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Needing You

Kelly didn't know what to do once Lacey had gone. Should he go after her? No, she needed time away, to cool off before something came out that neither of them meant. Should he try to call her? No, she wouldn't answer, or if she did she would just hang up. He knew her well enough. But, what did that leave him with? Sitting and waiting. It drove him crazy, just sitting at the apartment, his thoughts consuming him. Had they broken up or was it just a fight? When she came back, would it be to make up or pick up her things? Things had been going so well for them...he contemplated all of these things as he sat on the couch, staring at the prescription bottle in his hands.

"Hey," Shay nodded at her roommate, not noticing how bothered he was as she came in and dropped her bag. "Oh man, something smells awesome." She headed over into the kitchen where she saw the leftovers Lacey had left from breakfast.

"Seriously Kel," Shay said as she took a seat next to him. "Having Lacey move in was, like, one of the best ideas you've ever had." She grinned at him. "Where's she at?" Then, her face fell at the sight of the pills.

"Oh..." She knew she had put her foot in her mouth, bad. "Kelly, I..."

"What do I do Shay?" he stopped her. "I need..." He swallowed. "I need help."

"I know it's not really my business," Casey said as he took a seat next to Lacey on the couch, her phone buzzing away on the coffee table with a call from Kelly. She had been dodging calls from him the whole afternoon. Casey was being nice to her because he felt bad about whatever happened, but he was giving her space. Now though, as Kelly kept trying to call her, he started to wonder about his friend as well and what really happened.

"But, do you want to tell me what happened?" Casey asked as the phone finally ceased. Lacey sighed, running a hand through her hair. "He...seems sorry?"

"I just...can't talk to him right now," Lacey shook her head.

"Why not?" Casey asked.

"I don't think he would want me to get into it," Lacey told Matt. "It's just...he's been hurting a lot, since Andy." There was no reason for her to explain what kind of pain. "And, he lies to me about it." She shook her head again. "Deals with it in a bad way. And..." She bit her lip. "I can't watch him tear himself apart."

"It's not really my place," Casey told her again. "But I think that now might be the worst time to be away from him." He shrugged. "Kelly doesn't need many people Lacey, but he needs you." He observed her expression. "Sleep on it?"

"I don't have to," Lacey shook her head, getting up. She knew that he was right. Kelly had been there for her since Andy died and her accident, taking care of every need that she had. Now, she needed to be there for him, to help him when he needed her the most. He was in pain, it was taking away everything that meant from him, and she just ran out? Now she felt guilty.

Shay had gone, helping Clarice get the remainder of her things while Daniel was out. She had shown up while Lacey was gone, needing a place to stay. Kelly sat at the apartment alone, having just gone out to look for Lacey, turning up empty at her parents' and Heather's house. He returned to the apartment, starting to look into a group for support with his problem with the pain killers. And, on his next shift, he was going to talk to Boden and make an appointment to see a doctor about getting surgery. All he wanted to do now was lay the plan out for Lacey, who was no where to be found. Sitting on the couch, numb as he mostly ignored what was in front of him on the tv, he turned his head when he heard the door, expecting Shay.

"Lace!" he said in surprise, hopping up when he saw her. "You're back..." He was happy that he was back, but he trailed off when he remembered that Clarice was only going back to pick up her stuff. "Did, um," he asked hesitantly. "Did you want to talk or-"

"I'm so sorry Kelly," she cut him off and he looked at her in more surprise.

"What?" Kelly asked curiously. "Baby, no, you don't have to be sorry about anything. I'm the one who-"

"I know," Lacey stopped him, not needing him to repeat it. "I know...but..." She sighed, her eyes welling up a bit but she kept the tears back. "I never should have left. Because..." She started to trail off.

"Hey," Kelly said gently, taking her face in his hands. "Hey, it's all right." He gave her a soft smile. "I'm the stupid ass, remember?" She bit her lip.

"I know you need to be a firefighter," she continued. "I know what that means, I know how important it is. So, I'm going to help you." She fought a small smile. "Even if it means that I have to kick your ass the whole way through detox."

"Fair enough," Kelly laughed a little, kissing her lightly.

It had been a few days, all four roommates adjusting to living together. Lacey was at work now, continuing to check her phone. She was waiting to hear from Kelly, since it was his first day back on shift since their fight. He was supposed to talk to Boden today and set up an appointment with a new doctor. While he promised not to lie to her and to get help, this all still made her very nervous as there was a real possibility he would no longer be a firefighter. That possibility became even more realistic when he showed up at her classroom at ten in the morning.

"Uncle Kelly!" Jack called from his seat, causing Lacey to look over.

"Hey buddy," Kelly gave a small wave as he walked over to Lacey's desk.

"Keep working guys," Lacey encouraged as Kelly had caused a small buzz in her classroom while they were working on Christmas tree ornaments. She looked Kelly over once, back in his street clothes of jeans, shirt and his jacket. "What's going on?"

"Ah," Kelly hesitated, scratching the back of his head. "Boden, um, sent me home till I talk to the doctor." He shook his head. "I don't want to bug you at work..."

"No, no, it's fine," Lacey brushed it off. "They're eight, they hardly care." Kelly smiled a little, but still felt pretty crappy.

"My appointment is later today, at two," he explained. "I know you're not done till three, so we'll talk after at home?"

"You know, it's weird," she commented. "I'm feeling the stomach flu coming on." She shrugged with a smile. "Might have to call in a sub for the afternoon." Kelly smiled again, which was the best part about Lacey. His worst day and he was smiling. "I'll meet you there."

"Thank you," he squeezed her hand before letting her go.

When Lacey arrived at the office, Kelly was already in with the doctor. They were looking at x-rays, not really noticing that she was there. She knocked on the door gently, before walking over to the table where Kelly was sitting and immediately taking his hand. She could see in his face that something was wrong, that he wasn't getting quite the news that he wanted.

"Sorry to interrupt," Lacey said as they stopped to look at her.

"It's perfectly fine," the doctor assured her as she prepared to continue. "You're Lacey?" She nodded. "I'm afraid, the break is larger than the other doctor indicated."

"What does that mean?" Lacey asked, looking between the doctor and Kelly.

"Surgery," he mumbled.

"Ok," Lacey nodded slowly, trying to keep a positive out look. "But, I was reading on this kind of surgery. It would be six months for recovery, right?" The doctor shook her head.

"With this type of injury, with how far it's extended, it would be closer to a year," the doctor explained.

"So, in a year, you're back at work," Lacey said lightly to Kelly, before looking at the doctor. "Right?" The doctor bit her lip.

"I haven't seen anyone go back to duty after this kind of surgery," the doctor explained and Kelly let out a long sigh, while Lacey found herself holding her breath. "I'm sure you've talked to your chief-"

"Yeah," Kelly nodded. "Said, um, he could get me arson investigation or, ah, teaching at the academy."

"I can give you two a moment," the doctor said, leaving Kelly and Lacey alone.

"You're not everybody else," Lacey immediately told Kelly. "You'd probably do the six month thing, even if they say a year." Kelly gave her a half smile.

"Maybe," he nodded. "Or, maybe I'll teach." He winked at her playfully. "You do it, how hard is it?" She rolled her eyes at him, fighting a smile on her face. This wasn't like Kelly to just give up on something.

"I want you to look at this," Lacey said, pulling out her phone, having done research on her own. "I found this doctor, here in Chicago who..."

"When did you do this?" Kelly asked appreciatively, knowing she was doing all this for him.

"When I was at Casey's the other day," Lacey shrugged, trying to find the page in her phone's history. Kelly looked at her in confusion.

"When were you with Casey?" he asked curiously.

"After the fight," Lacey answered, knowing that was the wrong answer when she saw Kelly's face. "Ok, no, my parents weren't around and neither was Heather. I needed a place to crash."

"You were going to stay over with him?"

"I didn't stay," Lacey argued back. "And it wasn't with him with him." She shook her head. "Holy hell," she muttered in annoyance.

"I'm sorry," Kelly told her. "Just..." He motioned at his shoulder. "This." She nodded, showing him the doctor on her phone.

"He's doing this new surgery," she started to explain. "And the recovery time is a month." She was grinning at him. "You'd be back on squad in no time."

"Why didn't she tell me about this?" he asked, pointing at the door where the doctor had left.

"There's a lot of risks," she told him hesitantly. "Since this is so...new."

"What kind of risks?" Kelly asked curiously.

"Ah," Lacey bit her lip. "Partial paralysis?"

"Lacey," Kelly complained. "No, there's no way. I can't..." He trailed off when he saw her face, disappointed and a little hurt. "It's not that I don't appreciate what you did," he told her. "But, there's no way I could go through with something like that."

"But you'd be able to fight fires again," Lacey argued.

"Or end up half paralyzed," Kelly said back. "I could be back on squad next year."

"Or teaching," Lacey reminded him.

"I'm sorry Lace," Kelly shook his head. "I...can't."

Lacey knew that this wasn't like Kelly at all, to not fight for something that he wanted. That afternoon, he had gone to talk to his doctor again, preparing for his surgery the following week. While he was out, she knew that if he wasn't going to listen to her there was at least one person that could talk to him. She understood the risk of the surgery, but she also understood what it was like to not be a firefighter anymore, having seen it with her dad. When Kelly arrived home for dinner, he immediately smiled at the smell.

"Something smells great," Kelly grinned as he came into the kitchen to find Lacey cooking at the stove. He was surprised who was sitting at the counter though, having coffee. "Dad?"

"Quite the girl you have here," Benny motioned to Lacey, who looked at Kelly a bit nervously.

"You...called my dad?" Kelly asked in confusion, knowing what this is about.

"She was right to," Benny interjected. "Kelly, you gotta go with this surgery."

"And if I end up paralyzed?" Kelly asked him with raised eye brows.

"How do you think you'll feel if you start teaching?" Benny asked back, then held up a hand as he looked at Lacey. "No offense sweetheart." She waved him off. "You think I like telling all my old stories, from when I was on squad?"

"As much as I've heard them," Kelly mused and Benny shook his head.

"There's nothing you shouldn't do," he told his son. "Nothing you shouldn't risk to keep doing what you love." He studied his son for a reaction. "Take it from me, it's better to be on squad then just talk about it." Kelly didn't say anything. "I wasn't going to stay," he said, getting up from the counter. "Thank you, for the coffee Lacey."

"Sure Mr. S," she nodded at him.

"Benny," he corrected her with a smile before he left, leaving Kelly and Lacey in silence until Shay and Clarice came home from shopping. They were getting some things for the apartment since Clarice was expecting a baby any day now. As they came back, they knew what Lacey's plan was as they got Benny there but they could tell by the air in the room that Kelly and Lacey weren't talking about it.

"Oh you made dinner," Clarice said to Lacey, noticing that Lacey made spaghetti and Clarice had said before they left that she was craving Italian food. "That's so sweet!"

"Yeah, of course," Lacey nodded, getting out plates. "And, I remembered you said something crunchy? So those noodles in that pot aren't cooked the whole way."

"Ugh, you're awesome," Clarice said as they all sat down to dinner.

"Thank God I'm not pregnant," Shay commented. "I could never handle all those cravings." Everyone was quiet as Kelly came to sit down, waiting for something to be said but he didn't say anything at first, digging into his dinner. He sipped his water, looking at his girlfriend next to him and his roommate and her girlfriend across the table.

"If I get the surgery, will the three of you stop staring at me like that?" Kelly asked the women.

"Are you serious?" Lacey asked, turning to him and he nodded. "Kelly, I know it's scary, but I will be here through everything."

"Me too," Shay added. "I am so proud of you."

"Same," Lacey agreed and she saw the slight smile playing on Kelly's lips.

"Thank you," he told them. "For giving this to me." He took Lacey's hand. "For sticking with me."

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