May 2020—Family Vacation

They were in one of those flea bag, pay by the week hotels…the place full of old furniture, old mattresses…they probably still had lead based paint.

Lots of thing that could burn for a long, long time. Lots of things that could make toxic fumes.

"Casey! Severide! Get your asses outta there right now!" Boden's voice came over the radio.

They didn't have much time…that was obvious.

The two lieutenants herded their men and the last few civilians down the stairs. They cast a glance up and down the long hallway before they turned to follow.

Suddenly a door burst open…and a man practically on his last breath came staggering out into the hall! Kelly nearly shoved him down the stairs…just before the entire apartment exploded in flames.

The force of the blast knocked them forward…and Casey went tumbling over the rail. Severide didn't even have time to think as he reached out and caught his friend before he could take a twenty something foot plunge.

He braced himself against the rail to keep from going over himself. Casey was dangling off Kelly's right arm…and it was all he could do to hang on. Kelly planted his feet firmly and let go with his left hand. He reached down and grabbed the strap of Matt's SCBA tank…and inch by agonizing inch he hauled him back over the railing.

They landed in a heap…Severide on his back and Casey on top of him. But they didn't have time to rest and regroup. Casey rolled off and the two men scrambled down the stairs and out the door.

His right arm hanging by his side, Kelly pulled off his mask and awkwardly shrugged his tank off first his left shoulder…then he reached across his body to get it off his right shoulder as quickly as he could. He slumped against the Squad just trying to pull himself together.

He didn't need this now…

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Shay dropped him off at home…and Kelly came in through the back door.

Lyssa was sitting at the kitchen table…and Kelly was kind of surprised she was by herself. But then he remembered it was only six in the morning. The kids wouldn't be up for another hour at least.

She knew immediately that something was wrong. She stood up from the table and hurried to his side.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"I did somethin' to my shoulder…"

He saw the worry cloud her eyes.

"It's not bad…" he said quickly. "It's just strained, that's all."

Alyssa carefully put her arms around him…and he caught her with his good arm and pulled he close.

He was trying to reassure himself as much as he was her…the timing on this couldn't be any worse.

They were supposed to leave for Florida in the morning…their first family vacation…and there was still a ton of stuff to do to get ready.

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"Do you want to go upstairs and lay down?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah…"

She disentangled herself from his embrace long enough to get one of the giant cold packs from the freezer. Then she led him up the stairs to their room.

Kelly stretched out on the bed and Lyssa carefully arranged the pillows around his so his arm was supported and the cold pack encased his shoulder. He held out his good arm to her and she climbed into bed beside him.

"What do you want to do, Kelly? Do you want to cancel the trip?"

"We can't, Lyssa…the kids are so excited. They've been bouncing off the walls for the past two weeks…I can't do that to them."

"But are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll have to be." He said.

But that resolve got a little shaky…after Lyssa had helped him with a shower, and then led him back to the bedroom. He could barely move his arm. Every time he did it was enough to make him see stars.

As Alyssa helped him get dressed he couldn't help but flash back to watching her dress Andy the exact same way…after their son broke his arm on the playground. But going back even further…he remembered all the times she had done the very same thing when he was having all the problems with his neck and the impinged nerve caused agonizing pains up and down his right arm.

That was the first time anyone had ever taken care of him…at least as far back as he could remember. And it had been so easy to just fall into that pattern…now he couldn't even imagine having to go through even a little nothing injury without Alyssa being there.

Now she slid his t-shirt over his bad arm…then helped him pull it the rest of the way on.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded. Then he took her hand.

"I don't know what I'd do without you.

She leaned in to kiss him.

"You'll never have to find out."

After he was dressed Alyssa dug something out of the bottom of the dresser drawer. She came back to Kelly with the sling he had used all those years ago…before his surgery. She put it on him and carefully adjusted the strap.

"Better?" she asked.

He nodded again.

He still hated that sling…hated it with a passion.

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The pounding of little feet signaled that Andy and Jesse were up…and they came running into Alyssa and Kelly's room.

They both stopped short when they saw Kelly sitting on the bed.

"Daddy…" Jesse asked. "What happened to you?"

"Did you break your arm?" Andy said.

"No…it's not broken…" Kelly tried to reassure them. "C'mere…it's okay."

He motioned them over…and they came…slowly…hesitantly.

Kelly reached out to ruffle first Andy's hair…then Jesse's.

"Everything's okay, guys." He said. "I just hurt my shoulder a little…"

"How?" Andy asked.

"I had to catch Uncle Matt before he fell down. He would have really gotten hurt."

"But you got hurt…" Jesse said.

"This is nothing…not compared to what could have happened to Uncle Matt."

Andy had a terrible thought.

"Are we still gonna go on the airplane?"

"Absolutely…" Kelly told him. "Nothing's gonna keep that from happening."

Alyssa started herding the twins back to their room.

"C'mon guys…it's time to get ready for school. Today's your last day."

They were done with pre-school…two days ago they had had their "graduation". And the whole firehouse family was there to see it!

And after the "ceremony"…everyone had gone back to the house for a backyard BBQ.

"Why we hafta go back?" Andy asked. "We already graduated."

It didn't make any sense to him. Graduation meant "done".

"You're having a party with your class." Alyssa told him. "You have presents to give all your teachers…and you need to bring home all your art work and your projects…"

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Kelly and Alyssa walked them the three blocks to St. Pasqual's. She had wanted him to stay home and rest…but he had to show Andy and Jesse that he was okay.

Once they'd dropped the boys off the turned back toward home. Kelly put his good arm around Lyssa's shoulders and she wrapped her arm around his waist.

They didn't talk…Alyssa was making a mental list of all the things she still needed to get done…packing mostly.

She was so deep in her thoughts she was startled when Kelly started to speak…

"I just…can't believe this happened…" he said. "Right before our trip."

"Do you need to go get it checked out today?"

One more thing to add to her "to do" list…

"No…we put in an incident report, and flagged it for follow-up. And it's in the after action report too…so it's all documented."

That was a relief. Because she didn't know how they would be able to swing a couple hours down at Occupational Health.

"I know this is gonna make it harder on you, Lys…" he said.

Alyssa gave him a little squeeze.

"It's okay, Baby. We'll just…have to take things at a slower pace. Maybe we won't get to everything…but I'm sure it's not the last time we'll ever go to Disney."

"I just don't the boys to miss out on anything."

"They won't…besides…all that matters is that we're together. That's what I remember most about going on trips when I was a kid. In ten years, it won't matter which rides they went on. It'll be 'I went to Disney World with my family'."

Kelly held her closer.

She always knew what to say to him…

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When they got home she made him breakfast…and pulled out her list…trying to figure out the best way to attack it.

"I'm gonna bring everything down here." She decided. "Then we won't have to figure out who's gonna carry four suitcases down the stairs."

Alyssa had never regained the strength or the mobility in her arm after she was injured…so long ago…almost eight years now. Kelly knew it was still a problem…even though she never talked about it.

She rushed around all day…packing clothes and everything else they'd need for two weeks away. Kelly helped her as best he could…and that mostly consisted of keeping the twins occupied so they didn't get in the way. And that evening…he insisted they go have dinner at their favorite pizza place.

Finally…after they had got the boys settled down and they went to sleep, Alyssa arranged all the pillows so Kelly was as comfortable as he could be, then fell into bed beside him.

She was asleep the minute she closed her eyes…and Kelly lay awake wondering how they were gonna pull this off.

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The big day was finally here!

Andy and Jesse were going on an airplane!

They were so excited they could barely eat their breakfast.

Alyssa helped Kelly to get ready…and carefully adjusted the sling. Then she stood up on her tip-toes to kiss him. She knew he hated this…and she hated to see him hurting.

Casey arrived to drive them out to Midway…and he loaded their suitcases in the back of Alyssa's SUV. He'd leave his truck and come back for it later.

Alyssa squeezed in between the boys who were chattering a mile a minute. What were they going to see? How long till they got on the airplane? How high would they go? When would they get to Florida? What were they gonna do first? When did they get to see Mickey Mouse?

Matt dropped them off at the Southwest terminal…and a porter took pity on them and helped them get their bags to curbside check in. Before he got in the car he knelt down to Andy and Jesse's level and gave his godsons a big hug.

"You guys have a great time! I'll be waiting to hear all about it when you get back!"

"Bye, Uncle Matt!" Andy said as he hugged Casey's neck.

"Bye…" Jesse echoed.

Alyssa gave him a hug.

"Thanks for driving us…"

"No problem…"

He and Kelly said good-bye…then Kelly took Andy's hand…and Alyssa took Jesse's…and they followed their luggage to the check in counter.

"Bye…" Casey called again. "Send me a postcard!"

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While they waited their turn, the boys couldn't stop bouncing…and Andy accidently jostled Kelly's arm.

"Aaahh! Andy! Be careful!" he snapped.

Andy stopped.

"I sorry, Daddy!"

Kelly took a couple deep breaths to pull himself together…and he felt Alyssa's hand rest gently on his back.

Back in control again, he looked down at his son.

"I know you are, Buddy…" he said. "You just gotta dial it down a notch, okay?"

Andy nodded.

"You too, Jess…"

Jesse nodded too.

They stepped up to the counter and Alyssa pulled their tickets from her giant shoulder bag and fished her ID out. Then she took Kelly's from his wallet.

When the clerk handed them back…the Severide's walked through the door to find their gate.

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This place was huge!

Neither Andy nor Jesse knew which way to look first! People were rushing past…there were stores…and McDonalds!

And there was more waiting in lines. They had to walk through a door…only after they put their backpacks and Mommy's big purse in a machine that takes a picture.

Daddy went last…because he was arguing with the man about taking off his shoes and his belt.

Finally…the man just waved a magic wand around Daddy…and let him go.

Kelly was grumbling about the stupidity of the regulations…what was he supposed to do? Have Alyssa undress him in the middle of the airport? Couldn't they see he could only use one arm?

Alyssa just laid her hand on his good arm…and rubbed it gently for a moment…just letting him know she was there…

When he was calm again, he took Andy's hand again…and Alyssa took Jesse's and they went to find gate G7.

They took seats in the back, by the windows. Actually, Kelly and Alyssa sat…Andy and Jesse were watching the luggage trains cruise across the tarmac…and the bags being loaded into the plane.

"You okay?" Alyssa asked quietly.

"Yeah…" he answered.

He looked over at his sons…watching everything that was going on…their blue eyes wide as saucers.

"Hey, guys…" he said. "I need to talk to you."

Andy and Jesse reluctantly turned from the windows and came to stand in front of Kelly and Alyssa.

"I need you guys to be really good on this trip. I can't help Mommy as much as I'd like to…so I need you guys to pay attention. We're gonna be going to a lot of big places…so you can't go running off. You need to stay with Mommy and Daddy. You need to listen…and do what you're told. No fighting…no pushing…can you work with me here?"

Andy and Jesse nodded.

"That's my boys…" he said with a grin. "Okay…talk's over…go on."

Alyssa was holding him by the left arm…and she rested her head on his good shoulder for a minute.

"It's gonna okay, Baby…" she told him.

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The family settled on the plane…Kelly sat between Andy and Jesse while Alyssa had to sit across the aisle. He wished his wife could sit beside him. His arm was aching from being in one position and he wanted Alyssa to fix it…but that would mean one of the twins sitting by himself.

Oh well…it was only a ninety minute flight.

Alyssa had packed the boys backpacks with all new coloring books, markers, reusable sticker books, stories…all things they'd never seen before…all new things to hold their attention.

As they got ready to take off Mommy gave them gum to chew…and then the engines made a lot of noise…and they started to move! Slowly at first…like the car rolling along.

"What's happening, Daddy?" Jesse asked.

"We're taxi-ing…" Kelly explained. "The pilot's getting the plane into position to take off."

"How does he do that?" Andy wanted to know.

Whenever they rode in the car with Uncle Matt that's what he always said after he buckled them in… 'Everybody ready for takeoff?'

"The pilot drives the plane…like a car or a bus…then we get to the runway…that's like a big long stretch of road so he can drive really fast…then we'll lift off the ground into the air. You'll see…it'll be any minute now."

He looked from one boy to the other…he'd never seen them so excited before. They were practically vibrating with anticipation.

"How high will we go?" Jesse wanted to know.

"We're gonna go above the clouds." Kelly answered. "You'll see out the window…everything's gonna get littler and littler…and then we'll fly through the clouds till we get above them."

"When will we get there?" Andy asked. "How long will we fly?"

"For about as long as it takes to watch a movie…"

The engines got even louder…and suddenly they started to move really fast! Faster and faster…and then they started to go up in the air!

Andy and Jesse were flying! They were on their way to Florida…which was really far from Chicago…and they were going on vacation!