Kelly can hear the sound of saws and tools working to free other victims; the constant hum of rescue crews shouting orders and demands float through the scene on the wings of the flashing lights of rescue vehicle all illuminating the vicinity. The area is crawling with help but being on this side of the scene, Kelly feels completely empty and alone.

Kelly flinches at the electronic melody that shatters the night; the phone suddenly seeming uncharacteristically loud in the aftermath of the accident. His hand moves towards the passenger seat that's no longer there. His phone's lost somewhere in this mess but based on the ring, it's Casey calling. Probably wondering where the hell he is. It stops ringing, going to voicemail so Casey can leave a message Kelly might never be able to check.

Kelly chest pulls tight and the constant throb emanating from his shoulder increases. All those close calls working squad and this is how he's going to go out? Panic takes hold, tearing at his resolve like a wild animal, leaving gaping holes for fear to grow. "Oh god," he croaks, blinking away tears. There's nothing else to focus on but what's right in front of him in the long, slow, space between heartbeats.

"I'm back," says Cara as she climbs back across the wreckage and sets up next to Kelly. She's not alone this time. "I brought a friend. Now it's officially a party." Her bag slips from her shoulder as she pulls out a flashlight and tapes it to the side of the car with medical tape to help light the area. "I brought you some fluids," she says holding up an IV bag with delight."

"Great the good stuff," says Kelly, fighting back a sob in a bid to regain composure. Just keep calm and don't give up.

Cara looks regretful as she inserts a needle into the back of Kelly's hand. "Sorry, we're going to have to wait for authorization for the really good stuff." She pats him on the hand.

"This is my friend Davis. He's come to see about getting you out of here. It's a real mess out here so it's taking the team a minute to get to us," apologises Cara.

Davis seems less inclined to chat. He hefts a set of cutters in his hand as he tries to position himself near the door. Kelly's smack dab in the epicenter of the accident; a transport truck and pickup on one side, four other vehicles on the other and his mustang twisted and broken in the middle of the metal sandwich.

"Best news I've heard all day," sighs Kelly. This nightmare could finally be drawing to a close.

"My friend Kelly here is a firefighter too," says Cara.

"No kidding. Out of where?" asks Davis with feigned interest; his focus more on getting into position than making distracting small talk.

"Lieutenant with Squad three at house fifty-one in Chicago," replies Kelly, desperately trying to watch the action out of the corner of his eye.

"He didn't tell me he was a Lieutenant," says Cara with a coy smile. "Guess he outranks you Davis." She unzips her navy jacket and pulls it off. "You know the drill, Kelly. Just going to cover you with this to keep the glass and stuff off. It's going to get a little dark," she explains as she drapes her coat over Kelly, protecting his head and neck. Most of the glass in the driver's side window has fractured and broken off, yet there are still a few stubborn shards desperately clinging to the frame.

Kelly takes a deep breath, ignoring the fiery ache still raging in his shoulder. Cara reaches under her coat and takes hold of his hand. Kelly hangs on to it with everything he has as the sounds of cracking glass and bending metal grate against his nerves.

The car groans like a dying animal as the jaws slowly separate the door from what's left of the frame. The saw screams to life next, going in for the kill as the mangled metal loses its fight to maintain its cage around Kelly.

Kelly's fingers twitch and ache to hold a halligan; to be a part of the action in a helpful way. He doesn't need to see what's going on to know exactly what Davis is doing. The sounds and smells are burned into his memory. The reverberation echoes through the metal in his shoulder as Davis cuts it from the door frame. Kelly bites down hard on his lip to muffle his cries but he loses the battle. The agony at being jostled around flies free into the night as a roar.

There's a thud as Davis pulls the door free, moving it as out of the way as best he can. Cara's quick to pull her jacket off of Kelly and set to work with her penlight, looking and probing what more she can see now that the door is gone.

The light is blinding. Kelly counts backwards from fifty in his head as he waits to hear the verdict from Cara. His eyes finally adjust back to the light in time to catch a concerned look between Cara and Davis.

"What?" he asks, slightly panicked. "What is it?"

Davis just nods and climbs back over the wreckage towards the rescue vehicles.

"The front's mangled pretty good," she replies, her eyes following Davis. "It's going to be a lot of work to try and get your right leg free. They'd have to pull the whole front of the car apart."

There's something in Cara's voice that's off. She's been cheerful and carefree so far and now there's an apologetic reservation in it. A million scenarios run through Kelly's head. He's right in the middle of this pile of mangled metal and the crews are going to have to clear some of it away to even get to Kelly, never mind the work of taking the car apart.

"It's going to be okay," assures Cara as though she can read his thoughts.

Kelly's seen that tight look before. It's the same look Shay used to use when there wasn't a lot of wiggle room. "Sure," says Kelly, licking his dry lips. "What aren't you telling me?" He locks eyes with Cara and refuses to let go until she lays some truth on him.

She looks like she's considering Kelly's request.

Kelly screams, raw, primal and animalistic. He's been burned before, felt the heat cook his skin but the pain running up his left leg is far worse. Like a sleeping dragon, the agony has come alive with an all consuming fire.

"Okay, okay," stammers Cara, reaching in her bag to pull out a syringe. She slips it into the IV line and presses the plunger. She squeezes Kelly's hands, hard, breathing loudly in a slow steady rhythm until Kelly copies her.

"My leg," chokes out Kelly. The pain is so bad he can hardly form the words.

Her hands run down the outside of Kelly's leg. "Good news, the feeling's returned to you leg. Bad news, you're going to be in a cast for the rest of the summer. Nothing's protruding the skin so that's a small mercy here."

Kelly lets out a small chuckle because if he doesn't, he's going to cry. There's something so absurd about Cara talking about missing out on summer due to a cast when he's trapped in a wreck. "Don't make me laugh," he pleads when his shoulder starts to compete for attention.

"I'll do my best," promises Cara, getting back to work tending to the cuts and gashes along Kelly's leg.

He grabs her hand to still her movements. "You were going to tell me something."

Cara takes a deep breath. "We can free your left leg but the right one is really pinned in there."

Kelly croaks, "You told me that."

"There might not be enough time to do that. We're going to have to call in a trauma surgeon to amputate so we can extricate quickly."

Kelly tries to shake his but the damn collar keeps his head still. "No."

"Kelly, you're stats are dropping and if we don't get you out soon, we're going to have a real problem. You need to be in a hospital now. They're working on pulling these vehicles apart but there's probably not going to be enough time to pry everything apart to get access to your car. We're against the clock here."

"I'm a fireman. I need my legs to do my job," protest Kelly.

"I know, but your life is what's important here right now."

"Being a fireman is my life," he pleads.

Cara squeezes his hand. Sorrow has stolen the smile she's been bravely wearing all night. Kelly feels kind of bad he's the one that's stolen it. "Please."

"Kelly..." starts Cara.

"Can we just, just wait and see if they can get me out in time."

Cara feels like she's been kicking a puppy. She can picture every single one of her coworkers in Kelly's situation and all of them begging for the same thing. She swallows hard. Her training says no but her heart can't stand the thought of being the one to sign what will effectively be an execution order. "We'll wait as long as we can but the second I say we have to go... Kelly, we have to do what's necessary to save your life."