'You okay, Lieutenant?' Hermann asked him. The worry over Taylor must have been etched in his face. 'I'm fine, Hermann' Casey said stoically. 'Have you heard from the girl from the fire where... you know?' Hermann asked. Casey looked down on Hermann from his spot in the passenger seat from truck 81, where he was going through the daily checklist to keep the rig going.
'No, I haven't heard from her since her father's funeral' Casey said calmly, even though his tone was bordering at annoyance. 'Don't worry to much about it, Lieutenant. She's probably with her family, trying to leave all of that behind her' Hermann said with an empathetic look in his eyes.
Casey mustered a tight lipped smile, but refrained from telling Hermann that he felt something was off. As Hermann walked away, Casey's mind started wandering. When his dad... he wanted to talk to someone who'd understand so badly, but was never able to find that person. He thought he could have been that person for Taylor. He thought she'd have wanted it as well. Hermann's made him doubt his gut feeling about Taylor not being well. Was he projecting his own feelings and wishes on her? He wasn't sure.
He half heartedly went on going through the checklist, when he heard the door leading outside open. He couldn't believe his eyes. 'Taylor?' He called out to her. She looked around and seemed confused. He jumped out of the truck and walked towards her. He called her again, she turned towards him this time, but before she could respond to him, she collapsed. Casey was just in time to grab a hold of her, before she would hit the ground.
She was cold to the touch and didn't respond to him calling her name. 'Hermann, get Dawson and Shay, Otis get the door' his men followed his orders immediately.
Casey carefully carried her to the bunk room, where he gently put her limp body down on the first bunk he saw. Shay and Dawson came in right behind him. 'Matt, what happened?' Dawson asked. 'She is hypothermic, I can barely feel a pulse' Casey stated calmly, even though he felt anything but calm. Dawson nodded and started looking her over as Shay grabbed Blankets and warm compresses. Dawson started taking Taylor's snow soaked clothes of, even her underwear was wet. 'We are gonna need some more blankets' Dawson stated curtly. Casey got up and started taking of the blankets of the beds.
'What's going on here?' The chief's voice boomed through the bunk room. 'A hypothermia victim, chief, she just wandered in and lost consciousness' Dawson told the chief, while checking her temperature. 'Her temperature is 94.1, once she's over 95, we will transport her to the hospital. If we move her sooner she might go into cardiac arrest' Dawson explained.
Dawson's statement jolted Casey somewhat. He knew what the consequences of hypothermia could be, he just had a difficult time hearing what could happen to Taylor, if they weren't careful. 'Right, do we know who she is?' Boden asked, looking pointedly at Casey. 'Ehm..., her name is Taylor, chief. We rescued from a house fire, where you know... the father was shot' Casey explained.
'Lieutenant Casey, I would like to speak to you in my office. Taylor is in capable hands' Boden said coaxing Casey out of the room. Casey looked back at Taylor's pale lifeless face, while Dawson put an oxygen mask over Taylor's mouth and nose as Shay was preparing a drip of warmed fluids, to help the girl to get warm again. Dawson gave him an encouraging nod and Casey followed Boden to his office.
'Sit' Boden said softly pointing at the chair across from his. Casey sat down, not really knowing what was coming. Did he do something wrong?
'Casey, are you okay?' Boden asked gently. 'Uhm yeah' Casey answered slightly puzzled by the question. 'I'm asking you this, because I think you've been spinning out about this girl' Boden explained calmly. Casey hadn't seen this coming and spluttered to answer his chief. The chief held up his hand, which was enough to shut Casey up.
'What do we tell our new colleagues, Lieutenant Casey?' Boden asked. Casey was still scrambling to get it back together and looked at his chief wide eyed. 'We tell them to help the people in need as much as they can and once they are safe, we walk away' Boden tried to instill the golden rule of being a first responder once more.
'But... chief' Casey interjected and again Boden raised his hand to shut Casey up. 'I know her case is important to you, Lieutenant. It strikes a personal note, but it's also been distracting you lately. I heard about you going to the funeral and waiting for her after her interview with Antonio' chief Boden explained further. 'You have to walk away, Casey' Boden warned.
'I can't, chief, I'm sorry' Casey answered. Casey saw a tinge of worry rise in Boden's eyes, just before they went stern again. 'Casey, I get it...'
'All due respect, chief, but I don't think you do' Casey interrupted. 'I lost my father too, lieutenant' Boden answered. 'That's not the same, sir. It's not just about losing your father. Everything falls apart if one of your parents kills the other. I lost my home, my family was never the same again. My friends stopped talking to me, simply because they didn't know what to say. I was so preoccupied with everything else, that my grades plunged down the drain. Everytime I had to go meet a girl's parents, I had to find a way to explain what happened. I had to figure all of that out on my own, there was no one to guide me. If I can help Taylor carrying that burden, I will, chief' Casey had never told anyone about this and he felt his emotions got the best of him.
Boden looked at him. Casey expected him to be angry. 'I'm sorry for what happened to you, Casey' Boden spoke softly. 'Hermann will take over as acting Lieutenant. You can go to the hospital with Taylor, but I expect you back next shift with a clear head, do you copy that?' Boden caved. 'Yes chief, copy that' Casey answered as he stood to go back to Taylor's side.
Taylor saw a bright light through her eyelids, she heard two male voice somewhere in her proximity. One voice sounded familiar. She tried to open her eyes, but the bright light made her head hurt even more. As the haze of sleep faded, she felt how much her body ached. Taylor let out a moan and the talking stopped immediately.
'Hi, Tay' the familiar voice spoke gently as he took her hand in his. 'Hi, Matt' Taylor mumbled and she opened her eyes to his gentle smile. 'How are you feeling?' Matt asked. 'Like a truck ran over me' she said. 'Yeah, I can imagine that' Matt said with mild worry laced in his voice.
'What happened?' Taylor asked. 'You came with symptoms of hypothermia, exhaustion and dehydration. We have been giving you warmed fluids and antibiotics. The antibiotics were given to fight of a potential infection' the doctor explained.
Taylor just nodded, it was quite a lot of information to process, after just being awake for a couple of minutes. The doctor left and Taylor tried to stay awake a little longer, because she felt a little guilty Matt had been sitting in her room for hours.
'You can go back to sleep, Tay, it's fine' Matt said as Taylor was fighting to keep her eyes open. 'I'm terrible company, aren't I?' Taylor smiled. Matt chuckled 'don't worry about me, sweety, I still have some paperwork to go through'. Taylor nodded and drifted off to sleep within a couple of minutes.
When she woke again, Matt was still sitting in the chair next to her bed. It had become dark outside. Taylor still was quite tired, but she felt infinitely better than she did when she woke up earlier. 'Hey Matt, you're still here?' She was genuinely surprised to see him. Whenever she used to feel sick, her dad would give her a quick kiss on top of her head, leave out a thermos with soup. Then he would hurry off to work. Being sick usually having to take care of herself. She didn't really understand why a stranger like Matt would care so much, yet she trusted him with her life.
'Of course, although I think they might kick me out after the visiting hour is over' he grinned. 'Do I have really good timing for waking up or...' 'no, not necessarily, the nurses let me stay by your side all day, because, well my fiancee used to work here' Matt explained looking around the room nervously. Taylor decided not to ask, at least not now.
'How are you feeling?' Matt broke the silence that had fallen over them. Taylor shrugged 'a little better than I did before'. 'That's good to hear' the doctor said as he walked in. 'Hi doctor?' Taylor didn't remember his name. 'Oh uh, Halstead' the red haired doctor replied. 'Hi doctor Halstead' Taylor finished her sentence. 'Hi miss Willows' he replied. 'Taylor is fine, doctor' Taylor smiled.
'Right, Taylor, we've been keeping an eye on you and it's looking really good, I think that you can go home tomorrow late in the afternoon' doctor Halstead said. Taylor felt panic rise, she knew she had to leave at some point, but she didn't think it would be that soon. She had nowhere to go.
'But where am I gonna go?' She asked quietly. Matt gave her an empathetic look. Taylor felt that her lower lip started to shake and she could barely hold back the tears.
'Taylor, listen. Miss Johnson has talked to your grandmother and she told miss Johnson that she... Uhm... kicked you out, because you were being stubborn and unruly. Is that true?' Matt asked. 'The part that she kicked me out is...' Taylor said 'but she kicked me out, because I didn't want to testify on my mom's behalf'.
Matt gave her a sympathetic smile. 'Going back is not an option then' he said determently. Taylor shook her head, she hated the shelter, but she hated living with her grandmother more. Her friends weren't really talking to her, so it wasn't an option to ask them. Taylor didn't have any other family apart from her grandmother and little brother. She was really wrecking her brain, but she couldn't find a solution to her problem.
'You know, I've been thinking, that... Uhm... if you wanted to, you could stay with me' Matt suggested hesitantly. 'Really?' Taylor felt elated as Matt nodded. 'If you want to, of course' Matt repeated. 'Yes, of course. I would love too' Taylor didn't know how to thank him, so she squeezed his hand and smiled from ear to ear. 'DCFS still has to give permission, though' Matt said.
