Kidd saw the ceiling starting to cave and walked faster toward the door. She would never be able to talk Kelly into letting her stay on active duty during this pregnancy if she got hurt. The sounds around her intensified. The ceiling gave way and she felt herself pushed from behind, half-falling into the door. Dang that was close. She pushed the door open and escorted the man out, handing him over to Gallo and Ritter, who helped him to the ambulance. Kidd looked to her side to make sure Casey was still with them. He was gone. Shit. She whipped around, looking back into the house. She could see him on the ground, pinned underneath a bed that must have fallen through from the second floor.

"MAYDAY, MAYDAY!" She called. "CASEY'S DOWN! I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!"

Brett was entertaining the kids who, besides a couple minor burns, were okay, when she heard ruckus by the front door. She heard the words "Casey's down." Her head snapped up just in time to see Severide, Kidd, Cruz, and Herrmann run back inside.

She gasped and her mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario. "Casey's down," after all, was pretty vague. He could have fallen through a floor. Something might have fallen on him. He could be unconscious, or worse - Snap out of it, Brett, she reprimanded herself. She was no good to him if she couldn't keep her cool to help him when he came out.

"We need a backboard in here!" Severide called over the radio.

That was all Brett needed. She jumped into action, handing the backboard and C-collar off to Ritter, who ran it into the house. She waited by the gurney, worrying on her lower lip. "Please be okay," she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. Seconds felt like hours. Why weren't they coming out yet?

Foster finished bandaging up the father's arm, glancing over her shoulder every so often to see if the captain was out yet. She told the family they were good to go, just to make sure they changed the bandaging on the burns and kept it moisturized. Then the family walked away from the ambulance, embracing each other and talking about how glad they were that they were all okay.

Foster blew out a puff of air. Hopefully all of 51's family came out of this okay, too.

With each passing second, Brett became more worried. Tears leaking down her cheeks as she fought to keep a level head. If Matt was going to walk out on his own, they should have been out by now.

Finally, she saw the foot of the backboard passing through the smoky doorway.

Kidd briefed Brett as Cruz, Severide, Herrmann, and Ritter sat the captain down on the gurney. "He took a nasty hit to the back. He was pinned underneath a bed for a couple minutes. Fall must have knocked him unconscious, but he's breathing."

They wheeled him to the ambulance and hoisted him into the back. Foster stayed close, and Brett jumped in with him while the firefighters ran to help the other members of 51 knock down the flames.

Sylvie opened Matt's coat and started taking his vitals.

"Vitals are stable. He's just -" she cut off.

Casey groaned and opened his eyes. He started to shift, but Brett put a hand on him to stop him.

"Don't move," she commanded, sliding her hand down to his and grabbing it. "Do you know where you are?" she asked when a look of confusion flashed over his face. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep herself in paramedic mode over the terrified and concerned fiance mindset. Do your job, Brett. You can get personal later.

He blinked a couple times hard. "Back of the ambo by the looks of it." His back was fucking killing him. He must've blacked out from the pain. Another wave of pain coursed through his back and he winced.

"Matt -" she began, but he cut her off.

"I'm okay, Sylvie," he said, gently squeezing her hand. "Really. My back is just a little sore where I got hit."

She looked at him suspiciously. That wince meant more than just a small sore.

"I'm fine," he stubbornly assured her. "Can I get up now?"

She furrowed her brow, but nodded reluctantly. She couldn't see anything obviously wrong with him. Might as well let him move while she could monitor him.

As he started sitting up, a sharp pain sliced through his back and his legs went numb.

Sylvie saw him grimace, then a look of panic crossed his face and he froze.

"Matt?" she asked, voice laced with fear.

"My, uh, legs just went numb," he said.

Sylvie helped him lay back down and pulled his boots and fire pants off. "Can you feel this?" she asked, pressing into his thigh.

"Yeah."

She repeated the process on both legs, moving to his knee, then just above the ankle, and finally, his toes. He answered yes to each.

"My toes are just tingly now," he said, "my back still hurts like hell, though."

"You've probably got a stress fracture on one of your vertebrae, and it's probably pinching your spinal cord. We've gotta get you to Med for an x-ray," Brett said, and looked to Foster.

Foster, who had been standing just within ear shot, nodded that she had heard Brett.

Boden, also nearby, approached Sylvie. "You stay there as long as you need to. Kidd will cover you until we can get a relief medic in," he said.

"Thanks, Chief," Sylvie said, then pulled one of the doors shut.

Boden closed the other door behind her and slapped the glass, giving Foster the go ahead to leave.

Sylvie sat next to Matt on the short ride to Med, holding his hand in both of hers, but she said nothing. If it weren't for the way she held his hand just a little bit tighter than necessary, he could almost be convinced that she wasn't worried.

When they got to Med, he listened as Sylvie filled in the staff on what had happened and gave her a small wave as he was wheeled back to x-ray.

Sylvie returned the wave then went to help Foster fill out the paperwork. They got more gauze and burn ointment, loaded the gurney back into the ambo, then she sent Foster on her way.

Tears starting forming in her eyes as she watched 61 pull back onto the road, then she turned back toward the hospital. Sitting on a bench just outside the ER doors, she dropped her head into her hands and took a couple deep breaths. If she was right about the stress fracture, that was a relatively easy fix, but the thought of what could have happened was a scary one. He could have still been conscious after the fall and tried to stand on his own, which could have severed the spinal cord. He could have been hit on the head instead of the back. "But he didn't, and he wasn't," she told the air in front of her. She really needed to pull it together. She blew out a puff of air and wiped her face dry, then went back in to check on her fiance.

Maggie saw Brett walk in and told her which exam room they had Casey in. Brett thanked her, turning in the direction she was pointed.

Matt smiled when he saw her rounding the corner. "Hey," he said.

She sat on the bed beside him and leaned down to give him a kiss.

Dr. Halstead entered the room with x-rays in hand, lightly clearing his throat to announce his presence.

Sylvie sat up and grabbed Matt's hand, not moving from her place beside him.

"Looks like you were right, Brett," Will said, then to Casey, "You've got a stress fracture on T-12. We'll need to do a vertebroplasty to correct it, then you'll be off duty for at least 6 weeks, but it could have been a lot worse."

Casey felt Brett squeeze his hand again. He squeezed back. He was grateful she was here with him. "How soon can we do the surgery?" he asked.

Brett absently rubbed circles on his hand with her thumb while he and Will talked logistics. They got the surgery scheduled for Wednesday, and decided to let Casey go home with a back brace once he promised to take it easy.

Brett called Boden with the update as soon as they got home and she helped Casey onto the couch. Boden gladly gave Sylvie the next few shifts off so she could stay home and help Casey.

When she got off the phone, she sat next to him on the couch and gently wrapped her arms around him. "You gave me quite the scare," she said softly, tears pricking her eyes as she finally let herself drop her defenses. They were home now. She'd given her emotions an inch, they took a mile. Watery eyes quickly overflowed, coursing streams down her face. "God, Matt, I was so afraid you wouldn't get out of there."

"But I did," he said, pulling her close. "Sylvie, baby, I'm okay," he said soothingly, "I'll be back in tip-top shape in no time." He didn't know if what he said registered with her, but he kept rubbing her back until she quieted.

She brought her arm up to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I just - when I heard Stella calling out, my head went straight to the worst, and all I could think about was all the stuff we haven't gotten to do yet."

She hiccoughed and he reached up to brush a stray tear from her cheek. "Well don't you worry," he said, cupping her face with one hand. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

She leaned her head on his shoulder then took his hand and intertwined their fingers. "Good," she said. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Hopefully you don't ever have to find out," he said softly, and pressed a kiss into her forehead. "I love you, Sylvie."

"I love you, too," she whispered back.

A/N: Sorry for the inconsistent post schedule the last couple chapters. I had a ton of exams this week and then I just kind of crashed and burned trying to catch up on life. That being said, try as I might, I can't keep up with daily updates. Please forgive me in advance accept extra apologies for leaving you all hanging on the chapter that I did. Moving forward, I'm aiming for at least two updates per week, but I will update more if I get far enough ahead.

For the firefighting and medical stuff that's happening, I tried to make it realistic, but I am neither firefighter nor anything close to a doctor, so if I'm way off, that's why.

Next posting will be a separate story about the Stellaride wedding, but it fits at the beginning of last chapter! Thanks, as always, for your continued support! I sincerely am grateful that you're sticking with me/this story, and if you want, reviews are always appreciated. You all rock!