April Sexton popped her head back into the waiting room where Kelly Severide had been relegated, anxiously awaiting any and all information on Stella's condition following her surgery.
Minutes earlier, Dr Connor Rhodes had been down to see Kelly and update him on the surgery, relieved to learn that following his and Firehouse 51's tireless advocacy on Stella's behalf, learning that despite his initial insistence, Connor had not resected the entirety of Stella's lung in order to stop the bleed. Instead, he had opted for a thoracoscopic surgery, successfully locating and stemming the bleed that originated in the lower lobe, only requiring minimal lung tissue to be removed.
Sheer relief had washed over Kelly Severide in the moment, knowing that Stella had survived, and the medical team had expected her to make a full recovery and return to duty over the coming months. Of course, this journey was not going to be without its own hurdles and bumps in the road, but Kelly took comfort in the fact that this was something he would be able to help her with; the hardest part was over.
Eager and anxious to see her, his leg bounced restlessly as he fixated on a poster pinned to the corkboard on the opposite wall, while the plastic hospital waiting room chair was making him stiff and uncomfortable.
He hated hospitals. He'd spent far too much time in these places over the years, for himself, for his team, and now just as he was in a good place with Stella, he'd come so close to losing her. He scrubbed a hand over his face, settled into the chair, and continued his staring contest with the wall in front of him.
"Kelly," April said, dragging his attention away from the wall. "She's awake and wants to see you."
Not needing to be told twice, Kelly hauled himself to his feet and followed April to the private room where Stella was recovering in, following her surgery. April held the door open for him and he grinned at her in a display of gratitude, once again thankful that his childhood best friend had shown up for him exactly how and when he needed her to.
He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting when he crossed the threshold to Stella's room, but she looked pale, tired, and sore, which tracked for someone who had fought a raging fire, almost died, and had surgery all in the same day. Nonetheless, she was beautiful, and he was relieved to see her dark eyes meeting his watercolour blues underneath heavy lids.
He allowed himself the simple pleasure of just looking at her, taking in the long, dark hair offset against the backdrop of the crisp white sheets, perfect skin that was free of soot and sweat that had been there when they brought her in. Horrific memories of mayday calls, ambulances, the emergency department, and fighting with Connor and Ethan to not only save her life, but to save her life that she loved so dearly, just seemed to melt away in the moment, and he knew, everything was going to be okay.
"I'll leave you to it," said April, watching the unspoken exchange between Kelly, who in her mind was still the boy who lived down the street with a troubled home life, and the woman he loved, with nothing but love and dedication shining from his eyes.
Gingerly approaching the bed, Kelly stopped just short of it, continuing his visual appraisal of Stella in her current state.
"Stop," she whined playfully, breaking him from his reverie, apparently, he had been staring for too long.
"I'm so glad you're back," he murmured, grasping her closest hand in his two larger ones as he leant forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Of course," came her whispered response, pulling him closer and gathering him against her chest, knowing just how much he needed the comfort, thinking possibly more than she did, feeling a slight dampening of the shoulder of her hospital gown.
Time ticked by as Stella and Kelly stayed in the same place, her fingernails lightly scratching along the hairline on the nape of his neck, while Kelly silently thanked whatever power had been watching over them that day.
A knock on the door interrupted them and Kelly sat up, quickly wiping at his eyes, before clasping Stella's hand while they both turned their attention to the incoming visitor.
"Stella, Kelly," came Connor Rhodes' greeting as he came inside, closing the door behind him.
"How are you feeling?" he enquired, wheeling the stool from the corner of the room over before perching on it, hands steepled in his lap.
"Not bad considering the day I've had," replied Stella, her attempt at humour as a tool of deflection.
"I'm glad to hear that, and I'm glad that you're both here because I wanted to discuss the next steps. As I explained to you both separately, I only resected a small amount of lung tissue. We performed a video assisted thoracoscopic surgery by making three one-inch incisions along the side of your ribs, so we were able to put a tiny camera in there to see what we were working with," Connor informed them, gesturing to the location of the cuts.
"Given that I'm happy with how the surgery went, combined with the fact that you are young and very fit, at this stage I'm confident you could be discharged in three or so days, provided we don't have any hiccups between now and then," he told them "Provided you have someone to look after you," he finished sternly.
"No problem, I had expected as much," Kelly nodded affirmatively.
"Kelly-," Stella began to protest.
"I already cleared my furlough with Boden," he responded firmly with the intention of not allowing room for negotiations.
Connor Rhodes could only shrug in response, seemingly pleased with the arrangement.
"So, on this basis, I will be happy to discharge you into Kelly's care in three to five days' time, so long as your oxygen levels remain stable, the pain needs to be at a manageable level once we taper your Oxycodone, there are no signs of infection, and you're able to move around without any significant issues," Connor told her in no uncertain terms.
"Sure," agreed Stella, hardly in any position to argue with the doctor's orders, while trying to ignore the bite of trepidation quietly gnawing at her at the mention of the word "oxy".
"I'll give you a more detailed post-surgical care guide upon discharge, but expect to experience a moderate level of pain, particularly when breathing deeply or coughing, fatigue, and shortness of breath. We're also going to start you on a series of breathing exercises, and I would like to see you mobile sooner rather than later," rattled off Connor.
"Thanks Doc," acknowledged Kelly.
"Get some rest and I'll be back to check on you later," nodded Connor, softly closing the door behind him.
"Kelly, you don't have to—" Stella began.
"—Take care of the woman I love after she almost died?" questioned Kelly, raising an eyebrow in mock incredulity.
"Well, when you put it that way I can hardly argue with it," she acquiesced, reaching out to snag his hand resting on the bed rail.