The next few shifts passed quickly for Sylvie. Kelly had taken the task of getting her to and from work with great pleasure, and made sure she had a ride no matter what was happening. She was getting her bearings with Peter, and things were working out well between them. She even had a viewing for a new room with a couple of paramedics who worked out of other houses, getting her to a nicer part of Chicago. She was losing her walk to work, but the safety would be worth it.
It was a pretty normal day of nearly back to back calls, but she and Mills had stopped for sandwiches after their third call of the day. They'd already missed breakfast, and if things kept going the way they were they would miss lunch and dinner too.
"So…how are you settling into 51? Feeling like home yet?" Mills asked between bites of his sandwich. Sylvie smiled before swallowing to answer.
"Yeah, I am. Everyone's really nice and it's so busy, it's such a change from constant car crashes and pretty much nothing else." She bit off another piece of her turkey club, waiting for the inevitable question from Mills.
"What's up with you and Severide? I saw him bringing you into work some mornings, are you seeing each other after the trip?"
Sylvie laughed at this one. She was a horrible liar, but she could keep it to mostly the truth. "Nah, we're not dating. We became good friends and I don't live in a great part of town, he decided to take pity on me and bring me into work instead of walking in every morning. He's nearly like my big brother, it's sweet." It was close enough to the truth, Kelly had become a good friend to her since they'd made The Mistake.
They'd met with an attorney the day before, and worked out they could get it annulled in Vegas, so it was essentially like it had never happened. They didn't even need to go back, the forms had been filled out and were in the process of being filed with the courts already. It was an almost too easy process.
"That's good. He's a good guy, he was just really lost after Shay died. He's coming back to himself now, which is nice."
"Ambulance 61, injured male, Cordova High School, 3317 South Garfield" came over the radio, and Brett responded immediately.
"Ambulance 61, copy. On route to scene now, eta three minutes."
Mills floored it, and Sylvie wrapped their lunches and shoved them in the glove box. Injuries waited for nobody, not even two paramedics who just wanted food. They pulled up and a teacher was waving them over immediately, so they grabbed the bags and ran.
"Make him breathe, please!"
"Please make him breathe."
Sylvie saw the teenager cough up water and take a deep breath, and pulled aside the young woman doing CPR so she could take a look. Mills made sure everyone was back, and then started doing his vitals too.
"You saved him, good job. What's your name?"
"Jason. Please don't call my dad, he'll freak out. I don't want him to worry is all." He looked nearly more concerned about his dad finding out than the near death experience, and Sylvie felt so sorry for him.
"We already called him, Jason. He'll meet you at the hospital." The teacher standing to the side said.
They loaded the boy up on the gurney and got him into the ambulance. Mills handed Brett the keys, telling her to drive them. The journey was fine for the first minute, until Mills came through on the radio.
"Brett, I'm not getting a blood pressure, he's coding. Get us there now."
"We're five away, Mills."
"Get us there now."
Sylvie pushed on the gas, going as quickly as she can before grabbing the radio. "Chicago Med this is Ambulance 61, our patient just coded and went into cardiac arrest, suspected secondary drowning. Our ETA is one minute out, have trauma on standby immediately. We're coming in hot."
"Copy that, Ambulance 61. We'll prep for your arrival now."
True to her word, fifty seven seconds later she pulled up to the ER entrance, breaking immediately and jumping out to get the bus doors open and available for the waiting medics.
"Jason, age 16. Almost drowned in a pool at school, CPR performed on site and he regained full function. Crashed five minutes out from here, Mills has been working on him." Brett pulled the door open and grabbed the gurney, Mills on top of the teenager while performing chest compressions.
"Pulmonary edema, he's in PEA, been about six minutes. He was shocked twice at 200, gave him one epi two minutes ago." Mills said, moving aside to let the doctors do their job. He and Sylvie sat on chairs outside the bay, watching the team fight to save the teenager's life. It felt like no time and an age when Sylvie heard the flatline continue, and watched the team move away from the bed.
"Time of Death, 11.40. Thanks folks, you did good work here," the ER doctor spoke to her team before coming out to greet the paramedics waiting there.
"You did a really good job out there, he shouldn't have recovered enough to speak from the initial drowning. Tough call. Go back to your house and rest up, and I'll ignore any saline bags that happen to go missing as you go through the hospital."
Brett watched as the doctor went and spoke to the boys family, but Mills pulled her quickly away. They grabbed some supplies and linens to restock the ambo before heading outside.
"Did you recognise the family that the doc was talking to?" Mills asked her as they got into the cab. He'd taken shotgun, leaving her driving privileges on the cold day.
"No, should I have?"
"I forget you're new here. It looks like he was Papa Lullo's son. The papers call him the John Gotti of Chicago. And his kid died on us." Mills looked stressed even thinking about it, and Sylvie navigated back to the firehouse so they could rest up for a little while.
She made it into the common room to sit and unwind for ten minutes, but she only made it two before she could sense someone's presence beside her. Opening her eyes, she saw a plate and mug in front of her, and Kelly sitting in the seat next to her.
"Got a plate put away for you and Mills, figured you could use it. How'd the morning go?" He asked, pushing the utensils closer to her. The smell of the pasta was amazing, and she tucked in with gusto.
"Ok I guess? Little old lady who lost consciousness when she tripped over her dog, she just needed stitches. Diabetes wellness check that turned into making a sandwich. We lost our last patient, though. Sixteen and secondary drowning." She blinked back tears. It was always the kid cases that hit her the hardest, no matter what was going on with them.
"Crap, I'm sorry Sylv." He went to squeeze her hand, but remembered where he was and squeezed her shoulder instead. "I'm gonna tell Mills there's food here for him, get something before you both get called out again." He left, leaving Sylvie there to eat in peace for a few minutes until 81 returned from a call.
"'Sup?" Gabby slid into the seat next to her, looking at the food in front of her. "Now I see why Kelly wanted food put aside, must have been for you and Mills. How was your day?" She asked, looking at Sylvie's blotchy skin and immediately knowing something was seriously wrong.
"Absolute hell. Sixteen year old and we couldn't save him. So I'm gonna eat, then restock the ambo, then maybe even curl up with Pouch and read the crappy romance novel I've been saving for a Very Bad Day."
"I'm sorry, those calls are the worst. I'm busy after shift early tomorrow, but if you want to go to Molly's tomorrow night we can? Few drinks, girls night, just the two of us?" Gabby sounded convincing, so Sylvie nodded.
"God that sounds amazing, yes. Even just a drink or two so I can relax and unwind would be amazing."
"Squad 3, Truck 81, Ambulance 61, single car collision on West Madison Street Bridge. One victim"
"Never say the break word! Let's go." Sylvie shoved the last bite of pasta into her mouth, ran to put her plate in the dishwasher and went to the ambo. Mills was moments behind her, and they pulled out just behind squad, their group travelling in unison through the busy mid afternoon Chicago streets.
The SUV was tottering slightly over the edge of the bridge, the front wheels hanging over nothing. There was a woman in the driver's seat who was unconscious with a nasty head wound, and Brett moved around so she could see exactly what was going on. Casey and Severide were shouting orders to their teams, and she could see the ropes to hold the car in place.
It felt like an age, but in reality was only about ten minutes when she was able to get to the car and help extract the victim. She had a pulse and resps, and it didn't take long for her and Mills to get her into the back of the ambo and race off towards Med again.
The prognosis this time was better, it looked like she'd had a stroke while driving but they'd caught it in time. The paramedics waved at the staff before leaving, determined to make it back to the house for some relaxation time between calls.
The rest of the shift wasn't easy, but they avoided anything life or death. Typical drunks having fights, people falling in high heels and breaking ankles, but everyone was safely delivered to where they needed to be. By the time shift ended, all Sylvie wanted to do was curl up in her bunk for a few hours. Instead she got in Severide's car and got her ride home.
"You know Mills asked me what were we," she said, staring out the window almost sightlessly for the seven minute drive. Kelly laughed before responding.
"What did you tell him? I mean I know you wanted to keep what happened a secret."
"And I still do. I really like you, Kelly, but I like you as a brother. I want you to be the guy who gives the shovel talk to guys who date me, and I want to keep being your friend." Sylvie's voice trailed off as she spoke. "Is that ok? Or did you want more?"
"No, no, that's fine!" The relief in Kelly's voice was palpable. "Once we came home I had second thoughts about it, maybe we should stick together and try work it out. But a very good friend of mine told me that I had parents who were married and miserable, and it was no way to live life. I'm delighted to be your friend, Sylvie Jean Brett."
"Well, Kelly Severide, I'm delighted to be your friend too." They pulled up outside Sylvie's apartment, and the first thing Kelly noticed was the door was ajar.
"Sylvie, nope. Don't move." He put his arm against her chest to stop her getting out of the car, and her eyes widened as she spotted the door.
"No, not again. Not again," she mumbled, a tear leaking out of her eyes.
Kelly pulled out his cell and brought up a number he didn't think he was going to call again, and hit the send button.
"Kelly, I'm at a crime scene, I have to do my job." Erin spoke without letting him get a word in edge ways.
"I need help, Erin. The new paramedic on 61 just had her house broken into. We haven't gone in yet, but we need someone here to process and see what's happened. She says it's the second time this has happened since she moved in in the summer. We're on 17th, near Ashland."
"Ok. I'll send Burgess and Roman over. But with that neighbourhood you know things aren't gonna be solved."
"We both know, thanks Erin." He hung up the phone and looked back at Sylvie.
"I'm moving out in a week, this is so typical. So, so typical. I just wanted to get through this week and get some sleep before I go for drinks with Gabby tonight, instead it'll be incident reports and stuff. Ugh." Sylvie would have hit the car roof if she wasn't in it with the owner.
"Relax. Burgess and Roman are on their way, and they'll see what they can do. Did you have anything valuable in there?"
"Just sentimental. After the first robbery I kept all my important stuff in my locker at work, in case this happened again. I wonder how bad this cleanup job will be."
As she spoke, the cruiser pulled up and two uniformed cops got out. Sylvie unbuckled her belt to meet them, and Kelly followed suit.
"I'm Sylvie Brett, this is Kelly Severide, my coworker. He was giving me a ride home when we saw what was going on."
"Kim Burgess, Sean Roman. We'll take the report, but it's not likely anything will come of it Sylvie. This was probably someone who learned your schedule and came by shortly after you left for work yesterday. Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?"
"Yeah, she's staying with me tonight. Can she grab a bag while you're in there?"
"Of course, Severide. Sorry we're seeing you like this."
It didn't take long for the cops to finish their walkthrough, or for Sylvie to pack a bag with some clothes to sleep on Casey and Dawson's couch. Kelly had already sent them a text to tell them what was happening, but before they even got into Kelly's car, Matt's truck had pulled up behind him.
"Thought you had a job today?" Kelly asked, blinking twice to make sure it actually was Matt there.
"I figured I could take ten minutes to do this. Hey Brett, I brought some changes of locks for you. I know you don't wanna stay here, and you're more than welcome on the couch till your new lease starts, but I thought we could save anything that wasn't taken from being stolen. Give me twenty minutes and I'll have them installed." He grabbed his toolbox and the two new locks and got to work, and twenty minutes later they were installed and secure.
"Here's the keys, and you can give the spares to the landlord. I'm free most days next week, so let me know when you want to move and we'll put everything in the truck." She smiled at Casey, nodding and feeling so grateful about the folks she'd lucked into meeting through work.
She got into Kelly's car and he drove them to the apartment, a comfortable silence between the two of them. They pulled up, and he put the car in park before speaking.
"Look, just before we go in. Matt knows about everything that happened in Vegas, I couldn't keep it from him. I don't know if he told Gabby, but he told me he wouldn't say anything to you about it. I'm gonna assume he didn't if you had no idea I told him, but I wanted you to be aware."
"I had absolutely no idea. He kept it quiet, he didn't even say anything to me about it. Thanks for the insight, Kelly."
They arrived into the apartment and Sylvie flopped onto the couch, relaxing at last. She could feel the tension leave her shoulders as she sat and realised that apart from spending time that night with Gabby, she had no reason to do anything.
It was a relaxing day, Kelly was nearly as attentive as the day they found out they were married, bringing her breakfast and lunch as they watched a replay of the previous evening's Bears game. It wasn't till three when Gabby came out of her bedroom, doing a double take at the duo curled up on the couch watching football together as they ate.
"Ok, I'm probably going to regret asking, but why are you both here? I mean you live here, Severide, but any reason you're here Brett?" She stretched as she spoke, confusion clear on her face.
"I was dropping Brett home and her apartment got broken into. I wanted to make sure she was safe, so texted you and Case, he said to bring her here and keep her on the couch till her new lease starts."
Gabby smiled and nodded. "Makes getting ready for tonight easier. Matt's working till probably seven, it's his last job of the year. Molly's for eight?"
"Sounds good. Is there somewhere I can grab a shower? I wasn't able to shower after the last call, and I want to feel a little more human." She grabbed her extra bag that she'd packed some clothes and toiletries into, standing up and losing Kelly's body heat from beside her.
"Yeah, use my bathroom. There's some towels in here too." Kelly led her into his room, pointed out what to use and how the shower worked, before leaving her to get ready.
"Severide, why the hell is our new paramedic curled up with you on the couch? What's going on?" She asked, staring at him leaving his room.
"I told you, she got robbed. We got close when we were in Vegas, and I've been giving her a ride to and from work. She can't stay there but she's moving in with some of the paramedics from 24 next week, so she'll be here for a few nights." Kelly sat back down and unpaused the game as Gabby sat beside him, grabbing popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table.
"How did you get so close anyway? I thought she was just there to have some fun and gamble, I didn't think you'd be BFFs after the trip."
"We got married, Dawson. We got really, really drunk and we got married, and now we're getting an annulment, and nobody except the two of us, Boden, Casey and now you know. So we're staying close friends, because who else knows what it's like? But don't tell anyone, cause we're keeping this as private as we can so she isn't humiliated."
"What the fuck? I'm just surprised that you kept it quiet for so long. And she didn't tell me. I'm gonna go get dressed, we're going drinking tonight." Gabby left the room to get ready, leaving Kelly alone with his thoughts.
Matt arrived home shortly after seven, as the two women were chatting and laughing from Matt and Dawson's room. They emerged, ready for a night on the town. Sylvie ordered an uber on her phone, and they waved at the two men on the couch as they left.
Molly's was busy for a Thursday, mostly with 51 second shift. Herrmann was behind the bar, and immediately produced a vodka tonic for Sylvie and a longneck for Gabby. They managed one of the high tables at the wall, and sat on their own. They waved at their coworkers, but waving was enough for them.
"Kelly told me what happened," Gabby blurted out after a long swallow of beer. Sylvie stared at her, eyes wide.
"You must think I'm awful," she replied, stirring her drink with the small straw.
"I don't think that. I think you must have been super drunk to even consider doing that, but I don't think you're awful. He said it's gonna be like it never happened?"
"Yeah. Everything's filed, it just has to be approved. In three weeks time it'll be be approved and we'll be good to go. The only good thing is we're pretty good friends now. If he hadn't brought me home, I don't know what I would have done. He even got Casey to put new locks on the door so it's secure." Sylvie threw back what was left of her drink, she felt raw even talking about it.
"What's wrong, Brett? You ok?" Herrmann arrived over with fresh drinks for them, taking the empty glass and bottle from them.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just freaking out, my apartment was robbed yesterday. Dawson's letting me stay on the couch till my new lease starts next week." She raised her glass to Dawson, and they clinked.
"Crap, I'm sorry. Need help moving? I'll probably have at least two children with me, but I can help with the boxes." He was serious, and it made Sylvie smile slightly.
"We're good, thanks Herrmann. Matt, Kelly and I are gonna help her move everything. If we need anyone else to help, we'll send out texts." Dawson shut down her training officer calmly, giving him a smile. He got the message and left them alone, and they spent the next few hours talking and learning more about each other. By eleven, they decided to go to a different bar to spend some time away from their coworkers.
By the end of the night they felt like they'd actually gotten to know each other, and they held onto each others arms as they drunkenly picked up a deep dish pie and made their way back to the apartment.
It was quiet when they arrived, and they sat on the couch with forks to eat their pizza, the cheese still warm and gooey. By the time they were full, Gabby put the leftovers in the fridge and waved goodnight to Sylvie before going to her own bed.