Malia Ryland has just arrived in Chicago and is starting her first shift as a nurse at the Chicago Medical Center while waiting for a vacancy in one of Chicago's firehouses as a paramedic.
Warning : some chapters contain scenes with sexual content.
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I wake up in the middle of the night having a nightmare about what happened at the hospital. I calm down in a few minutes but I can't get back to sleep so I decide to go to the kitchen for a glass of water.
As I am filling the glass, the door to Kel's room opens. "Malia, what's wrong?" Kelly asks me as he approaches. "It's okay, don't worry, it's just a nightmare" I say, wiping away the tears from my cheeks. He takes me in his arms and waits for me to finish my glass of water. "You're sleeping with me for the rest of the night and it's not up for discussion", he says, looking me in the eyes.
That's why I wake up the next day with my head on his chest and his arms around my waist. I get up very slowly so I don't wake him up and go make breakfast. When I go to shower afterwards, Kel has to help me again because I can't get a sleeve off. And the same thing at the end of the shower. We spend all day Tuesday at his apartment reminiscing about our childhood memories.
I'm spending the rest of the week at Kelly's. When he's on call, I go with him to the firehouse and cook dinner. These few days at the fire station allow me to get closer and get to know the firefighters and paramedics at the fire station better.
On Sundays, I can finally manage completely by myself so I decide to go back to my apartment to give Kelly his privacy. I don't have the opportunity to see him again the following week but we continue to send messages and call each other.
I'm back on shift the next Tuesday at 10 am. My shift is normally spent with a dozen patients to treat. As for me, I don't take care of serious cases.
I leave my shift at 10 am and I go home to rest.
During the day, I receive a text message from Maggie who tells me that Kelly went to the Med after an operation and that he just has a small concussion so nothing serious.
In the evening I go to Molly's to join Kel in a taxi. Arrived on the spot, I see Stella Kidd and Gabby behind the bar. I take a beer and chat with the girls.
Stella asks me "so you wouldn't know if Severide has found a girlfriend? It's been a long time since he's been seen with anyone". "I don't think so, at least he hasn't told me about it", I answer.
"You wouldn't happen to be going out with him, would you?" Gabby says to me with a smirk on her face. "Me? No, I don't think he's interested in me anyway", I say. "You're kidding! You've become his main topic of conversation and it's been a long time since he's talked so much about a girl", says Stella.
"Are you interested in him?" Gabby asks me. I blush a little and say, "He's a very handsome man, we're not going to lie to each other and I may have been in love with him when we were kids but I'm already very happy to have my best friend back, so for now that's enough for me". "So if he asks you out on a date, you wouldn't say no?" Stella asks. "To think about it", I say with a smile.
Then I hear, "So what are you girls talking about?". I turn around and see Kelly. "Nothing at all" I answer quickly and drag him to a table.
"So what made you have a concussion?" I ask. "Who told you?" Kelly answers. "Maggie" I say. "Nothing serious, I had to jump off a burning building with Casey. I must have landed badly in the water that's all" Kelly says. "Avoid things like that next time. We'll make a deal. I'll stop doing shifts where crazy people are shooting at people and you calm down about your interventions", I say by reaching out my hand. "Deal", Kelly says, shaking my hand and smiling.
As we talk, I see Stella and Gabby watching us and Kelly eventually notices it too. "Lia, is there a problem?" he asks suddenly. "Absolutely not, don't worry" I say.
We keep talking and we're joined by some police detectives that Kelly introduces me to. Among them is Will's brother Jay. One of the detectives Adam Ruzek flirts openly with me in front of the others. Around midnight, I'm tired so I ask Kelly if he can bring me back.
In the car, Kelly asks me "Are you interested in Adam?". I look at him with big eyes "absolutely not, it is not at all my style". I hear him whisper a "good thing".
The conversation with the girls comes back to my mind, I ask him "and you there is someone who interests you? Some of your colleagues have told me that they haven't seen you with a girl in a long time". "I might have someone in mind", he says, but he doesn't give me any more details. So I drop the case and talk about something else.
Arrived in front of my house, I thank Kelly and leave the car. I expect him to go away but he gets out of the car and goes towards me.
"Lia?" he says. "Yes, Kel?" I answer, taking out my apartment keys.
He takes my face in both hands and says, "The girl I have in mind is you". Then he puts his head down and kisses me. I answer immediately, close my eyes and it turns into a passionate kiss. I move my face back a little because I need some air and put my forehead against his.
"I've been waiting three weeks for you to say that, Kel!" I say all smiles. We kiss again. "You and me tomorrow night after your shift, we're going out to dinner", Kelly says. "Could it be a date, Mr. Severide?" I say amused. "Absolutely Miss Ryland", he says. I kissed him and said, "With great pleasure, Lieutenant". Kel kisses me on the forehead and I go up to my apartment with butterflies in my stomach.
That night, I fell asleep with a smile like I hadn't had in a long time.
I start my shift at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The end of the day on Thursday goes pretty well. I mainly have casts to do or blood tests. During the night, I manage to rest between patient checks. Friday, on the other hand, is a completely different matter.
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