Casey looked at his friend who grimaced with pain.

"Remember the saying I told you lately?"

"Yes."

Her voice broke because her heart was aching to an unbearable level, but she found enough strength to restate the saying with him: "All I can give you are memories… carry them with you and I'll never leave."

Brett wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face and Casey was fighting against his own tears. He remembered the time when he said goodbye to Gabby. He remembered the time after that horrible day, how their marriage slowly began to break. Seeing his best friend and the love of his life in the same situation almost broke him.
Severide's strength began to fade, and his breathing became very heavy.

"I want you to remember our happy days, Stella… ugh… all of our memories we made. That way you keep me close, and I'll be at your side, every day for the rest of your life…"

"No!", she screamed into her radio.

"Stella…"

"No Kelly don't leave me! You can't give up! Please… please, don't leave me!"

"I love you Stella, I always have and always will."

These were his last words before he closed his eyes.

Casey eyed him closely.

"Kelly? Can you hear me? Hey buddy, you still with me?"

Casey reached to his neck to check the pulse. It was even weaker than before. Casey grabbed his radio.

"Chief, he's unconscious! I need help to get him out now!"

"Stay where you are, Gallo and Capp are on their way! Is he breathing?"

"Yes, but barely. This roof piece is crushing his lungs. We need to get him out now!"

"Captain, where are you?"

When Casey lifted himself up from the ground and looked over the roof piece, he saw Gallo at the window looking around in the room.

"Gallo, we're here! What do you want me to do?"

Gallo turned his head in the direction from which the voice came. Then he spotted Casey, looked back at Capp and ordered something.

"Alright, the structural engineer said that we're not allowed to enter the house, because the walls aren't stable enough to hold all of us. We need you attach this rope to the roof piece so we can lift it off Severide with the ladder. Then you pull him out."

Casey grabbed the rope that Gallo threw at him and attached it to the roof piece.

"Done! Lift it up!"

"Alright Mouch, lift the ladder!", Gallo shouted down to Mouch.

Mouch turned the ladder slightly away from the house and started to lift it. The rope was tight, but it was strong enough to hold the weight of the roof piece. After a few seconds, Casey saw that it lifted a few inches, and he was able to pull Severide out.

"Gallo, he's out! What now?"

"Can you bring him to the window? We need to get him out there."

"Yeah, I think so."

Casey moved slowly but he was well aware of his friend's condition. Luckily, the floor and the walls were strong enough to hold the weight of the two men. When he reached the window, Mouch had already lowered the ladder again and Gallo was waiting with a spineboard. With united forces they managed to get Severide onto the spineboard and slowly brought him down to the Ambo.
Brett and Violet were already waiting with their equipment.

"Get him on here, come on!"

Brett immediately checked his vitals while Violet provided an access. Casey helped removing his gear and put his arms around Stella, who was barely able to hold her own weight.

"He's gonna be fine, Stella. He's gonna be fine."

She sobbed and watched every movement of Brett and Violet, while they did their best to keep him alive.
Then, Brett cut open his shirt and everyone around the Ambo gasped in shock. His whole chest was purple and red.

"Oh my god", Violet whispered.

Stella covered her mouth with her hand, unable to say anything.

"He can't breathe alone because his lungs are crushed. I need to intubate", Brett commanded, and Violet handed her the intubation set.

She worked concentrated and looked at Violet who checked his lung sounds.

"You're in. Let's get him to Med."

Everyone helped to push him into the Ambo and Stella hopped in behind Brett.

When they drove off to Med, she looked at her worried.

"Is he gonna make it?"

Her voice was full of fear, but Brett nodded immediately.

"Yes! Yes, he's gonna make it. Don't worry, we just need to get him to Med as fast as possible and then they can help him. But he's not going to die!"

Stella let out a big sigh of relief and her eyes filled with tears again. But these weren't sad tears. These were tears of relief and gratitude. She grabbed his hand and kissed it.

"You're gonna be fine. I'm here with you. Everything's gonna be fine."

Sylvie smiled at the scene. She was happy that everything ended well. Though his chest looked pretty bad, she knew that at Med they would help him and that he'd make a full recovery.

"What have we got?", Dr. Choi asked as they rolled Kelly into the ED.

"Male firefighter was pinned underneath a concrete roof piece, his chest his heavily crushed. He was able to breathe, but he lost consciousness. We intubated, blood pressure's 100 over 80. Pulse is steady", Brett reported, and Dr. Choi nodded.

"Alright we're in trauma 3, turn left."

April ran down the hall and came into the room. She locked eyes with Sylvie and Stella first, then with Ethan and immediately jumped into action.

"On my count, one, two, three!"

April closed the curtains, while Ethan gave orders to the other nurses. Sylvie, Stella, and Violet stood in front of the closed curtains, half listening to the orders, half processing everything.
Violet informed them that she would refill their supplies and walked off. Sylvie put her arms around Stella and gently pushed her towards the waiting room.

"Let's sit you down, okay? That was a lot to take in, you should sit down and rest. I'm gonna get myself a coffee, do you want one too?"

Stella just nodded while she took a seat.

"Do you promise me to stay here? I'll be right back."

Twenty minutes later, the rest of 51 walked into the ED. Casey headed straight for Sylvie and Stella. He was very worried, but as soon as he saw Sylvie's relaxed face, he calmed down.

"Is he okay?"

"They're still checking his lungs, but April came over just a minute ago and she told us that Doctor Choi isn't worried", Sylvie reported and gently moved her hand up and down Stella's back.

Stella was completely engulfed in thoughts. Casey gently squeezed her shoulder, and she grabbed his hand absentmindedly.
Boden watched them from across the room. He saw that nobody was willing to leave the hospital right now, so he called Casey over.

"Chief?"

"Should I call headquarters to take us out of service? I think no one wants to leave right now."

Casey looked around. Cruz was on the phone with Chloe, Mouch and Herrmann have taken a seat next to Stella and Sylvie, Gallo and Ritter were talking to Violet over at the coffee machine. Capp and Tony were seated near the exit and stared at their feet.

"Casey?"

Boden eyed him closely.

"No, I think we need distraction right now."

Boden nodded and was about to walk off when Casey stopped him.

"But I want Kidd to stay here. She couldn't focus, and I don't want her to hurt herself or anyone else. Would you call for a replacement?"

"Sure. You tell the guys and I'll call HQ. Meet you at the firehouse in fifteen minutes, alright?"

"Copy that Chief."

Boden left the ED to call HQ outside. Meanwhile, Casey turned to the crew and made everyone look at him.

"Guys, listen up. I think we all agree that we're useless here. I know we all want to stay, but there's a city that needs us. We'll head back to 51, finish our shift and then we can come back here and visit Severide. Let's go!"

Everyone started to leave, Stella as well, when Casey stopped her.

"Stella, you stay."

She looked at him confused, but slightly relieved.

"It's better if you stay. I'm sure he wants to see his favorite human being when he wakes up, plus, I can't risk you getting hurt as well. You call if anything changes or if you need something, okay?"

She nodded thankfully and hugged him quickly.

"Thank you."

He smiled at her and left.

A/N: New day, new chapter 😊!

I hope you like it and don't worry, I'm not killing anyone here! I just like to bring in a little drama because I think it makes this story more interesting then…

Anyways, have a great day and I wish you all the best! ~ D.