New Beginnings: A Stellaride Story

Broken

Before Kelly knew it, the room was filled with doctors and nurses all hovering around him. Kelly couldn't comprehend a single thing any of them said to him as it all sounded like gibberish. He just stood there, watching his wife lay there lifeless, tears streaming down his face. "Mr. Severide. Mr. Severide," a nurse said as they approached Kelly, trying to get his attention. Kelly looked towards the nurse with bloodshot eyes as they said, "Your wife is going into emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. The doctors are going to do everything they can. Is there someone I can contact for you?" Barely getting the words out, Kelly says, "My mom is in the waiting room." "No worries, I will send her in. You should hold on to this," the nurse says as they place Stella's wedding band in Kelly's hand. So overcome with emotion, Kelly falls down into the chair, unable to stand any more, tightly clutching Stella's wedding band as they wheel her out of the room.

Walking out into the waiting room, the nurse says, "I'm looking for Kelly Severide's mom." "That's me," Jennifer replied, standing up out of her seat. "Follow me, please," the nurse says, gesturing towards Jennifer. Following the nurse and walking into the hospital room, Jennifer notices that Stella's not there before seeing an emotionally distraught Kelly sitting there with tears streaming down his face. "Kelly, what's wrong?" Jennifer asks as she rushes to his side. The nurse then begins to explain, "Stella has been taken into emergency surgery as she has hemorrhaged and lost a lot of blood. At the time she was taken in, she was unconscious and non-responsive. The doctors are doing everything they can to stop the bleeding and will start blood transfusions once they have. Riley has also been taken down to the nursery where we will care for her until you are ready. You are both more than welcome to stay here in the room or to head down to the nursery. I will provide you with regular updates on both Stella and Riley. Let me know if you need anything at all." "Thank you," Jennifer says as the nurse leaves the room. Focusing all her attention on her son, Jennifer asks, "Kelly, what do you need?" In a very broken tone, not taking his eyes off Stella's wedding band that he had been clutching onto tightly, he says, "I need my wife."

"My boy," Jennifer says, trying to comfort Kelly. "She's gone. I've lost her. She's really gone this time. I can't do this without her. I don't know how to do any of this without her," Kelly says, his voice more shaky than ever. "Stella's a fighter, you know that better than anyone else, Kelly. She is going to be okay," Jennifer says, trying to reassure Kelly. "No, she's not, she's gone. You didn't see her lying there so lifeless," Kelly says as he begins to break down even more. With nothing she could say bringing comfort or reassurance to Kelly, Jennifer just holds him, repeating over and over, "She will be okay."

After half an hour or so, the nurse returns to the room, "Stella's surgery is going well. The doctors have located the bleed. However, it is a large one, and she has lost more blood than they first determined, so she is not out of the woods yet." As Kelly hears the nurse say those words, he begins to break down again. Jennifer looks at the nurse and says, "Thank you for the update," before the nurse continues, "We are also about to feed Riley. Kelly, you are more than welcome to come down to the nursery and feed her yourself." Jennifer looks over at Kelly and says, "Go, Kelly. I know it's hard, but it will be good for you, and Riley needs you now more than ever." Kelly nods and slowly stands up, trying not to let his shaky legs get the better of him before following the nurse down to the nursery.

As Kelly left the room, Jennifer headed out to the waiting room to update the firehouse. As they see her walk into the room, they all jump up out of their seats, not sure what's going on. "How are they doing?" Boden asks. Not having a minute to process her own emotions, Jennifer starts to choke up a little before regaining control of her emotions and saying, "The baby, Riley, she's good. Kelly is with her now, but Stella, Stella has hemorrhaged and lost a lot of blood. They took her in for emergency surgery an hour or so ago. They have located the bleed, but she has lost a significant amount of blood." The looks on everyone's faces turn from looks of joy to ones of extreme sadness. "How's Kelly holding up?" Casey asks. "Not great at all. He's really struggling with and not coping at all," Jennifer replies, fighting back the tears. "Let me take over. You deserve a break," Casey responds. "Thank you. I think he just needs some time

with his daughter for the moment, but I'm sure he will be grateful to see you. Maybe head down there in a little while," Jennifer says before heading outside for some air.

Walking into the nursery, Kelly tries to fight back the happiness that engulfs him when he sees his daughter lying there in her bassinet. He thinks to himself, "I shouldn't be allowed to be this happy when I'm about to lose my wife if I haven't lost her already." When a nurse interrupts his dark thoughts, asking, "Kelly, would you like to come feed your daughter?" Kelly walks over towards the nurse, who places Riley into his arms. As he looks down at her, he starts to notice all of Stella's features in her, how she has Stella's exquisitely shaped nose and her beautiful brown eyes, and he can't help but let the emotions take over again as the tears start to stream down his face again.

It felt like Stella had been in surgery for an eternity. Kelly had been sitting in the nursery with Riley for a while now. She had fallen asleep in his arms, and he didn't want to let her go as she was the only physical connection he currently had to his wife. "Hey, Kelly," he hears as he looks up and sees Casey standing there in the doorway. Casey walks in and sits down in the chair next to Kelly and says, "I don't know. I can't do this without Stella. I need her. I can't have lost her," as the tears begin to fall again. Having never seen Kelly this emotional before, Casey grabs his shoulder and squeezes it. "I know you already know this, but Stella is the toughest fighter out there. She's going to make it through this." Casey says, trying to provide some comfort to Kelly. "And this perfect little girl, if she's anything like you, she's going to give both of you hell," Casey continues, trying to change the mood to which he gets a light chuckle out of Kelly. "There is no way in hell I'm ever letting her do any of the stuff I did as a kid. I'm just going to wrap her in bubble wrap and never let her leave the house," Kelly says, looking at his daughter, completely smitten. "I can already tell she's going to be a mini version of Stella and give us all the hell in the world, but I wouldn't trade any of it," he continues, and for once, it feels like all the dark thoughts have been erased from his mind. That happiness is then shattered into a million pieces as Kelly sees the doctor walk in, looking like he has been to hell and back.