It had been over 48 hours since Gabby's surgery and there had been no signs of improvement yet. Casey had been able to convince both Boden and Brett to leave late the night before after promising them that he'd let them know as soon as anything changed, but he'd spent the night in the waiting room, not wanting to leave Kelly alone. He'd finally dozed off early the following morning, and when he'd woken up, Herrmann and Mouch had both been there, along with Cindy. Shortly after, Antonio had arrived. He'd immediately headed into the ICU to sit with Kelly at his sister's bedside.

As the day wore on, more members of Station 51 showed up. All three of the squad crew showed up together, and Brett and Boden arrived back at the hospital shortly after them. Violet, Ritter, Gallo, and Pelham had all dropped in at some point throughout the day, as well.

"I'm going to check on Severide and Antonio, see if they need anything," Casey announced, feeling restless. He made his way to Gabby's room and knocked softly on the door as he opened it.

Kelly motioned for him to come in. "She's still the same," he informed his friend before he could ask.

Casey nodded. "Why don't you two take a break? You both need to get some rest and eat something." Kelly hadn't left Gabby's side since the doctor had spoken with him, and Antonio had come straight to the hospital after getting in.

Kelly nodded, knowing Antonio wouldn't leave unless he did, and Gabby's brother needed a break just as much, if not more, than he did. The flight from Puerto Rico was only about five hours, but because Antonio had taken the first flight he could get, he'd ended up on a flight that had an hours long layover. "You'll let me know if anything changes, right?"

Casey nodded. "Of course. Now go; grab a bite to eat, get some coffee; try to get some rest."

Once Kelly and Antonio had left, Casey took a seat in the chair Kelly had previously occupied next to Gabby's bed. It was his first time seeing her, and just as it had been to Kelly and Boden, the sight of all of the wires, tubes, and machines jarring. He couldn't get over how helpless Gabby looked lying in the bed with all the tubes and wires connected to her.

"Hey, Gabby," he murmured, reaching out and brushing her hair back, an act he did more out of habit than anything, even after four years. "You have a lot of people pulling for you. We need you to fight for us. We're not ready to say goodbye to you yet. I need you to know that. I'm not ready to say goodbye to you."

He let out a sigh. "I've thought a lot over the last day about things I wish I'd done differently in our relationship. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you and what you wanted. I pushed you away because it was easier than trying to understand things from your perspective. I know I hurt you because of that, and I'm sorry.

"I told Kelly yesterday that we didn't work because rather than accepting you for who you were, I tried to change you. I wanted you to fit the mold of who I wanted you to be, rather than letting you be the amazing person that you were. I was wrong for that, and I'm sorry I couldn't see that and admit it before it broke both of us," Casey continued.

"I hope you know that I was happy for you and Kelly. I am happy for you and Kelly," Casey quickly corrected himself. "He's good for you, and you're good for him. He cares about you, Gabby. I know you think he just cares about you because of the baby, but Gabby, if you could see him now. The man barely wants to leave your bedside. He's head over heels in love with you. I've never seen him like this before. All of the times he's been in love before, it's never been like this."

Casey tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall, but it was a losing battle. "Gabby, he can't lose you. If he does…I don't know what he'll do. So I need you to fight. Fight for him, if for no one else. Fight for the man who loves you, and who you love. Because I know, Gabby. I saw the way you looked at him. I know that look because that used to be how you looked at me." Casey swallowed hard, fighting to keep his voice from breaking. "You need to fight, Gabby."

Casey felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped.

"Sorry," Brett apologized softly. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought you might want some company."

Casey didn't know how much she'd heard, but from the look on her face, he knew she'd heard enough. "Sylvie-"

Brett stopped him by shaking her head. She reached out to wipe away the tears that had fallen from his eyes while he'd been talking to Gabby. "It's okay, Matt. I get it. Gabby's your history; she always will be. You two were married; a part of you is always going to love her. I may not understand it, but it's okay. It doesn't bother me anymore, not like it used to."

"What did I do to deserve you, Sylvie Brett?" Casey whispered, reaching up to wipe away her own tears.

She smiled at him before turning to look at Gabby. Her heart hurt at the thought of losing the woman who had once been both her roommate, partner, and best friend. She had so many good memories with her; from crazy calls they experienced together to all of the fun they used to have on their monthly girls' nights. "You have a lot of people that care for you, Gabby. Everyone from 51 has been here at some point, and members of Intelligence have been stopping by to check in, too. Everyone's pulling for you," Sylvie told her friend. "We need you to fight. If not, we're going to be stuck with a sad, mopey Severide, and nobody wants that," Brett joked, although she felt more like crying than laughing. "Did you know that he has your picture on his desk? That man is crazy in love with you, even if he's too stubborn to admit it." Before Brett could say anything more, they heard a knock on the door and Dr. Strand walked in.

"Do we need to go get Kelly?" Brett asked uncertainly.

Dr. Strand shook his head. "No, I'm just checking up on my most popular patient," he informed them. "I assume he's getting a bite to eat?" Casey nodded, and the doctor continued, "No need to disturb him right now, then."

Casey and Brett watched silently as Dr. Strand examined Gabby. He checked her pupils and reflexes and then observed her breathing for a few minutes before listening to her heart and lungs. He then checked her incision before turning to the couple. "Have the nurses page me when Kelly returns," he informed them.

Brett and Casey exchanged a glance before Casey asked, "Is something wrong?"

Dr. Strand shook his head. "Quite the opposite, actually. I'd like to start trying to wean Gabby off of the ventilator." Seeing the hopeful look that replaced the exhaustion and worry that had been there early, he quickly cautioned them, "It may not work; she may not be ready yet, so I don't want you to get your hopes up just yet. But she's showing signs of trying to breath on her own, so I'd like to try."

An hour later Kelly and Antonio were back in Gabby's room along with Dr. Strand and a nurse. "I'm going to decrease the pressure on Gabby's ventilator. We'll see how she does with that and then go from there, okay?"

"How long before we know if it's successful or not?" Antonio asked.

"Not long; we'll monitor her for an hour or two to see how she does on the reduced pressure," the doctor explained. "We're also going to reduce her sedation to give her the best chance at succeeding."

"Will she wake up?" Kelly wanted to know.

Dr. Stand shook his head. "We're not completely reversing it. She may become somewhat responsive to light and sound, but she won't wake up yet. We don't want her fighting the ventilator."

Kelly and Antonio watched anxiously at the nurse adjusted Gabby's IV and ventilator. Once she was finished, the two men resumed their vigil by her bedside, one on each side of her. "You can talk to her," the nurse encouraged.

"Hey, sis," Antonio said softly. "You gave me quite the scare, you know that? You're my baby sis; I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. You need to keep fighting, Gabby. You didn't let me give up when I got shot, so I'm not going to let you give up now."

Kelly rubbed the back of Gabby's hand with his thumb while Antonio was talking to her. He needed her to make it. He didn't want to know what life was like without her. He thought back to all of the memories that he had with her: Gabby and Shay on his couch, both drunk and laughing their heads off, all of the calls that they had together, her helping him fight his addiction to painkillers, watching her as one of her instructors at the Academy, investigating Shay's murder together, breathing off a hose with her when they were both trapped in a fire, their chats at Molly's, helping her look for Bria. He smiled as he remembered their time together in New York and all of the new memories that they'd made since he found her waiting in front of his apartment to tell him that she was pregnant with his child.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a movement in his hand; it felt like Gabby had squeezed his hand. "I- she squeezed my hand!" he exclaimed, standing up.

"Are you sure?" Antonio asked hopefully.

"It could just be a reflex," the doctor warned them. "She's still pretty sedated."

"No, it was a squeeze; I know it was," Kelly insisted. He turned his attention to Gabby, using his free hand to stroke her hair. "Come on, baby, squeeze my hand again. I know you can do it. Come on, pretty Gabby."

Kelly had almost given up hope when he felt it again. "She did it again!" he insisted.

"I saw it, too," Antonio proclaimed.

Dr. Strand smiled. "That's a good sign," he told them encouragingly. "If she continues tolerating the reduced pressures well, we can consider possibly reversing the sedation and extubating her."