Chapter 30

"Lyssa?" Kelly asked. "Did you call Dr. Leary's office about scheduling the surgery?"

With all that had been going on since they got back from Kentucky...Jesse getting injured...Benny's Academy Class Reunion...Morgan and Shaina's baby...they still hadn't gotten around to setting up a date for Alyssa's shoulder surgery.

Not that either of them was looking forward to it. The procedure sounded absolutely brutal...and painful. But if it helped her get back some mobility and eased the pain...that's the way it had to be.

Alyssa shook her head.

"Not yet..." she replied. "I'm thinking about after the first of the year."

"That's too long..." he protested. "You've been putting it off long enough."

"But I don't want to be out of commission for the holidays. You're on shift for Thanksgiving this year...and then there's Christmas...Andy and Jesse's birthday..."

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"I wanna do something special for their birthday..." Kelly told her. "Somethin' just for them."

This was Lexi's first Christmas with the family...and just like with Maggie's first Christmas, Kelly was determined to see that the boys' birthday didn't get overshadowed. He was planning a special "Guys Night Out"...to the Bulls game.

Hollywood had someone from his publicist's office get them a big block of tickets...and he had arranged to get the twins' names on the JumboTron at the United Center. All the guys from the firehouse would be there...all Lyssa's brothers...all the male cousins. Morgan was coming...along with a couple of people from the show. It would be a night Andy and Jesse would never forget.

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But first they had to get through Thanksgiving.

Black Watch was working...so they'd do their big dinner on Friday. Usually the family congregated at either Nicky and Kathy's or Kelly and Alyssa's for the celebration on the day of. Last year had been at Nicky and Kathy's...so the Severide's were up for this year.

The last thing Alyssa needed was to be cooking for thirty people with very little help.

They still hadn't sat down with the family and told them about the upcoming surgery...date to be announced later. But that was about to change.

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Kelly walked down to Joey and EmmaLynn's on the pretense of bringing Trevor a toy fire truck he had picked up.

What was the point of being the kid's godfather if you couldn't spoil 'em? At least that was what Casey said every time he showed up bearing gifts for the twins.

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He sat down on the floor and started extracting the toy from the packaging. Why did they have to make it so complicated? It was probably easier to get into a bank vault than it was to get kid's toys out of the boxes.

And of course you had the kid right there pulling at your arm trying to get to the toy before you even had the first twist tie undone.

"Whaddya see, Trevor?" he asked. "What's Uncle Kelly got for you?"

"Tuck!"

"Fire truck..." Kelly told him. "It's a special truck."

"Fi-tuck?"

"That's right...and I'm gonna take you for a ride in one when you get bigger."

Joey just shook his head and laughed.

"Nicky doesn't stand a chance..."

"What can I say?" Kelly replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm just the coolest uncle..."

"Yeah...yeah..." Joey said. "So what's goin' on? The toy coulda waited till Sunday."

Kelly finally freed the toy from the last of the plastic ties.

"Here ya go, Buddy." he said as he put the little firefighter in the driver's seat...and the little Dalmatian in the basket of the ariel. "You know what to do?"

He gave the truck a little push and Trevor started crawling after it.

"So what's up?" Joey asked again.

"I need to ask you and EmmaLynn a big favor."

"Shoot..."

Kelly sighed.

"I was hoping you guys'd agree to do Thanksgiving this year." he said. "Say it's your first holiday in the new house or something..."

Joey thought for a minute.

"I'm sure we could..." he said. "But why? That's usually Lyssa and Kathy's thing."

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EmmaLynn came in with Trevor's bottle.

It was time for a nap.

But the baby was chewing on the little firefighter...and he didn't want to give it up. Even for a bottle.

"Leave it for a second, Babe." Joey told her. "Kelly's got somethin' to ask us."

EmmaLynn sank down into the couch beside her husband.

"What's that?" she asked.

Kelly repeated his request...that they host Thanksgiving for the family.

"Listen...I don't think Lyssa wants to talk about it yet...but she's really havin' problems with her shoulder." he said. "It's been goin' on for a while...and she's gonna have to have a procedure. She's been puttin' it off...and I'm just afraid it's all too much for her."

Joey and EmmaLynn looked at one another.

They both knew Kelly would never ask them for this if he wasn't really worried about his wife. And they knew Alyssa would never say anything...she wasn't the kind to complain.

EmmaLynn nodded slowly.

"Yeah...we can do that."

And Kelly breathed a sigh of relief.

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He came on shift Thanksgiving morning. By the time he'd changed guys were already looking at the pre-game stuff on ESPN. The Patriots were playing the Jets...Green Bay was lining up against Detroit...and the Cowboys were predicted to send the Saints packing.

Mills was already starting the stuffing...and the bird was waiting for it...

The bells went off.

"Engine 51...Truck 81...Ambulance 61...Squad 3..."

A garage fire on West Giddings Street.

"They're startin' early today..." Casey commented as the team headed for the apparatus room.

That was just the first call of the day.

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They never did get their turkey dinner...every time the guys were about to sit down, the bells were going off. Two more garage fires...as a result of deep fried turkey accidents. One poor SOB ended up with severe burns...and Shay and Dawson had to run him over to LakeShore...and he was airlifted to Loyola from there.

The ambulance and the truck had to go out and scoop up two weekend warriors who forgot that backyard football games were traditionally two-hand touch.

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About nine o'clock the bells went off again...

"Multi-vehicle accident...off ramp at Wilson."

Kelly jumped down from the Squad and surveyed the scene.

One...two...four...five...six vehicles. One was on its side...one was upside down...one was run up on the cement barricade and had one wheel dangling off the over pass above the expressway.

That's where he ran first.

Five passengers...

"Let's stabilize this vehicle!" he shouted.

Then he turned to the driver.

"We'll have you out in a minute."

"My mother!" the man gasped. "I don't think she's breathing! She was complaining of chest pains! We were on our way to the hospital!"

Severide ran around to the passenger side. He had to stand on his toes to see inside.

There was an elderly woman...stumped forward...partially restrained by the seat belt. She wasn't moving...and Kelly couldn't see if her chest was moving or her lips were blue or anything to give him some indication of her condition.

"Where's the damn stabilizers?" He yelled. "Shay! Dawson! Get over here! This one's comin' out first!"

Once Capp and Clarke had the vehicle shored up Severide popped the door open, cut the seat belt, and he and Mills eased the woman out onto the waiting gurney.

"Agonal breathing!" Dawson said. "Get her in the rig!"

"Mills...help out!" Severide ordered.

The paramedics raced the old woman to Ambulance 61.

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Reinforcements were arriving...and Squad 5 rolled up and went to the overturned car a hundred feet away.

Kelly turned his attention back to the vehicle still dangling it's front wheel off the overpass.

The driver had passed out and was leaning against his door.

They had to wedge themselves in to get under the driver's side. The axel was bent and it was balanced at an odd angle. The door was jammed and Kelly had to finagle with the Jaws in order to get it opened.

"Clarke! Gimme a hand here!"

They pulled the door part of the way open...and the driver would have fallen out if not for the seat belt. Kelly caught him and Clarke cut the belt. Then they laid him on the pavement.

The second in ambulance driver ran over with a collar and a board. The two firefighters helped secure him and lift him onto the gurney just as soon as it rolled up.

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They pulled back into the station around midnight.

What a mess...alcohol and black ice were a deadly combo. And it's true what they say about God watching out for drunks and babies. The driver of the Four Runner that started the whole thing blew a 2.3 and he was laughing like a loon as the cops shoved him into the back of the car.

The men shrugged off their gear and staggered into the common room hoping at least to get a chance to scarf down a turkey sandwich before they were called out again.

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The last call was the worst yet...

It happened around two a.m. .

They rolled up on a darkened street...no signs of life anywhere.

"What're we here for?" Clarke asked as they hopped off the rig.

"Your guess is good as mine..." Severide answered.

He had a bad feeling...things were too quiet.

He and Casey made their way over to Chief.

"What's the deal?" Casey asked.

"Battalion 25 on scene..." Chief said into the radio clipped to his shoulder.

The radio crackled to life.

"Proceed to 5451 West Roscoe."

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The firefighters grabbed their masks and Halligans and ran toward the three flat. They pried their way into the vestibule...and trooped up the stairs to the first landing. Casey, Otis and Herman forced the door open and entered the apartment.

Kelly could hear them.

"Fire Department! Call out!

He picked up the pace and raced to the third floor. He, Capp, Mills and Clarke busted into the apartment and Kelly found himself in an old apartment that reminded him of the one his grandparents used to live in.

"Fire Department! Call Out!" he yelled.

"Lieutenant! CO level's high!" Mills said. "Eight hundred parts per million!"

Shit! That wasn't high...that was deadly. If the readings were that high on the third floor...there wasn't much hope for the ones below.

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"Teams of two!" He shouted. "Mills...with me...Capp and Clarke go to the back and work your way forward!"

He and Mills started in the front room. The TV was on...and they found a man on the couch. Mills shone the light on his face and the cherry red lips were unmistakable.

"Can you get him?" Severide shouted.

"Yeah!" Mills replied as he threw the slightly built victim over his shoulder.

Kelly checked the first bedroom right off the dining room...and he found a woman in bed. He grabbed her and as he stepped out the door he saw Capp and Clarke coming, each carrying a child.

"Are there any more?" Kelly asked.

"Negative!" Clarke shouted from behind his mask. "That's everybody!"

Thank God.

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The second floor had been empty...but there was another family of four on the first floor. An elderly mother and her three grown sons.

Severide couldn't help but think that a few hours before these folks had probably been enjoying a turkey dinner with all the fixings...and now the people on the first floor were dead...as was the man on the third floor.

Suddenly, he just wanted to get home to his family.

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He came in to find them all in the kitchen the next morning.

Andy, Jesse and Maggie were arguing over who got to see the Big Toy Book from Toys R Us first. And Lexi was just adding her voice to the chaos. She had no clue what they were talking about...but she was gonna get her two cents in.

"Dad!" Andy said when he heard the back door shut. "Dad! You missed the best Thanksgiving ever! Lexi and Trevor were covered in mashed potatoes!"

"Yeah!" Jesse added. "You should have seen it! It was disgusting!"

"Uncle Joey had to give 'em a baff!" Maggie chimed in. "Lexi had 'tatoes in her ears!"

Alyssa crossed the room to hug him.

"Note to self..." she said. "Don't sit the two of them next to each other at Christmas."