‘Chicago Fire’: [Spoiler] Nearly Killed by Gunshot Wound to the Neck

In Thursday’s two-hour episode of Chicago Fire, Firehouse 51 almost lost two firefighters.

Brian “Otis” Zvonecek (Yuri Sardarov) and Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) find themselves in the life of fire, and one is almost killed. While everyone survived, one of them is unlikely to ever jump into a fire truck again.

During the second half of “Looking for a Lifeline/The Chance to Forgive,” the Firehouse 51 squad responded to a fire at a home in Chicago. While trying to rescue a young man’s parents, gunfire started breaking out. Stella and Otis were on the top floor at the time, and both were hit.

For a time, the team could not get in contact with any of them. Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) ordered everyone to stay out of the house until police could arrive to find the shooter, but Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) went in anyway.

Stella woke up to find Otis bleeding from the head. She used his radio to tell everyone outside what was going on. Kelly ran into the room to help get Otis secured and lowered out of the house.

At the hospital, the team was told that Otis was shot right near his spine and was very lucky he did not die immediately. They later took Otis into surgery. Thankfully, Stella’s radio saved her life. Somehow, she managed to escape without any wounds, but she was shaken up.

After the surgery, Otis wakes up, with girlfriend Lily (Ariane Reinhart) and best friend Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) by his side. But when the doctor (Chicago universe regular Brian Tee) touches his toes, Otis does not feel anything. That’s bad news. It looks like he will be paralyzed and is not likely to be back in the firehouse any time soon. Thankfully, he is now able to walk, but with a cane.

Meanwhile, the investigation found that there was no active shooter at the scene. The young man, Patrick (Adam Shalzi) had a full arsenal of weapons and ammunition in his room, and it all went off when the fire started. He did not tell the firefighters right away, which particularly angered Joe.

Later, Patrick’s mother died from her wounds, so Joe thought he would get charged with manslaughter. That did not happen. However, Patrick was wrecked by guilt, and tried to commit suicide by locking himself in a garage and turning his car on. When the firehouse team arrived, they struggled to open the garage.

But Joe put his own life on the line to save Patrick, the kid he blamed for nearly ending his best friend’s life.

“Your dad needs you too. You screwed up. You can’t change that,” Joe told Patrick. “But he knows that you never meant for any of this to happen. You can keep this from getting worse. Give your dad a chance to forgive. You owe him that much at least.”

The next episode of Chicago Fire, “The One That Matters Most,” airs on Thursday, March 29 at 10 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: John Tsiavis/NBC