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I hope that you like the latest chapter of An Occupational Hazard.
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Chapter Thirteen
Soon, Stella was sitting in the waiting room at Med surrounded by her firehouse family, as they all awaited news on Severide. After handing Kelly over to the emergency department staff, Sylvie had immediately called Boden to alert him of what had happened. Soon afterwards the entire crew had made their way to the hospital to support Stella.
While she waited anxiously for news, Stella noticed Susan, the palliative care nurse, enter the waiting room. Stella quietly excused herself from her firehouse family to meet Susan. "Thank you for coming over here, Susan. I'm so sorry I forgot to call you when everything was happening."
"Please don't worry about it, Stella. Would you like to speak now? Or would you rather wait until we've had an update on Kelly?"
"I think we should wait, just in case," Stella replied with a slight quiver in her voice.
Chief Boden chose that moment to make his way over to the pair, and as soon as Stella noticed him, she introduced the Chief to Susan. "Susan, this is Chief Boden, from the firehouse. Kelly and I both worked under him. Chief, this is Susan, she's a nurse from Fairview Palliative Care Center who has been helping us."
"It's wonderful to meet you, Chief Boden. Kelly and Stella have spoken very highly of you."
"Thank you for that. We all really appreciate you helping take care of Severide. And please, call me Wallace."
Meanwhile, as Stella moved aside with the Chief and Susan, the rest of the firehouse crew watched in concern as Stella spoke and cried to this woman that they'd never met.
Eventually, Herrmann and Mouch found themselves both wandering over to the vending machines with no intention to purchase anything, but not knowing what else to do. As the pair stood looking at various snacks and drinks, Mouch commented, "This is just too much. I wish that we knew what they're talking about."
"I know," Herrmann replied pensively, "But I'd guess from the looks of it that Severide's gotten a whole lot worse since the wedding."
"I wonder how long he's got left?" Mouch said quietly, almost inaudibly.
"I wish we knew."
Oblivious to her colleagues' concerns, Stella sat down in the emergency department's quiet room alongside Chief Boden, across a small table from Susan.
Initially it seemed that no one wanted to speak, until Susan gently broke the silence, "That's a nasty cut, Stella. May I ask what happened?"
Stella unthinkingly raised her hand to the sutured cut in her hairline. "…Oh, that. It's nothing really. Kelly just got a little confused. The doctor says I won't even have a visible scar."
"Severide hit you?!" Boden said in shock.
"Actually, he threw a plate at me, but it's nothing. Honestly, don't worry about it."
"Stella, you're in your third trimester," Susan interjected, "What would happen if Kelly caused you to fall? I know that you can handle this, but we can't just think about you anymore."
"I know," Stella replied softly. "That's why I called you. I don't want to put him in care, but I don't know what else to do. Are there any other options?"
"There are definitely options to support you both at this time, but I'll tell you straight up that some of the options are rather expensive."
"Oh no, don't you even worry about money right now, Kidd. Whatever you need, we'll figure it out," Boden interjected before Stella could respond.
"You don't need to do that Chief," Stella replied quickly.
"No, it's as good as already done," Boden responded just as fast. "Now, Susan, you were saying…"
"Yes, right. The first option I would suggest given your pregnancy Stella is that we arrange around the clock assistance for Kelly in your home. That said it can become very costly. I know that you don't want to place Kelly in our palliative care unit, but that is another option, and we could also offer in home care while you're at work, but I really don't recommend that option, because it doesn't allow you any respite."
"I don't know," Stella said shaking her head.
"Perhaps it would be better to wait for an update on Kelly's condition before we make any decisions?" Susan suggested gently. Although she didn't say it, Susan was nervous about planning too much when they weren't even sure what condition Kelly would be in when he woke up, if he woke up.
"That sounds good," Stella said quietly. "Can we go back to the waiting room? Maybe they'll have an update for us soon."
No one spoke when the trio returned to the waiting room; Boden had a protective arm around Stella's shoulders, while Susan walked a respectful distance behind them.
They quietly joined the assembled group to await news on Kelly.
It was only a matter of minutes though before Dr Halstead approached from within the treatment area. As Stella looked at the doctor, she immediately became fearful. Stella stood shakily to meet the doctor, "Please, how is Kelly?"
"We've stopped the seizures, and he is just being extubated now. We will be moving to the intensive care unit soon for monitoring."
"But?" Stella said questioningly. There was always a but.
"Kelly's condition has progressed significantly since his diagnosis. Has the oncologist exhausted all treatment options?"
"Yeah," Stella said tiredly, "He's on palliative care. With the number of metastatic sites. Dr McNiccoll says that it might not be long now."
"Does he have a do not resuscitate order?"
Stella just nodded. In truth, Kelly had signed the paperwork only weeks into his first attempt at treatment. "Can I see him?"
"Of course, I'll come get you when he's settled into the ICU. You should prepare yourself though, his postictal state has caused significant confusion."
"He's confused a lot of the time now."
"Alright. I'll come find you shortly."
It was by an unfortunate coincidence that before Kelly was moved to intensive care, Casey saw his best friend.
Casey and a couple of other firefighters had stepped into the emergency department area to speak to Detective Voight about a suspicious fire they had attended earlier, as he was there to check on the victim's condition, and they passed Kelly's room on the way out. It was hard to miss that it was his room as Kelly was shouting a slew of broken words at an unfamiliar young nurse.
Matt tried to shoo the others away, but he wasn't quick enough for them not to catch a glimpse of their former lieutenant. Honestly, Matthew Casey could count on one hand how many times he had been that thrown by something he'd seen. It stopped him in his tracks.
Severide's previously muscular form had lost almost all its bulk, and for a moment he was hard to recognise. While Severide had looked rough when he last came by the firehouse, now he just looked like he was dying.
'Because he is.' A saddening thought crossed Casey's mind.
Then Maggie, the nurse in charge, caught sight of Casey standing in the doorway of one of her treatment rooms, and he was promptly shown back into the waiting room while Maggie went to aid her floundering colleague.
By the time Casey made his way back out into the waiting room, he was met by his colleagues raised voices, and they weren't yelling at just anyone... they were yelling at Stella.
To Be Continued…
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