A/N: I'm sorry for the long break! I had some writer's block when it came to this story and was in a pretty bad car wreck but wanted to here it is!
By the time that Truck 81 and Squad 3 had burst into the emergency room, Jimmy was curled up in the fetal position on the floor, his expression blank as he stared at the door that Brett had disappeared behind. Both squad and truck crowded around Jimmy, their expressions full of fear and terror. Third shift had been called in on an emergency recall so that second shift could head towards the hospital because there is no way anyone would be able to focus with Brett's condition unknown. The moment that third shift had arrived, second shift had sprinted out of the doors and sped off, not even bothering to change.
"Hey Jimmy." Gabby hurried over to Jimmy. She kept her voice gentle and quiet as she knelt down next to Jimmy, laying a hand on his shoulder. He lurched back, his eyes flying wide at the sudden touch. "Woah, you're okay. It's just Gabby." She felt the nausea rising in her throat as she took in his profile. His hands, the sleeves and front of his shirt, and his pants were completely soaked in blood, Brett's blood.
"What happened?" Casey asked as he looked towards the door that Jimmy was collapsed outside of. He craned his neck but there was no way to see what was happening inside of the room. A nurse came out of the room but she very quickly closed the door behind her. "Hey, what's going on?" Casey stepped in front of her, hoping so that he could get some answers.
"Please sir, I don't have time to talk. We're doing everything we can." The nurse held up her hands defensively as she stepped around Casey and ran for a nearby storage unit. Every second that she took to get what she needed was a second that she wasn't helping her patient. She rushed back with an armful of supplies and was gone, back inside the room that Sylvie Brett was in. Everyone tried to peek around the open door but the curtain was drawn so that they couldn't see anything. They could hear a few words that slipped out and terrified them before the door clicked shut.
"She got shot." A tear slid out from Jimmy's eye as he managed to wiggle his way into a seated position as he looked down at his bloodstained hands. It still felt a warped nightmare that he was going to wake up from. He glanced down at his hands and whimpered. They were sticky with Sylvie's blood. The blood that he had tried his absolute hardest to keep inside of Brett but still it covered almost his entire front.
"How? Who shot her?" Severide spoke up. His heart was still beating in his throat. They couldn't lose anyone else. They just couldn't. Brett had come in with her bubbly, silly personality and helped lift them back up as a house. She was an amazing paramedic and was very nurturing and sweet. "How did this happen?"
"I don't know. I don't know." Jimmy whispered. He still could see the scene as he had rounded the corner. Their patient was dead and Brett was writhing on the ground in pain, blood oozing around her hands as she gasped for air. There had been no one else in sight. Just the patient they had been called out for lying next to Brett with the glazed, half-open eyes, there was no doubt that he was beyond saving.
"You didn't see anyone?" Severide prompted. He was ready to go hunt down whoever this was and show them exactly why you didn't mess with anyone at Firehouse 51. Jimmy just shook his head as another tear rolled down his cheek. Gabby gathered Jimmy into her arms and held him as he continued to shake. Everyone huddled close around him, laying hands on Jimmy or the person in front of them so they were all connected. No one had to speak up to remind everyone else that the last time they'd been here, gathered close outside of a trauma bay, Shay hadn't made it. It felt like an eternity has passed before Will Halstead stepped out of the room with a grim look on his face.
"Hey." Everyone leapt to their feet the second that they saw Will. "Sylvie was in really bad shape by the time she got to us. She lost almost thirty-five percent of her blood volume and was in cardiac arrest when she arrived. Her lung had collapsed but fortunately, the second bullet missed all other vital organs." Will paused to let all of that information set in. He could see in their faces how much they cared about Sylvie. He cared for Sylvie. She was an amazing paramedic with a passion for her job. "Her heart stopped twice on us. It is still very touch and go." Will ran his hand through his hair as he watched shoulders and heads dropped with the bad news. He wanted to tell them that it was all going to be okay but it was far from that. There was no guarantee that she would pull through and she was facing a tough recovery. "She's not strong enough to withstand surgery to fix her lung right now so we've put in a chest tube and are giving her blood transfusions. She needs all the good thoughts and prayers you guys can give her. We'll be moving her to the ICU in a few moments. You will be able to see her once she's settled."
"Thank you doc." Gabby managed to get the words out past the huge lump in her throat as Will tried to give them a smile. It turned out more like a pained grimace as he walked back into the room where Sylvie was to finish prepping her to transfer up to the ICU.
"She's strong. She'll pull through." Casey spoke up next as he tried to rally everyone. There were a few mumbled agreements as they tried to remain positive. Brett was extremely determined and she was a fighter. Everyone nodded as they waited for Brett to come out of the room. They would follow her up to the ICU.
"Oh my God." Jimmy felt his knees buckle and he thought he was going to hit the floor when the gurney with Brett emerged from behind the curtain. She looked like death. Her face was beyond pale and looked almost translucent. They had cleaned up her face so at least the trails of blood from her mouth were gone. In addition to the tube down her throat, there were wires poking out from all sides of her gown and her leg was exposed, so he could see they'd been forced to drill into her leg to establish an IV line. There were two different units of blood hanging above her head and Jimmy could see blood draining from the tube that was in her side.
"She's a fighter." Herrmann stepped forward and slung a supportive arm around Jimmy's waist as he half supported Jimmy's weight. Cruz threw his hands up against his head as he looked at Sylvie. Even though their relationship hadn't worked out, they had remained extremely close friends and he cared about her. They all watched Sylvie until the elevator doors shut and rushed up the stairs to meet her in the ICU.
"Any changes?" Stella whispered as she stepped into the ICU room. She fought back the tears as she looked at her friend lying on the bed in front of her. She looked so fragile. They were cycling out two at a time to not crowd the small room. Herrmann was a step behind her. He nodded that he also wanted to hear if there was any news.
"Nothing. Her blood pressure is still in the toilet." Gabby whispered back. She and Casey stood up so that Stella and Herrmann could have their chairs. Stella sighed heavily. "Antonio's here." Gabby looked down at her phone when it buzzed. She left the room with Casey on her heels and walked down the hall to where he was waiting with everyone else.
"Hey." Antonio enveloped her in a huge hug, knowing that his little sister was hurting badly. She let out a sob as she buried her face in his chest and clung to him. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.
"Thank you so much for coming." Gabby thanked her brother after she pulled herself together. Antonio rubbed her back supportively.
"You don't ever have to thank me. An attack on a paramedic is an attack on us." Antonio said with passion in his voice. Paramedics were a part of the Chicago Fire Department, which made them part of the family. They were first responders and put their lives on the line every day.
"Jimmy's the one you need to talk to." Gabby pointed over to the corner. They'd finally been able to get Jimmy to leave Brett's side so he could clean off the blood and make sure he was up to talking to Antonio. Even if he hadn't seen anything, any tiny, miniscule detail from the scene before could help the police solve the crime.
"Hey Jimmy." Antonio took the seat next to Jimmy as he pulled out his notebook to be prepared to write down anything Jimmy had to say. "How ya doing?"
"I'm, I just can't believe this is really happening." Jimmy shrugged his shoulders as he looked down at his clasped hands. Even though the blood was gone from his hands and forearms, he swore he could still see it.
"I know buddy." Antonio knew that seeing someone you cared about bleeding out after being shot was extremely hard to see. "I do want you to know this. We IDed the other GSW victim. He's a member of a crew out of Detroit. They came here to pull a job, it went south somehow, and now one of them is on a warpath. Three of them are dead already." Everyone was extremely quiet as they listened to the details.
"So, why did he shoot Brett?" Severide spoke up from where he was sitting between Capp and Cruz. He still was desperately waiting for some answers along with everyone else.
"We're assuming to make sure there were no witnesses." Antonio responded. "We're looking at camera footage and trying to get an image to run facial recognition off of. We will catch this guy. There won't be a place he can hide from us. Jimmy, is there anything you can tell me about the scene when you drove up?"
"Yea, um, the man was on the ground and he had a gunshot to his leg. He wanted us to just patch him up and seemed nervous. Brett told me to call it in. I had to run back to the ambulance to get the stretcher and update our situation. We were around the corner from the address we were dispatched to. I, I just, I left her alone." Jimmy let his head flop into his hands and let out a quiet sob. If he had just come back five seconds quicker or if he had just not left her alone, she'd be fine.
"You do not blame yourself for this. If you were there, he would have likely shot you too and you would both be dead." Antonio forced Jimmy to look him in the eyes so he would know that Antonio spoke the truth. Jimmy gave him a tiny nod.
"I'm going to get back to the office. We're going to catch this son of a bitch." Antonio assured everyone in the waiting room. Roman and Burgess came around the corner. "Roman and Burgess will be stationed here with you guys." Everyone called out their greetings as Roman headed down towards where Sylvie was. Antonio said a quick goodbye and left. Everyone sighed and tried to get as settled as they could. The only thing to do was wait and hope that she pulled through.