Never Be the Same

Part 2

Stella was in her office, finishing up paperwork. Her mind was on Carver and how he reacted to her stepping down as lieutenant and going to OFI. She never got to tell him her reason. He stormed out before she told anyone. She didn't understand why he was acting that way. She wanted to talk to him, but the active lieutenant that took her spot had truck running drills, and when they got done, they had two back-to-back calls.

"Lieutenant, how's it going?" Boden asked as he stepped into her office.

"It's going; it's almost done. Probably going to head out. I'm not sure what Herrmann is cooking, but the smell is making me sick."

Boden laughed. "Get used to that; it's part of being pregnant."

"Lucky me," she said sarcastically.

"What's up with Carver? Why did he storm out like that?"

Stella shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Chief; I've been sitting here thinking about it too."

Boden nodded, saying, "So nothing happened that would cause him to act like that?"

"Not that I'm aware of." She tells Boden, even though she does have an idea, it can't be what happened; they already talked about that, and everything was fine between them, at least she thought it was. Now she's not too sure; now she wonders if he was lying to her.

Boden looks at her for a second. "It just doesn't seem like him. Maybe his mood today has something to do with the black eye he has."

"I agree, Chief. I'm going to have a conversation with him once he's back from his call." Stella tells him, avoiding the black-eye comment. She knows exactly how he got the black eye. But Boden doesn't need to know that.

"Good, we need to get to the bottom of this; we can't have firefighters acting like that; it was very unprofessional. If he has some personal stuff going on, he needs to keep it in check when he's on shift.

"Yes, chief, I know I will handle it, I promise."

Boden walks to the doorway and turns around. "Let me know if we need to write him up; it's your decision, "he tells her, then walks away. Leaving her to rethink the situation with Carver.

Severide was in his office, going over old reports with Cruz. "Hey, do you know why Carver stormed out during the briefing?"

"I don't have a clue, boss. It was a little overly dramatic."

"That's what I thought."

"Maybe it has something to do with the black eye he got," Crus said, as he laughed.

"What black eye?" Kelly questioned.

Cruz was surprised, "You didn't see it," Kelly shakes his head. "Someone gave him a good one; his eye is all messed up."

Kelly thought for a moment, "Wonder what happened?"

"I don't know, Mouch said, that Carver gets into fights a lot; I guess something happened at the other bar he hangs out at. I asked, and he said, "Let's just say mistakes were made."

Kelly arched his eyebrow. "Wonder what he meant by that?" Cruz shrugged. "I didn't pay attention to Carver; come to think of it, he's the only one who didn't welcome me back this morning."

"Really, I always thought he was a little strange," Cruz said with a shrug. "Stella doesn't know; why he stormed out?"

"She said she doesn't, but I kind of get the feeling she's keeping something from me." he paused, "Was everything on truck good while I was gone? Did Stella have any issues with her men?"

Cruz thought for a moment. "Not that I'm aware of; she didn't say anything to me about them. She helped me out a lot and was my biggest supporter while you were gone. Other than telling me how much she missed you, that's it."