Hello wonderful Shafferty shippers! I've had this story idea bouncing around in my head...

AN: Rafferty is in her last month of her suspension and Dawson is taking her firefigher physical again at the end of the month. Just to put the beginning into perspective. ENJOY!

Chapter 1

I miss you… It stopped her dead in her tracks. One text that sent her mind spinning and yet it was three simple words. Dawson finally realized Shay wasn't listening to her or walking alongside her to the common area anymore. She was just standing there next to the ambulance, staring at her phone. Dawson walks back toward her saying her name, but Shay don't hear her until she realize Dawson's trying to take her phone out of her hand to see what it says.

"Don't." Shay say, as she locks her phone and shove it back into her pocket.

"Come on Shay. Talk to me. Since I came back, you've been different. Like you don't want me here or something and the only time you aren't glued to your phone is if we have a call." Dawson says.

"It's nothing Gabby. Really. And how could you say I don't want you here! You're my best friend. Of course I want you here." She just needs to tell her and stop giving her only half truths.

"It's something Les! You haven't been this attached to your phone….since Clarice. Oh god! Please tell me it isn't her again. I'm gunna kick her ass!" Dawson says raising her voice a little.

"Whoa. Chill. I'm done with Clarice. And you should know that!"

"Then just tell me who it is because obviously someone very important to you!" Just as Shay is about to open her mouth to tell her to shut up, the alarm goes off. "I'm not done talk about this you know." Dawson says as she gets in to the passenger's seat. Both of them knowing anything personal has to be dropped as soon as those lights and sirens go on. It isn't until after the patient is at the hospital and the paperwork is done that Shay finally replies to the text. The reply she gets make her laugh.

"Alright. Fess up. Who is she?" Dawson says only half seriously because she's smiling. She likes it when Shay's happy.

"Ok. Fine." She pauses for a second. "I have to make this fun so I'm gunna give you three hints and you get three guesses. If you can't figure it out from the hints then you have to figure it out yourself." Dawson just nods like an eager child at Christmas. "Hint number one…. It's a female…. Hint number two. She's been to Molly's… and hint number three… You know her."

"Jones?" The face Shay makes gives Dawson the answer. Dawson keeps thinking as she's driving and she isn't quite paying attention so she doesn't see that some idiot in a truck has ran a red light, until it's too late and it T-bones the passenger's side of the ambulance.

When Dawson comes to, she's staring at the sky. She's strapped down to a back board and she can just make out that Hermann is at her feet carrying her. "Hermann! Is Shay ok?"

Hermann looks down at her, trying to keep his face neutral and emotionless but she can tell he's struggling to. "I don't know Dawson. She's in bad shape. They're working on getting her out right now. Lt. Severide is with her though." They put her on the stretcher and loaded her into an ambulance. It isn't until she is in the ambulance that she realizes Casey was the other person carrying her.

"Matt. You have to stay here. Kelly is going to want to go with Shay when they get her out and Boden can't be down both of his lieutenants. I'm fine."

"You sure Gabs?" Matt asks. She just nods and he gets up and jumps out of the ambulance. He knows she's right but he didn't want to leave her.

A couple hours later, Dawson is cleared. A mild concussion and a broken leg. Apparently her left leg was slightly pinned after the driver's side hit a concrete barrier. She goes to the waiting area and sees everyone there… and Rafferty? That had her confused. How did she know about the accident? Dawson went and sat in the chair next to Rafferty, setting her crutches down under the table in front of them. "How is she?" Dawson asks.

"They rushed her straight to emergency surgery…. They said—they—She might not…" Rafferty can't talk anymore. She's crying. That's when all the light bulbs turn on and everything clicks. The texts, the smiles, the laughs, the stunned look Shay had this morning…. It's all because of Rafferty.

All Dawson can do is pull her into a hug and let her cry on her shoulder. "She's going to be ok. Shay's a fighter."

Jones was sitting on the other side of Dawson and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Dawson. She has severe brain swelling and internal bleeding." And that sentence right there made Dawson realize why everyone had such a pained look on their faces. Why Severide had his head in his hands and silently crying. She still wasn't sure how Rafferty found out about the accident so quickly, but she figured she find out later. Right now they needed to focus on Shay.