Chapter 7

It was another all nighter. Morgan knew he'd never put so much work into a character…but he also knew he'd never wanted anything so badly in his life. More than ever, he wanted to get this one right.

He went through the articles again…line by line…then he jotted down all the things he had seen and heard the past couple days. And finally he wrote a new biography for Lieutenant Aaron Whitlock…which he emailed to the producers at four in the morning.

Then he fell across the bed into a deep sleep.

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He was late getting to the fire station in the morning.

When the car dropped him off, the men were outside, taking down the black bunting that was draped across the front of the building.

That was another thing they'd done for Mr. Garibaldi. The funeral procession had left the church and wound through the streets in the neighborhood…past his old house…and then past Station 51, where the flag was lowered to half mast…and the black bunting was swayed lightly in the breeze.

"Nice of you to join us…" Hermann called down from atop the ladder.

"Sorry…I overslept." Morgan answered as he went into the house.

He stowed his bag in his locker and headed to the common room for a cup of much needed coffee.

As he poured himself a cup, Lieutenant Severide came in. He nodded curtly to Craddock…and he went over to Lieutenant Casey, sitting at the table reading the sports section.

"Hey…" Kelly said, as he straddled a chair opposite Casey.

Casey looked up.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You know what Friday is, don't you?" Kelly said.

Casey thought for a second…then he nodded.

"Darden's birthday. He would have been forty five."

Kelly nodded as well.

"I'm thinkin' maybe we all could go get a beer or somethin'." He said. "You know…celebrate."

"Definitely…" Casey replied. "Count me in…"

Kelly got up.

"I'll go spread the word…and give Vargas a call. Maybe I'll reach out to some of the old guys too…Teagan, and Hunter…Lipton…Ridley…"

All guys that had served at Station 51…and moved on to other assignments…or retired.

"Good idea." Casey told him. "It'll be great to see everybody."

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Kelly went out to where the other men were just coming back into the house.

"Hey…guys…Friday night…" he said. "whaddya say we all go grab a beer for Darden's birthday?"

"I'm in…" Cruz said.

"Me too…Otis added.

"Absolutely…" Herman nodded.

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Back in the common room…Craddock sat down at the table.

Casey glanced up at the actor…he hadn't really spent much time around the guy, but he knew Severide was less than thrilled with his "shadow".

"Who's Darden?" Craddock asked.

Casey set the paper down carefully.

"Andy Darden was a firefighter here…he was on Truck…he was killed in the line of duty nine years ago last August."

Andy…that was the name of one of Lieutenant Severide's kids…

"Were he and Lieutenant Severide close?"

If the man named his kid after this guy…

Casey folded his paper up…and pushed back his chair.

"We all were…" he told Craddock as he stood up. "Excuse me…"

And he left the room.

Andy Darden…another name to Google.

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

They pulled up to an abandoned house. The windows and the door were all boarded up.

God only knew what was going on in there.

Kelly headed toward the back with Capp and Mills…looking for a way in. he stopped short when he saw the electrical cable coming down off the power line. He followed it back to the source and noted the crude splice job.

Pirated electricity. Wonderful…could be a grow house…could just be squatters. Either way that meant people…and potential victims.

He reached up and yanked the cable down.

"Mills…" he said. "Go team up with Hadley and hit it from the other side. Look for a secondary power source. We don't want a repeat of what happened that one time…"

He was referring to the time years before when they missed the second cable feeding a grow house and Capp had nearly been electrocuted. That was one mistake he was never gonna make again.

"Copy that…" Mills said as he went to carry out Severide's orders.

Severide and Capp continued toward the rear of the house.

They saw another wire…too thin to be a power line.

Cable…Kelly thought. He shook his head. Everybody needed their TV, apparently.

They reached the back door.

"Mills?" Severide said into the radio slung over his shoulder. "Got anything?"

"Negative, Lieutenant." Mills replied. "Looks like that was it."

"Got it…"

He nodded to Capp, and kicked in the door.

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Squatters…he thought as he surveyed the scene. They were in a kitchen…and he could tell someone had been there recently…there were fast food wrappers all over.

He took the lead and began to search for victims.

They moved to the second floor of the house. It looked like a bunch of people had turned this rundown place into a home. Several rooms were occupied.

They found a man down in the hallway…and Capp grabbed the guy's shoulders…and Kelly grabbed his legs. Together they lifted the big man…he had to be at least six feet…maybe more and over two hundred pounds easy.

They were making their way down the steps when their guy started to seize…his arms and legs began to jerk violently. Kelly wasn't expecting that…and he lost his grip on the man's legs. He stumbled forward and put out his right hand to break his fall…and his arm went right through the plate glass window in the curve of the staircase.

He felt the pain as the glass sliced right through his turnout coat and raked his forearm…but he couldn't stop to think. He pulled his arm back…and after another second he grabbed the man's legs again, tightening his grip to contain the shaking limbs.

They got the victim outside and onto the nearest stretcher.

Second in companies had arrived by this point and one of their ambulances took the man away.

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Kelly walked over to Ambulance 61, pulling his mask off with his left hand and shrugging off his SCBA tank. He peeled off his coat and his stomach turned over at the sight of the six inch gash running down the inside of his arm. It was deep…there was no doubt about that. He was going to need stitches.

Shay slapped a dressing over the wound and led him toward the back of the ambo.

He climbed in back and Leslie followed him. Dawson hopped in the driver's seat and just as she was about to pull away from the curb…Craddock jumped in the passenger seat.

Hey…he was supposed to "ride along", right?

Dawson shot Craddock a look as he climbed aboard.

But there was nothing she was going to say about it…

Morgan heard Kelly in the back talking on the phone. The Lieutenant was calling his wife.

"Yeah…I'm fine." He said. "I just cut my arm on a broken window…and I'm gonna go get it sewed up. I just didn't want you to worry…"

He listened for a second.

"Okay…I'll see you there…"

He ended the call. Then he turned to Shay.

"She's gonna meet us at Lakeshore."

Morgan looked confused…so Dawson explained it to him.

"When someone gets injured the department notifies the next of kin…but they don't give out any information. So your family doesn't know if you're burned…or if you've got a broken leg…or a collapsed lung…smoke inhalation…whatever."

Now it made sense. If you could call…better to ease their minds.

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While Shay and Dawson were restocking…Craddock positioned himself at the nurse's station so he could see Lieutenant Severide in the treatment bay over in fast track. Severide wasn't thrilled that the actor had hitched a ride…but he didn't say anything.

Alyssa arrived at Lakeshore and soon she was by his side. As Morgan watched serupticiously she took Kelly's hand and while he told her about the scene and the victim having a seizure she gently rubbed her free hand up and down his left arm.

She kept doing that…talking to him in a soothing voice and rubbing circles across the back of his hand with the pad of her thumb…while the patient care tech cleaned the gash that ran almost from the bend of his elbow down to just above his wrist. And then while the PA put in twenty-five sutures.

After the PCT dressed the wound and he had his prescription for an antibiotic that he hoped wouldn't make him sick to his stomach, Alyssa took him home. He nodded to Morgan on his way out. Suddenly, Kelly was really tired and he just wanted to get back to the apartment.

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The package arrived overnight…

And the clerk at the front desk handed it over to Morgan as he came downstairs.

Craddock took the envelope with his to the restaurant…and once he was alone at a corner table and had ordered his breakfast he pulled out the pilot episode of "Chicago Fire".

He flipped it open and as he began to read he couldn't keep the smile from his face.

The writers had taken all of his suggestions…every single one.

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The very first scene showed the team rolling to a fire….and some good natured bantering back and forth. When they arrived…it didn't look like a big deal. In fact his character…Lt. Aaron Whitlock even made a wager with the lieutenant from Truck…Jack Perry that Squad would get to the potential victim first.

But it turned into a big deal…when there was a back draft, and one of the firefighters was trapped and didn't make it. He burned up right in front of his lieutenant's eyes.

His Google search on "Andy Darden" had turned that up…and Craddock had surmised that if Lieutenant Severide had named one of his sons Andy…the man must have been very important. So in his character bio he created a long standing friendship that went back to their childhood days.

He continued to read till he got to the very last sentence.

And as he let the cover fall closed he was sure they had a winner. It wasn't a "fire of the week" piece…but a character driven drama that really had the potential to turn into a long running thing with so many layers to peel back.

Morgan took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he needed.

He took a deep breath and hesitated…did he really want to be doing this? What if the Lieutenant wouldn't take his call?

This is silly…Craddock told himself. Don't be a wuss. Just make the damn call. The worst that can happen is he tells you to go to hell. It wouldn't be the first time.

He hit 'call'.

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"Severide…"

"Lieutenant? It's Craddock."

"Whaddya want?"

"I've got something I need to show you…if I could have just an hour of your time…"

There was a long pause on Severide's end.

Then he finally said…

"Sure…come on over."

He texted Morgan the address…and Morgan went out to hail a cab.

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Thirty-five minutes later the cab pulled up in front of the Severide's building.

Morgan stepped out and he saw kids playing all out in the front…in the lawn…on the walk…on the stoop.

He recognized Andy and Jesse…and as he got a little closer he noticed one boy had a nasty web of scars down one arm…and another had some on the side of his face. He realized that these must be the neighbor kids whose houses had burned the night the Lieutenant's had.

There was an older boy sitting on the steps. He had dark hair…and Craddock could see the nylon gloves of a pressure garment peeking out from under the cuffs of the boy's fleece. He remembered reading that an older boy…the Lieutenant's nephew…had saved his mother and his two younger brothers…and had gotten burned over thirty seven percent of his body.

What was the boy's name? Declan…that was it.

Morgan pasted a smile on his face as he approached the building.

The boys looked him up and down.

"Can I help you?" Declan asked.

"I'm here to see Lieutenant Severide…" Craddock said.

"That's our dad."

Craddock looked down and saw the two boys looking up at him. He couldn't help noticing how much they looked like Severide. The blue eyes were exactly the same.

"You're the guy we beat at the down firefighter drill…" the twin in the red hoodie said.

Morgan nodded…

"My name's Morgan. Which one are you?" he asked.

"I'm Andy…" the boy said, then he pointed at his brother, who was wearing a blue hoodie. "He's Jesse."

Morgan held out his hand.

"It's good to actually meet you…" he said. "I'm looking for your dad…"

"He's inside…" Andy said.

"We'll take you." Jesse added.

The older boy…Declan let them into the vestibule with a key. And the twins led Morgan up the stairs to the second floor.

"We used to live in a house…" Andy said. "But it got on fire…and now we live here."

They opened the door and ran inside…thundering across the hardwood floor to get to their toys.

Kelly and Alyssa were at the dining room table…and Lyssa was changing the dressing on Kelly's arm. She cleaned the Betadine scrub off with peroxide…and Kelly jerked away as she hit a particularly tender spot.

Morgan watched as she gently pulled his arm back and then slid her left arm around her husband. He couldn't hear what she said to him…but he saw the Lieutenant take a deep breath and let it out slowly as Alyssa finished wrapping the bandage around his forearm. Then she put her arms around him again.

He looked up and saw Craddock standing in his doorway.

Kelly stiffened…embarrassed at being caught in a weak moment.

Alyssa moved back and let him stand up…and he crossed the room to where Craddock stood.

"Craddock…" he greeted him with a curt nod.

Alyssa slipped into the kitchen to get the men something to drink.

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Kelly gestured for Morgan to take a seat in the front room…and they waded through the mine field of toys Andy and Jesse already had spread out across the floor.

"What'd you want to show me?" Kelly asked.

Morgan held out the envelope containing the script and the multi-page bio he had written for Aaron Whitlock.

"I got the pilot episode this morning. I think it's one of the best things I've ever read…and I was hoping you'd take a look at it and give me your impressions.

Kelly pulled out the script and the sheaf of papers that came with it.

He looked quizzically at Morgan.

"That's something I came up with…I wrote a bio for my character…it's something I like to do to try and get into his head. You know…where did he grow up? Who's his family? What are his likes and dislikes? It helps give me a clear direction.

Kelly's eyebrows raised in surprise. That wasn't something he was expecting from "Hollywood". Maybe the guy wasn't dumb as a box of rocks after all.

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Kelly decided to start with Morgan's bio.

As he sank down into the couch and turned on the light Andy and Jesse got up from their game and climbed up into Kelly's lap and up beside him.

"What's that Daddy?" Jesse asked.

"It's something Morgan wrote…" Kelly answered as he began to read.

The boys waited to see if he'd read it out loud…but when he didn't, they looked up at the grown-up who hung around the firehouse but wasn't a firefighter.

They wanted to know what was going on.

Kelly glanced up for a second…and gave Morgan a nod that it was okay.

"Well…" Craddock began. "I'm an actor…and we're gonna make a TV show about the fire department."

"And Morgan's been hangin' 'round the house so the real firefighters can teach him all the stuff he needs to know." Kelly finished.

"What does he need to know?" Andy asked.

"Everything…" Kelly told him. "He needs to know all the gear…what all our tools are for…how to use 'em. What to do when he gets on a scene…what the guys on Truck do…what the guys on Engine do…what Squad does."

"People who watch the show have to believe that I'm a real firefighter." Morgan added. "And I've got a lot to learn."

Andy and Jesse looked at each other.

"We can teach you…" Andy said.

"Yeah…we'll help you." Jesse told him.

Kelly got a huge smile across his face. This was gonna be fun.

"They're right, Hollywood…" he said. "They already got this stuff down pat…"

The twins jumped up off the couch and started grabbing toys off the floor.

They motioned for Morgan to sit down…and Craddock shrugged off his leather jacket and joined the boys on the floor.

Alyssa came back with a tray of coffee and milk for the boys…as well as a huge plate full of cookies.

And she smiled when she saw her boys on the floor with the actor.

"Okay…" Andy said. "This is a truck…"

He pushed a big, red truck toward Morgan.

"See…it's got the aerial on it." Jesse told him as he raised the ladder.

Alyssa set the tray down on the coffee table and circled around to sit beside her husband as he looked over Morgan's character and watched Andy and Jesse teach "Hollywood" Firefighting 101…Severide style.