Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey, Captain?”

Casey looks up as Otis knocks on the door, a bowl of popcorn in his hand.

“We’re putting a movie on if you want to watch,” Otis informs him. Casey looks hesitant so Otis adds, “We have popcorn.”

Casey shrugs, setting aside his paperwork and following Otis to the living room and plopping down on the couch in between Severide and Boden. Somebody hands him a metal mixing bowl full of popcorn and he puts it in between on the edge of his lap, in between him and Severide.

The movie starts and they watch it in silence, the sound of chewing popcorn the only exception. It’s about twenty minutes into the movie when the scene changes to a roller coaster scene, the camera diving in and out of black tunnels with a dizzying speed. Casey watches, his head spinning and his stomach turning as the camera follows the coaster down a spiraling path. The camera drops suddenly and that’s all Casey’s stomach can take.

“Pause it,” he orders, quietly. Nobody moves. He yells louder, “Pause it!”

There’s a scramble for the remote and a few seconds later, the movie is paused and Casey had his head between his knees, trying to breathe through the nausea.

“Case? You ok?” Severide asks, putting a hand on his shoulder. Casey doesn’t say anything, instead making a waving motion with his hand.

A few seconds later, Casey loses the battle with his stomach and lunges for the popcorn bowl, gagging.

The first wave of vomit splashes into the bowl, coating the leftover popcorn in his stomach acid and half digested food. He stays over the bowl for a few minutes, his stomach teetering on the edge.

Casey lifts his head after a few minutes to find everyone staring at him.

“Urgh, sorry. The camera was just,” Casey explains, making a dizzying motion with his hands.

“Ey, no problem, Captain,” Herrmann says, slapping him on the back. Immediately Casey pitches forwards again, scrambling for the bowl. Herrmann grimaces, apologizing.

“Let’s put something else on. Independence day?” Severide suggests, having watched it with Casey multiple times before. Everyone’s in agreement so they pop it in, Severide getting up quickly to dispose of Casey’s bowl and grab him a Gatorade.

Chapter Text

“Hey Case, you feeling ok? You’re looking pretty pale,” Severide observes. Casey lifts his head from where it’s lying on the table and shrugs.

“I don't feel too well,” Casey admits. Severide frowns, glancing around the station. Most of the crew was clearly eavesdropping, looking away when Severide turns his gaze towards them.

“Are you going to puke?” Severide whispers. Casey hesitates before nodding his head once.

“Alright, let’s get you to the washroom, buddy.”

Severide grabs Casey by the arm, leading him towards the washroom. Casey slaps a hand over his mouth, swallowing a gag. Severide curses, pushing him towards the washroom quickly.

Severide shoves Casey through the door of the washroom just in time for the blond to throw up, leaning over one of the sinks.

“You know what,” Severide remarks. “I’m going to take this as a win.”

Chapter Text

Casey leans over the toilet, gagging. His stomach had been turning for the better part of the day and he had headed to the washroom when the nausea had finally spiked. He had been kneeling in front of the toilet for the better part of the hour, just trying to bring up anything so his stomach would stop turning.

He leans against the wall of the stall, stuck in his own personal hell until he hears somebody opening the door. Casey stays silent, praying that whoever it is won’t notice and he won’t be sent home. Whoever it is finishes their business and starts washing their hands. They’re just about to leave when Casey’s stomach twists, sending him lurching over the bowl with a loud gag.

He doesn’t bring up anything but whoever it is stops nonetheless as Casey curses himself. They knock on the door of Casey’s stall.

“Hey, are you ok?” They ask and Casey realizes that it’s Severide. He doesn’t answer, trying to figure out how he can get away from this.

“Fine. I’ll be back,” Severide promises.

Casey relaxes slightly as he hears Severide’s footsteps leaving, the door closing behind him. His stomach twinges again and he sighs, leaning his head against the side of the stall.

Wanting to get out of the bathroom before Severide comes back, Casey sticks his fingers in his mouth, pulling them out as he gags. Nothing comes up and he tries it again, sticking his fingers in deeper. Again, nothing. Trying once more, Casey sticks his fingers as far as he can and keeps them in even after he feels his stomach crawling up his throat.

He quickly takes his fingers out as he finally throws up, vomit spraying from his mouth and into the toilet. His stomach rebels again, sending him lurching over the toilet. Somewhere in he background he can hear footsteps coming closer.

“Hey, I’m back. Open up, I’ve got some water,” Severide tells him. Casey doesn’t say anything, still leaning over the toilet as his stomach spasms. He coughs up a few more mouthfuls of bile before his stomach settles somewhat. Casey looks at his vomit covered hand in disgust before Severideks voice rings through the emoty room.

“If you don’t open the door, I’m kicking it down,” Severide threatens and Casey sighs, unlocking the stall door. Kelly steps into the stall, a bottle of water and some advil in hand.

“Casey?!” He exclaims, shocked.

Casey nods as Severide shakes off the shock and hands him the bottle. Casey takes a sip to rinse his mouth out before taking a drink.

“How long have you been sick?” Kelly asks, crouching on the floor beside the captain.

“Been feeling like shit the whole day,” Casey tells him, reaching up to flush he toilet and stand up.

Severide grabs him around the waist, helping to support his best friend as he makes his way to the sink to wash his hand.

“You know I’m going to tell Boden, right?”

“Yeah…”

Chapter Text

“Everyone ready?” Otis calls from the front seat of the bus.

Everybody yells back affirmatives and they set off for their destination. Their destination being a team building exercise that the department had decided was mandatory after the commissioner had visited the station the other day to see Severide and Casey going at it, both bruised and bloody and screaming at each other.

Boden had managed to convince the department to rent them a coach bus so here they were, on the way to some sort of forest for a camping team building exercise.

The ride was uneventful, both officers sitting in the front two seats peacefully, until an hour into the drive when Severide had muttered something under his breath.

“What was that?!” Casey had asked, putting his book away to glare at Severide.

“Guys,” Herrmann warns.

“You heard me,” Severide snaps back.

“No I didn’t. That’s why I’m fucking asking.”

“I said that you were an idiot. Guess I was right,” Severide smirks. Casey launches himself at the lieutenant, both of them throwing punches at each other despite Boden and Herrmann yelling at them to stop.

Boden finally grabs Casey around the waist, dragging him away from Severide. Severide immediately jumps up, punching Casey as he tries to escape from Boden’s hold. Herrmann grabs Severide’s arms and pins him against the bench.

“Both of you! Enough! Severide, front seat! Casey, back! Go!”

Severide grumbles something about being treated like children and Boden turns to glare at him.

“If you don’t want to be treated like a child, don’t act like one!”

The next hour passes, mostly uneventful. Squad had moved up to the front to be near Severide and truck had moved back with Casey and Boden.

Herrmann was the first one to notice something wrong with Casey, Boden noticing shortly after. Both fathers recognized Casey expression and posture for what it was - carsickness.

“Casey? Do you need us to pull over?” Boden asks, moving to sit beside him. Casey hesitates for a few seconds before nodding. Boden stands up, intending to tell Otis to pull over, when Casey doubled over quite suddenly, slapping a hand over his mouth as he gags.

Boden puts a hand on Casey’s shoulder as he looks around frantically, trying to find something to prevent a huge mess.

“Hey!” Herrmann calls up front. “We need a bag or something back here!”

“What’s going on?” Otis yells back.

“Captain’s going to puke,” Herrmann warns.

There’s muffled cursing as everybody searches for a plastic bag or a bin or something. Casey pitches forwards again, vomit spilling from between his fingers and pooling on the floor. Boden quickly moves his feet and puts a hand on Casey’s back, rubbing it as the captain loses whatever contents were previously in his stomach prior. He lurches forwards again, vomiting into his lap, the puke dripping down to coat his shoes.

By the time he was finished, vomit was all over his hands, lap and his feet and had even covered the floor and bench.

“Holy shit,” Herrmann breathes, poking his head over the back of his seat to take in the mess. That’s all it takes for Casey to start sobbing.

“It’s ok, Matt. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s ok,” Boden says, pulling Casey into an awkward side hug, being careful not to make more of a mess. Otis pulls the bus over to the side of the road so they can clean up. Staring at the giant mess, Boden wonders where the hell they should start.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Captain? You ok?” Herrmann asks when Casey stops suddenly, leaning against the burning wall for support. Casey barely has time to rip his mask off before he’s throwing up, vomit splashing against the ground.

“Chief! Casey’s sick,” Herrmann says into the radio.

“Get him out of there!”

“You got it, chief.”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Captain? Do you think we could pull over for a second? I’m not feeling too great.”

Casey pauses, turning around in his seat at Herrmann’s request.

“You going to be sick?” Casey asks. Herrmann nods and Casey signals for Otis to pull over.

“Captain, there’s nowhere to pull over,” Otis tells him, glancing back nervously.

“What do you mean there’s nowhere to pull over? How can there be nowhere to pull over?” The candidate, Mark Rose, asks, his voice raising a few octaves.

“Take a look if you want, we’re blocked in,” Otis says with a shrug. Sure enough, the truck was surrounded by cars on all sides.

“Captain,” Herrmann says, urgently.

“Yeah. Fuck, okay. Anyone have a bag or anything?” Casey asks, rifling through the glove compartment.

He comes up with a plastic walmart bag and quickly checks it for any holes before handing it back. It seems to have been just in time as there’s the gagging followed by the sound of liquid hitting the bag.

There’s a few groans from the back as Herrmann throws up again but another sound draws Casey attention. He turns his head back when he hears a sob and looks to see the candidate curled up on the bench, mid panic attack. The kid was scratching at his arm, red trails of blood trickling down his arm. With a curse, Casey opens the door and makes his way over to the back.

“Hey, candidate.”

The candidate looks up to see his captain standing two feet in front of him and hurriedly wipes away his tears.

“Come on, Rose. You’re sitting up front with me. Otis, back here.”

Otis starts to protest but one look from Casey is enough to shut him up. The candidate looks surprised but nods, following the captain up to the front.

“Don’t get comfortable. This is the only time you’re sitting up here,” Casey tells him and the candidate nods. Getting into the driver's seat, Casey starts driving, cursing under his breath every so often at the idiots in front of him.

Chapter Text

There was no warning. One second, Casey was joking around with the team and the next, he was doubled over, puking all over his boots.

“Shit!” Otis exclaims, racing to pull over. As soon as the truck is stopped, Casey throws open the door, leaning over the side to vomit.

Casey finishes relatively quickly and closes the door again. He shifts his feet, cringing at the feeling of vomit.

“You okay, Captain?” Otis asks.

“Just drive.”

Chapter Text

“Thank you so much!”

Casey looks up just in time for a teenage girl to throw herself at him. He stumbles back a few steps as she wraps her arms around him.

“You guys were so awesome! I have to make you cookies or something!” She tells them.

“You don’t have to-,” Casey starts before the girl cuts him off.

“Of course I do! It’s the least I can do to say thank you. You saved my brother.”

Casey shrugs, uncomfortable with all the praise. Thankfully Otis is more than happy to take his spot and Casey heads to start cleaning up.

~~~

The girl makes good on her promise of cookies and the next day, there’s three bins of cookies waiting for them.

“Don’t even think about it,” Severide tells him, seeing Casey start to reach for a cookie. “You don’t know what’s in them.”

“Actually, Lieutenant, they came with a list of ingredients and a recipe.”

Casey nods in Cruz’s direction, thankful for his intervention, and swiftly grabs a cookie before Severide can think of any other reason for him to miss out.

Grumbling, Severide grabs his own cookie, ready to head back to his office when he sees Casey slipping a hand into his pocket.

“Mint?” He asks, seeing the resigned look on the blond’s face.

“It’s just a little bit,” Casey lies, not wanting his friend to worry.

“Tell that to the hives.”

Sure enough, Casey looks down to find his skin covered by hives.

“Alright, in the chair,” Severide orders. “Where’s you epipen?”

“I don’t have one. I forgot to get a new one after last time.”

“For fuck’s sake, Casey! Sit down.”

Casey takes a seat with a scowl, crossing his arms in front of him.

“You look like a child,” Severide tells him.

“Yeah, well you act like one.”

“Says the one who can’t even take care of himself.”

Casey expression hardens and he pushes himself up.

“Where are you going?”

Casey ignores him as he makes his way over to Boden’s office.

“Chief?” He raps on the door. “I’m going to need a few hours off.”

“What for?” Boden asks, not looking up.

“Hospital.”

Immediately, Boden looks up, eyes widening as he takes in Casey’s appearance.

“Where’s your epipen?”

“D’have it,” Casey says, his words starting to slur as he starts going into anaphylaxis.

“Alright, okay. Sit down. Where’s ambo?” Boden asks, standing up to help Casey into one of the chairs.

“D’know. Dn’feel goo.”

With a muffled curse, Boden looks around for a garbage bin as Casey gags, slapping a hand over his mouth. Boden grabs the bin from underneath his desk and shoves it under Casey’s chin just as he finally throws up, a meagre amount of vomit spilling from his mouth.

With a small whine, Casey lays his head on the side of the bin, Boden rubbing his back as he struggles to bring anything up. Casey looks towards Boden, his eyes unfocused.

“Ammb,” he mutters. His speech was so slurred and garbled that it would barely be considered passable by any reasonable medic.

“What’s that, Matt?”

“H’spal. Need ’spal.”

Startled, Boden looks up.

“That bad?”

Casey goes to nod but ducks his head back into the bin. The smell of vomit fills the room.

“Ambo’s not back yet. Come on, we’ll take my car.”

“M’drive m’self.”

“Casey?! No!” Boden shouts, appalled at the thought.

“C’ta care m’self. S’vide n’ight.”

“Casey, I can’t understand you. Come on, I’m taking you to the hospital,” Boden tells him, grabbing his arm and hoisting him up. Casey leans on the chief as they make their way towards the chief’s car.

“Oh my god!” Kidd shouts, seeing Casey covered in hives, sweat dripping down his face.

“Jesus, Case. I didn’t realize it was this bad,” Severide tells him, coming over. Casey ignores him, focusing on trying to take a breathe in as Boden deposits him in the front seat.

Boden gets in the front seat and pulls onto the main road, closing the door just as Casey doubles over with a gag, slapping a hand over his mouth as he looks towards Boden urgently.

“We can’t stop. Don’t worry about it, Case,” Boden tells him, motioning towards the footwell. Casey stubbornly refuses to let anything up, trying his best to hold on to what fragile control he has of his stomach as Boden drives towards the med at a speed that was most likely highly illegal.

Casey can see the hospital in the distance just as he doubles over, vomiting into the footwell. Boden glances over, making sure the captain was still ok.

“We're almost there, Casey.”

Chapter Text

Casey hops out of the rig, trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach as his feet touch the ground. He was nearly certain that the nausea had nothing to do with the call at hand.

“Captain! There’s somebody trapped in the car!”

Duty calls. The nausea could wait.

~~~

Three hours later and they were nearly finished. All the victims were on their way to the hospital and CPD was currently investigating the empty beer cans in the passenger seat of the blue Toyota.

The nausea, which had been forgotten during the call had since returned with a vengeance, ready to make Casey's life that much harder. With a low groan, Casey wraps an arm around his stomach, cautious of the crowd watching them. He doesn’t get to dwell on it for very long before he finds himself doubled over, vomiting onto the ground and missing his boots by mere inches.

“Hey, Cap. You okay?”

Casey shrugs whoever’s hand is on his shoulder off as another wave of vomit makes its appearance. He can hear the comments and speculations of the crowd.

“Oh gross.”

“Is he drunk?”

“Ew!”

“Oh shit. Wouldn’t want to be him.”

“Alright! Enough!” Severide shouts, glaring at the crowd. The crowd looks down in shame, shuffling their feet. Casey chokes back a strangled sob, tears of embarrassment making their way down his face.

Severide stands behind Casey, a hand on his shoulder, as the blond struggles through another round of vomiting.

“Adrenaline crash?”

“No. I’ve been feeling like shit all day,” Casey tells him, trying to wipe the tears away.

“Think you’re sick?”

“Probably. I didn’t have a chance to get my flu shot yet.”

“Matt!” Severide scolds.

Casey shrugs, his stomach feeling slightly better.

“You done?”

“Urgh. Yeah.”

Chapter Text

“Oh god. Pull over,” Casey mutters, shielding his eyes from the flashing light of the CPD cars up ahead.

“What?” Otis asks, glancing at his captain as he pales in his seat.

“Pull over. Now!”

“What? Why? What’s going on?”

“Otis, I swear to god if you don’t pull over right now, I’m going to puke all over this truck and YOU will be cleaning it!”

Nodding, Otis flashes the lights twice and moves to pull over when Casey doubles over, slapping a hand over his mouth as he gags. Casey gags again, feeling the warm bile making its way up his throat.

“Otis!” Casey growls.

“I’m trying!” Otis tells him, trying to merge into the other lane. Someone in a white Ford cuts them off and Otis slams on the breaks.

The jolt of the rig causes Casey to pitch forwards, vomiting onto the dashboard. There’s shouts of disgust from the back of the truck as Casey heaves, last night’s spaghetti and meatballs splattering against the dashboard, chunks of vomit landing on the windshield.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” Otis curses, hurrying to pull over into the other lane.

“Otis! Pull over! What’s taking so long?!” Kidd yells from the back seat, turning around.

“I can’t! We're in the middle of the road, Kidd! There’s like three lanes in between us and the side of the road! I am trying my fucking best so can you calm down?!” Otis snaps, regretting it immediately when Casey shoots him a look.

“Fine. Don’t know why I’m bothered anyways. Captain already said you would be cleaning it,” Kidd huffs.

“Otis, pull over. Kidd, turn around. Both of you, shut the fuck up, okay?” Casey shouts, swallowing another gag.

“Sorry Captain.”

Chapter Text

“Battery! Attention!”

Casey snaps to attention, drill having become second nature to him by now, and awaits the next command.

“Battery! Stand at ease!”

Again, Casey follows the command, keeping his neck and back straight as he snaps his arms behind him.

“Battery! Attention!”

Mentally rolling his eyes, Casey follows the command. They did this every time and he honestly couldn’t see the point of it. It was always attention, at ease, attention, at ease, over and over again until whoever was calling the commands was satisfied. Satisfied with what exactly, Casey didn’t know.

“Battery! Stand at ease! Stand easy.”

Finally it seemed to have ended and Casey readies himself for the next eight hours. He takes a quick glance around, taking care not to move his head, to see all the poppies, bright red in contrast to their navy dress uniforms.

The next couple hours of the ceremony pass uneventfully before Casey finds himself feeling off. Despite the snow on the ground and the brisk Chicago air, Casey feels uncomfortably warm. He wiggles his toes in his boots, trying to get some circulation flowing again so he doesn’t pass out. Casey can feel the world start to tilt and he closes his eyes for just a second.

When he opens them again, he’s staring up at the sky, two CFD firefighters standing over him. With a low groan, Casey sits himself up.

“Captain? You ok?” One of them asks and Casey looks toward him, blinking.

When his eyes open again, he finds himself staring at the black boot of a CFD dress uniform. Somebody had undone his tunic and unlaced his boots. Unsure of how that was done in the millisecond his eyes were closed, Casey tries voicing his concerns. All that comes out is a garbled moan and the two firefighters look down at him.

“Hey, Captain. I’m Arit and this is Marks. We’re going to get you up, okay?”

Casey nods his consent, grimacing at the accompanying nausea, and does his best to help the two firefighters as they stand him up. The change in altitude send his stomach turning and Casey groans.

“M’gon puke,” He warns them

“Can you hold on for a second, Captain? The press is here.”

Casey shakes his head, his stomach protesting the movement greatly.

“Alright, hold on,” Arit tells him, shifting him in his grip so he’s facing away from the camera.

Casey doubles over, vomiting onto the pavement. The camera’s start snapping, struggling to get a good angle as Casey pukes, his stomach twisting with a vengeance. Casey stumbles back, startled, as one of the cameras is suddenly shoved in his face.

“Sir, can we ask you a few questions?” The reporter asks, uncaring of Casey’s current situation. Casey shifts so his back is fowards the camera, heaving again.

“Sir?” Again the camera is thrust in his face and Casey turns again.

“Sir, I just want to know if-,” the reporter is again in his face and Casey doesn’t have time to turn before he’s doubling over, vomiting down the reporters suit. A loud gasp arrises from the crowd and Casey sees Severide’s jaw tighten, the squad lieutenant stiffening.

“How dare you!” The reporter screams, turning towards Casey with a livid glare. “How dare you! Do you know who I am?! I can have you fired! Fired, do you hear me?”

Casey lets out a low whine as her screaming aggravates his already pounding head. He sways slightly, trying to find his balance again as the lady keeps screaming at him.

“Hey! Leave him alone!” Somebody shouts and Casey opens his eyes to see one of the military officers standing beside him, Arit and Marks standing a few steps behind him, unsure of what to do.

“He ruined my shirt! Do you know how much this cost?!”

“No I don’t, ma’am. But I do know that it was blatantly obvious that the captain here is ill and you getting in front of him was a horrible idea,” the officer tells her, putting a hand on Casey’s back when the captain starts to sway. “Gentlemen, get the captain inside. It’s not doing him any good to be out in the cold.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chapter Text

“Casey? Casey? Come on, Matt. Open your eyes.”

Casey groans, feeling as if somebody has bashed him over the head with a sledgehammer.

“Come on, captain. Open your eyes.”

Casey just wants the voices to stop and leave him be. He opens his eyes, intending to tell them off. He sees Boden and a civilian standing over him looking concerned.

“Ch-f?”

“Hey, Casey. How you doing?”

“Wha’happen?”

“You got hit in the head. One of the civilians wasn’t too happy about how you handled the situation,” Boden explains and Casey finds himself struggling to remember what situation his chief was talking about.

“Si’tion?”

“There was a fight, Casey. You don’t remember?”

Casey shakes his head, immediately regretting it when his stomach jumps into his throat.

“M’feel sick.”

Cursing, Boden looks around the lobby of the five star hotel they were called to. The manager of the hotel looks panicked, motioning to the washrooms across the lobby.

“He’s not going to make it there,” Boden tells him and the manager grimaces before looking at the carpet.

With a sigh, the manager nods. “It’s fine. We’ll get it cleaned later.”

Not a second after, Casey gags, trying to sit himself up. Boden pushes him back down to the ground lightly and rolls him over. The manager looks away as Casey vomits onto the expensive carpet. The vomit is slowly absorbed by the carpet, being mostly made up of liquid.

“Hey, they finally let us in. What’s going on?” Brett asks, kneeling beside the captain. Foster’s a few seconds behind her, rolling gurney towards them.

“Casey got hit in the head pretty hard. He definitely has a concussion.”

Casey starts to protest (He wasn’t hit that hard!) before realizing that he couldn’t even remember being hit.

Casey blinks and when he opens his eyes again, he’s in the back of an ambulance with Brett yelling for Foster to hurry the hell up.

“B’et, whas’gon on?” He asks. Brett turns towards him with a pained smile and grabs his hand.

“Nothing, Matt. You’re going to be fine.”

Chapter Text

Casey retches above the empty toilet. His stomach had been turning the whole day, teetering on the edge of nausea. He gags again, praying that something comes up just so he can feel relief.

“Captain? You in here?” Somebody calls. Casey recognizes the voice as Otis’s.

“Yeah,” he calls back, heaving unproductively again.

“Chief said to either head home or take it easy on the couch. Something about needing your office for something or other.”

With a sigh, Casey flushes the empty toilet and unlocking the stall. Apparently Otis had already left and Casey opens the door, following suite.

“Hey, Captain. How are you feeling?” Brett asks with a sympathetic smile. Casey shrugs, his shoulders rolling in a silent gag. “Let’s get you set up on the sofa.”

Casey follows her, not having the energy to protest. Brett sits him down on the couch while she grabs a pillow, blanket and mixing bowl.

“Lay down,” she instructs, putting the pillow on one end of the couch. Casey does as he’s told, lying down across the couch. He shifts onto his side as Brett lays a blanket over him.

“There’s a bowl beside you, Captain. Don’t try to be a hero.”

With that, she leaves him to get some rest, dimming the lights and talking quietly with everyone else in the kitchen.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Cap? You sure you want to do this?” Herrmann asks as they stand in line for the roller coaster. It was a well known fact that the captain got motion sick very easily and frankly, none of them wanted to deal with that.

“Herrmann, if you ask that again, we’ll be doing drills all shift.”

Herrmann backs down immediately, glancing towards Boden and Severide. The two of them were leaning against the railing, chatting about something or other. The entire station, sauf engine, was here. The fair had been in town for the weekend and it had been decided that they would go when they were of shift.

“Next!” The line operator calls.

The crew shuffles forwards and slowly gets into their seats. It was three seats for a row so squad ended up sitting together, the girls from ambo sat with Kidd, Herrmann, Mouch and Otis sat behind them and in the back row were Casey, Severide and Boden.

“Please keep all hands inside the vehicle. Don’t stand up until the ride is finished,” the bored teenager tells them, pushing the lever to start the ride.

They start moving slowly up the hill, pausing once they reach the top. Herrmann squeezes his eyes shut, briefly wondering how the Captain would handle this, before they drop, rushing towards the ground before pulling up quickly and taking a sharp corner. Herrmann risks a quick glance behind them to see all is well.

He looks forwards again just in time for the coaster to hit a loop de loop, going upside down. Herrmann lets his arms hang down, laughing as the blood rushes to his head for a fraction of a second before they're done, spinning around in a downward circle. Another glance behind them reveals Casey’s mouth open in a grin, not looking at all concerned. Meanwhile, Severide had gone white as a sheet, his eyes closed.

Well, fuck. Herrmann thinks as the coaster jolts to a stop. The jolting of the coaster must have triggered something with Severide’s stomach because the next thing any of them knew, Severide was throwing up, chunks of vomit spilling into Casey’s lap. Casey shouts, surprised, before going utterly pale himself. Boden quickly leaves the cart.

Casey quickly takes a plastic walmart bag from his pocket, the receipt still inside, and thrusts it in Severide’s direction, successfully saving himself and the cart from another round. Casey gets out of the cart, immediately sprinting for the garbage can across the walkway.

“Holy shit,” Herrmann curses. Boden glances between the two officers, trying to decide who to go to.

Herrmann glances up towards him. “I’ve got Severide, chief.”

With a nod, Boden makes his way over to the blond captain. Casey groans, gagging again as Boden puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Casey? You okay?”

Casey groans. Everytime he shifted, he can feel the vomit all over him and it sends him into another round of vomiting.

“Where’s Severide?” Casey asks before ducking his head into the trash can. “That fucker can sit by himself next time.”

Chapter Text

Casey opens his eyes. A quick glance out the window reveals that it was still night time, leaving Casey to wonder what woke him up.

Pushing himself out of bed, Casey pads into the bunk room, carefully checking on each and every one of his team members.

“Captain? What-,” Kidd mumbles groggily, squinting up at her captain.

“Just checking in on you guys. Go back to sleep.”

Too exhausted to argue, Kidd mumbles a tired “That’s creepy,” before rolling over and falling back asleep.

Casey pads down the hall, checking in on both Severide and Boden. Boden, like Kidd, proves to be a light sleeper and squints up at Casey.

“Casey?”

“Sorry, chief. Just checking up on everyone. Had a bad feeling,” Casey explains. Boden nods, having been used to the captain’s protective habits.

“Get back to sleep, Matt. Everyone’s fine.”

Casey nods, although he doesn’t look convinced, and Boden sighs.

“Come here.”

Casey shuffles over awkwardly and Boden hands him a plastic coin.

“Give it back in the morning.”

Casey nods, Boden having done this to reassure him multiple times in the past. Before a big fire, during the huge gang war, and now this. With that, Casey closes the door, leaving Boden to get back to sleep.

Deciding to have a quick snack, Casey pads towards the kitchen, checking in on his team again quickly. He reaches the kitchen and stands there for a minute, trying to decide on something that wouldn’t make too much noise.

After rummaging around in the cabinets for a bit, he comes across a sketchy looking can of baby corns. With a shrug, he opens he can and starts eating them, readying some excuses in case somebody stumbles across him eating baby corn straight from the can at two in the morning.

With the corn finished, Casey throws the can out, quickly rinses the can opener off, and makes his way back to bed.

~~~

The next morning comes and Casey barely had time to throw the covers off before he gags, warm vomit splashing down his bare chest and pooling in his lap. Another gag has him leaning over the edge of his bed, vomiting onto the floor.

Somebody opens his door and Casey barely has time to glance up before he’s retching again. His quick glance reveals Kidd and Boden standing in his doorway, obviously shocked to see the Captain in his boxers, puking his guts up onto the floor.

“Kidd, go get Brett and Foster,” Boden instructs, grabbing Casey’s garbage can and placing it under his chin. “Hey, Casey. Just breathe.”

“Chief? Kidd said you needed us?” Brett asks, opening the door to Casey’s office to let her and Foster in.

Casey whines, reaching for his fleece blanket. Boden quickly realizes what he’s trying to do and carefully wraps the captain’s blanket around him, trying his best to protect his modesty.

“Hey Captain. Kidd said you weren’t feeling too well.”

Casey shrugs, flushing red when his stomach gurgles. Boden puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the embarrassed captain.

“Here, Captain. Take a few sips. It will make you feel better,” Foster tells him, handing the captain a bottle of water.

Casey accepts it, his dry mouth begging for water. He takes a sip, gagging when his throat refuses to work. The blond leans over the garbage as the water drains from his dry mouth.

“Captain? You have to drink it for it to help…”

“M’can’t.”

“What do you mean, Captain?”

Casey goes to answer before he gags again, vomit spilling into the garbage can.

“M’can’t swal,” he slurs, talking becoming more and more difficult.

“Okay, Casey. Let’s get you settled into bed. Severide or I will drive you home after shift.”

Casey nods and Boden motions for the girls to leave. Casey unwraps the blanket briefly and Boden grimaces, seeing the mess of vomit on the captains boxers and bare chest.

“Do you want to take a shower first?”

Casey nods. Boden offers him a hand up and they stumble into the locker room together, Casey putting most of his weight on his chief.

“Do you ah want me to stay?” Boden asks, looking completely out of his element. Shaking his head vehemently, Casey declines.

“Alright. Call me if you need anything.”

~~~

Three hours later finds Casey fast asleep in his bunk, clad in some CFD sweatpants and a gray CFD t shirt.

Boden opens the door to check in on the captain, alarmed at how pale he had gotten in the last couple hours.

“Casey? I need you to wake up for me,” Boden says, feeling a sense of panic when the Captain doesn’t move. “Casey! Matt!”

Casey’s eyes open, looking at Boden in alarm but the Captain doesn’t move, instead staring at Boden with an urgency that terrifies the chief.

“Casey, blink one if you can move, blink twice if you can’t.”

Blink. Boden finds himself holding his breath and praying that Casey doesn’t blink again. Blink.

“Okay. It’s okay. You’re going to be just fine, Casey. Brett! Foster! I need you here now!”

~~~

Eight weeks, and a few horribly close calls later, Casey walks back into the station, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

The captain takes a deep breath, happy to be back at the station for the first time in months.

“The captain’s back!”

Casey stumbles back, immediately bombarded by the hugs and cheers of his team.

“Where’s Boden?” Casey asks, scanning the room.

“He’s in his office, Cap.”

Capp looks up from the squad table, glancing around before Tony rolls his eyes, smacking him on the back of the head and calling him an idiot.

Taking another breath, Casey makes his way over to Boden’s over. Casey knocks, causing Boden to look up.

“Casey!”

“Hey, chief. Just thought you might need this back,” Casey tells him, plopping the plastic coin in his chief’s hand. Boden stares at it for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

“Welcome back, Captain. And stay away from the corn. We don’t need a second round of botulism.”

Chapter Text

With a sudden gag, Casey pitches forwards, hands over his mouth to stop himself from vomiting onto the carpet in.

“Oh shit!”

Casey gags again, looking at Severide with a sense of urgency.

“Alright, okay. We can deal with this,” Severide says, looking for a garbage can or something.

Unfortunately, the closest one was in the kitchen and Severide seriously doubted his ability to get it in time. With a grimace, Severide grabs the fleece blanket from the back of the couch and holds it under Casey’s mouth like a bowl.

The blond gags again, liquidy vomit splashing into the makeshift bowl. Severide grimaces again as more vomit joins the rest in the blanket. After coughing out a few more mouthfuls of sick, Casey seems to be done.

He glances up towards Kelly’s concerned face before bursting into tears.

“Hey, hey, Matty. It’s okay. Don’t worry. It’s okay.”

Chapter Text

“Casey! Does anybody have eyes on Casey?!”

“Negative, chief!”

With a curse, Boden glances around frantically. The house gives another shudder, flames spurting up. There’s a round of screams from the citizens just as a figure appears in the doorway.

“Casey!” Boden yells, running towards the man just as he collapses, his body crumpling to the ground with a thunk.

With Herrmann and Severide’s help, the chief manages to drag Casey away from the burning house and over to the ambulance. As they’re laying him down on the stretcher, the blond’s eyes open in alarm as he gags. Cursing, Boden hurries to get Casey’s mask off.

He isn’t quite fast enough and Casey gags once more, vomit splattering against the glass in his mask. With a grimace, Severide helps the chief take Casey’s mask off, the two of them jumping out of the way as Casey vomits over the edge of the gurney, groaning in between gags.

“Make it stop,” Casey pleads, his eyes screwed shut in pain. Boden and Severide exchange a worried glance as Casey dry heaves over the side of the gurney. “Make it stop, please.”

“Casey, what hurts?” Boden asks.

Casey just groans, hugging his arms around his stomach. Boden gently nudges Casey’s arms out of the way before undoing his jacket. The chief lifts his shirt, horrified at what he finds.

Although there’s too much blood to really see, Boden can tell Casey chest and stomach are a mess, blood covering every surface. One of the captain’s ribs is poking through the skin and Boden stifles a gag. Cruz isn’t so lucky and Boden sees him pale before turning around, vomiting loudly.

“Hey, Matt. Don’t worry, okay? You’re going to be fine.”

Chapter Text

Groaning, Casey pinches the bridge of his nose. His head was pounding and he was seriously considering chopping his own head off just to get some pain relief.

Just as he’s decided upon a course of action, the bells go off, sending a fresh round of pain through Casey’s head. With a low groan, the Captain stands up, taking off towards the truck.

“Hey, Captain. What do you want me to do?” The new candidate asks. Casey struggles to remember his name. It started with an A… or maybe a K? Or a C… He wasn’t too sure now, the pain in his head making it hard to concentrate.

“Just stick with me for now, candidate,” Casey orders.

They get to the scene a few minutes later and Casey didn’t think he’d ever been this happy to see a collapsed building. His stomach had been twisting the entire ride and the bumpy roads on the way to the downed cottage had definitely not helped.

Casey hops out of the truck, taking a few seconds to get used to being on solid ground, before heading towards the building, the candidate (Alaster? Karrey?) close behind him.

“We’ve got a missing five year old and his mom still in the cottage,” Casey tells them. “Herrmann, Cruz, take the washroom and kids bedroom. Candidate and I’ve got the kitchen and master bedrooms.”

“Got it, Captain,” Herrmann says, him and Cruz heading into the building. Casey and the candidate head in after them.

They’ve been searching for about five minutes before Herrmann radios, telling them they found the kid and mom. “We’re taking them out now.”

“Roger that, Herrmann. We’ll make up way out.”

Just as Casey finishes the sentence, the building gives a loud shudder. Pieces of debris start to fall, wooden beams and pieces of stone. Casey jumps out of the way of a particularly large piece of wood before glancing up to see the candidate standing still.

“Candidate! Get down!” Casey shouts. The candidate doesn’t respond, instead staring in shock at a large piece of wood as it falls. With a curse, Casey darts forwards, he shoves the candidate out of the way.

Instead of the floor, the two firefighters find themselves tumbling, head over heels, down a staircase. Casey groans when he finally reaches the bottom of the staircase, only to have the candidate land directly on top of him.

Casey shoves the candidate off him, trying his best to sit up. Whenever he tries to move, his head sends a sharp pain throughout his entire body and forces him to drop back to the ground.

The candidate immediately stands up, making his way towards the fallen captain. “Captain? What do we do?”

“Are you hurt?” Casey asks, still lying on the ground. The candidate shakes his head no. “Can you tell me the date, your name and where you are?”

“November 18. Luca Bitter. Collapsed cottage that really shouldn’t have a basement.”

Casey was inclined to agree. He was just about to say so when his neck sends a spasm of pain through his body and he cries out.

“Captain? Are you okay?”

“I’m going to puke,” Casey warns him.

“Oh my god. What do I do?”

“Roll me over. Very carefully. Whole body,” Casey explains, feeling the bile rising in his throat.

The candidate starts to roll him over, pressing down hard on Casey’s back. The captain hisses in pain and the candidate snatches his hands away.

“Carefully!”

“Sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Casey wants to tell him it’s fine and not to worry but as soon as he opens his mouth to speak, he gags, vomit splattering on the concrete floor in front of him.

“Oh my god. Oh my god!”

Casey can hear the candidate behind him panicking, his breaths coming in short pants. Carefully, Casey moves his arm, wincing at the spike of pain it sets off, and places it on the candidates leg, hoping the contact will calm him down.

The vomiting stops and upon opening his eyes, Casey sees why the candidate was freaking out. In front of him, on the cold concrete floor, was blood red vomit.

Shit. Casey thinks. Internal bleeding.

“Hey, Luca. You need to calm down, okay? Can you take a deep breath for me?”

Luca takes a stuttering breath. Casey pats his leg. “Hey, don’t worry. Is your radio working?”

The candidate shrugs, taking his radio off and testing it quickly. “It works!”

“Okay, give it here.”

The candidate holds the radio up to the Captain’s mouth and Casey inhales deeply, breathing through the pain.

“Hey, chief? Candidate and I are stuck in the basement. We’re going to need a stretcher,” Casey says into the radio.

“Stretcher? How bad is he hurt?”

“Candidate’s fine, chief. No concussion, mostly just cuts and bruises.”

There’s a slight hesitation in Boden’s voice before he speaks again. “And you?”

“Not doing to great, chief. I can’t move too much and I threw up blood.”

“Hang in there, Captain. We’ll get you out.”

With that, the conversation is over and so is Casey’s grasp on consciousness.

Chapter Text

They’re on a grocery run when Casey’s stomach suddenly rebels, giving no warning before the captain is vomiting onto the floor.

Kidd takes the basket from him while he heaves, watery vomit splattering against the tiled floor. An employee comes running, a plastic bag in hand. The disgruntled employee thrusts the bag in Casey direction before radioing for a clean up in aisle seven.

Kidd catches the bag and holds it under Casey chin as he gags. By now a few bystanders had gathered around, watching as the CFD captain loses his lunch in the middle of the snack aisle.

“Come on, move it along. If you really want to see a guy puking, go to the sushi restaurant on Broadview.”

Casey had never been so happy to hear Herrmann’s voice, getting rid of the bystanders. The lieutenant puts a hand on Casey’s shoulder, squeezing it as the captain shudders. Herrmann grabs the bag from him and pales when he sees it’s red with blood.

“Captain,” he starts. Casey had started swaying, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

“Call an ambulance!” Kidd shouts as she and Herrmann struggle to catch the captain as he passes out.

Chapter Text

“Chief, I don’t feel so good,” Casey says, looking around the room they were in.

An elderly lady had called 911, saying that her husband was trapped in his room and wasn’t breathing. They quickly realized that the lady was hallucinating and had transported her to the hospital. They were just getting ready to go before Casey was hit with an intense dizzy spell that left as quickly as it came, elaving him feeling nauseous and ill.

Boden glances over to the Captain, taking note of his pale, almost white, skin.

“Alright, sit down. Are you going to throw up?”

With a shrug, Casey takes a seat on the couch, trying to ignore the way his stomach bubbled, bile creeping up his throat. He barely has time to nod before he’s pitching forwards, trying to stop himself from vomiting onto the elderly widow’s expensive carpet.

Cursing, Boden glances around frantically, trying to find something to prevent a huge mess. He’s too late and Casey pitches forwards, vomiting. Boden watches, both disgusted and awed, as Casey cups his hand, vomiting into them.

“Oh my god,” Casey gags, staring at the mess in his hands. “I am so done with this lifetime.”

Chapter Text

“Captain, I’m going to puke,” Kidd warns from the back of the truck. Casey turns around, motioning for Otis to drive faster.

“Kidd, we’re almost to the station. Can you hold on for a minute?”

Kidd goes to answer but instead slaps a hand over her mouth, gagging loudly. There’s sounds of disgust from the back as Kidd throws up, vomiting into her lap.

“Otis, pull over.”

“Captain, we’re like two minutes away.”

“Pull over!”

Otis swerves to the side of the road, throwing Casey against the door. Undoing his seatbelt, Casey hops out, quickly heading towards the back and opening the door.

“Hey Kidd, you done?” Casey asks as she dry heaves over her lap.

“I think so,” she mutters, shifting in her seat and grimacing at the feeling of vomit. “Oh god, this is horrible.”

“We’ll find a change of clothes for you at the station.”

Chapter Text

“Help! Oh, god, help!”

“What’s going on?” Severide asks, following the panicked man towards the docks.

“It’s the captain! He’s stuck and the boats going down!”

“Where’s the boat?”

“Off the coast of Partridge island. We need to take my boat to get there!”

Severide nods, taking note of the way Casey pales when the boat is mentioned.

“Lead the way.”

~~~

The first part of the ride was fine but after they hit the halfway mark, the waves started to get rougher and faster, the boat rocking from side to side. Casey squeezes his eyes shut, trying to banish the quesy feeling before it becomes to much to handle.

“Hey, Case. You ok? You look a little pale,” Severide observes, putting a hand on the blond’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Severide raises an eyebrow, looking doubtful. “You sure?”

Before Casey has a chance to respond, the boat rocks again, sending the captain running for the side of the boat. Casey leans over the railing, vomiting loudly over the edge.

“Seasick?” Kelly asks, putting a hand on his friend’s back.

“Yeah.”

They arrive at the boat a few minutes later. Casey straightens up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and ignoring the stares from his crew. “Aright, let’s do this.”

Chapter Text

“Captain! We got muffins!”

“Awesome. Toss one over here.”

“Chocolate chip or blueberry?”

“Blueberry.”

His decision is met with a few gasps and exclaimations of “Captain!”.

“Whatever,” Herrmann shrugs. “More for us.”

Casey shrugs, sinking his teeth into the muffin. Almost immediately, he feels a tingling feeling spreading through his body.

“S’tins wron,” he slurs, the room spinning.

Herrmann glances over and, upon seeing the Captain’s condition, smacks the muffin out of Kidd’s hand. “Nobody eat the muffins!”

“Hey, Captain. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“M’dizzy. Feels tingly,” Casey slurs as Kidd and Otis help him into a chair. He gags, slapping a hand over his mouth. “M’gon b’sick.”

“Ok, just take deep breaths, Captain,” Brett instructs, holding one of ambo’s sick bags under his chin. The captain gags again, trying not to let anything up.

“Come on, Matt. You’ll feel better once it’s up.”

Casey shakes his head, gagging again. Shaking her head in exasperation, Brett motions for Foster to hold the bag.

Without any warning, she quickly pressed down hard on the captain’s stomach, feeling slightly bad when the Captain cries out in pain. Her plan works and soon the captain is leaning over the bag, throwing up everything he had eaten that day.

Brett frowns, putting a hand on the captain’s shoulder when he starts to sway. “Captain?”

Casey’s body starts jerking, the bag getting knocked to the ground as the captain seizes.

“He’s seizing!”

Chapter Text

The entire station had noticed that something was up with their Captain. As much as he tried to hide it, his pale face and exhausted expression had given it away. The fact that he was obviously nauseous, walking around with his arms wrapped protectively around his stomach, wasn’t helping either.

Which was why, when the captain fell asleep on the couch, nobody bothered him. Brett had grabbed a blanket and pillow, being careful not to wake him up while she lays the pillow under his head, tucking the blankets around him. The paramedic freezes when he shifts, blinking up at her with confused and feverish eyes.

“Just go back to sleep, Captain. Everything’s fine.”

With a grunt, Casey shifts and goes back to sleep, snoring softly.

~~~

Casey barely has time to roll over before he’s vomiting, half digested food splattering against the floor. There’s a shout and suddenly somebody’s holding a mixing bowl under his chin as he pukes.

“Hey, Casey. Just breath. That’s it.”

Casey struggles through a few more gags before his stomach settles, leaving him with an odd feeling of vertigo. Casey looks up to see Severide leaning over him, tucking the blanket back in.

“Why didn’t you call in sick?” Kelly asks with a sigh.

Casey wants to respond, he really does, but his eyes start sliding closed against his will. With a tired yawn, he drifts back to sleep.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Captain? Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale…” Otis observes, glancing over at the truck captain.

“I’m fine, Otis. Just drive,” Casey orders, leaning his head against the window and trying to ignore the twisting feeling in his stomach. They pull up to a raging house fire and Casey immediately jumps down from the truck, pushing the nausea to the back of his mind for the moment.

“Otis, with me. We’re heading up to the third floor.Kidd, Mouch, Herrmann, basement. Squad will take the main level.”

Everything was going smoothly just up until the ten minute mark.

“Everyone out! I repeat! Everyone out!” Boden yells, his voice crackling through the radio and instilling a sense of urgency in the firefighters.

“You got it chief,” Casey starts, “Coming out now.”

Otis turns, heading out the door with Casey a few steps behind. The Captain falters suddenly, his stomach jumping into his throat. Otis watches in horror as the Captain falls to the ground, his head bouncing off the floor.

“Captain! Chief, the captain’s down!” Otis shouts, kneeling down beside the Captain and trying to pick him up.

“Kidd! Herrmann! Can you get to Casey and Otis?”

“On our way, chief!”

Otis turns, looking for a way out in case the other two can’t make it in time. When he looks back, the captain is still lying on the floor, flames covering him.

“Casey’s on fire, chief!”

“Put him out!”

“I can’t!”

Otis stares, helplessly, as the flames make their way towards Casey’s head.

“Captain! Wake up! Come on, Captain!” Otis shouts, seeing Casey’s eyes start to flutter through the mask. “Captain! Wake up! Come on, now! You have to wake up, Captain!”

Casey’s eyes fly open and Otis watches as he stands upright, trying to pat the flames down. It doesn’t work and the Captain takes a deep breath, motioning for Otis to follow him, as he makes his way downstairs. He steps out to door and immediately falls to his knees, the flames still burning.

Immediately the hose is turned to him, water putting the flames out, and Casey hurries to take his helmet off, shouting in pain as the fabric gets stuck in his neck.

Boden and Severide run over just as the captain gags, vomit spraying from his mouth and coating the grass out front.

“Casey!”

“Chief, I’m not feeling too well,” Casey says, staring at the chief with unfocused eyes. Another gag has him leaning over, vomiting onto Boden’s boots with an apologetic whine.

“Take it easy, Captain.”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Casey, you alright? That was a pretty hard hit.”

Casey glances up at Severide’s question, his head feeling like somebody had drilled a hole through it. Despite the pain currently plaguing him, he answers with an optimistic, “Never felt better!”

Severide narrows his eyes in suspicion but before he has a chance to voice his doubts, Boden calls for everyone to pack up. Casey turns away, wavering slightly, and gets into the front seat of the rig.

~~~

Squad arrives a half hour after truck, having stopped to fill up on gas. Severide frowns, seeing something lying in the middle of Squad’s parking space.

“Stop!” Kelly shouts, fear enveloping him as he realizes that it’s a person.

“What is it, Lieutenant?”

“Tony, get ambo here. Cruz, go find Casey and Boden. Now!” Severide shouts, running towards the person lying on the ground. He turns them over, surprised to find his best friend staring at him with unfocused eyes.

“Casey?!”

The blond doesn’t respond and Kelly glances up just in time to see Boden and Brett drop to their knees beside them.

“What’s going on?”

“He hit his head pretty hard on the last call and he said he was alright but...” Kelly starts, trailing off with a shrug.

“He’s Casey,” Boden finishes with a knowing nod. Casey’s eyes open to slits as he looks over to the chief.

“Don’t feel good,” he mutters, scrunching his eyes up. Boden motions for Severide to help get him Casey up.

Each of them take one of his arms, carefully hoisting him up. The change in altitude affects Casey’s stomach, causing the blond to pale considerably, swallowing back a gag. The silent gag is the only warning before Casey’s heaving, vomiting down Boden’s shirt. Boden quickly moves out of the way with a curse as Casey gags again, vomiting onto the floor.

“I’m so sorry. Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Chief,” Casey apologizes, having finished throwing up.

“It’s ok, Matt. Don’t worry about it.”

Chapter Text

“Ma’am, can you tell us where your son is?”

With a nod, the elderly lady grabs Casey’s arm, leading the firefighters over to where her son was trapped, dangling from the overview in some sort of failed attempt to put up Christmas decorations.

“Okay, Herrmann, Otis, stabilize him. Mouch, grab a rope bag and Kidd, I need you to grab a ladder.”

As his team works to follow his orders, Casey starts talking to the lady, Mrs. Wilma Ellian, to find out what exactly happened.

“Oh, Benny just wanted to help me put up the Christmas decorations up. I don’t know what happened.”

“Does he have any medical issues that we should be aware of?”

The lady shakes her head. Casey nods in understanding, grimacing when his stomach twists violently. The lady frowns, reaching out a hand when the Captain sways.

“Are you alright?”

Casey doesn’t answer, too busy trying to find some balance. The lady turns, motioning for Kidd to come over.

“I think there’s something wrong with him,” she confides.

“Hey Captain? You okay?” Kidd asks. Casey doesn’t respond, the ringing in his ears not allowing him to hear what was being said. “Captain?”

The blond suddenly pitches forwards, vomiting onto the coloured carpet.

“Oh my goodness!” Wilma exclaims, jumping back as Casey heaves. The vomiting quickly descends into dry heaving before Casey stops, his stomach cramping and his head aching.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he apologizes, tears filing his eyes. Kidd ignores his apologies, reaching a hand to his forehead.

“Captain, you’re burning up.”

“I’m so sorry,” Casey apologizes again, not seeming to have heard her. He sobs, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth,

“Oh honey, it’s okay. It was an accident. Come, sit down,” Wilma instructs, guiding him towards the couch.

“I’ll radio the chief. Herrmann, I think you’re in charge now.”

Chapter Text

“Captain? I’m not feeling too great,” the candidate tells him.

Casey glances up from his desk, startled to see how pale the kid was. His skin was practically white, a sheen of sweat visible on his forehead.

“Sit down,” Casey orders, standing up and guiding the candidate, Sam Andrews, into his office chair. “How long have you been feeling sick?”

“Only a couple hours.”

“Did you hit your head at all?”

The candidate shakes his head, paling further. “I don’t feel well.”

Casey glances around his office, cursing himself for tripping and breaking the trash can that morning.

“Okay. Just take some deep breaths. I’ll be right back,” Casey instructs, walking quickly towards the kitchen for a bowl or something.

“Hey, Captain,” Herrmann says, watching Casey ruffle about in the cupboards. “I think I might have caught a bug or something.”

Casey looks up, mentally sighing. You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Okay, just take it easy and let Boden know that we’re going to have to put the station out of action.”

Herrmann looks startled, gaping at his Captain. “If it’s that much trouble. I can-.”

Casey raises a hand, cutting him off. “It’s not just you. The candidate’s not doing too well either. Speaking of which…” Casey trails off, holding up the bowl. “Go tell Boden and lie down. I’ll check on you in a bit.”

With that Casey heads back to his office, speed walking with the bowl in his hands. He steps into the office to see the candidate crying, vomit covering his lap, the floor and Casey’s desk. Gaping at the mess, Casey shoves the bowl under the candidates chin just as he heaves again, sobbing.

“I’m sorry,” the candidate hiccups. “I’m so sorry, Captain.”

“Hey,” Casey tells him, rubbing his back. “It’s okay, Sam. Don’t worry about it.”

The kid sniffs and looks up towards Casey with the most pathetic look in his eyes. Casey sighs, knowing that now he’s practically adopted the kid.

“Come here,” Casey motions. The kid places the bowl on the floor and awkwardly shuffles over. Casey wraps his arms around the kid, pleased when the kid shifts into the touch. “It’s okay. It happens. Go shower or lie down or whatever and take it easy.”

The kid nods, glancing back before he leaves. Casey sighs, leaving his office to find some cleaning supplies.

“Hey, Captain? I’m sick.”

Chapter Text

“You okay, Casey?”

Casey glances up at Severide’s question. “I’m fine.”

“You sure? You’re looking a little pale,” Severide notes, reaching out a hand when his friend sways. “Sit down, Casey.”

“I’m fine.”

“Sit down.”

Severide’s tone leaves no room for argument and Casey takes a seat, glaring at the squad lieutenant. Severide watches as the captain’s glare falters, his face paling a few shades.

“Casey?”

“I’m going to throw up.”

Severide curses, glancing around. Grabbing a trash can, Kelly quickly shoves it under his friends chin. Casey gags, tasting the bitter taste of bile at the back of his throat.

“Are you still fine?”

Chapter Text

“There’s so many trampolines, Casey. You’re going to love it!”

Casey manages a pained smile at Severide’s excitement. He would have been more excited to go to the trampoline park, it sounded like something he would enjoy immensely, if he wasn’t ready to vomit any second.

The truth is, he had been feeling like shit the whole day and just the thought of jumping even once made his stomach turn. Not wanting to ruin his friends fun, Casey gets into the passenger seat and closes the door. Casey takes a deep breath, hoping to quell the budding nausea somewhat.

They’re ten minutes into the thirty minute drive when Casey’s nausea spikes, sending him yelling for Kelly to pull over. The squad lieutenant takes one glance at him before turning the wheel and pulling onto the side of the road.

Casey fumbles with the door for a few seconds before leaning out of the car and vomiting into the snow on the side of the road.

“Jesus, Case. Carsick?”

Casey shakes his head carefully, not wanting to trigger more nausea.

“I’ve been feeling like shit all day. Must’ve picked up a bug or something.”

“That’s okay, we can go home.”

Casey looks stricken, turning around to face his friend. “No, no, no. It’s fine, Sev.”

“Case, if you don’t feel well then jumping around isn’t going to make it any better. We’ll go another day.”

“But,” Casey starts, “you were so excited.”

“Well, yeah. It’s a pretty exciting place but it wouldn’t be much fun if you were sick.”

Upon seeing Casey’s uncertain look, Severide smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Seriously, Casey. It’s fine. We’ll go another day.”