"Ambulance 61, Truck 81, Squad 3. Submerged boat. 71 Hawks Street," the operator says as the bells ring over our heads. I jump to my feet out of Casey's bunk and run off towards the ambulance. It's odd being so intimate with Casey, but I feel like I'm finally at home for the first time. I shoot him a smile as I hop into the rig waiting a minute longer to catch him pulling on his fire pants. I'll never get over the look of him in his fire pants and navy t shirt. I turn my attention back to the street and pull out with my partner Mackey beside me. I take a brief look at her and notice her wink at me.
"Things with Casey must be getting better," she says chuckling. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you two admitted the way that you were feeling about one another."
"It's still very new. We aren't quite sure what it is yet, but we are exploring it. We've gone out on a few dates and so far so good," I admit to her. "I won't say no to sleeping in his quarters though!" I add laughing. "Mouch snores so loud!"
"Girl! You and Casey got room in there for me?" Mackey asks jokingly. I laugh with her and turn my attention back to the call we are pulling up on. I can see a boat in the distance sinking into the lake. I jump out of the rig with Mackey and start pulling our equipment out of the back. I see Squad 3 and Truck 81 pull up right behind us with their men jumping out to start working as well.
"Cap, Cruz, Tony let's get suited up for the water. Cruz, grab extra tanks! Tony, Cap get the boat ready!" Severide shouts instructing his men to prepare for the rescue.
"Mouch let's get the aerial placed in case Squad needs a basket lift for extraction!" Casey yells giving Mouch an order. "Truck 81 stand by for Squad assistance," he adds, keeping his eyes glued to Severide in case they need assistance. Mackey and I stand near where extraction should take place waiting for Squad to head out and rescue those in the water.
"Casey! We're going to need an assist to get this boat in the water. I need an anchor on the end of the aerial!," Severide yells out to Casey.
"Kidd! Take the rope to the end of the aerial and make an anchor point for Severide. He'll use it to hoist the boat into the water!" he immediately directs his team to assist. I feel useless just standing and watching them attempt to rescue, but our job doesn't start until we have the patients on dry land. I watch as our Firehouse 51 Team works efficiently at getting the rescue planned and executed. It's mere minutes before Kelly and his team are in the water and heading towards the capsized boat. Mackey and I watch as a few of the Squad team members flip backwards into the water to begin the underwater search operation. I check my watch so we can determine how long approximately they have been underwater. "3:24 Mackey. Always remember the time your diver's go in just in case you need it to call resuscitation time or in case you have to rescue one of your own crew members," I tell her. Mackey is top notch, but I'm a firm believer that everyone has room to improve themselves so I try to give her tips and tricks every time I think of something new. She nods her head but remains focused on the rescue ahead. It's two minutes later when I see Squad pull the first patient out of the water and begin heading back towards us. Casey and I step up towards the railing of the water waiting for the boat to get close enough to lower the basket down. When Tony has stopped below the aerial Casey speaks up, "Mouch, lower the basket." He motions with his down to continue to lower before holding his hand up to signal for him to stop lowering. Tony places the patient into the basket and gives Casey and I a thumbs up to let us know he is ready for us to lift him. Casey points up alerting Mouch that he can pull the basket up.
"Mackey! Grab the gurney," I shout out as the basket clears the railing. "My name is Sylvie Brett. We are going to do everything we can to take care of you. Can you tell me how many others are in the boat with you today?" I ask him trying to get details for Squad.
"It's just me and my brother. He's out there somewhere. He didn't want to leave his boat. Please, you have to save him!" the man cries to me.
"Listen, we are going to do everything we can for you and your brother. What's your name?" I ask him again, trying to reassure him.
"It's Craig. Craig Wilder," he tells me, shaking slightly.
"Okay Craig. Let me check your vitals and get you a warm blanket to wrap up with. We'll get another ambulance here to take you to the hospital so we can help your brother when he comes out of the water," I tell him calmly. I grab my walkie to radio to main, "Main to 61," I begin.
"This is Main. Go ahead 61," the operator replies immediately.
"I need another ambulance routed to our location," I tell her.
"10/4 61. Another ambulance is on route. 44 will be there in two," she adds ending our call.
"I'll let Severide know there is only one more unaccounted for victim," Casey tells me, grabbing his walkie. "Squad 3, there is one more in the water. Repeat there is one male victim in the water," he calls out to them. I nod my head and turn my attention back to Craig to finish going over his vitals.
"Craig, I think you're going to be fine. I'm a little concerned about your temperature so we're going to take you to Chicago Med just to be sure that you return to normal temp," I tell him as I see ambulance 44 pull up to the scene. "These two here are going to transport you," I add.
"You better make sure he's okay. He's my only brother. If anything happens to him, I'm holding you responsible. You hear me?" Craig threatens me. I see Casey step closer out of the corner of my eye, but I hold my hand up to stop him.
"I will do everything I can Sir to save him once he's out of the water," I tell him. I nod for the other two paramedics to board him so I can go back to doing my job. They load him up and take off towards the hospital. I glance a quick look at my watch, it's 3:29. Rescue after five minutes underwater is generally impossible, but maybe the cold water will buy me a little more time. I grab the gurney ambulance 44 left us and head back over to the end of the water near Casey and Mackey.
"You shouldn't have let him threaten you like that," Casey tells me, making eye contact with me.
"It's nothing. He's just scared about his brother. People do and say crazy things when they're scared. We just need to focus on the rescue so I let it go," I tell him kindly. We both turn our attention back to the Squad boat just as they pull another person out of the water. I look at Mackey briefly and nod letting her silently know that she needs to be ready. "We need to load immediately and I'll ride in the back for treatment. Casey, can you loan me someone from 81 for CPR?" I ask him, anticipating difficult resuscitation efforts.
"Absolutely! Gallo! You're riding with 61 to help with resuscitation efforts," Casey hollars out at his team. The boat holding Tony, Joe, Cap, and Kelly stops below that basket. Truck 81 repeats the same process they did for pulling out Craig earlier. I can tell immediately that the patient doesn't look well, but I choose not to dwell on it hoping that I will be able to fix him anyways. The moment the basket is over the railing Gallo, Mackey, and I slide him onto the gurney and take off towards the rig to rush him to Chicago Med. I take one more look at Casey as he shuts the door to the ambulance and we drive away.
Casey POV
I watch as Mackey, Gallo, and Sylvie head off towards the hospital with the owner of the boat who looks in very ill condition. I have no doubt in my mind that if anyone can save him it would be Sylvie, but I'm still not hopeful that she will be able to do so. I can't dwell on it right now however because I have my own team to run. "Mouch, send down the ropes for Squad 3. Kidd, help them pull the boat once they are all up," I tell them, turning my attention back to them. I watch as one by one each squad member is pulled up over the railing until they have all returned. I step up and help the Squad 3 team and Kidd pull the boat over the railing. Once all Squad 3's equipment is on dry land I turn to address my team, "Truck 81 load up. Squad 3 we will see you back at the house." Truck 81 and myself all load back up into the truck and head back on the house. I can't help but think of Sylvie hoping that somehow she was able to help the boat operator and bring him back to life. I know how much Sylvie hates losing patients and how much it affects her mentally. I silently pray on the way back that everything works out the way it was meant to.
It's 4:05 when we make it back to the house. I make note of the time because I notice that Sylvie still hasn't made it back from dropping the guy off at the hospital. I pull my phone out to see if I have any missed calls or messages from her and there is nothing. I head into my quarters immediately to fill out the accident report for the last call so that when Sylvie makes it back I can give her all of my attention. I love being an officer, love having control of my team to ensure their safety, but the paperwork can be mind numbing. It's necessary however to make sure that every detail is noted in case any of the crew or the department faces any form of legal consequence from a call. I sit down at my desk and immediately start filling out the necessary paperwork. I've just finished the accident overview description when I see Mackey and Brett come into the bunk room. I take a quick look at my watch to see it's already 4:45. I know something is wrong when Brett immediately skips her bunk and heads directly towards my quarters. I open the door before she even reaches it and let her in. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask her, pulling her into my chest with one arm. I use the other to draw the blinds so the others outside can't see in.
"He didn't make it Casey," she cries into my chest. "We did everything we could. Gallo did CPR the whole way. I gave him fluid and blankets and meds and we shocked him," she sobs exasperated.
"Sylvie. I'm so sorry. He was in the water for so long. He was probably already too far gone before he even got to you," I reassure her, holding her gently. "How did Craig take everything?" I ask her worriedly.
Ding Ding Ding. The bells go off throughout the house. "Ambulance 61. Woman in labor. 278 West 28th Street Apartment 12," the operator announces.
Sylvie looks at the ceiling for a moment and takes a deep breath, "talk later?" she asks. I nod my head as she turns and runs out the door to head out onto the next call.
Mackey POV
Brett never ceases to amaze me even on the most difficult days. The way she composes herself no matter whether she is scared or not makes me proud that she's not only my PIC but also a good friend. I could tell losing that guy today really bothered her, but I could tell she was trying not to let it show. She seemed sad though when she saw Will Halstead go into Craig's room to notify him of the loss and insisted on checking in with him. I can't believe stuff went down the way it did. "Are you sure you don't want to file charges or at least a formal complaint just in case?" I ask her on the way to our next call. If I had been in her shoes I would have immediately called for security to secure him until police could come and take a report. I would never let someone hit me like he did her today.
"I'm sure. I understand that he is just upset and is devastated by the loss. He just needs time to grieve and having him arrested for assault will only make matters worse. As far as I'm concerned it never happened," Sylvie tells me, offering me a brief smile followed by a slight wince.
"Will you at least let me take a look at your cheekbone to make sure it's alright?" I ask her as I reach out tentatively.
"I felt the bones and nothing is broken. It's probably going to bruise, but it's nothing a little makeup won't hide. Thanks for checking on me though," she tells me rubbing her cheek lightly. I decide to let it go with her because I know she's an adult and doesn't need me to lecture her on her safety. It's Brett's life and Brett's decision on what she chooses to do from here. We pull up to the apartment complex and both jump out to grab our equipment. I grab the stair chair before Brett can get to it because I know it is bulkier to carry than the jump bag. I offer her a quick smile and follow her inside to find the woman in labor. We enter through the front of the building and climb the stairs to the fourth floor where apartment number twelve is. Brett reaches out and knocks on the door announcing ourselves, "Hello! Chicago Paramedics!"
"Come in please!" a woman shouts from behind the door. Brett opens the door and we follow in to find the woman cuddled in a ball on the floor. Brett is back to 100% business again having pushed our earlier conversation out of her head.
"Hey! I'm Sylvie and this is Gianna. We're going to assess you really quick and then get you off to the hospital. Can you tell us how far apart the contractions are?" Brett asks her calmly, kneeling beside her.
"About three minutes," the woman replies, panting from the pain.
"Okay! Great! You're doing good. If it's okay we're going to check how dilated you are and get you transported," Brett begins. She nods her head and gives her the okay to check. Brett moves between her legs and determines that she is about four centimeters dilated. "You're at a four. That means that we are good to move. Mackey let's get her into the stair chair and get her down to the ambulance," she tells me. I grab the stair chair and move it beside her then grab one of her arms to help lift her into the chair. We strap her in and we're off towards Lakeshore Medical to drop her off at labor and delivery.