Please read: As I've received mixed feelings about the last chapter, I wanted to explain why I chose to take this road: The point of writing such a plot is to be able to create more character development which you will see in the next chapters to come. Thank you for your support on this story I appreciated all the reviews that have been posted on the last chapter, and look where it got me, I'm uploading a new one a day ahead! Enjoy :)

He felt the blood drain from his face in an instant and his legs wobble under his weight. "What?"

Boden patted him on the back, "Come on, I'll drive you."

He had talked to the doctor. Something about stress, hormonal imbalances, that could have caused the miscarriage. But he didn't really care. Their baby was gone, there was nothing they could do about it. He just wanted to see Erin, pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be okay.

He slowly pushed the door open and took a deep breath before walking in.

"Hey," He said softly, walking toward the bed. She barely acknowledged him, and turned her head back to stare at the window. He sat by the bed and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. She looked down at their entwined hands, raising her eyes and meeting his soft blue ones which were riming with tears.

"I-I-" She choked back a sob and forced her eyes shut, blocking out her own tears. He stood up, sitting down on the side of the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She cried for long minutes, and it took Kelly everything he had not to break down as well. He tried to soothe her, rubbing his hand up and down her back, placing feather-like kisses on her forehead. When her cries subsided, he felt her take a deep breath against his chest. "I'm sorry."

He had to make sure he understood her clearly. "You have nothing to be sorry for. This is not your fault Erin. You hear me, this is not your fault."

She pulled away suddenly, and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "I lost our baby, Kelly. I thought everything was fine, but then I felt some pain and-"

He stood up and cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. "Stop it, Erin. This is not your fault, don't you dare blame yourself. We-we can try again, it's going to be alright."

She glared at him icily. "I just lost our child and you're telling me it's going to be alright?"

"I-"

Truck 81, engine 51, squad 3, ambulance 61. Bus accident.

Severide pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fuck."

"You should go," she muttered, snapping her eyes to the window.

He sighed and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know; I don't want you to leave either, but these people need you more than I do," She met his eyes briefly and leaned in, placing a quick kiss on his lips. "Go."

Severide got up and squeezed her hand before walking out of the room. He found the nearest bathroom on his way out, slammed the door open and heavily leaned against the counter, looking at his reflection. He clenched his teeth, before opening the faucet and throwing some cold water on his face. When he got to the scene, Shay was the first to get to him.

"Severide-"

"I'm fine." He snapped. He walked to the truck and put his gear and helmet on. "Come on, Mills and Cap, you're with me."

The yellow bus laid on its side, its nose pressed against an electricity post which had collapsed after the collision.

"Some kids were able to be pulled out by the paramedics, but at least one is still stuck in there. There are also five cars to attend. I need squad in the bus." The Chief briefed them. "These electric cables can pop at any moment so I need you to be extra careful and quick. When I tell you to get out, you get out. Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir," was clearly said by every man on the field.

Severide was the first one to be able to crawl his way into the bus. The night had started to fall on the city, and everything had got darker than it was when he left the hospital. He turned on the light on his helmet and looked around him.

"Anybody here?" He shouted, moving as quickly and efficiently as possible toward the back of the bus. He heard a murmur on his left and dragged himself toward the sound. A few seconds later, he spotted a small figure. It was a child of about seven years old, stuck between two seats. "I'm gonna need the jaws here, Capp."

He spoke into his radio, as the others waited outside for some update. In the meantime, he tried to approach the kid as much as possible given the confine space. "Hey, my name is Kelly and I'm here to help you. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"

The little girl nodded shakily. "My legs are stuck."

Severide looked for any other injury. Except for a gash on her forehead, she seemed to be fine and alert. "It's alright, one of my friends if going to push the seat farther away so we can get you out, okay? What's your name?"

She managed to stop crying and sniffled. "Melissa."

"That's a very pretty name. How old are you?"

"Seven. I'll be eight in February."

February. That month had been ingrained in his mind for 3 months now, since they found out Erin's due date.

"Wow, you're almost on your way to double digits now," he feigned enthusiasm, but the knot in his throat made his voice waver. He heard a hiss and turned to find Capp at his level with the jaws. "Okay, Melissa, now is the time to get you out, what do you say?" The little girl nodded frantically. "Okay, let's do this."

The jaws crushed the seat in front of Melissa, freeing her legs long enough for Severide to slide her on the board Mills had slipped him through the window. They got her out easily, and after checking there wasn't anybody still stuck inside the bus, Severide got out. He accepted the bottle of water Mouch handed to him and by the pat he was given on the back by some of his colleagues, he figured they were all probably aware of the situation.

"Mommy, that's the firefighter who saved me!" He heard from a few feet behind him and turned around, spotting Melissa on a gurney, two adults surrounding her. He walked over and bumped his fist against Melissa's.

"You were very courageous in there, champion," He forced a smile and accepted the hugs and thank you's from her parents. He cleared his throat and took off his helmet. "You're welcome. Just doing my job."

When they got back to the station, Severide got off the truck before everyone and went straight to the locker room to change and go back to the hospital.

"Kelly," He heard the soft sound of his best friend's voice a minute later as he was putting his shirt over his head. He greeted his teeth to will the tears in his eyes to dry and shut the locker. "I heard about Erin."

"Yeah?" he asked, pulling his leather jacket on. "Were you the one who told the entire firehouse, then?"

"What? No." Shay approached him, forcing him to look at her. "They just know something happened to Erin and they can see you're not your usual self. Gabby's brother called me. Apparently Erin asked him to do so."

Of course she did. She must have been worried about him, and wanted Shay to know, so that she could comfort him. Except he did not want to talk about it. No then, or ever. He wanted to keep that day in the farthest part of his memories, destroy it even. He didn't know if he was going to be able to face Erin that night, knowing she would probably be blaming herself for what had happened. He could not let her do that, but then again, he did not know if he had it in him to talk about it right away.

Kelly swallowed heavily. "Right. I-I need to go back to the hospital to fill the paperwork and drive Erin back home."

"Okay," Shay said softly. She cupped his face and pulled herself up to press a kiss to his cheek. "I know the last thing you want to do right now is talk but I'm here is you need anything. I'm just a phone call away, alright?"

Kelly grabbed the blonde's hand and gave it a weak squeeze. "Thanks, Shay. Would- would you let everyone know about the situation? I talked to the chief, I won't be in for the rest of the shift, so they might as well all know before they start guessing."

Shay nodded. "I've got it, don't worry. Remember, call me if you need anything."

Severide left the firehouse in his street clothes, his bag slung over his shoulder and his gaze lost somewhere far away. As Shay got out of the locker room a few seconds after him, everyone's gaze was focused on her.

"What the hell is going on?" Herrmann asked, sitting in a nearby chair. Shay pursed her lips, then took a deep breath.

"Kelly isn't going to be here for the rest of the shift because something awful happened. He and Erin found out a few months ago that Erin was pregnant but she lost the baby today."

A heavy silent settled upon the room as everyone looked at each other. The chief cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention in the process.

"Lieutenant Severide will have a few days off but will be back for next shift. Until then, I ask from all of you to be respectful of Kelly and Erin's situation and to be as discreet as possible on the matter when he comes back. What happened to them was terrible, and to be reminded of it would be unbearable. Thank you."

The ride home for the hospital was spent in silence. Neither one of them knew what to say, or wanted to say anything. Erin spent her time watching the street lights go by and Kelly focused on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. He stopped in front of their building at his usual spot, and Erin got out without saying anything.

"I'm um- going to make something for dinner," Severide announced, tossing the keys on the counter of the kitchen. Erin dropped her bag in the middle of the room and shook her head.

"I'm not hungry."

"Alright," Severide knew better than starting a fight right then. "I picked up some pain killers at the pharmacy, the doctor told me that you might have... cramps and it should help you with the pain."

"Right," Erin said absently her eyes catching the picture of the ultrasound still up on their fridge, "Thanks."

His brain was screaming at him to do something, but his feet were stuck on the ground. Finally, he did what he thought was best and walked to her, pulling her into his arms. He almost sighed in relief when he felt her own arms snake around his back, looking for comfort. He kissed her hair and closed his eyes, trying to block out his emotions. He felt it was his duty to be strong for Erin, and not let her down.

She pulled away slightly and looked up to meet his eyes, as if she had felt his emotions through his body language. "It's okay to cry you know," the sentence on its own caused tears to spring back into her eyes. "You lost the baby too, Kelly. You don't have to hold back just for my sake. You loved him or her as much as I did."

He opened his mouth to say something but nothing would come out. He shook his head slightly, screwing his eyes shut, praying for the rising tears to go away. Erin caressed his cheek gently and eventually he found his voice. "I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"It's going to take sometime, but I'll be okay. We'll be okay."

They went to bed, and they tried not to think about those moments where they would talk about names or guess everyone's reaction to the news, or decide how they should paint the bedroom. They tried to erase the last few months from their minds and figured that tomorrow would be a bright new day.

Or course, that was impossible.

They both jumped in and out of consciousness that night, and Kelly hugged Erin's body closer to his when he felt her shake with sobs. There was nothing he could do except show her that he would be there for her, that he would never let her go.