A/N: Hey guys! This is my very first FF for Chicago Fire! This is based on episode 5x16, and a few things in this story are going to look different from the actual episode. One of the biggest differences is in my story, the SWAT team doesn't get to the part of the firehouse where Casey and Otis are with the gunman as quick as they do in the episode. I needed to add a little Severide in action during that part lol.
Also, I want to point out that I am not a medical professional. I've done some research (as good writers do lol) but I'm not perfect. Please forgive (or nicely point out) any obvious weirdness when it comes to the medical stuff. Thanks!
I hope you all enjoy! Please review and let me know what you think! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago Fire or it's characters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The second there's a distraction, I need you to cover for me." Kelly Severide whispered.
"Yeah, I got you." Joe Cruz replied.
And that's exactly what he did. Severide was able to slip away unnoticed and now he was sneaking through the halls of the firehouse. He needed to find Kidd and Casey and make sure they're were both okay.
Just as the perpetrator was about to find Stella Kidd's hiding spot in one of the bathroom stalls, Severide found him and got the jump on him. He grabbed for the gun causing it to fire once, luckily not hitting Kidd in the process. Severide slung him backwards into the mirrors, then shoved him into one of the stall doors, breaking it right off the hinges.
The struggle continued, both Severide and the perpetrator trying to get the upper hand. Suddenly, the perp elbowed Severide in the face, dazing him for a split second and allowing the perpetrator to force Severide back into one of the showers.
Severide wasn't able to keep his balance and he fell backwards. He landed awkwardly on his left wrist and heard a sickening snap just before he hit the back of his head hard on the wall of the shower. His vision blurred and black spots danced in front of his eyes as he felt his head start to throb.
He blinked a few times trying to clear his vision, but the perp jumped at the opportunity of Severide being down and wrapped his hands around Severide's throat.
Kelly was trying to fight him, but his head hurt. He didn't feel like he had any strength to be able to get the upper hand and get this guy off of him, and it was getting harder to breathe.
All of a sudden, Kidd came from behind the attacker and pistol-whipped him across the back of the head. Severide breathed a sigh of relief and allowed Kidd to help him to his feet.
"You okay?!" She asked as she pulled him up.
"Yeah," he managed to get out, even though he didn't feel okay. His ribs hurt from the kicks he got earlier, his wrist was throbbing, his head was still pounding, and as Stella helped him up, he got dizzy and nauseous and almost had to sit back down. But he composed himself and luckily for him, she didn't notice. He would worry about himself later. She had a head injury and Casey had been shot. They took priority, in his mind.
He and Stella quietly rushed into the hallway. They saw Casey and Otis still being held captive by one of the gunmen.
Severide whispered to Kidd, "You run down the hallway and lure the guy out here. When he comes out into the hall I'll jump him. You have to promise me you won't come back though. I don't want you getting caught in the line of fire if the gun goes off."
"Kelly I'm not leaving you alone to fight him—"
He cut her off, "You know Otis and Casey will jump in and help if needed. You need to try and get out the back door and get some help in here. Promise me you'll get out of here."
She hesitated at first, but then she saw the urgency and concern in Severide's gaze so she reluctantly agreed. Her head hurt. She knew she probably had a concussion, especially considering she had been knocked unconscious.
If her head wasn't pounding and causing her to lose focus, she might have noticed Severide swaying on his feet. She might have noticed how he held his left arm and hand tightly against his side to try and ease the pain in his clearly broken wrist. She might have noticed the way he kept blinking and squinting his eyes because his vision was blurry. She might have noticed when his breathing became more rapid and shallow.
But she didn't. The concussion was clouding her thoughts. Not only did her head hurt, but Severide was also doing a good job at hiding the fact that he was definitely NOT okay. He felt different. He knew something had to be wrong, and he knew his wrist was broken. But he wouldn't stop until he knew everyone else was safe. As he always did. That's why the guys had given him the nickname FILO. First In, Last Out. Because Severide was that kind of guy. He would do anything for his buddies, and he wasn't going to change now. Whatever injuries he had could wait a little longer.
"Go now, Kidd!" He whispered urgently, so she loudly said "Let's go!" to attract the gunman's attention, and then she ran down the hall.
The gunman saw her, rushed out of the bunk room and started to give chase. He didn't make it far before Severide ran into him at full force. The gunman was knocked off of his feet, and his weapon flew out of his hand. Severide was on top of him in a second, struggling to keep the upper hand. This gunman wasn't small or weak by any means.
He was able to get out from under Severide by punching him hard in the side. A punch like that wouldn't normally stun Kelly, but his ribs were still sore from earlier. The gunman quickly got to his feet, Severide struggling, but also getting up and taking a swing at the gunman, widely missing. Casey rushed out of the bunk room with Otis on his heels, just as the gunman landed a blow to the side of Kelly's head, causing him to drop to his hands and knees and violently vomit onto the floor of the firehouse.
"Kelly!" Matt exclaimed as he rushed the attacker. The attacker's sole focus was on Kelly though, and he landed one more blow to the back of Severide's head before Casey closed the gap and knocked the attacker onto the floor.
SWAT busted in at that moment and Casey breathed a sigh of relief as they took custody of the gunman. He rushed to an unconscious Kelly's side where Otis had sunk to his knees.
"Otis, go get Dawson, quick!" Casey urgently told Otis before talking directly to Severide. "Kelly, you're going to be okay. Can you hear me, buddy?" Severide was laying on his stomach, and Casey was waiting to move him until he had more help. He didn't want to cause further injuries.
Just then Boden, Kidd, and the rest of Truck 81 and Squad 3 burst through the doors, all surprised at the scene in front of them.
Tears welled up in Stella's eyes as she crouched down next to Casey. "I should've stayed with him." She said, sniffling. "I should've helped him. God, I was so stupid. Why did I leave him to fight the guy alone?"
"This isn't your fault, Kidd." Casey told her. "You're injured too. Me and Otis should've helped him quicker. You know he wouldn't have wanted you to put yourself in harms way for him."
Kidd just nodded and wiped away the tears that were running down her cheeks.
Then, Otis came running back in with Dawson and Brett on his heels.
"Matt!" Dawson shouted with tears in her eyes. "I thought you were—" she couldn't even finish that thought. "What's wrong?"
"I'm okay, but something is wrong with Severide! The gunman hit him in the head twice. He puked before he went unconscious." Matt responded.
"Brett, grab a C-collar." Dawson said. She put the C-collar on Kelly and they carefully turned him over. Dawson pulled up one of his eyelids to look at his eye. "Pupil's dilated. Possible concussion. Let's get a backboard."
"His wrist looks broken," Brett pointed out.
Dawson nodded, "Get an air splint—" she paused when Severide started to groan and his eyes fluttered.
"What happened? What's going—" Severide stopped talking as he opened his eyes. "Casey? Matt!" Severide yelled, sounding terrified, and everyone looked at each other confused, as Severide's eyes darted around wildly.
"Kelly, I'm okay." Matt said, as he tried to position himself to be in Severide's line of sight.
"Matt!" Kelly yelled again.
"Kelly, I'm right here—"
"Matt! I can't see!"
Casey looked at Gabby, eyes wide and a clear look of concern on his face.
"What do you mean you can't see?"
"Everything is dark! I—I can't see anything! Matt! Everything just looks like shadows. What's going on?!" Severide was frantically rambling. Kidd quickly stood and took a step back with her hand over her gaped open mouth, and Herrmann stepped forward and draped his arm over her shoulder in a comforting gesture. The rest of the Firehouse 51 crew stood back and watched, all alarmed and wanting to comfort Severide, but not wanting to startle him if he couldn't see them.
Dawson spoke calmly, but everyone in the room could tell by the look on her face that they didn't have much time, "We need to get him to Med. Now."
As Dawson and Brett were quickly finishing with the air splint on his left wrist and getting him onto a backboard, Casey grabbed Severide's right hand and started talking to him. Severide squeezed his eyes shut but instantly calmed when he heard Matt's voice. "Kelly, we're all here. Everyone is safe, the police arrested all of the gunmen. Dawson and Brett are taking care of you. Everything is going to be okay."
Casey continued talking quietly to Severide as they loaded him onto the stretcher. They were about to load him into the ambulance when Casey let go of his hand to help load him up.
Severide cracked his eyes open to test his vision then quickly closed them again when he saw no change. All he saw were shadows. "Casey? Don't leave me. Please." Severide pleaded, then more quietly added, "I'm scared, Matt," his voice quivering.
Casey cursed himself for not telling Severide he was only letting go of his hand so they could load him into the ambulance. He quickly responded "I'm not leaving you, buddy. We're loading you in the ambulance to get you to Med. I'll be right by your side. I promise."
They loaded him into the ambulance. Brett hopped into the back with him, and Dawson briefly spoke to the rest of their crew.
"I think he might have a brain injury, possibly swelling in his brain. We have to go right now."
Boden gave her a nod and said, "Go. Take Casey and Kidd with you. We'll be right behind you."
Casey jumped in the back with Severide and Brett, and Kidd got up front with Dawson.
The whole drive to Med, everyone was hoping and praying that Severide would be okay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as they got to Med, Dawson quickly relayed Severide's symptoms to Dr. Halstead.
Kelly was still conscious, so Dr. Halstead asked him what happened. He couldn't remember.
This concerned Casey even more. He still hadn't let go of Severide's hand.
"I promised him I would stay by his side." Casey said quietly.
Dr. Halstead locked eyes with Casey, "We'll take care of him."
Casey nodded and let go of Severide's hand after telling him what was going on.
Severide suddenly began to have trouble breathing, so they quickly whisked him away, Dr. Halstead calling out orders to his nurses on how to care for their injured patient.
Casey was left standing in the middle of the ER. Wishing this was all a dream. Cursing the guys who had decided to take their firehouse hostage this morning.
A couple minutes later, Dawson found Matt still frozen in place, looking in the direction they had taken Kelly. She coaxed him to get his shoulder fixed up, while Kidd was getting checked out.
A couple of stitches and a sling later, Matt found Gabby leading him into a waiting room full of firefighters. Not just any firefighters, their crew from firehouse 51. The men and women who had just worked together to get through one of the toughest situations they had ever been in. He was proud of all of them.
But that didn't stop him from thinking and worrying about Severide. He sunk into one of the empty seats and lowered his head into his good hand. He was the last one to see his best friend, his brother, and he was the only one who knew that it didn't look good. But he didn't want to talk about it.
Talking about it meant this was all real. It meant they had to face what had happened. It meant Kelly Severide, the tough as nails lieutenant of Squad 3 was somewhere in this hospital fighting for his life.
Nobody wanted to ask after seeing Casey's face when he walked into the waiting room, but they all wanted to know. Boden stood and rested his hand on Matt's good shoulder. "How was he?" He asked quietly.
Casey looked up and they all saw the tears slide down his cheeks. "Once we got here his vision was the same. He couldn't remember what had happened to him. And he started crashing so they had to rush him back. Haven't gotten any other news."
The waiting room fell into silence as they all awaited news on Severide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a little while, Dr. Halstead entered the waiting room to bring them news.
Casey found himself holding his breath.
"We got him stabilized and got a CT of his brain. He has cerebral edema, which is swelling of the brain. He's in the ICU and we are giving him medication to help reduce the swelling. If it doesn't go down surgery may be necessary to relieve some of the pressure in his brain, but so far the medication does seem to be reducing the swelling. His left wrist is also broken, but it was a clean break. We put a cast on it, and it should heal pretty easily."
"What about his vision?" Casey asked.
"He seems to have partial vision loss due to the swelling in his brain. As the swelling goes down, his vision should return. We have him in a medically-induced coma to give his brain the rest it needs to help the swelling go down. He's still critical, but he's very lucky you got him here as quickly as you did after the injuries to his head."
"So, what now?" Stella asked.
"It'll be at least a few days before we reduce the medications that are keeping him sedated, but I'll allow you to go see him a few at a time. I know how close you all are. Then, one of you at a time can stay with him until we move him out of the ICU. We'll keep you updated."
"Thank you, Dr. Halstead." Casey said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Several months later…)
Severide smiled as he walked back into the firehouse for his first shift back on the job. It felt like it had been forever, and he couldn't wait to get back to work.
He walked past the Squad table and was surprised not to see Cruz, Capp, or Tony in their normal spots around the table. He walked through the house and couldn't find a sign of anyone.
This has to be a prank. He thought. They knew I was back on shift today.
Finally, after looking everywhere, or so he thought, he ended up in the locker room and he opened his locker to change. Confetti blasted out of his locker as everyone burst in the room yelling "Welcome back!!"
Severide had the biggest smile on his face as everyone greeted him and told him how glad they were that he was back.
Later, he was working on paperwork in his office when Casey knocked on the door. Severide motioned for him to come in.
"Want to talk outside?" Casey asked him.
"Sure."
They went outside and after a minute Casey began, "How are you doing?"
"I'm good." Severide said, a little confused as to why they were having this conversation.
"Are you sure? You can tell me if you're not."
"Of course I'm good. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Today is your first shift back. The last shift you were on was when everything happened. Just making sure you are okay."
"I barely even remember what happened that day to be honest," he said, but when Casey shot him a concerned look he added, "doc says that's normal with a head injury like I had."
Casey nodded, "Okay. Let's get to work then." He turned to head back into the firehouse when Severide called after him.
"Hey, Casey?"
He turned back towards Severide, "yeah?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For everything. For being there for me through it all. Letting me stay with you and Dawson so I didn't have to recover alone. For pushing me to make it back to this job as quickly as I have. What I went through was one of the scariest things that's ever happened to me. Not only the brain injury, but losing my vision? That's about the only thing I remember from that day, is how terrifying it was not being able to see. I mean, what's a firefighter without their eyes?! And you were there through everything. I won't ever be able to thank you enough for that."
Casey had to blink away the tears that had sprung to his eyes, "I can only imagine how terrifying it was. It was scary for us too. We thought we were going to lose you. I'll always be here for you, Kelly. That's what brothers do."
Severide smiled and patted Casey on the back as they walked back into the firehouse.
And that's all she wrote for this story! I hope you all enjoyed! If you couldn't tell, Severide is my favorite and I love the brother moments between him and Casey!
Please let me know if you enjoyed! Also, if you want to see more Chicago Fire works from me! One shots or longer stories. I'll try to make anything y'all want happen. You can even drop some ideas for future stories you want me to try and write.
Thanks so much for reading! Go out and make today great! :)
