Bobbed
Casey hated Halloween. He liked it when he was a kid, and he didn't mind it when he was a younger adult, but the older he got, the more disdain he developed for the holiday, and with every passing year, especially the antics on-shift, he was starting to downright hate it.
Nothing was more dangerous than a group of bored firemen looking for something to keep things interesting. He didn't remember who it was exactly, but somebody had gotten an idea for a new and more interesting way to bob for apples. Two huge galvanized metal tubs had been brought in to the apparatus floor, filled with about 30 gallons of water each, a couple dozen apples dumped into each tub, and then two unlucky stiffs were picked to do the bobbing, and each one had three other firemen grab him around the waist and legs and dunk the whole upper half of his body down in the tub of water as he futilely tried to bite onto an apple. Every few seconds he'd be lifted up out of the water to simultaneously take in a gasp of air and for the others to see if he managed to catch anything, before promptly being dunked into the icy cold water again.
Casey didn't know how he'd gotten volunteered for this game, but as soon as he dried off he was going to give somebody hell for it, he was the lieutenant, he could do it. He'd lost count of how many times he'd been dunked into the water, he'd never managed to bite hold of an apple, his clothes were soaked, his hair was beyond soaked, the water must've run clear down his body because every inch of him was chilled clear through his skin and down to the bone.
He was out of the water now but he was still soaking wet and freezing. He could feel himself shaking, hear his teeth chattering, and he was aware of somebody around him, talking to him, he felt a hand on him.
"Mmmm," he moaned, "no, no more...no more..."
There was far more he wanted to say but for some reason he didn't have the energy, it dawned on him he couldn't even get his eyes to open he felt so weak.
He felt somebody's hand on his shoulder and he thought they were getting ready to lift him up into the tub again for another round.
He managed to get his head to shake. "No...I don't wanna play anymore..."
He hated Halloween, he hated water, and after what he'd been through, he hated apples too.
"Casey?"
"Casey, can you hear me?"
"Casey, open your eyes."
He shook his head, "Somebody else's turn."
"Casey."
That was Kelly. He recognized the voice.
"Casey, open your eyes, Casey, look at me."
He slowly opened his eyes. It was dark. He was outside somewhere, not at the firehouse, it was night, he was laying on the ground somewhere and he recognized three people standing over him: Kelly, Tony, and Capp.
"Wha's gon' on?" he asked, feeling even colder now. "Where're we?"
"Casey, do you remember what happened?" Kelly asked him.
Casey closed his eyes and would've loved nothing more than to get warm and go to sleep, but his body was freezing, and as he shivered, it occurred to him that something didn't feel right. He could feel the cold wet grass under him. His clothes were gone. He tried to sit up but he only got a couple inches before he fell back against the ground.
"What happened?" he asked. He wanted to ask where his clothes were, but he didn't have the strength for two questions at once.
He looked at Kelly hovering over him and saw him in his Squad uniform, he looked past Kelly and saw the other two were dressed the same way. They were on-shift? Was he on-shift? What happened?
Severide placed a hand on Casey's forehead, Kelly didn't feel much warmer than he did right now. Kelly smoothed his damp hair back and told him, "Matt, you were drowning."
"What?" he asked, and tried to sit up again, but something was stopping him.
"The building fire we responded to tonight," Kelly told him. "The one right by the water...the whole fourth floor flashed over, you dove out the window and went right into the water, it took us 20 minutes to figure out what happened to you."
"Everybody out?" Casey asked.
"Yeah everybody got out."
"People...inside..."
"We got lucky, we got everyone out before it happened," Kelly told him. He was glad they were able to save everyone, but he hated the fact that that meant they had to wait for another ambulance to come and get Casey. "But by the time we got to you you'd gone under and you weren't responsive."
They'd rushed Casey out of the water and onto dry land and simultaneously got him out of his turnout gear and started doing CPR until he started coughing up water. Kelly didn't remember ever being that scared, trying not to focus on how long it took Casey to start breathing again.
Casey looked down and realized why he'd had such a hard time sitting up. His clothes might've been gone but he had 40 pounds of Tony and Capp's turnout coats covering him. He looked up again and saw Kelly's breath as he exhaled, it really was cold tonight.
"The ambo's gonna be here soon, Casey," Severide told him, "just stay put."
"I'm fine," Casey weakly insisted, even though he didn't have the strength to get up, and not enough to really try either.
"We're gonna let the doctors be the judge of that," Kelly said.
"I'm cold."
"I know, buddy, I know, it won't be long now, just stay with me, okay?"
He felt an additional weight holding him down and realized it was Kelly's body weight pressing against him, he guessed Severide was acting as extra insulation until they could get him out of there.
"Don't remember jumping," he said.
"That's okay, it doesn't matter," Kelly told him.
"Don't remember drowning," he realized groggily.
"It's better you don't," Kelly said.
Casey thought he heard sirens in the distance, he closed his eyes and laid back against the ground.
"Stay with me, Casey, they're almost here," Kelly told him, "can you hear them?"
"Hmmmm."
"Casey, wake up!"
"I want to go home," Casey weakly grumbled as he pulled the blanket tighter around him as he got strapped in to the gurney.
"I know, buddy," Kelly was riding with him to the hospital, "first we just need the doc to say you're alright."
"I am alright."
"I know, but we have to make sure."
"I'm still cold, Kelly," he whined, wishing this whole night was over.
"I know, I know," he felt Kelly's hand on his shoulder reassuringly, "It's gonna be alright."
"Why can't I just go home?" Matt whined.
"It won't be long, buddy, I promise," Severide told him.
Casey weakly laughed and asked him, "Have you ever been in a hospital?"
Kelly laughed in response and told him, "I'll be with you, it won't be so bad."
After a couple hours at Med, the doctor had concluded that Casey didn't require hospitalization and could go home, but advised him to take it easy the next couple days. Casey was ecstatic to get out of there, not so ecstatic that since he'd been stripped of not only his turnout gear but his uniform as well once he'd been fished out of the water, he had to leave the hospital in a pair of scrubs, that really did little to shield him against the bitter October night air.
A little after midnight Kelly poked his head in the bedroom, his bedroom. Casey was still freezing when they got home, and Kelly wanted to make sure he was alright, so he'd put Casey in his bed, where he still was, tucked in under the bedspread and two blankets, and was still awake.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Aside from the fact I can't move," Casey answered as he pointed out the futility of trying to turn one way or another.
"Sorry," Kelly smirked sheepishly as he untucked the covers slightly to give Casey some more wiggle room. "How're you doing?"
"I'm starting to remember some things," Casey said. He could see Kelly sharply inhaling, no doubt dreading what was coming next. "And now I can't stop shaking again."
"You scared the hell out of me," Kelly said bluntly.
"I'm sorry."
"I know...I know it's worse for you, but I didn't know if you were gonna make it."
Casey shook his head, "I had some weird dreams for a while."
Kelly nodded, then said, "I need to get back to the House, are you gonna be okay while I'm gone?"
"I'll survive," Casey remarked sarcastically.
"I'll be back first thing tomorrow," Severide told him.
"I'll be fine," Casey said more somberly.
"I know," Kelly stepped out of the room for a minute, then returned with a mug, "Oh before I forget, I heated you up something to drink."
"Coffee?" Casey sat up and wriggled his arms out from under the covers to take it.
"Uh no, we ran out, I'll pick some up tomorrow," Kelly said as he handed him the mug, "I heated up some apple cider."
Casey had just started to drink the hot liquid, then when he heard that he opened his mouth and let it fall back in the mug.
Kelly laughed, confused, "What?"