Hey everybody! I'm sorry for the delay. I was out of town for a bit and I didn't want to rush this chapter and not do it justice. So, without further ado, let's return to our dashing heroes!

Running a hand over his hair, Kelly sighed and settled back in the chair. He needed something to do. Now that he wasn't able to be with Matt, his mind was running a million miles an hour. Usually, he'd go for a run or hit the boxing ring. But now? Now he couldn't afford to leave the plastic seat, afraid he'd miss some tidbit of information about Matt.

His roommate noticed his agitation and smiled softly before glancing at her watch. They'd been sitting for just about an hour. "Hey, Kel? I'm going to head to the cafeteria and grab some coffee. Do you want anything?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he muttered distractedly.

"Okay. Text me if you get called back to a room and I'll find you," she said, standing from the chair. She offered him a gentle shoulder squeeze before walking away.

Severide sighed once more before reaching a hand into his pocket for his phone. Pulling it out, he began scrolling through the contacts. He froze when he highlighted Heather's name. What would I say to her? I don't even know what happened with her and Matt. Does it matter?

"No…" he softly admitted. He'd defend Matt either way, especially if Heather was taking advantage of his brother. Matt was too nice sometimes.

Groaning, Kelly returned his phone to his pocket. One way or another, he'd find out what happened, and if Heather had taken advantage of his little brother, he'd be making that phone call.

"Lieutenant Severide?" a voice startled from him out of his musing and he scrambled to his feet.

Seeing Dr. Branson standing near a set of double doors, Kelly hurried towards him. "Dr. Branson?" he asked, anxiously noting the scarlet splotches staining the scrubs the man wore.

Hearing the unspoken question, the doctor smiled lightly. "Lieutenant Casey pulled through. The shot ricocheted around his muscle tissue and nicked his scapula before exiting. The bulled also severed his subclavian vein, which is why the blood loss was so severe."

"But he's going to be okay?" Kelly confirmed.

"He will be, thanks to you. Severed veins aren't as fatal as arterial bleeds, but blood loss is a very real problem. He'll be in a sling for a few weeks but no lasting damage. He'll be off duty for a month at the most, supposing no complications arise," Branson reassured him.

Severide felt shaky as relief rushed over him. "Oh thank God…can I see him?"

"You can," Branson smiled. "He's not awake yet, but I'll show you to his room. It would probably be best for both of you if you were there when he does wake."

Kelly nodded, no longer trusting his voice as relief washed over him. Quickly following the doctor, he soon found himself entering an elevator. Waiting for the doors to close, he watched Branson select the third floor.

Noticing the inquisitive glance, Branson explained. "We've moved Lieutenant Casey up to the third floor to give him a private recovery room. He shouldn't have to stay here too long, but we take care of Chicago's heroes."

Nodding quickly, Severide pulled out his phone. "What room number? I have to text Shay."

"313," the doctor informed.

Kelly sent the message just as the metal doors slid open. Returning the phone to his pocket, the lieutenant followed Branson to Matt's room, memorizing the route from the elevator. Finally arriving at the aforementioned 313, Branson entered, looking over Matt's chart. Kelly braced himself before popping his head in.

"Ah damn Matty," he muttered under his breath, entering the room.

Casey was lying, still unconscious, in the hospital bed, a myriad of wires and tubes hooked up to him. A nasal cannula sat beneath his nose, providing oxygen, sensors attached to his chest provided a heartbeat reading, and a pulse/ox monitor was clipped to his pointer finger. His right arm was encased in a sling and his left had an IV catheter.

Branson leaned over and undid the top of the hospital gown, pulling it down to unveil the wound. "As you can see, the entry wound has been nicely stitched up. It's bandaged and protected with gauze for now."

Kelly cleared his throat before agreeing. "Yeah, it looks a lot better. What about the nicked scapula?"

"It's minor," the doctor assured him. "It'll be sore for a little while, but no further surgery is required."

As Branson began to retie the hospital gown, Severide spotted the St. Florian's medal, still wrapped in cloth. Carefully, he moved to unwrap it, settling the pendant gently on the Truck Lieutenant's chest. Then, he perched himself on the edge of the chair nearest the bed.

The doctor smiled softly at the gesture. "Your brother should regain consciousness soon. Call for a nurse or have someone page me if you have any questions or problems."

Kelly briefly acknowledged the surgeon leaving the room, focusing solely on the blonde in front of him. Leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, he buried his face in his hands. "Damn…C'mon bud, wake up," he pleaded. "I can't make this better until you wake up."

Severide remained in that position for a few minutes, the day's adrenaline officially vanishing. His emotions were all over the map at that moment. He was worried about Matt, hurt by Heather's actions, angry at himself, protective of Matt, and eager to get to the bottom of the entire situation.

"Kel?" Shay spoke softly, knocking on the door. Severide looked up as she entered, accepting the coffee cup she offered. "I saw Dr. Branson on my way up. Matt looks really good, huh?"

Her roommate offered a brief snort. "Yeah, he looks wonderful."

Sitting next to him, Shay lightly smacked his shoulder. "All things considered, Casey looks great. Much better than the last time I saw him."

A brief glimpse of the alarms blaring in the OR flashed through Kelly's mind. Shaking his head, he ran a hand over his hair. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry Shay, I'm just…"

"On edge?" the paramedic supplied.

"Yeah," he sighed, mindlessly reaching for Matt's hand. "This whole situation is really bugging me."

"Matt getting shot?"

"Well yeah, but the whole Heather incident too. I meant, I don't want her to come between us, and Matt and I are still trying to work everything out between us."

"I don't think she will," Shay reassured him. "Not if you don't let her."

"What do you mean?" Kelly frowned.

"Don't give me that look. If you decide to get fed up and return to your own corner to pout and lick your wounds or jump to the wrong conclusions instead of just confronting the problem and talking to one another, you will let Heather win. And you will lose Matt."

Severide nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess we have a tendency to argue and then avoid each other, huh?"

"More so now than before…Andy used to force you two to interact. I guess that's my job now," the blonde quipped.

"She's stubborn 'nough…" a voice croaked.

Kelly whipped around to see Casey wearily blinking his eyes. "Matt!"

The Squad Lieutenant moved back to the edge of his chair, leaning towards the bed. The hand in his grasp finally squeezed his in return.

"How are we feeling, Sleeping Beauty?" Shay asked, sensing Kelly's distraction

Casey cleared his throat. "Like I've been skewered..."

"Yeah, well getting shot will do that to you," the paramedic smiled. "But you're going to be just fine, right Kel?"

Kelly was stuck staring at his friend, so relieved he hadn't lost Matt for good. Shay gently bumped his shoulder, startling him out of his daze.

"Oh, yeah," he recovered. "The doc said you'd be out for a month at most."

Sensing the slight tension, Shay stood up, offering Matt a sip of water. After the injured fireman was finished drinking, Shay spoke up. "Well, on that note, I'm off to run some errands. I'll tell Dr. Branson that Matt is up and then I'll stop by the House to update everybody. I'll also grab you both some clothes and see about smuggling in some decent food, okay?"

Sending Severide a poignant look, Shay headed towards the elevator. After the blonde left, the two lieutenants sat in an awkward silence. Realizing he was still Matt's hand, Kelly released it, returning to his chair.

"Sev…" Matt started. "Look, I…"

But Kelly shook his head before standing to pace. Running a hand over his face, he stopped abruptly, bracing against the foot of the bed. "Ah damn it…look, Matt… I'm sorry, okay? I'm so sorry. I should've just listened and trusted you but I guess I was hurt that Heather blames me and that you took her side and…And then you got yourself shot like a damn moron. I mean, what the hell, Matt? You caught on fire a few days ago. Was that not enough? And this time, it wasn't one of your 'noble causes' like an infant or a damsel you were trying to save. No, this time you decided to get hurt trying to save me! Well next time? Next time, I get to get shot and fall unconscious, okay? Next time, you get to camp out in the chairs from hell while Shay plays Dr. Phil. Because I can't…I can't handle the fact that I almost lost you after all of this fighting."

When he'd finished his rant, Kelly was breathing heavily, his hands in a white knuckle grip of the bedrail. Matt was sitting up more, an eyebrow raised. What had begun as a stuttering apology had quickly spiraled into a concerned ramble. This was much more like the protective, older brother behavior he was used to from Kelly.

"Are you done now?" Casey quipped.

A bit sheepishly, Severide nodded, returning to the chair. "It was supposed to be an apology but I got a little sidetracked."

"Obviously, we have some things to talk about," Matt started, glancing around. "And since I'm obviously not going anywhere anytime soon…I guess now's as good a time as any. So where shall we start?"

"I guess at what started this…rift," Kelly offered softly. "When we lost Andy."

Sighing, Matt nodded. "I don't blame you, Kel. I know I've said I do, but I didn't mean it. Andy…it was an accident. He didn't listen."

Scrubbing a hand over his face, the other man nodded. "Yeah, I… deep down I knew you didn't. I just forget that sometimes. I don't blame you either, Matty… I hope you know that. Sometimes, my mouth just acts on its own and I know I've got to work on it. But I also know that I knew Andy longer than you, and that means that I know that nothing you could've done would have stopped the stubborn son of a bitch. Like you said, it was a horrible, tragic accident."

Offering a small smile, Casey replied. "It means a lot to hear you say that, Kel. I'm sorry that we weren't there for each other more."

"Yeah," Severide agreed. "But we can be there now. And I can start trusting your word more, like I should've this morning. If you say nothing happened, then nothing happened. Heather stayed on the couch."

Matt nodded in agreement, running his left hand through his hair and biting back a grimace. Kelly frowned but said nothing. "I'm not picking sides, Sev. And if I was, I'd be on yours. I mean Heather is a friend, and Andy's widow, but you're…well we're brothers, right?"

"Damn straight," Kelly smiled, ruffling Matt's hair. "That's why I hated that savior stunt this morning."

"I saw the flash and just reacted," Matt defended. "I didn't want to see you get shot."

"Yeah, I know, and I appreciate it. You saved my life."

"Well, you returned the favor," Casey retorted. "You didn't let me bleed out."

Kelly rolled his eyes, snickering. "Right, because letting you die was really an option. Nuh uh, Troublemaker, you had to live to be able to fix this rift. And to return my necklace."

At this, Casey's hand shot to his neck, staring at Severide in disbelief when he feels the familiar pendant. "I…I thought I was hallucinating. You never take this off."

The Squad Lieutenant offers a small smile. "Yeah, well my little brother needed it more at that moment."

Matt's blue eyes swirl with sudden emotions, exhaustion tinging the orbs. "Kel…look, we need to talk more about Heather."

Allowing his concern to temporarily override the curiosity, Severide shakes his head. Not right now. You need to get some more rest, okay, bud? I'll still be here when you wake up. We can talk more then. I'll still be here, Matty."

Quietly watching over Matt as he drifted off to sleep, Kelly couldn't help but smile. Things with Matt weren't perfect, but they were far better than they had been. Casey was his family, just as much as Shay was, and for the first time in a while, Severide felt at peace with his little brother. The Heather situation still nagged at him, and it was obviously still bothering Matt. But for the moment, Kelly was content to focus on the fact that his best friend was alive and recovering. Settling against the plastic seat, he allowed himself to doze.

Well, Matt's alive! And he and Kelly are beginning to heal! So what's UP next? Matt spills on the Heather situation? Kelly confronts Heather? Shay takes blackmail photos? Review and give me your feedback!