Gabby wasn't sure what had happened as she came to. Her head hurt, she couldn't move her right leg or arm, and as she looked over, she saw Shay bleeding and unconscious. She couldn't reach over to Shay or the radio she'd tossed up on the dash without the tearing sensation on her right side. Then she heard it over the radio, the call to station 51 to respond to their two car accident.
As she sat there, she could feel herself drift in and out, waiting and hoping help would come in time. She didn't know if Shay was alive, if either of them were going to make it. It terrified her, made her feel like she was back in the war zone. Only this time it was on home soil, on her turf. She wiggled her fingers, her toes, and kept her head still. She hoped they would make it in time to get Shay to the hospital safety, hoping to get both of them out of the cold. The sirens could be heard coming in fast.
"Gabby!" Casey called out at the same time Kelly called out, "Leslie!" She could feel her heart rate increase as she tried to stay still, tears in her eyes feeling like they were freezing as soon as they hit her cheeks.
"Get us out!" she called out to Casey as he came up to her window.
"Cover your eyes," he told her, so she turned away as he broke the rest of the glass off of the window as Kelly did the same on the other side. Gabby looked at Matt, looked in his eyes and she really knew what she wanted, what she hoped to have with Casey.
"Intrusion into the passenger side, pinning her in," Casey said to Severide. "What do you have on that side?"
"No vehicle impact or damage, about to get her out." Casey nodded and turned to Gabby. She closed her eyes, knowing there might not be a good way to get her out without causing damage. Her arm was pressed painfully snug against her side, her leg trapped between the dashboard, the seat, and the car door.
"We're going to get in on the other side and get the dash pushed forward, then, we're going to pull you out the other side," Casey explained. "And I'm going to be standing here, talking you through it the entire time." She took a deep breath as he put the c-collar on her, seeing Otis get in on the other side with the jaws.
"Do you remember that time where it rained for two days and the camp flooded?" Casey said to her. "And everyone was freaking out, but you turned to me and told me what to do."
"Hell, you were the only one who freaked," she replied with a chuckle. "Someone needed to get you to calm down." Casey nodded with a laugh.
"You're going to feel some shaking, a little pressure," Casey told her, taking her free hand in his. "Just breath through it like I taught you."
As he said that, she remembered that day. It had been a rough week, those going out having been fired on every day. She had confided in Casey her fears of going out, but she didn't want her fears to persuade him into keeping her at the base. She didn't want him to see her as a coward - even though she knew he never would. So instead, he taught her grounding techniques, some of the same ones she used on a bad day back in the states, and breathing exercises to keep her calm if things got rough.
She breathed through it, holding onto his hand. "Is Shay okay?" she asked him, partly wanting to know and the other part scared to hear that it was worse than she'd thought.
"She's on her way to Lakeshore," he replied. "We won't know how she's doing until we get there." Again, she let out a breath and took in a deep one. The vibrations stopped almost as quick as they'd started and she felt Otis laying the backboard across the driver's seat and console before pulling her onto it.
"Let's get you out of here," he said, and she smiled, letting go of Casey's hand as she's pulled from the ambo. Once out, they laid her backboard on a gurney and she was pushed into the back of another ambulance. She wished Casey would be with her, but she knew he'd be at the hospital.
She zoned out as the paramedics worked on her, splinting her arm and leg, taping up the gash on her forehead. They checked Glasgow, reactivity, memory. She didn't know how well it went, didn't really pay attention to most of it. Her mind was on Shay, on those moments before the accident. Even though they weren't at fault, it felt like she could have done something different, done something that would have prevented the accident. If she'd told Boden they were going to stay on scene until it was over with, had they filled up on the way back, had they stopped and grabbed something to eat. She questioned her own actions, as if she'd been the one behind the wheel that had put Shay in this situation.
"Semi versus ambulance, GSC of 14, possible fractures of the right arm and leg, 4 inch laceration to the right forehead from glass upon impact. Intrusion on victim's side of the vehicle," she heard one of the paramedics say as they wheeled her into the ER.
She pretty much slept through her x-rays and CAT scans after they gave her pain medications. She had a hairline fracture on her ulna, but other than that she walked away with a few scrapes and bruises. This didn't stop the doctors from keeping her overnight, sleeping almost from the time she got to the ambulance until she woke the next morning in a hospital room with Antonio asleep in the chair next to her bed.
"Hey, 'Tonio," she said, tossing a pen from the bedside table at him to get his attention. When he woke up, he gave her a smile.
"Had me worried." She shrugged, giving him the look she always did, the 'You can't get rid of me that easy' look. He nodded.
"How's Shay?" she then asked, needing to know. The expression that crossed his face made her stomach churn, knowing it wasn't good.
"Brain swelling. She's in a medically induced coma until it resolves." She shook her head. "You on the other hand. You're gonna be in an arm brace for a few weeks until the fracture heals, maybe a leg brace if you're in too much pain walking around."
"It should be me in her bed. I was the one on the side of impact, how did I walk away from it?" He cocked his head, and she realized that would never be answered because she was the only one who thought it.
"How 'ya feeling?" she heard Herrmann say from the door, Casey standing next to him.
"Like I've been hit by a truck." They all chuckled, happy to know her sense of humor was still intact, and walked in.
"Chief says you can come back when you're ready and medically cleared. If you need to, take some time," Herrmann told her. She nodded a thanks and looked at Casey. "I'm gonna go see how Severide's holding up," he then said. She understood, knowing Kelly and Shay were close and that he may not be taking it as well as the others.
"I gotta get to work. Told them I'd come in once you were awake," Antonio followed, standing and leaving alongside Herrmann. That left just her and Casey.
"Thanks, Matt," she told him in almost a whisper. He sat in the chair next to her and took her hand.
"Figured I had to repay you for the two times you saved my life," he joked, eliciting a smile from her. "And when you get out of here, I'd like to take you out." She smiled, not sure if he was serious or not, hoping he was.
She felt guilty, having this happy moment while just rooms away Kelly was crying as he held Shay's hand, hoping that she'd survive. She felt guilty that she walked away from this while Shay's fate hung in the balance. But she'd been through so much, been hurt so much that she knew Shay would be happy for her, knew Shay would be okay with this had she been awake. Despite the guilt, Gabby allowed herself to feel true happiness for the first time in a long, long time.