A Slow Burn // Brian 'Otis' Zvonecek // Chicago Fire ✔️

39 || HOME

Now that Riley was awake and recovering, it was time for Otis to return to work, something he'd actually been dreading a little bit from the day Riley woke up.

It's not that he didn't want to return to the firehouse, because he did. It was just that he seemed to have developed a small touch of separation anxiety when it came to leaving Riley alone, especially during shift hours given what happened last time. Even though he was pretty certain she'd be safe, given that she was still in hospital and wasn't being released until tomorrow, he still found himself reluctant to leave her.

"You're going to be late." Riley said, her voice muffled from the fabric of Otis's jacket as she lay with her head against his chest, enjoying the light circles he traced on her waist where his hand was currently placed.

"I'll be fine. The firehouse isn't far from here." Otis replied quietly, leaning down to place a soft kiss atop Riley's head, something he had done many times that morning as it was like a reminder to him that she was truly there with him.

Otis had shown up to the hospital about an hour ago, already dressed for his shift as he wanted to get as much time with Riley that morning as he possibly could. He knew he probably wouldn't get much chance to swing by and see her during the day, maybe once or twice, so he wanted to make the most of every last second before the twenty four hour wait until he could take her home.

He knew that that twenty four hour wait was probably going to feel like the longest day of his life, but he knew it would all be worth it in the end.

"Baby, you need to go." Riley said reluctantly as she sat up, turning herself to face him better. She didn't want him to go but she wasn't about to make him miss another day of work either.

"I'm not going to be the one responsible for you being late." Riley added with a touch of humour, the small smile on her face making the corners of Otis's lips rise a little in response before they fell back down into what looked like a small frown, which only made her a little confused. "Brian, what is it?"

Otis just let out a quick sigh, feeling as Riley's fingers laced with his. He didn't want to tell her that he was scared to leave her alone as he didn't want to seem weak or pathetic, but he knew he couldn't hide how he was feeling from her for very long as Riley seemed to be very good at reading him and she would probably figure it out by herself anyway.

"I just..." He sighed again, running his free hand down his face. "I'm having a little trouble... leaving you." Otis added, very quietly and with a touch of redness creeping up on his face as he felt a little embarrassed admitting that to her.

"Oh, baby." Riley breathed out as she shuffled closer to him, her hand cupping the side of his face as her heart warmed immensely over hearing that. "You don't have to worry anymore, I'm perfectly fine."

"I know, I... I can't help but worry given what happened last time I went to shift without you." Otis replied, not wanting to bring up the real reason he wanted to stay by her side for as long as he could...

The real reason being that he still hadn't recovered from hearing, and seeing, her flatline. Twice. That had been a reminder that he could lose her at any second, and he never, ever wanted to have to go through that again.

"I'll be okay, I promise." Riley breathed out, tracing her thumb down the side of his moustache like she often did. "Owens is in prison, he can't hurt me anymore... And even if he could, I've got something that's way better than a knife or even a baseball bat."

"You do?" Otis asked, his eyebrow arched a little bit as he half expected Riley to pull out a gun, one that he'd have had no idea how she'd gotten.

"I do." Riley replied, a little grin on her face as she lifted the call button that lay next to her. "I have a direct link to nurse Maggie, and you know that no one is a match for her." She added with a touch of humour, meaning for her words to be more of a joke than anything but she could tell that they made Otis feel a little bit better as he was currently trying to fight against the smile that wanted to form of his face.