If there's something, anything,
that happened in that fire that you should tell me about,
I need to know.
He left me.
I could have died in there.
I don't know what Damon could do to make it better.
He's not gonna change his story with the Lieutenant.
We could bring him back to 51.
I wanted you to hear it from me
that Carver's gone for a little while.
Gone?
I doubt we'll hear anything until after
he gets out of rehab.
Sir, stay in your car!
Oh, my God.
This is Chief's wife in here.
She's gonna be OK. She's strong.
You're wrong!
I'm so sorry, Dom.
Devastating--
it's a word they use a lot to describe fires,
and to describe loss.
He said that we could display the photographs
in this area, the foyer.
And-- - All right. Yeah.
We'll have to talk to Lesley,
but I was thinking like 50, 60 people because it--
What?
It's way too big.
This funeral will be family only.
There are friends who wanna be here.
This is not a public display of grief
for all the world to see.
It's about the people who knew and loved Monica best
being able to say a private goodbye.
OK, Dom.
And this meeting with the funeral director--I'm sorry,
I may have to step out at some point.
I'm expecting a call from PD about the accident report.
Hoping to press charges before the end of the day.
Hi.
It's not right,
you getting kicked back into the floater pool.
You did nothing wrong.
Actually, it was my decision to leave.
Jenner's been at 20 his entire career.
Everyone there has his back.
Well, I thought that Gregory put Jenner on desk duty.
Yeah, but I'm still the rat.
No, you're not.
To them, I am.
So I had to move on.
But it's fine, really.
I don't mind floating for a bit.
You know, Kylie's not always available.
Herrmann's been putting out feelers for someone
more permanent on Engine.
Would you consider coming back to 51?
Are you kidding me?
I haven't had the chance yet to talk to Pascal about it.
And maybe now's not the best time with everything
he's going through, but I will.
Yeah, OK.
No rush.
I'm not going anywhere.
It's only been two weeks.
Do you think that's enough time?
I don't know.
I mean, everybody's different.
Took me a while.
But, knowing Pascal, he's gonna need work to keep him busy.
He's not the type to crawl into a hole.
Whoa, you working on a thesis or something?
Oh, no, no.
I'm--
I'm writing a letter to Sam.
Oh, that's sweet of you. I'm sure he'll appreciate that.
What are you saying?
It's--it's kind of hard to explain.
And honestly, it's--it's-- it's even harder to write.
But--but I guess, really,
I'm just trying to apologize for pushing him away last year,
and for all that came after.
Violet, what happened with Carver these last few months
is not your fault.
You know that, right?
Probably won't finish it anyway,
but I just wanted him to know that I'm thinking about him.
You know you can't just sit there in the rubble.
So you dig out, move forward.
Or at least, that's what you think you're doing.
Schedule says he's back today.
Usually he's here before all of us.
Any word on the funeral yet?
Nothing here. Anybody else?
You know, details may come out with the obituary.
If he's doing a service at all.
Morning, everyone.
Good morning, Chief.
I was gonna call a briefing, but since you're all here,
obviously, you're aware
of my personal circumstances right now.
I appreciate the sympathy, but when we're in the firehouse,
I expect business as usual.
I don't want anybody dancing around me, huh?
I'm your battalion chief, and there's work to be done.
- Yes, sir. - Copy that, Chief.
- Absolutely. - Understood.
Good. Let's get to it.
His wife dies, and I say good morning?
In what world is it a good morning for him?
He knows you didn't mean it like that, Cruz.
I'm so terrible at these situations.
I just--I never know what to say, or how to help,
or if they want any help.
My two cents?
It's not about what you say or what you do.
It's just about showing up.
OK. What does that mean?
It just means being there for them.
Showing up. Being there.
Can anyone say something specific?
I could really use some tangibles here.
Squad 3, Truck 81, Ambo 61.
Person trapped, 602 Pierce.
Chief's rolling out for a person trapped?
Beats sitting with your own thoughts.
The scissor lift, it malfunctioned.
Trapped the operator up top.
Hurry, I don't think he can breathe.
Hey, Mouch, Ritter, grab the 38.
Copy that.
He's up there, pinned against the ceiling.
Gonna need a bigger ladder.
All right, Mouch, Ritter, nix the 38.
Copy.
We can't get a rig in here,
but we can throw the aerial outside
and try and get access from the roof.
Not enough time for that.
Chief's right. I'm going up.
Cruz, grab me a tool bag,
Stokes basket, and a bottle of O2.
Yeah, you got it.
With me, Severide.
Chief?
Chief!
Slow and steady, Chief.
Hey, hey, hey.
Stop, stop.
What are you doing?
- Maybe it blew a fuse. - No.
You lower it now, you crush my guys.
Back up. We got it from here.
Whoa.
Chief's going up, too?
Yeah. I--
Hang on!
Chief!
Oh.
He's wedged in there pretty good.
We're gonna have to cut him out.
Cruz, dropping the rope down.
Send up an angle grinder and the O2.
Copy that.
I got you.
We're gonna get you out. You'll be OK.
Stand by in case I need you, all right?
Set!
Coming up.
All right, give me the grinder.
Close your eyes.
Hey, tie that off, tie that off.
- All right. - Good to go?
OK, hold him steady. When this thing goes--
I got him.
Hang on.
Here you go.
There we go.
Hey, we got you.
Let's go.
All right, all clear.
I'll send up some harnesses so you guys can rappel down.
Climbing up, you were moving pretty fast.
Did you hear me calling out?
I was in the zone.
But, hey, we got him out alive.
Good work, Lieutenant.
You too, Chief.
Pascal's move at the warehouse,
don't know about you, but I wouldn't call pulling
a free solo on a scissor lift business as usual.
Guy must still be in shock.
God knows I'd be a mess if it were Trudy.
Hell, it almost was,
and I was damn near inconsolable.
What do you think?
About what?
You didn't hear a word of what I said.
I'm sorry, I--
this morning keeps replaying in my head on a loop.
It's torture.
You mean your little faux pas?
I can guarantee after today, you'll be the only person
who remembers it.
I just--you know, I don't want to be the guy
who can't handle these situations, you know?
I want to be the guy that shows up.
Well, no time like the present.
He doesn't want any acknowledgment at work.
When I was helping Trudy full-time
after surgery, it was the everyday stuff
that got overwhelming.
Well, I don't think that Pascal's gonna
let me do his laundry.
Ready-made meal, best thing for a person in mourning.
All the etiquette guides say so.
Emily Post back there might be on to something.
Who doesn't like food?
It continues to be the solution
to many of life's problems.
I'm gonna call Billy's Beef, see if they deliver.
So is this the novel you're writing to Carver?
Novak really cannot keep anything to herself, can she?
Absolutely not.
But I think she was a little worried
about you putting too much of this Carver stuff
on your own shoulders.
I really just want to support him
with everything he's going through.
Except I just keep going in circles.
I know you pretty well,
and I've got a good feeling you'll get there.
I guess when you lose the person you love,
you look for reasons--
anything to hold on to
that would help everything make sense.
Yeah. Yeah, you said that already.
You know what, I gotta tell you,
it sounds to me like--
it sounds like you people are making things more complicated
than they need to be.
Fine, I'll be down there soon.
You need something, Lieutenant? - I can come back.
Looks like you got your plate full.
You know what business as usual means, right?
Well, I talked to Herrmann,
and I'm sure you know he's been chomping at the bit
to get that empty spot in Engine filled.
Yeah, I'm making up a list of candidates for him.
But why? You got somebody in mind?
I do. What about Jack Damon?
And I know that he's made some big mistakes, but--
Hey, he lied to his commanding officer,
who also happened to be his sister-in-law.
But he's learned from those mistakes,
and that's what matters, isn't it, Chief?
And he's a better man for it.
And yet he still managed to flush himself out
of Firehouse 20 in record time.
That's a complicated situation.
Complicated? Yeah.
Everyone's been saying that word today.
You and I both know we wouldn't even be
having this conversation if Damon wasn't your brother.
And I know we definitely wouldn't be having
this conversation if Damon wasn't a solid firefighter,
but he is.
And he's dying to prove himself.
And he'd be working under Herrmann,
and he'd be a better firefighter because of it.
Can't do it, Lieutenant.
I can't risk everything going sideways again.
I need a fresh face on Engine.
We both know that he doesn't deserve
to be in the floater pool, Chief.
I gotta go.
I got an important meeting downtown.
This is of the utmost importance
to every member of this office, and I can assure you,
we threw every investigative resource at this,
left no stone unturned.
I personally reviewed the final accident report
with a fine-tooth comb.
Can we just cut to the chase?
We won't be filing any charges
against Robert Franklin, the other driver.
I know this wasn't what you wanted to hear, Chief,
but Mr. Franklin has a spotless driving record.
He voluntarily submitted blood, urine,
and hair follicle samples,
and the toxicology was negative across the board.
We have half a dozen eyewitnesses
and DOT signal diagnostics confirming
the traffic signal malfunctioned.
It was blinking yellow.
Exactly, which explains why both cars
entered the intersection at the same--
Yellow means proceed with caution.
It doesn't mean blow through the intersection
like a bat out of hell.
- We have no evidence-- - Yes, we do!
I--I know my wife.
Monica was a careful driver, a defensive driver.
That's a fact.
I know she would have proceeded with caution,
which means the other driver was driving just too damn fast!
We just don't know.
We don't know he was--
Don't tell me we don't know!
I know my wife.
I'm so sorry, Chief.
It's a terrible thing, what happened.
I can't begin to imagine.
But it wasn't anyone's fault.
It was just an accident.
A tragic, horrific accident.
You're the man who killed my wife.
Don't say a word, Robert.
Hey, you killed my wife.
You're not gonna get away with it!
Hey, did you get the Billy's Beef sorted?
Cruz is having some meals sent to the Chief's house.
Oh, hey, now there's a good idea.
Yeah, too good.
The delivery driver called me and said that his front porch
is already stacked with meals.
He literally couldn't find a place for mine.
You showed up for him. That's the point.
No, the point is to get credit for it.
No, wait, that came out wrong.
What I meant was, how are you supposed to show up for someone
if they don't know you did?
Well, maybe we can do something as a group.
Well, normally I'd suggest sending flowers to the funeral.
That's info we'd have to get from the Chief.
Which, he doesn't want us bringing it up with him.
He specifically said that.
Well, if we're throwing out ideas,
I got a great chess set for my birthday.
You want to give a two-person game to a widower?
I'll play with him.
Don't you think the man's been through enough already?
Ha ha.
The search to understand how and why
this could have happened, it takes over.
Swallows you up.
You know you have to do something,
so you make a plan.
I don't know, maybe it was too soon
to bring it up with the Chief.
Well, I need somebody on Engine ASAP.
And Damon, he fits the bill.
He's too good to get stuck in the floater pool.
And if he's there too long,
his reputation could take another hit.
- Or he gets blackballed. - Yep.
Sorry to interrupt, but the Chief has
an assignment for all the rigs--
wants us to follow him in his buggy.
Follow him where?
I believe we're going to the scene of Monica's accident.
Oh.
It's like you're trying to put a puzzle back together--
one you've done before,
but suddenly none of the pieces fit.
All right, let's go. Let's go!
Come on. Let's get started.
As far as I can tell from the reports,
this is about where Monica's car was when you arrived.
Is that correct?
Yeah, Chief.
And what was happening when Engine arrived?
We rolled up behind Squad,
and we jumped right in, trying to help block the flow
of east-west traffic on East Harrison.
And Ambo and Truck were already on scene,
so me and my guys got on.
We focused on prepping for any flare-ups
while Squad and Truck, they were handling the victims.
Why don't you talk me through it, Lieutenant?
Squad approached from the north and saw the two vehicles.
Monica's was here, facing west.
The SUV came to rest approximately a foot and--
SUV came to rest?
How'd you come to that conclusion, Lieutenant?
Not following, Chief.
Well, how do you know the SUV didn't roll forward
and close the gap to the sedan after the collision
and before you arrived?
You--you can't really know, can you?
I can't say for sure what the impact velocity was
of the vehicles based on their position,
but there's other evidence that suggests--
What evidence?
The crush depth, the skid marks.
Skid marks don't mean squat in slick conditions,
and crush depth isn't really conclusive either, is it?
No, Chief, but when you look at it all together...
What about you, Lieutenant?
Why don't you tell me about how you ended up rescuing
the driver who T-boned Monica?
I was here, sizing up the scene,
when the driver of the SUV got out of his vehicle.
I told him to stay put, but he seemed very out of it.
Out of it? How?
He was disoriented, unsteady on his feet.
He was unresponsive to verbal commands.
So based on that behavior, didn't it occur to you
that maybe he was under the influence of something?
Crossed my mind, yes.
But once I got a closer look at him...
What?
Well, the tox report came back negative.
Is that not right?
But couldn't it--
couldn't he have been on something that wouldn't
have shown on the tox report?
It is possible, Chief.
Honestly, he was acting like someone with head trauma
more than anything.
That was my read on it, too, Chief.
I've seen that behavior many times.
What the hell is this?
Am I going crazy?
Is that what you're all implying here,
that I'm going crazy?
Why is everyone hell-bent
on exonerating the man who killed my wife?
I knew that's not what he wanted to hear.
Maybe not, but all we can do
is tell him the truth. - Yeah.
This is gonna be a process.
We just have to let him work it out.
I, for one, don't like doing nothing in the meantime.
Cruz, weren't you guys gonna
put something together from the firehouse?
Mouch thought it might be a nice gesture
to send some flowers to the funeral.
But still no word on when or where.
Has anybody tried calling around?
Find out that way?
Not a bad idea.
How many funeral homes could there be, right?
Google says 132.
- OK, that's a lot. - Whew.
All right, so we divvy up, divide and conquer.
All right. I'll put together a list.
Hey, not to be a buzzkill,
but what happened at the wreck site--
if he keeps showing up to work like that,
what do we do?
Lieutenant Severide.
Relax, I'm not gonna rake you over the coals again.
I just want to do my due diligence.
I get that, Chief, but--
I--I know.
This is personal for me, obviously.
I'm not gonna pretend it's not.
But you know I'd do the same for any accident investigation
where I thought they had it wrong.
OK, but what makes you so sure they got this wrong?
Figuring out the truth, it's more than just
friction coefficients and lab reports.
You know that as well as anyone.
What your gut tells you,
that's just as important.
And right now, my gut's telling me that this guy,
Franklin, was driving recklessly.
You know, he doesn't even live down here.
He lives in one of those overbuilt McMansions
out in Barrington, OK?
Now, he's probably just terrified
to get caught at a red light--
How do you know what kind of house he lives in?
What are you talking about? It was in the ASA's report.
Anyway, here.
I'm giving all the officers on scene the reports back.
So you go over that again,
you make sure everything's 100% accurate.
I want it by the end of the day.
Yo, Briggs.
You looking for a job too?
Man, I got another kid on the way,
so I'm looking for a second side hustle.
You still humping hoses at 36?
Nah, they pulled our engine.
So I'm a truckie now.
They pulled it out of service?
Yeah, and they cut our shifts in half.
But at least we didn't get shut down.
But what about you, man?
I heard you went over to 20.
How they treating you?
It didn't work out.
So I'm back in the floater pool,
and it's getting pretty crowded.
So I don't know when my next shift might be.
But in the meantime, man, I got rent to pay.
Yeah.
Well, just know you got some fans out there.
Like one of the guys I work with
said he heard great things about you.
Oh, yeah? From who?
I don't know.
Some medic named Kojak or something.
Novak?
Lizzie Novak?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's her.
You know, I guess she was floating around 36
before I got there.
Everyone seems to like her, though.
Yeah.
She's pretty cool.
OK, thank you.
Westfield's a no.
15 minutes on hold now.
How many calls can this funeral home be taking?
Yes, thank you.
Excellent.
Thank you, yes.
All right, I got it.
Woodgrove Memorial, tomorrow at 11:00.
Oh, you guys found it. Nice work.
Of course, it had to be at the bottom of the list.
All right, so who knows what about flowers?
Oh, the official flower of Chicago is a chrysanthemum.
I learned about it in elementary school.
Ladies, not to perpetuate gender stereotypes here,
but perhaps you have an opinion?
Well, at Hawkins' funeral, they had a really beautiful,
huge arrangement of lilies.
The smell was so strong,
couldn't get it out of your hair for days.
So maybe anything but lilies.
Ambo 61, person down.
556 North Croft.
But you can't give up.
It's a constant battle.
And you're going to fight with everything you have.
It's Bill, across the hall from me.
I heard him crying out for help.
He's right this way.
I got the super to open his door.
He was on the floor, shaking.
Bill?
Bill, hey, paramedics are here.
Hey, Bill, tell us what's going on.
My pacemaker keeps hitting me.
OK, grab a 12-lead EKG, please.
- OK. - I'll take a look here.
All right, he's got a dual pacemaker-defibrillator.
How many times has it shocked you, Bill?
I don't know, ten times maybe?
I keep blacking out.
OK, normal sinus rhythm.
Paced at 68. No arrhythmias.
His defibrillator is misfiring.
OK, Bill, we need to get you to the hospital
right away, all right?
He's unconscious.
Most patients can't survive more than 15 shocks.
If we can't stop this defibrillator,
he's not gonna make it to Med.
How are we supposed to stop a defibrillator
that's inside him?
Most implants have a safety mode to disable it.
It's triggered by a magnetic field,
so we need a strong magnet.
Stay with him and keep him stable.
We are not letting this man die today.
OK.
All right, let's put the defib pads on him.
It's working.
OK, let's get him on the stair chair
and get ready to pace him.
Copy.
All right, Bill.
Let's get you to Med.
Let's go. There we go.
What Pascal said about seeing Franklin's house in the report,
it doesn't make sense.
How? How do you mean?
The way he described it--
an overbuilt McMansion.
It's like he went there, saw it in person.
That's getting into some dangerous territory.
I don't think Chief would do something like that.
I mean, maybe he's getting a little obsessive,
and he looked it up online--
which would be totally reasonable,
given everything that he's going through.
But Pascal is too level-headed to hurt somebody,
if that's what you're thinking.
I don't know about that.
I just mean his state of mind right now.
We don't know for sure.
And now that I know that he might have been there,
I feel like I should do something about it.
Like what?
Hey.
I was hoping you'd be here.
Oh. Yeah, we just got back from a super intense call,
which Violet handled like a boss.
Are you--are you here to see Severide or Kidd?
Because I haven't been inside yet, but--
No, I was actually looking for you.
I wanted to say thanks for hyping me up
and putting in a good word for me
with the guys over at 36.
Oh, of course.
Yeah, they would--they would be lucky to have you.
I mean, it was after a few tequila shots,
so my memory's a little fuzzy, but whatever I said,
I--I hope it helps.
At this point, it can't hurt.
I don't know.
A referral from me could count against you with some people.
Well, then those are people I don't want to work with.
I'm glad you stopped by.
It's--it's been pretty tense and sad around the house, and--
You know what?
I could use your help with something really quick.
Yeah, whatever you need.
OK, great.
I'll just take a sec.
Gotta admit, I have been wanting to do that for a while.
Now seemed like a good time.
Perfect time, even.
Maybe we could pick this up after shift?
Definitely.
Great.
I'll text you.
Yeah.
That's fine. - Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Hi.
We were told to find Olivia.
She'd know where to put these.
I'm Olivia.
You work with Dom?
These are from everybody at the firehouse.
We just--we're so sorry for your loss.
Monica seemed like a lovely lady.
Thank you.
She was, and these are beautiful.
Why don't you put them over here?
- Thanks. - Yeah.
I have to say, I'm a little surprised
Dom told you about the service.
He was pretty adamant it be family only.
He didn't.
We just wanted to find some way to show our support.
Hope we didn't overstep.
No, it's very much appreciated.
Honestly, I'd invite you to the service myself, but--
Oh. Family only.
I'll make sure he knows where these came from.
And thank you again.
What happened, the way I acted back then,
it--it wasn't because I didn't care.
It was the opposite.
And I wanted to tell you, you deserve better, Sam.
I should have told you the truth.
But sometimes,
as we both know,
that's the hardest thing to do.
Went through it line by line, triple checked every detail,
just like you asked.
And there's nothing in there that needed to be changed.
Stand by every word of this.
OK.
We'll see if Herrmann and Kidd find anything.
I have something to say, Chief.
I'm the only person in this firehouse,
maybe the only person in this world,
who knows how far you're willing to go for Monica.
But if something happens to Franklin...
Don't do it, Chief.
Whatever your gut's telling you to do,
all it will do is ruin your life.
And I didn't know Monica very well, but...
I know that's not what she would have wanted.
What makes you so sure?
I'm not sure about anything.
I'm hoping.
Well, if you are wrong,
then we can huddle up and talk about next steps.
I went through your reports,
and I see that nothing's changed.
Yeah, I--
I made sure that I retraced every step, Chief.
I did not take it lightly.
And because nothing's changed,
there's no reason for me to resubmit them
to the state's attorney's office.
So,
yeah, the case is closed.
Sorry, Chief.
Well, thank you for taking another look.
Regarding Engine,
you won't need to call in a floater anymore
if Kylie's unavailable.
I've requested that Jack Damon be assigned to 51 permanently.
Are you still working, or is it ready to go?
Actually, I decided not to send it.
Why not?
The thing is, I don't know where Carver's head is at
right now, and it doesn't seem fair
to put all of this on him now, you know?
I guess I could see that.
Yeah.
So I think I will just shove it in a drawer somewhere.
And when he comes back, I guess I'll just--
I'll get a read on everything,
and see if it even makes sense to give it to him.
I get that.
Are you up for this afternoon?
100%.
At some point, it hits you.
This feeling, that hole in your heart,
it's never gonna go away, and fighting won't help.
But there is something that will.
You can't go it alone.
You need to let people back in.
It's the only way.
You sure about this?
Nope, but sometimes you have to go with your heart
on these things.
You hear? Damon's back at 51.
Glad he landed on his feet.
Chief.
Services were supposed to be family only.
I know, Chief.
That's why we're here.
You ready?
I guess what I really wanted to say the most is...
I miss you.