Hey everybody! Thank you so much for being so patient with me! Here is the next installation, as promised. There won't be too much more of this story, maybe a chapter or two? But I'll be sure to give you guys what you request! Let's see if Kelly can manage to help his younger brother, huh?

Leslie Shay crouched next to her fevered friend, trying to keep her tone gentle and soft. "Matt, easy Matt…it's okay…"

The blonde man kept staring past her, shaking his head. He crunched into an even tighter ball, inadvertently yelping as he wrenched his hurt shoulder the wrong way. "I'm sorry… God I'm so sorry…"

"Shh…Matt, you're okay…" Shay soothed, reaching for his healthy shoulder. The second she touched it, the man flailed, obviously startled. "Easy, easy Matt…"

The fevered firefighter began shivering violently, sinking his fingernails into each bicep. "What am I going to do, oh God, what have I done?"

"Matt…Matt, c'mon, Matthew," the paramedic continued, frantically trying to approach the man. "Matt, you're gonna hurt yourself… shit…"

The blonde woman did her best to secure the panicking man, locking him in a tight hug. She could feel the heat emanating from his skin, the delirious mumbling continuing to pour out of his mouth. Shay kept shushing him soothingly, struggling against the much stronger fireman. There was a sudden banging of footsteps before the apartment door was flung open. Kelly took one look at the pair in the corner before sprinting to their side. Dropping roughly to his knees, Kelly took a shaky breath.

"God, Shay, what do we do?"

"Here, c'mere, Kel," she urged, switching places with him. "Hold him. Keep him as still as you can, okay? We don't need him hurting his shoulder more."

Severide did as she suggested and moved to sit next to his brother, embracing him as tightly as he dared. For a few minutes, they sat there, Shay running a hand through the blonde hair as he muttered apologies over and over again. Matt struggled against the squad lieutenant's hold, but Kelly held tight, eventually wearing out the exhausted man in his grasp. Still shivering lightly, Matt seemed to relax in his brother's embrace, a few tears of fatigue and delirium slipping down his cheeks.

Kelly sighed, moving to hold Matt in a more comfortable position. "Damn, Matt…what the hell happened?"

The still-fevered blonde instinctively settled into his friend's arms, blue eyes glassy and unfocused. "Sorry…so s'rry…"

Shay moved to grab the thermometer from the nearby table. "His fever's been gradually rising since you left, but I was keeping an eye on it. We weren't in the danger zone. But then Heather came and Matt argued with her. I helped him fall back asleep, but then he started mumbling and panicking and apologizing every other word…"

Kelly felt himself tensing at the mention of Heather's name. Taking the thermometer from Shay, he moved to face the feverish blonde more fully. "Hey Matty…open up, bud…" It took a bit of convincing, but Severide finally managed to get the instrument under his friend's tongue and took the reading. "101.7, that's pretty high, huh?"

Shay nodded. "Yeah, but it's not in the danger zone yet. We just need to keep it from climbing any higher. I'm going to go grab some ice, see if you can get him to talk some more…"

"Matty, c'mon bud…talk to me…" Kelly coaxed.

"K…Kel?"

"Yeah, buddy, I'm here. You're gonna be just fine, okay?"

"I'm s'rry, God I'm s'rry, Kel…what am I gonna do? I…I killed, I killed Andy…God I'm so sorry!" the blonde anguished. "I did it, I…I k'lld…I m'rdered your br'ther."

Severide felt his blood chill as he heard the fevered slurs of his surrogate brother. "Oh God, no Matty, no…no you didn't."

When Shay returned, she found a distraught Kelly tightly hugging an equally upset Casey, the older man shushing all of the apologies. The shaken look in her roommate's eyes made her pause. "Kel…?"

"You got that ice? We need to get him lucid, we need him lucid now Shay," he bypassed, sitting Matt up straighter. "We need this…this madness to stop right now."

"Let's get him up on the couch," Shay decided, moving out of the way as Kelly carefully stood the injured man up. Once he was laid out on the couch, the paramedic went about placing ice packs strategically around the man; in his armpits, the back of his neck, and one on his chest. "What's going on, Kel?"

"You tell me, Shay? He's all upset and confused because of the fever! He thinks we're all blaming him for Andy…he's a mess!" Severide ranted. "He's a frickin' mess and nothing we say is making any difference. How long is he gonna be like this, Shay? How long is he gonna be stuck thinking we all hate him for Andy?"

"The fever and meds can sometimes pair together to cause delirium…I guess the arguing with Heather spiraled and now, Matt's stuck. If we can break his fever, then we can get him lucid again, and deal with this. He may not even remember what happened, Kel…" Shay explained, trying to calm the man. "We just need to break his fever. He took meds shortly before I called you and the ice should help. The important thing now is just to keep him calm."

Kelly scrubbed a hand over his face. "Calm, right…calm."

With a frustrated sigh, the squad lieutenant sank down onto the coffee table across from his brother. Gripping the delusional man's hand, Kelly settled in for the long haul, repeatedly assuring his fevered friend that it was all okay, that nobody blamed him.

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Nearly an hour after storming into his apartment, Kelly finally felt himself breathe a sigh of relief. Matt was finally in a deep, uninterrupted sleep. Running a hand through his hair, the lieutenant stood up, moving to the stairs. He hadn't seen Shay in a bit and was a bit concerned. He knew he shouldn't have snapped earlier, but he was concerned. He'd finally gotten semi-relaxed after hitting the gym when Shay had called, frantic about Matt. Arriving home, he was confronted with a delusional brother thrashing in the arms of his much smaller roommate. The whole day had been too much and his concern had caused him to lash out at his best friend and roommate.

Once he reached the top of the stairs, he headed towards Shay's room. The woman in question was sitting at the head of the bed, knees folded up under her chin. Kelly knocked lightly on the door before moving to sit on the edge of the bed

"Hey, Shay," he greeted softly.

"Hey, how's Matt?" she asked in response.

"He's asleep. He stopped mumbling finally," Kelly informed. "Look, Shay…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you earlier. I…"

"No, I understand, Kel," Shay smiled tightly. "I let Heather get to Matt and then I couldn't handle it when he cracked. Even a tired, injured fireman is more than I can handle…"

Severide shook his head, moving to hug the blonde. "No, none of this is your fault, and Trouble is often more than I can handle. It's just been a long couple of days and we all need some down time, right? Let's just get Matt lucid and then we can all have an easy night in, maybe move past all this drama."

Shay hugged him back. "That sounds good, Kel. I think we could all use the rest. Let's head down and finish the dinner I started, okay?"

"Sounds good to me. That way, we can watch over Matt too; see when he wakes up."

With that, the duo headed back down the stairs to work on food and watch over the sleeping companion. Only time would tell if Heather's words had done more emotional damage than they thought, but for now, Matt was resting peacefully.

Well? Will Matt remember? Will he have hurt himself more than Shay thought? Will they finally be able to move past the Heather Darden Drama? Leave me a review with your thoughts! I'm hoping to post a oneshot featuring some Severide angst for a change on Wednesday…keep an eye out!