Shay closed the door quietly behind her and flicked the lights on. She inhaled sharply at the state of the bedroom in front of her. Casey was a tidy person, and liked everything to be neat and in order. She had walked past his room earlier in the day and the room she was now stood in looked nothing like it had a few hours ago. A glass lay broken beside one of the walls; several books and photo frames had been swept from off of the top of his chest of drawers and onto the floor; his desk chair had been tipped over and the pillows from his bed had been flung to the other side of the room. Despite all this mess Shay's eyes were instantly drawn to the fist shaped hole which now resided in Casey's bedroom wall, and she winced as she made her way across the room and walked around the bed to where Casey's sobbing figure lay. Shay cautiously sat down on the edge of the bed, and took in the heart-breaking scene in front of her. Casey was led on his front, sobbing into the mattress. His hair was dishevelled and on his right hand his knuckles were bloody and swollen.

'Matt…'

Casey didn't respond but buried his face deeper into the mattress, muffling his sobs. Shay hesitated slightly before reaching over and placing a hand on his back attempting to comfort him. They stayed like this for a while, and as Shay rubbed her hand up and down his back Casey seemed to calm down. After 5 minutes or so Casey stopped sobbing altogether, although he was still lying down face first on his bed. Shay stopped rubbing his back, but left her hand on his arm as she shuffled so she was sitting closer to his still form.

'Casey… Matt… what's wrong?'

Silence followed, although Shay hadn't expected a response from the blonde. She waited a few minutes before trying again, this time using a more direct approach.

'Was it your doctor's appointment?'

Again there was no response, but just as Shay was about to continue she heard Casey mumble something into the mattress, only just making out what he said.

'Not clear for duty.'

Shay nodded her head slowly and sighed quietly to herself. That was what she had expected this to be about, but that didn't make the conversation any easier. She paused for a few minutes, waiting to see if Casey would continue. When he didn't, she knew she had to say something to keep the conversation going.

'What happened Matt?'

A few seconds passed before Casey rolled onto his side and sat up slowly, rubbing his face as he tried to get rid of the tears. He took a shaky breath, and stared at the floor as he answered Shay's question.

'I got there… completed the tests. I thought I'd done well… I mean I felt good while I was... and they, uh, they said I'd gotten worse than last week, and, um, said I am not, um, not ready… uh, not ready for active duty… so… yeah.'

Casey's voice broke slightly as he finished talking, and he cleared his throat before he ran his hand through his hair. Shay nodded and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

'I know it's frustrating, all this sitting around and waiting for yourself to recover. But you know as well as I do that this process takes time and that you have to be patient. You will be fit enough to return to work soon, and yes you are getting better… but like me and Severide were saying earlier, if you push yourself too hard you could just be making yourself worse and then you'll end up waiting even longer before you get to ride on Truck again, and we both know you don't want that.'

Casey sighed and nodded slightly, but Shay could tell he was still upset.

'I… I guess I thought I'd have been back by now. I mean, I can't keep this up. It's driving me insane, sitting around all day in the apartment, doing nothing. Doing exercise seems to be the only thing to do that isn't boring but when I do that I just make myself worse and now…'

Casey started breathing heavily again, and a few tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes and ran down his face. He wiped them away with his hand furiously.

'Now… I can't… I can't get another doctor's appointment for another 3 weeks meaning for another 3 weeks I'm gonna be stuck following the same routine day after day… and urgh, I can't do it anymore Shay, I just… I can't!'

Shay said nothing as Casey let out a sob, just pulled him into a hug and rubbed her hand up and down his back trying to calm him down once again. They had been sat in this position with Casey sobbing into Shay's shoulder for a few minutes, when Shay finally heard the front door to their apartment being opened. She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard footsteps fast approaching the bedroom door and turned her head to the side slightly to watch it being opened. Shay was slightly surprised to see not one but three figures standing in the open doorway to Casey's bedroom. Severide, Boden and Herrmann had all frozen in place, and were staring at the state of the room in front of them. Severide stood frozen for a couple seconds before making his way towards the bed. Boden and Herrmann stayed by the door, shooting looks of concern towards Casey, while also continuing to stare at the broken glass and the hole that had been made in the wall. Severide knelt in front of Casey, who still had his head buried in Shay's shoulder.

'Hey bud, what's up?'

Casey didn't respond. Severide took a deep breath, and looked towards Shay quizzically. Shay glanced down at Casey before she looked back towards Severide and replied for him in a hushed voice.

'Not cleared for active duty. And it's gonna be a while before another appointment becomes available.'

Hearing this, Casey's breathing hitched and his shoulders started to shake as he tried to stop himself from breaking down once again. Severide grimaced, as he pulled Casey away from Shay and into a one-armed hug. Shay got off of the bed and walked towards the door, leaving Severide to comfort Casey. She smiled slightly as she passed Boden and Herrmann, who followed her into the kitchen. They leaned against the kitchen counter, and watched as Shay began rummaging through the cabinets, on a mission to find the first aid kit so she could deal with Casey's hand.

'So I'm guessing you guys were with Kelly when I phoned him.'

Herrmann threw a concerned glance towards Casey's room before he replied.

'Yeah, we were at my place. Severide was worried about Casey.'

Shay closed the cabinet doors, having found the first aid kit and turned around to face the two men.

'Yeah, he kind of blew up and stormed out on us earlier, although you've probably heard all about it from Kelly.'

Boden nodded and rubbed a hand over his face.

'Yeah, we've heard it all. Didn't realise he was taking it as hard as this. We've got an idea though, to get Matt out of the apartment and to keep him busy. Just depends whether he accepts or not.'

Shay raised her eyebrows, but before she could ask about this plan Severide called out from Casey's bedroom.

'Hey Shay, could you grab a bottle of water while you're out there?'

'Yeah sure.'

Shay moved towards the fridge, and took out a bottle of water. She threw the bottle at Herrmann, who followed her as she grabbed the first aid kit and walked back into Casey's room.


As Shay walked in she noticed Casey was now sat up on the bed, but was staring at his hands. Severide looked up as they all walked into the room, and took the bottle of water from Herrmann. He offered it to Casey, who shook his head and continued to stare at his hands. Severide met Boden's eyes, as Boden walked forwards slowly and crouched in front of him. Casey stiffened as he saw his Chief in front of him, having only just realised Herrmann and Boden were in the room, and he rubbed at his face before trying to hide his bloody and swollen knuckles.

'Hey Casey, I know you're having a hard time right now, but we came up with an idea. We know you can't return to active duty yet, as you're still recovering from your injury, and that takes time and patience. But we thought you could come by the firehouse, maybe get started on the paperwork that seems to be piling up in your office. Obviously you don't have to if you don't feel up to it, and take as much time as you need to think it over… but it would give you something to do and I know everyone at 51 misses having you around.'

Everyone watched Casey carefully to see how he would react. He was still for a moment, obviously thinking over Boden's suggestion, and as Boden went to stand from his crouched position on the floor, Casey sat up straighter with a hint of a smile on his face.

'I guess I will have to start on the paperwork sooner or later'.

Herrmann snorted and the others smiled, all relieved that Casey seemed to have cheered up slightly at this proposal. Boden nodded at Casey, and held his hand out towards the truck Lieutenant.

'Well then, I guess we'll see you next shift.'

Casey hesitated before standing up from his position on the bed and taking his Chief's hand, now with a bigger smile on his face. Boden patted the blonde's shoulder, before walking towards the door. Herrmann walked towards Casey, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him into a one-armed hug.

'Hey, you know you may be coming back to fill out paper-work and all that but that doesn't mean you can put us through any extra drills while you're there.'

Casey chuckled at this before slapping Herrmann on the shoulder with his good hand and shoving him away.

'I wouldn't be so sure about that Herrmann; I might want to see how sloppy you've all gotten while I've been away'.

Herrmann grinned as he turned and followed Boden out of the bedroom.

'You don't have to worry about me, it's the other's who've gotten sloppy!'

Herrmann disappeared around the corner, but as Casey turned towards Shay and Severide they heard Herrmann yell from by the front door.

'AND LET SHAY CHECK YOUR HAND, SHE'S BEEN HOVERING BY THAT FIRST AID KIT JUST ITCHING TO USE IT.'

Casey rolled his eyes before grinning sheepishly at Shay, and sat on the edge of the bed as she grabbed his hand, and tutted as she opened the first aid kit and started to clean his knuckles to see the damage. Severide grinned at Casey, seeing how uncomfortable his friend was with Shay fussing over him, and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly before going to find something he could use to clean up the broken glass.


[So this was kind of a long chapter. I've got more planned with this story though, and maybe a bit more Casey whump coming up...!]