In Too Deep (Agent Severide Book 3)

Chapter 16

Chicago Med

It didn't take Will long to take Zoey for X-Rays of her ribs and face before bringing her back to the treatment room where Jay was hovering. "If you keep pacing your gonna burn a hole through the floor," Zoey said with a chuckle only to wince a bit. Will put her bed back into place pulling the X-Rays out of a folder and pinning 1 X-Ray of her face and the other of her ribs. 

"So as I kinda suspected, You have 4 fractured ribs. How did you manage to fly here without being in pain?" Will asked causing Zoey to shrug. "High pain tolerance? possibly the adrenaline from the explosion. I have no clue" She replied earning a look from Will. "Please tell me you weren't near the building when the explosion happened," Will said. "Umm I was almost out the door... does that count?" she asked him knowing he wouldn't be happy with that answer. 

"Zoey Severide when I cleared you to go back to work, I told you to take it easy. This is literally the opposite of what I meant," the ginger said starting to lecture her causing her to send a look to Jay. "Hey, don't look at me," he replied with a smirk. "It was literally just supposed to be a follow-up on an anonymous call to the local police department, It definitely wasn't" Zoey said cutting off the doctor's lecture. "Well, either way. You're looking at a 6 month to year long healing process and I haven't even gotten a chance to do a head CT," Will said. "6 Months to a year?! You have gotta be joking WIll," Zoey said getting upset and turning to look at him only to wince and hiss at the sharp pain. 

"I'm not, you can barely move you're on bed rest for a while too," Will said. "For fuck sake," Zoey muttered rolling her eyes as a knock sounded on the door causing the three to look up. Standing in the doorway were Kelly, Gabby, Matt and Antonio. "So what's the verdict doc?" Kelly asked walking in the room. "At the moment 4 ractured ribs and possible concussion but I can be sure without a CT scan; Zoey has a long recovery process either way." Dr. Halsteal said. "Half a fucking year," Zoey muttered unhappily about the news. "Possibly longer depending on how much rest she gets and if she takes it easy." Will said looking at Zoey who rolled her eyes. "What the hell am I supposed to do during that time?" She asked. "Mmmm, crazy thought? How about you take time to rest and heal." Kelly said walking over to her bed. 

"That sounds boring" she replied earning a laugh, "I'm gonna go see if the CT machine is free after that I can prescribe something for the pain and your free to go home to bed," Will said as he stepped out of the room. "Well it's a good thing you came to Med," Jay said, "Yea because I would've been dragged here anyways," Zoey said trying not to laugh but failed causing her to wince and hiss in pain again. 

"I still can't believe that paramedic didn't bring you to the hospital," Jay muttered catching Gabby and Kelly's attention. "What?" Gabby asked, "One of the paramedics at the scene in Ohio cleared me 5 minutes. It didn't sit right with me and after the ringing in the ears after the explosion I just wanted to be sure and low and behold you know the rest. "I wanna know their names" Gabby said irritated. "Guys it's fine I'm pretty sure my boss is gonna deal with it considering he's now down an agent for a year now" Zoey said as her phone rang causing a sharp pain to shoot through her head and her vision to blur. 

Zoey put her face in her hands hoping the pain would subside, after a moment the high pitched ringing in her ears stopped and her vision slowly stopped spinning. Her watery blue eyes open as Will came into view. "Zoey, You okay?" the ginger-haired doctor asked, "Yea, I think my concussions back though." she said holding her head that was still throbbing. "Well I'm gonna take you for that CT scan so we're gonna find out," the doctor said before taking to to get the head scan before bringing her back to the room to go through the results. 

"So. you have a mild concussion as well as you suspected," Will said to Zoey when her phone started ringing again. This time she grabbed the device pressing answer before her head started pulsing. "Severide? I've been trying to call you for 20 Minutes. Hotch needs you to meet us in New York," JJ said. "Are you at the office by any chance?" Zoey asked, "Umm, yeah why?" she said confused. "Can you take the phone to Hotch?" she asked, "Yea he's right here, hang on let me just put you on speaker." JJ said. 

"Hey, Severide what's going on?" Hotch asked, "I got checked at Med when we landed in Chicago... I got 4 fractured ribs and a concussion," Zoey said clearly unhappy but she knew it was better to tell him sooner rather than later. "Didn't you get checked at the scene?" Morgan asked, "Yea I was cleared in less than 5 minutes and that made no sense I've been around enough first responders to know how they's treat a head trauma patient." Zoey said. "I'm gonna look into the first responders in Ohio that responded to teh scene," Hotch said. "Treager, I remember her name tag," Reid said through the phone. "Of course you do, You got an idetic memory you couldn't possibly forget," Zoey said letting out a light laugh before wincing and hissing in pain a bit. 

"Did the doctor mention how long your sidelined superwoman?" Morgan asked. "It's looking like 6 months to possibly... a year" she said worried that her spot would be gone by teh time she recovered. The last thing she wanted was to be retired early due to 1 stupid injury. "Well take all the time you need I'm sure once your off bed rest Garcia may need a hand with some of our cases but you'll be on strictly desk duty until your cleared. And Zoey try to listen to Dr. Halstead this time" Hotch said surprising her. "How'd you- You've seen him everytime you were admitted to the hospital." he replied. "Yea because I'd rather someone over worry than not worry enough especially when it comes to my health," she said. "Take all the time you need to actually rest and heal," Hotch said. "I'll do my best, Stay safe you guys" she said before the call ended.