thanks for reading, please review- this is my first fic and Im not sure how good it is
thanks
As soon as shift ended Shay threw herself into the shower and didn't even bother drying her hair before diving into the car and driving to Chicago med. She ran up the stairs to Gabby's room. She was stopped by the doctor.
"No panic" he said "she's stable. She's doing well"
"When will she wake up?"
"We're hoping sometime in the next few hours actually, her vitals have done well" he smiled. Shays face lit up. She looked at him "can you tell the rest of the guys when they get here, I don't want to leave her"
"Of course" he smiled. Shay sat down and resumed her usual position of holding Gabby's hand. She ran her fingers over Gabby's smooth skin and watched her steady breathing. She shuffled closer. She didn't know what to say. She just watched. She was desperate for Gabby to open her eyes. She kissed her cheek "I love you" she whispered. Herrmann walked in "I just brought you a coffee" he smiled "the doctor told us she should be awake in a few hours"
Shay nodded "yeah" she smiled "just a few more hours. Just a little bit longer"
"She's gonna be back soon" Herrmann smiled "getting right in the way in the firehouse"
Shay grinned. She looked at Herrmann and gripped his hand "I know you've missed her too"
"You better not tell her that" he joked
She nodded "sit down" she said, pulling another chair over. He sat next to Shay. They didn't say much. Herrmann really did love Gabby like one of his own and seeing her like this had broken his heart. He had called Cindy and told her the news. She had been elated. She loved Gabby too. Herrmann smiled as he saw Shay daydreaming. No prize for guessing who she was daydreaming about. He thought back over his memories with Gabby. They had shared some sad times, the real emotional ones, but some great ones too- Molly's opening had been of his greatest moments in life and there was no one he would rather have shared it with. He blinked and snapped back to reality. Shay looked at him "Herrmann you ok?"
"Yeah" he smiled "I'll leave you to it" he said. Shay smiled "thanks for the coffee"
"Anytime" he nodded.
"Guys when she wakes up we don't wanna crowd her out ok" Casey said "we need to listen to Shay"
"Of course Lieutenant" Cruz nodded. As did everyone else. Severide didn't say much. He sighed and sat up straight. He had been expecting a call from Antonio. Boden walked in. He looked at his men, strong, patient, worried. He always told them that leaders lead from the front but no amount of leadership made this easier. No matter how much he told them to stay positive he knew it would hit them. Some of them it hit when they saw the locker, others when they saw the empty chair, others it struck them when they were on a call and it was someone else there, some were fine until shift ended and there was one less person at Molly's, one less drink to buy. He sat down, the signal for them all to relax. They were worried but hopeful, and that hope kept them going. He nodded as they all talked.
Periodically one of them would go and check that Shay was alright. She seemed to be holding up good. She was strong. The hope she had was keeping her going. It was the hope that let her get into the ambo without Gabby and not break down in tears. It had taken its toll for sure but they were going to make it through. Gabby was going to be fine. Shay had played through every scenario. Gabby didn't know who she was, or didn't love her anymore. Gabby couldn't be a paramedic anymore. Gabby needed full time care. She was ready. But she could just imagine Gabby being, well, Gabby. It was about the one time she needed to 'Go Gabby on this'. She needed to kick ass like she always did. Shay stood up in shock as a monitor started beeping. The nurse watched "it's just a slight fluctuation in her heart rate, it's common as sedation wears off"
"Wears off?" Shay said "she will be awake soon?"
"It looks that way"
Shay nodded and smiled nervously. Severide knocked on the door "everything ok?"
"They said she's going to wake up soon, like really soon"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah! Kelly she's almost back" Shay smiled excitedly. He nodded "good" he winked. Shay didn't take her eyes off Gabby, apart from to glance at the clock. It was 10:30. Shay gripped Gabby's hand. She jerked back as she felt a small squeeze back. She stood up and leaned over Gabby's face
"Gabby?" She said "Gabby come on" she said excitedly. The monitors started going on. The guys all stood up. They looked at each other as doctors rushed in. Shay stayed so that Gabby would be able to see her as soon as her eyes opened. The doctors kept back, they were there just in case anything went wrong. Shay felt Gabby squeeze her hand, a little bit harder "Come on Gabby" she whispered. A small crease appeared between Gabby's eyebrows, like she was working out how to open her eyes. Shays face lit up. She couldn't contain herself. The doctors were watching. Gabby's eyelids fluttered for a second. Shay hardly dared to breathe. She squeezed Gabby's hand. Gabby frowned, and her mouth twitched "Sh.. Shay" she mumbled.
"I'm right here" Shay said. Gabby managed to open her eyes and blink a few times. Her brown eyes met Shay's blue ones and she smiled. Shay let out a huge sigh of relief. Gabby tried to look around.
"No babe keep still ok you're in the hospital, it's all gonna be ok. You collapsed after the crash in the ambulance" Shay said softly. The doctors watched as her vitals stabilised. They pushed pain relief. Shay watched as Gabby made sense of everything.
"I remember" she slurred, she was still groggy
"Oh Gabby I've missed you" Shay smiled, tears pouring down her cheeks. Gabby smiled and squeezed her hand "I love you" she said. Shay laughed "oh you don't know how much I've wanted to hear that" she laughed. Gabby smiled. Her bed was moved to a more upright position. The doctors left her to come round. Gabby became aware of the bandaging on her head. She tried to touch it.
"No" Shay said, gently pulling her hand down "no don't touch it Gabby"
Gabby tried to not but it made her head hurt. She was still waking up. Shay kissed her cheek. Gabby smiled contentedly. The doctor walked over to the group of firefighters who stared at him expectantly.
"She's awake" he said. Cheers went up. Shay smiled "you hear that" she smiled "that's your family out there"
Gabby smiled. She was beginning to recall everything that happened. She remembered Shay being hurt. Then having a headache. Then nothing.
"I'm sorry" Gabby said, tears rolling down her cheeks "I thought it was a concussion"
"Oh Gabby" Shay smiled
"Shay I'm sorry" she said again, shakily. Shay kissed her "all that matters is that you're ok"
Gabby smiled. She felt emotional. Shay watched as she calmed down. Shay didn't want to over face her. "How many shifts have I missed?" Gabby asked
"Just one" Shay said "they sent McCauley"
"Unlucky" Gabby smiled.
"Urgh his name makes my skin crawl" Shay laughed. Gabby looked at her with love. She saw how worried Shay had been, how scared she still was. She didn't know what had happened.
"What happened?" she asked
"You had a bleed on your brain but they stopped it"
"I didn't think it was serious" Gabby said softly
"You were too busy worrying about me weren't you" Shay half joked "Gabby... please never hide anything like that again ok, it could have been so much worse" she paused as her voice cracked "I could have lost you"
Gabby looked at her and nodded. She sat forward and Shay hugged her so tightly. Gabby hugged her equally as tightly. They just needed each other. After a few moments they broke apart. The doctor walked in "Gabby how're you feeling"
"Good" she smiled and looked at Shay
"Good to hear" he nodded
"When can I go back to work" she asked hopefully
"I'd say in a couple more days, up to a week. Have next shift off and then we will assess you"
"Just one more shift off?" Gabby grinned, looking at Shay
"Potentially" the doctor nodded
"Can you cope with McCauley for another 24 hours" she joked
"I suppose" Shay smiled. She kissed Gabby's head.
"You up for talking to the guys?" Shay asked
Gabby nodded excitedly "yeah"
"Ok" Shay smiled. She walked into the waiting room. "How's she doing?" Boden said as they all stood up. Shay beamed and nodded "yeah she's good, she's up for talking to you all. They all smiled and walked down the corridor. They all crowded in.
"Heyyyy" Herrmann said, hugging her. She hugged him tightly. "I've missed you kid" he whispered. She nodded. "How you feeling Dawson" Severide said.
"Good" she smiled
"That's the spirit" Casey smiled.
"So Dawson you just thought you'd give us a scare did ya" Cruz joked
"Well I can't let you firefighters get all the glory can I?" She joked
"That sounds like a challenge" Otis laughed
"Hey you lot be careful" Gabby said, half concernedly. Boden smiled "I'll keep them in line."
"Thanks Chief" She said
Shay was exhausted. It was just hitting her all the energy she had put in to worrying about Gabby. She yawned. While all the guys were talking she fell asleep sat next to Gabby.
"Have you spoken to Antonio?" Gabby asked
"He's undercover" Severide said "he said he will call when he can... I'm sorry"
Gabby nodded. She looked and saw Shay sleeping. She managed to get the guys to keep the noise down. Severide placed a blanket over her. Gabby held her hand. She looked at Shay. She was so beautiful. So perfect. She smiled to herself. The guys left them to it. Herrmann hung back.
"Gabby" he said "you didn't need to hide it"
"I know" Gabby said "I'm Sorry"
"Don't be sorry" he nodded
She waves goodbye to him and was soon asleep too. The sound of tyres screeching and Shay's blood covered face haunted her dreams. She opened her eyes and gasped. Shay woke up as Gabby jerked away from her. "Hey it's ok" Shay said softly "we're safe". Gabby looked at her and nodded silently. She breathed erratically and tried to steady it. Shay's eyes met hers. Shay was calm and confident, Gabby was scared and vulnerable. Shay squeezed into the bed beside her. Gabby moves over. Shay lay her hand on Gabby's chest. She felt Gabby's heart pounding. Gabby looked at her "Shay" she said quietly "I love you"
"I love you more" Shay said gently "and I'm not going anywhere so just close your eyes I'm right here"
Gabby was soon asleep, as was Shay.
They woke up tangled together. Shay dived up "did I hurt you?"
"No" Gabby mumbled sleepily. She sat up and kissed Shay. Shay laughed "I've missed that" she breathed. Gabby smiled. She let Shay's hands snake over her body. She smiled. They both lay back and just smiled at each other. They needed each other. A doctor walked in and Shay fell off the bed and then managed to stumble over the chair. Gabby smirked. The doctor smiled "so Gabby we are just sorting out your discharge papers"
"Really?"
"Yeah. If you come back in two days we can do your fitness for work tests"
"Great!" Gabby smiled "thank you!"
"No worries" he smiled
She nodded. When he was gone Shay squealed with excitement. They both smiled. Shay grabbed the clothes she had brought for Gabby. Gabby quickly pulled them on. A nurse removed the gauze from her head and just left a small plaster on the side of her temple where the stitches were. Gabby looked at Shay who was eagerly packing their things up. It ripped her heart out to imagine Shay worrying about her. She sat down. She had tried to protect Shay but had only caused her more pain. She touched the plaster on her face. She imagined if it had been Shay, how out of her mind she would have been. It has been bad enough when she had been without Shay for a couple of hours following the crash. She bit her lip. Shay looked over. She watched as Gabby's guilt was written all over her face. Shay thought about the crash. It had been her that parked the rig there. Why did Gabby blame herself? Shay had decided to leave the accident as an accident, just an unfortunate accident that everyone was going to recover from. She sat down next to Gabby. Gabby rested her head on Shay's shoulder. Shay kissed the top of head "you need to stop feeling guilty ok"
Gabby sighed "I've put you through hell"
"And we're both going to walk out aren't we" Shay smiled. Gabby looked up at her and nodded "yeah" she smiled. Shay nodded "we've got this Dawson".
Soon enough Gabby's doctor brought the papers. She sighed them quickly. He shook her hand. Shay thanked him endlessly. The pair walked out to Shay's car. Shay drove back to her apartment. She unlocked the door and called out to see if Severide was there. There wasn't a reply. Gabby followed her inside. "You hungry?" Shay asked, looking at the fridge dubiously. She didn't think Severide would have shopped. She opened it. Nope. He had just eaten everything in sight. Gabby laughed "good selection you've got there" she smiled, putting her arms around Shay's waist. "Tell me about it" she sighed "pizza?" She asked, picking up a menu. Gabby shrugged "sure". Shay dialled the number. Gabby watched her. When Shay put the phone down Gabby kissed the back of her neck. Shay smiled and turned around. They held each other and made their way upstairs. Shay giggled slightly as Gabby looked nervous. Shay kissed her "I love you" she whispered
"I love you too" Gabby replied gently. They shut Shay's bedroom door. They belonged together.