Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination and the kids.
a/n: Thank you to everyone who left a review on last chapter, you guys are amazing. Everybody's been asking me to update soon so here it is, another chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it.
Matt woke up the next morning, Gabby safely tucked under the blankets, sleeping. He silently got up, got dressed and ready to leave. Christie and Laura were going to take all five kids to the zoo today so he simply took his duffle bag that was next to the front door and left the house
He drove all the way to 51 with only his thoughts, not even feeling like listening to the radio. He figured that he'd just ignore those who were already there and would close himself off in his office until roll call. He was lucky enough to find the house empty, second watch out on a call but he wasn't as lucky as he grabbed his things to grab a shower, walking straight into Kelly.
"Damn Matt, you look like hell." He had his hand around Matt's arm.
"It's nothing." Matt pulled his arm away from Kelly but Kelly held on tightly.
"Did something happen last night?"
"None of your business Severide." Matt pulled a bit harder to release his arm from Kelly's grip and headed for the showers. The warm water did nothing to dissipate the fog that clouded his mind from last night's fight with Gabby. When he got back from the shower, he grabbed some much needed coffee and breakfast and took his spot at the head of the table as usual. He looked at his paper, hoping no one would bother him.
Gabby woke up and stretched her arm out to Matt's side of the bed to find it empty. She sighed deeply before running her hands across her face.
"Please stay safe." She whispered to herself, hoping Matt would at least do nothing careless before she could even apologize for last night. She showered quickly because she was on shift in less than an hour and the girls were scheduled to be there in about fifteen minutes. She poured herself a coffee and in mug to go when there was a knock on the door. "Christie, thanks again for doing this."
"It's never a problem, I love these kids. Are you ok?" She asked concerned.
"Bad night, had a fight with Matt last night."
"What happened?" Christie made sure the kids weren't there to hear about it.
"Well I can't really say it was a fight but Matt has been working on the new house on his days off and he's starting to be tired and he won't admit it so I called him out on it and he kind of yelled at me."
"I'm sorry. Matt is really stubborn when he wants to."
"I just wished we could have talked about it this morning. He was gone when I woke up and I didn't even have time to say sorry before he went in for shift."
"Maybe try him at lunch."
"Yeah, I think I'll do that. Thanks Christie."
"You're welcome. Now get going, I have it from here."
"Thanks." She smiled at her before heading out. She tried to concentrate on the job once she set foot in the hospital but it was somewhat hard after checking her phone a few times after texting Matt to know if they could talk and have no answer yet. As soon as lunch time came around, she grabbed her purse and keys and left directly for the firehouse, quickly stopping for food on her way there. She couldn't have today finish with Matt being mad at her so she was going to fix it.
When she made it to the firehouse, the trucks were out and she only hoped that they would be back soon. She decided to occupy her mind by cooking for the house and she was glad when she was done with the pasta sauce and she could hear the trucks pulling in. She suddenly became nervous as some of the guys from truck started walking in. She stilled her movements as Matt walked in, chief Boden hot on his trail.
"I don't want you to do anything this stupid again. You put your life and your team's life in danger. Are we clear lieutenant?" Everyone in the common room stood silent as the chief spoke, anger rolling off his tongue, Matt turning around to face him. They stood facing each other for a few seconds before Matt finally found his voice.
"Yes sir." He finally locked eyes with Gabby but completely ignored her as he walked back towards his office where he figured no one would bother him but unfortunately for him, Gabby had gone off after him, the rest of the house watching as she did.
Gabby stopped the door from closing with a bang with her hand. "Matt, we need to talk."
"Gabby, not now." He was in no mood right now to get into it with her. He was tired and his body was in pain from the fall, one story down in the last call they had just arrived from.
"Matt, please. We need to talk about this."
"There's nothing to talk about Gabby. Just let it go." The bell called him out again, preventing the two from finishing this conversation.
"Be careful." She screamed as he left his office without another word, leaving her alone in the small space. After a few minutes of feeling at a total loss, she headed back out and went back to the hospital, hoping that nothing would happen to him.
Matt was quick to make it to 81 first. He put on his gear and boots and took his spot at the front, their destination far enough to be plagued by their last call.
The building was already engulfed in flames when they made it there, chief quickly giving orders to his teams as they hopped down the rigs. Matt was in charge of the top floor with Herrmann so they went up and did their search like they normally did, finding a mom with her son and bringing them down.
"The smoke is turning black, everyone out NOW." Chief called in his radio.
"Copy that chief." Matt looked at Herrmann as they hurried down the stairs. Matt heard someone call for help when they stepped out, the woman in good enough shape to finish getting out on her own. Matt's eyes locked with chief Boden's before he deliberately ignored his order and went back in.
"CASEY' GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" Everyone at the scene watched as Boden fumed and both Herrmann and Otis looked at each other before Boden reluctantly nodded and the two of them went back in in search of their lieutenant.
"Casey, call out." Otis called loudly as they moved through the main floor. Herrmann found the second kid but Matt wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Casey call out." Otis called again as he moved farther onto the floor, reaching Casey just as the floor gave under his lieutenant, the man falling down to the basement with a loud bang. "Severide!" Otis knew that Squad would be able to help him. His radio crackled back to life and he heard Severide ask what he needed. "Casey fell through the floor, we need to go down to get him."
Matt grunted as his back hit the floor under him, pain shooting up into his arms. He could hear Otis's voice in his radio, asking Severide for some help. He painfully rolled on his side and grab hold of his radio. "I need some help down here." It seemed like forever until he was pulled up but it had been a matter of minutes really when Severide and the others pulled him up to safety and getting out of the house just moments before it collapsed.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?" Casey was swiftly pulled up by a very angry Boden and pushed back slightly. "Pack your trucks, LET'S GO!" Boden simply turned and left, Matt knowing in how much trouble he was in.
The trucks came to a halt at the entrance of the industrial part of town and everybody got down and waited for Boden to give his orders. Boden looked a little bit longer Matt's way to make sure his truck lieutenant had understood the orders he had just given him. They walked into the building and they were brought farther inside by some staff to find a man on with his arm stuck in a conveyer belt. At first glance, it looks like an easy enough save but after some workers explained what they were doing here, it all became more complicated and delicate. Severide and Capp went directly to the man, trying to figure out a way to get him out of there without him losing a limb.
"Matt, we need the electricity shut down right now if we want to keep his arm."
"I'm on it Severide." Matt followed the belt all the way to the end where the electrical pannel stood. He opened it and sparks started flying, prompting Matt to jump a step back. "This might take a few minutes Sev." He called out, trying to keep his fingers out of reach of the sparks.
"He doesn't have a few minutes." Severide yelled back.
"Crap." Casey cursed under his breath. The spraks didn't seem to stop so he put his gloves back on and did what he had to do get the electricity to stop before the belt ripped that man's arm off. He examined the box for a few seconds before he wrapped his finger around one of the wires and as he pulled it, the sparks ignited and the box blew up, throwing Matt backwards into some shelving and then to the ground with a grunt, the electricity effectively shutting down.
"Lieutenant, are you ok?" Both Herrmann and Mouch came to his aid to get up.
"Yeah, I'm good." He coughed as he stood straight. He watched as Capp and Severide worked on the man while he tried to catch his breath but his breathing became more shallow.
"Are you sure you're ok lieutenant?" Herrmann patted him on the back.
"I said I'm fine, go help Severide."
"On it Casey." He did as he was told and went to help the others. The three men managed to get the worker on a stretcher with his arm in pretty bad shape, Shay and Brett taking him to Lakeshore.
Matt started experiencing even shorter breath as they left the building, a few black spots finally starting to dance in front of his eyes. He grabbed his helmet from the ground with his right hand and suddenly his body buckled, Cruz and Otis powerless to catch him as he fell from where they stood behind him. They ran to their lieutenant and helped him to his knees.
"Where does it hurt?" Cruz looked him over and couldn't really see what was going on with him.
"I'm fine." Matt tried to insist but everyone who was watching wasn't buying it. He tried to pull himself up again and his body refused to hold his weight down, a loud cry escaping his lips.
"Lieutenant, you're bleeding." Mills was just now noticing the blood that was trickling down Casey's side. Matt looked down at where Mills was talking about and immediately his vision turned black, the world slipping away.
Severide was quickly on his radio. "Squad 3 to main." His fingers were slightly shaking as his best friend laid unconscious on the ground. Main to Squad 3, what do you need? "Firefighter down at our call, we need an ambo now." Copy that, an ambulance is on route. Severide rushed to Casey's side and pulled open his turnout coat and that's when he noticed what was wrong. Matt had a small piece of rebar stuck into his side, blood starting to flow steadily from it now. "I need some help here." Mills was already running back towards truck to get the jump bag that was waiting there for moments like this.
"Here Lieutenant, let me do it." Kelly had his hands pressing down on Matt's wound and blood was slowly making its way through his fingers. Kelly looked at Mills and brushed him off.
"I can't take my hands off of there, he's bleeding too much." Mills nodded silently and proceeded in putting a line in and the oxygen mask over his nose until the EMT's arrived. It took about five minutes before a gurney rolled in followed by Chout and McCullen.
"What do we have?"
"Casey was thrown backwards after the electrical panel blew up and he said he was fine but we didn't know." Mills started explaining what had happened. "I noticed bleeding coming from his side and that's when he collapsed. He has a piece of rebar stuck in his side and he's loosing a lot of blood."
"Alright lieutenant." Severide looked straight at Chout. "I need you to keep your hands where they are and apply some more pressure while we transfer him to the backboard and then you're riding with us."
"Ok." They had to be able to bring him in in time because all Kelly could think about right now was Gabby, Christie and the girls and how they couldn't lose him. The move was quick and Severide was walking quickly next to the gurney and into the ambo, Boden closing the doors and the white truck sped off towards Lakeshore. The rest of firehouse 51 followed closely behind.
Gabby was finishing to write some reports when Shay came tumbling into the peds department. "Hey girl, are you ok?" She had seen the whole thing unfold at the firehouse between Gabby and Matt and she needed to make sure that her friend was ok.
"Not really. Were you guys on a call?" She asked as she wrote the last words down and put the file back where it belonged.
"Yeah, we just brought a victim in with his arm that was stuck in a conveyer belt."
"The must hurt like hell."
"He was a champ really."
"And Matt?" Shay looked down at her hands as Gabby looked at her expectantly.
"Did something happen to Matt?" She asked worried.
"Nothing big, he seemed ok when we left."
"That's it, I'm going down there now." She grabbed her things and was ready to follow Shay back to the firehouse. They were going down the stairs and had to go through the ER to get to the employee parking lot but the scene that unfolded in front of their eyes nearly made Gabby go numb. Chout and McCully were pushing a gurney in.
"Male, 32, impaled on the side by a rebar." Gabby's feet moved like they had a will of their own and pushed through several people before she was abruptly stopped by the medical staff.
"You can't go any further miss." The male nurse that was in front of her was large enough to stop her but she tried pushing through anyways, tears falling freely now.
"You have to let me go in, he's my boyfriend." She implored with him.
"I'm sorry miss but you'll have to wait until we can update you." Gabby's world suddenly stopped turning as she saw the man she loved being wheeled towards the OR's, no idea if she was going to see him again and make it right.
a/n: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I know everyone has been wanting for Dawsey to fix their issues but I felt like the story needed a little more drama. I hope you guys enjoyed it anyways and please take a few minutes to leave a review, I like to know what your thoughts are on all of this. - Sarra
