Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Chicago other than the idea and my characters Keegan Howard and Kelsey Aarons. All other characters and ideas belong to Dick Wolf and NBC.
I got a dog. Not an overly expensive one or even a purebred. I went to the shelter and got a dog. He's a two year old black lab (and probably something else) who is energetic, barks at sirens and who likes to cuddle. My kind of dog.
"So how was your day off, Kelsey?" Shay asks as I sit down with a mug of tea.
"It was pretty good. Nothing special, but I got a dog," I smile. "His name is Jax."
"You got a dog? That's only a little awesome for a day off. Why'd you get him?" Dawson butts in with a grin.
"Why do you think? It's so quiet in my apartment without Keegan and I need a friend since I don't have a spare bed for a roommate!" I roll my eyes. "Plus I've always wanted a dog."
Just then Casey walks in. He greats Mouch and Cruz, waves at Herman, and then walks to me. "Candidate, the showers clean?"
My face falls a little but I jump up, "they will be sir." I begin to walk away, but I turn around quickly, "also good evening," I say with a slight grin before walking off to scrub the showers.
I fill the bucket with soap, bleach, and water and begin to scrub. Honestly, the showers aren't even that dirty, this is just a good job for a candidate to do if their stepping out of line or just need something to do. It's kind of relaxing actually… back and forth with the sponge. I'm just alone with my thoughts. Keegan. What am I going to do with him? He got traded and I can't move there and he doesn't want to come home much. Do we try? So far he hasn't kept in touch very well. It's always been me calling and then him telling me I have to go… is this even worth it? Most of his stuff is not even in my apartment anymore and what if he's already with other girls? I swallow. This freaking sucks… but I guess I am only nineteen. I am not deciding the rest of my life right now. I hate this. I hate not knowing. I wish this was simple. Back and forth with the sponge. Scrub, scrub, scrub.
Suddenly, the bells go off. I jump up and move the bucket from the shower before sprinting out of the locker room to the bays. Gotta beat Casey. Quickly, I pull my boots off, pull up my fire pants and throw on my jacket. Second one… only behind Otis. I climb in the truck and hold my helmet in my lap. Let's go get that fire.
Or car accident. It's a three car pile-up on a busy highway. The swirling snow is making nothing easier and the visibility is quite low. Just as we pull up, another car slams into the wreckage.
"We gotta get this traffic to stop or slow down," Casey calls to Boden.
"This is gonna be a dangerous job guys, keep your heads up and be ready to move if you hear a yell. Traffic is still moving here," Boden commands. He hops back into his squad car and begins to pull further up the highway in an effort to get the traffic to slow down.
We began to work through the wreckage pulling people out of cars and attending to injuries. Snow whipped against my face and continued to fall harder. Casey grunted beside me as he pulled open a car door. We were working in the middle of the pile up.
"Heads up! Move!" Severide screamed. Casey and I looked up. Move to where? We were in the middle of the wreck.
"On the cars, get on top of one of the cars," I yelled to Casey. I jumped into the bed of a pickup and offered a hand to Casey. Helping him in we braced for impact. Screeching tires sounded briefly before the deafening sound of metal on metal greeted our ears.
"Kelsey, you good?" Casey asked sitting up in the truck bed. The sedan next to the truck had been pushed up against and over part of the truck.
"Fine, you?"
"I'm good. Quick thinking to get in the truck," he said as he jumped out in search of more victims. I grinned and followed quickly behind him.
Jax greeted me at the door with a wagging tail and a tongue lolling from his mouth. I smiled and wiped the snow from my eyes.
"Let's go Jax, walk time," I clipped his leash on and we walked out into the falling snow. Whatever Casey was annoyed with me about… I don't think he's upset anymore. I smile to myself. Maybe, just maybe, I'm finally fitting into this house.
Jax and I continue to walk down the street. I jerk back as my feet slip a little in the snow before regaining my balance. Slippery huh? Busy night for whoever's working tonight. Suddenly Jax barks and I look up. Tires screech and a car spins out of control. The car in the opposite lane slams into the passenger side and then all is quiet. Snow continues to fall. Max and I run to the accident. I call 911.