AN: I own nothing but Liv, Klaire, and Aaron. Enjoy.
The Intel Unit is looking for Freddie a young guy trying to cut his gang ties and Cruz was trying to help. No one seems to know why he'd stabbed Hermann but he had. They'd gotten the name out of Hermann moments before he was loaded into the ambo with Liv still holding pressure to the wound.
Kelly followed behind the ambulance and brings Liv's chair in. When he finds her they're trying convince her to let go.
"Liv I got it." Rhoades says.
She shakes her head. "Uh uh, the second I let up he'll start bleeding. I've got it controlled this way."
"Olivia look at me sweetie." Choi says stepping forward. "You're done...Rhoades is going to replace his hand with yours and April is going to push products when I lift you off on three ready?"
"But..."
"You did good girl, they're taking over move your hands at one..."
"One." They say at once she removes her hands as Rhoades reapplies pressure while shouting an order.
Her arms go around Cho's shoulders and he lifts her off with ease as though he's done it a thousand times. Maybe he has Kelly doesn't know.
She knocks her knee hard on the bed rail and Choi deposits her in a nearby plastic chair. He runs back into the fray yanking the curtains closed leaving Liv a bloodied mess.
Her hands are covered up to the forearm, the front of the plaid shirt she stole from "Because it wasn't in his color wheel." Is splattered with blood, the knees of her jeans are soaked through.
She'd knelt in Hermann's blood. He wants to be sick. He can't be though.
Because Liv is crying in an uncomfortable hospital chair and covered in their friends blood.
She's not sobbing. He'd prefer it to the controlled weeping tears tracking down her pale frightened face.
He steps over to her carefully. "I need to get it off. Please, I need to wash it off." He wipes her tears.
"Okay we can do that." He looks up to find Maggie staring out at everything. Everyone had arrived just behind him." Is there anywhere she can shower?"
"Doctors locker room, she has her own stall. Through those doors and down the long hall third door on your left. Last stall."
He lifts her into the chair. "You can stay here if you'll just wheel me in, it's not the first time I've washed off bodily fuids."
"You sure?" he double checks.
She forces a smile. "Yeah I'll be quick."
He helps Liv get where she's going but when she doesn't return after 45 minutes he begins to worry. Liv can shower in about 7 and half minutes.
He ducks in shouting. "Baby you good?" There is no reply. So he walks in and down to where Liv is said to be. Her dirty clothes are on the counter and the water is running but he can't see her legs or feet hanging off the shower chair.
Something is wrong. He pulls back the curtain to find her seizing on the tiled shower floor.
"Shit! Baby." He hits his knees in the water. He turns liv on her side and reaches up to turn off the water. He cradles her head in his hands to prevent her from hurting herself but tries to leave her body unencumbered.
He has no idea when she started having convulsions. He has a good idea what caused it though. "Help!" He screams. "It's okay baby. Someone help me!"
-/-/-
Nat is peeing because the baby has taken up permanent residence on her bladder, when she hears a terrified scream for help.
She finds Kelly Severide kneeling in shower protectively hovering over an unconscious Olivia.
"What happened?" She asked.
"She had a seizure I think."
"How long did it last?"
"Two minutes maybe, she was stressed...so I think her pressure went up and she took a fall today too."
"On her head?"
"Hip and knee. No neuro involvement unless she cracked it just now." He answers still cradling her in protector mode.
"It's most likely autonomic dysreflexia." Nat advises.
"I haven't had that issue since high school." She said coming back around.
"Perfect storm baby..." He says.
"Hi...this is not how I saw the work shower time sex fantasy going." She jokes.
"Is now really the time for sex jokes?" He admonishes.
"Just trying to put you at ease my love..."
"I'm going to do a quick Neuro check and send you up to Collins for more expansive testing due to your TBI and length of the seizure being unknown." Natalie said.
She shook her head trying to sit up. "I'm fine how's Hermann?" She leans into a Kelly "It's Tuesday the fifteenth. Yes I have a headache but I have no visual or functional changes I'm fine."
"Liv, I didn't ask your opinion be the patient." She shines a penlight in her eyes.
"Pupils equal and reactive."
"The patient wants to get up off the disgusting floor and dress." Liv says impatiently.
"Liv just humor us, okay for me? I found you...and I'd just would rather you please let her check you over..."Kelly pled worriedly.
"Fine, I hate when you're rational. You only do it when want to win it's not fair."
"We both know this was pay back for all those times I pulled maydays on you." He kissed the top her head. Her hair still wet beneath his lips. "Can I pick her up now?"
"Yeah, going to go get my blood pressure cuff just stay in the general area." Nat ordered.
He sits her back in the shower chair and restarts the water but leaves one hand on her quickly bruising hip to steady her. "Let's get the dried soap off you."
"Kelly, I'm fine. You should-"
She looks over at her cutting her off. "I'm right where I should be, I can't do anything for Hermann or Cindy. This I can do, this I need to do."
"I'm still sorry I scared you."
He pats her hip. "Not like you meant to babe, its fine."
"I wasn't collected I'm almost lost it on Choi."
"Something tells me he's used to handling you at full speed. And I don't even mind all that much. Is Choi your work husband?" he smirks at her while rinsing her off.
"That depends...who's your work wife?"
He shrugs. "Are you kidding? I can barely handle the one I got, besides there's no sex with a work wife what's the point."
"It's Gabi isn't it? I mean its fine, she'd never fall for that half bullshit half charm thing you do." She squints up at him as he rinses her hair again.
"You fell for-" Erin burst in cutting him off.
"Where is she? Liv! Livvy!"
"That was fast. Even for you." Liv quips.
"I was coming to question you When Dr. Manning rushed out. Are you okay? I'm going to send for Carver. Do you need anything?"
My dop kit. I keep my meds and the essentials in it's in the top of my locker. I could use some clothes too ones that aren't scrubs."
"Okay what's your lock code?" She darts forward to kiss Liv's forehead, she narrowly escapes Kelly hitting her with the shower spray.
"1751 just like my phone." She smiles at Erin reassuringly, while trying not to laugh as she jumps back.
When Nat comes back she checks her pressure and forces her to put on a gown and get onto a gurney to go up Neurology. "One sixty five over one twenty."
"I can get pressure down with my meds, I just sent Erin for them."
"I know that...you're still heading up to neuro."
She goes to speak. "I will hog tie you and carry you up to Neurology. I mean it Olivia."
"Kelly I don't even let you tie me up in bed, I don't have any clue what makes you think I'd let you start now." She teases as Kelly puts her on the gurney. "Carver is going to order scans and you can't be in there for them anyway. You should go see about Hermann and bring me back an update."
-/-/-
Kelly returns she's sitting in a hospital bed in pair of black lace shorts and one of his CFD shirts.
"Hey pretty girl, what's the verdict?" He asks and she smirks at the scrub pants Choi had lent him to replace his wet jeans.
She toys with the end of her side French braid before answering him thoughtfully. "Scans show no return of the TBI or any more damage. He's only keeping me for neurological checks overnight. How's Herrmann?"
" Hermann has a penetrating liver laceration but they seem to think the bleeding will resolve itself and not require surgery, Rhoades said you bought him precious time." He walked over to the bed. "Scoot over."
She scoots over without another word. "What ya watching?"
"Mostly on for noise, but its Izombie."
"Forgot you liked that. Who name's a person Major Lilywhite?" Kelly said, leaning in to kiss the crook of Liv's neck.
"A stepford wife? I don't know we gave our kid a girl's name we really cannot talk."
He shrugs. "Wanna make out? It's what we do in hospital beds."
Her resulting laughter is high pitched and happy. "As much as I would get a perverse joy out of Carver or April walking on that. It feels really wrong to be happy right now."
He trails his fingertips over the bruise coloring the inside of her left knee. "It's not wrong to be happy when being miserable doesn't change anything. You taught me that." He replies. "Please don't throw yourself from the chair like that anymore. For anyone, unless the kids are dying or setting shit on fire or something." He asks quietly.
"If something is on fire and I throw myself out? It means they set me on fire." Kelly stifles a laugh. "Sure laugh now but I'm telling you that weird relationship you have with fire is going to rub off on our kids and A create firemen and or women or B create future arsonist. Not like the murdery kind just the-"I like fire kind."
"I don't have a weird relationship with fire..."
"Babe you have smiled at me and used the words high rise fire and awesome in the same sentence before. That's weird."
"You pointed out the technical flaws while watching Dr. Quinn Medicine woman last week."
"Touché."
Kelly's phone rings. "It's your Mom, I got it." He gets up and walks out.
"Check on the kids!" She calls to his back.
April walks in as he's walking out. "Do you think he heard you? Dr. Collins said you can finally have those ibuprofen now that your pressure is in check and your scans are clean." She hands her the pills which Liv downs without water.
"Maybe, then again they're our kids so it's not like my sister doesn't know what she signed up to monitor."
"You forget I've seen you with them all, you're good at dividing it all up."
Liv scowls as April checks her read outs. From the blood pressure cuff that's set to a checking loop. "Why are you being nice to me all the sudden, I'm in therapy I know why I'm trying to be nice to you but what's your angle?"
"Who says there's angle?" Liv just looks at her. "You've held the life your friend in your hands and had a potentially life threatening seizure, that's hard day. The least I can do is call cease fire. Besides what's yours is yours, I can see that now."
"Well thanks to Dr. Charles I can see where my issues came in, I might seem tough but I have insecurities where love comes in, I get left a lot, and as much as it kills me? If he wants to leave me for you or anyone else, I have no control over it. Kelly's choices belong to him, mine belong to me. I choose to keep trusting him, I choose to apologize to you for the things I said that hurt you, regardless of any of the ways I perceive you wronged me." Liv replied.
"You must have hit your head really hard. "April murmured and Liv laughed before turning serious.
"One of the best men I have ever known is fighting for his life down stairs, and I'm really scared for him, because he's got five kids at home and a wife of twenty plus years who has stood in my shoes for almost as long. I'm scared because selfishly I don't want to lose the person who's taught me what it is to be a fireman's wife. He believes in us, I need it. Our drama doesn't seem all that important."
"I'm sorry too, more than you know. I was pretty mixed up and caught up in old feelings and...Well I was just wrong. And I'm sorry."
She nods. "Apologize to Kelly. He's the one you propositioned and then called shallow."
"Fair enough."
-/-/-/-
The guys have been in and out as they're on duty but Liv has not left Cindy's side since coming back from neurology. If Chris cocks his head to the right he can see her laying cross a row of chairs in pajamas and a hoodie. She's half leaned on Kelly currently who watching Klaire and Aaron.
"Can you send Liv back?" Hermann asks Cruz.
Cruz wipes his eyes and nods.
Hermann watches as Kelly helps Liv transfer into the wheel chair. Klaire clambers up into her lap for some affection first. She brushes back Klaire's bangs with her fingers and kisses Klaire's forehead before rolling into his room.
"Hey." She says quietly.
"Hi, heard you took a nasty fall for me."
"I'd do it again." She says giving him a watered down smirk as tears mist her eyes.
"You did your best, you did all you could in a shitty situation. Rhoades says I'm in a crap shoot now and you know that too don't ya." She nods unable to speak. "This goes tits up on me, I need to remember you did all you could Liv, and I don't want you taking it all on yourself. You're only one person and you ain't God alright sweetheart?"
She nods unable to speak.
"Go back to work, Cin will be fine. You got lives to save and babies to raise." He advises.
-/-/-
Carver clears her for work twenty four hours later. She is trying to get into the swing of the things as always in the beginning of her shift, so though she notices the guys milling about between calls she doesn't stop to chat.
She knows the basics of what is going on with Hermann's recovery but that's all she knows. All was well last she heard.
She passes Kelly in a hallway. "Hey baby, Bye baby. I have to head back to my hospital don't have time to talk, leave the babies alone in daycare. You rile brother up and leave and he doesn't sleep and then Klaire cries because you left without her. Just stay away. Love you! Be careful my love."
"You're not my boss." He calls out pouting.
"Yes, she is." Gabi adds in.
-/-/-/-
She just got through running a rather horrific call and is going back to the main ER for a consult with Manning when Rhoades pulls her into the doctor's lounge.
"What were you thinking?" He snaps at her,
"Uh… some people have truly questionable parenting skills, who lets their four year old scramble eggs unsupervised or even at all for that matter? I mean really?"
"I meant you telling your husband I made the wrong choice and should have operated sooner."[mW1]
She cocked her head. "One, I didn't know anything was wrong, two I didn't say a word." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And three I find it highly offensive, that you think I possess so very little in the way of professionalism or boundaries, as to undermine a colleague to anyone, if you had asked I'd given my opinion, otherwise your patient care unless I'm directly related to said patient is none of my business."
She pushed past. "And just so we're clear my husband has more respect for me than that, maybe you should take a page from his book." She leaves him stunned silence.
-/-/-/-
She does her consult and finishes her day, and ends up outside Hermann's hospital room.
She finds Kelly sitting back in the lobby with Klaire and Aaron. "Did they tell you what happened?" she asked rolling up beside him. "I haven't had time to stop other than to have my morals as a doctor called into question by Rhoades."
"Something about the wound dumping blood into his chest cavity. He's on a vent. "
"Lovely."
Aaron climbed over Kelly's lap and into Liv's. "And it's not like I'd even have to ask if you'd operate, I knew you would have. Apparently Will told Jay he would have too. I simply asked Rhoades if he'd made a different call sooner if it'd made a difference."
"God I hate agreeing with fucking Halsted, but at the end of the day you make the judgment calls you can live with."
"You don't like him." Kelly laughs. "Halsted I mean, there is some loathing there."
"No, don't like the brash arrogant fuck who thought it was okay to black tag you but defy a dying woman's DNR." She said plainly.
"I suppose that's fair I mean he did almost let me die. Something funny happened to me today, April apologized to me for coming on to me like she did." He said as Klaire came up to him holding out her arms to be picked up. "She said she made good with you. That true?" He picked Klaire up.
"It's not like we'll ever be best friends, because I just can't do that with anyone you've slept with but I'm trying to better ya know."
"I don't how you can get any better when you're the best person I know, but okay."
She kissed his cheek. "Suck up."
He turned his face quickly to kiss her on the mouth.
"Christopher would tell you to go home and have sex in the dark, like normal married people and stop playing kissy face in the lobby." Cindy teases from the hospital room door.
"I was planning to keep you company." Liv said. Everyone was taking turns holding vigil.
"And you have, you all have but life doesn't stop because he's sick. Go home Liv you've been here for almost three days. It's okay." They look on unconvinced. "It's fine guys."
They say their goodnight and goodbyes and walk out. "You know if having sex in the dark is normal I don't ever want to be normal." Kelly points out and Liv laughs for the first time what feels like days.
"And he's back ladies and gentlemen, Kelly Severide King of dirty jokes and general sex fiend."
[mW1]