Kelly grabbed the jaws right of Clarke's hands...and attacked Honda with a vengeance. Time was of the essence. Smoke was pouring out from beneath the hood of the car. Capp and Mills were working feverishly to try and free the woman from the driver's seat...but in all honesty, she looked like she was a goner.
Hopefully this kid had found a pocket back there and he wasn't hurt too badly.
Clarke came back with the spreader and a ram...and between the two men and three pieces of hydraulic equipment they managed to make a hole big enough for Kelly to reach in.
He shined the high powered flash light into the car...and he saw a little boy. He looked like he was about the same age as Mikayla. He had huge brown eyes that were open wide with fear. His face had some blood on it...so did his shirt.
Damn it...they probably wouldn't be able to just pull him out.
"Get Shay over here!" he yelled.
She or Dawson might be able to get into the hole. They could assess whether or not the kid needed to be boarded and collared. Something that required room to maneuver.
He turned back to the boy.
"Hey, Buddy...my name's Kelly. What's yours?"
"Frankie..."
"Do you hurt anywhere, Frankie?" he asked.
The little boy's lip trembled.
"I don't know! I did! I hurt real bad! But now I don't know!"
"It's okay..." Kelly said quickly. "We're gonna get you outta there..."
Kid was prob'ly scared half to death...
"Move it, Kelly." Shay said as she came up beside him. "What do we have?"
"Little boy...he's awake...he's alert...but I can't get in there."
"Move..." she said again.
Severide got out of the way and he went to check on what progress Capp and Mills were making.
It was slow. Too slow.
Clarke yanked off his glove and reached into the smashed window. He felt around for a carotid pulse...and after a minute he looked at his teammates and shook his head.
Make that four...
"I'm gonna need some help here..." Shay said as she backed out of the rear of the Honda. "We need more room back there."
"What's wrong with him?" Kelly asked.
"He's got a broken collarbone...but I'm worried about a head injury. His pupils are unequal...and the right one is sluggish."
A cold wind ripped across the scene...blowing snow into Kelly's face. He quickly turned away and he wondered how he was gonna get Frankie out.
Very carefully...that's how. One piece at a time.
"Okay...Guys, I want two men on each side. Clarke...you and Capp attack it from the passenger side, Mills, you and me on this side. Get another ram...we gotta make this whole bigger."
Mills went to get the equipment.
"And I want someone standin' by with a fire extinguisher!" Severide called out.
That engine could ignite at any moment.
They were out there all night long.
When he finally made it back to his apartment, Kelly felt like a block of ice. He didn't think he'd ever feel warm again.
But he threw an extra blanket on his bed and crawled underneath it.
As he shivered beneath the covers he replayed the whole scene in his mind.
Squad 3 had pulled eight people out of half a dozen vehicles. The one...the woman in the Honda was beyond saving. But they had gotten Frankie out in one piece. Just before they rolled out, they had gotten word that he was being transferred to Lurie Children's Hospital.
And he couldn't help but think of Mikayla. At least she was with the Garcia's now...and she was safe and warm...
The exhausted lieutenant finally closed his eyes.
In the morning he dragged himself out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen. He reached into the fridge and pulled out the OJ. He got the biggest glass he could find and filled it to the brim. Then he reached into the cabinet where Leslie kept her vitamins. He shook four Vitamin C's out of the bottle and helped himself to a mega-dose of Zinc.
He couldn't afford to get sick. But he already had a tickle in the back of his throat...and a pounding headache.
That's what you get for staying out all night long in sub-zero temperatures.
But he wasn't gonna let it stop him.
Today was Saturday...the day that he and Shay were supposed to spend with Mikayla.
Once Shay got up they'd check in with the Garcia's. And make their plans for the day.
And he needed to check in with Katie too...see how she was doing. Maybe she could come over later and meet the munchkin.
An hour later Shay emerged from her room...and took one look at her roommate.
"You look like death warmed over." she said.
"You're not lookin' so hot yourself..." he retorted.
She came over to him and laid her hand across his forehead.
"Well, you don't have a fever..."
Kelly pulled away.
"I'm fine." he insisted. "I'm gonna go call Mrs. Garcia...see what time we can get the munchkin."
"You still wanna do that?"
"Yes, I still wanna do that. We promised her..."
"I'm just saying maybe you should lay low for today..." she told him. "You've been going practically non-stop for a week now."
"I said I'm fine!"
There was nothing on God's green Earth that was going to get him to go back on his promise to Mikayla.
"Kelly!" Mikayla squealed when he walked through the Garcia's door. "You comed!"
"I told you I would." he said. "I told you we'd spend the day together."
"What we gonna do?" she asked as he hoisted her up into his arms.
"Anything you want, Munchkin."
"Can we go to your house?"
"Sure...but let's make a stop first...we'll get some toys to play with."
"And ice-cweem? You said we have ice-cweem..."
"We'll get ice cream." he promised.
Mrs. Garcia bundled Mikayla in her new coat...and she had added snow pants, boots, and a scarf to the ensemble.
And she handed Kelly a brand new booster seat for the car.
"I'll bring her back after dinner..." he told her.
"Have fun, you two." Mrs. Garcia called after them as they headed out the door.
They made a stop at Target...Kelly's third of the week.
He lifted Mikayla into the cart and headed off toward the groceries...where he stocked up on PB&J...some potato chips...some cookies...and juice boxes.
"Don't forget ice-cweem!" Mikayla reminded him.
"We'll come back right before we leave...we don't want it to melt." he said.
"What kind do you like?"
"Chocolate! And 'binella! And 'trawberry! And Oreos! And..."
Kelly couldn't help but laugh..
"So in other words, all of 'em?"
Might as well buy all thirty-one flavors...
But Mikayla shook her head.
"No! Don't like gween ice cweem! And coffee ice-cweem's yucky! And 'betend ice-cweem gross!"
"Pretend ice-cream?" he asked.
The little girl nodded.
"The kind 'dat's good for you...'da skinny kind!" she said.
She made a face.
"'Dat kind's really yucky!"
Kelly laughed again.
"I gotcha...right there with you, Munchkin." he agreed. "Now whaddya say we find some toys?"
They picked play-doh...and coloring books...and some pink Legos...and Kelly couldn't believe he was doing this...but he bought two Barbies.
Shay was gonna give him hell for that.
He also bought some movies...the one with the little yellow guys...and Mikayla begged him till he picked up the one with the girl with the long hair...and then he grabbed one with little penguins...it looked cute...and it was only five bucks.
Then they swung back to the food to get the ice cream...and a box of microwave popcorn.
You couldn't have movies without popcorn.