Chapter 5
Matt wasn't surprised to see that they were at 51 in his office. Casey was hunched over doing paperwork. He had a calendar on his desk; it said December 24th, 2030. They floated around the house, but it had completely new people in it he didn't even recognize. "Where is everybody Severide, Kidd, Gallo, Chief?" Casey asked with a panic in his voice.
"They all moved on to the next step in their lives: promotions, new departments, moved out of the city," Shay said. "Why am I here on Christmas Eve then? Did I have nowhere to go?" Casey asked. "Everyone invited you, but you said you wanted to work, so you did!" Shay said. Matt nodded, sad that he had made that choice. He loved being a firefighter, but he also understood the importance of spending time with loved ones. He didn't like that his future self didn't value that. Can we see Gabby's future too?" Matt asked. "This is not how this usually works, but I guess I can make an exception!" Shay said. She grabbed his hand, and their surroundings switched to a more tropical one. Gabby was in a medical tent. She looked good tan, had a smile on her face!, she was giving kids vaccines and Christmas presents. "Why can't we hear anything ?" Matt asked. "When we do this, we don't want to give away too many spoilers. We like to think the visual is enough to sober an individual up, you know", Shay said. Matt nodded. They watched Gabby play with some kids and administering vaccines.
It was then night time, and they saw Gabby go back to a small apartment. She had pictures of her friends, family, and Chicago hanging up. She was sitting alone, drinking a glass of red wine. "Why isn't she with her family?" Matt asked. "Since you never answered her voicemail, she didn't think anyone would want her back in Chicago. Both her parents live in the Dominican Republic, so she visits them. Antonio moved back to Chicago but makes it back to the DR a lot with the rest of the family, so she sees them. Severide keeps in touch with her, giving her updates on everybody. Begs her to come back but she said works too important.", Shay said. Matt nodded. All of a sudden, Matt noticed something Gabby was clutching on a necklace. He looked closer and say that she still wore her wedding ring on a chain around her neck. He was shocked. She still wore it after all these years.
As he walked up closer to Gabby, he reached out for her hand, wanting to comfort her. He reached for it and touched it. He saw her shiver and continue to drink her wine. She looked so sad and exhausted. It broke his heart to see her like that. His favorite thing in the world was seeing her happy, and knowing that he was holding her back from living a full life killed him inside.
"Why didn't she ever move on? Any guy would be lucky to have her!" Casey said to Shay. "Casey, how could she move on when she could never get over you?" Shay said. Casey was stunned by her statement.
All of a sudden, he found himself back in his apartment with Shay. "Do you see it now, Casey? You may try to keep burying your feelings for Gabby to move on to protect her. But all you are doing is just hurting each other! You two love each other and deserve to be happy. Not alone at work!" she said. Matt nodded. "I wanted to protect her so bad I never realized how miserable we were both apart. I miss her God, Shay, so much", Casey said. Tears were starting to escape his eyes. "I can live without kids, but I can't live without her my life just doesn't make sense, and I am sick of living it without her! I have so much to make up to her for, and I want to talk to her now," Matt said. Shay smiled, "And you are going to get that chance, Captain! I love you two so much; stop screwing it up down there make this right. Also, tell Kelly I love him when you get back down there, ok?" Shay said. "I will, Shay!" Matt said, hugging his dear friend.
Matt then woke up again, but he wasn't in his old apartment. He was in a Chicago Med hospital bed. He felt a feeding tube down his throat, and he was choking on it, coughing violently. Kelly was sitting in a chair on his phone. "Matt!" he said with concern in his voice. He was getting up to ring the button for a nurse next to Matt's bed. "Hold on, you got to relax so you don't hurt yourself," Kelly said. "Gabby!" Matt said. "Hold on!" Kelly said. He was shocked Matt was talking about Gabby; Kelly thought he was all disoriented after waking up from a coma and all.
Maggie came in with a big smile on her face. "Welcome back, Matt; let me get that out," she said. She went over and started removing the tube from Matt's throat. Once it was out, Matt took a deep breath and took the cup of water from Kelly's hand. "Where's Gabby?" Matt asked. "She's in the cafeteria getting a pop! How did you know she was here?" Kelly said.
"Shay told me! She said she loves you, by the way," Casey said as he proceeded to start getting out of his bed and walking towards the cafeteria. "Matt, a staircase fell on you. I don't think you are supposed to be out of bed. And Shay ?!" Kelly said, standing there in complete shock from his best friend's words. Matt was already out the door before Kelly could question him further. He snuck down to the elevator and saw Gabby in line to pay for her pop. Meanwhile, Kelly went to go get Maggie.
He saw her hand a man a $5 bill and told him to keep the change. She was walking back towards the elevator, and she dropped her pop as soon as she saw Matt. He was in his hospital gown and his slippers standing by the elevator.
Gabby ran towards him. "You shouldn't be out of bed!" she said. Gabby was attempting to wave down a nurse to get a wheelchair before Matt passed out. For god sakes, he had just woken up from a week-long coma; he shouldn't be standing, let alone breaking out of his hospital room. "I have to tell you something first!" he said. "Divorcing you and trying to move on was the biggest mistake of my life. I couldn't accept a life when you weren't in it. I couldn't live with myself if you had our baby and died. So, I thought adoption was the best choice, but I didn't take into consideration how much loss you have dealt with over the past couple of years. If I did, I would have realized how much pain you were in and how adoption wasn't an option. Gabby, I am so sorry I wasn't there for you and was a stubborn ass. I love you more than anything else in this world and don't want to spend another second without you in my life. I am sorry it has taken me so long to realize that. We will figure out the long distance, the baby thing, as long as we are together. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you.", Matt said, cupping his hands around her cheeks.
Gabby had tears in her eyes. "How did you know all that? We've never talked about how I felt.", Gabby said. "I've had a little help from Shay," Matt said with a grin on his face. Gabby looked a little confused but said, "You know what? I'll accept that. When it comes to Leslie Shay, I won't even question her power from the other side ", Gabby said.
They both looked up and saw that they were standing under the mistletoe. Both smiling, and Matt went in and kissed her with the dramatic flair of a Hallmark Christmas movie. They stood there making out in the cafeteria of Chicago Med. All of a sudden, they heard an angry Maggie in the background. "Matt Casey, what the hell are you doing? You just woke up from a coma? Get back in bed!" she said. Matt and Gabby parted, smiling. "You really shouldn't be up?" she said. "But that whole spending the rest of our lives together and figuring stuff out, I think I can get on board with that!" she said with a smile. "I guess Christmas wishes do come true!" he said with a smile. "Let's get you back to bed, Romeo!" Gabby said with a smile. Both heading to the elevator, ready to spend the rest of their lives with the love of their lives.
Casey waking up from his coma and making up with Dawson that day was referred to as the Christmas Miracle of House 51. Gabby stayed with Matt in Serveride and Kidd's apartment till he was medically discharged. During his bed rest, Gabby and him had some tough conversations. They finally confronted the pain they were so scared to confront for so many years. That allowed them to clear the air finally, and they felt like they could be Matt and Gabby again, just with better communication skills.
After Matt got off bed rest, he cashed in his three months of furlough and stayed with Gabby as she finished her medical lead commitment in Puerto Rico. When they were down there, Gabby had been offered the Chief Paramedic position within the Chicago Fire Department. She was nervous about taking it, but Matt told her there was no one else in the world more qualified for it. So, Gabby moved back to Chicago, and they got a place together. Severide was sad to see his long time roommate go, but he knew this was the right move for him.
A year later, Matt and Gabby got married again in the backyard of her childhood home in Chicago. Let's say there was not a dry eye in the house, and the afterparty at Molly's was epic. Matt had caught the bug for warm weather when he was down in Puerto Rico with Gabby. So they honeymooned in the Dominican Republic. While they were down there, Gabby's old boss called her about an 8-year old orphan named Marisol. An orphan on the island who was in desperate need of a home. Gabby's boss had known how good she was with kids and thought these two could be the perfect match. So Matt and Gabby flew down there and met her. They absolutely fell in love, and from that trip, they did come home with their honeymoon baby, Marisol Casey. They adjusted into family life quickly, and a year later, Matt and Gabby took the plunge and started IVF the following Christmas. They were blessed with twins, a boy, and a girl, that following August. Matt and Gabby had finally achieved the happiness they had wanted for so many years. And with a little help from their Guardian Angel Shay, they got exactly that.