day twenty seven - road rage
notes: in honor of The Tortured Poets Department release....another chapter of me torturing Kelly in some way.
See you soon for part two
read on AO3 or below
Life for the Severides had been nearly perfect for several months. There were many reasons, but the main reason was that Stella was pregnant.
The pregnancy had been a surprise. They’d talked about kids and knew that kids would be in their future, but they hadn’t exactly been trying for a baby when Stella got pregnant. Nonetheless, it was a happy accident and after the initial shock wore off, Kelly and Stella were ecstatic about becoming parents.
Thankfully, Stella’s pregnancy had been textbook and now, at 37 weeks, she and Kelly were waiting on pins and needles for their baby to arrive.
It was the morning after Stella’s baby shower and Kelly was taking Katie to the airport before shift. His sister had flown in a few days before to spend time with the expectant parents and celebrate her first niece or nephew. It had been a wonderful few days, but Katie had only those few days before she had to fly home and return to work.
Kelly had volunteered to drop her off at the airport before heading to the firehouse that morning so he kissed Stella goodbye and he and Katie were on their way.
Neither of them knew how the day would turn out.
The airport wasn’t too busy, one of the few perks of the early morning hour, so it didn’t take long for Kelly to drop Katie off at departures. He still had over an hour and a half before shift started but he didn’t want to risk waking Stella up again by returning home just to leave a little while later. So, Kelly swung by Starbucks to grab a coffee and started the drive towards the firehouse.
He’d decided to take the longer way to work since he had the time. It’d be a decision Kelly would quickly come to regret.
Firehouse 51 was quite a ways away from the airport. The drive was quite scenic at this time of morning and with the lack of traffic, Kelly found himself enjoying the drive. That was until he clocked a black sports car in his rearview mirror.
The driver seemed to be distracted or even under the influence—his car was swerving dangerously and he crossed the line into the other lane several times.
Based on how quickly the distance between the two cars had been closed, it was clear to Kelly that the man had been speeding and the gestures currently being thrown proved he wasn’t happy having to slow down. Kelly would’ve happily pulled off to the side and let the guy pass but there was just nowhere safe to do so yet.
Kelly could see a parking lot further up the road and was planning on pulling in but it seemed the man behind him did not want to wait that long to pass.
The Mercedes that had been tailgating him relentlessly the past few minutes suddenly swerved into the other lane and came up alongside Kelly’s car. Even through the dark, tinted windows, Kelly could see the rage and frustration on the other driver’s face.
Without warning, they swerved again, slamming into Kelly’s car with a sickening crunch.
The impact of the hit sent Kelly careening off the road and down the embankment. As Kelly fought to regain control of his car, he saw the black Mercedes speeding down the road.
Kelly’s fight for control was fruitless. Just seconds after his car was bumped from the road it came to a stop, head-on into a group of trees.
The front of Kelly’s car crumpled with the impact and the seatbelt did little to keep Kelly from being tossed around. His head bounced off the window, cracking under the force of the hit. The airbag deployed and stopped Kelly before he could smack into the steering wheel.
WIth unconsciousness threatening to overtake him, Kelly reached for his phone to call 9-1-1. It wasn’t in the cupholder as it had been previously and with his very limited mobility, Kelly couldn’t feel it anywhere else.
He couldn’t move, the now crumpled dashboard trapping his legs.
His head hurt something fierce and while he hadn’t checked, Kelly was certain he was bleeding.
He had no way to call for help and couldn’t hear any other cars driving by who could offer help.
Despite the sun rising higher in the sky, the darkness overwhelming Kelly grew stronger. His last thought before giving in were of Stella and their baby.
… … …
It was just after 8:00 am when Stella made her way into the guest room turned nursery. All of the gifts from the baby shower had been placed there since they’d returned home. Stella took her time going through each gift; she separated the clothes and blankets to wash, she put the toys and books away in the spots they’d planned, and she stored some diapers away in one of the drawers before stacking the other boxes in the closet.
She was so distracted she missed the first call that came through. She caught the second one though and Stella answered when Violet’s name scrolled across her phone screen. “Hey Vi, what’s up?”
“Hey, is Severide running late by chance?”
“No… He left at like 6 this morning because he had to drop his sister off at the airport.” Stella explained. She felt a pit growing in her stomach. The clock on the wall said it was after 9:00 am. Even If there was heavy traffic, Kelly should’ve had plenty of time to get to work. “Why? What’s going on?”
“He hasn’t shown up yet,” Violet said gently. “And we haven’t been able to get ahold of him.”
“Wh-what?” Stella quickly put Violet’s call on speaker and checked to see if she’d missed any calls or texts from Kelly. Nothing. She pulled up his location and couldn’t find it anywhere on the map. “I can’t find his location.”
The sadness and growing desperation in Stella’s voice was easily heard through the phone.
“Yeah, we tried calling him a few times before we called you but they all went to voicemails,” Violet said gently. “Let’s not panic just yet, there might be a perfectly reasonable explanation.” “Like what, Violet?”
Violet sighed. “I don’t know, but here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to come pick you up and bring you to the firehouse. We’ll figure out the next steps then but I don’t think you should be alone right now.”
“Yeah, okay,” Stella said quietly, moving towards her and Kelly’s bedroom. “I’ll be ready when you get here.”
Stella hung up the phone and got dressed and ready as quickly as she could. While she waited for Violet to arrive, Stella grabbed her phone and dialed Kelly’s number. She desperately hoped Kelly would answer and tell her he was okay and this was all a big misunderstanding but all she was met with was his voicemail message.
With a sigh, Stella sat on the bed with her phone in her hand. She blinked back the tears welling up in her eyes and tried to calm down. The pit in her stomach had only grown larger in the past few minutes but she needed to stay calm. Stress wasn’t good for the baby and the last thing Stella wanted was to stress herself into labor when she had no idea where Kelly was or if he was okay.
Kelly had to be okay, there was no other option.
Stella couldn’t do this alone.