A/N: A bit shorter than usual, but this is a bit of a filler chapter. For anyone wondering: there will be 30 chapters in all, and an epilogue after that too. I planned to put this up last night by the website was being weird. Anyway, here it is – enjoy!

Kim had no problem letting Sylvie stay over for a few nights. She understood the situation perfectly, even though Sylvie hadn't explained all that much. Regardless, she liked having someone else around, and Sylvie appreciated the kindness in having someone around that she didn't work with.

They were sat on the couch eating Chinese when Sylvie finally decided to tell Kim what had happened with Antonio. Kim was all ears – she cared about Sylvie, and she would do anything to make her happy.

"Wait, so he just walked out?"

Sylvie nodded. "He did. He came by the firehouse on my last shift to talk to me about it, but I just... I feel bad, but I care about him and I only want the best for us, but the way he reacted... it was a red flag, you know?"

Kim sighed. "I know. I got the same with Adam and meeting my mom. That's why we... well, you know," she paused and shook her head. "Listen, you should take some time for yourself. Stay here for as long as you need, don't see him and just clear your mind. You'll figure it out, I'm confident that you will, but you both need time."

"I think you're right," she agreed. "I used to think that time was the worst thing you could give a relationship, but now I'm not so sure. I think both of us being apart for a few days will be the best possible thing for us."

Kim nodded. "You're right, and as I said, stay here as long as you need. My home is your home. And I know Antonio won't come by here and bother you. He'll ask me about you at work, but he won't get anything out of me."

Sylvie smiled at that. "You really are the greatest friend, you know that?"

She grinned. "You're welcome."

Continuing to eat her Chinese, Sylvie let her mind wander then. She was truly grateful for Kim, really. She had no idea where she'd even go if she didn't have Kim. Stella was staying with Kelly for a while, and she didn't want to be with Antonio's family right now. It would be too much like being with him, regardless of how much she loved Gabby.

Beside her, Kim finished off her Chinese and emptied her beer. She glanced over at Sylvie and raised the now empty beer bottle. "You want another one? It's only–" she looked at the clock. "Eight. You start at like 7:00am right?"

Sylvie nodded. "7:30am. So, yeah, grab me another one," she smiled.

A few hours later, Sylvie got up to head to bed. Bidding goodnight to Kim, she headed towards her spare room, yawning as she went. She was almost inside the room when Kim spoke from behind her. Sylvie turned.

"You should know," Kim said. "Antonio does really like you. He was totally out of it at work today. Everyone noticed. He was acting really distant, really odd. I didn't know why at first, and now I do."

Sylvie dropped her gaze to the floor, suddenly a little embarrassed.

"Syl, I care about you. I really do. But I care about Antonio too. So just..." she paused and met Sylvie's gaze. "Don't break his heart, yeah? I don't think he can deal with a heartbreak right now."

Avoiding Gabby at work was virtually impossible, as the two worked together almost all the time. Sylvie didn't plan to avoid Gabby either – she knew that Gabby wasn't her brother and that it wouldn't be worth the trouble, but the more time she spent around Gabby, the more her heart was hurting from being away from Antonio.

It was lunch time, and much to most of the firehouses dismay, Sylvie hadn't cooked lunch for the firefighters. They'd all eaten whatever they could find. Cruz and Otis were eating noodles, Mouch had a sandwich from home and Herrmann was eating some sort of salad.

Gabby, sitting beside her, was munching on a sandwich too, one that she'd made in the firehouse. She was reading a newspaper on the table in front of her when her phone rang.

Sylvie glanced over at her, noticing Gabby's brow furrow as she read the caller name – Erin. She stood up instantly, putting the phone to her ear and ignoring her sandwich.

Everyone in the room looked at Gabby as she left, walking straight out of the room and down the corridor, presumably to the beds or to Matt's office.

Sylvie glanced over at Cruz, sitting opposite her on the long table.

"What do you think that's about?"

Cruz shrugged. "Who knows? Did you see who was calling?"

"Yeah, it was Erin Lindsay, from over at the 21st."

He frowned, and then shrugged again. "Maybe it's from a case? I don't know. I'm sure we'll get answers soon," he paused and took a bite of his noodles. With his mouth full, he continued his sentence. "By the way, are you heading to Molly's tomorrow?"

"I don't think so," Sylvie admitted.

She would have liked to go to Molly's, but for all she knew, Antonio was hanging out there every night, either getting drunk or waiting with crossed fingers for her to show up. She didn't want to go for that reason. They were on a break, and seeing him would ruin that wall that she'd put up to keep him out until she was ready.

Cruz sighed. "Damn, I thought you would be."

Sylvie shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll have a good time regardless."

Shrugging, Cruz shook his head. "Yeah, maybe, but I doubt it."

He dove back into eating his sandwich before she could reply.

Ten minutes later, Gabby emerged back into the main room. Matt was at her side, and both of them had worried looks on their faces. Stella frowned as she saw them, and Sylvie couldn't help but feel worried too.

"What's going on?" Severide asked, raising an eyebrow.

Matt shook his head. "We've got to go and check something out, we'll be back later. Herrmann, you're in charge until I get back. Stella, can you switch over to ambo for the afternoon with Brett? It's urgent."

Stella nodded. "You got it, lieutenant."

Everyone watched as both of them left the firehouse. Sylvie frowned and turned back to Cruz. He'd finished his noodles by now, and was now wearing the same worried expression as Sylvie.

"What did you say about those answers, Cruz?" She raised an eyebrow.

The rest of the day went smoothly. Stella was a good partner over on ambo, and Herrmann took over the role of lieutenant easily when Casey wasn't around. There were three calls in the afternoon, and Stella and Sylvie had to go to all three of them.

Stella pulled into the ambulance bay at Med, instantly hopping out and heading round the back to help Sylvie with their most recent patient – a heart attack victim that had been in the very middle of a fire. A few other ambulances had pulled in before with the other victims.

Natalie and Ethan begin to help straight away as Stella and Sylvie hand their patient off to them. They step up to write out some more paperwork, both eager to head back to the firehouse. It was nearly 9:00pm by the time the call had come in, and it was now much later, nearing 10:30pm. Both of them were tired.

"That was insane," Stella breathed.

Sylvie nodded. "You're telling me. I'm exhausted. I'm about ready to fall into my bed back at the station and sleep for hopefully the rest of the night. Seriously. I'm just hoping that's our last call for this shift."

"You and me both, sister," Stella agreed, signing something down on the piece of paper in front of her. She stifled a yawn as she did so, and Sylvie chuckled – until the yawn reached her and she, too, yawned.

The two of them were about to walk out the door when Maggie said their names and called them over. They headed over to where she was, both a little confused as to why she was calling on them specifically.

"What's up, Maggie?" Stella asked.

Maggie frowned. "I was wondering who they got to replace Gabby. I had no idea you were trained. I suppose that's just luck, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's pretty good luck. Stella's a good partner," Sylvie admitted.

Was that all this was? Maggie calling them over to inform them that she had no idea that Stella was trained and could take on the duties of a paramedic when she was needed? That seemed how did she know that Gabby wasn't on shift anymore? Her worries, however, disappeared a second later, only to be replaced with new ones.

"I would have thought you'd want to head upstairs and check on them," she said.

Sylvie frowned, eyebrows furrowing. "Check on who?"

Maggie looked taken aback at that, and she shook her head in disbelief. "Gabby and Matt. They're upstairs, with Gabby's brother, Antonio."

Sylvie tensed. It felt like her heart had stopped in her chest, and breathing was a little difficult. Why was Antonio here? And why were Gabby and Matt here too? Was it something to do with the call from Erin? Stella seemed to read her mind as she asked her next question.

"Wait, why is Antonio here?"

"Didn't you hear? I would have thought Gabby would tell you," Maggie paused, eyes full of worry as she looked between Sylvie and Stella – clearly unaware of the current state of Sylvie's relationship with Antonio. "He came in a few hours ago. They were on a job in town, and the suspect got Antonio off guard. He was stabbed. It's lucky he had backup, really–"

Sylvie couldn't hear a word Maggie continued to say She zoned out completely, the blood pounding in her ears and her stomach in knots. Oh, God. This is not good, not at all... stabbed.

Antonio was stabbed.