She was trying to keep pressure on his wound, but the blood kept oozing out all over her hands. The fire was getting closer. All of a sudden a big flame consumed her father. She screamed and jerked awake.

Taylor heard a heartbeat under the surface she was lying on. She looked up expecting to see her father, but the bright blue eyes she looked into weren't the grey ones she was expecting. A tired frown formed on her face. 'You okay?' The man with the soot covered face asked. She sat up straight and looked around her. It took her a minute to realise where she was, the hospital. Taylor looked at her hands seeing the bandages that went up her arms. What had happened? 'Are you okay?' The man asked again, only now she noticed the fire fighting gear he was wearing. She recognised him and tried to find his name. 'Matt... what happened?' He sighed 'Taylor,I...' he started, but it seemed like he couldn't find the words. 'Taylor' another man she didn't recognise, said in a grave 'I'm detective Dawson. I'm really sorry to tell you that your dad died, after being shot...'

She felt a lump forming in her throat as she tried her hardest not to cry. She felt Matt's arm tugging her towards him, she gave in and let her head fall back on his shoulder. He rubbed her shoulder whispering calming words to her. Telling her she was going to be okay.

About half an hour later a lady from DCFS arrived. Her name was Nina Johnson. Detective Dawson had some questions about what happened and miss Johnson had to be present, because Taylor was a minor. Matt never left her side during Detective Dawson's questions, rubbing her back soothingly and telling her she would be okay. It was nice to have him there. Even though they hadn't exchanged that many words, she felt like he understood her seamlessly. The situation seemed less scary with him around.

She told Detective Dawson about her parents, their ugly divorce, their fights and what she saw and heard when her mother...

She tried to shake the image of her mother with a gun from her head. They had talked for about 15 minutes, when Detective Dawson decided it was enough for today.

'It's time to go now' miss Johnson said after Detective Dawson had finished the interview. 'Where are we going?' Taylor asked. 'I'm taking you to a shelter, until we find a long term solution' miss Johnson said. The word solution made Taylor feel like she was a problem or an inconvenience. 'Do you need to get any stuff?' Miss Johnson asked. Taylor looked at her in disbelief 'my house burnt down, there is no stuff' she bit at the slightly coquettish lady. 'I'm sorry Taylor, come on let's go' miss Johnson said trying to ignore her mistake.

Grudgingly Taylor stood to go with miss Johnson. Matt got up quickly. 'Can I talk to her for a minute, before you leave?' He asked. Taylor wasn't sure what to make of it, but miss Johnson stepped away and let Matt talk to her in private. 'I know what you're going through and I want you to know that you're not alone' he said breathlessly. Taylor saw in his eyes that he was genuine. He pushed a piece of paper in her hand with a phone number on it. 'If you want to talk' he said. She nodded 'Thank you' as she went for a hug.

'You're going to be okay' he whispered to her before she left to follow miss Johnson to her car.

-—-

The following night he finally stepped out of his car in front of his home, after what seemed the longest day ever. Antonio had dropped him off at the fire house after they said goodbye to Taylor. Before he stepped into the house again he took a deep steadying breath in order to try and be his normal stoic self. It had worked well enough.

He went into the common room to grab a cup of coffee and was headed for his office, when Hermann asked what had happened. He relayed the story, whilst looking studiously at his coffee.

'Her mom did it' he said quietly, still purposely not looking anyone in the eye. 'Poor kid' Cruz said. 'Yeah' Casey said. 'are you okay, Lieutenant?' Hermann asked.

'Fine' he replied and made for his office. He really wanted to talk to someone, but he didn't know who to talk to. He used to talk to Hallie about these kind of things, but she wasn't an option anymore. Retreating and keeping to himself seemed like the best option now.

'Casey, you okay?' Severide asked as he stepped into Casey's office. 'You're the third person to ask that in about half an hour' Casey said stoically. 'We just like to be sure' Severide answered. Casey couldn't help but smile at that. 'I'm fine' he reassured Severide as much as himself.

That's how the rest of his day had gone by, telling people he was okay. Boden had even called him into his office to check if his head was in the game. Casey managed to reassure Boden that he was fine, but the rest of the day he felt his chief's eyes burning in his back.

Now that he was finally home, he had only himself to lie to. After he locked the door behind him he rested his head against the hardwood. He couldn't help the tears falling from his eyes. He turned around and let himself slide down the door until he was in a sitting position. He pulled his legs against his chest and rested his head on his knees while he cried.

He really missed his father, their relationship might not have been the best, but Matt missed him regardless.

Meeting Taylor had brought back all the feelings of the night his father died, and Matt was unable to suppress them this time around. Ever since his father died Matt tended to become stoic when it came to emotions. If that wasn't enough his anger would flare, but he promised himself that he would never cry.

So he sat there pressed against his front door, sobbing loudly, unable to stop the tears from falling.