"Hey, do me a favor and wait here for a sec while I talk to my friend ok?" Erin said as they pulled up in front of Firehouse 51. Severide was walking out to meet them.
Riley nodded and Erin got out of the car. "Hey Kelly" she said with a warm smile.
"Hey, so I cleared it with the chief and its cool for her to stay here." Severide said with an equally warm smile.
"Ok, there's just a few things I wanna give you a heads up about." Erin said.
"Ok." Severide said.
"There's evidence that this kid's been beaten, bad, by somebody, most likely a male so just make sure your guys are aware of that. She's real quiet and avoident just FYI, so if she does speak or say anything in regards to my case or anything just text me ok?" Erin said.
Severide nodded, "And I talked to Shay and she said she'd do the dressing changes on her ankle."
"Thanks Kelly." Erin said touching his arm. She then turned and gestured Riley to get out of the car and join them.
Riley was hesitant as she made her way to the pair.
"Go slow" Erin whispered as to Severide as Riley approached them. "Riley, this is my friend Kelly. He's going to be looking out for you while you stay here ok. And his friend Shay is an EMT and she's going to take care of that ankle."
"Hi Riley." Severide said.
"Hi" Riley said quietly. Her eyes flickered from his eyes to his hands.
"Hey Lieutenant! Where's the.. oh, hey Erin, how's it going?" Peter Mills said as he jogged up to them.
"Good, this is Riley." Erin said.
"Oh yeah, the ones that's going to be staying with us. I'm Pete." He said as he reached his hand out towards her.
Riley shot back like a spooked horse and almost bumped into Erin.
"Oh crap, I forgot, I'm sorry." Peter said sincerely.
"Hey, hey.. you're ok." Erin said as Riley fidgeted beside her. Erin could tell she was fighting the urge to run.
She stepped in front of Riley and kneeled down. "Hey.. just until your leg heals... then its up to you remember?"
Riley calmed down and nodded.
Erin and Severide took Riley inside and showed her around.
"And this is the bunk room.. you can take that one on the end there...and you can pretty much come and go as you please." Severide said.
Riley sat down on the bunk and looked around.
"I'll come check on you after my shift." Erin said.
Riley nodded.
"You sure this is gonna work?" Erin said to Kelly as they turned away from Riley.
"She'll be fine. So I'll see you later?" Severide said giving Erin a playful jab.
"Sure thing." Erin said with a smile.
"Detective Lindsay?" Riley's small voice rang out from the background.
Erin turned around to face her.
"Thank you." Riley said softly.
"You're welcome." Erin said.
"Hey kid" Herman said, "You wanna come eat with us? We got room over here." It was lunch time in the Firehouse.
Riley sat in a chair a crossed the room, away from everybody else. Riley politely shook her head.
"Ok, suit yourself." Herman said.
"Not really a people person is she.." Otis said, leaning towards Herman.
"So whatcha think the cops got us watching her for? I mean, I know Severide said she was a possible witness to murder but do you think she's like.. in the witness protection program or something real top-secret?" Cruz whispered to Otis.
"If she was... I don't think the cops would be hiding her in a neighborhood firehouse." Casey said, giving Cruz and Otis a look. "Look, you heard Severide, just stay out of her business."
Riley lay on her back on the bunk, relaxing as she stared up at the ceiling. She sat up straight and alert when she heard someone approach.
"Don't get up on my account." Shay said with a friendly smile. "Can I sit here?"
Riley nodded, making room for Shay to sit on the end of the bed.
"Are you Shay?" Riley asked quietly, as Shay was getting out her EMT bag.
"I am." Shay said and smiled at the girl.
"I'm.. Riley" She said a little shakily. She then slowly held out her hand.
Shay was a little surprised but didn't miss a beat as she gently took the young girl's hand and shook it.
"Can I take a look." Shay said gesturing at Riley's ankle with her eyes.
Riley lifted up her pants leg so Shay could see it. Shay gentle unwrapped the gauze. Riley flinched a little at the still somewhat tender skin.
"They did some nice work with this, It looks good." She told the girl. "Does it hurt at all?"
"A little, but I can take it." Riley said.
"Oh, tough guy." Shay said playfully as she zipped up her bag.
Riley cracked a slight smile and rolled her pants leg back down. "I've had worse."
"Yeah?" Shay said gentle, but just like that the girl shut down again.
"I'll see you later" Shay said, and left.
It was dark out when Erin pulled up in front of the firehouse and walked up to the hanger. Severide was sitting at the squad table with some of his guys. They were playing cards.
"Hey" Erin called out as she entered the building.
"Hey" he said, getting up.
The pair walking into the firehouse and into the bunk room where Riley was asleep.
"How's she doing?" Erin asked as she and Kelly watched as the young girl slept.
"Real good. She was no trouble at all. Even took out the trash." Severide said.
Erin smiled, pleased.
"There was just one hiccup.." Severide said.
Erin's smile faded and she turned, giving him a raised eyebrow. "How big was this hiccup."
Severide held up two fingers with barely any space between them. Erin smiled and gave him a bump with her elbow.
"Some of the guys decided to play a prank on Mills that Riley kinda ended up walked into.." Kelly said.
"What was the prank?" Erin asked.
"They stuffed a bunch of those little popper things in a draw in the kitchen... She kinda freaked out and.. took off." Severide said, scratching his head.
"She came back" he said when he saw the look Erin was giving him. "She brought back a guitar and a few clothes. She's quite the little musician you know."
"Yeah, I do." Erin said.
"She's was playing that song from the Budweiser commercial, you know, the one with the puppy?" Kelly said.
Erin smiled, "yeah, walk me out?"
"You bet" Severide said.
"So how's your case?" He said as they neared her car.
"It's going" Erin replied. "I'm hopping this kid gives us something at some point."
"When do you think that will happen?" Severide asked.
"When she trusts me." Erin said, placing a kiss on Kelly's lips before getting in her car, and driving home.
Hey friends! :) Thanks for all the love you've been showing this story :) It really means a lot! Keep it up! R&R! Enjoy the update. Stay tuned :)