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

58 || SPONTANEOUS

To hear that he'd failed his medical examination to get back on Truck felt like a kick to the stomach for Otis as he'd been working his ass off ever since he was able to walk without a cane.

He had put so much blood, sweat and tears into his physical therapy, pushing himself to limits he didn't think he could ever reach. So to hear that he was somehow worse than he'd been a week ago when he'd gotten his first exam, well that was enough to almost make him completely give up.

"Are you okay?" Riley asked as she entered the bedroom, spotting Otis sitting on the edge of the bed gripping his phone with such strength she thought he might break it. He didn't look up at her when she spoke, didn't even acknowledge her presence which clearly showed that something was bothering him. "Brian?"

"I uh, I just heard back from HQ and I, uh..." Otis cleared his throat, releasing his phone from his tight grip as he threw it back onto the bed. "I failed my medical examination."

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry."

"Doc says I'm worse than I was last time." He added as he looked up at Riley, watching as she walked towards him and soon enough he felt the mattress beside him sink a little as she sat down next to him.

"How's that even possible?" Riley asked, her hand landing on the back of Otis's neck where she gently rubbed her thumb over the small bump of his scar.

"She says I'm over-training, that I'm pushing myself too hard." Otis said with a small scoff as he stood up from the bed, pulling away from Riley's touch which she wouldn't lie and say it didn't hurt her just a small bit. But she didn't let that get to her, he was upset. "Anyway... I scheduled another assessment in a couple days."

"That fast?" Riley questioned as she got to her feet, watching as Otis began to pull his loungewear out of the drawer which clearly indicated he had no plans to go to Molly's tonight.

"Yeah, well, clock's ticking." Otis replied, his back to Riley as his grip around the t-shirt in his hand tensed. "If I don't get back on 81 soon, I might not get back at all."

"Okay, but she told you not to over train... I don't want you to push yourself too hard, it could only make things worse." Riley said softly as she took a few steps towards him and placed her hand on his arm, turning him to face her. "Baby, we all want you back on truck, but it's not worth risking your entire career to rush it, right?"

Otis didn't say anything in response. He just sighed, his eyes dropping to the floor before he moved away from her, hearing her faint sigh as he gripped the handle to the en-suite bathroom, hesitating for a second before he pulled it down and stepped inside.

As the bathroom door clicked shut Riley took a breath, crouching down to pick up the t-shirt Otis had dropped in his haste to get away from her. Or rather his haste to not talk about his medical exam. She knew he was growing impatient, but she didn't want him to push himself too hard otherwise he might ever be able to come back from it and she knew that if Otis never got to be a firefighter again, that it would break his heart.

Pulling out a pair of her own pyjamas, Riley walked over to the bed where she soon began to undress, only when she heard the trickle of the shower in the next room, she stopped. She thought that giving Otis his space right now would be the best option, but she quickly decided that it wasn't.

She knew how hard it was for him to hear that he'd failed his medical exam, especially after how hard he'd been working on his rehabilitation therapy. And she knew how scared he had been about being replaced permanently by Cordova on Truck, how hard it was to see the companies roll out without him, which is why Riley wanted to remind Otis that he wasn't alone in all of this.