CHAPTER 1
Sylvie Brett and Emily Foster were doing inventory and restocking the ambulance at Firehouse 51. There was a terrible thunderstorm outside and the power at Firehouse 51 had gone out. The radios weren't working due to the weather, so getting called out to a fire was going to be hard. Total complete darkness set in at the firehouse and it made for an interesting shift. Even the cell phone towers were out, making it hard to communicate with the outside world.
"Foster, can you hold the flashlight while I do inventory of what we need?" Sylvie asked.
"Sure." Emily said as she held the fashlight so Sylvie could see.
"Shoot. We are out of Narcan and gauze pads. Remind me to put that on the list of things we need to get." Sylvie said.
"So, what's the deal with you and Casey?" Emily asked.
"We're just friends." Sylvie laughed.
"That's what you always say when I ask you what's up with you two." Emily said.
"Because that's the truth." Sylvie laughed.
After taking inventory of the ambulance, Sylvie and Emily headed inside to the common room. The firehouse was in complete darkness. Sylvie hated the dark. Ever since she came home from finishing her shift back when she first moved to Chicago and found that robber in her apartment, she's hated the dark. It gave her the creeps. Sylvie made her way to the corner table where she always sat. There were three flashlights sitting in the room to give the room light. She searched for a familiar blonde hair and blue eyed man but didn't see him.
"I know who you are looking for." Stella Kidd said as she walked over to where Sylvie was.
"Haha, very funny." Sylvie smirked.
"He's in his office if you wanna go see him." Stella smirked and walked away before Sylvie could respond.
Sylvie casually glanced up from time to time but didn't see him. She finally decided to get up from the table and walk the hallways. She was restless. No one in the house could respond to a call because of the storm. Radio communication was down. Cell service was down. Internet was down. It was driving Sylvie crazy. She walked by Matt's office at least three different times before he noticed her pacing the halls.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Matt curiously asked.
"Pacing back and forth." Sylvie nervously said.
"I take it that you hate the dark." Matt noticed.
"Yeah. Ever since I came home from shift when I first moved here and caught..." Sylvie trailed off.
Matt could tell Sylvie was nervous because she was rambling on and on.
"What happened? What did you catch?" Matt asked out of curiosity.
Sylvie realized she had backed herself into a corner.
"I came home from shift one night back when I lived in the bad part of town and I noticed that my things were all over the place. When I went to check out the place, I saw the robber and he was coming for me. I picked up a baseball bat and started hitting the guy until he left." Sylvie explained.
Matt was shocked. He had no idea that Sylvie had been in a dangerous situation like that before. No wonder she didn't like the dark.
"I had no idea." Matt said.
"No one knows. I never told anyone." Sylvie said.
"So that's why you hate the dark?" Matt asked.
"Yeah." Sylvie replied.
They talked for a few minutes but he could tell Sylvie was restless. The whole entire house had no communication whatsoever. The roads were blocked due to debris outside. You would think a tornado or hurricane had hit the streets with the way the wind was blowing. It was completely dark outside. The whole house had about three calls before the power went out and before it got dark outside. Chief Wallace Boden walked up to Matt.
"Casey, any news on the communication system?" Chief Boden asked.
"No, Chief. The last update I got was right before the power went out." Matt said.
"Thanks. Just make sure that everyone in the house is getting some sleep because right now, the power could come on at any time and there is a possibility that we could get called out as soon as the power comes on." Chief Boden said.
Matt nodded and Boden headed back to his office.
"Speaking of sleep, you should go get some rest. You can stay in here if you want." Matt suggested as he pointed to the bunk in his office.
"I'll take you up on that." Sylvie smiled as she walked over to the bunk to lay down.
Sylvie quickly fell asleep. Matt quietly left his office and walked to the common room to see how everyone was doing.
"Alright, listen up. I don't know when the power is coming back on or how we are going to go on calls since the radios and cell towers are down and all of the communication systems are down, but Boden wants you all to try to get some rest because the power could come on at any time and there is a very strong chance that we will be called out on calls. Until the power comes back on, Boden does not want us to leave. Until further notice, we are on lock down. You can go anywhere in the building except outside. The doors are locked so if you leave, you can't get back in." Matt said.
"Got it, Captain!" Lieutenant Christopher Herrmann said.
"Alright, you heard the Captain. Let's all try to get some rest because it's going to be a crazy night if the power comes back on." Lieutenant Kelly Severide said.
Everyone got up and headed to the bunk room where they all tried to get some sleep. Stella went to Kelly's room since she and Kelly were dating. In house dating was against the rules, but it didn't stop everyone from breaking the rules. Boden would sometimes look the other way. The only thing that Boden would ask is that those were were dating within the house not put their relationship on full display at the house. Outside of the house, they could do whatever they want but inside the house, it was work relationship only. Matt headed back to his office and saw how peaceful Sylvie was sleeping.
"Casey, is there any way possible that you and Severide can get all of the first aid kits ready just in case we need them?" Boden asked.
"You got it, Chief." Matt said as he got up and went to Severide's office.
Normally, Stella and Kellly would be all over each other, but Stella was tired just like Sylvie and crashed on the bunk bed in Kelly's office.
"Hey, Boden wants us to get all of the first aid kits gathered up just in case of an emergency." Matt told Kelly.
"You got it." Kelly answered.
The two of them went to the common room and wrangled Herrmann into helping them. They placed all of the first aid kits in the common room on the kitchen counter. Sylvie had woke up and started roaming the halls again. Restlessness crept in with everyone. As Sylvie walked the halls, she noticed that the emergency lights weren't working. That's how bad the storm is outside. Only Chief Boden had the key to open the firehouse's main door and Sylvie just needed to get some fresh air. She felt like she was suffocating. The firehouse was starting to get hot on the inside as the power was still out. Luckily, the coolness of the winter weather outside helped keep the inside of the building from getting too hot. The winter weather felt more like Spring weather and Sylvie loved it. She walked to the main doors and stared out the window. Her thoughts running a million miles a minute in her head.
"Hey, I was wondering where you were." Matt said.
"I had trouble sleeping. I hate being restless. There's something about the sound of a good thunderstorm that is calming, unless we are out on a call, then it's not so calming." Sylvie giggled.
"I know what you mean. The rain is soothing, especially at night." Matt said.
"When I was younger, I used to sneak outside during the summer after my parents and brother were asleep and I'd sit on the porch swing and would swing while it rained. My mom finally caught me one night when I was a teenager." Sylvie babbled.
Matt found Sylvie's rambling to be cute. He chuckled.
"So what happened when your mom finally caught you?" Matt asked with a chuckle.
"She told me that she used to do the same thing when she was my age and just gave me a blanket a pillow. I'd always fall asleep on the swing." Sylvie explained.
"So I'm guessing that all of this rain is making you miss those summer thunderstorms." Matt pondered.
He was curious. There was something about Sylvie Brett that he didn't know and he craved more. He wants to know her in every way possible.
"Yeah, I am. The only problem is that it's winter and it feels like spring outside." Sylvie giggled.
Matt chuckled again. A few hours went by and the power was still out.
"Hey Chief, is it alright if I step outside for a minute. I feel like I'm suffocating in here." Sylvie said to Boden in his office.
"You know, that sounds like a good idea. Go get everyone and have them meet in front of the main entrance." Boden said as he got up from his desk.
Sylvie headed to the common room to tell everyone what Boden said.
"Hey guys, Chief wants us to meet by the main entrance right now." Sylvie instructed.
Everyone got up and headed to the main entrance where Boden was waiting on them.
"Brett brought it to my attention that it was getting a little stuffy in here, so we are going to get some fresh air for a few minutes. I'm gonna prop the door open to allow some cool air to come in. There's not much we can do with the storm but it looks as if the rain has slowed down a bit." Boden said.
Boden opened the door and one by one, everyone stepped outside. Boden propped the door open with a door prop and then followed everyone outside. All they could see was trees on top of trees in the road. Some cars were damaged from the debris of the storm, but it seemed as if the storm was starting to pass. Matt watched as Sylvie stood with the wind blowing in her face. The wind was blowing her hair away from her face.
"Ah, this air feels amazing." Sylvie smiled as she continued to feel the air on her face.
Sylvie was standing close to the others near the entrance way but was far enough away from them to talk privately with Matt.
"All that's missing is music." Matt said.
"Is that so? What song or what kind of music would you prefer on a stormy night?" Sylvie asked.
"I like rock and metal, sometimes country and bluegrass. Depends on my mood. For this kind of weather, I'd go with the song, Purple Rain by Prince." Matt said.
Sylvie gave him a look.
"Purple Rain by Prince, huh? Well, then you wouldn't like my song then." Sylvie smirked.
"And what song would that be?" Matt asked in amusement.
"Rain by Patty Griffin. It's an older song, one that's not very popular. I heard it a few years ago and fell in love with it." Sylvie half smiled.
Matt gave her a questionable look.
"Maybe we can listen to it one day." Matt said.
Sylvie smiled.
"I'd like that but fair warning, it does make me cry, so maybe not." Sylvie giggled.
"Well, you always have a shoulder to cry on if you need one." Matt said.
Sylvie looked at him and gave him a half smile. It only took a minute for Matt to process what he had just told her.
"I appreciate that and I'm sure that there might be a time when I'll need to take you up on that." Sylvie responded.
"Let's hope it's for something good and not bad." Matt said.
Sylvie turned around and saw that the others were heading back in.
"Casey!" Boden yelled.
"Yeah, Chief?" Matt asked.
"You guys come inside in a few minutes, but pull the door back when you come in." Boden said.
"Got it, Chief." Matt said.
The whole time they were outside, it was lightly raining, but still raining nonetheless. Everyone suspected that there would be flood damage in some areas and that tomorrow would be busy, but they didn't get off work until 7:30 p.m. the next day. Sylvie and Matt stayed outside for five more minutes before heading inside.
"You wanna know the best part about having an iPod?" Sylvie teased.
"What's that?" Matt asked.
"You can listen to music without being interupted by a text or phone call." Sylvie laughed.
"Do they still make those?" Matt asked.
"I don't know. I've had mine ever since I moved here." Sylvie replied.
"You do know that you can put songs on your phone so you don't have to carry that iPod around." Matt said.
"Yeah, but I can just use the iPod as my music source and conserve the battery on my phone for work and personal calls and messages." Sylvie said.
Matt knew to not argue with Sylvie. He knew that she was stubborn but it was just one of the many things he loved about her. They walked into the common room and waited around with everyone else. Sylvie walked over and sat down beside of Stella and Emily, who were sitting at the long table that was lined up near the wall.
"What's with the smile?" Stella asked.
"What smile?" Sylvie asked.
"You only have that big smile on your face whenever you and Casey have had some sort of heart to heart or something." Emily said.
"I do not." Sylvie scolded.
"Oh yes you do." Stella smirked.
"I'm not the one who sneaks off to the laundry room to get it on with the Lieutenant." Sylvie joked.
"I can't argue on that. Kelly is really good in bed." Stella laughed.
The girls continued to chat and laugh, while the men chatted about their own life.
"Dude, what's with the grin?" Kelly asked Matt.
"What grin?" Matt played off the question.
"The grin that you always have whenever you and Brett are talking." Kelly implied.
"It's not like that. She's just a friend. She helped me through the divorce." Matt tried to change the subject.
"Look, if Brett didn't remind me so much of Shaye and I wasn't with Stella, you better believe that I would be all over her. In all seriousness though, you both deserve to be happy and if she makes you happy, I say go for it." Kelly said.
Matt shot Kelly a knowing look.
"I know what you are trying to do and it's not going to work. We are just friends." Matt chuckled.
"Look, I haven't seen you laugh or smile since Gabby left. If Brett makes you happy, go for it." Kelly said.
"What if Gabby shows up again? We had a one night stand a few weeks ago." Matt said.
"Then you'll cross that bridge when you get there. Listen, Gabby made her decision to leave and go to Puerto Rico without talking to you about it. She's the one who dumped you. She's the one who broke your heart when she sent those divorce papers with her signature on them. Gabby is the one who talked you into running for Alderman in the first place when you didn't want too. All I'm saying is that Brett has been there for you through everything." Kelly explained.
"You're right, Brett has been there for me through all of this, but it's my fault she even got back together with Kyle." Matt said.
"Look, Kyle's out of the picture. As far as I know, Brett is single and so are you. Why not go for it?" Kelly said.
Matt looked over at Sylvie, who was still talking to Stella and Emily. She was smiling and laughing, something that Matt hadn't seen in a long time.
"Because Brett is a friend and more importantly, she's Gabby's best friend. That's it." Matt tried all he could to deny his feelings but Kelly struck a nerve with him.
Sylvie got up and headed to the bunk room. Matt looked up and saw her leave. He decided to follow her but before he could catch up to her, she was already in the bunk room asleep. He didn't want to wake her, so he went back into his office to get some sleep. It didn't take long for the others to follow in their footsteps and get some sleep. The conversations that both Matt and Sylvie had with their friends, lingered in their minds while they slept, or at least while they tried too sleep.