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𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞
𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐩𝐬𝐞.

╚═══*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═══╝

Severide lets out another groan of disappointment as Maddie's phone goes into voicemail. For the sixteenth time.

Firehouse 51 had just responded to a call about a chemical leak and were helping load some of the patients to Chicago Med.

Since Kelly was too engrossed in his inner monologue of what had transpired last night, he had failed to notice April Sexton slide up next to him with a knowing look on her face. "What'd you do to piss Maddie off?" She asks as she sifts through paperwork.

"How do you know that?"

April shrugs. "Sylvie told me about how Maddie showed up at her doorstep with a bottle of tequila and her speech that dripped with sarcasm on how she was Saint Maddie. After a couple of shots, Maddie broke down crying and ended up staying the night."

"Maddie doesn't have the best track record when it comes to drinking." Kelly pinches the bridge of his nose and continues, "We got into a fight about my ex-girlfriends."

"Oof, I can see why." April pokes him in the shoulder, holding an expression between sternness and understanding. "You and Maddie need to fix this, Kelly."

"I am planning to talk to her after we finish up here. Don't give me the whole sermon about being a good husband and talking problems out because Brett already did and I think I'm deaf."

The paramedic had approached him first thing when their shift had started and declared that Maddie was a wreck and so was Sylvie. The reason for that is because Sylvie couldn't deal with "her mom and dad fighting" which resulted with Kelly giving her a confused look.

The hospital floor was erupting into chaos as more and more patients filed in. 

Kelly could see April struggling to catch everyone's attention. Looking around the room, he yells. "Listen up!"

Giving him a grateful smile, April starts her instructions. "We are going to have a full day here so I'm going to need your help as well as patience. If you're here because of the ammonia leak, then you need to be on the left side of the room when I say so. If you're because of the flu or something none life──sir, not yet."

Kelly is alarmed at seeing a man stand up from his seat. He looked like he had the flu with his weak stance.

The man stands up on the chair next to April and proceeds to shout, "You thought Ebola was a nightmare. Death to all Americans! I am the apocalypse!"

Kelly is running once he spots a grenade in the man's hands. He's pushes April away and tackles the man on the ground just as he pulls the pin and an explosion rocks Chicago Med.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The blank paper stares back at her as if it was taunting her.

Maddie really hated it when she fought with Kelly because she couldn't think straight. For the past ten minutes, Maddie had tapped her pencil against her desk and her leg kept bouncing. Not even Brianna's offer of cupcakes snapped her out of her trance.

"Boss." Maddie turns to JJ walking towards her, his phone in his hand.

"You need help with your phone again, JJ?" She asks to which he shakes his head.

"I just thought you needed to see this."

Of course, the universe would find a way to bring up Kelly when they were fighting.

JJ presses the play on the video and the reporter starts to speak.

An explosion inside Chicago Med
has left patients and the responders from Firehouse 51 injured. Some reports say that are is already one person dead.

Maddie's stomach drops and her hands shake as she scrambles to find her cellphone. She's nervous and praying as she waits for him to pick-up, berating herself for not answering any of Kelly's fifteen missed calls last night.

wife is calling!

ANSWER | DECLINE

When he picks up, Maddie doesn't waste a time and speaks right away.

"Kelly, please tell
me you're not in
there. Please tell
me you're safe."

"Maddie?"

"Sylvie? W──hy
are you answering
his phone? Is Kelly
okay? Oh God, is
he──he hurt?"

"Maddie, I need you
to take deep breaths
for me, okay?"

Believe her when says she tried──Maddie tried not to cry, she tried to stay calm, she tried to be okay. But, it was just so difficult. It wasn't easy knowing the person you loved the most was on the brink of death and you couldn't do anything about it.

The worst part of it all was the last words Maddie had said to him were some mean ones. She couldn't do this again; Maddie couldn't lose another person in her life without telling them that she loved them.

"I'm trying, Sylvia.
Please tell me
he's okay."

"He's. . .on the operating
table right now. They're
performing surgery on him."

"What?!"

"Severide took most of
the blast from the grenade,
Mads."

Sylvie didn't think it was wise to add that Dr. Halstead had given their Squad lieutenant a black tag at first.

"Kelly──a grenade?!"

"I know it's difficult
to stay calm, Maddie,
but believe me that
the best people are
working on him right
now."

"I can head over
there. I don't even
care if I'll lose my
job. I just──I just need
to see him. I can't
do this again, Sylvie."

"Maddie, stay where
you are. They're not
letting anyone in or
out of Chicago Med.
Come here after work
or when this is all over,
okay?"

". . .Okay."

"Okay. I need to help Mills now."

"Sylvie?"

"Yeah?"

"You'll keep me
updated, right? You'll
tell me if Kelly──if
he die──"

"Everything's going to be okay, Madeline."

"I hope so."

call ended!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Kelly felt weightless.

He recognized where he was. It was his and Shay's apartment. How could he not?

There was the stove that Kelly made them scrambled eggs every morning, the couch where he had comforted Shay after Clarice broke her heart for the second time, the hallway where they argued about his best friend's pregnancy attempts.

His feet brings him closer to the couch where a blonde woman and a woman with raven hair were sitting on as they sipped from their wine glasses. The woman with the blonde hair sees him and gives him a smile.

Kelly does a double-take, confused. He knew that mischievous smirk and those ocean-blue eyes anywhere. 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Kelly croaks out. "Shay?"

"Hi, Kelly." She greets him, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Am I──am I dead?"

Shay throws her head back in laughter. "God, I hope not." She turns to the woman beside her and gestures to Kelly, "He's being an idiot again, Isabella."

"Tsk, Leslie Elizabeth Shay, watch your mouth." The woman scolds.

"Mom?" He gasps once the raven-haired turns to him with a kind smile. Kelly hadn't seen his mother in so long. He instantly gathers her in a hug──one that was long-awaited between a mother and a son.

"Kelly, my sweet boy." The former Mrs. Severide coos as her delicate fingers cup her son's face. "I see Maddie has been taking care of you."

"You know Maddie?"

Shay scoffs. "Of course, she does. She's your mother."

Kelly laughs, tears pooling in his eyes. "Oh, mom, Maddie is so──she's so perfect."

Being in his mother's arms felt nice. It took him back to a time that was simpler where he was just a boy.

Isabella brushes her thumbs across his cheeks, smiling back at her son. "I know. I always check up on you, you know. It's a good thing you've finally found your woman, Kelly Benjamin."

"I know right." Shay agrees, "Name a woman in Chicago Kelly hasn't plowed."

"Hey." Kelly smacks her with his arm to which Shay responds by sticking her tongue out.

God, he missed Leslie Shay so much.

"Well?" Shay says and waves her hand towards the door, "Get outta here! It's not your time yet, Kelly."

"Shay is right." Isabella kisses his cheek and it made Kelly feel sad because it felt like his mother and best friend were saying goodbye. . .again. "Not yet, my sweet boy."

"Love you, Mom." He tells her, "I miss you every day."

"And, hey." Shay taps his arm, "We'll still keep our promises, okay? Remember?"

Kelly smiles. "Of course, Shay. We promised to be there for each other. Always."

"Always."

Gradually, Kelly didn't feel so weightless anymore.