A/N: I know, that was quite the cliffhanger! It can't be all sunshine and rainbows, though; I had to throw some angst in. As always, enjoy, and please leave a review!

"He's here!" Herrmann shouted as he began frantically moving the rubble, Ritter right beside him, helping. They had finally extinguished the bowling alley fire and had been searching the rubble for nearly an hour, looking for any sign of Kelly and his victim.

Cruz reached them first, followed closely by Capp and Tony. They worked together moving rubble and debris as the other members of Firehouse 51 helped.

"Okay, he's free! Bring that backboard over here," Herrmann ordered. "On the count of three; ready?" He waited for the other to nod before counting. "One, two, three, lift!" They carefully lifted Kelly and rolled him onto the backboard.

Cruz and Tony grabbed one end of the backboard while Capp, Mouch, and Gallo carried the other, and the others stayed back to lift out the victim Kelly had been covering. They quickly but carefully picked their way across the rubble to Brett and Violet, who were waiting with a stretcher.

"He's not breathing," proclaimed Brett. "I need to intubate."

Herrmann, Ritter, and the others came over as soon as they'd delivered the victim to another set of waiting paramedics.

"How is she?" Cruz asked.

"She's unconscious and she has a broken ankle, but she was breathing, and we didn't see any other visible injuries on her," Pelham answered. "It looks like Kelly shielded her from the brunt of it."

"We're taking him to Med," Brett informed them as she and Violet loaded Kelly into the ambulance. Brett hopped in the back with him as Violet ran to the driver's seat.

"Someone needs to call Gabby," Herrmann stated.

"I'll do it," Boden replied. "You all go to Med. I'll meet you there" He stopped Herrmann as the rest of the team headed to their vehicles. "Call Cindy," he instructed.

Herrmann nodded, and turning to head towards the truck, pulled out his phone.

Gabby gripped her phone tightly in her hand. The news was talking about an injured firefighter, and she'd sent Kelly two texts in the last hour but hadn't received an answer. She knew from experience that it didn't mean anything; it was likely he was just busy with cleanup, but she couldn't help but worry.

Her phone buzzed with a call just then, making her jump. She checked the screen, hoping to see Kelly's name, but instead it displayed Chief Boden's name.

"Chief?" she answered nervously.

"Gabby, Kelly's been injured. They're taking him to Med."

Gabby's free hand flew to her stomach, unconsciously cradling her baby bump. She felt like she was going to be sick. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He's in good hands, Gabby. And he's strong."

Gabby closed her eyes. She knew that was code for "it's serious." It wasn't the first time she'd heard those words. "I'll head there now," she told him before hanging up.

Fifteen minutes later, she was rushing in the emergency room doors at Med. Herrmann was waiting for her there, and immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Herrmann, how is he?" she asked, pulling back to search his face for any hint.

"He wasn't breathing when we pulled him out, but Brett intubated him right away. She thinks he may have a punctured lung and that he probably has a few broken ribs. The doc's looking at him now," Herrmann replied.

Gabby nodded, trying to steady her breathing, fighting back another wave of nausea. It had been a couple of weeks since she'd dealt with morning sickness, but the stress had triggered it again.

"Gabby," Boden said from behind Herrmann, "come sit down." He led her to where the rest of Firehouse 51 was gathered, waiting for news, and guided her into a seat between himself and Herrmann.

Cindy arrived thirty minutes later and Herrmann immediately vacated his seat so his wife could sit next to Gabby.

Gabby clung to Cindy's hand. "How do you do it?" she whispered. "Knowing that you could lose him; that your kids could grow up without a dad? How do you do it?"

Cindy squeezed the younger woman's hand. "I wish I could tell you that it gets easier, but it doesn't," she replied. "You just pray and hope for the best and whisper a prayer of thanks every time they walk in the door at the end of a shift."

Dr. Choi walked into the waiting room and everyone jumped to their feet. "Is Matt Casey here?" he asked.

Boden shook his head. "Casey moved to Oregon," he explained.

Choi looked at the chief apologetically. "I'm sorry, but Matt Casey is listed as his emergency contact. I can't give out any information without his consent."

Gabby stepped forward. "I'm pregnant with his baby; can't you please tell us something?" she begged.

Choi looked at her sympathetically but shook his head. "I'm sorry; I'm afraid I can't do that, Gabby."

"I'll call him," Brett announced, stepping forward, phone in hand. "He can give you permission over the phone, right?" Choi nodded.

"Casey, Severide's hurt. He was injured at a fire. They won't tell us anything because you're listed as his emergency contact." Brett listened for a moment and then handed the phone to Choi.

Choi nodded and said, "Thank you," and then passed the phone back to Brett.

"Kelly is stable. He has a broken rib, and a couple of bruised ribs. We're also keeping him overnight to monitor him for a possible concussion," Choi informed them.

"Can I see him?" Gabby questioned.

Choi shook his head. "Not yet; They'll need to get him settled into a room before he can have visitors."

Gabby nodded disappointedly, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall.

As everyone settled back into their seats, Brett walked over to Gabby and held out her phone. "Matt wanted to talk to you; I had him on speaker while Dr. Choi was talking."

Gabby took the phone. "Matt?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hey, Gabby."

Gabby lost her battle against tears when she heard Matt's voice. "Matt, I'm scared."

"I know, Gabby. But Kelly's strong, and stubborn. You heard Dr. Choi. He's stable. He'll be okay."

"What if he isn't?" she whispered. Somehow, talking with Casey was helping. While their marriage was definitely over and there was no longer anything between them, they had been friends first, and would likely always remain friends.

"He has the baby to fight for, Gabby. And he has you to help him."

Gabby and Casey talked for a few more minutes before she handed the phone back to Brett. "Thank you," she told the paramedic. From what Kelly had told her, she knew that Brett had struggled with insecurity over Gabby and Casey's past when she and Casey had first gotten together, and although most of that was behind them now, Gabby still recognized that your boyfriend asking to talk to his ex-wife wasn't the easiest request. Brett smiled at Gabby before she walked away to finish talking with Casey.

One hour later, although to Gabby it felt like an eternity, Choi came back into the waiting room. "Kelly's settled into a room now. We're only allowing two visitors at this time," he told them apologetically.

Gabby looked around uncertainly, biting her lip. She knew everyone else was just as worried about Kelly as she was, and it wasn't like she had any kind of special claim to him. They weren't dating; he was just the man who'd gotten her pregnant. She felt tears of frustration pool in her eyes.

"All right, everyone," Boden's voice quieted down the room that had grown noisy with chatter after Choi's announcement. "Gabby will be going to see Severide, and only Gabby at this time. If the rest of you want to continue to wait, that is fine, but there will be no other visitors at this time."

Gabby smiled gratefully at Boden. "Thank you," she whispered, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

Gabby followed Choi to Kelly's room. Even out in the hall, she could hear him giving one of the nurses a hard time, and she had to fight back a twinge of jealousy that she felt. You're not his girlfriend, she reminded herself for what felt like the hundredth time since she'd seen the news. She took a deep breath to gather herself before walking into the hospital room.

"Hey," she called softly from the doorway. Kelly was flirting with the nurse, and she felt like an intruder.

The nurse walked towards her, smiling. "He's been asking for you," she told Gabby as she left the room.

She walked slowly towards Kelly's hospital bed. He had yet to acknowledge her besides looking at her, and she suddenly felt as though she'd made a mistake coming to see him alone.

Kelly's eyes swept over every inch of Gabby's body as she walked into the room. There had been a moment, right before the ceiling crashed down on him, where he'd been afraid that he'd never see her again; that he'd never get to meet his baby. But he was alive, and she was here, and he felt a wave of relief sweep over him.

"Hi," Kelly finally replied when Gabby reached his bedside. He immediately noticed the redness of her eyes and her tear stained cheeks. She'd been worried about him. He stretched out his hand, and she took it, but her grip was hesitant, almost fearful.

"Gabby," he whispered, and that was all it took for the dam that had been holding back her tears to break.

Kelly tugged her hand, bringing her closer to him. He reached up and wiped away the tears that were falling. "Shhh," he whispered, "it's okay, Gabby. I'm okay."

"I thought I was going to lose your today," Gabby croaked out through her tears. "I thought I was going to have to raise this baby on my own, and I was terrified."

Kelly's heart broke at the fear and pain he heard in her voice. He shifted over in the bed, wincing at the pain, and then tugged her hand again. "C'mere," he murmured.

Gabby shook her head. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Gabby, what hurts me right now is knowing that I scared you. Now come here. Please," he requested again.

This time Gabby complied, carefully climbing in bed next to him. He wrapped his arm around her, thankful that his injured ribs were on his other side, and pulled her into his chest, kissing the top of her head.

"I saw the roof collapse," Gabby whispered. "I was watching the fire on tv and I saw the roof collapse. I didn't know if you were inside, but I knew that 51 was on scene. Then they said that a firefighter was missing, and I tried texting you and I didn't get an answer…" she trailed off.

Kelly's arm tightened around her as her tears began falling again. "I'm sorry," he murmured into her hair. "I'm sorry I scared you. I'm sorry I couldn't answer."

"I don't know if I could do this on my own, Kelly. If I'd lost you today- if we'd lost you today," she quickly corrected herself, although her slip up wasn't missed by Kelly, "I don't know that I could do this. I'm scared, Kelly. I realized that today. I'm completely terrified at the thought of doing this without you."

"You won't have to," Kelly promised. "I'm here. I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere, pretty Gabby," he told her, using the name he'd coined for her on that first drunken night. "I'm going to be right beside you the whole time, helping you raise our baby girl."

Thirty minutes later, Gabby was fast asleep, her head resting on Kelly's chest. The events of the day had left her exhausted, and she'd fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence, causing Kelly to smile as he brushed her hair from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway, causing Kelly to look up. Chief Boden was standing there, looking very unsure of whether or not he should come in or turn and walk the other way.

Kelly raised his finger to his lips and motioned towards Gabby and then waved for him to come in.

Boden took a seat in the chair next to Kelly's bed. He nodded towards Gabby, "She was worried about you today. She put on a brave front, but she was terrified."

Kelly nodded. "I know."

"You may want to get your emergency contact updated; Casey had to give them permission to speak to her." Boden informed him

Kelly sighed. He owed Casey. The two hadn't spoken in a while aside from a text from him shortly after he and Gabby had announced her pregnancy, telling him that Brett had told him the news and congratulating him. He'd been unsure on how to take Casey's text, so he'd sent back a simple thanks.

"Thanks, Chief. I'll be sure to get that done," Kelly assured him.

The two men chatted for a while longer, pausing only when Gabby stirred, not wanting to wake her up.

"Hey, Chief?" Kelly asked quietly once Gabby had settled down and was once again breathing deeply. "How do you do it? Being a dad to Terrance and a husband to Donna, knowing how dangerous what you do is." Kelly sighed. "With Stella, I never really thought about it. We were both firefighters; we both put our lives in danger every single day. But now, when I'm going to be a father…the last thought I had today as the ceiling was falling down around me was that I would never get to meet my baby, and that I would never see Gabby again."

Boden nodded. "I'm not going to lie to you, Kelly. It's not easy. Having a child changes everything." He leaned back in the chair before continuing. "When I found out that Donna was pregnant, every fire we were called out to suddenly seemed more dangerous. It still does. But this is what I was meant to do. I can't imagine being anything other than a firefighter. Donna understands that, and I hope that in time, when he's old enough, Terrance will, too.

"Having a child means that every time I walk out the door to go to the firehouse, I'm aware that it could be my last time. But it's made me a better firefighter. I'm more cautious now, more aware of how every decision I make could impact me. It doesn't mean that I don't put myself in danger when needed, it just means that I'm more aware of the danger," Boden finished.

Kelly looked down at Gabby and nodded. "Thanks, Chief."