gotta learn the hard way
The members of 51 were gathered around the table, listening and laughing as Brett and Violet told the story of their ridiculous call that morning. when Stella's phone rang.
Sadie's name popped up on the caller ID, a picture of her and Maya displayed on the screen. It wasn't uncommon for Sadie to call Stella or Kelly while they were on shift—sometimes she had questions regarding Maya, but more often than not Maya just wanted to say hi to her parents. Stella answered with a smile. "Hey Sadie."
As Stella listened to whatever Maya's babysitter was saying, the smile on her face dropped. "Is she OK?"
If Stella's conversation didn't have everyone's attention before, it did now.
"What hospital are you taking her to?" Stella asked. Her voice was steady but those around her could see the worry reflected on her face. "OK, we'll meet you there. Thanks Sadie."
Stella ended the call and turned her attention to Kelly. "Sadie's taking Maya to the ER."
"Is she ok?" Kelly asked, shocked. "What happened?"
"Sadie didn't say but she didn't think it was too serious." Stella answered. "She sounded a little freaked though."
"I'll go talk to Boden." Kelly said, standing up from the table. "Cruz, cover Squad."
"You got it Lieutenant!"
Stella looked to her Captain and started to say something, but Casey interrupted her, concern clear on his face. "Go. I'll cover you."
Nodding her thanks, Stella stood from her chair and rushed out of the room.
Brett called after her. "Keep us posted!"
Stella met Kelly on the app floor and the two headed to the car, ready to break all traffic laws to get to Med and their baby girl.
By the time they arrived, Maya and Sadie had already been put in a treatment room and were waiting to be seen. Maggie pointed them towards her cubicle, a calming smile on her face, and Kelly and Stella headed in.
Maya was sitting on the bed watching some silly cartoon on Sadie's phone, giggling quietly at the characters on the screen. If it wasn't for the one arm held tightly against her body, and the frazzled look on Sadie's face and worried pacing, you wouldn't think anything was wrong.
She looked up from the phone when she heard the familiar voices of her parents. "Hi mommy! Hi daddy!"
"Hey baby girl, what happened?" Stella asked, gently pushing a few loose curls out of Maya's face.
The toddler looked up at her parents, giving them a pitiful (albeit adorable) pout. "I falled off da couch and hurted my arm."
"You fell off the couch?" Kelly asked.
Maya nodded and went back to watching cartoons.
"I am SO sorry," Sadie said, her voice stressed. "She's been jumping on the couch all day and every time I saw her do it I made her sit down or redirected her somewhere else. I even mentioned going to the trampoline place after lunch and her nap, so she could jump somewhere safe but maybe that just got her more excited."
"She was sitting on the couch, watching cartoons, and I had turned my back for just a few seconds to start making lunch when I heard a big thump and a yell. I turned around and she was on the floor, holding her arm." Sadie continued. "She wasn't crying but she wasn't using her arm and she said it hurt so I thought I'd bring her in just to be safe."
Stella rubbed Sadie's back comfortingly. "It's OK Sadie, you did the right thing. The little daredevil over there has been jumping on and off everything ever since someone," Stella paused, shooting a playful glare at Kelly "let her join in on some Squad drills. It's honestly a miracle she hasn't ended up in the ER before now."
Sadie breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that Stella and Kelly didn't seem mad. The guilt still lingered though, and Stella could see it in her eyes, but before she could mention it Dr. Scott and Maggie entered.
"Hey Maya, I'm Dr. Scott," Dylan said, making his way to the side of the bed. He greeted Kelly, Stella, and Sadie, before turning his attention back to the toddler. "What's going on kiddo?"
"I jumpin' and I falled." Maya said, dejectedly. The pout was back on her face, but it wasn't clear if it was from the pain in her arm or the fact that Kelly had taken the cartoons away so she'd focus on the doctor. "Off da couch."
"You fell off the couch? That doesn't sound fun," Dylan replied. He smiled slightly when Maya shook her head, agreeing with him. "Your babysitter said your arm got hurt when you fell. Can you show me where it hurts?"
Maya moved her good arm and pointed towards her other shoulder. Dr. Scott moved his hands towards her to exam the shoulder in question, but Maya jerked away from him. "No touch!"
"Ok, ok!" Dylan said, taking a small step back. "How about we take some pictures of it instead? No touching yet, I promise."
Maya stared at Dylan for a minute, with her pout still present and a little furrow between her brows, before finally nodding. Dr. Scott gave her a smile and, along with another nurse, helped get Maya situated and ready. He then stepped back, allowing Maggie to bring the Xray machine closer.
Maggie pushed a few buttons, there was a click, and then Maya's scan was displayed on the monitor. Dylan stepped closer, examining the images before moving back over to the bed to address the toddler. "Well miss Maya, it looks like you broke your collar bone."
He turned his attention to the adults in the room. "It's a clean break and stable, so it doesn't even need to be reset. We'll give her a brace to wear for the next 2-4 weeks, and you can give her children's Tylenol to help with any pain. Follow up with her pediatrician in a week or two to make sure everything's healing like it's supposed to and little Severide here should be good as new."
Kelly, Stella, and Sadie all breathed sighs of relief. While none of them were ecstatic that Maya had broken her first bone before her second birthday, they were all grateful that her fall didn't result in anything worse. The floors of the loft are hard concrete and the distance from the couch to the floor isn't too far, but for a toddler, it was a far enough distance to do some real damage.
"Thanks Dylan," Kelly said.
Dylan smiled. "No sweat. I'll get your discharge paperwork ready while Nurse Rose here is going to help get Maya's brace on." Turning to Maya, Dr. Scott continued, whispering conspiratorially. "She might even know where the good stickers are."
His words did as intended and drew a laugh out of the toddler, causing all the adults in the room to smile. Dr. Scott and Maggie left the room to go handle the discharge paperwork while nurse Rose stepped up to the bed to get Maya's brace on. Kelly stepped forward to help (and keep Maya calm) while Stella shot a text off to Brett and Casey so they can update the others.
Casey texted back almost immediately, sending well wishes from the rest of the team and letting Stella know that Boden had gotten floaters for both of them so they could stay with Maya.
It didn't take long for Rose to get Maya in her brace, or for the toddler to pick a few stickers out of the bin, so the Severides and Sadie walked out of the ER within an hour of Stella and Kelly arriving.
As they walked towards the parking lot, they came to Sadie's car first. Maya lurched forward, wrapping her good arm around Sadie's legs. "Bye Sadie! See you 'morrow?"
Stella chuckled. "Not tomorrow baby. Sadie will be back on Thursday. Right?"
The last part was directed at Sadie, who looked at the firefighters in front of her. "Really?"
"Of course," Kelly replied. "This wasn't your fault. You did everything we would've done. And Maya loves you."
Sadie smiled and Kelly and Stella could feel the relief coming off of her. She bent down and gave Maya a gentle hug goodbye before handing over Maya's stuff and heading home.
As Kelly and Stella loaded Maya into the car and headed home themselves, the tension that been building since Sadie's call came in melted away. Maya seemed wholly unaffected by the ordeal, chatting happily on a FaceTime call with her grandma. Her parents weren't fairing as well but hearing Maya giggling in the backseat definitely helped.
… … …
The next morning, Stella and Kelly found themselves in the kitchen, impatiently waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. Maya was an active sleeper but with the brace limiting her mobility and the discomfort from the break that lingered (despite her parents staying on top of her medicine) the toddler did not sleep well.
And when Maya didn't sleep well, her parents didn't either.
They had each already had one cup of coffee, but that wasn't going to be enough to get them through the morning. The exhaustion of a crappy night's sleep, plus the adrenaline crash from the previous day's drama, was weighing heavily on them.
Maya, however, seemed completely unaffected by her poor night's sleep. She was sitting on the floor in the living room, eating her breakfast while cartoons played on the TV. Stella and Kelly typically didn't allow Maya to eat in the living room, but she was hurt so a lot of the usual rules went out the window. Something the toddler was fully taking advantage of.
Kelly and Stella were watching from the kitchen before the ding of the coffee machine captured their attention. They refilled their cups, doctoring the coffee to their liking, and turned back towards the living room, only to be met a sight that made their hearts drop but also made their eyes roll.
"Maya Elizabeth Severide, stop jumping on the couch before you break another bone!"
Maya giggled but listened and sat down before climbing off the couch and going back to her breakfast.
Stella huffed and turned to look at Kelly, who was trying to hide a smile. "She may look like me, but she sure does have your mile-wide stubborn streak and your habit of having to learn things the hard way."
No longer bothering to hide his smile, Kelly laughed and wrapped an arm around Stella. "Maybe. But her toughness? Her fearlessness? That's all from you."
"All of that in one little girl? Watch out world!" Stella joked with a smile, leaning over for a kiss. Once they broke apart, she nudged him towards the living room. "I'll clean up from breakfast. You go make sure she doesn't hurt herself more."
Kelly snickered and, after placing a quick kiss on Stella's cheek, made his way into the living room. As Stella started cleaning up, she smiled at the animated conversation happening a few feet away between her husband and their daughter. She loved their little family so much and, while this impromptu family time wasn't under ideal circumstances, she wouldn't spend her day any other way.
A/N: fun fact- the clavicle (or collarbone) is one of the most commonly broken bones among children/toddlers and this one-shot was inspired by my own experience of breaking my collarbone (I was 5 and instead off falling off the couch, my sister pushed me over the back of it lol)
