Hello! This is my first fanfiction, but I saw what happened and I knew that I needed more Casey and Severide action as it was definitely lacking in this episode. I wrote this quickly to satisfy that as well as getting some sick Casey thrown into the mix XD Hope you enjoy!
Kelly knew he was a heavy sleeper. When it came to waking him up, it was almost impossible unless, of course, the emergency alarm went off to signal a call at the firehouse. That was the only sound that could get him up and out of bed in an instant. Which is why he was confused as to why he had suddenly awoken now. Normal noises that came with living in a city had never bothered him.
Rolling over in bed, he squinted at the clock and saw that it was only two-thirty, about two hours since he had gone to bed. Feeling the effects of the deep sleep he had just been in, Kelly rolled back so that he was facing the ceiling. He had just begun wondering if he had imagined the noise that had roused him, contemplating just letting himself drift back to sleep when he heard it again. The unmistakable sound of retching was coming from the bathroom, immediately making him alert.
Shit, Matt must be sick.
Climbing out of bed, Kelly stumbled sleepily into the hall, his body used to being woken up quickly, but still fighting the effects of the deep sleep he had just been in.
Matt did say he had a headache after that rough call, maybe it had finally got the better of him. Kelly hadn't even seen him when he arrived home earlier after hanging out at Molly's, figuring he had taken up his plan to lay in his room with a towel on his head.
Reaching the bathroom, he saw that the door was slightly ajar; the only light coming from the moon spilling through the window. It was bright enough that Kelly could make out Matt's hunched frame over the toilet, tight and rigid as he clearly fought the urge to be sick.
Stepping through the door frame, Kelly crouched down next to Matt, putting a comforting hand on the man's back. He was soaked with sweat and trembling slightly, something that immediately sent up a red flag.
"Hey man, you okay? Did your headache get worse?"
He searched Matt's face, trying to get a read on him. It looked like Matt was going to respond, but suddenly his face paled and he heaved again, vomiting violently into the bowl. Severide began rubbing soothing circles on his back, trying to get him to relax.
"Easy, easy. Just breathe."
Matt couldn't respond as he was caught in a harsh cycle of heaves. After bringing up a few more waves of vomit, it seemed like he was finally empty. Unfortunately, Matt's body didn't get the memo and he continued dry heaving, clutching the toilet bowl so hard that his knuckles had turned white. Knowing he needed to calm down, Kelly did his best to help break through the cycle.
"Hey, Matt? Buddy, listen to me. Just take deep breaths. Nice and slow. Your tanks empty," he soothed, watching as Matt tried to do what he said.
"I'm-" he heaved again, jaw clenched in pain, "trying."
Kelly winced in sympathy. He knew, from his days of benders, that there was nothing worse than constant dry heaving as your body tried to get rid of something that didn't exist.
Thankfully, after a moment of coaxing Matt through some deep breaths, his stomach settled down and he fell back on his arms, looking drained.
"That sucked," he groaned, squeezing his eyes in what Kelly figured was pain spiking through his head. The vomiting session had surely not helped his headache at all.
Getting up from where he was crouching, Kelly flushed the toilet before grabbing a clean washcloth. Letting the cold water run for a second, he soaked the towel in the icy water and then handed it to Matt who immediately took it, wiping his face before laying back and putting the towel on his forehead.
Not knowing what to do, Kelly contemplated grabbing some of his stronger pain meds that he had leftover from his surgery when he noticed that Matt was still shaking. Knowing something was up, Kelly placed his hand on his neck, trying to feel if he was running a fever.
"What're you doin'" Matt mumbled tiredly, sluggishly trying to push his hand away.
"Checking if you're hot. You're shaking like a leaf."
To Kelly's surprise, Matt stiffened before he replied, fear creeping into his voice as he spoke clearer than he had all night.
"I'm fine. You can go back to bed now. Sorry to wake you up."
Kelly felt his brows crease in concern. There was definitely something that Matt wasn't telling him. Wanting to get to the bottom of what was happening, he reached down and helped Casey sit up so that they could talk properly.
"Hey," Matt complained at the sudden movement, frowning when his cold towel fell into his lap, "what are you doing now?"
Making sure the blonde wasn't about to keel over, Kelly planted himself in front of him. "You're going to tell me what's going on with you. This isn't just because of your headache. Does it have to do with that call you had yesterday?"
The way that Matt's face paled and his body went rigid were more than enough to tell him that he was right. There was more going on beneath the surface, and he was going to find out what.
He saw Matt swallow dryly before he spoke in a low, but controlled voice. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm f-"
"If you say you're fine one more time I'm going to make you take out the trash for the next month. What's going on with you? You can tell me if there's something on your mind. I know we don't normally talk feelings, but I'm always here to help."
Initially, he thought Matt was going to shut him down again, but after a pause, he saw the walls he had put up crumble as tears made their way into the man's eyes. Whatever had happened, it was really affecting him.
"I had a dream," he said simply, not looking like he was going to elaborate.
"A dream? What was it about?" Kelly pried gently, trying to get Matt to admit what was bothering him.
"I- I was back at that call. The guy charged me and I was trying to get the gun from him, but he pointed it at me and I woke up just as it went off…" he sniffed, emotion clouding his voice, "I thought I was back there and it just got too much. Then I ended up here and you showed up."
Kelly squeezed Matt's hand, trying to show him that he wasn't alone. "The gun missed you. You're okay. That guy's locked up in a jail cell right now."
But Matt didn't look comforted, choosing to focus on a spot on the floor as he spoke again.
"I didn't tell you everything that happened on the call. I just wanted to block it from my memory, but clearly, that's not doing me any good" he laughed bitterly, glancing around at the situation they had found themselves in. Talking about their feelings in the bathroom at three am.
Kelly stayed silent, knowing that Matt was working up the courage to tell him what had actually happened.
Taking a deep breath, Matt shakily exhaled before looking Kelly in the eyes. He could see the fear and pain that the call had inflicted on him and it made Kelly's chest ache in sympathy with what he must be going through. Things normally didn't hit Matt this hard, so whatever it was had him really spooked.
"The shot- it missed me, but… that was the second time he pulled the trigger." Matt's breath hitched as he recalled the events, but he kept going. Talking quickly as if the dam had broken loose and all his fear and worries were spilling out with it.
"He had the gun pointed at my chest…" A sudden sob tore from Matt's throat, so Kelly began to rub circles on his arm, trying to ground him and provide some comfort.
The look Matt gave him caused Kelly's heart to sink. He had never seen him so desperate and scared in his life.
"Sev, he pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off. It- it jammed!" More sobs escaped his form, causing his chest to heave. Kelly felt his heart break at the sight of his best friend. Pulling him close, he let Matt cry, letting him get out all of the pent-up emotions from his traumatic ordeal.
"Shhh, Case, it's okay. You're okay." He whispered, hugging his friend tight. In all honesty, the hug was for himself too. The confession had sent a shock down Kelly's spine. Matt could have died. The man had actually tried to shoot him. The man would have shot him if his gun hadn't malfunctioned. He felt anger rush through his veins like lava, wanting nothing but to go hurt the guy who had done this, but he put his feelings aside and focused on his friend in front of him. Matt needed him and that was all that mattered.
Slowly, the sobs died down until Matt was only sniffling, the occasional hitch in his breathing the only reminder of what had just happened. After a moment, Matt locked his eyes onto Kelly's again, bloodshot and puffy from the crying.
"Why am I alive, Sev? Why didn't the gun go off? I could have died! What are the chances of a gun jamming? Why would it choose me not to go off on?" Matt's breathing picked up with each question, slight hysteria coating his words as he tried to reason with his fate.
Kelly put both of his hands on Matt's shoulders, trying to get him to calm down before he went into another fit.
"Case. Case! Look at me. Focus on my face."
Matt turned to look with frightened eyes. "Listen to me, there's no reason. It just happened. All you need to do is focus on the fact that you're okay. That gun jamming saved your life."
Desperation filled Matt's face as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. "But why? Why would the gun jam at that very moment? Why would-"
"Shhh, Matt I need you to take some deep breaths for me." Kelly squeezed his shoulders gently and watched as Matt followed his instructions, breathing long and slow until he was more relaxed.
"Sometimes things just happen. But if we dwell on the 'what ifs', we'll get stuck in the moment forever. The fact of the matter is that you're alive. All you have to do now is focus on moving on because that's all we can do. We put the bad moments behind us and move forward and do our best to help people out. We're firefighters, it's what we were born to do."
Matt regarded him for a moment before he pulled Kelly into another hug. "Thank you. I needed to hear that."
Kelly clapped him on the back gently before pulling back. "No problem, man. I'm always here if you need to talk."
Matt smiled softly before he wiped his hands over his face, lingering at his temples as he groaned.
"Your headache?" Kelly guessed.
Mat nodded slightly, "It was okay before I went to bed but after all this, it turned into a full-on migraine."
"I'll help you to bed and then I'll get you some of the stronger painkillers I have leftover from my surgery."
Pulling the blonde to his feet, Kelly placed a steadying hand on his back as he wobbled, almost sending them both crashing back to the ground. "You okay?"
"Yeah, m'good. Just a bit dizzy."
"Let's get you to bed before you fall down then."
Letting Matt lean on him for support, they slowly made their way to the guest bedroom that he had been calling home ever since his apartment had burned down.
Moving into position, Kelly gently lowered Matt onto the bed, making sure he was good before he left for the bathroom again. Rummaging through his medicine cabinet, he dug out the bottle of pills and popped one into his hand before filling up a cup with water. Walking back over to Matt, he handed him both and watched as he popped the pill in his mouth and took a small sip of the water before placing it on his nightstand and melting back into his bed with a tired sigh.
Satisfied that he was okay, and would most likely sleep the rest of the night, Kelly turned to leave when he heard a soft voice behind him. "Thank you, Kel, for everything. You're a really good friend."
Severide smiled, seeing that the pain pills were already working.
"Anytime Matt. Now get some sleep."
Softly shutting the door, Kelly made his way back to his bed where he collapsed onto it with a soft thump. Glancing at the clock he saw that it was now three-thirty. He and Matt had spent an hour sitting in the bathroom. If it helped his friend out, he didn't care what time it was or how long it took. They had each other's backs.
With that, he finally let himself drift back to sleep like he wanted to earlier, knowing that, while his friend still had some recovery to go, he was going to be alright; Kelly would make sure of that.