Curate, connect, and discover
Okay I have an idea for a Chicago Fire episode.
So Ritter gets hurt bad in the sense that he's in critical condition for a bit but not bad enough that he has to leave or dies.
Now hear me out. I want to see how this affects Gallo. They're best friends and Gallo relies on him more than anyone else. We would get even more of them. We could see Gallo struggling at the house again and we could have Casey talking to him. Casey might bring up Andy and Gallo shut him up immediately because he doesn't want to hear the possibility of Ritter dying. We could have someone (probably Violet) asking why he's in the kitchen so much and he says something about him and Ritter cooking for the house and that being in the kitchen helps him with his thoughts. He doesn't go to Molly's often, choosing to visit Ritter and at the end of the episode Sharon or Ethan tell him the good news.
I would also like to see Hermann and Mouch's worried father thing. They brought him and helped shape him. Hermann would be taking it really hard since he's his Lieutenant, he's the one who orders Ritter around in fires. Mouch and Hermann's friendship could be shown a bit more with Mouch reassuring Hermann it's not his fault (it isn't his fault it's the fires fault) and Hermann telling Mouch that bringing Ritter to 51 was the right decision (remember Ritter wanted to quit in season 7).
We could also see some of Eric. We could see how this takes a toll on their relationship. I know we've seen it before and Eric knows the risks of Ritter's job but seeing his bf in a hospital bed could make him think. We could see Gallo bonding with Eric.
I dunno though it's just a thought.