Live in The Moment (#2 in Fawson Series)(Sequel to Memories)

Chapter 10: Waiting Game

Friday, 10am
Almost two days later and Olivia was still at Chase's side. He was still sedated and on the ventilator but he was stable. He had just come back from an MRI scan to see how his brain was doing after the trauma. Liv was standing just outside Chase's room, getting an update on his status from Dr Abrams as the nurses settled Chase back into his room.
"So we're able to remove the ICP monitor. His latest MRI looks good. After the resident removes the bolt, we're going to give him a few hours before we do a vent check this afternoon and then we'll start lightening his sedation and remove the vent if he passes that test." Dr Abrams explained to Liv. A vent test was where they checked to see if Chase could breathe over the ventilator, meaning he could breathe on his own. If he passed the check, they could remove the breathing tube.
"Good, that's good." She sighed with relief.
"He's still not out of the woods but he's definitely heading in the right direction." Sam reassured her.
"Thank you." Olivia thanked him as he excused himself as his phone went off, calling him away. She looked into Chase's room before she sighed and walked away. She decided to go grab a coffee and get some fresh air as she updated 51.

Friday, 9:30pm
Olivia was still sat by Chase's beside. Given the circumstances and who they were, they had lifted the patient visitor times for Chase as long as there were only a maximum of two people in his room. Liv was sitting watching videos on her phone when she realised the time. She was about to call it a night and head home when she noticed Chase's hand move. She put her phone down and sat upright.
"Chase?" She took hold of his hand right as his eyes fluttered open. He looked around confused.
"It's alright, you're at Chicago med. You were in a car accident." Olivia reassured him as she squeezed his hand. He looked down at his leg and body.
"How-how bad is it?" He croaked, his throat still sore from the breathing tube.
"You had a collapsed lung so they had to put in a chest tube. You broke your leg pretty badly so they have to operate on that. The main thing was you hit your head pretty hard. You came close to having surgery and you've been sedated since you came in on Tuesday." Olivia explained to him calmly.
"Shit." He mumbled. Olivia couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. Chase felt the bandage on his head.
"Careful. They had to put in an ICP bolt to monitor your pressure because it was pretty high so take it easy." Liv told him.
"How bad is the leg?" He asked her. Liv looked at him and thought about how to answer. They hadn't operated yet as he had been so unstable with the head injury but now that he was awake and doing better, they were planning to operate soon.
"You snapped both your fibula and tibia. They said they need to operate to put in plates and screws. You'll be in a brace and boot for about 6 ish weeks, but it's gonna be a few months before you're up and about properly." Olivia told him truthfully. Chase sighed.
"But we heard from the police who dealt with your crash. Apparently the driver who hit you had a heart attack behind the wheel but he pulled through. The officers said you went down a pretty big ditch and you were really lucky to make it out at all let alone with so little injuries." Olivia told him.
"Wow." Chase didn't know what else to say.

Saturday, 8:30am
Now that Chase was awake and on the road to recovery, Olivia was headed back to work. Boden had given her the go ahead to start later so she could swing by the airport and pick up Heidi who had just managed to get back to town after being away seeing her family.
"Are you meant to be on shift? Is that why you're in uniform?" Heidi asked Olivia as Olivia pulled out of the airport. Olivia nodded.
"Yes, but Chief and Casey cleared me to start late so I could get you from the airport and drop you at med with Chase." Olivia explained as she pulled on her sunglasses. It was a surprisingly sunny day already.
"Thank you." The two made chit-chat as Olivia drove them from the airport to Chicago Med. Just under 40 minutes later, they arrived.
"I'm just going to drop you if that's alright? I should really get going." Liv told Heidi as she pulled into the drop off zone.
"Thanks." Heidi smiled as she undid her seatbelt and got out of the car.
"Hey tell him I said hi. And if you need anything, let us know." Liv told Heidi as she opened the window.
"Will do, thanks again." Heidi smiled and waved Liv off as she pulled away and headed off towards the firehouse.

Heidi practically sprinted through the hallways of Chicago med as she raced up to the ward that Chase was on. Now that he was awake, he had been moved out of the ICU and onto a regular ward as he was stable. When she arrived at his room, she frowned when she found the room empty. No bed, nothing. She dumped her bag in the corner and went to ask the nurse where he was but stopped when she saw him being wheeled down the hallway back towards the room. She stepped out of the way as the small team of nurses wheeled him back into the room and hooked him back up to the monitoring.
"There he is." Heidi smiled, trying not to cry as she saw him. Chase instantly smiled when he saw and heard who it was. Heidi waited patiently as the nurses made sure he was all hooked up and settled before they left the room, leaving the couple alone.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here." Heidi apologized quietly as she let out a few tears.
"You're here now, that's all that matters." He told her.
"When Liv called me, I thought the worst. I thought...I thought I was going to lose you and I wasn't even here." A few more tears fell as she sobbed a little.
"Hey..."
"Come here." Chase held out his hand to Heidi. Heidi stepped forward and took his hand in hers.
"Come lay with me." He said, patting the bed next to him.
"I don't wanna hurt you..." Heidi said quietly.
"It's my head, the other side of my chest and leg Heidi, come lay here. I wanna cuddle you." He told her, making room for her as he shifted over a little bit. Heidi smiled and wiped a few tears before she gently sat down on the edge of the bed and laid down against him. Chase wrapped his arm, that didn't have any IV's in it, around her.
"I love you." He whispered, kissing the top of her head.
"I love you too." Heidi whispered.

So you email me the detail Arriving back at the firehouse, Olivia parked her car before she got out and headed inside.
"Hey, how's he doing?" Severide asked her as he spotted her walking in.
"Good, better. He's out of the woods now and on a regular ward so now starts the long road to recovery. I just dropped Heidi off at Med. They're looking at operating on his leg later today now he's stable." Olivia told him, relaying on the information about his surgery from the text message that Heidi had sent her right as she arrived at the firehouse.
"Good." Severide nodded.
"I'm gonna go dump my keys and grab some coffee. I'm exhausted." She added.
"Now he's out of ICU and Heidi's back, are you gonna get some sleep?" Severide asked her.
"Yeah. I'm going right home after shift tomorrow and sleeping until the next shift." She laughed.
"Good, coz you look like hell." Kelly teased her.
"Jeez, thanks." She laughed, playfully smacking him before she walked off towards the locker room. She dumped her car keys on the shelf before she shut her locker and went to grab some coffee.
"Hey Liv, are you still alright covering for me as Truck Lieutenant next shift?" Casey asked her as he joined her at the coffee station.
"Yeah, sounds good." Liv nodded before she took a sip from her coffee.
"Travis is really excited because not only does he get to see me on shift he gets to see me 'be the boss' as he puts it." Olivia laughed. She was super excited because Travis was coming to visit her for a few days and she had cleared it with Boden that he was allowed to shadow them on shift to see Liv in action and see how they operate in Chicago vs Seattle. Casey smiled. Liv stood cradling her cup of coffee in her hands as she stood talking to Casey for a few minutes. They were interrupted by the alarm going off.

Truck 81, Squad 3, Engine 51, Ambulance 61
House Fire

"Duty calls." Olivia put her coffee down quickly and joined everyone else as they ran to their vehicles and loaded up. Less than a minute later they were rolling out of the firehouse, lights and sirens blaring as they headed for the call.

————————————————————
A/N: Yayyyy! Chase is slowly on the mend and Heidi's back!! I've had this idea/these chapters written for ages they just needed finishing! I've had some serious writer's block lately but I'm slowly getting back to it! Let me know what you thought :)