Chapter Text
On more than one occasion, she’d taken her and Kelly’s daughters, 3 year old Riley and 6 year old Cecelia, affectionately known as Cece out to the backyard to play in a summer downpour as the sunset and the city fell into darkness as the rain. poured.
It’s something the little girls absolutely loved, splashing through puddles, trampling through the muddy grass and staying out until they were all soaked.
It had been a rainy night when Stella brought their third baby into the world, a perfect little boy they named Boden “Bodie” Andrew Severide.
It was October when he was born though, so Stella was forced to wait until spring came in Chicago to take Bodie out for his first adventure in the rain.
Now in Chicago, that usually meant waiting until late March, at least. But Stella, despite being anxious to introduce her little boy to one of her favorite things in the world, decided to play it safe and waited until May when he was almost 8 months old and they were solidly in late spring/early summer warmth in the city.
And when she finally got to take Bodie out into the rain, she was on cloud nine.
Stella held his chubby little hands as he toddled through the muddy yard. She cradled him in her arms as she danced through the downpour, beaming as her little boy smiled and giggled the entire time.
The highlight of that was when Cece and Riley came running outside too, joining her and Bodie, squeals of excitement as Kelly ushered them out the back door.
Nothing could ever ruin the rain or the joy of rainy days and nights for Stella.
Or so she thought.
It was a late June night and she was called into work, leaving Kelly at home with all three kids.
It was a surprisingly uneventful night at Firehouse 51…a rare occurrence for a rainy night in Chicago.
There were a few medical calls and a fire alarm here and there, but nothing big. No fires. No accidents. Nothing.
Until sometime around 8 PM that evening.
Kelly had brought the kids by because they had insisted on “seeing mommy ride in the big red truck.”
Since it was such a surprisingly quiet night, despite the rain, Kelly decided to leave Bodie with Stella for a bit and take the girls to get milkshakes at Harlo Grill.
20 minutes after Kelly and the girls left, everyone at 51 was making over Bodie.
Stella had ducked off to her quarters to pump while Lizzie and Violet, who were also called in last minute, kept an eye on Bodie.
She was halfway through when the alarms went off for a multi-car accident on I-290 West, just past Cicero Ave.
Disconnecting the pumps, Stella yanked her shirt back on and sprinted to the app floor, already panicking.
The crews loaded into the truck, engine, ambulance and squad and rolled out.
One of the firefighters in the back noticed Stella nervously fidgeting and could clearly see the fear on her face.
“Lieutenant? Are you ok?” he asked.
Stella nodded.
“Uh. Yeah. It’s just…that’s the route Kelly would’ve taken with the girls. They were going to get milkshakes at Harlo’s.” she explained, dialing his number again.
She got Kelly’s voicemail again.
“Hey Kelly. Me again. Um. We just got a call to an accident on 290 West. I know it’s probably close to where you and the girls are. Just wanted to know that you guys are ok. Call me when you get this. Please. I need to know that you and my babies are ok.” she told him in the 3rd voice message she’d left.
And then she started getting messages from Kelly. And it wasn’t good.
But after her last text, she didn’t hear anything else.
“SCHULTZ!! Step on it!” she exclaimed, her heart shattering over and over again at the thought of Kelly hurt or worse and the girls being all alone, “Kelly and the girls were involved in the wreck. CeCe texted from Kelly’s phone. She’s terrified and Kelly may be unconscious. I need to get to my girls!”
Stella was unable to control her emotions as the raced closer and closer and began seeing the wreck.
There were dozens of cars involved. But Stella was frantically searching for just one. Her Jeep. Kely had taken it since it’s easier to get all the kids in and out of than the Mustang.
The wreckage was extensive. Semis. Cars. SUVs. An RV. So many mangled cars.
And then she saw the Jeep. It was way more intact than she expected and way more than it should’ve been.
It had been rear-ended by a pick-up truck and pushed into the corner of a semi.
Stella could tell that Kelly had tried to swerve, likely saving at least the girls’ lives.
As Truck 81 slowed at the side of the road, Stella jumped out and ran towards the wreckage of the Jeep.
The closer she got, the more she could hear Riley screaming and CeCe sobbing.
“Riley? CeCe? It’s ok! Mommy’s here! You’re ok! I’m right here! I’m coming! You’re ok! Mommy’s right here, ok?” she sniffled, fighting to push down all her emotions.
She walked up to the driver’s side door, rain still posturing, to check Kelly first, where she was also able to get eyes on the girls too.
“MOMMYYYYYY!” Riley screamed, sobbing, “I WANT MOMMMYYYY!”
CeCe reached over and grabbed her little sister’s hand.
“It’s ok Riley. Mommy’s here now. She’s gonna help us. She’s a fighterfighter!” she assured her through her own tears.
Stella could tell that neither seemed to be too badly hurt thanks to being in their car seats, Riley still rear-facing even.
“Hey Riley bear! Mommy’s right here! I’m just checking on daddy and then I’ll come get you and your sissy out,” she spoke, trying to soothe her baby girl, “Just give your stuffie a big snuggle. You’ve got your blankie too. Just snuggle with those and I’ll be there to get you out before you know it and we’ll go over and see Auntie Vi and Auntie Lizzie!”
That calmed her down.
“Auntie ViVi??” she squealed.
“Mmhm! AND Auntie Lizzie!” Stella softly smiled as she continued silently assessing Kelly.
A medic from another house came over.
“Hey,” Stella whispered, “It’s Kelly. And my daughters. 3 years old and 6 years old. Both seem ok. But CeCe, the older one, was texting me and said her stomach and head hurt. I want you to get Kelly out of here.” she briefed him.
He nodded.
“Ok. What’ve we got with Kelly?” he asked.
“42 years old. Looks like he likely has internal bleeding of some sort. Maybe a concussion. Chest trauma from the airbag and I’m thinking probably some broken ribs and a possible pneumothorax. He’s in bad shape. Likely broken leg as well,” she told him, “Listen. I’m gonna get my girls out and get them over to Ambo 61. They know the medics and will be a lot less scared with them and I’ll ride into Med with them. When I get them out, we’ll get Kelly out. I just…they’re so little. I don’t want them seeing their dad like this.”
The medic nodded.
“I’ll grab some pediatric c-collars and then we can just take them out in their car seats over to 61. Then they can assess them and decide whether it’s safe to remove them from the seats. I’d assess here, but I want to get them out ASAP and get Kelly out. His pulse is a bit lower than I’d like and his breathing is getting shallow. He needs to get to Med ASAP.”
Stella nodded back.
And then they got to work getting the girls out. Capp was filling in on squad at another house and rushed over as soon as he heard Kelly had been involved.
He got his squad and they popped all the doors so Stella could get to CeCe and Riley.
“UWNCLE CAPPPPP!!” CeCe squealed.
Stella heard Kelly let out a soft groan and she chuckled.
“Thanks Capp. I’ll keep you updated.” she told him as he carefully hugged the still terrified girls.
“Thank you Uwncle Capp!” both girls said in unison.
“If you or them need anything, just let me know, ok?” he offered, “I gotta run. We’ve got at least 6 more entrapments. Some clown was doing over 90 mph and hydroplaned. This was all a chain reaction crash. No one could get stopped fast enough in the rain.”
And then he was rushing off to the next car and Stella and the medic, Jake Collins, she’d learned his name was, were placing the c-collars on the girls and lifting their car seats out of the crumpled Jeep.
Riley was tugging at the collar around her neck.
“No baby. You need to leave that on until Auntie Vi checks you out. Can you do that for me please?” Stella asked.
That just made Riley fuss even more.
And then Stella heard CeCe.
“Momma! My tummy hurts really bad! It really, really hurts! And I don’t like this thing on me. It’s itchy. When can Aunt Violet take it off? I want daddy!” she began to cry, “I want my daddy!!”
Tears streamed down Stella’s face hearing her cry out for Kelly. What was she supposed to tell her 6-year-old begging for Kelly when she wasn’t even sure he was still alive.
Jake carried CeCe over and set the car seat in the back of Ambo 61 and ran back over to help take care of Kelly.
Stella rushed over with Riley and set her down right next to CeCe.
Violet took CeCe and Lizzie took Riley while Stella sat between the girls holding their hands.
“CeCe was complaining of stomach pain.” Stella told Violet, “Internal bleeding?”
“Ok. We’ll check out your tummy in just a minute, Miss CeCe.” Violet smiled, taking off the c-collar, “Can you move your head back and forth and up and down?”
CeCe turned her head with ease.
“Perfect. Great job sweetie. We can leave this off now.” she told the little girl, tossing the collar aside, “I’m gonna take your jacket off and your shirt and have a look at your belly. Sound good? You can hold your mommy’s hand the entire time.”
CeCe nervously nodded.
“Aunt Violet? Is it gonna hurt?” she asked.
Violet gently squeezed CeCe’s leg.
“I’ll make it as painless as possible. I promise!” she assured her.
Meanwhile, Lizzie was checking Riley over. She’d already removed the c-collar on her too.
“Aunt Lizzie! My arm hurts!” Riley sobbed, somehow just now feeling it.
Lizzie took one look at it and knew it was broken.
“Alright. Your arm has a big boo-boo. I’m gonna put something on you that’ll help it feel all better until we get you to see Auntie Maggie at Chicago Med.” Lizzie promised.
She carefully slid a pediatric splint on Riley’s arm.
“Aside from the arm, I’m not seeing any other obvious injuries.” she told Violet and Stella, “All her vitals are good so we’ll transport to Med for further evaluation.”
Stella smiled at Riley.
“Oh my gosh Ri!” she exclaimed, “You’re gonna get to see Aunt Maggie and get the coolest cast in ANY color you want!”
That got Riley excited and much less nervous than she was when Lizzie mentioned the hospital.
As Lizzie kept Riley entertained, Violet continued her examination of CeCe.
She’d cut CeCe’s shirt and bruising was immediately visible.
“Ok. There is definitely some internal injuries here. But CeCe seems to be stable so I want to get her to Med ASAP. These things can turn fast.” Violet whispered to Stella.
Stella nodded.
“Can we take them out of the car seats for transport?”
“I don’t see why not.” Violet shrugged, “We’ll strap CeCe to the stretcher and buckle Riley into the jump seat.”
As they got the girls ready to transport, Kelly was pulled from the car, placed on a backboard on the stretcher and was being wheeled to a waiting ambulance. Unfortunately, their ambulance was right in front of 61.
Stella let go of the girls’ hands and moved to do her best to shield them. Kelly was intubated, a c-collar around his neck, left leg and arm splinted, and blood caked in his hair and soaking through various bandages Jake had plastered over his body.
Violet got CeCe secured in the of 61 and Lizzie was finishing up strapping Riley in.
“Violet. Can we close the doors for a minute?” Stella asked, still following Kelly as he was being prepped for transport, “There’s uh…there’s a lot going on out there and the girls don’t need to see all this.” she sighed.
Violet nodded and Stella leaned forward to close them.
As she did, CeCe caught a glimpse of Kelly.
“DADDYYY!” she screamed, beginning to cry again, “DADDYYYYY!! I WANT DADDYYY!!”
Stella quickly slammed the doors shut and CeCe could no longer see Kelly.
CeCe continued to sob as Stella moved back over to console her.
“Hey. Listen. It’s ok. Daddy’s gonna be ok. There’s paramedics like Auntie Vi and Auntie Lizzie helping your daddy. He’s got a lot of boo-boos. But he’s going to the hospital same as you and he’s going to get fixed up good as new.” she assured her, “We’ll go see him as soon as we can, ok?”
Stella was able to hold herself together until Riley chimed in.
“Momma? Is daddy gonna die?” she asked in her sweet, innocent little voice.
That’s when she absolutely lost it.
Violet led her out of the back of the ambulance through the side door and immediately pulled her into a hug.
“Stella. Listen to me, ok? Kelly will be ok. He’s going to be fine. I know the medic working on him, Jake. He’s great. Like Sylvie level. Kelly is in the best hands with Jake.” she assured her.
Stella’s sobs calmed down as she just stayed in Violet’s room embrace.
“Right now though, CeCe and Riley need their mommy. They’re terrified and hurt and they NEED you. And Bodie’s gonna need his mommy too. I had Kylie go pick him up from the station and take him back to your apartment. Once we get the girls to Med I’m going to have Chief take 61 out of service and Lizzie and I will go stay with him.”
Stella nodded. And then she heard the girls start crying again.
“I want mommmmmyyyy.” she heard Riley whine.
And as if on cue, Stella climbed back into the back.
“Shh. I’m right here baby. You’re ok. Auntie Vi is gonna take us to Med now. Daddy’s gonna be right behind us, I promise.” Stella softly spoke, squeezing CeCe and Riley’s hands.
And then they were off to Med. And Stella still wasn’t sure where Kelly was dead or alive right now.