"What do you mean? How's it unlikely that she's still alive?"
Casey turned towards the house and pointed to the dark smoke that rose into the sky.
"See the color of the smoke? It's very dark, that means that this fire's already been burning for a few hours. That means that the house is full of much more smoke, which means that breathing becomes almost impossible."
Voight looked at him shocked, but he tried to hide it.
"But there is a chance that she's still alive?"
Casey looked at Severide. He was silently asking if it was reasonable to pull a rescue or if they should put out the fire first and then perform a recovery. The latter was definitely the safer option, but it would most certainly get Vanessa killed. And there was a small chance that she was still alive. Severide just shrugged his shoulders.
"It's your call Captain."
"Truck, Squad let's mask up and do a primary search! There's at least one person in there! Let's go!"
They gathered in front of the door, masked up and went inside. Casey told Squad to take the basement, while Truck went up to the first floor and covered the ground floor.
Severide and his guys slowly walked down the stairs into the basement. There was a lot of smoke and they could barely see their hands in front of their faces.
"Take it easy guys! One step at a time!", Severide reminded them.
"I can't see a thing, Lieutenant! You sure that someone's down here?!", Cruz asked when they arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
"We have confirmation that a CPD Officer is in the house somewhere. Let's try to confirm that she's not down here!"
Cruz, Tony and Capp nodded.
"Okay, Cruz and Tony, you go right and Capp, we're going left. Go!"
They parted ways. Severide kept one hand on the wall beside him and walked slowly with Capp right behind him. The first room was empty. The second one was empty too, so they moved on to the last one at the end of the hallway. Unlike the other ones, the door of the last room was open. Severide slowly pushed the door to open it wider. He looked into the room and swallowed the air sharply.
Vanessa was dressed in only a pair of leggings and a sportsbra. She was on her knees, arms behind her back and chained to the wall and her head hung low. Severide rushed forward to her side and searched for a pulse.
"Squad 3 to Truck 81, we found the missing Officer! She still has a pulse, but she's barely holding on! I need a bolt cutter and a spineboard, now!"
"Copy Squad 3, we're on our way! Where are you?"
"Left side of the basement, the room at the end of the hallway! Quick Casey, we're losing her!"
Severide and Capp tried their best to hold her upright and shield her from the smoke. Casey sent Gallo outside to grab the bolt cutter while Mouch and Kidd returned with the spineboard.
"Alright, Gallo you come with me. We're gonna go find Severide. Mouch and Kidd, you stay outside and inform Voight and the Chief."
Casey and Gallo practically ran down the stairs and almost bumped into Cruz and Tony. The four of them rushed to the room at the end of the hallway.
"Casey, over here! Cut the chain, quick!"
Gallo rushed behind them to cut the chain, while the others placed the spineboard in front of Vanessa, ready to put her on it.
"Alright she's free!"
Severide and Capp still held her shoulders while Casey, Tony and Cruz helped to turn her around, so she was lying on her back. They secured her on the spineboard and lifted it up. Slowly, they brought her up the stairs and exited the building.
Brett and Violet took her onto the rig and checked her vitals. They got an IV running and intubated her. No one from Intelligence dared to move. They just watched the paramedics work Vanessa and prayed that she would be fine.
"Let's get her to Med!"
Brett climbed into the driver's seat while Violet stayed with Vanessa in the back. Voight all but ran over to the other Officers.
"I need this escort clear, do you understand? She's one of our own!"
Ambo 61 was followed by multiple police cars immediately. Adam pushed Kevin into his car and rushed off. Jay and Hailey did the same. Kim stayed near Voight, who walked back over to Casey.
"Was there anyone else in there, Captain?"
"No. We searched the house top to bottom, but we found no one else. 51 is putting the fire out now and when they're done, we're gonna clear the house for you, okay?"
"Sure, thanks Casey."
"Hey Voight."
Voight turned back around.
"I hope she pulls through. Could you give me a call when you get an update on her?"
"I will. Thank you again."
"No problem."
Casey turned around to his units and gave orders. Voight walked away to his car, Kim by his side.
"Are we going to Med?", Kim asked confused.
"No, but we're gonna wait here. They have to put out the fire and clear the house. That's gonna take a while."
Kim nodded and leaned against the car next to Voight.
Meanwhile, Ambo 61 arrived at Med. Vanessa was brought into one of the trauma rooms. Dr. Halstead and Dr. Choi took over from Brett and Violet.
When Intelligence arrived at the ED, the paramedics were already filling out their reports at the front desk. Kevin ran up to them, Hailey at his side. Jay and Adam were still parking their cars.
"Where is she?"
"Doctor Halstead and Doctor Choi are examining her right now. She's in good hands", Violet tried to assure them.
"Violet's right. Plus, she was stable on the ride here, so she's gonna be okay", Brett said and smiled weakly.
Hailey nodded and put a hand on Kevin's arm.
"Thank you. Come on Kevin, let's take a seat, okay?"
She slowly pushed him over to the chairs and they sat down. She rubbed his arm and reminded him, that Vanessa was strong and in good hands. That she was safe. Although her words did little to comfort him, he was still grateful that she was saying them.
Adam and Jay walked into the ED moments later. Adam sat down on Kevin's other side, patted his shoulder and talked to him quietly. Jay took a seat next to Hailey and pulled her into him. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. His steady heartbeat calmed her down and suddenly, she felt that familiar wave of emotions crashing over her. She did her best to hide it, but Jay noticed immediately that she tensed up. He tightened his embrace and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. Hailey leaned into his touch and a few tears escaped her eyes. She didn't cry very often but this case was very emotional. Vanessa was like her little sister. Since she got to know her, Hailey had felt the overwhelming need to protect her from the horror and brutality of this world. Now she realized that she'd failed. Vanessa had been harmed badly and no one protected her from it. Hailey's sadness vanished and was replaced by pure anger and hatred. She hated Detective Mullins for assigning Vanessa to this dangerous case. She hated the bosses within the department for transferring her back to the Undercover Unit. She hated Voight for letting it happen. She hated herself, because she'd helped her instead of going straight to Voight. Hailey clenched her fist and her jaw. Instead of asking their boss for help, they tried to fix it by themselves. And the consequence of that decision could be Vanessa's death.
"Hailey, it's not your fault", Jay whispered into her ear.
Hailey shook her head, in disbelief and in disagreement. Of course he knew what she was thinking, why was she even surprised that he got it right instantly. But she also disagreed with him. If only she had run to Voight instead of planting the dope herself…
"You made that decision, yes… but she made one herself. And when they offered to transfer her back into her old unit, she agreed. There was nothing you could've done."
Jay rubbed her back and kissed her temple again.
"But I should've… I should've gone straight to Voight. J-Jay… If she dies…"
"Don't say that! Don't you dare say it", he interrupted her quickly.
Hailey finally looked at him and let him wipe away the tears.
"She's gonna be fine. After all, she had the best teacher she could've asked for."
Hailey smiled and shook her head at his cheesiness.
"There you go", he answered and smiled himself.
"She's gonna get her ass kicked as soon as she wakes up", Hailey muttered and stared at her hands.
"Why?"
"For messing up her assignment by saving her boss in her phone with his name and title!"
Jay laughed. He interlocked his fingers with Hailey's and gently kneaded her hand. He felt that she finally relaxed against him. He felt himself relax.
Eventually they lost track of time.
Once, Adam got up and called Kim to update her and Voight on Vanessa's condition. Kevin was restless, pacing the waiting room until Jay took him outside, because he was making everyone nervous.
"Hey Kev' you gotta calm down, okay? You're not helping anyone. Take a deep breath and calm down."
Kevin took a deep breath, but he kept on pacing around.
"Kev'… Kev', hey!", Jay said and grabbed Kevin's shoulders.
He sat him down on the little stone wall and searched his eyes.
"Talk to me."
"I can't… Jay… I-I…"
"Deep breaths Kev'. Inhale… exhale… Great, one more time."
Jay kept one hand on his shoulder and crouched down in front of him. Eventually, Kevin's breathing became normal.
"Let's try again, okay? What's going on, Kev?"
"I can't handle this, Jay. I can't… She has to pull through! She has to make it. She just has to."
"I know and she's gonna make it. She's gonna be just fine. But that's not what's bothering you so much. Wanna tell me?"
"She gave me her phone number. We were in contact when she was still deep undercover."
Jay looked at him in shock.
"You were what?!"
"She was two months under when we met at a grocery store. It was pure chance. I panicked and was sure that her cover would be blown. But Vanessa… She just stayed calm and collected. She seemed happy to see me. And she told me that she wants to see me again. We spent an evening at a restaurant, talking and laughing. I was glad, that she was okay and that she settled into her new UC life. She left me the number of her special phone and kept calling me whenever she was able to. We spent hours on the phone. I listened to her, rambling about her work and her life and sometimes I told her something from our work. But we never saw each other again. Until Molly's…"
Jay just listened. Kevin took a deep breath once more before looking at Jay.
"I can't help thinking that maybe she lost her focus because we were in touch. I know it's dangerous when you're undercover and stay connected to your real life anyways. I… I knew that when she gave me her number and I thought about it for a second but… I was selfish. I knew it was my chance to keep hearing her voice and knowing whether she is fine or not. And… I knew she needed someone to talk to and I wanted it to be me."
Jay nodded. He understood Kevin. If it were him and Hailey in that situation, he would do exactly the same.
"It's my fault, isn't it? Because I agreed to stay in contact. She tried to balance both lives and it affected her focus. It's my fault that they caught her!"
"No Kev', hey… Listen to me. It's okay. Really, it's okay. She made a decision and that brought consequences neither one of you could've seen coming."
Jay squeezed his shoulder. Kevin nodded slowly.
"But still…"
"No. Stop blaming yourself for this. You were there for her, because she needed you. You listened to your heart and that's never the wrong way to go. Do you think Hailey and I would be together if I didn't listen to my heart?"
They chuckled. Kevin's eyes lit up when Jay mentioned his relationship. That didn't go unnoticed by Jay, who suddenly realized what was going on. And inwardly he cursed himself because he hadn't realized it earlier.
"You're in love with her, aren't you?"
Kevin nodded barely visible.
"Now this whole thing makes sense… Does she know?"
"No. I didn't get the chance to tell her… And now, I may never get the chance to tell her, ever…"
Jay shook his head and pulled Kevin to his feet.
"You will. As soon as she wakes up, you're gonna be there and tell her everything."
Kevin smiled weakly at him. Jay nodded, squeezed his shoulders once more, before they stepped back into the ED. Just in time, because mere seconds later, Dr. Choi approached them.
A/N: Hi everyone!
Way too long, I know… I hope you still like the story and I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience. I love you guys.
Stay safe and have a great day 😊!
~D.