"Cindy, honey..." I nudge my wife's leg under the table. I can't stop looking at Imogen. We're all eating dinner yet something has been bothering me for a while. Cindy looks at me, and I mean looks at me. I just interrupted her conversation with lee Henry, I can't blame her for the look she's giving me right now. "What's wrong?" She whispers as the kids have their own conversations. I nod in Imogen's direction, "Imogen isn't looking too good" I whisper discreetly.
Cindy watches our daughter too, "she's even paler than she was last time I brought it up, she looks exhausted and I saw her throwing up earlier. It's been two weeks..." I sigh. Cindy frowns, "did you talk to her about it?" She turns all of her attention to me now. I nod, "she told me it was just something she ate at school" I shrug.
"She can stay home tomorrow, see if that helps. It could be stress, you know how hard she's been working for those exams recently" Cindy opposes. I nod, "I'll tell her to call the station if she needs anything, you're at a conference tomorrow, right?" I enquire. Cindy nods, "yeah, but I'll leave my cell on" she whispers. I nod, before returning to my food, watching a rather quiet Imogen.
~
As I slowly approach Imogen's door, I push the door open after knocking, "hey honey..." I see her curled up in bed despite the early hour. She doesn't even move, she simply gives me a small noise of acknowledgment, "you don't seem too well, what's going on?" I sit down and place my hand on her head. She doesn't really say much other than the word, "sick" which doesn't come out very loud. I look around the room to see everything untouched, even her drum set which is usually dragged into the middle of the room by now.
"You don't have to go to school tomorrow, I'll ring the principal, it's all sorted. You should rest" I run my hand over her arm. She nods weakly as I pull the covers over her, "sleep tight, baby" I plant a small kiss on the top of her head. As I leave her room, I turn the light off and pull the door closed slightly. I walk over to the game room, where the rest of my kids are hanging out, before knocking on the door, "try and keep the noise level down, Imogen's not feeling very well, she's trying to sleep" I nod. They all shoot me a serious nod before turning their chaos down a notch.
~
Walking down the hallway, trying to button up my fire shirt, I stop outside of Imogen's room. I notice that she hasn't really moved much so I keep the door closed to keep as much light out as possible, "we're heading out, honey. There's some lunch and medicine downstairs if you need anything, and please do call me if you start to feel any worse, I'll come straight home" I talk quietly. She nods weakly, leaving me to sneak away whilst she's still sleepy. Once I've gathered the kids up, I begin the school run and say goodbye to my lovely wife.
~
Imogen's POV
I feel like death. Not only am I finding it hard to move, but it hurts to breathe, it hurts to open my eyes and face the light, it hurts to exist at this point. I feel so sick. I can't tell if I feel cold or hot. I don't know what time it is and I can't muster up enough energy to reach my phone which is on the other side of my room. I guess I'll just sleep...
~
I think I just woke up from a nap. I don't know, I can't remember. Hold on- where even am I? Is this even my room? I can't remember... where is everyone? My feet seem to pull me out of this bed and I begin my very slow search for my phone. Dad?
~
Hermann's POV
We just finished running hose drills and I'm exhausted. Violet and Brett also just got back from a call so we're all going to sit down and eat lunch whilst we enjoy some well earned peace. We all take our place at the table, and I'm seated next to Mouch as always. As Gallo begins plating up the food, I immediately feel my phone buzz in my back pocket. Having told Imogen to call me if anything's wrong, I've been on edge all morning.
Hermann: "hey kiddo, is everything okay?"
Imogen: "dad?"
Hermann: "can you hear me, honey?"
Boden walks into the room with his hands on his hips as always, whilst everyone starts their own conversations.
Imogen: "dad, where are you?"
Hermann: "what do you mean, immy? I'm at work..."
Imogen: "I don't know where I am, dad, I'm scared"
Hermann: "slow down kiddo, I can't hear you. What's going on?"
By now, my panicked tone makes several ears prick up. So much so that the entire table falls silent, and all curious eyes are on me.
Imogen: "I don't know where I am"
Hermann: "you're at home, immy. You're in your room, aren't you?"
Imogen: "this is my room?"
I stand up, worried beyond belief, as Imogen rambles a bunch of nonsense down my ear. Boden walks over to the table, "is everything okay?" He frowns. I shrug, "Imogen's at home today. She's sick, but she isn't making any sense..." I look at him. Brett stands up and walks over to where I'm sat, "is she slurring?" She enquires. I nod, "yeah" I pull a face. Brett takes the phone, "hi immy, is everything okay sweetheart?" She takes over. She waits for an answer, but she doesn't get one, the line simply stays quiet yet my daughter doesn't hang up.
By now everyone is stood up, and Boden is nodding at me, "let's go, people!" He yells, ordering everyone out on to the floor and into their trucks. We all hurry onto our vehicles and I don't dare hang up, "I'm coming, immy, I'm coming" I whisper.
After a short journey, I quickly lead the team into the house. Violet and Brett follow right behind me with their medical equipment as we run up the stairs and my heart is pounding. Barging into my daughters room, we see her sitting on the floor, her eyes closed and the phone on the floor. I rush over to her, "immy? Honey, c'mon" I lightly tap her face and her eyes slowly open. Brett pushes me out of the way, "hi sweetie, we're gonna' give you some medicine to make you feel better. Okay?" She begins as I stand up.
Stella walks into the room as Kelly follows suit, "is she okay?" She enquires. I sigh, "I don't know, I mean, she's awake" I run a hand over my face...
With the medicine administered and my daughter carried into the ambo, we all speed through red lights until we reach the hospital and I lose sight of my daughter as she's rushed into a treatment room. Begging to stay with her, I get nowhere and instead I'm left standing in the reception with zero answers.
~
Roughly an hour later, Will Halstead walks out of the ED in a search for me. He holds his hand out to calm me down, "she's awake, and she's going to be just fine" he begins. Boden slaps my shoulder and squeezes it firmly, "she has a severe chest infection, likely caused by some kind of superbug going around the local schools. Now she suffered a moment of amnesia so she'll still be a little confused when you first see her, but other than that we're administering some antibiotics and everything should be back to normal in a few days" he concludes. I smile to myself out of relief, "thanks halstead" I slap his arm.
"You can see her now" He adds. I smile at the team shoo me away to go see my daughter and I don't protest. Walking into her room seems like a burden taken away from me, "hey kiddo, I'm here" I sit down next to her. She smiles at my presence, "I was scared" she grumbles. I nod, "I know, but everything's okay. You're okay now..." I brush her hair out of the way. She nods, leaning into me, and I swear I feel the world around me metal way. I have all I need. My family.
𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜
Start from the beginning
