CHAPTER TWO
~cross over special~
going to war, cfd part 1
when to let go, cm part 2

Sam and Jay run into the building of the structure fire that firehouse 51 is currently trying to work on when they see Chief Boden and Sam says, "Chief"

"The Halsteads, what's going on?" Boden says.

"What floor is the fire on?" Jay asks.

"Twenty. Why? What's up?"

"My dad lives on 23" Jay says, and Sam tightens her grip around her husband's hand. Chief Boden gets on his radio and says, "Casey, what's it looking like up there?"

"Hang on, Chief. We're almost there"

Then a loud boom roars through the building, and the three look towards the direction, fear written on all their faces.

"Fire's to advanced on 20, chief. We can't get a foothold" Casey says, through his radio.

"Okay, new plan. Squad searches 21. Truck continues to to 22. Engine 37, get a hold of that fire floor" Boden says.

"Copy that, Chief"

"So, you're not searching 20?" A man with a fire uniform like Boden wears asks from behind the trio. Boden turns around and says, "You heard him. That hallway is fully engulfed" then he turns towards Jay, "Where's your father?"

"He lives in 23C" Jay answers.

"Is he up there now?"

"We don't know. He's not answering" Sam says, then looks over at the apartment manager, "Excuse me, have you seen Pat Halstead today?"

"Sorry, I don't know him. There's over 500 residents in the tower" the manager says. Jay looks at Boden and says, "Chief, my dad's got a heart condition"

"It's okay. We're working our primary search. Twenty three is next" Boden says.

"Do your thing. How can we help?"

"Keep the doorway clear, would you?"

"Yeah, of course" Sam says, as the couple heads for the entry doorways, trying to keep people away from them.

A few minutes later, Casey's voice comes through the radio and says, "Chief, 22 is cleared. Kidd and I are heading to 23"

"Copy that. Casey, I got Sam and Jay Halstead here. Jay's father lives on 23C. He's not answering his phone. Take a look" Boden says.

"On our way"

As Sam and Jay keep the doorways clear, Boden walks outside to check out the fire, when Casey's voice comes in through the radio again, "Chief, we're in 23C right now"

"Halstead" Boden yells, making the couple run over to him, "Go ahead, Casey. What'd you find?"

"Nothing. The apartment's empty. No sign of Mr. Halstead"

"Carry on, Casey" Boden says, then looks at Jay, "That's good news, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks Chief" Jay says making his wife sigh, as Boden walks away, then he takes out his phone to call Will, "Hey, man, they just made it to Dad's apartment. He's not there. You hear back from him?"

"No, I just tried his cell again. Still nothing" Will says.

"Same. You think of anywhere else he might be?"

"No, the guy likes to stick to his routines. You know that. A walk in the morning, then home for lunch. He should be back by now"

"Alright, well, I'm gonna keep an eye out. You just let me or Sam know if you hear from him. I'm guessing he'll call you first" Jay says, before hanging up.

"Jay, look at me" Sam says, placing her hands on his scruffy face, "I know you and your dad don't have a great relationship, but it's okay to be worried. We'll find him"

Jay pulls his wife into a hug, the grip of his arms tightening around her waist, not wanting to ever let go.

After a few minutes and some phone calls the couple runs back into the building being met up with Chief boden who asks, "Anything?"

"Nothing. No one's heard from him. I'm worried he's still inside somewhere" Jay says, then walks over to the building manager, pulling up a picture of his dad to show him, "Come on, you must have seen this guy today, Pat Halstead. He's a crusty old pain in the ass. He never smiles. Loves to yell at people"

"Okay, yeah, yeah. I know the guy. I haven't seen him today" the manager answers.

"Does he have any friends in the building?" Boden questions.

"I see him sometimes pushing Mr. Strouse. He's in a wheelchair. Ronnie Strouse"

"A guy in a wheelchair? What floor does he live on?" Sam asks.

"Uh, 25C. Top floor"

"That's where he went, for sure" Jay says, as he and Sam start for the stairs. Boden grabs onto Jay's arm, stopping him and says, "Halstead. I can't have a cop get killed on my fireground. My men will handle it."

Sam looks at the stairs and back at Boden who continues, "Sam, don't do it" then he tunes on his radio, "Casey, what's your location?"

"I'm on 24 looking for the number three car. We can't open the doors. There's no dropkey access" Casey says.

"Okay. You make your way to unit 25C. Look for a wheelchair bound resident"

"Copy that, Chief"

After a few minutes have passed and Jay pacing back and forth, while Sam tries to comfort him, Casey's voice comes through the radio again saying, "Chief, I got two victims on 25, Jay's father and his friend"

"Good call. What's their condition?" Boden asks, as the couple walks over to them.

"They're both conscious and responsive, but Mr. Halstead is in rough shape. I need a hand."

"I'll see who's close by" Boden says, walking away from the couple. Sam wraps her arms around her husband's neck, as he wraps his arms around her waist and sighs into her neck.

As Casey makes his way out of the building with Pat Halstead over his shoulder, bringing him over to the ambulance, Jay and Sam run over to them.

"Dad!" Jay shouts.

"Is he alright?" Sam asks.

"He was above the fire floor. Swallowed a lot of smoke" Casey says, carefully setting Pat on the gurney, assisted by two paramedics, "Been in and out of consciousness"

"Casey, thanks, man" Jay says, before Matt walks away, "Dad! Hey, this is my father. His name's Pat Halstead. He's 64 years old" Jay tries to explain, as Pat struggles against the paramedics and starts coughing, "Listen, he had bypass surgery a month ago. Dad, can you hear me?"

"He looks hypoxic. Let's get him on oxygen" the female paramedic says.

"We can do CO levels and EKG en route, rule out cardiac dysrhythmia" the male says. Jay holds onto his dad's hand, who starts coughing and says, "I'm okay, Jay, I'm okay"

As Mouch and Ritter bring out Pat's friend Ronnie, Sam says, "Pat, Ronnie looks like he's gonna be okay."

"You did good, dad. You're damn lucky to be alive" Jay says, then looks at his wife, "I'm gonna ride with my dad"

"Yeah, go. I'll ride with Ronnie" Sam says, as Jay leans in to kiss her, who is stunned by the action.

Jay then gets into the back of the ambulance with his Dad and they drive off. Sam still stands there, shocked, then walks over to the ambulance across the way to ride with Ronnie.

🌙🌙🌙

Sam walks down the hall at Chicago Med when she sees her best friend, Sylvie and the new paramedic at 51 and says, "Kelly? What's going on?"

Kelly looks at Sam with tears in his eyes and says, "It's Stella, she lost air and-"

Sam cuts Kelly off by bringing him into a hug and says, "She's gonna be okay, Kells. She has too" when Matt and the other firefighters from 51 walk in, and she lets go of the hug.

"Matt, hey. Thanks again for getting Jay's dad out" Sam says, pulling the blonde man into a hug.

"How did you let this happen?" Kelly questions Hermann with tears in his eyes.

"Hey. Severide" Matt warns.

"You're supposed to have her back, Hermann!"

"Hey, she didn't tell me that her alarm went off. She was trying to save you" Hermann says. Kelly looks at the older man, then walks away, but not before punching the wall next to them.

Sam puts her hand on Hermann's shoulder and shows him a slight smile, before following after her best friend.

Sam follows Kelly down the hall and catches his arm and says, "Kelly, stop for a second. Hermann was just doing his job"

"Stella is seriously hurt, because of him"

"Kelly Eugene Severide, do not blame this on him. Stella will make it. She's a fighter. Now let me see your punching hand" Sam says, grabbing onto her friend's hand to check it out, "Well, it's definitely going to be bruised"

"Why are you always right?"

Sam smirks and says, "Because I'm a girl" and Kelly chuckles, kissing his best friend's forehead, "Now, I'm gonna go check in on Jay's dad. Will you be okay, by yourself?"

Kelly nods his head, as Sam hugs him, before walking away.

Sam walks into the room where Pat Halstead is being checked out by Will and Jay says, "Dad, had to play the hero. He forgot he was in his 60s with a bum ticker"

Pat coughs again, laying back on the bed, as Will checks his lungs and Pat says, "Yeah, well. This is your fault to begin with"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Stick me in that fire trap"

"Pop stop talking" Will orders.

"You said you liked the place" Jay says.

"You close on the EKG?" Will asks the nurse.

"Close" 

"What's the point of this" Pat questions, pushing everyone away.

"Easy!" Will says, as Jay places his thumb and pointer finger on the brim of his nose and sighs, "Paramedics said you were complaining of chest pain. Did you forget you had a quadruple bypass  a few weeks ago. Come on, stay still"

"Hey, if it isn't my favorite patient" Connor Rhodes says, walking into the room with his tablet, "How you doing, Mr. Halstead?"

"Fine" Pat breathes out.

"So you felt some tightness in your chest, huh?"

"It's nothing"

"Well, you might be right. I don't see any ST elevation or depression. No left access deviation. Looks like a strong and healthy heart to me" Connor explains, as Sam interlaces her fingers with Jays.

"Yeah, good. We done?"

"Nope, not yet. You still have a pretty nasty inhalation injury"

"Can I get a CBC, CMP, and a carboxyhemoglobin?" Will says.

"And add a full cardiac workup" Connor says, giving the tablet to the nurse.

"Dr. Rhodes?" Maggie says, walking into the room, "Dr. Choi needs a consult"

"Yeah. Mr. Halstead, a pleasure as always"

"Thanks, Connor" Will says, pulling up the side railings of the bed.

Connor smiles at Sam and says, "Hey Sammy"

"Hi Connor" Sam says, as Rhodes leaves the room. Jay raises an eyebrow, but doesn't think to much of it when his dad says, "I don't need all this"

"Calm down, you're getting yourself worked up" Jay says.

"What do you know? You're no doctor"

Sam rolls her eyes and Jay scoffs and says, "Forget it"

"Pop" Will says, trying to make him stop talking.

"You had no right to sell my house" Pat says.

"You want to talk about this again? It was a wreck. You couldn't take care of the place" Jay says.

"You just wanted my money"

"Hey!" Will shouts.

"You don't have any money, you thankless old prick" Jay says then looks at his brother, "Whatever" before walking away.

"Jay" Will says, then looks at his sister in law. Sam nods and says, "I got it" before following after her husband, who is at the nurses station.

"Jay.." Sam says, walking over to him and placing her hand on his back. Jay scoffs and says, "He doesn't get it, he-"

Sam shuts her husband up by bringing him into a kiss. Jay's eyes widen then they shut, placing his hands on her hips, then says, "What was that for?"

"To try and calm you down"

Will walks out of the room, putting hand sanitizer on his hands and over to his brother and sister in law and says, "Dad's stable. Why don't you go in and talk to him. You know, make up?"

"Well, he started it. And thanks a lot. We agreed that we were gonna sell that place and you just stood there. You didn't any anything"

"What's the point in arguing with him? He's old, he's sick, just let it go"

"That's fine for you to say. You're not the bad guy here"

"Jay, come on"

"No, seriously. All those times you were away, and all those times you said that you couldn't leave the hospital, who took care of dad? Me"

"I did plenty for dad. I still do. Who goes and checks on him. Keeps him on his meds?"

"Yeah, alright" Jay scoffs, "Tell you what. When he gets out of here, you find him his next apartment" then he walks away. Sam sighs and follows after her husband...again.

~~~

Jay and Sam walk into Pat's hospital room where Will is doing CPR and Jay asks, "What's going on?"

Will checks for a pulse then says, "He's in V-Fib. Charge to 200 and give me the paddles" then the nurse gives him the paddles, "Clear" then the paddles sends an electric shock through his body, then Will checks his dad's pulse, "Still no pulse. Push a milligram of epi" then he starts doing chest compressions.

"Will" Jays says, then interlocks his fingers with his wife's.

"Charge to 200" Will says, then the nurse gives him the paddles, "Clear" and the paddles sends another wave of electricity through Pat's body, "Nothing. Another milligram of epi" then he starts doing chest compressions again and then looks over at Jay and Sam.

~~~

"How long before you restored sinus rhythm?" Abrams asks, looking at the computer screen. Will folds his arms over his chest and says, "He was down around five minutes"

"Well, that's consistent with what I'm seeing. Almost no EEG waveforms"

"What does that mean?" Jay asks. Abrams sighs, looking at Will and says, "You want to tell him?"

"We're not seeing some brain activity?" Will says.

"Artifacts. Distortion, interference. Dust on the window"

"Okay, I am not following" Jay says.

"Your father's brain dead"

Sam covers her mouth in shock as Jay looks at his brother, who has tears in his eyes and says, "So he's just not coming back? Like, you...What, you're saying that there's...there's no chance?"

"If I had to calculate the odds, I'd say 1,000 to one against" Abrams says, then looks at Will, "This vent could be put to better use"

"What? Are you serious?!" Jay shouts.

"Jay, please.." Sam says.

"The hell is wrong with you, man? Are you kidding me?!"

"We'll talk about it" Will says, putting his hand on his brother's chest, "Thanks Sam"

Once the doctor leaves. Jay slams the curtain open and walks out. Sam takes a deep breath and looks at Will and says, "I'm sorry, Will"

"Thanks, Sam"

Sam then follows after her husband saying, "Jay, slow down and talk to me"

Jay quickly turns around with tears gathered in his eyes and says, "I want to hate him so much, but...he's my dad"

Sam pulls her husband into a hug and says, "I know, baby. I know. It's okay, I know what it's like to lose a parent and I will help you through this however"

~~~

While Jay and Will talk about what to do about their dad, Sam goes off to find her best friend.

"April" Sam says, walking over to the dark skinned nurse.

"Hey, Sam"

"Where's Kelly?"

"Choi had him escorted out"

"Everything okay?"

April shakes her head. Sam then looks into Stella's room and sighs, before going to find her friend.

After about 10 minutes or so, Sam finds Kelly outside, sitting on the ledge of a flower bed right outside the hospital and when she goes to sit down, she places her hand on his back, as he has his head buried into his hands.

"Kells, what happened?"

Kelly lifts his head up and says, "She lost a lot of blood. And the only way to save her is to take out her lung"

"Then she won't be able to be a firefighter anymore"

"I know"

Sam lays her head on her best friend's shoulder and says, "It's gonna be okay, Kells. Even if she can't be a firefighter anymore, she'll be alive and isn't that what's most important?"

"Yeah, but it's her life, Sammy. They can't just take that away from her"

"I know. Maybe if we talk to April, we can find some other way to help her"

~~~

Sam walks down the hall from talking with April and catches up with Connor and says, "Rhodes, wait up"

Connor turns around and says, "Sam, I need to get scrubbed"

"Just...listen for a second. Being a firefighter is Stella's life. And if there's another way to-" Connor cuts the brunette off and says. "Sam, listen to me. As her doctor this is the best treatment for her. We haven't been able to contact her family"

"Firehouse 51 is her family. And I bet you your next paycheck, she'd say the same thing. Connor, if you go in there to do the surgery with another way to save her without taking out her lung, do it and if you don't and you use the easy way out, then you're not the guy I used to know" Sam says, before walking away.

~~~

Sam sits beside her husband, with their daughter sat on her lap (after Lucy had brought her over. Sam thought it could help calm Jay down if he saw her) and rubbing his back as he holds onto his dad's hand when Will walks in and says, "Hey, Jay. We gotta take Dad off the vent"

"What?" Sam and Jay say in unison.

"No, no, no. He..." Jay starts, as he wipes tears from his eyes, "We've been sitting with him and he blinks his eyes. And I grabbed his hand and he squeezed my hand. He squeezed my hand"

"Mama?" Gracie says, looking up at her mom after seeing her dad and uncle with tears in their eyes. Sam moves her daughter's hair from her eyes and says, "Shh. It's okay, baby"

"Those are just reflexes. They don't mean anything" Will says, leaning his hands on the end of the bed.

"I'm telling you, man, he knows that I'm here. I've been talking to him about Gracie"

"He doesn't. He can't hear you"

"We can't, he's..." Jay says, more tears gathering in his eyes, making Sam tear up, "He's gotta come back, man, cause...That can't be the last conversation I ever have with him"

"Look, whatever regrets you have, you're not gonna resolve them here. You just gotta accept that"

"Don't tell me what I got to accept"

"Jay, the reason Gwen encouraged us to take our time with Dad? His bypass was 29 days ago. If he dies before 30 days are up, regardless of why, it's a fatality for the hospital"

"So what?"

"So Gwen's just trying to keep dad alive for one more day so the hospital doesn't take the hit"

Jay stands up from his seat and says, "I get it. You feel betrayed. I don't care. I care about dad"

"And you think he'd want to be kept alive to buff some numbers?"

"You need to get out. You got to get out, man" Jay says, pushing on his brother's chest to move him out of the room.

"Guys.." Sam says, looking down at her daughter, who has a quivering lip, indicating she's about to cry. Will points his finger at his dad and says, "They're using him"

"That's your problem" Jay says, physically pushing his brother out of the room.

"Jay, he's gone" Will says, as Jay accidentally hits him in the mouth. Sam gets up from her seat, walking out to the hall holding her almost three year old in her arms (who wanted to wear a puffy pink tutu), who's crying, seeing her dad and uncle fight and says, "Damn it, guys. Stop it. You're making your niece and daughter upset"

Jay storms back into the room and sits back in front of his dad, holding his hand and cries.

A few minutes later, and Sam sits back next to her husband, who is holding their daughter on their lap when Connor peaks his head through and says, "Sam.."

Sam looks over at Connor and nods her head and says, "I'll be right back" to her family before getting up and following Dr. Rhodes out into the hall, "How'd it go?"

"You put me in a terrible position. But we only had to take out half her lung. So, she'll be back to work in no time" Connor explains. Sam smiles, bringing the doctor into a hug and says, "I knew you'd do the right thing"

"Because, you have such a way with words, Mrs. Halstead"

As Sam was about to say something, Gracie walks around the corner, hiding behind her mom's legs.

"Who's this little ballerina?" Connor asks, smiling.  Sam smiles and picks up her daughter and says, "This is my daughter Gracie. Gracie, baby, this is my friend, Connor. Can you say, hi"

Gracie waves her small hand rapidly at the stranger, then lays her head back on her mom's shoulder.

"Thank you again, Connor. You don't know how many people you just made happy"

Connor shows a soft smile and walks away.

A few minutes later, Will walks back into the room and says, "Sam, can we have a minute?"

"Yeah, of course" Sam says, standing up from her seat with Gracie in her arms, and places her hand on the back of Jay's neck then leaves the room, so Jay and Will can have some alone time with their father.

a/n;

Whoa, what an intense first two cross overs 🤭
Jay and Will lost their father, and Sam will obviously be there in any way possible to help them!
The last of the cross over, ending with PD is the next chapter and should be up soon!!
& imagine how cute Gracie looks in a tutu!
Fun fact: Adam is the one that bought her the tutu 💖 #unclegoals