Hi! Just wanted to say sorry for the short chapter. School has been super busy lately, but I promise I'll try and make the next one longer. Hope you enjoy! :)
After an hour of waiting, Severide was allowed to sit with Casey as he waited for the doctor to give them an update on his condition. Casey was currently sleeping; the medication treating his fever made him drowsy, but Severide didn't mind. If Casey was sleeping, he was healing, and that's all that mattered. Plus, Casey looked peaceful. The pain lines tattooed on his face over the last few days had smoothed out with the morphine they had given him, and he seemed so young and innocent; their job as firefighters was nothing but hectic, so it was quiet moments like these that Severide cherished. If only Casey weren't in the hospital for them to get it.
A movement next to him drew Severide out of his thoughts. Looking over, he saw that Casey was stirring, blinking sleepily as he looked around.
His confused and slightly panicked gaze softened when his eyes met Severide's, relaxing at the familiar face.
"Hey Case," Severide said softly, smiling now that Casey was awake.
Casey gave a small smile back before it soon morphed into a frown as he realized where they were.
"We're at the hospital?" he asked. Severide knew that Casey knew where they were. The real reason he was asking was to figure out how he had gotten there.
"Yeah, I had to bring you in. Unfortunately, things took a turn, and your shoulder got infected. Your fever spiked, and you were in a lot of pain."
Casey took a minute to process his words before he finally responded. "I don't remember any of that. And my shoulder is only aching right now."
Severide chuckled. "I wouldn't think you would. You were pretty out of it. As for the shoulder, they've got you on a morphine drip."
Casey nodded like everything made sense before he put his head back and stared at the ceiling, humming softly.
"You are such a lightweight Case," he teased, tapping the line that was feeding the morphine into his IV.
Casey didn't seem to mind the teasing, letting his head roll to the side so he could face Severide.
"Thank you," he said, grinning like Severide had told him he won the lottery.
Severide shook his head fondly but quickly sat up as the doctor walked in, a grim expression on his face.
"Hello, my name is Doctor Burke, and I'll be the one overseeing Mr. Casey's treatment," he introduced, flipping through his notes as he spoke.
"My name is Matt; only my friends call me Casey," Casey helpfully supplied, a stern look on his face as he corrected the doctor.
Doctor Burke smiled. "Of course, I'll call you Matt then." He turned to face Severide, a more serious look on his face. "Due to Matt's condition, we must, unfortunately, perform emergency surgery."
Severide felt his heart sink. "It's that serious? I thought only his incision was infected."
"I'm afraid it's more complicated than that. When Matt was brought in, we examined the wound to see how much the infection had spread. We determined that Matt has what's called a category 2 SSI, more specifically a deep incisional infection, that requires immediate surgery to clean out the wound and remove any deeply infected tissue."
Severide sat there blankly, trying to process what everything meant. "So, his muscle is infected, not just the incision site?"
"I'm afraid so. And since Matt has been given some pain relief, we've scheduled his surgery for two hours from now."
Severide nodded, too stunned to speak. He never thought that Casey would need surgery again.
Doctor Burke shifted, a more sympathetic look on his face. "There's something else. Because of the severity of the infection and the amount of muscle and tissue we have to remove, there is a chance Matt may never be allowed to work as a firefighter again. We will do all that we can to make sure that that doesn't happen, but I can't promise anything."
Casey, who had been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up, startling Severide.
"What?" he said, sounding much more alert than he had a few moments prior. "I'm never going to be a firefighter again?"
Doctor Burke turned, raising a calming hand. "Nothing is for certain, Matt. We will do everything we can to make sure it doesn't come to that. But I have to warn you if it does happen. As far as I can tell, I'm optimistic that you will regain full use of your arm with the help of intense physical therapy."
Walking over, he stopped the flow of morphine to get Casey ready for his surgery in a few hours.
"I'll be back in two hours to help prep you for your surgery. But, for now, I'll give you both the room."
With that, he turned and left, leaving a stunned Severide and a devastated Casey in his wake.
Completely aware of everything that was going on now, Casey regarded Severide with wide eyes.
"Sev, I might not be able to work. But, what good am I if I can't be a firefighter? All I've wanted to do my whole life is this job and without it…." His voice broke, tears filling his eyes.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't talk like that, Case. Doctor Burke said there was a chance that it could happen. We won't know anything until after the surgery." Severide grabbed both of Casey's hands, gently pulling so that his whole attention was on him.
"It's you and me, alright? We can deal with anything. But, if you can't be a firefighter anymore-" Casey moved to protest, but Severide cut him off with a glare, causing him to fall back onto the bed again. "Like I was saying, if you can't be a firefighter anymore, I'll quit my job, and we can find something else together. Start a new life as a couple."
Casey's face went from upset to angry in a flash, causing Saveride to reel back in surprise. "You can't quit your job because of me, Severide! You love being a firefighter. All that would do is make you hate me, and I don't want that." His anger dissolved into sadness once again as a few stray tears slid down his face.
"Hey," he soothed, wiping the tears away, "I don't care about firefighting. I care about you. As long as we're together, I'll be happy. No matter where that is or what we're doing. I love you, Matthew Casey, and I promise that we will figure this all out."
Casey nodded, choking out a small laugh as a few more tears slipped out. "I love you, Kelly Severide. What would I do without you?"
"Well, for starters, you'd still be a terrible cook."
Casey gasped in mock hurt, punching Severide playfully on the arm. "I will have you know that I was a great cook before I met you."
"Oh yeah? Is that why your apartment burnt down?"
Casey rolled his eyes. "That was because of a crazy arsonist, which you know."
Severide rubbed his chin, tilting his head back for dramatic effect. "I guess I did know that."
Casey laughed, causing Severide to smile. It was genuine and happy, almost as if there was no looming threat of their lives changing forever.
Severide pushed the thought from his mind, choosing to focus on the moment instead.
They ended up passing the two hours of time like this, joking and having fun. Severide even forgot where they were for a moment until the doctor walked back in, several nurses trailing behind him.
Casey seemed to have forgotten as well, the smile he had on his face vanishing the instant the doctor walked through the door.
"Alright, Matt, it's time for your surgery," he said as the nurses began prepping his bed to be transported.
Casey's panic flared, whipping his hand out to grab onto Severide as his breathing sped up.
Severide quickly turned, leaning over Casey so that only he could hear him.
"Everything is going to be okay. You've got this, Matthew Casey. I will be right here when you wake up, okay?"
Casey nodded, his breathing slowing as he focused on Severide's face. "I love you, Sev."
"I love you too, Case."
Leaning down, he quickly kissed Casey on the lips before standing back and letting go of his hand.
"We're ready to go if you are, Matt," A nurse said, giving him a kind smile.
Casey took a calming breath. "I'm ready."
Unlocking the bed's wheels, the nurses slowly rolled Casey out of the room and down the hall to the OR. The last thing Severide saw was Casey's face, nervous but determined before the bed was out of sight.
To be continued!