Burning Flames (Chicago Fire Fan-fiction) - Under Editing

Chapter 5: Racing Heart

When I get home I walk in and look at my Wall of Fame board. It has pictures of my favorite people on it, and at the bottom corner is a picture of me and Casey. He had come over to fix my apartment window and eat.
I smile at the memory. It was just about a week after him and Hally had broken up.
I walk over to the fridge and grab a beer and head for the TV. I'm just about to sit down when someone knocks. I walk over and open the door.
Cruez, in full bunker gear, grabs my arm and says, "Come on. Set your beer down, grab your helmet, and let's go. We need your assistance on a fire three blocks from here."
I set my beer down run to the kitchen and grab my helmet, jacket, and radio belt. Then, come back out to the truck and take a set of bunker gear from Herman. I mutter a thanks and hop in the truck.
We reach the scene a few minutes later. I start to roll hose when Casey hands me an air mask and tells Otis, "Otis, start rolling hose. I'm taking Dawson in with me."
Without a question I switch radios out, put the tank on, and grab a halligan. We run in to the building and head for the second floor as Herman, Cruez, and Mouch all check the first floor. I immediately find a woman and her two kids in the first room I check.
"Casey, got two kids and a woman." I say in to my radio. Then I turn to the kids and woman. I yell over the sound of the flames, "Over here, come on!"
I pick up the smallest kid as he reaches me and I meet Mouch on the stair well.
"Here, get them out of here I'm going to go help Casey." I tell him and he nods and takes the boy with his sister and mother following. I reach the second floor and here Casey yell, "Chicago Fire Department is anybody in here."
I jog over to him as he tells me, "Last room on this floor let's head to third."
We get half way up when the bottom half collapses and I almost fall through, but Casey grabs my hand in time to catch me. The stairs he's laying on start to creak and I tell him, "Let me go, your going to fall too."
"I'm not leaving another firefighter behind. I've had too many be injured or die in a fire by my side. I won't let it happen again." He replies.
I nod and grab his other hand he pulls me up slowly onto the stairs they start to creak again and I flatten myself to the floor. I start to crawl up the remaining stairs to the third floor. We immediately start checking rooms and only find a little girl in her closet. I coax her out and then we here over the radio from Chief Bowdan, "Get out of there now, it's about to flash!"
I radio back, "Chief, Casey and I are trapped on the third floor last room on the right of the front of the building. The stairs collapsed on our way up and we have a girl here about eight or nine."
I walk over to the window and try opening it, but it's been soldered shut. I tell the girl, "Stand back I'm going to bust the glass out."
She nods and steps away from the window. I take my halogen and bust all the glass out of the window. The ladder and Severide reach us a few minutes later. I pick the girl up and hand her to Severide. He takes her down and comes back up. I look at Casey and know he won't go before me, he's already told me he won't let that happen again. I walk back over to him and hand him the halogen then go back over to the window and take Severides hand and get on the ladder Severide looks up and says, "Dawson move now!"
I look at him then look up. Casey is running for the window so I move down the ladder and he jumps out the window he catches the edge of the ladder with one hand and I grab his other. Severide grabs his other hand and we pull him up. The start to lower us when the building blows. I feel a shiver run down my spine as it does.
As we get down off the ladder I look at Casey as he pulls his mask off. I say, "Mills get over here Casey needs a medic. Casey your bleeding. You must have hit your head jumping out the window."
He reaches up and touches the side of his head, and when he lowers his hand it's covered in blood. He looks at me and says, "Shit." Right before he passes out, and falls to the ground. I half-catch half-drop him as Peter Mills and Shay rush over with the medic bags. I immediately kick into a pare medics mind set and start taking his helmet off. Shay hands me a c-collar as Mills takes his vitals. I put the c-collar on him and start checking pupil dilation and Shay starts cleaning his head. Mills reports, "All his vitals are stable except for blood pressure it's low. He most likely passed out from blood loss and I tell him, "Start an IV drip 600 mg."
He nods and starts the drip as I go get the cot. When I return they are starting to load him up and quickly get him in the ambulance. I watch for a minute as they drive off, my heart racing...