♣️Season 1, Episode 15♣️
Nicole rushes through the hospital, looking for Shay or Gabby. She got Shay's text about Clarice's baby and then another one about Antonio getting shot. She finds Shay comforting Gabby in the ER, "Hey, I got your text. Gabby, are you okay?"
She joins their hug, sandwiching Gabby between them, "I don't know. I don't know."
"Shh, we've got you. Let it out, we're here," Nicole shares a look with Shay, kissing the back of Gabby's head.
♣️♣️♣️♣️
On shift, Nicole stands with Mills and Shay listening to Gabby tell them about Antonio, "He was really cagey. We were talking before it happened."
Mills moves forward, "He's-he's lucky you were there. Okay?"
He looks to Shay and Nicole as if their presence was stopping him from hugging Gabby, "Pete, it's fine. They know."
That makes him smile and hug Gabby as Shay asks, "Is he out of ICU?"
"No, not yet. I'm gonna go to the hospital after shift."
"We'll go with you, and we can make a stop or two during shift too," Nicole tells her.
Gabby gives her an appreciative smile as Matt comes in, causing Mills and Gabby to pull away a little, "Hey, how is he?"
She shrugs, "He lost a lot of blood, so, their still doing the transfusions."
Matt pats her shoulder, "I'm so sorry. Your brother went so far and above for us with the Voight thing, if there's anything I can do, just let me know."
"Thank you," Gabby smiles, nodding to Nicole knowing Matt's words come from both of them.
"Uh, Chief wanted me to tell you there's a police detective in his office for some follow-up questions," Matt tells her, holding his hand out for Nicole to go with him.
They go to his office, sitting on the bunk, "I hope Antonio pulls through. It would crush Gabby if anything bad happens to him. I'm just imagining how I would feel if that were Kelly. I-I can't even imagine. I'm gonna be there for Gabby a lot until Antonio gets better."
Matt nods, kissing her temple, "I can be there too. I'm sure Chief won't mind if you stop over at the hospital every once in a while."
"I wouldn't care if he did mind."
♣️♣️♣️♣️
Arriving at the lake, they prep for a little boy with possible hypothermia. They watch Kelly descend into the lake as the father shouts, "Please, God, please save my little boy."
Hadley's in charge of the rope and calls out, "Alright, he's at the bottom. Three tugs, he's got him!"
Boden turns around, "Medics, get ready!"
They get him on the stretcher and run, "Get him into the rig, now!"
Shay gets an IV in as Gabby does compressions and Nicole intubates, "Shay, check for lung sounds."
"You're in."
"Let's do a pulse check," Nicole says, seeing tears welling up in Gabby and Shay's eyes as they do as they are told, "Wait, wait a second."
"What?" Gabby asked.
"I got a pulse," She says, feeling around his neck.
Gabby looks for his BP, "BP's 60 over 40."
Nicole smiles, letting out a relieved sigh, "Let's get him to the hospital."
♣️♣️♣️♣️
Next shift, Nicole pours herself a cup of coffee as other's eat around the common room. Shay gets a smirk on her face, "You know what, Nic? Kelly's making a great uncle. Maybe you should make it official for him?"
"Damn, Shay, can I enjoy my engagement and start planning my wedding before you start tracking my cycle and how often Matt and I have sex?" Nicole groans, sitting on Matt's lap and stealing a piece of his bacon.
"But you two are gonna make adorable kids and now you have a ring on your finger."
Nicole chuckles, "All of that is very true, however, we have the rest of our lives and don't need to rush to fit your schedule."
Matt wraps his arms around her waist, "Don't worry, Shay, you'll get a baby from us eventually. Just let us enjoy where we are."
Shay groans, "Fine. Live your life."
♣️♣️♣️♣️
Gabby gathers Matt and Nicole in the briefing room to inform them about her activities regarding Voight. As she tells them, Nicole leans against a table while Matt paces, "They tried to kill Antonio and for all I know they still wanna finish the job. Plus, all those OD's-"
"Voight tried to take me out! He followed Nicole and threatened her! He's a liar and a crook," Matt yells.
"I know. But sometimes, you gotta, you know, dance with the devil."
"Really? Is that the way it works?" Matt asks her.
She tries again, "Casey, I didn't think I had any other choice. I'm sorry."
He just shakes his head, stopping her, "Just do what you need to do, okay? I hope it works out."
Matt leaves the room, leaving just Nicole and Gabby, "Nic, I'm sorry-"
Nicole holds her hands up, "Look. He tormented Matt. He followed me and pulled me over to get to Matt. Made a point of letting Matt knew he could get to me anytime he wanted and didn't care who he hurt as long as he got what he wanted. I understand doing whatever you have to for your brother, but Voight isn't the first route I would have taken. Just....do what you need. I'm gonna go find Matt."
♣️♣️♣️♣️
The ride to the next call was awkward between Nicole and Gabby while Shay tries to make small talk.
"Shay, no offense, but I'm not in the mood right now," Nicole warns the blonde.
"Got it. I'll just...follow Truck."
♣️♣️♣️♣️
Matt and Nicole get back home, Nicole ignoring one of Gabby's calls as Matt shuts the door. Nancy doesn't give them a chance to get settled, "I'm so sorry, Matt. Voan and I just kinda lost track of time and something happened with his car, I don't know, something to do with the clutch. And it broke down on us right in the Eisenhower, of course. We had to call a tow truck, a service center. D-do you want me to get the driver's card or-or the receipt?"
"Yeah," He nods, "Get 'em for me."
Nancy walks past him, shaking her head, "I don't know why I even bother."
Matt looks to Nicole who just nods in encouragement, "You have two weeks to find a new place."
"What? Where am I gonna live? Where am I gonna go?"
"I don't know. You got two weeks to figure it out," He moves past her.
Nancy tries a different route, "He chipped away at me, you know? Every day. Your father. He convinced me that not only was I not a worthy mother, I wasn't even a worthy person. I believed him. Then he started to do it to you. Every day, another sidelong comment. Another criticism. You remember it, I know you do. You started to internalize it. And my worst fear was coming true, that he was gonna do to you what he did to me. So, that night he called, we argued, and he said something about you. Something so cruel. And I snapped. And I went and I got the gun out of the closet he kept it in. And I took the house key that you left out and I drove across town and I shot him. Just to shut him up. Just to never hear those words coming out of his mouth again. I know what you're thinking, I know what you thought. But I know you, Matthew, you don't have that kind of anger inside you. The ability to completely lose control. You're not me. And I think that's what you really wanted to know."
She goes back to her room as Matt stands there for a moment. Nicole steps forward, "Matt..."
"She..." Nicole grabs his hand as he trails off before dragging him to their bedroom.
Sitting him on the bed, Nicole kneels in front of him, "I don't know what your father used to say to you. What I do know is the man I see in front of me, the man that I love, is protective and kind and caring and smart and driven. Your mom's right, you aren't like her. You can't lose control, but more than that, you have people surrounding you, who love you, who won't let you lose control. Look at the Voight situation, you pulled yourself back with Boden's help. You aren't her."
"It's not just her I'm worried about."
"You aren't him either. There is no way in hell that you'd ever be like that. Matt, there has never once been a time, not even during an argument, that you have degraded me or made me feel less than. You make sure that at every point in the day, I know I'm loved. You're so loving," Nicole kisses him, sniffing slightly to stop the tears, "And when we have kids. I know you'll be a damn good father because you could never talk to anyone like that. You are so good, Matthew. So good."
Matt gives her a watery smile, lifting her up so he's hugging her to his body. They lay down in bed, just wrapped up in one another.
♣️♣️♣️♣️
AN: I can't wait until Matt runs for Alderman so that Nicole can remind him how amazing he is while also campaigning for First Lady in the firehouse.
I also can't wait until Kelly does something incredibly stupid that Nicole than scolds him for.
QoC: Do you think Matt is more of a girl dad or a boy dad? For some reason, in my mind, he is a girl dad.
Thanks for all of the votes and reads and comments!!!