Hello everyone! I hope you're going good after christmas. I wrote two more chapters for GTT and another one is in progress. So... Enjoy?


CHAPTER 8: You can cry

At the firehouse 51, all the firemen of the second shift were here. All except Matt, Gabby and Kelly. Chief Boden had given him the time he needed to stay with Matt, and he was very thankful about it. But for now, Matt was in a coma and was going to stay in it the time to recover, and he didn't want to sit next to him, ready to go crazy. He needed to stay buzy. Having been informed about the accident of her little brother, Christie came almost immediately and burst into tears in Kelly's arms. And she almost passed out when she saw Matt in this hospital bed, hooked up to numerous machines. In the absence of Kelly, she proposed to watch over him. This was for this reason that Kelly was late for his shift, because he needed to return to his appartment and grab his stuffs.

« Hello chief », Kelly started immediately after his arriving. « I'm sorry, I'm late ».

« It's nothing Kelly. Go prepare yourself before having a call ».

Kelly nodded and went to the locker's room while Boden followed him with his eyes. He didn't want to ask how he was, because he knew that obviously he wasn't fine, and that he needed to think about something else in hope to get better. During this time, Kelly was changing as fast as possible before joining his team. Shay, who knew he was there, entered the room and approached.

« Hey ».

Kelly closed his locker and feigned a smile.

« Hey ».

Shay looked at him from head to toe.

« You hadn't slept, uh? »

Kelly closed his eyes and shook his head.

« I can't sleep. I can't do it ».

He sat on the bench, and Shay did the same soon after.

« When Matt will wake up, he will need you with all your strength. You have to sleep. For him ».

Shay had always the right words to cheer him.

« I... I know you're right, but... But every time I close my eyes, I see him again under this car, bleeding to death or... Or on this damn table ».

Thinking about all this, Kelly closed his eyes. But he saw again and again these traumatic images.

« I know it's hard Kelly, but you still have to sleep. Even a little, you need it ».

She took his hand and squeezed it to show her support. In the common room, Hermann was sitting on one of the chairs, totally still. This worried his team and the other firefighters of the firehouse, and even more the chief.

« Hermann? »

He shook his head slightly, and looked Boden.

« Yes chief? »

« Are you sure you're okay? »

« I will be fine when my lieutenant will be out of the wood and will get back to work ».

Then everybody had the same reaction : keep their mouth shut. Nobody wanted to say this: ''IF he could get back to work one day''. Knowing this forbidden sentance, Hermann closed his eyes and sighed.

« I know what you're thinking chief ».

« I don't have a choice Hermann ».

« Got it ».

He knew he had to take the place of lieutenant. At least the time for Matt to recover and come back, if he could. He jumped, got out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his left shoulder.

« We'll be here to help you if you need it. You're not alone. We're here, together ».

Cruz was trying to make him feel better. He was soon joined by the other firefighters. Then Shay and Kelly.

« How is Matt? »

Kelly put his hands in his pockets and sighed.

« Stable. He's slightly going better. Christie is with him while I'm on shift and she'll call me if anything happens ».

« And Gabby? »

This time, Shay spoke.

« Stable too. She's regaining strength. If all goes well, within one or two days, the doctors will reduce sedation to let her wake on her own ».

Shay frowned and turned to the chief.

« By the way chief, who replaces Dawson? »

« I asked the headquarters to affect someone else temporarely today. Meanwhile, Mills ? »

He jumped up and stood up, surprised.

« Yes chief? »

« Can you stay in the ambo the time for the replacement to come? »

« No problem chief ».

On this last sentance, the bell rang : structure fire.

At Chicago Med, Christie couldn't take her eyes off her little brother. She barely had time to come to terms with him and she had almost lost him. She barely had time to speak with Kelly, much less with a doctor or a nurse. So she didn't know the extent of his injuries, and this was frustrating. She had to wait another ten minutes before a nurse could come inside to check on Matt. But something bothered her. Wanting to be sure that everything was alright, she pushed the nurse button. She took his free hand and squeezed it, cuddling it the time for a nurse to come. Several seconds later, the door opened, revealing a young nurse.

« You pressed the nurse button? »

« Uh... Yeah... I'm worried ».

The nurse used to see Kelly, but had never seen this woman.

« And you are? »

« Christie. I'm Matt's sister ».

The nurse smiled and approached.

« What can I do for you ? »

« Well, uh... I don't know anything about his injuries, so I don't know if it's normal, but he seems feverish ».

The nurse frowned, approached the bed, took her thermometer and took his temperature. 100.

« Indeed, he's a little. I'll call his doctor. He will explain everything ».

She paged Dr. Riley and stayed in the room to take his vitals, note them on the files and check his bandages.

« If I can make you feel better, it's common to develop a slight fever after major surgery. But as I said, the doctor will give you more details ».

She just had time to finish this phrase the doctor entered the room. Surprised to not see Kelly, he approached the young lady carefully.

« Dr. Riley, meet Christie, Matt's sister ».

« Ah, hello ma'm », he said shaking her hand.

He turned to the nurse.

« You've paged me? »

« Yes. He has a slight fever, and Christie would like some informations about her brother ».

« I see ».

He approached the bed and checked what could cause this fever.

« It's quite usual to have a mild fever after brain urgery, or heart surgery. And in his case, both ».

He removed the bandages from his right side. Christie let out a cry of horror.

« Mh... He has a rash around the wound ».

He turned his head to Christie.

« Do you know if he has some allergies to medication, antiseptic or even some sort of bandage? »

« Well, younger he had some troubles with antiseptics. He developed a rash, redness and a slight fever. This is what causes the fever? »

« Seems to be. Emily can you bring the special creme? »

« Got it ».

The nurse left the room.

« This creme is made for tpeople who don't tolerate antiseptics. And it has the same properties as our other cremes. With this, his fever should go down in around an hour or so ».

« And... And his other injuries? Kelly didn't tell me anything ».

« Well, I will take the time needed to explain and try to reassure you ».

The doctor sat on a chair near Christie.

« Did Kellyexplain to you why he is here? »

« He told me it was a car accident. But nothing else ».

« Okay ».

The docotr didn't know how to tell her why he was in this shape. But he had no choice.

« Matt was hit by a car at full speed, and dragged to the ground by this same car for about 330 fts before stopping his course under a car ».

Christie let out a gasp, ran her hands over her mouth at the same time and closed her eyes to cry. The doctor wanted to continue, but he let to Christie some time to digest the news. Apparently, she didn't even know that.

« Your brother was brought here with an aortic rupture, the main artery in the human body that distributes oxygenated blood to all parts of the body through the system. This rupture caused a massive hemothorax. His left lung was punctured and his diaphragm ruptured. He has numerous fractured and cracked bones, and a swelling in his brain ».

The more the doctor talked, the more Christie had tears on her eyes then streaming down her cheeks. But Riley hadn't finished his explanations.

« He had two brain surgeries. The first one had consisted to remove the bleeding and the pressure. But soon after, the bleeding had returned and was more important. We had to drain the blood and the swelling and stopped the bleeding. He scared us when his brain activity has stopped ».

« WHAT? »

Christie didn't know how to take the news. Knowing that her brother was dead for a while, but on the other side, knowing that her brother had survived... She didn't know.

« For three hours, his brain didn't work. With Kelly's aproval, we realized a 'last chance' operation. It's still experimental but every time we try, it's more effective ».

« And what is the aim? »

« According to recent research, people with no brain activities continues to have an almost imperceptible activity. The aim of this operation is to implant some sensors on his hyppocampus to capture these brain waves, amplify them and spread them to restart the brain. I simplified, it's much more complicated ».

« And uh... And it works? »

« At first, we failed every time, but the last two years, we have a 100% success rate. Our biggest problem is that we need the patient to wake up to see the damage ».

« Damage? And... And there are always damage? »

« Always, but it depends on the intensity of the process. The higher the intensity, the more the damage are numerous and huge. But as I said, this method is improving every day ».

« And Matt? »

« Well... We have to conduct the trial at full power for the first time. So we don't know. He should have numerous damage, but we don't know for sure. We'll run some tests this afternoon to see where we are ».

Christie swallowed hard. Her little brother would never be the same. Never.

« And... What damage he could have? »

« As I said to Kelly, most of our patients had to relearn the basics: walking, talking, reading... But we noticed that most of them had kept their memory. And I must admit that it's the first time we use this trial on someone who had an injury in the occipital lobe. So we're can't predict the extent of the damage. Maybe he won't have to relearn the basics, but will have some visual defficiencies or... Or problems with his memory. We don't know. As I said, we'll run some tests and we'll wait his awakening ».

Christie nodded. A last question was burning her lips.

« Why he was hit... »

« From what I understood, he wanted to save his girlfriend. She crossed the road and the car couldn't brake. He pushed her to the ground and he was hit. At full speed ».

« Oh my God Gabby! »

She put back her hand over her mouth, ready to cry.

« She... When she got up to rescue Matt, she was hit by another car ».

She closed her eyes, crying again in front of the doctor.

« She's okay ? I mean... Uh... »

« She's at Lakeshore. I heard Kelly and one of his friend talk about her. I think they talked about a spleen exploded and a damaged vestibular system. But if you want more information, you can call Lakoshore, or even Kelly. He will know more than me ».

Doctor Riley put his hand on her left shoulder as a support and then left the room, asking the nurse to monitor his fever. Christie grabbed her phone and called Kelly, who immediately picked up.

« Christie ? What is it, there's a problem ? »

She didn't answer, she was just crying. She couldn't answer.

« I'll be there in five minutes ».

Kelly was reallyy anxious. He had asked Christie to call for any problems and hear her crying like this... This wasn't good, not good at all. He asked Tony to drive to Chicago Med as fast as he could. He entered the hospital six minutes later, and went to Matt's room in CCU soon after. And he just saw Christie on a chair, crying out loud, her head on her arms. He approached the bed, saw that Matt hadn't move. He let out a sigh of relief then began to squeeze her right shoulder.

« Christie... »

But she continued to cry. So he knelt in front of her and raised her head. Her eyes were red, full of tears. She saw that Kelly had been in a fire not long time ago. He was full of dust, his clothes were dirty and we was still wearing his gear.

« What happened? », he asked carefully.

Christie stopped crying, and inhaled deeply, trying to stay calm.

« The doctor told me what happened with full details ».

Kelly wanted to talk, but eveything stopping him : the hiss of the ventilator, her look full of anger, his own feelings...

« I... Couldn't talk about this. I... Freed him from under the car, I saw him in that damn operating room when he had no brain activity, and... And I couldn't talk about this. I couldn't, not to you... »

He closed his eyes, ready to cry too. Christie looked at him, knelt on the ground in front of him and hugged him. Kelly also had gone trough hell, saw everything, saw her little brother injured and being rescrued.

« I can't tell you that I know what you went through, but what I know is that you were here for him when I couldn't ».

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her too. They stayed like this for a few minutes. She wiped her tears and looked at Kelly.

« How is Gabby? »

Kelly sighed, closing his eyes.

« She was hit by another car when she wanted to rescue Matt. Her right vestibular system is damaged, she had a punctured lung, her spleen exploded and she had a swelling in her inner ear ».

« M-meaning? »

« Meaning... »

Kelly opened his eyes and decided to face Christie.

« Meaning that she'll have to relearn to walk ».

Christie felt bad for her. She didn't know her well, but Matt loved her. And this meant everything.

« Somebody is with her ? »

« Her brother. He doesn't want to leave her ».

« And he knows about Matt ? »

« Yeah, his unit is stil trying to find the car and the man or woman who did this to her ».

« And the one who hit Matt? »

« He... He is really in shock. Antonio told me he went to her room to apologize and to see how she was. He described the car that hit Gabby and uh... And he would pay as much as he can the health care of Matt and his hospitalization ».

Christie was in shock. So the man who did this to her little brother was sorry and didn't want to hit him.

« Why he didn't brake ? »

« We don't know. Someone is checking why they didn't work. Nolan thinks it's a design flaw. The car went out of the seller ».

« Nolan ? »

« Uh... T-the man who hit him ».

« He came here ? »

« No, he's still at Lakeshore. He was seriously shocked and... And has a head injury so they want to keep him for a day or two, just in case ».

Christie nodded. A phone rang, and startled Kelly and her. He grabbed his phone and picked up.

« Hey Antonio, how are you ? »

« Uh... Good, I think. I don't know. Uh... I just... Wanted some news ».

« Oh... Uh... Matt is uh... I don't know. Christie ? »

Christie, who was looking Matt, turned her head to Kelly, and took the phone he handed to her.

« Hello ? »

« You're... Matt's sister right ? »

« Yes. And you're Gabby's brother ».

Antonio and Christie swallowed at the same time.

« How is Matt ? »

« Uh... The nurse will pass soon to check on him because he's developping a slight fever, but apparently it's very common after a... Brain surgery or heart surgery. But I think he's good. And Gabby ? »

« Uh... I... The doctor told me she's good, that in two days they will reduce sedation to let her wake on her own. And uh... You... You know about Matt ? »

« Not really. They put him in a coma the time for him to heal properly and let his body rest and before decreasing sedation. I think. I'm not a doctor but uh... I think this is it ».

Kelly nodded to Christie so she could know that her explanation was good, and soon after, he signed to her that he had to go because he was on shift.

« Kelly has to go. He's on shift and he needs to go back to the firehouse ».

« … Okay. I'll call Chicago Med if I want news ».

« And I'll do the same for Gabby. Goodbye ».

« Goodbye ».

She hung up and handed his phone to Kelly.

« I'm sorry Christie. I really have to go. I shouldn't be here on shift ».

« No, it's me. I... Cried on the phone so you had to come here. I'll call you soon when the nurse will check on him ».

« Yeah, thanks ».

He kissed her cheek and left the room, leaving her alone with her brother. She took his free hand and cuddled it again. She wanted him to know he wasn't alone in this room.