Chapter 36
The team had to get out the harnesses to get everyone out of the basement.
First Mouch, Mills and Newhouse were lowered down and Mills, a certified EMT, started trying to assess Jax. The walking freak show...well, he wouldn't be walking again for a while...that wrecked all this havoc in all their lives for the past two and a half months was writhing on the floor screaming and spewing obscenities.
"AAAHHH!" he screamed. "Goddammit! You broke my fuckin' leg! You broke my fuckin' leg!"
He kept screaming every time Mills tried to touch him.
"I think you got the ABC's are covered." Newhouse quipped.
ABC's stood for Airway, Breathing and Circulation...the first three things first responders were taught to assess in a victim. If you don't have those three...the rest doesn't mean a whole lot.
"Oh yeah..." Mills muttered under his breath.
Then he turned back to his patient.
"Hey...you need to calm down, man." he said. "We're gonna get you outta here."
"Fuck you!" Jax screamed. "Fuck all 'a you!"
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Kelly had to get off his ankle...he had to sit down. He looked around and there was nothing in the way of furniture...just the floor.
"Mouch..." he called out over the sounds of Jax's cursing. "Mouch...take her for a second."
The older firefighter rushed over and took Maggie from Kelly's arm.
"I'm so glad to see you..." he told Maggie as he hugged her tight. "I'm so glad you're okay."
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Kelly limped over to the closest wall and awkwardly slid down to the floor. He took a quick inventory of all his body parts...he had broken something in his shoulder, what he wasn't sure. Collarbone...humerus. He didn't know. And he didn't know what he did to his ankle...if it was broken, or just sprained.
He cursed silently to himself...the thought of another medical furlough and rehab.
But he could worry about all that later.
"Mouch..." he said.
Mouch set Maggie down and she ran back over to Kelly and crawled into his lap.
He held her the best he could...just stroking her silky curls...kissing her little head.
Once they got out of this...he was never letting his her out of his sight...ever.
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Dorrie rushed over to where Kelly had collapsed.
"Kelly!" she gushed. "I'm so glad you came! I knew you'd get here!"
She looked down at the little girl burrowed in against his chest.
"See...I tol' you he was gonna come! I tol' you we was gonna all be together!"
"Get away from my daughter!" Kelly barked at her. "Just stay away from us!"
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Dorrie staggered backward...like he'd just hit her.
"Kelly...why're you bein' like that?" she asked in a trembling voice. "I love you...I jus' want us to be together..."
"Get away from us!" he told her again. "Can't you see all the damage you've done? You an' that nut job?"
"But we were tryin' to help you! We were tryin' to save you!" she cried. "I love you!"
Maggie was trembling in his arms. And Kelly tried to comfort her.
"Shhh...it's okay Baby Girl. Nobody's gonna hurt you...Daddy won't let anybody hurt you." he whispered gently.
Then he glared back at Dorrie...who was bawling like the world was coming to an end.
"Get away from us. You're upsetting her with all your crazy lies. Just...go away."
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Casey's team had lowered down the first harness.
"Lieutenant..." Newhouse said. "Let's get you and Maggie out first."
Mouch reached out to take the little girl again, but Maggie turned her face into Kelly's chest.
"I wanna stay with you, Daddy!" she cried.
"Daddy's gonna go up with you, Baby. We're gonna go up together. Uncle Mouch's just gonna hold you so I can get into my harness."
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Once Mouch had a hold of Maggie, shielding her from the still sobbing Dorrie...Kelly pulled himself to his feet and struggled into the harness...the best he could with only one arm.
"Here...let me help you with that." Newhouse said.
It took some maneuvering, but between the two of them they got the harness secure. And Mouch was getting the child size harness on Maggie.
Kelly looked around.
A team of paramedics he didn't know had been lowered down and were trying to secure the still screaming...spewing...Jax into the rescue basket.
"Jeez...will somebody shut him up?" Kelly said when he could stand it another minute. "Shut him up before I do!"
"AHHH!" Jax screamed. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
One of the medics pushed a syringe full of morphine into the IV tubing.
"That should do the trick..." he said, as his patient quieted down.
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Severide breathed a sigh of relief and limped over to where the line was dangling down from the first floor. Newhouse and Mills secured the D-rings and Mouch brought Maggie over. The men strapped her to Kelly's front and he grit his teeth together as he brought his injured arm around her little body. He needed his good arm to guide the line.
"Okay!" he yelled to the men up top. "Pull us up!"
Slowly they began to rise...and Maggie squealed in fright.
"It's okay Baby Girl." Kelly told her. "Daddy's got you...just close your eyes."
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Once they were safely on solid ground Casey and Hermann helped them out of the harness.
Casey took a minute to hug Maggie tight before he handed her back over to her daddy.
Carrying his daughter with his left arm, Severide made his way through the back door and around the side of the house.
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"Kelly!" Alyssa cried as she broke free from Chief Boden.
She ran to him.
"Here...take her..." Kelly said.
Alyssa took Maggie in her arms and Kelly draped his left arm around his wife's shoulders. He leaned on her to get the weight off his right foot and he was suddenly so grateful that Mouch hadn't listened to him and went ahead and brought her.
"My baby..."Alyssa said over and over. "My sweet girl..."
Mouch came up behind them.
"Here..." he said. "I'll take her over to get checked out."
Severide nodded.
"Go with Uncle Mouch, Maggie...let Aunt Leslie and Aunt Gabby take a look at you."
"We'll be right there, Sweetie."Lyssa promised, as she transferred the little girl to Mouch's waiting arms. "We'll be right there."
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Once Mouch had taken Maggie, Lyssa put her arms around Kelly.
"What is it, Honey?" she asked.
"My shoulder..." he answered. "Stairs collapsed and I fell on it."
Alyssa murmured sympathetically as she reached her left hand across his body to help support his arm. That helped the pain a lot...and Kelly let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.
"And I did somethin' to my ankle..." he added.
"Okay..." Lyssa said. "Let's get you checked out too..."
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But before they could even take a step, the paramedics from inside the house came around from the back wheeling Jax on a stretcher, rescue basket and all. He was still spewing out a steady stream of obscenities...but he was doing it at a much lower volume and his words were slurring together.
"Motherfucker broke my leg..." he mumbled. "I'm gonna sue your fuckin' ass..."
"Good luck with that." Kelly said as the gurney rolled past him.
He and Alyssa watched the...thing...that had kidnapped their daughter get packed off in the back of the waiting ambulance.
"I hope they hit every pot hole between here and Lakeshore." Alyssa said in a low voice.
"I shoulda broken his goddamn neck." Kelly replied.
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Shay came running up.
"You okay?" she asked her best friend.
"We got it." Kelly said, leaning heavily on his wife.
They began to make their way toward Ambulance 61, and Leslie fell into step beside them on Kelly's right, in case he needed extra support.
"Is Maggie okay?" he asked.
"Dawson's checking her...but she seems fine." Leslie reassured him.
"He didn't..."
The thought was too horrible to even think.
"No. No...no...no."Shay promised. "She's fine. Let's get you taken care of."
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As Alyssa carefully lowered him onto the tailgate of the ambo, Kelly saw Casey and Hermann leading Dorrie by the arms from around the house. She was still screaming.
"Let go 'a me! Let go 'a me!" she hollered. "Kelly! Where is he? Kelly!"
Severide held his breath and wrapped his good arm around Alyssa's tiny waist as they led her past Ambulance 61.
"Kelly! Don't do this! Don't do this to me! I love you! I love you!"
She fought against the two men who held her...and she almost broke free.
"Stop it! Stop! Let go 'a me! Let me go! Kelly! I love you!"
Casey and Hermann tightened their grip and dragged her toward another ambulance.
"Let me go! I'm gonna have a baby! You're hurtin' me! I'm gonna have a baby! I'M GONNA HAVE A BABY! KELLY! KELLY! I LOVE YOU!"
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Antonio Dawson shook his head in disgust as Dorrie passed in front of him as she was being dragged away.
He walked over to Ambulance 61 where Shay was trying to peel off Kelly's turnout coat.
"Aaahhh!" he said, careful not to show how truly uncomfortable he was.
Maggie was just a few feet away and he didn't want to upset her any more than she already was.
"Easy! Easy!" he growled through clenched teeth. "Let Lyssa do it."
He knew Shay wasn't trying to hurt him...but when he was in pain, Alyssa was the only one he wanted doing anything for him.
"Hey..." Antonio said. "You okay?"
Kelly looked up.
"I'll live." he said.
"Did you see anything...in the house? Anything we can use?" Dawson wanted to know.
Severide nodded.
"Yeah...there's a bunch 'a stuff...silver...jewelry...TV's." Kelly told him. "Looks like Jax has been a busy boy.
"Any chance I can get in there?"
Kelly nodded again.
"Yeah...it's not too bad in there. Have Casey an' Hermann take you."
"Thanks!" Antonio said.
"Just stay away from the basement steps..." Kelly said with a rueful grin.
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The detective just rolled his eyes and went off to find Casey.
Kelly turned back to Alyssa who carefully slid his jacket off his right arm and took down the red suspender on that side.
Then she returned to his left side and perched beside him on the tailgate of the ambulance.
Shay was about to start probing his injured shoulder when Maggie called out...
"Daddy! Daddy!"
"Shay, give us a minute here." Kelly told his best friend.
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Maggie had already scrambled off the gurney, but Mouch caught her before she could launch herself into Kelly's arms.
"Give her here..." Severide said, as the older firefighter placed her in his lap.
He wrapped his good arm around her and Alyssa hugged the both of them.
Dawson jumped down from the ambo and she, Shay and Mouch stepped away to give the family a little privacy.
Kelly hugged Maggie as tight as he could.
"Did Aunt Gabby say you're okay, Baby Girl?" he asked.
Maggie nodded.
"Are you okay, Daddy?"
"I'll be fine...I just hurt my shoulder a little. It'll be good as new in a couple days."
"I can help Mommy take care of you..." Maggie offered.
"You bet you can." Kelly told her with a grin. "You bet you can."
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The three of them just sat for a minute...Kelly and Alyssa barely believing that this whole ordeal was finally over.
"Daddy?" Maggie said suddenly.
"What is it, Baby Girl?"
"Are we still gonna go to Disneyland?"