Lucky

You can blame Isensiel for providing me with vicious blood thirsty plot bunnies. I take no responsibility for the injuries and subsequent whumping that occurs in this story. This is a short AU set during and after the truck crash in 3.03 Just Drive The Truck. Hallie and Shay never died.

Truck Crash

"I can already see the smoke boys! Looks like its rolling!" Cruz called to the others as they made their way to the scene, sirens and lights blaring.

Casey caught a glimpse of another rig, presumably heading to the same scene, he didn't take note of the number plastered on its side but Herrmann did. "Oh boy," he muttered before speaking loudly over the noise of the truck, "Hey Casey, we're neck and neck with your old pal Welch!"

There had been bad blood between Casey and Welch since 81 had beaten them to a scene a few weeks ago, Welch was known as a bit of a prick, a bully, and Casey hadn't wanted to take orders from him.

Casey glanced over to his right to see Welch's rig and before he could say anything Cruz spoke, "Don't worry Casey, I got this."

"I'm not interested in a pissing contest. If Welch wants this fire he can have it." He wasn't going to stoop to Welch's level, he wasn't going to race the man to the scene, he shouldn't have done it last time but the guy was an arse. This time he would take the upper hand, there was no need to act like children. Cruz was still determined to beat the other crew there so Casey reiterated, "Cruz forget him; strike truck."

"Great," Otis commented. "If Welch is going to get there first we'll be taking orders from him."

Herrmann looked around. "Ah... I don't see them. Maybe they got held up."

"See." Casey smiled. "It all works out in the…"

There was an almighty bang, Casey was flung to the left, his brain still trying to figure out where all the noise had come from, a sharp pain emanated from his side, his head hit the back of his chair and he knew no more.

Severide didn't see Truck 66 collide into Truck 81, he just saw the aftermath. He saw Casey's rig flip down onto its left side, he heard the horrible crunching sound of metal as it did. Oh God, Casey... were his only thoughts until Tony brought him back to the present so he could radio headquarters. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Squad 3 to main; Truck 81, Truck 66 have collided on the corner of 24th and Wabash. We're going to need ambulances; as many as you can get! This is bad!"

Shay and Dawson had overheard Severide on the radio. "61 to main; we're closer to the accident than the fire. Do you want us to take the accident?" Shay spoke urgently into the radio, already worried about the state they would find Truck 81 in. Severide had let his panic emit through the radio; something he rarely did and it worried her.

"Should we keep driving?" Dawson questioned.

Shay never had time to reply as the radio buzzed into life. "Affirmative 61; take the accident." As soon as the transmission was over Shay quickly spun the ambulance around.

Severide jumped out of the rig and called into his radio, "Confirming that Truck 81 and 66 are out of action. Requesting that Squad 3 stay. Please reassign other units to structure fire." He continued to survey the scene, becoming more and more worried that there was no movement from 81, headquarters confirmed Severide's decision to stay and he gave his crew orders. He went over to 81 with Newhouse and climbed up to the passenger door. He found Casey slumped in his seat; his heart sank as he feared the worst but Casey moved, he started struggling.

"Casey? Buddy? You all right?" he called down.

"Mmm…" Casey muttered in response, he was conscious at least. "Cruz?" And aware. "Cruz you ok?"

"Case, are you ok?" Severide repeated his earlier question. Casey was probably in shock, his attention waning, but of course he was more concerned about everyone else, very typical of him.

"Cruz…" Casey looked around. "Cruz and Mouch are hurt…"

"So are you," he responded, "Come on, let's get you all out of here."

Newhouse had already helped Otis and Herrmann out and had made his way into the truck to check on an unconscious Mouch. Cruz was conscious but in shock.

Severide helped Casey out, there were lacerations over his face and neck from the broken windscreen, he was gritting his teeth and holding his chest, Severide still held onto him. "Matt?"

"I'm all right," he nodded.

Severide looked doubtfully at him.

"Think I've just bruised my ribs, maybe broken them, I can still help," he insisted.

"No, you need to…"

"I'm not going in the first ambo; I'm conscious, walking, I'm all right," Casey asserted a little breathlessly

Reluctantly Severide nodded. "Ok, fine, but you can explain to your wife why you were still trying to help everyone when you needed to get medical attention."

Casey could already picture Hallie giving him stern words when he explained what had happened, and now that he was standing the pain in his side had only increased, he could feel the blood rush from his face, he felt faint, weak and dizzy all of a sudden.

"Matt?" Severide questioned urgently at his sudden change in demeanour, and the short sharp moan that then left his lips caused Severide's heart to race.

He lurched forwards when the pain in his side became unbearable.

Severide caught his shoulders. "Matt, talk to me," he insisted as he looked around to see the driver of Truck 66 being loaded into Ambulance 61, but he could already hear the sirens of another ambulance arriving. Mouch, Cruz and another crew member from 66 could wait for another ambulance. Casey was now a priority. "Matty?"

"Hurts…"

"I know, buddy, just stay with me," Severide stated, Casey was sagging in his arms now. "Mills, get me a backboard!"

Severide rode in the back of the ambulance with Casey who was surprisingly still conscious, he was too stubborn for his own good and every bump and jolt of the vehicle made him wince in pain.

Broken ribs were all the paramedics had mentioned before hooking Casey up to an IV and shooting him full of painkillers that made the world a slightly more comfortable place. Just broken ribs? Severide doubted it, Casey wouldn't utter the word 'hurts' over some simple broken ribs. He looked down at his friends pale face, a sheen of sweat evident, and gripped his hand in comfort.

"Kelly!" Hallie called as she rushed into the ER waiting room. "What the hell happened? The truck crashed?! Where is he?"

Severide was pacing up and down, he had called Hallie as soon as they had arrived in the ER. "I don't know, they won't tell me anything…"

"Right, yeah, of course," she rushed off, leaving Severide still pacing up and down.

"Kendra where's Matt?" she questioned as she approached her colleague by one of the trauma bays.

"They've just taken him to pre-op, there's a laceration on his spleen, he has three broken ribs, two were displaced, he was conscious when they took him up but they're worried about it rupturing," Kendra briefed her before she disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

Hallie found Casey lying on his back in the pre-op room hooked up to an IV, ABG, heart monitor and catheter, his eyes were half lidded, bruises had already formed on his face and arms from the accident. He was dressed in a pale blue hospital gown that she had no doubt he would start moaning about when he was lucid, and swathed in a thin white sheet which would do very little to keep him warm in the operating theatre.

"Hey, baby," she greeted him softly as she approached his bed, unaware how coherent he was.

"Sorry…" he murmured almost inaudibly, although she was glad he'd moved his head slightly at the sound of her voice.

"Sorry?" she repeated.

"It's your day off and you've still ended up in the hospital," he replied with a slur.

She smiled down at him whilst she eyed the monitors. "You're ok," she stated, to reassure both herself and him.

"D'you know if everyone else is ok?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know but I will check; I'm sure everyone will be all right," she replied, gripping his arm in support.

"My spleen…" Casey muttered worriedly.

"I know," she nodded in recognition of the consequences it could do to his career. "They're going to repair it," she tried to assure him again.

Casey frowned. "The truck crashed… how…"

"I know, it's ok, don't worry about it now…" she trailed off. "Matt?"

Casey had paled and his eyes had glazed over.

"Matt, speak to me." But the monitors blared. Quickly she called over to the team prepping him for surgery as she opened up his gown and felt his abdomen. "Oh God…" she muttered. "His spleen's ruptured!" she called out.

Casey was whisked off to the operating room once the doctors had stabilised his blood pressure.

"You have to try and save his spleen," Hallie spoke to the surgeon as she hurried alongside Casey's gurney. "He can't do…"

"We know, Hallie," the doctor replied solemnly. "And I will try my best, you know I will."

Hallie was stopped outside the operating room, a nurse had placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Oh, right," she nodded, "Waiting room." She gave Casey's hand one last comforting squeeze before he was wheeled in and then she left him.

"Hallie?" Severide stood up from his seat in the ER waiting room as she walked over to him.

"He's just gone into surgery, his spleen was lacerated by the displaced ribs…"

"He'll be ok?" he questioned before she could finish.

She let out a long breath. "Kelly… his spleen ruptured when he was in pre-op."

"Oh God…" he ran a hand through his hair.

"They'll try their best to save it," she stated.

"Whatever happens to it he'll live, right?" he questioned.

"Erm…" she stumbled over her words, the reality of her husband's situation sinking in. "Surgery is always risky but surgery on the spleen is routine, they know what they're doing, we just have to wait."

When the rest of Truck 81 and Squad 3 arrived in the ER they moved up to the waiting room on the OR floor. Mouch and Cruz had been checked out and neither needed admitting to the hospital. The driver of 66 had a badly broken leg and a severe concussion but it looked as though everyone else had escaped unscathed.

There were officers from headquarters and police officers taking statements from everyone as they waited around. Severide started to pace around anxiously as time wore on, he almost missed his phone ringing as he was so engrossed in his own thoughts.

"Hey, how is he?" it was Shay on the phone. Boden had called in for replacement crews for both Truck and Squad, their heads wouldn't be in it for the rest of their shift so it was the safest option, but he kept Dawson and Shay on 61.

"He's in surgery, they're repairing his spleen, that's all I know… it's bad, Shay…"

Concerned she asked, "How's Hallie holding up?"

"She's not," he replied, "She's not said anything since she told me he was in surgery."

"I assume you're a wreck as well," she commented.

"I'm fine because he's going to be ok," he nodded, "He's going to be ok."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do, ok? And let me know when he's out of surgery."

The waiting room was crowded, only Hallie and Severide noticed the doctor arrive, she stood up and went straight over to him, telling Severide to wait.

"You're holding more consent forms?" she questioned when she saw the clipboard in the doctors hand.

The doctor nodded.

"You can't save the spleen?" she asked, she'd been dreading this, Casey would be distraught.

He shook his head. "No, we have managed to save half of it."

Hallie wanted to let out a breath of relief but she held back. "What are the consent forms for?"

The doctor looked forlornly at her, he couldn't sugar coat this, she was a fellow doctor after all, she knew what he was talking about. "When we were checking for any damage done to any other organs we found a mass…"

"Where?" she questioned immediately, her eyes wide with apprehension.

"On his pancreas," he replied.

"And you want to remove it? Or just biopsy it?" she asked, glancing once again at the clipboard.

"Remove it," he stated, "It may save putting him through a second surgery if the biopsy suggests we need to remove it anyway."

"Has he been stable throughout the surgery so far?"

The doctor nodded.

"Ok, I'll sign the forms; remove it."

TBC