Disclaimer: I don't own Chicago Fire or any affiliated shows, or the characters thereof. This is just for fun.
I hope that you like the latest chapter of An Occupational Hazard.
Thank you for each and every one of your reviews, it really encourages me to keep writing.
Chapter Five
It was a long night. Kelly spent the entire night curled up beside the toilet, as intractable sickness overwhelmed his system. Stella didn't sleep either, as she moved around the apartment restlessly doing what she could to help Kelly, even if that just meant bringing him his tablets and a glass of water, or taking the comforter off the bed for Kelly to lie down on (although he said that the coolness of the tiles actually helped).
As dawn broke, Kelly finally felt well enough to move from his position in the bathroom to the couch.
Stella was feeling rather anxious by this point too, as her shift would begin in just a few hours, and she didn't want to leave Kelly alone. In hindsight, she probably should have taken the day off.
Stella didn't even know that Kelly had promised the Chief that he would stop by the firehouse to speak with everyone.
After setting Kelly up on the couch with a pillow and a blanket, his pills set out on the coffee table, Stella reluctantly headed to work.
Stella was helping the latest candidate, Blake Gallo, through some drills on the apparatus floor, when she noticed Kelly's car pull into an open parking space in front of the firehouse.
"What the hell?" Stella muttered as she quickly made her way over to the vehicle.
Kelly was just stepping out of the car as Stella approached. He still looked terrible, pale and slightly unsteady on his feet.
"What are you doing here, Kelly?"
"I told Boden that I'd stop by, let everyone know what's happening."
"Okay, but couldn't it wait?"
"No, my replacement starts next shift, and I owe it to everyone to explain things."
"Okay, but I'll be on your hip the entire time. Just in case."
"Fine. Let's go."
The short walk into the firehouse was hard enough on Kelly, so Stella made a beeline to the Chief's office to use the old loudspeaker system to call everyone to the roll call room in order to save Kelly from having to search for everyone.
Within minutes the room was packed with their firehouse family. And as Kelly was gently forced to take a seat at the front of the room - a compromise between him and Stella - many of them started to get nervous.
"So, you're probably all wondering why I've called you all here," Kelly began. "As you all know I got sick on a call a couple of weeks ago. And well, when the hospital ran tests to figure out what happened they found out that I have lung cancer. It's advanced, and there's not a whole lot that they can do, so the doctors have said that I won't be able to come back to work," Kelly paused as an unfortunately timed cough rattled through his chest. "Sorry. Starting next shift, a new lieutenant will be taking over Squad Three."
You could have heard a pin drop as a wave of crushing sadness hit every member of the firehouse.
After several long minutes, the questions started as everyone tried to wrap their heads around what Kelly had announced.
Ultimately, it was Christopher Herrmann who restored calm to the situation, saying, "We are all really sorry that this is happening to you, Lieutenant. But you will always be welcome here, and at Molly's too. Don't be a stranger just because you're not working here."
"Well said, Herrmann," Boden said in agreement. "Okay then, let's get back to work, and let Lieutenant Severide go home. Everyone get back to work."
Hugs and handshakes were exchanged as the firefighters gradually trickled out of the roll call room, each member of the firehouse wanting to personally speak to Kelly before he left.
All Kelly wanted to do after the meeting at the firehouse was to go home to a glass or two of whiskey, but he had an appointment at the hospital to attend first.
This appointment had been made as a result of the chemotherapy nurses concerns about Kelly's breathlessness. They ran test after test before Kelly was ushered back to see his oncologist.
As Kelly had now realised was the doctor's style, he didn't beat around the bush, as he told Kelly, "When we tested your respiratory effort, it was quite clear that your ability to breathe is being considerably effected by the cancer. I'm going to order a portable oxygen concentrator for you to use."
Kelly frowned, but refrained from commenting.
"We will start you on nasal prongs at five litres of oxygen per minute. If that doesn't alleviate your breathlessness, then we may have to consider an oxygen mask to achieve higher concentrations of oxygen. I'm also going to prescribe you a low dose of morphine, which will make you more comfortable."
"But it doesn't hurt... Why do I need morphine?"
"It will suppress your respiratory system slightly, and as a result, take some of the feeling of breathlessness. But as I said, it is a very low dose, so it is quite safe." Again the doctor paused, this time to let Kelly process everything. "Lastly, have you had a chance to read the booklets that I gave you on central lines yet?"
"Not really, but Stella did. She thinks it's a good idea."
"Alright then, if you're happy to proceed, I will arrange a date before your next chemotherapy for a Hickman line to be placed in theatre. As you may be aware, there are several types of central lines, but I think that a Hickman line is the most appropriate option for you."
Kelly nodded in agreement, and soon finished up the consultation after being instructed to to go upstairs to the respiratory clinic to pick up an oxygen concentrator. While he was there Kelly was told how to operate the portable device.
Soon, Kelly was on his way home, a bag containing the oxygen concentrator slung over his shoulder and nasal prongs running from the machine to just under Kelly's nose.
The drive home sapped almost all of Kelly's energy, though he had to admit that the oxygen made him feel better. He climbed the staircase to the apartment, and made his way inside.
The day had taken a significant physical and psychological toll on him, there was no doubting that.
A part of Kelly felt like just curling up on the couch to watch Shay's old recordings. He needed time to process the fact that he didn't have much longer on this earth, and to make sure that Stella and their baby would be taken care of. And somehow seeing his late best friend again made death not seem so bad. Not that he'd tell Stella that detail.
But instead, Kelly used the slight boost in energy to tidy the apartment up a bit. Kelly figured that soon it wouldn't be possible for him to help out around the apartment, so he might as well start in on some of the minor repairs and tidying.
The baby would need a proper nursery of course, and Kelly was determined to get it done before he would no longer be able to do so.
To be continued...