Chapter 10

As soon as Shay got the text from Allison, she went flying down to the Chief's office and didn't even give him time to tell her was ok to go. She just told him that Allison's grandma was in the hospital and that Allison needed her. It was only when he told her he would take her that she even realized she was all over the place.

"Don't worry about work, Shay. I'll get coverage for you as long as you need if it's necessary." Boden said. "Although I hope it won't be." Shay just gave a nod to acknowledge him. They were flying down the streets of Chicago, lights and sirens. Even if it was a breach of protocol, using them for personal reasons, Boden didn't care at all. He had more pressing things to deal with than some protocol.

Shay tried calling Rafferty for the third time in the last ten minutes since she got the text, and it just rang until it went to voicemail. She didn't know if it was a good or bad sign that Rafferty wasn't picking up.

They made it to the hospital in just over five minutes and Shay was out of the Chief's car before it was even to a complete stop. As soon as she got into the emergency room, was about to go to the desk when she glanced in the waiting area and saw Allison and her grandpa sitting. Neither of them were paying attention, they were lost in thought. Shay slowly approached Rafferty so she wouldn't scare her and squatted down in front of her, putting her hands on Rafferty's knees. The second Shay made contact, Allison practically launched herself at Shay, throwing her arms around Shay's neck. Allison was trying to stay strong for as long as she could, but the second Shay was there, she broke down.

It took a few minutes for Rafferty to calm down enough to explain what had happened. Shay couldn't believe what she was hearing. Just the thought of Allison possibly having to go through losing her grandma was making her upset. Shay just held her, while Allison's ear was resting on Shay's chest, listening to the calming beats of Shay's heartbeat.

No one really knew what was going on since Rafferty ran from the ER to the waiting area, so as much as Shay didn't want to leave Allison, she wanted Shay to go find Kendra so she can find out what was going on; what would happen from here.

Shay found Kendra quickly when she went back into the emergency room. "Kendra."

She got Kendra's attention and the look on her face told Shay there wasn't going to be any good news. "Shay." She just shook her head. "We're doing everything we can to make her comfortable. She's been in and out of consciousness and asking for Allison. Oncology admitted her upstairs, but there isn't much else they can do. She has a couple days, a week if she's lucky left."

"Oh god. I don't think she's going to be able to handle this Kendra. They were so close to each other! This isn't fair." Shay was crying now, voice breaking as she talked. "I'm going to go upstairs. Can you go to the waiting area and tell her and her grandpa?" Kendra just nodded and gave Shay a hug before they went their separate ways.

When Shay walked into Lucia's room, she broke down herself. She sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed and held Lucia's hand. She sat in silence for a minute or two before she heard Lucia say her name in a whispered voice.

"Hey. Allison's going to be here any second. Save your strength for her." Lucia just gave her a soft hum. Shay continued to talk though. "There's things I need to tell you. You need to know before you… go. I love your granddaughter Grams. She's amazing and smart and funny. I want to ask her to marry me. I don't know when, but sometime in the near future. I can't wait any longer Grams. I just want Allison to be my wife already." Lucia just gave another soft hum and squeezed Shay's hand. "I know it hasn't been long, but it feels right." Shay glanced out the door and saw Allison and her grandpa coming down the hall with Kendra. Shay just stood up and kissed Lucia on the forehead and met Allison at the door. She wanted to give Allison some time alone, but she wasn't going to go too far, but she knew she needed coffee, so she went down to the cafeteria.

After Shay got her coffee she turned around and saw Severide sitting at a table. She was confused so she went over to him. "What are you doing here?" Shay asked.

Severide looked up and knew instantly from the look on Shay's face that something was wrong. "Shay. What's wrong?"

"Allison's grandma… she only—she's—cancer—cardiac arrest—a couple—days." That was the only thing Severide could understand from what Shay said. He now had his arms around her and she was sobbing.

"Shhh. I've got you. We'll figure things out. Where's Allison now?" Severide asked when he thought Shay was calmed down enough to speak.

"Upstairs. With Lucia. God Kelly, she's a mess. They're so close! Allison didn't even know she was sick!" Shay wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I can't think about this right now. Tell me why you're here."

"Honestly? I don't know. Raff text me this morning and asked me to swing by when I had a chance. I don't know what for though."

"Well I have no clue either. Whatever it is though is probably going on the back burner for a little while anyway." Severide just nodded. "I don't know how to help her though this."

"You're just going to have to be there for her. Even if she tries to push you away, you stay. When she's crying, you hold her. There isn't a book on how to help someone though this. It depends on the person. She's going to be mad and upset and she might say things she doesn't mean and that'll hurt. You can't let them affect you. She loves you way too much to want to lose you but grief has a funny way of doing things. You're just going to have to take it a day at a time." Severide said.

"When you're mom died… how did you deal with it?" Shay was curious and Kelly knew she was asking out to get an idea of what was going to happen.

"I was still in high school when it happened. I didn't want to be around anyone. I was angry all the time. Eventually I worked though things and accepted what happened but sometimes it still hurts." Shay was about to say something else when her phone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was a text from Allison.

Rafferty: where'd u go?

Shay: cafeteria. Got coffee. U or ur grandpa want some?

R: yes please… we both need it.

S: I ran into Kelly. He was sitting here… waiting for u?

R: SHIT! Tell him I will talk to him when I get a chance.

S: u got it. Give me ten mins and I'll be right up. I love you.

R: I love you too.

"Rafferty said she will talk to you about whatever it was she needs to talk to you about when she gets a chance." Shay said to Severide.

"It's ok. I kind of have an idea what she wants to talk to me about but I don't want to say anything just in case it isn't what I think it is."

"Fair enough. I need to get coffee for Allison and her grandpa before I head back upstairs. Do you want to go with me?" Shay asked.

"It's ok. I'm just going to go."

Shay got the coffees and headed back. When she got close to the room though, she heard a few noises she didn't want to hear and wasn't expecting yet.

another cliff hanger... i know i know i'm bad. you won't have to wait too long for the next chapter though...