The firefighter's smile

Chapter Eight

It's been an hour that Matt went to see his brother but he had been asked to leave. The visiting hours only started in six hours.

When she wasn't sit down, her legs shaking from anxiousness, Charly was passing back and forth, in front of the firefighters reunited in the waiting room of the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, waiting for some news on the health of their friend and brother.

"Charlotte stop! You're making me dizzy!" Herrmann finally said.

Everybody remarked that her fear when she didn't answer at the enunciation of her name. She stopped for what looks like a second, before doing it again. She couldn't help it.

Four other hours passed and nobody had left. All the men and women of the firehouse 51 were here, tired and scared. While all the Truck's guys and some of the Squad's had fallen asleep, the more worried of them were still awake, holding their breath every time a doctor entered the waiting room.

"What if he..." Charly tried, not quite sure of her own voice. "The doc said he's not out of the woods. What if he didn't make it?"

"I can't lose another brother" Casey added, feeling the strong grip of his Chief on his shoulder.

I saw him in that damn room, not even breathing on his own, the Truck's Lieutenant thought.

"For now, all that he needs is our prayers and hopes."

"He was so... so broken in that car. His eyes were pleading me to end his misery"

"Charly, Kelly will be fine as always"

"You can't promise me that!" She retorted.

On the other side of the hospital, Doctor Rhodes was waiting, in front of the ICU's room, for the neurosurgeon that helped him on Severide's case. His colleague was doing his round, checking on his patients.

"The anesthesia should be absorbed in the coming hours and then we will be fixed. But I'm not hopeful." He declared.

"According to you, the surgery went well" Connor replied, not understanding the different opinion the man in front of him is giving him.

"Yeah, no complications. Currently, there are no reactions of lower and upper limbs."

"That can just be the anesthesia right?"

"Maybe or that can be due to the impact of the accident and in that case, the surgery would not be useful"

Damn it, we're talking about Severide, he mumbled for himself.

"I'll take care of talking to his family" Rhodes said.

Trying to find the right word to use, the cardiac surgeon is heading towards the waiting room.

"How is he?" Wallace asked immediately.

"As I already said the surgery went well but, according to the neurosurgeon, he..."

"Is he paralyzed?" Charly cut him off.

"We are not sure but that possible, unfortunately. " Connor nodded.

"Unfortunately? You told me that worth the shot and now, he might not ever walk again, or even move again!" Charlotte yelled, angry.

"That's not helping Charly". Leslie tried.

"I don't give a damn about if that helping or not, Shay!" She retorted. "He is a firefighter and if he can't walk he can't be a firefighter!"

"This is not the most important here" Rhodes tried to calm the situation down.

"Yeah, what is it then? Because I don't see what is more important than him. You give up on me while he would never give up on you!" She added. "Tell me just one more thing, will you be the one to tell him that he is done?"

Smith didn't let him the chance to reply that she stormed out of the waiting room. She did some fresh air.

"That was a hell of a confrontation" someone said, in her back.

"What do you want Cruz?"

"The doc said you can see him if you wanted to"

"You... Do you mind coming with me so that I can't run away?" She asked.

"No problem."

Not sure if she wanted to see him, she was walking in the ICU. She stopped in front of his room, acknowledging the machines telling them that he's alive for now.

"You can go see him" A smiling nurse told them softly, knowing how hard it is to be here.

"Do you know when..." Charlotte tried, wiping the tears on her cheeks.

"His doctors started to reduce the sedative. You need to be patient, that's up to him now."

Slowly, the two firefighters walked in and stopped themself each on one side of the injured Lieutenant.

"You need to wake up, Lieutenant. Capp is already unbearable" Joe joked, that was his way to handle those kinds of things.

"He is right, you need to wake up. I need you to wake up because we need to talk. I need to how the man that I fell in love with." She added, taking his hand in her. "Please"

She never walked out of his room, not for seven days during which nothing changed.

"I bought you a sandwich and a drink" Matthew declared, walking in with Boden and Herrmann.

"I am not hungry."

"You need to eat properly and to take some fresh air" Hermann tried in turn.

"Kelly?" She jumped. "He shook my hand!"

"Charly, the doc said..."

"I told you he shook my hand! Kelly, can you hear me?" She continued, stroking his grey hair.

"Open your eyes, son!" Wallace encouraged.

It took him five minutes but eventually, two big blue eyes stared at them, completely lost, but in a matter of a second, a machine started beeping.

"Lieutenant Severide, you need to calm down" One of the doctors on call mumbled to him. "You are going to take this tube out of your throat but you need to relax. Can you go out please?"

After a week they were back in that waiting room, the room that they hated so much.

"He's awake, breathing on his own but there's still no reflex of his lower limbs" The doc declared. "You can't go see him, but not for too long: he needs his rest"

Without losing a second, they practically ran in his room.

"Hey! You get us worried" Matt started, smiling.

"You shouldn't" He replied, his throat dry.

"Well, you will never stop giving me white hair" His Chief smiled too.

"You should start thinking about a dye" Christopher added.

"Don't make me laugh!" Severide asked, noticing the pain in his abdomen.

After a long moment of silence, Charly stopped hiding behind the three men and when he saw her they all believed his heart was going to stop.

"Charly!" He whispered, with watery eyes.

"Don't cry, because if you do, I will too"

When she was close enough, he tried his best to hug her without hurting himself further.

"Car accidents are obviously for both of you your made mark" Herrmann stated.

"When does the doc come?" He asked, a little bit tired.

"Why? Are you in pain?" Casey demanded, ready to push the emergency button.

"I just can't feel my legs

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Chapter Eight is here! 😊
Hope you enjoy it.