11x04 - The Center of the Universe

[bunniefuu]

You're a lot of fun.
We should do this again.

My niece is coming by.
Keep your distance.

This is Tracy.

- Nice to meet you.
- Same.

Come help me convert the
laundry room into my office.

- You're asking for my help.
- Yeah.

But you didn't ask. You gave an order.

For some reason, Boden loves this guy.

So I got to do my best to make it work.

You are my life.

I wouldn't change a second of that.

- Watch your step!
- [ALL SHOUTING]

Get out, get out, get out!

Please, God, please!

- Let them work.
- I can save him. Please.

[CRYING] No, no, no, no, no.

[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]

♪

Okay.

[EXHALES SLOWLY]

♪

Mateo's party's at that bouncy place,

and it's right after
the bug play at school,

so maybe you can come?

Uh, sounds like fun.
When is the bug play?

I told you, Friday.

You know, that's a busy day
for me at work.

But I promise you, I will try.

I heard Mom on the phone.

She said a chief d*ed.

Yeah, sadly, that's true.

[PENSIVE MUSIC]

He was a good man.

You're a chief.

Look at me.

I am safe and sound.

You know what?

I'm gonna make it to that bug play.

Don't you worry.

[SCHOOL BELL RINGS]

Okay.

Bye.

I love you.

♪

Hey.

Thought first shift was
supposed to stay out of there.

Oh, uh, I'm Jonah,
the floater for second shift.

New medic.

Just doing my thing and
checking it all out, you know?

So, uh, how's House ?

You hear things, you know,
like you guys are legendary,

or something?

To be honest, I'm still trying
to figure it all out myself.

Good luck.

Talk more later.

- Hi.
- Hey.

Mm.

Is the floater as bad as you thought?

Ugh, worse.

He's obsessed with manga, which,

I have no idea what that even is,

but he's informed me
that Rengoku's death

in "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train"
had to happen

for the plot of the
"Demon Slayer" series to work,

and he's pretty worked up about it.

- Oh, God.
- Yeah.

I am not leaving the locker
room until the bells go off.

[CHUCKLES]

Have you heard from Violet?

Just a thank you text for my
messages after the funeral...

very brief.

You?

Same.

The funeral was heartbreaking.

That speech Evan's big brother
gave almost k*lled me.

I wish there was more
we could do for her.

I know.

I did have a thought
about a couple things

we could send to her place,

- maybe cheer her up a little.
- Yeah, I like the sound of that.

- [ALARM BLARES]
- Ambulance , Squad ,

person trapped, Oakwood Beach.

[SIRENS WAILING]

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪

He says his son was playing in the pile,

digging a big hole,
and the sides collapsed...

a little eight-year-old boy.

Hey, we can't use tools.

Move aside.

Nico, hang in there, buddy.

♪

[TENSE MUSIC]

[SIRENS WAILING]

Backboards, ground pads,
forms and shovels... let's go.

Yeah, copy that, Lieutenant.

- How deep was he?
- I don't know.

[STAMMERS] Like , maybe, feet.

Chief?

Box him in, right here.

Hey, I'm gonna need you
to wait down there.

Off the pile.

♪

All right, squad, drive them
in as deep as you can.

Let's move, guys.

[GRUNTING]

- Got him!
- Nico!

It's just his hand so far. Stand by.

Get this sand out of here!

[GRUNTING]

I got his head. I got his head.

Uncovering his head now.

Here, bring the oxygen t*nk up to him.

Cruz, can you get that mask on him?

Yeah, you got it.

It's all right.

Is he breathing?

Is he breathing?

Look, they have to get all
that heavy sand off his chest

before they get him breathing, okay?

- How long was he under there?
- I don't know.

Uh, maybe seven minutes.

Breathe.

Breathe.

♪

Breathe.

[GASPING]

- Cruz, go and take over!
- Captain!

Hey... hey, sir!

We'll bring him to you, okay?

Just give us a minute.

Nico, I'm here, buddy.

Nico!

Chief?

Chief... Chief, come on.

Come on, take a break.

You did good.

Got him.

Nico?

[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]

♪

One, two, three.

- What's that?
- See for yourself.

It just showed up at Molly's.

The estate trust of Spiro Stephanides.

That the crazy old dude
who used to own the bar?

Yeah, I guess he wasn't lying
when he said he was on his way out.

Or when he hinted that
we'd be named in the will.

A beer mug?

Technically a stein, but yeah.

That's it.

That's the extent of our bequeathal...

a piece of bric-a-brac,
a Bavarian gewgaw.

Hey, could have been worse.

I was half expecting a monkey's paw.

What a crazy old coot he was.

Oh, gross.

I wouldn't drink out of this
for, like, , bucks.

Well, Donnelly just spent an
hour explaining how

Muichiro is the strongest Hashira.

Oh, come on, he's messing with you.

Muichiro is just the Mist Hashira.

I don't get it.

Any word on when Violet's back?

I sent her a couple of texts today

just so she knows I'm thinking of her.

Yeah, I sent her
a bunch of messages too.

She hasn't gotten back to me.

Me and Cindy, we packed up some dinners.

We left it with the super
of her building

since she didn't answer the door.

I'm sure she appreciates it all,

but she just needs
some solo time right now...

not feeling up for visits
or coming back to work yet.

But last I heard, she's gonna
get a good long furlough.

Hey, Chief,

you want me to finish hosing
all that down for you?

I'm almost done. Thanks.

You were, uh...

you were half man, half machine
out there on that beach, Chief.

It was pretty incredible.

Had to get that boy out.

No other option.

[PENSIVE MUSIC]

Well, you did.

We did.

Great team effort.

♪

_

_

Carver, got a little job for you.

Great.

It's time to repaint
the compartment interiors.

Okay.

You still got hours
till the end of shift.

hours to tackle what, compartments

that I have to empty out, paint, repack.

Well, you scrub first, then paint.

And Gallo can't pitch in because...

Because, Carver, it is your turn.

Lieutenant, am I being
punished for something?

No.

But once you are finished, you will know

how the truck is organized,
forwards and backwards.

Great.

[MONITOR BEEPING]

♪

It's outside visiting hours, hon.

Oh, uh, I know.

- I'm a medic.
- Ah.

Are you a relative of Gabriel Hammond's?

Uh, no. No.

My... my boyfriend, Evan, was a...
was a paramedic chief.

And he tried to save Gabriel.

He sheltered him when the
building collapsed, but...

[VOICE BREAKING] Um, Evan
didn't make it out, so.

Very sorry to hear that.

So I've been, um, visiting
him during the off hours

pretty much every day
since Gabriel came in.

The neurological exams
just haven't changed

since he got here.

I know.

And I know the doctors
say he may not make it,

but I don't believe that.

He has to pull through.

Has to.

Otherwise...

what did Evan die for?

♪

Hey, look at that,

second shift repainting
the compartments.

One side, anyway.

I'll have to hit
the other side next shift.

Unless you guys want to take care of it.

What do you say, Jacobs?

I say, no thanks.

Can't say I blame you.

How's all that going?

Just fine.

If you need a hand next shift...

Thanks, but Lieutenant was pretty clear

she doesn't want you helping.

What's her deal anyway?

How do you mean?

I just get the feeling she's
riding my ass for no reason,

and I'm wondering if it's
the kind of thing she does

a lot, a power play, you know?

If she's making you do
something, there's a reason.

What's the story with her and Severide?

They've been together a long time?

Yeah.

Why?

Just curious.

Kidd's as good a lieutenant
as you'll find anywhere.

See you next shift, Carver.

Everything okay with your son?

Oh, yes.

Yeah, Nico's doing great.

Already back home all because of you.

Yeah.

Rob Scanlon.

Chief Wallace Boden.

It's an honor to shake
your hand, Chief Boden.

Man, uh, the words thank you
just don't seem like enough

for saving my boy's life.

I'm just glad he's okay.

I have a boy about the same age.

- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.

[SOFT SENTIMENTAL MUSIC]

I tried to dig, you know,
to get him out.

And, uh, I was going as hard as I could.

But the more I dug,
it looked like the deeper

I was burying him.

You did the right thing
letting us take over.

It's what we train for.

I just felt so helpless.

Worst feeling in the world when
it comes to your kids, right?

Yes, it is.

I've been feeling it a lot lately too.

You know, I moved Nico to Chicago

right when COVID hit the fan
for a new job.

He was online for school
for two years...

no real way to make friends.

So, you know, he's...

he's been lonely.

And I try to spend as much time
as I can with him,

but, you know, the job
just has me running.

The beach day was our
first outing in a while.

Believe that?

I'm sorry.

I understand what it is
that you're going through.

Sometimes it seems impossible
to balance it all.

Very true.

Well, hmm, here I am taking up
even more of your time.

No.

I'll let you get back to it.

But, uh, again,

thank you, Chief.

♪

[KNOCK AT DOOR]

[KNOCK AT DOOR]

Can I come in?

I'm really bad company right now, but...

[SIGHS]

Let me guess, Stella is stuck
working at Molly's,

so she sent you to bring me a beer,
and try to cheer me up?

[CHUCKLES] No. This is my idea.

I wanted to tell you
about a girlfriend I had

before your time at , Anna.

Yeah.

Stella has told me about her.

I mean, I don't know much, but I...

I know she d*ed.

The two toughest things
I've ever been through

were losing Shay and losing her.

♪

And for the longest time

after Anna d*ed, I felt like

a boat cut loose from the dock,

just lost, nothing to hold on to.

Yeah, that's...

yeah, that's pretty much exactly it.

I don't like to think about
how low a bottom

I might have hit
if I hadn't gone back to work.

That's just my take,
having been where you are.

I appreciate it, I really do.

But the...

the difference is...

I'm scared if I go back to work,

I'll see Evan everywhere.

It was his work too.

You can't avoid it that way,
I'm sorry to say.

I saw Anna wherever I went,
too, for the longest time.

But what I saw even clearer,
right in front of me,

was my crew at ,

always bugging me, checking in on me.

And I wanted to k*ll them half the time.

But I knew that if I started to drift,

they'd hold on tight.

♪

I mean, I guess it's better
than that old dog mug

we used to have.

Man, that thing bummed me out.

I figured Stephanides
didn't leave us this stein

so we could shove it
in the back of the cabinet.

We gotta honor
a dying man's wishes, right?

- Uh, guys?
- Yeah?

Listen, I've been doing
a little digging,

and that stein is, like,
a collector's item.

- Get out.
- No. For real.

These things are all over eBay.

And I think I found one
that looks pretty similar.

It dates back to .

No way.

"Depicting the ancient Germanic myth

of Brunhilda and Sigurd."

Ooh, good to know.

Herrmann, it sold for almost $ , .

- What?
- Whoa.

Oh, hey, Ritter,

how fast do you think that you could get

- this thing listed for sale?
- Me?

What happened to honoring
a dying man's wishes?

We'll honor him with a new double pump

glycol draft beer chiller.

Our ship has come in.

Yeah.

Hey, Blake, ready for another?

Uh, hey, Tracy, no.

Uh, no, I'm good.

Really?

Why do I feel like
you're trying to get rid of me?

What are you doing?

Uncle Christopher's right there.

Uncle Christopher doesn't care.

What don't I care about?

[PHONE RINGING]

Yeah, Molly's.

Oh, hey, Trudy, yeah.

Mouch is right in front of me.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, sure.

Uh, hang on.

Um, she doesn't want to talk to you.

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Kidd, it's Trudy, for you.

Hey, lady, what's going on?

He was picked up in West Town
on a drunk and disorderly,

with a case to be made for as*ault,

except nobody's willing
to press charges.

And here we are.

[TENSE MUSIC]

He one of yours?

Evening, Lieutenant.

Yeah, he belongs to me.

Mm-hmm.

If you barf in my car, I'm
dumping you on the Eisenhower.

You don't have to worry about me.

I sobered up real quick
when I saw your scowling face.

Do not get cute.

If you think that you can go carousing,

getting into trouble,
and then drop my name

when the cops show up,
you better think twice.

I didn't drop your name,
or I didn't mean to.

I just made a cr*ck
about how Lieutenant Kidd

was gonna bury me
if I didn't show up for shift.

I didn't know the desk sergeant
had you on speed dial.

Don't you have anyone else at all

that you could have called
to come and bail you out?

Any friends at all?

I got friends.

Do you?

Or are you just some
kind of train wreck?

Listen, Lieutenant,

for all hours
of every shift, you own my ass.

But when I punch out, that's my time.

What I do, who I am, that's my business.

All you need to worry about

is who shows up when I punch back in.

And that's the best
firefighter you ever saw.

Sure.

Get in the car.

♪

Morning, Lieutenant.

Came in a little early to get
started on the driver's side...

should be able to finish
it all this shift.

How's the lip?

It's nothing... totally fine.

You know, your accent really
comes out when you're drunk.

What is that? Texas?

Listen, Lieutenant, you don't
need to mention anything

to Boden about my little
misadventure, do you?

It doesn't seem like the kind of
thing he needs to be bothered with.

[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]

♪

How about you worry
about those compartments,

you let me worry about how to do my job.

♪

Morning.

Yeah, morning.

Oh, my God, you're here.

Hi.

Violet, damn, girl.

- She's mine!
- Man, it's good to see you.

Like, so seriously good.

Oh, my God, we really
missed you around here.

It feels like
you've been gone for months.

Thanks, you guys.

I'm so glad you feel ready to be back.

Yeah, I think I am.
Or at least, I hope so.

Well, don't worry, we've got you.

Yeah.

[SENTIMENTAL MUSIC]

Morning, Chief.

Yeah, I suppose.

I know that mood.

It comes when you don't get good sleep.

Little Kenny is the same way.

I'm not sure
I appreciate the comparison,

but yeah, you're right. I was up late.

Can't stop thinking about that

father from the beach call, Rob,

way he was blaming himself
for his kid's struggles.

I have the same guilt,

that I'm not there enough for Terrance,

or in the right way.

I hear that.

I got too many kids, too little time.

Yeah, but we're lucky, though.

You know, we're firefighters.

We got an eye on each other's kids too.

Like, Harvey was so happy to
meet up with you and Terrance

the other day,
just dads and boys together.

Hey, me and my kids weren't invited?

Okay, look, I'm sorry, Herrmann,

but Javi's scared of Annabelle.

So? Who isn't?

Herrmann, get in here.
You got to see this.

- Just...
- What's happening?

Hurry up. The sn*pers are descending.

- What? sn*pers?
- Yeah.

Uh, the real action with an eBay sale

happens right at the end.

That's when the bidders
try to snipe one another

with a last second bid.

And they're sniping like crazy.

Where are we at?

Up to $ , .

- Oh, man.
- , .

- Now , .
- Oh, , .

Oh, is this real?

You guys aren't pulling some
kind of prank on me, yeah?

What?

, .

Ooh.

- Herrmann, you okay?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[STAMMERS] I just got... whew.

A few seconds left and still climbing.

Yeah, this is... this is when the bots

should start kicking in.

There's bots now?

- Go, go, go, go, go, go.
- This is insane.

- Holy.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

- [COMPUTER CHIMES]
- Holy crow.

- What? What happened?
- Final sale price...

grand.

$ , for a musty beer
stein... not too shabby.

I'm sorry, did you hear
what he just said?

You made $ , .

[EXCITED SHOUTING]

[ALARM BLARES]

Ambulance , person in distress,

North Lincoln Park West.

[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]

- Ready?
- Let's do this.

Ooh.

- What took you so long?
- It was only...

My husband, David, you have to help him.

He's so out of it.

He was talking about how his chest hurt.

And then, he just got all weird, like...

like he didn't know where he was.

- David, can you hear me?
- David? David?

He was awake a second ago.

Does your husband have
any history of heart trouble?

Yes, totally... he just
got back from the hospital

a couple of days ago
after open-heart surgery.

Blood pressure's really low.

Heart sounds are muffled.

- Brett.
- JVD.

- What's that mean?
- Your husband has a tamponade,

which means blood
is building up in the space

between the heart and pericardium.

His wound's opening up.
We gotta get him to Med fast.

Blood pressure that low,
he won't make it.

We need to reduce
that fluid buildup now.

Are you sure, Vi?

I've seen CT surgeons do this in the ER.

We got this.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪

[SCREAMING]

What did you do to him?

I know this looks scary,
but this is good.

Releasing the blood is exactly
what we needed to happen.

His blood pressure's already coming up.

She just saved his life.

David?

Baby?

[TENSE MUSIC]

- [GROANS]
- Gentle. Gentle.

[GROANING]

Up and over. Careful.

You'll be okay, baby.

Okay. Now we need to move fast.

Let's get him to the hospital.

Let's go.

So then, he has the nerve to tell me

that I shouldn't mention
anything to Boden

about his little misadventure.

He told you or asked you?

I mean, it may have been
phrased as a question,

but the implication was,
don't rat me out,

like I'm supposed to help Carver

cover up his conduct unbecoming.

So did you report it to Boden?

I wasn't planning on it until
Carver opened up his mouth.

Now I'm thinking,
maybe I should loop Boden in.

Hmm.

Well, now's your chance. Here he is.

Hey, Chief.

Severide, Kidd.

Is everything okay?

Yes, fine.

I saw Carver out there getting up close

and personal with the truck.

How's he working out?

So far, so good.

Yeah.

All right, then.

- [LAUGHS]
- Don't start.

I'm also gonna need a half
dozen ball lock disconnects,

a half dozen keg couplers,
and feet of beer line.

Hey, am I forgetting anything?

- Regulator.
- Oh, right.

Hey, Ronnie, what do you got
in the way of,

uh, you know, secondary regulators?

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

All right. Let's go with the five way.

And, uh, don't give me any of that

cheap zinc crap, all right.

Give me the good stuff.

What do you care about
where the money comes from?

Maybe we knocked over
an armored truck, all right.

Just give me the total. Mm-hmm.

He can install everything tomorrow.

- Perfect.
- All right. Great.

Ah.

Yeah, we will have the check waiting,

and we will see you then.

All right.

- We're in business!
- Oh!

Oh!

- [GROANS]
- Oh, jeez!

Herrmann, it's called
situational awareness.

I'm sorry, brother.

That was a hell of a catch, though.

[SOFT PLAYFUL MUSIC]

♪

Are we maybe being a little
too heartless, you know,

hocking a gift from the dead
for cold hard cash?

It's a little late to grow a conscience.

You just spent the money.

Yeah.

Do we have any left over?

Maybe we throw a little
memorial type thing

and pay our respects
to the old-timer that way.

- Nice idea.
- Yeah.

He was in damn good shape
when we dropped him off.

That was something,
you cutting those wires.

You thought I was crazy.

No, I was just being cautious.

Too cautious, because you were so right.

You nailed it.

Thanks, PIC.

[PHONE CHIMES]

Oh, I can't believe this.

What?

Uh, it's the nurse at Med.

She says that Gabriel Evans'
victim, he's...

he's out of the coma.

Oh, my God. Hey, hold on.

[SIREN WAILING]

[SENTIMENTAL MUSIC]

♪

I don't know why it didn't occur to me

that his family would be there.

Of course they are.

Maybe you could go in
and introduce yourself.

No, I...

I don't even know what I was gonna say.

But I am sure as hell not gonna
interrupt that beautiful scene.

Look at that.

Evan saved him, Sylvie.

Yes, he did.

♪

It's end of shift.

Isn't there a bar fight
waiting for you somewhere?

Just staying till this paint is dry,

then I'll go raise hell.

It's not bad work, Carver.

- Thanks, Lieutenant.
- Yeah.

And thanks for not
reporting me to Boden.

Yet.

Yet?

I don't need Boden to put you on notice.

I already did that myself.

But if I get another call from PD

or so much as catch a whiff
of mischief coming off of you,

I'll make him aware of it.

Look, that guy you found
in the cooler the other night,

you don't have to worry about him.

This is the guy who's gonna
show up at the firehouse,

shift after shift.

The best firefighter.

The best firefighter that I ever saw.

You said that already.

I did? When?

Look, just stay out of trouble, Carver.

Hey, Chief, see you
at our Molly's event later?

Actually, no.

Give my apologies
to Herrmann, would you?

Sure thing.

Hey.

You have a minute?

Yeah, I have a whole bunch of them.

Come on in.

[SOFT SENTIMENTAL MUSIC]

How do you live
with that hole in your heart,

feeling that every part of you is empty?

Yeah.

I'm no expert in grief, that's for sure.

But my feeling is, all you
can do is think of them,

talk about them as much as you can,

so in some way...

It's like they're still here.

♪

Time me... I'll get up there
so fast, it'll set a record.

I'm gonna touch that tippy top blue one.

Me too.

It's not about how fast
you get up there.

Yeah, just take it nice and easy,

at least the first time, all right?

Okay, you two, you got half an hour.

Donna is putting together
a dinner for us all.

She don't cook often.

Like, never.

Hey, go on, get.

♪

- Look at that.
- Hey!

The inaugural pint from our
new and improved tap system.

The first one might taste
a little metallic,

but that'll go away.

Now, four words you'll never
hear me say again...

Drinks on the house.

[ALL CHEERING]

[LAUGHS]

I'm... I'm kind of surprised
Carver isn't here.

You sure he knew it was happening?

He was right there when
Herrmann invited everyone.

Where'd that come from?

From me, knowing what a
difference you made to Violet,

getting her back to work.

It wasn't just me.

It was everyone.

I knew you would say that.

One of the many reasons
you are my perfect man.

Maybe she's right, you know,

maybe Herrmann doesn't care
if you two are dating.

- Hanging out.
- Uh-huh.

I mean, what is he gonna do?
She's a grown-ass woman.

That she is.

You know, it would be nice
to keep it going while we can

'cause that girl is F-U-N, fun.

Here you go.

Thanks, Tracy.

You value your life, Capp?

Keep your distance.

[TAPPING GLASS]

Ladies and gents, here's to Stephanides,

who's served us well.

Let's hope he's in heaven
and not in hell.

[ALL CHEERING]

[SOFT PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[GASPS]

What's going on here?

Stephanides, but you're not...

I mean...

We got your beer stein.

Great!

That's why I'm here, to pick it up.

- She's a beaut, isn't she?
- Yeah.

And I had them ship it
to my old business address

because of tax purposes.

Where is it?

I'm dying to see it in person.

Well...

That's him, Evan.

[SENTIMENTAL MUSIC]

He was the only one who saw you
fall out of that door

overcome with smoke.

And, um,

he knew he was supposed to stay out

of the collapse zone, but

he could see you weren't gonna
make it out on your own.

So he ran in to help.

That is a brave man.

♪

Is it okay if, um...

can I tell you a little bit
about who he was?

Yes, I'd like that very much.

Evan was the kind of guy...

Evan was the kind of guy
who could make someone

feel like the center of the universe...

And was worth risking everything for.

♪

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪

[WOLF HOWL]