Four hours later, Casey came rushing into the waiting room, a panicked look on his face. "How is she?" he asked frantically.
"She's still in surgery," Boden informed him gently, getting up and walking over to the younger man. "They both are. We don't know anything else yet." He led Matt over to the chair he'd just vacated next to Kelly before taking a seat on the other side of him.
Half an hour later, Choi walked into the waiting room. "Gabby's out of surgery," he announced. "We had to remove part of her spleen to stop the bleeding, but she's stable now. They're taking her to recovery now."
"When can I see her?" Kelly asked, anxious to see for himself that she was okay.
Choi smiled. "I can take you to her now," he informed the squad lieutenant.
Kelly hesitated, glancing back at Matt, not wanting to leave his friend as he waited news about his own girlfriend.
"Go," Matt assured him. "Gabby needs you right now."
"I'll let you know as soon as I have an update," Choi assured Kelly as he led him back to Gabby's recovery room.
"Thank you," Kelly replied gratefully. He took Gabby's hand in his as he sat down next to her bed. "Hi, honey," he said softly as he rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand. "You had me worried, you know that? When Boden told me it was your rig in the water, I was terrified that I was going to lose you. I thought for sure my luck had run out."
Gabby opened her eyes slowly. "Sorry," she whispered.
Kelly laughed happily, leaning over, and kissing her on the forehead. "Hey, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?"
"Tired. Sore," Gabby replied, wincing as she shifted slightly in the bed.
Kelly smiled. "I'm sure; you've been through quite the ordeal today."
"How's Brett?" Gabby asked worriedly, slowly becoming more awake and aware.
"They took her to surgery shortly after you," Kelly informed her gently. "She injured her liver in the crash."
"She's going to be okay, right?" Gabby prodded.
"I don't know," Kelly replied honestly. He didn't want to worry Gabby, but he didn't feel right lying to her, either. "They had to intubate her; she wasn't breathing on her own. She coded twice in the ER." When he saw the panicked look on her face, he rushed to add, "I'm sure she'll be fine. Brett's strong; she'll pull through."
One hour later a nurse had just come to move Gabby to a regular room when Dr. Choi poked his head in. "Brett's out of surgery and in recovery," he informed them. "They were able to repair the damage. She's stable and breathing on her own. She should make a full recovery."
Gabby let out a sigh of relief and Kelly squeezed her hand. "Thank you, Dr. Choi," he told the doctor gratefully.
A couple of hours later, Gabby was settled in her room and Kelly had fallen asleep in the chair next to her when Antonio poked his head into the room. He smiled at the sight he saw and quietly entered the room, not wanting to disturb.
Gabby turned her head at the sound of footsteps and smiled when she saw her brother. "Antonio!" she whispered. "You didn't have to come."
"Of course I did," Antonio replied back, careful to keep his voice quiet. "You really think I could stay away when my sister was in the hospital?" He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "How are you? Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine," she assured him. "The doctors are telling me that I should be able to go home tomorrow."
Antonio nodded, his relief evident on his face. He'd gotten on a flight as soon as Kelly had called to tell him that Gabby was being taken to surgery, and when he'd landed there had been a text from Kelly letting him know that Gabby had made it through surgery with no issues and would make a full recovery, but he'd still needed to see her for himself to assure himself that she was really okay. "How's Brett?" he asked.
"She's going to be okay. They're keeping her in the ICU overnight so they can monitor her, but she should be moved to a regular room tomorrow and be able to go home in a few days," Gabby informed him. "We both got incredibly lucky."
"I talked to Voight," Antonio told her. "They found the SUV, but they still haven't found the guy that did this to you. They will, though; I'm sure of it."
Gabby's eyes widened in surprise. "Intelligence took the case?"
Antonio nodded. "Boden called Voight and when he told him what happened, Voight insisted that Intelligence handle the case themselves. He said it was family."
Gabby smiled. Hank Voight had a gruff exterior, and he'd had his issues in the past, but he could always be counted on to be there when it involved a family member of anyone in his unit. It had been a couple of years since Antonio had left Chicago, but Gabby knew that the two men still kept in touch. She'd even received flowers from Voight and the unit when she was in the hospital when her aneurysm ruptured. "Where are you staying?" she asked.
"Atwater's letting me crash at his place," Antonio replied. "I actually need to go down to the precinct soon to meet him, but I wanted to stop here and see you first. I'll come back later."
Gabby shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. Get some sleep tonight and come back in the morning. Kelly will be here."
"You sure?" Antonio asked.
Gabby nodded. "I'll just be sleeping anyways," she assured him.
With one last glance at his little sister and a promise that he'd be back first thing in the morning, Antonio left.
Gabby had just started to doze off when she heard a soft knock on the door. She looked over and was surprised to see Casey standing there. She glanced at Kelly, and seeing that he was still asleep, put a finger to her lips but motioned for him to come in. "Matt! What are you doing here? Is Brett okay?" she asked worriedly.
Casey nodded. "She's fine; she's sleeping right now, so the nurses kicked me out for the night," he explained. "How are you doing?"
"A little sore, but I'm alive," Gabby replied. She didn't think she'd ever forget that feeling she had when she'd taken that one last gulp of air, sure that it would be her last breath.
Casey nodded understandingly. "Sylvie told me that you asked her to say goodbye to Kelly for you; that you both thought you were going to die."
Gabby sighed. "I didn't think I'd make it out, Matt. The ambo was filling with water so fast, and it was so cold…" She paused, realization dawning on her. "Did she tell you what else I told her?"
Matt looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "No; why?"
"I may have told her that you were trying to move back and that Christmas had been a trial run to see how the boys did here," Gabby admitted. "She was panicking, and I was trying to calm her down. She'd mentioned how she felt like you'd been distant and avoiding here, and that she wasn't sure if the two of you would make it. I had to give her something to focus on to calm her down."
"So that's what she meant," Casey replied, realization dawning on his face. "She told me that you'd told her something you weren't supposed to, but she wouldn't tell me what it was. She also told me that you saved her life by keeping her calm and awake."
Gabby shrugged. "I don't know that I saved her life; I just kept her talking for both of our sakes. But I'm sorry I told her your secret."
"That's okay," Casey assured her. "You did what you had to do. Besides, I was planning to tell her soon, anyways. Honestly, I probably should have already told her," he admitted "The boys and I will be moving out here this summer. I'm just finalizing a few details."
"That's great!" Gabby exclaimed, forgetting for a moment that Kelly was sleeping next to her bed. She quickly glanced over and was relieved when he stirred but didn't wake up. "Brett will be so excited," she added in a quieter voice.
Matt smiled. "I know; I plan on telling her once she's released from the hospital."
The following afternoon, Gabby insisted on seeing Brett, who had been moved to a regular room that morning, before she left the hospital. Kelly and Antonio had both tried to talk her out of it and convince her she needed to go home and rest, but she'd insisted and they'd finally given in.
"Hey, Sylvie," Gabby greeted her partner as she walked into her room.
"Gabby!" Brett exclaimed happily. "You're okay!" The relief was evident on the younger woman's face.
"I am," Gabby replied, smiling. "We both are, by some crazy miracle."
Brett looked at Kelly. "I saw you; the last thing I remember before waking up here was seeing you swimming towards me. And I knew that everything was going to be okay."
"You didn't think we were going to leave you in that river and lose the two best paramedics in the CFD, did you?" Kelly teased her gently.
Brett smiled. "Of course not. We know you wouldn't want to be stuck with Chet and McAuley," she teased back.
A knock on the door interrupted the friends' bantering. "Can I come in?" Voight asked from the door. While he and Casey had done their best to put their differences behind them, Matt was still far from being the sergeant's biggest fan, and Voight didn't want to cause any issues.
"Of course," Brett responded. "Do you have any news?" she asked. "Did you find him?"
"We did," Voight nodded. "We arrested him this morning, and he's been charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He admitted to all of it."