-Hey all! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows! It means a lot to me and every single one of you is appreciated! On to Chapter 2!-
Dawson slowly stood in the shower, using the wall to support her weak limbs. She reached out and grabbed the towel off the hook, wrapping it tightly around her petite frame. She stepped on to the cold tile, giving Casey the cold shoulder.
"Dawson..." his voice was low.
"Just let me get dressed!" she barked at him, shuffling as quickly as she could to leave the shower room.
Casey watched her, shocked at her behavior. He had known Dawson for years and couldn't comprehend why she was behaving in such an out of the ordinary way.
"Everyone screws up," he thought, "why is this one hitting her so hard?"
Dawson walked to her locker, chills covering her entire body. She shivered as she sat down on the bench.
"I deserve to suffer," her shaking voice rang out into the silence, "just like she did!"
Dawson's head fell into her hands as the sobbing overtook her. Her wet, tangled hair fell around her face, hiding her anguishing sadness from any passer-bys. She let the tears flow freely until she could barely hold herself up. Once she collected herself some, she forced herself off the bench, grabbed her tank top, sweatpants, sports bra, and thong from her locker, and releasing her towel, dressed herself. She tossed her hair up into a messy bun and wiped the last few tears away, hoping to hide the evidence.
Dawson leaned over and grabbed the towel off the floor, tossing it into the nearby community laundry bin. She headed for her bed, completely ignoring the fact that Casey was waiting for her in his office.
She collapsed onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow. "How could I have missed her screams? She did scream, right? What the hell was I doing?" Dawson began to replay the fire scene in her mind.
(Flashback to the fire scene)
"Alright," Chief said as everyone climbed out of the trucks and ambulance, "this fire's already looking worse than what dispatch mentioned, so we need to move quick!"
Casey and Severide exchanged looks. Casey spoke first, "I'll have my men enter from the front and roof, can you guys handle the back?"
Severide flashed a smirk, "I think we can handle a whole lot more, but yes, we'll cover the back. Alright, you heard him, let's move!"
Dawson and Sylvie grabbed the gurney from the back of the ambulance and lowered it to the ground. Dawson grabbed the backboard and threw it on top.
She threw a look Sylvie's way, "You can never be too sure at these kind of fires!"
Sylvie nodded, "I've seen a lot of different types of burn victims, or just victims in general, and yes, you'd be surprised!"
Dawson followed Sylvie up to the sidewalk and set the backboard on the mattress. She looked up at the roof, "I hope it's sturdy enough up there!"
Suddenly, Severide's voice rang out from the back of the townhouse, "Hey, we need medics back here!"
The girls jumped to attention and grabbed the gurney, racing to the back of the house.
"What do we have?" Dawson spoke first.
"Looks like a young one," Severide frowned, watching his men remove the child from the crib, "no parents seem to be around though, from our primary search."
"Why in the hell would you leave a child home alone?" Sylvie angrily spoke.
Dawson pushed past Severide and just as she got to the door, the men pushed it open a carried out a small girl, no older than fifteen months.
"Oh my…" Dawson choked down her tears at the sight of the badly burned little girl, "what were your parents thinking?"
(Flash forward to present time)
"Dawson," Casey was now standing at the end of her bed.
She sat up, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Why the fuck would her parents have left her home alone? Who fucking does that?"
"We'll find them, they couldn't have gone far," Casey tried to reassure her in a calming voice.
Dawson shook her head, "I just don't get it. Children's lives are so important, God, maybe even more important than anyone else's. We bring them in to this world, and they are completely helpless, they rely on us solely to fulfill their every need….and these monsters failed to do such a simple task!"
He sat down on the edge of her bed, placing his hand on her knee, "yes, they should and will suffer, PD will take care of them. But Dawson, why does this hurt so much?"
Her eyes met with his, and she stared for only a moment before looking away, "I…I can't…I don't want to talk about it right now, ok?"
"Why?" anger started to surface in Casey's voice.
"Just stop!" Dawson shoved his hand off of her leg and scooted further away from him, pressing her back against the small headboard.
"You can't keep everything bottled up forever," he stood and started to walk away, "it's all going to come out eventually."
She turned her head away from him, her eyes on the floor. She wiped the tears that were still resting on her cheeks. "Just…go," her voice was just above a whisper.
Casey turned slowly, shaking his head. He hadn't felt this disappointed in her for as long as he had known her. "You know I'm here for you."
Dawson didn't respond to him, and watched him walk away. Once she saw that he was out of sight , she placed her hands on her stomach, and whispering again, questioned to the silence around her, "would you still be if you knew.
-And here's the end to chapter two! Tell me what you think! Thanks all!-