed and lifting her to his hip. She let her legs dangle this time, not having the energy to curl them around his waist. Her arms wrapped securely around his sturdy neck, grasping desperately to his collar and letting out a loud sob. She tried inhaling the scent of the bonfire on his uniform, but the sobs wracking her body didn't allow any time for gasping in breaths of air. She choked, hard, her breathing was everywhere, the murmur in her chest got louder, she could tell, and her pulse would be far from normal, too far to bring it down in time. Her tears came with reluctance, but they sped down her face without a dam to stop them and they soaked Hermann's collar in seconds. He bounced her around the room, and then tried to take her outside. Nothing worked.

That's when chief stood. He faced Hermann and held out his hands, in the stance that said, "Give her here". That's what he did. Hermann passed her over and she took to the switch quickly, and with more vigor than she had when Hermann first pulled her from the chair. She grasped his collar with a fury and nearly had to bite down on his shoulder to gain any sort of semblance of sanity. Her ankles crossed behind him and she squeezed as hard as possible like it was the very thing keeping her alive. Her fistfuls couldn't get any bigger, but she still floundered for more of it. He held her back tightly, knowing that the feeling would only soothe her further. He took her out, an arm all the way across her shoulders to hold on to the top of her arm, thankfully where her other hand had sought refuge in its clinging so he could hold her and monitor her pulse.

But nothing seemed to help, she wasn't having it. Her heart rate was still soaring, her breaths never eased, and her mind never cleared. She was beginning to shake and her fists worked themselves over and over, trying to rid of herself of the oncoming horror. And that's when the men finally used their heads and remembered the vest that Basil wore. The vest specifically for this event that held the syringes full of medicine, the alcohol prep swatches, and the biohazard bag to dispose of those things.

Matt was first to move, first to think. He lunged for the wolf and ripped open all three of the pockets he would need. He pulled out two syringes and a prep swatch, opening the waste bag in the process for easy disposal. He moved to chief, who stopped bouncing Emily so matt could work. He pulled on the sleeve of her shirt, knowing full well that her arm wasn't where she usually got her medicine, but he was a guy, and she was sensitive. Below the waist was hers, and no man would ever go there. Her swabbed her arm with the pad and registered the way she let that arm go limp, knowing that it wouldn't help her for that arm to be tensed with worry. He jabbed her with the first needle, stepping back and disposing of it. They waited, and sixty seconds later, chief demanded he do it again, she wasn't back to normal yet. The shaking stopped, her fists clenched still, but less aggressively, and her heart rate was getting better. So he did, he stuck her again and stepped back to watch with concern as the girl had become nearly a daughter worked herself back down and further into calm.

Her tears didn't stop, her heart rate wouldn't go all the way down, but when a nurse came in at request to check her heart, she was given a clean bill of health. They all sighed in relief, hating when this happened to their little girl and they all backed down. Chief still held her close, clinging to her as though it was the only way for her to maintain this state. But this was it, this is what they learned to handle, and this is what they all loved. This little girl of four three and a half, and only about 42 pounds, long, dark waves in place of hair, and a personality fit for Emily. That was their love.

Her sobbing died to a sputter and the men were engulfed once again in near-silence between them all, not knowing what to say to each other now. It was one thing to have a firefighter out, like Hermann that time, but when both of your responding paramedics are in the hospital and not bringing people to it, it's a whole 'nother thing to try and process. It was more difficult to process if you were in love with her and her sister.

A different nurse approached, "Because, you'll all stand up, I'm going to speak to the room, Gabriela Dawson is just fine, we're stitching up a cut on her forehead, and a gash on her leg, other than that, her CT came clean" the nurse started. Emily sat up, tensing her muscles, almost involuntary, listening to what this insensitive was talking about.

"We're going to keep her overnight just to keep an eye on anything that could possibly go wrong" Emily let out a tiny sob and brought her hand to her mouth, "Leslie Shay, is going into surgery to relieve some of the bleeding, it won't take long, we'll stitch her up and get her back with you guys as soon as possible. If you need anything, come find us." She finished and nodded a sad nod to the group, mostly Emily and walked away.

Matt studied Emily's reaction, her face now blank and staring straight ahead. There was that look she had, sniffling, and then her gaze glazed, and he left her alone, allowing her to ride it out because there's nothing you can do when that happens, you let it go.

There was a weight. It was heavy. It was crushing her. She didn't know what to do. It was hard to breathe, her heart wasn't working right. She couldn't move, she couldn't say anything. It was crushing her. She couldn't see much. She didn't remember everything. Her mind didn't know what had happened. She was betraying herself. Remember. But she didn't know. There was dark, something covering her. There was only small light in the sides of her eyes. Peripheral vision was a bitch when it came to a situation where it was only thing you had to rely on.

Her neck hurt; there was pressure, and then pain, shooting pain. Her back was against the seat, she could feel that. But it was sharp. Her back had sharps. There was the pressure all over her body, it was crushing her. Her legs hurt. Nothing would move. She was immobile. But her legs seemed the most useless. She released a sob and felt the tears seep back into her eyes because she was on her back. Were her legs even there? She couldn't feel them!

The tears finally began to flow, her sobs overtaking her tiny, tiny body. Did she have her legs?! She couldn't feel them! Where were they?! And then there was warmth, it was on her belly. It was wet and warm, it was there, and she could feel it. She didn't like it. What was it? What happened? Where was she?

And then there were voices, they were loud and scary. She didn't like them, they didn't sound nice…

"Anyone?" one asked

"Two so far, not hard to find" another replied. What were they talking about? What was happening?

"Man, out of 25, you'd hope there'd be more than two" the first replied. They were far away; she wanted them to come closer. They were scary, but maybe they would help.

Her sobs grew louder and more desperate. With each wave of tears that shook her tiny body she could feel her back grow more and more pained. The hurt grew worse and worse.

"Aye! Shuddup, I think I got someone!" a different voice screamed. She continued to cry, she didn't know how to stop, and she didn't know if she could stop.

"Oh my god, there's someone under all of this!" it yelled. There was clanking above her, and a small scream escaped her lips at the fear of what was happening. What was happening? What were they doing? Who are they?

There were loud noises and she couldn't help her screams and her cries for them to stop. It was scary, there was no one there to hold her hand and tell her everything was going to be okay.

"Everything's gonna be alright honey. Can you tell me where it hurts?"

"Everywhere!" little Emily screamed, the sharp in her back shifting and making her scream.

"Does your head hurt? Your belly? Your back? Where honey, tell me where?"

"There's sharp in my back!" she said through choked heaves, "My head hurts. I can't feel my legs!" she finished, sputtering out a cry. And then there was light, and the weight had lessened. But her breathing was still labored, it was still hard to breathe in, it was still crushing her.

"We have to get this woman off of her, but we have to be careful" it said, "I need paramedics standing by!" he shouted, "She could be the pressure on a wound or something." It continued, "All this glass, shit! What if she's fucking laying on it?" he cursed.

The weight was gone and there was light. There were people, and there was movement, and there was pain like she'd never felt before. Worse than when Tommy dropped her in dance or she fell of the beam in gymnastics. There were people touching her, they were beginning to move her. The pain intensified. And then she threw up. It was red, bloody, and she couldn't hold it in. they turned her on her side only to discover that she was in fact lying in the glass. This was the movement that nicked the nerve for her to have the use of her legs. This was the one and only movement through this whole dilemma that would cause the rest of her world to turn to hell.

And then there was Alexx, and Seth, and Haley. And then there was movement. She flailed from her stupor and looked toward them, watching as they stumbled around the hospital. They were rushing. Seth looked relatively calm, collected, like a gentleman, he had everyone's things. Alexx carried Haley in her arms, the little girl burying her face in Alexx's neck. Haley was clinging to Alexx, face panicked and flushed, Alexx looked more worried than everyone else-but that was her nature, being maternal was her thing, it was something you had to grow into as you grew up in the foster care system. They ran up to the floor reception and must have asked for wherever there were people for Gabriela Dawson-pointing her to the way for Emily. The nurse pointed, and Alexx looked and she deflated with relief. But her features didn't soften, seeing the state Emily was in only reignited the fear she had been relieved of for a few seconds.

Emily's face was a mask of pain and fear. It refueled the fire in Alexx's system as she rushed over. She gathered Haley by her armpits and set her on the ground, bending at the waist to kiss her cheek and no-doubt assure her that things were in fact ok. She walked quickly to where Emily was, who reciprocated the gesture with concerned looks from the firehouse watching the group's every movement. Alexx dropped to her knees of the floor to look at Emily. Her hands reached up to cup her face, Emily's hands wrapped around her wrists. The embrace made it look as though Alexx was Emily's mom who had just been brought home after being kidnapped and beaten for three weeks. It was maternal; the way Alexx had taught herself.

"Are you ok? You're alright? Are you hurt? Did you have a seizure? It's going to be okay…" Alexx said. Emily nodded viciously to each question, even the one about seizing, though she hadn't, and allowed Alexx to reached up and wrap her in a hug, and caress her, and hold her.

"It's gonna be okay" she whispered, "Everyone's going to be ok" she finished. Holding Emily as a fresh wave of sobs wracked her body. She began to crumple into the older girl, and they allowed themselves on the floor, Alexx backing them into a wall to have something to sit against. Seth had moved wide around them with Haley's hand in his own, setting their stuff down to pick up his sister and bounce her around to calm her.

The room had erupted, and the after-effects left one pair of people in a lump on the floor, being comforted by someone only four years older. And there was the other pair, a brother and sister, nine years apart, acting like a father holding his daughter after she fell off the swings. And then there was the rest of the firehouse, watching with baffled expressions as the situation unfolded with this girl these two girls that neither of them had met. Things had just been starting to calm down, but all it takes is one bump to disrupt the volcano.

After ten minutes, there was silence and it seemed like everyone was finally okay. Emily and Haley were asleep, the nurse brought in a cot that Seth and Alexx both declared with certainty that neither girls would protest to sharing. And then Alexx and Seth were talking, like adults, like mom and dad, husband and wife- just how they looked just fifteen minutes before. They talked in hushed tones, the conversation seeming intense before Alexx pulled her hand up, looking nearly like she was going to strike him but seeming to just be talking to him in harsh tones, as if to reprimand him. He hung his head for a second and looked to say sorry before they hugged and walked back into the room where there was the task of introducing Alexx.

"I'm Alexx; I'm Seth's foster sister. I've been with them for about six months, I'm 17, I have some classes with Emily at school." She said in one nervous breath, releasing the last nervous puff at the end and flushing-what a way to meet them.

"Hello Alexx, nice to meet you, Chief Boden" he said from his chair. She nodded to him.

Kelly looked at Seth, looked like he was getting angry, "You told us you had one sister!" he nearly yelled, an odd thing to get upset about.

"I'm not biological, and I don't even know if I'm staying, I'm what they call a bouncer in the system, I'm not surprised he didn't say anything. Plus, he was covering; I've been guilty party with transportation to and from the dance studio and everything for the two of them." She said, quickly defending Seth's honor. "He was just…protecting everyone" she finished, letting out the familiar puff of air once more.

And then the room turned to quiet and they waited. The two young girls slept, curled into each other with puffy eyes and red faces. They would all sleep there if they could. Chief stayed, Cruz stayed, Mills, Casey, Otis, Severide, and Mouch stayed. No one blamed Hermann for not staying; he had family to go to and be grateful for and go home to tell them he loved them. Casey got a blanket for the girls on the cot. Seth and Alexx shared another couch in the room, eventually falling asleep on each other with Seth's head in her lap. Casey also eventually went to grab a blanket for them.

Shay made it out of surgery, she'd have a killer headache, but she'd be fine; back to work within the month. The rest of the men were left there to wait. They were left there to watch the kids and wait for results. They were there for support and to reminisce. They were there to think about what they had and be grateful for it. They were there so that everyone knew there was a family that loved them, whether or not they were biologically related or just worked together. They were a family; they acted like one.