Shaken

Chapter 4-Not so typical anymore

Piper let out a small, pained whimper as she awoke. She looked around, her vision blurred by the tears pooling in her eyes. She was scared. Her breathing was quickly becoming painful and shallow, which only worried her more. She tried her best to yell for help but a slight whisper was all she could manage.

"He.....H...Help..." she cried softly.

She could feel the tears slipping down the sides of her face, Was she going to die? She closed her eyes. Was this going to be the end? She wanted her Mom. What if she never got to see her family again? She groaned softly, it felt like the pain was swallowing her. In all honesty, she couldn't even tell where she was hurt. The small Halstead let out an anguished sob. She couldn't die, she wasn't ready. Her eyes snapped open. She needed to keep fighting. She couldn't give up yet.

"Hel...Help.." She cried louder. This couldn't be the end, she had to stay strong.

Outside the first responders had started to arrive. The crew from firehouse 51 was the first on scene. Kelly Severide looked ahead with a grim look on his face, these were just kids. He looked over at Casey, whose face mirrored his.

"Damn." Chief Boden said stepping out of his battalion vehicle and out into the freezing Chicago air. He made his way over to his firefighters, who were unloading equipment off the rigs.

He looked over at his paramedics and began to give orders "Brett, Dawson, I want you to work on setting up triage.". Gabby responded with an "On it Chief!" as the two women gathered supplies in their arms.

Next he looked to the middle of the group, "Casey, Severide I want you to find a stable entry point in the building, and do a primary search for trapped victims."

"You got it Chief." Casey said, giving his head a slight nod.

"Mouch and Otis, I need you to see what you can do about shutting off the gas and electric," Boden commanded before looking to the rest of the group, "The rest of you, work on clearing the debris.". A chorus of "Yes Chief" echoed throughout the group. Boden took a deep breath, already feeling the burden of the day "Let's get to work.".

Cruz approached the chief as everyone else began to get to work. "Chief, what about secondary devices?" He asked nervously. "CPD is scouring the area and the bomb squad is in route. Right now our biggest concern is getting any trapped children out." Boden reassured the firefighter. Cruz nodded and made his way back to the group.

Severide tossed Casey a giant flashlight and grabbed one for himself. Casey adjusted his radio, which hung like a sash across his chest.

"You ready?" He asked Severide, who was fiddling with his radio. Kelly looked up and nodded, "Yeah let's go." He said. The two began their trek across the snowy lawn, towards the crowd of panicked kids and teachers who were making their way to safety. The two men walked in silence, simply watching the patrolman onscene direct the herd of terrified kids and teachers. It was heartbreaking.

Back at the truck Hermann watched the crowd that had begun to gather at the barricade, most of them looked to be terrified parents trying to spot their kids in the chaos. He thought of his own family, how easily it could be him and Cindy behind that barricade. It terrified him.

"Hermann!" Someone shouted, breaking him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see Cruz standing there. "We...uh..the truck, we need you to drive the truck over there." Cruz said awkwardly pointing to a spot closer to the partially collapsed building. Hermann nodded and hopped into the truck, doing his best to focus on the task at hand.

Meanwhile Severide and Casey had crawled through an open classroom window on the backside of the building. Casey keyed his radio "Hey Chief, Me and Severide are inside, and beginning our primary search." He remarked. Casey and Severide shed their large coats and hats and set them on the floor of the empty classroom.

"Alright." Casey said, taking a deep breath as he slowly turned the door handle.

"Fire department! call out!"

The loud shout snapped Piper back to reality "H...He...Help..." She called quietly. The small girl was gasping for air. "Oh-over here!" Piper cried out, using the last of her strength.

"Casey, over here!" Severide said, dodging the rubble and debris.

Piper recognized the man's voice "Kelly?" She whispered as he crouched beside her.

His face blanched, "Piper? Oh my god." Kelly said, grabbing the girl's hand. Piper looked up at him, feeling some comfort knowing someone she knew was there. "I wa-want... my mo-mommy" Piper gasped. Kelly squeezed Piper's hand, "I know kid."

Severide grabbed his radio with his free hand "Chief, we've got one, we need paramedics." He said. He looked back at Matt, "We need to get this debris off of her."

Casey nodded and stood beside him, ready to assist. Severide looked back at Piper, who was fading fast. "Hey Piper," Kelly said, trying to keep the girl's attention, "I need you to stay with us, alright? This is my friend Matt, he's gonna help me get you out, Okay?".

Piper nodded, fighting to keep her eyes open. Severide murmured something to Casey and then turned back to her. "So your mom tells me you're a big Blackhawks fan, Did you watch the game last night?" Kelly asked, trying to keep the 6 year old engaged.

"Y-yeah....My...Da-ddy..le-let... me.. Sta-stay...up...t-to...wa-wat...watch..it" Piper sputtered, her breathing was getting worse.

"Matt? Kelly?" A voice called from the empty classroom where they had entered.

"Over here Gabby," Casey yelled as the two paramedics made their way into the hall. They carried large backpacks and a bright yellow backboard.

Kelly continued to talk to Piper, "Yeah? That sounds really fun. I'll bet your mom wasn't too happy about that," Kelly chuckled as Brett and Dawson knelt beside him. Severide squeezed Piper's hand again as Gabby and Sylvie started to set up their equipment.

"Hey Piper, these are my friends Sylvie and Gabby, they are going to take really good care of you." Kelly said, starting to stand up so they could work.

"Hey Piper. I'm gonna put this mask on you to help you get more air, Ok? " Gabby told the 6-year-old as she put an oxygen mask over Piper's face. Piper nodded slightly, feeling some relief as the machine started up.

Severide grabbed the edge of what appeared to be part of a wall, and looked at Casey "You ready?". Casey nodded.

"One...Two...Three...." The two men lifted the heavy thing and pushed it over, so it fell away from them. They cleared away the smaller chunks of debris off of the small girl so Brett and Dawson could put her on the backboard.

"On my count," Sylvie remarked, ready to slide the board underneath her, "One...two..three".

The counting echoed through Piper's ears as her mind gently slipped into the safe, dark bubble of unconsciousness.

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A/N

Hello All! Hope you are well! If you made it this far into the story....Wow. Thank you so much ❤️! If it wasn't obvious, I'm kinda new at actually writing stories for an audience to read, and I would love it if anyone had any feedback they'd like to share?

Please let me know how I'm doing so far!

Anyways thanks again to each and every one of you that took the time to read this! I really appreciate you taking time to read my work! I love you all ❤️!

(Side note: yes I brought back Dawson and Otis because...they were 2 of my favs on fire, I was very sad when they left.)