I'm overwhelmed by how much love this story has gotten over the past few weeks. This is the end of the road for this story, but fear not! My writing will continue! TOMORROW the oneshot involving hurt!Severide will be up. Feel free to review or PM me ideas or requests for future stories!
Casey woke up slowly, feeling heavy and confused. He felt as if he'd swallowed cobwebs, cotton filling his head. Wearily blinking his eyes open, he smelled something cooking. The lights were dim and the room barely visible. For a second, Matt didn't understand where he was. He moved to sit up when a sharp pain shot through his shoulder. Letting out a startled yelp, the blonde fell back onto the couch, clutching at his right shoulder.
The sudden noise grabbed Severide's attention. "Shit!" he exclaimed, moving from the kitchen. "Matt? You okay?"
Matt couldn't focus on anything other than the sharp pain from this shoulder. He didn't feel his brother lifting him in to a sitting position. He didn't notice the set of hands prying his from his shoulder, or recognize the anxious voice talking calmly to him.
"Matt…Matty….c'mon buddy…breathe, just breathe," Kelly instructed, holding the hand away from the wound. After a several anxious moments, he could see the pain on his friend's face slowly easing. Blue eyes slowly blinked open to look weakly up at him. "There we go…you with me, man?"
"…yeah," Casey breathed weakly.
"Good, how bad is your shoulder?" Severide asked, squeezing the uninjured one comfortingly.
"It's not too bad now, I just jarred it sitting up I think," Matt decided, the memories from the last few days finally returning. His eyes widened as he remembered the confrontation with Heather. "Oh God…"
"Matt? What is it?" Kelly asked, concern growing.
"Andy…Heather said I…"
"She's wrong," Severide cut him off, squeezing the shoulder again. "Whatever she said, she's wrong."
"She's gonna tell the boys, Kel…she's gonna tell them I did it, that I killed Andy! I…I…" Matt continued, panicking.
Kelly hugged the distraught brother to him, shushing his muttering. "No she won't, I promise. You didn't do anything wrong, Matt. It'll all be okay…"
"Yes he did…" came a voice from the kitchen.
Both heads whipped around to view Shay walking towards them with first aid supplies. Kelly looked guarded. "What?!"
"You should've let me handle Heather, Matt," Shay explained, moving to sit next to the fireman. "I appreciate you standing up for me when she got mad but you didn't need to step in for me. I can handle myself. I'm not a damsel."
Kelly sighed in relief. "That what you did, Trouble? Treat Shay like a damsel? Shame on you…"
Matt managed a small laugh at that. "I guess I did…"
"I appreciate it though. Means you're a good friend," Shay smiled. "Now let's check out that shoulder of your's, hmm? Kelly be a good boy and go check on dinner for me."
Severide rolled his eyes at his roommate but did what she asked him to do. As he left the room to see to the food, Shay turned to the man sitting next to her. Matt looked calmer than before but he still reached for his injured shoulder. Shay turned on the light next to her, moving the shirt away from the bandaged wound. Noting the blood on the bandage, she hissed slightly. Removing the bandages, she noted the few popped stitches.
"Ooooh you pulled some stitches here, blondie…" she muttered, closely inspecting the damage.
"How'd I do that?" Matt asked, confusion evident. "I don't remember doing anything…"
"You fell off the couch, for one thing," she explained, gently poking the wound. "It looks pretty good though, overall. No need to take you back to the ER if you don't mind me fixing the few stitches you pulled."
"Is that a good idea?" Kelly voiced from the kitchen, concern evident.
"No, you're right, Kel. What was I thinking?" Shay drawled sarcastically. "I've never done anything like this before."
"Alright, alright…" he conceded, raising his hands in surrender. "I get it. Medical professional in the house…"
Casey snickered softly. "Careful, Kel…she could stitch your mouth up…"
Shay ignored the gentle bickering and began carefully numbing the shoulder so she could replace the couple of stitches the blonde was missing. Kelly noticed her beginning to work and moved to sit next to Matt, distracting him with more banter.
"Oh you think so, huh?" he smirked. "Maybe I can get Shay to stitch you to the couch. Let's see you get in trouble then!"
Shay did her best to work quickly, ignoring the small winces of pain from her counterpart. When she was finished, she rewrapped the bandage and gave the blonde man an affectionate hair ruffle. "Alright, you two…we feeling ready for some food and maybe a movie? Time to unwind?"
"I think that that is an excellent idea," Matt agreed, mentally shaking the emotional trauma from his head. "I'm sorry for all of this, guys…"
"Don't worry, Trouble," Kelly dismissed. "We would probably kill ourselves to escape the boredom if you didn't mix things up from time to time."
With that, the three friends settled in to enjoy the warm food and comfort of watching a movie side by side on the couch.
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A few hours later, Shay carefully untangled herself from the snuggly pile of firemen. Placing a pillow where she had been, she turned to look at the two slumbering men. Kelly had an arm protectively wrapped around the younger lieutenant's shoulders, careful of the wound. Both men had their heads tilted back, mouth's open in identical fashions. Matt had a tight hold on the sleeve of his brother's shirt, securing each other in the space. Shay smiled, taking yet another picture of her 'boys' before quietly slipping from the room. She had something she had to take care of.
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Early the next morning, Heather Darden began to run through the routine of preparing her sons for school. Passing her foyer she was slightly alarmed to see a manila envelope lying on the floor. Cautiously she picked it up, opening the missive. A single photo fell out, followed by a letter. Picking up the photo, she was surprised to see a collage of Kelly and Matt, some of the pictures obviously taken without their knowledge. It was surprising to Heather to see the heartfelt emotions that men obviously shared for one another; the brotherly bond she'd tried so hard to ignore. Moving onto the letter, she was surprised to see the neat, feminine script.
Heather,
I know how hard all of this must have been for you. To lose Andy, your husband and love of your life. To be emotionally distraught and angry at the world for what has happened. But you can't continue to take it out on everyone around you. I know you're probably confused as to why you're reading this, to why I sent you a collage of quite possibly your two least favorite people.
I also know that you'd do anything for your two boys. That you'd go to any length to make Griffin and Ben happy, to protect them from anything you could. Well, so would I. And those are my boys. Kelly is my Griffin: the older one with some trust issues and a tendency to lash out with his words. Matt is my Ben: the young one with an eager-to-please attitude and a hell of a puppy dog pout.
Just like you'd do anything to protect them, I'd do anything to protect mine. So I'm going to warn you one last time. Do NOT come around here tearing them apart. They're not to blame for Andy's death and they already feel like hell without you coming around to remind them constantly. So I'm asking you, as a protective, maternal figure…stay the hell away from my family, from my boys.
-Leslie Shay
So that's IT! What did we think? What do we want next? Are we excited for my Severide oneshot tomorrow? How shall I injure the magnificent Squad Lieutenant? Leave me a review!
