Hi everyone! Thank you all for reading. I'm a student and school has started up again, so please be patient for updates!
So the relationship has taken a turn for the worse…. will they work it out or will this be the end of them.
Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you for all the reviewers, follows, favorites and readers…I appreciate it.
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Chapter 3- The Truth
Before he could blow up on her, she turned the tables on him. "Is that all this is to you, a game. What the hell is wrong with you? This is my heart on the line. I have been in a secret relationship with you for 6 months. You don't think I deserve better. You get to go out and have a life, well from this point on, so can I" she said before storming back to the table.
Connor knew something went down when she got back to the table. She was trying to keep her tears at bay. "I'm sorry but can we go please?" she asked.
He got up and grabbed their stuff, "I'll go get the car and wait for you outside. You go say bye to your family" he said as he made his way out.
She took a minute to get herself together before making her way to her family. "Hey guys, umm, I'm going to get going" she said.
They all looked at her surprised. It was still early. Andy, Mike and Stephanie looked at each other concerned.
"Hey, you practically just got here. What's going on? Are you okay?" Andy asked his sister.
She put on a fake smile, "yeah I'm fine. I promise, I'm just tired" she tried to play it off without looking at Johnny. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her.
Stephanie really looked at her sister, "no you look like you've been crying, now tell us what's wrong" she said knowing something was wrong.
Damn her sister for knowing how to read her like a book. "Steph, I promise I'm okay. I just don't feel good. I am going to go" she reassured.
"Do you need a ride" Mike asked.
"No, I'm okay. Connor drove" she said before giving them all a hug.
"Okay well if you need anything, call one of us" Andy ordered her.
She smiled nodded, "I promise" she said before leaving. She couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Connor drover her home knowing she was embarrassed. She couldn't believe that happened. She knew Johnny would be jealous but not react like that. She was not expecting a reaction like that.
When they got to her apartment, she just sat there. "I am really sorry that happened tonight. I was not expecting that at all" she didn't know what else to day.
He smiled and looked over at her, waving her off, "don't worry about it okay. I completely understand. If you need me tonight or anytime" he said.
She smiled and gave him a hug, "thank you so much for being understanding Connor. I'll see you at work tomorrow" she replied before practically running into her apartment building.
She was devastated. She just curled on the couch and cried as her siblings blew up her phone with calls and messages. They were worried about her. They knew they were something wrong but they didn't know what it was.
They weren't a couple in public. No one knew about them. Why should she except Johnny to feel anything different?
Johnny was raging between emotions. He didn't know how to feel. He didn't know what just happened. He couldn't believe he blew up like that. He loved her. He didn't want to lose her. It didn't take him long to show up at her door. He only had to knock twice before she answered the door.
She was dressed in one of Andy's sweats. Her hair was up in a bun and her eyes were red and puffy. "What do you want?" she asked.
"We need to talk this through" he said as he let himself into her apartment.
"I don't have anything to say to you anymore. You made it pretty clear in the bar that you are the only one who is allowed to have a life in this relationship. That's it" she replied.
"No it's not it Jules. I love you okay. I am not going to let you throw this away. Come on, we've been through so much for us to be together. It was a mistake. I was fuming when I saw you and Rhodes come in the bar. It pissed me off that he got to sit with you, drink with you, make you laugh, smile, and happy when I couldn't. I'm sorry, I never meant to go off like that, but I was still mad and jealous from this morning. You have to understand that" he explained.
The Severide siblings were worried about their sister. She did not look good at the bar. "I'm really worried about Jules. Something is really wrong" Stephanie said.
"I know, but she's not a kid anymore. We can't force her to tell us. She'll tell us in her own time" Andy replied.
"Tell you what, I'm leaving. I'll stop by her apartment on my way home and make sure she's okay" Mike added as he grabbed his stuff and left.
It didn't take him long to get to his sister's apartment at all. He walked down the hall towards to her door about to knock when he heard arguing.
Jules let out a breath and wiped and hand over her face, wiping her tears. That was a lot to take in.
"I know you are sorry Johnny. I know you didn't mean for it to happen but it still did. I'm tired of you being sorry" she cried.
"Jules all I can say is sorry, I don't know what you want me to do" Johnny sounded defeated. He was at a loss. He knew this was hard for her. She told him all the time, he just didn't understand how hard it was.
"Look Johnny, it's no one's fault really. Obviously what we had wasn't working and it's just better to end it" she reasoned.
Johnny snapped his gaze to hers. He couldn't believe she was just giving up. "What? Why? Come on Jules, it was one mistake" he pleaded. He didn't want to lose her. She was the best thing in his life.
Mike felt a range of emotions listening to all this play out. Now it all made sense to him. The leaving early, disappearing for hours, secret phone calls…it was Johnny that his sister was with the whole time. On one hand he was happy that his sister found someone to make her happy; but on the other hand, he was pissed it was a secret relationship with his best friend.
"But you don't understand what it's like for me. It's not just this Johnny. You have it so easy. You have a life. Girls are all over you all the time. No one knows about us. I am the one worried that if I look at you too long, stand too close or whatever that my brothers are going to notice. I am tired of waiting for a secret time to be with you. I want…no, I deserve better. I mean God Johnny, I want to be able to walk up to you in the firehouse and kiss you in the common room without worrying that my brothers are going to kill you" she argued.
"Jules I am sorry. You do deserve better and I am a jack-ass. I know that. That doesn't mean we don't belong together. You are my life Jules. Opposites attract. Please, I can't lose you" he cupped her cheeks and rested his forehead against hers, wiping her tears.
"Johnny, I want a real relationship with you and until you can give me that, give us a real chance, I can't do this anymore. I can't take it anymore. Please, I can't handle this anymore" she cried.
Johnny sighed in defeat and kissed her forehead before grabbing his stuff and leaving the apartment.
Mike heard him get ready to leave so he ran to hide in the hall behind one of the closet doors. He waited until Johnny was in the elevator and gone before he made his way to his sister's apartment door. He knew she would be devastated.
Once he was gone, Jules collapsed to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest sobbing. She couldn't stop crying. It was like her heart was tore in two.
Mike heard her sobbing. He didn't even knock, he just opened the door to find her on the floor sobbing. She looked like she just lost the love of her life.
She didn't even comprehend that Mike was there. She was too devastated; she couldn't focus on anything else but her pain.
Immediately, he got on the floor with her and wrapped her in his arms, rubbing her back in comfort as she clutched at him and sobbed in his chest.
"Shsh, it's okay Jules. Everything is going to be okay" he whispered words of comfort.
"I lost him…Mike I lost him" she kept screaming over and over for Johnny to come back.
Mike didn't know what to do but sit there on his sister's living room floor and hold her as she made herself sick from all the emotions. He needed help. He needed to call Stephanie but he didn't want to leave Jules, so he grabbed his cell phone and called his little sister.
Stephanie answered right away, "Mike, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Steph, you need to get Jules right now. It's an emergency and I need your help" he pleaded.
Stephanie grabbed her stuff and was out the door before he finished talking, "I'm on my way" she replied. She probably broke 100 traffic laws on the way to her sister's apartment. She was scared of what she would find. She didn't even wait for the elevator when she got there. She ran up the stairs.
She threw the door open to find Mike holding a sobbing Jules on the floor just inside the apartment. She sunk to her knees and pulled Jules into her arms.
"What the hell happened?" she asked.
Mike sighed and wiped a hand over his face. "She's been secretly seeing Johnny. They broke up tonight. He let her go because he was scared of what we would do to him if we found out. She's been like this for the past 20 minutes. She won't stop crying. She keeps screaming for him to come back. I don't know what to do" he was beyond worried.
Stephanie nodded and took control. "Help me get her upstairs. I am going to start the shower" she said running ahead of them.
"Okay, Jules I am going to pick you up" he picked her up bridal style. "Everything is going to be okay" he kissed her forehead. "Stephanie and I aren't going anywhere" he added. He needed her to know that he was there for her and would be as long as she needed him.
He carried her into the bathroom and sat her on the edge of the tub. "I got it from here Mike. Go get things set up in her room. I am not leaving her tonight" she said.
He nodded and left his sister. Stephanie helped her sister out of her clothes to her underwear and put her in the shower. Jules sank to the floor, Stephanie right next to her.
"He didn't fight for me Steph" Jules said after a few minutes, when she started to get some reality back.
Stephanie nodded, "I know Jules. Don't think about that right now. We'll figure everything out tomorrow, I promise. For now, I just need you to take some deep breaths and try to calm down" she said.
After the shower, Stephanie helped her change into some sweats and found some for herself, before getting into bed with her sister. There was no way she was leaving her. Mike came in and stripped to his undershirt and sweats before settling on the other side.
"She's going to feel everything all over again tomorrow" he whispered to Stephanie.
"I know; we just have to be there for her. It's going to take her time to get over this, if she ever does. Mike, we can't tell Andy or dad. They are going to kill him if they find out" she replied.
Mike nodded in understanding, "I could kill him for doing this to my sister. What the hell was he thinking? I heard it all Steph, he didn't even fight for her, he just left" he said.
Stephanie took it all the new information and let out a stressed breath, "tomorrow is going to be the hardest, but she'll be okay" she said looking down at her sister sleeping between them.
Mike nodded, "she better be" was all he needed to say for Stephanie to know he was worried. The boys had always been protective over them. Mike wanted to kill Johnny for doing this to their sister, but he was more concerned about Jules to really do anything…at least Stephanie hoped he was.
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The next morning was a blur for Juliana. She woke up with tears sticking to her face, her siblings on either side of her, last night's events hitting her like a freight train.
She slipped out of bed and downstairs. She made coffee and breakfast. It wasn't until she returned upstairs with the food that her siblings woke up.
"Jules, damn you are already awake" Mike woke with a start.
Jules scoffed and put down the food tray, "well that's a way to greet your sister in the morning" she reprimanded as she handed him a coffee.
"How are you feeling?" Stephanie asked.
Jules shrugged, "not bad. It still hasn't hit me. I mean he left me. He didn't even fight for me. I'm sorry by the way. I didn't mean to lie…neither of us did, but we had no other choice" she replied.
Mike sighed, "how long were you together for? I mean, we had no idea" he stated.
She nodded, "6 months. That was the whole point. We didn't want anyone to know. Well, until recently. I wanted to tell everyone but Johnny was afraid to. He didn't want to rock the boat with you and Andy. I couldn't keep the secret anymore. I wanted a real relationship, he wasn't ready for it" she explained their situation the best she could.
Stephanie crawled over and gave her a hug, "I'm sorry Jules. You deserve better. He should have fought for you" she said, trying to comfort her sister.
Jules nodded, "yeah I know. I need you both to promise me that you will keep this to yourselves. Dad and Andy cannot find out. I know Johnny messed up really big, but I don't want him to get hurt…please promise me" she looked to them both really serious.
They both looked at each other and let out a breath before nodding, "alright, for you I will but I swear if he comes near you again I am going to kill him" Mike stated.
Jules nodded and knew she got lucky. She knew it was better that Mike found her than Andy. If it was Andy, Johnny may not have made it out there in one piece.
They had agreed to go to Molly's. Juliana wanted a fresh start. She wanted to start a new life. She didn't want to think about Johnny Casey anymore.
Stephanie and Jules were upstairs getting ready when her phone rang. Mike stood by the answering machine listening.
"Hi, you've reached Dr. Juliana Severide. I'm not in right now, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If this is an emergency, please call 911 and get yourself to the hospital for some help…have a nice day" her voicemail read.
"Hey Jules it's me, Johnny. Please pick up babe. I miss you. It's been 24hrs and I'm going crazy. I love you Jules. I've loved you since we were kids and I had to rescue you from Ray Alderson on the playground at school. Come on, that's like 16 years of history and I am not giving up on that. I'm not giving up on us. I will love you forever so don't except me to let you go without a fight" Johnny left the message on her machine.
He hoped to God he saw her at Molly's. He needed to talk to her and set things straight.
Mike stood there listening to Casey's message and couldn't help but smirk. He knew Casey and he knew he was stubborn. When he set out to do something, he did it and no one could change his mind.
It gave him a little piece of mind because someone cared for his sister so much. When Jules came down with Stephanie, she was ready to hit the town. She had on an over the shoulder red, skin-tight dress, black pumps and let her hair down. Her make-up was smokey, so it gave her an edge. Stephanie stood beside her sister proud of her work.
"Damn Steph, you did good. You look hot sis" he smirked at her blush. This was not like his sister at all. She was happy in sweats but now she was on a mission. She needed to move on from Johnny.
"Thanks Mikey. I'm actually nervous. All Stephanie said was to wear something that I would never have worn before. I have no idea what the hell I am doing" she said.
Stephanie wrapped an arm around her sister, "don't worry, we're with you every step of the way" she replied.
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Nick could tell something was wrong with his brother. He had been acting strange the last couple days. They were sitting at Molly's and their group was divided. Sure they were sitting at the table together, but he could tell that Johnny was trying his hardest to ignore Juliana. He was failing. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.
"So are you going to tell me what's going on with you and Jules?" he asked his brother.
Johnny took a chug of his beer, his eyes not leaving Jules, "there's nothing going on. She just looks different tonight" he replied.
Nick nodded and decided to play up and push his brother's buttons, "yeah I noticed, so did everyone in the bar. With that dress on, she looks hot" he said.
Johnny snapped his gaze to Nick, glaring daggers at him. Nick looked at his brother with a smirk knowingly. "I knew it, how long?" he asked.
Johnny sighed and leaned in so no one could hear him, "6 months, but I am the idiot who broke it off. I didn't fight for her man. I was too afraid of what Mike and Andy would do, I didn't fight for her" he explained.
"Well man, you are an idiot" Nick stated.
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1 month later….
Since that day at Molly's, Juliana tried her hardest to move on with her life and put Johnny behind her. She just focused on work and doing things for her.
Currently, Jules was sitting in her office looking for some research when she got paged from her sister. Something was wrong with someone from the firehouse. She knew it.
The shift at the firehouse was really slow. They had only a few calls since the beginning of shift and were working closely with Firehouse 32, much to Johnny's dismay. He had to work with Andy head on and try not to think of his sister in the process.
"Chief, the smoke is turning black," Jordan stated.
The two squads were still in there. "All fire personnel out of the building now. It's going to flash" Chief Applegate ordered.
The guys in the building heard the order through their radios. "Severide we need to go down" Johnny said to Andy.
He nodded, "You guys go down and I'll trail behind" Andy said.
Johnny nodded, "sounds good" he replied.
On their way down, the three were pretty charred. They had soot all over their faces. They didn't notice that Johnny was hurt until they were outside.
Mike and Andy were on him in a second. "It's going to be okay Johnny, just breathe easy man" Mike said. He was burned pretty badly and had some smoke inhalation.
Chief we need to get him to the hospital" Andy said.
Chief Applegate nodded and excused them from the scene. They got him into the ambo and were off to Chicago Med. Mike was freaking out. He didn't know how his sister was going to handle this.
Jules was standing in the middle of the ER at the nurse's hub. She was waiting on edge. She knew it was a trauma that involved the firefighters. She had to know that her brothers and especially Johnny were okay.
She picked up her phone and called each of them to make sure they were okay.
"You've reached Lt. Casey…"
"You've reached Lt. Severide…."
"You've reached Detective Severide, please leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can"
She caught all their voicemails. "Dammit!" she cursed and left them a message to call her back. She pocketed her phone and prayed to God that they were all okay.
Melina and Blackwell wheeled in the gurney and started rattling off vitals. Andy and Mike were trailing after him.
Jules felt a little better at seeing her brothers walking and talking, but she froze when she saw Johnny on the gurney. She knew she needed to act fast.
"Minor smoke inhalation. BP is stable 100/90 and he's got a few cuts and burns" Melina explained.
Colleen wrote down all the vitals in the chart. "Okay, let's get CBC, BMP, CT lungs, and let's call respiratory and have them come consult. Let's get the O2 at 100%" Jules ordered.
"Jules…it hurts…to breathe" he croaked.
She nodded as they wheeled him back into the trauma bay. "I know Johnny, I know. Don't worry okay. I am going to make it better. I promise, just breathe easy and keep calm" she instructed.
He nodded and settled back on the bed. Jules put the oxygen mask on him and got him hooked up to all the machines. Colleen started him on the IV and some fluids.
"I want those orders STAT" Jules said.
She started cutting off his clothes and getting him settled in the bed. "Okay, we are running fluids wide open and I am going to start you on broad spectrum antibiotics for the infection for the burns. I am going to wait for the results to come back before raising the O2 level on the oxygen, so far you are breathing easy, so you are okay," she said.
As she was examining and looking him over, he smiled up at her, "I miss you baby" he reached and started grabbing at her.
Jules smiled, "those are the meds talking Johnny" she replied.
They had given him something for the pain and something to keep him calm and numb the area so she could clean out his burns.
"I don't think so…you and me…we're…. the real deal…sugarplum" he was so out of it; he didn't know what he was saying.
Jules couldn't help but just laugh and shake her head. She knew it was from the drugs. After a couple of minutes, Jules put her supplies down and cleaned everything up.
"Okay, let's get radiology up here as soon as possible. After that, I want to get a room set up for him upstairs on the med floor. The CPAP is going to have to stay on and we are going to start him on a round of antibiotics just to make sure there is no infection. Let's be proactive about this" she said to Colleen.
The nurse wrote down all the orders, "you got it Dr. Severide. Just so you know, the family is outside" she said.
Jules smiled and nodded, "I'll go update them. Thanks Colleen" she replied before leaving.
As excepted the whole family was there waiting for Jules to update them on Johnny's condition. She let out a sag of relief when she saw her brothers and her dad. She rounded the corner of the desk and launched herself at them.
Andy chuckled and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "I am so glad you are all okay" she pulled away and moved to Mike and Kelly.
"We're fine princess. How's Johnny doing?" Kelly asked his daughter.
She nodded and turned to Matt and Gabby with a smile, "he's going to be okay. He has burns and abrasions to his extremities and mild smoke inhalation. We have him on an oxygen mask for his lungs and I already patched up his burns. He's on broad spectrum antibiotics and pain medication. I ordered a bunch of labs and scans but they aren't in yet…we'll know more when they are" she explained.
Gabby let out a cry of relief and reached forward to hug her. "Thank you so much for taking care of him honey. Can we see him?" she asked.
"It's no problem, just doing my job. He's still in the trauma bay but we have him moving upstairs as soon as there is a bed available" she replied as she led them back to the trauma bay.
"So, he's going to be okay right Jules?" Alex Casey asked.
Jules smiled, "yeah, he's going to be fine. It'll just take a few days" she replied.
Matt and Gabby nodded as the Casey family went in to see Johnny. Kelly and Andy went to join the rest of the firehouse and update them on Johnny's condition.
Mike saw the look on his sister's face as she stared in the trauma bay. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away, out of ear shot.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
She let out a breath and wiped a hand over her face, "I don't know. At first I was worried about you, dad and Andy but then I saw you walk in here and it was okay. Then I saw Johnny being rolled in here on the gurney. I froze Mike, I didn't know what to do" she admitted.
Stephanie was up on the ICU floor when she got the page about Johnny. She knew her sister must be in turmoil. She couldn't get down to the ER fast enough.
She ran right over to Jules and Mike and wrapped her sister in a hug. "Hey, how are you holding up?" she asked.
Jules shrugged and wiped her tears, "not good Steph, I panicked when I saw Johnny being wheeled in here" she replied.
Mike pulled her into him and shook his head, "she did awesome, going all kick ass doctor and saving his life" he corrected.
"I can't lose him. No way could I survive that" she replied
They all nodded in understanding. They knew she would take this personally, "alright, I better get going. I'll see you later" he kissed the top of her head and left with his brother and dad, as did most of the firehouses.
Jules couldn't go home or leave the hospital. She couldn't leave without knowing that Johnny would be okay. She stayed in his room on the chair next to the bed. She literally camped out there.
That's how Johnny found her the next morning. He woke up to monitors and beeping. It took him a minute to remember where he was.
He looked over to see Jules asleep on the chair next to his bed with her charts and papers all around her, covered up with her lab coat like a blanket.
He smiled and reached over to push some hair off her face. She jumped awake and looked around, taking a minute to gather her bearings.
She turned and saw Johnny looking back at her. She got up and immediately got into doctor mode. "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked.
He smiled at her, "Better" he replied.
She looked over his chart from the night shift and nodded, "yeah your vitals improved greatly last night" she stated in doctor tone. She didn't want things to get personal again.
"I had a good doctor" he said.
She looked up at him and shook his head, "Johnny don't do that" she warned.
"Come on Jules, you can't deny that it got to you seeing me in here" he retorted.
Jules gave him a pointed look, "don't even go there Johnny. We have already talked about this. I'm not getting into it with you again" she replied.
Before he could reply, his mother came in. "Good morning honey" she greeted.
"Hi mom" he replied.
"Morning Gabby, I'll leave you to visit. I better be going" Jules said as she grabbed her stuff and hightailed it out of there. She was looking for an excuse and was glad that Gabby showed up when she did.
"You have impeccable timing mom" Johnny mumbled as his mother got settled. He finally had some alone time with Juliana that she couldn't blame him for tricking her into and his mother had to ruin it.
"What was that honey?" she asked.
Johnny laughed, "nothing ma" he replied.
Before Johnny could ask what she was doing there, Nick walked in, still in uniform. "Family reunion. Hey ma" he greeted his mother.
Gabby hugged her son giving him a knowing look, "what you are doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she asked.
He laughed and picked a plate of the food that was on the table Gabby pulled out. "I am on break. I knew it was about time that you would show up and save Johnny from the hospital food" he teased.
Gabby laughed and shook her head at his antics. "Well help yourself, I brought enough for everyone" she replied.
"Gladly, by the way, where's Jules?" he asked. He figured she would be there at his brother's bedside.
"What do you want with Jules?" Johnny asked.
Nick smirked, "I need a favor from her. I figured she would be here" he said.
Gabby smiled, "she was here earlier, but she had to leave. I think she had some patient's or something" Gabby replied.
Nick smirked at his brother, "I am sure she did" he teased between the lines.
Johnny shot his brother a 'shut up' look. He did not want to get into this in front of his mother.
"So, Johnny, how are you doing?" Nick asked.
Johnny shrugged, "I'm fine. Jules said that I would be okay and that if the vitals stayed stable I would be able to go home soon" he replied.
"I am so glad that Jules was here to look over you" Nick teased.
"Shut up Nick" Johnny retorted.
Before anyone could say anything else, Stephanie walked in. "Good Morning Casey family" Stephanie greeted as she walked in and made herself comfortable on the side of the bed.
"Hey Steph, what's going on with you? What are you doing here?" Nick asked.
"I am on break. I knew that Gabby would be here for lunch, I am starving. Besides, I came to check on you" she replied.
Johnny nodded, "I am fine. I am doing great according to your sister" he explained.
Stephanie nodded, "I know I just stopped by her office and got the update. That's why I am here. I am going to be your nurse for the rest of the day and through the evening" she informed them.
"Truth?" Nick asked, glancing at his brother.
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Nick knows, Mike knows…will the truth come out or will there be no hope for Johnny and Juliana.
Please review and let me know what you all think!