JUST A DREAM

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Inspired by the IMDB user Lostie_Canucks007 who said the following "If only they could bring back Shay from the dead but I know, we're not in Dallas are we". It was their comment that inspired this fic, so thank you. Chicago Fire belongs to Dick Wolf and NBC.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Gabby moaned. Her alarm was annoying. She couldn't believe that it was morning already. Wait a minute. That didn't sound like her alarm. She usually had classic rock playing, not a buzzer. What was going on?

"Gabby?" a voice asked anxiously. "Guys, she's awake!" That was Matt. But why did he sound so worried? That didn't make sense. Everything was fine. But maybe something had happened on a call. Oh damn. What had she been doing? She had probably screwed up or disobeyed an order and had probably gotten herself hurt. What had she been thinking?

"That's it, Sweetie. Come on back," another voice encouraged. Shay. That was Shay. Oh man. How could it be Shay? Shay was dead. Was this some kind of cruel dream? She didn't want to be in a world where Shay was still alive and then wake up to find her gone again. She wouldn't be able to handle it. "Gabby, come on. Please open your eyes," the fake Shay encouraged. Almost unwillingly, she opened her eyes-and nearly wept. Shay was at her bedside, looking at her with those big, worried eyes of hers. With a strangled gasp, she started to sit up and throw her arms around her friend. However, the blonde forced her to lie back.

"You're alive," Gabby sobbed. She was alive. She wasn't dead. Oh, Thank God.

"Thank God, you're finally awake," Matt sighed in relief at the same time and the paramedic's brows furrowed in confusion as the statement registered.

"What are you talking about?" she questioned.

"You've been in a coma for three months," Matt stated.

"What?" she gasped. No! That was impossible.

"We had all made it out of the boardinghouse when we realized you and Shay were still inside. We had thought that we had lost you both," Kelly explained.

"No. We-we made it out-but we lost Shay though. We had switched places and a piece of ceiling fell on her, killing her. Kelly, you moped around for a while until you got married and then-"

"Severide got married?" a voice interrupted and the paramedic turned her head towards the door to see the rest of House Fifty-One.

"Hey, Kid. How you feelin'?" Hermann questioned as he and the others walked up to her.

"Confused. What happened?" she wondered, going to sit up and was helped by Shay and Matt.

"We nearly lost you," a man answered and she grinned.

"Clarke, what are you doing here? I thought you transferred to the Forty-Seven," she commented.

"Had to make see for myself that you were okay. We may not be in the same house anymore, but we're still a family," Jeff responded.

"Damn straight," she confirmed and then smiled as he hugged her, watching as a man walked in.

"Hey, she's up!" he said happily.

"Hey, Vargas," she greeted in the same tone. Man, I haven't seen him in ages, she thought to herself. And here he was visiting her. Before she could say anymore, the doctor came in, shooed everyone away, and then went to check to make sure all of her faculties were intact, and was satisfied to find that they were, and everyone came back in.

"So tell us more about Severide getting married," Otis encouraged.

"What?" Vargas asked in confusion, looking at him and Gabby quickly explained everything that she remembered happening, including her becoming a firefighter at Fifty-One.

"And that didn't tip you off that you were dreaming?" Matt teased. "Boden would never allow that, no matter what the circumstances were," he reminded.

"That's right, I wouldn't," the chief confirmed as he came in, betraying the fact that he had been eavesdropping. They're right. Boden wouldn't have compromised like that, she realized. And if she was remembering that while the others didn't, that meant that she had just been dreaming.

"Well, you guys won't have to worry about that. I'm not going to pursue it," she stated.

"What?" the others asked.

"Are you sure? You used to talk about it all the time when you first started here," Kelly reminded and she nodded.

"I'm sure. I've found a home with you guys and I'm happy with that," she told them.

"If you're sure-"

"I am." As they talked, Shay sat down on the bed next to her and Gabby couldn't help but reach out to clasp her hand. She was alive. She wasn't dead. It had all just been a horrible dream. It had been a dream. Just a dream. And now she was back in reality. And she couldn't be happier.