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CHAPTER 15
Hours went by and Matt's shift was finally over. He got into his truck and headed to Fowlerton. It seemed like the longest three hours of his life, but once he arrived at the hospital, he parked the truck and got out. Sylvie and Evan were with their mom in their dad's hospital room. Patrick was connected to life support and the doctor had pretty much told them that they would have to make a decision within the next several hours. Patrick was bleeding internally, his body was shutting down, and there wasn't anything the doctors could do. Matt got to the hospital and joined Sylvie, her mom, and her brother.
"Thank God you're here." Sylvie said as she tried to hold back the tears.
"Shh...it's alright. I'm here." Matt said as he kissed her head and soothed her back.
"Thank you for coming, Matt." Elaine said with a small smile.
"Yeah, thanks for coming. Sylvie's barely ate." Evan said.
Sylvie pulled out of the embrace that Matt had on her and shot her brother a look and then looked at Matt.
"I did eat. Not a lot, but I did eat." Sylvie said.
Matt gave her a look.
"Chips. I ate a bag of chips." Sylvie said.
"That's better than nothing and it does meet our deal." Matt slightly chuckled.
Sylvie's eyes were red from all the crying she did.
"I did say that I would eat something." Sylvie half smiled.
The doctor came in and they all knew what that meant.
"We ran a few more tests on Patrick and his organs are failing worse than we thought. There is internal bleeding that is causing major damages. Now, we can do surgery to try and stop the bleeding, but it's not a guarantee that the surgery will work. His lungs are not functioning properly and his kidneys are shutting down..." the doctor continued to talk but Sylvie just blocked him out of her mind.
There was nothing more the doctors could do. Sylvie knew that this decision was going to be hard. They had to let her father go. It was the last thing she wanted to do but what other choice do they have? Sylvie knew it was time. She held Matt's hand and he comforted her.
"We need an answer." the doctor said.
Elaine turned to look at Evan and Sylvie, who were both in tears, although Evan tried to hide it. Evan and Sylvie nodded and gave Elaine the ok to let their father go. Elaine walked over to her husband and said goodbye to him. Evan followed in his mom's footsteps, followed by Sylvie. After saying their goodbyes to Patrick, Elaine gave the doctor her answer.
"We're ready." Elaine said.
The doctor started giving instructions on how he would go about unplugging the machines and removing the IVs. After all of this, Elaine and Evan left to go home. Sylvie and Matt stayed for a few minutes before finally leaving. As Sylvie walked out of the room with Matt, she heard the nurses whispering about her and she was sick and tired of it.
"You guys have something to say about me?" Sylvie asked.
The nurses just looked at her. Sylvie kept hearing whispering and she turned around to see one of her former classmates who is a nurse, whispering.
"Sylvie Brett. Long time, no see." Claire Ellison said.
"Claire Ellison." Sylvie replied.
"So, I hear you got engaged and dumped him for some other man. Doesn't surprise me though. You were always a tramp back in the day." Claire laughed.
"I was the tramp? Really? I'm not the one who slept with half of Fowlerton and their fathers." Sylvie retorted.
"I'm not the one who got engaged and got dumped at her wedding and then got engaged again only to dump her fiance." Claire snorted.
"Is that the best you can do?" Sylvie asked.
"At least I made a career for myself. I'm a nurse and I have a wonderful husband and two year old daughter. What about you? Oh, that's right. You're not married and you are just some lousy paramedic who probably barely makes any money." Claire sneared.
Sylvie was getting mad. Her father had just passed away and the last thing she needed was some condescending person getting in her face. She took a deep breath and composed herself.
"You know what, Claire? I am a paramedic, but it's not because I couldn't make it to college. It's because I chose to be a paramedic. I've have been in more danger than you will ever be and as for the pay, Chicago pays their EMT's and their firefighters a very decent amount of money. There are calls every single day, some more than others, but I wouldn't change it for the world. At least I'm making something for myself. My father just died and here you are being so petty. When are you going to grow up, Claire? At least Hope learned from her mistakes, but you...you never will." Sylvie said.
Claire felt humiliated. After Sylvie said what she did, she and Matt left the hospital. They got in his truck and she cried. Before he turned the truck on to to leave, he looked at Sylvie.
"I know that was hard but look at me, I'm here." Matt said.
He pulled her into an embrace.
"I don't know what I would do without you." Sylvie said as she held him close to her.
He kissed her and then drove to her parent's house. They arrived and Elaine was in the living room looking at photo albums. Evan had gone out to get some food.
"Mom?" Sylvie softly asked as she and Matt walked in the house.
Elaine was crying.
"Oh, sweetheart." Elaine said in tears.
"Mom, do you need anything?" Sylvie said, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes.
"I just want to wake up from this nightmare." Elaine cried.
Sylvie and Matt comforted Elaine for a bit until she started to fall asleep. Sylvie helped her mother upstairs to her room and helped her get ready for bed.
Sylvie came back downstairs and heard Matt and Evan talking in the kitchen.
"So, you like my sister?" Evan asked.
"I do." Matt replied.
"You know she's been through a lot. First with Harrison and then with Kyle. She told me that the next time she gets engaged, it better be her last because she's tired of being a spinster." Evan said.
"I'm gonna kill him." Sylvie whispered to herself with a quiet giggle.
"I really care about Sylvie. She was there for me through some of my darkest days. I just want to be here for her." Matt said.
"You really do care about her, don't you?" Evan said.
"More than anything. I didn't realize how much I cared for her until she got engaged to Kyle." Matt said.
"Ah, the famous 'I had my chance and didn't realize it until it was too late' kind of thing." Evan chuckled.
"Pretty much sums it up." Matt chuckled.
"Well, now is your chance. She's my sister and I love her but whatever you do, please don't break her heart." Evan said.
"I care way too much about her to do that." Matt said.
"Good." Evan replied.
They chatted a few more minutes before Sylvie made her presence known.
"Hey Evan, mom is asleep." Sylvie said as she walked into the kitchen.
"There's some chicken and mashed potatoes if you want some. I'm heading to bed. Goodnight." Evan said as he headed upstairs.
"Why does he look depressed other than, well, you know?" Matt asked, hoping not to sound insensitive.
"He and his girlfriend broke up the day we came back to Chicago. Apparently, she was cheating on him while he was at the hospital with mom and dad. They were together for a while." Sylvie explained.
"That sucks." Matt replied.
"Yeah but he deserves better." Sylvie smiled.
Matt got up and got the plate of chicken and mashed potatoes and brought it to over to Sylvie, who was sitting at the table.
"You need to eat." he said.
"I'm not hungry." she replied.
"Babe, I'm not asking. I'm telling." he said.
Babe? Did she hear him right? He did just call her babe, right? How could she not eat after he called her an endearing name? She smiled and just shook her head.
"I can't say no to you and it's my weakness." she softly whispered.
Matt grinned and watched as she started to eat a bite. The next thing either of them knew, she was eating all of the food on the plate. She was hungry and didn't even realize it. After, she put her plate in the sink and was about to head upstairs when she noticed that Matt wasn't behind her. Matt stepped outside to grab his suitcase from his truck and then came back in. She stopped and noticed that the front door was opened. A few minutes later, Matt returned and she grabbed his hand and headed upstairs. They walked into her room and she closed the door.
"I don't wanna be by myself tonight. I can't be by myself." Sylvie said.
"I'm not going anywhere." Matt replied.
"Good. I'm just gonna change clothes. I'll be back in a few minutes." Sylvie said.
Sylvie grabbed her pajamas and went to the bathroom to change. Matt took his shirt and jeans off and put on his pajama pants. During the whole time that he and Sylvie were living in the apartment together, not once had they slept in the same room together. Not once did they sleep together in any way, shape, or form, and not once did he ever go shirtless. Sylvie had changed into a pair of red and yellow checkered pajama bottoms with a red spaghetti strap shirt with the words "GRYFFINDOR" written across the shirt with the Gryffindor house logo on it. She was a Harry Potter fan, so the pajamas were a gift from her father a few years back when she decided to move to Chicago. She walked out of the bathroom and back into her room where Matt was standing, shirtless, exposing his abs and his bare chest.
"Gryffindor, huh? I would have taken you to be more of a Ravenclaw." Matt teased.
"Nope. I'm a Gryffindor through and through." Sylvie smiled.
She hadn't smiled like that all day and with good reason. He loved to make her smile. She gave him a look and then smiled.
"What are you smiling at?" he asked.
"I'm thinking you are a mixture between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw with a bit of Hufflepuff added in there, but definitely not a Slytherin." she teased.
"No, I'm definitely not a Syltherin." he softly whispered.
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He held her close to him and then placed a small kiss on her head. They pulled out of the embrace and then crawled into bed. Matt wrapped his arms around Sylvie and held her close to him througout the night. Sylvie cried herself to sleep and it broke Matt's heart. He wanted to take the pain of losing her dad away from her but he couldn't. All he could do was just hold her close. He finally fell asleep a few hours after Sylvie did. The next morning, Matt woke up to an empty bed. Sylvie was in the bathroom taking a shower. She felt numb inside. She was sitting in the bathtub as the water was running from the shower. She was a daddy's girl. Her father was like her anchor at times whenever she had a meltdown. Her father was one of the very few people that she could go too and vent too without constantly being judged for her decisions. Sylvie seemed to be taking forever in the bathroom. Matt was growing very concerned. He knocked on the bathroom door and when no one answered, he slowly opened the door.
"Sylvie?" Matt asked.
"Matt?" Sylvie asked.
"I got worried when no one answered." Matt said.
Sylvie was crying.
"I...I...I'm fine. I, uh, I just..." Sylvie stammered.
"Do you need some help?" Matt asked, concerned.
"No, I'll be out in a minute." Sylvie softly replied.
Matt left the bathroom and Sylvie got out and got dressed. Her mom was still asleep and Evan had left early to take care of a few things. After getting dressed, she left the bathroom and went back to her room where Matt was. She smiled when she saw he was still shirtless.
"There's that smile I love so much." Matt said with a slight smile.
Sylvie blushed and just kissed him.
"What was that for?" Matt asked.
"Everything. I don't know how I would get through this without you." Sylvie sighed.
He kissed her.
"I'll be back. I'm gonna grab a shower, ok." Matt said.
She kissed him. He grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. Sylvie put a little bit of makeup on to try to hide her red eyes, but it didn't help much. After he got a shower and got dressed, Matt headed back to Sylvie's room. He saw she was sitting at her dresser, looking at a picture of her father but noticed that her hair wasn't brushed. He walked over to her and grabbed the brush that was sitting on top of the dresser.
"Let me brush your hair." Matt whispered.
"Ok." Sylvie whispered.
Matt took the brush from her dresser and gently started brushing her hair. After he was finished, he placed the brush on her dresser.
"I don't wanna do this." Sylvie said.
"I know, but you have too. You need to do to this for your mom." Matt said.
Sylvie took a deep breath.
"You're right. Uh, do you think you could call Boden and tell him what's going on?" Sylvie asked.
"Yeah. Don't worry about that." Matt said.
Sylvie heard Elaine out in the hall and then heard Evan. Evan was trying to get his mom to eat something.
"I'm gonna go down there and help Evan." Sylvie said.
"Not before this." Matt said and pulled her into a kiss.
She returned his kiss and then headed downstairs. Matt followed behind her and stepped outside on the porch to call Boden.
"Hello?" Boden asked as he answered his phone.
"Hey Chief, it's Casey. Uh, I'm gonna need a few days off. Brett's dad just passed away and neither she nor her mom are in any condition to be alone." Matt said.
Boden's heart sank just a little bit. Sylvie was like a daughter to him.
"You got it. How's her brother doing?" Boden asked.
"He's trying to be strong for Brett and their mom, but he reminds me of myself." Matt explained.
"Tell Brett that we are all thinking of her and if she needs anything, well, all she has to do is ask." Boden said.
"Will do. As soon as I know when the funeral is, I'll let you know. I know she could use you all there with her." Matt said.
"I'll see too it that we are all there. Just let me know when so I can let everyone know." Boden said.
After they hung up the phone, Matt headed inside. He saw Elaine and Sylvie eating while Evan was cooking breakfast. Matt walked into the kitchen and sat down beside of Sylvie. She took his hand and held it. It gave her comfort and he was glad that she was finally eating something. Elaine, Evan, and Sylvie agreed to start planning the funeral after they had breakfast. It was the last thing that any of them wanted to do, but it had to be done. Matt told Sylvie that Boden said he could have a few days off to be with Sylvie and her family, which made her smile. Having Matt around was the one normal thing in her life that she needed. Elaine started telling stories about her husband, which made Evan, Sylvie, and Matt laugh. They hadn't laughed since last night and for some reason, Sylvie seemed to be at peace for the first time since this happened.