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There was a short, bemused second in which Buck had time to marvel at the fact that he had just dodged over a ton of crumbling high-rise that would’ve surely killed him. The second ended abruptly as a blinding pain crashed into him with the force of a speeding ladder truck.
“Buck!” A terrified voice screamed from a million miles away. He wanted to find the voice, to reach out to it, but he was already tumbling into darkness.
The universe, Eddie concluded, seemed to have a grudge against the 118. After everything - Chim’s stabbing, Shannon’s death, the bombing, the tsunami, the lawsuit – it had finally felt like the world was returning to normal. For the first time in a long time, every member of their little family was healthy and thriving. The waters had been calm and the fault lines stable. Even their calls had been uncharacteristically easy of late. Eddie was finally starting to feel like he could take a deep breath without waiting for the other shoe to drop.
And then, the earth began shaking. It was a small quake, hardly enough to disrupt the daily life of most of Los Angeles. Pictures fell off walls and everyone ducked and covered, but after a few minutes the city was still mostly intact. Mostly.
It seemed that some of high-rises hadn’t learned from the last earthquake. Just as with before, they found themselves rushing to a collapsing hotel. Thankfully, the majority of the place was still relatively stable this time. It was only the top three floors, a recent addition to the much older building, that had suffered any serious structural damage.
“Holy hell…” Buck muttered as they screeched to halt in front of the Biltmore Hotel. “Cap, you ever seen anything like this?” They all stared for a moment in disbelief. The top portion of the building had canted out toward the street and was balancing at a precarious angle. Giving himself a mental shake, Bobby was the first to snap himself out it.
“Alright, we’re first on scene so I’ve got incident command. From the sounds of it, most of the building has already been evacuated. We’ve got reports of at least two people trapped up there.” He said, pointing at one of the windows in the collapsing section.
“Where do you want us?” Eddie asked.
“Hen, Chim, you two head across the street and start treating the guests that got out. From the sounds of it, some kids got trampled while they were fleeing.” Bobby instructed, clearly wanting his best paramedics where they’d be needed most. Then he pointed up at a nearby crane that had obviously been working on the new addition. “Eddie, you and Buck grab harnesses and head to the top of that crane. Dispatch says there’s a couple of construction workers trapped on the twelfth floor. Should be a similar situation to what you two did during the last quake. I’ll stay on the ground and direct it from here.”
“Hey, at least half of this place is still standing.” Buck remarked, digging out a set of harnesses.
“Yeah, looks like we might get to avoid the elevator shafts this time.” Eddie agreed with a grin. He clapped Buck on the shoulder and the two took off toward the crane.
Twenty minutes later, they were in position, dangling from thick cords in front a set of slanted windows. Inside, they could see two men in orange vests waving frantically at them. Scared as the men were, they seemed to be in a relatively stable location.
“Alright Bobby, swing us in.” Eddie said into his radio. Slowly, the boom swung toward the building, moving them close to the shattered window they planned to use as an entry point.
“That should be close enough.” Bobby replied as the crane shuddered to a stop.
“LAFD, we’re here to get you out!” Buck called out. “Just stay where you are and let us come to you.” He instructed calmly. Eddie couldn’t help the small smile that turned the corners of his lips. Buck may be young and hot-headed, but he’d clearly come a long way as a first responder. Eddie loved seeing him come into his own as he worked through an emergency. Together, he and Buck began swinging themselves toward the window. Just as they were about to pull themselves inside, a loud, metallic snap from above caught their attention. Suddenly, the enormous Biltmore sign was cracking off the roof and plummeting directly at them.
“Eddie, look out!” Buck shouted, throwing his weight toward the window and hooking an arm around his friend. Both men smashed roughly into the thick glass, narrowly avoiding the sign as it tumbled past them. They could hear Bobby calling frantically through their radios, but neither had time to answer as they bounced off the building and swung backward into the air. There was a moment in which they locked eyes where Buck flashed Eddie a bright, relieved smile. He was just opening his mouth to say something when another crash sounded from the roof and before either man had a chance to react, an air conditioning unit toppled over the side and clipped Buck on its way down. Eddie felt his harness jerk roughly against his body as the force of the impact shifted the crane. He felt himself screaming his partner’s name, reaching out futilely toward him.
“Buck!” By some miracle, although now dangerously frayed, the line that tethered Buck’s harness had somehow held. Eddie watched in horror as Buck dangled limply from his line, helmet knocked askew, blood streaming down his face.
“Buck! Eddie! Do you copy?” The sound of Bobby’s voice pulled him back to the moment.
“H-here, Cap.” Eddie answered breathlessly, still staring at Buck.
“What’s your status?” Bobby asked, concern sharpening his tone.
“Buck’s hurt. Can’t tell how bad, but he’s unconscious. I’m gonna try to get a closer look.” Carefully, Eddie shifted his weight just enough to swing himself closer to Buck. The moment he was within reach, Eddie snagged the front of Buck’s shirt and pulled him close. Before anything else, he quickly clipped their harnesses together with a carabiner. Finally secure, he began examining his friend.
“Eddie? How’s he doing?” Bobby prodded.
“Not great, Cap. Pulse is weak, breathing slow and shallow. He’s out cold with a nasty gash on his left temple. I guarantee he’s got a concussion. Also looks like some kind of injury to his left arm, maybe a dislocated shoulder. He could have more injuries that I can’t see. We need to get him down now.”
“Alright, you two hang in there. I’m gonna see if I can use the crane to lower you down. It’s a little damaged from the impact, but I might be able to get it work. The 227 is five minutes out and they’ll handle the construction workers.” After acknowledging Bobby’s plan, Eddie returned his focus to Buck.
“Come on, buddy.” He urged softly, tapping gently on Buck’s cheeks. “Open those eyes for me.” After a moment of tapping and rubbing Buck’s sternum, Buck moaned softly, rolling his head to the side.
“There we go, come on. No sleeping on the job, Buckaroo. I need you to wake up for me, okay?”
“Uhhhhhnnnnn…” Buck’s face pinched in pain as he groaned weakly.
“That’s it, brother. You’re doing good. Can you hear me?” Eddie asked.
“Mmmhhhmmm…” Buck hummed feebly, letting his head loll onto Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie frowned.
“Gonna need a little more than that, bud. Talk to me.”
“Mmmmmph…don’ wanna.” Buck mumbled. Despite everything, Eddie laughed at the younger man’s stubborn nature.
“Too late. You’re already talking. Can you tell me what hurts?”
“Wanna…sleep.”
“I know, buddy, but you gotta stay awake.” Eddie coaxed, giving Buck’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Head injury, you know the rules. I need to make sure your brain didn’t get any more scrambled.” Buck paused for minute before replying.
“H-happened?” He slurred.
“What happened? You got hit by falling debris while trying to rescue two guys from a high rise.” Eddie explained. Slowly, he felt Buck raise his head a fraction.
“Eds?” Buck said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Why we floatin’?” Buck’s voice had taken on a soft, dreamy quality. While Eddie was happy that he wasn’t panicking, the lack of awareness was concerning.
“We’re still in our harnesses, about twelve stories up. Bobby’s working on getting us down now.”
“Oh…m’kay.” Buck murmured, his head falling onto Eddie’s shoulder again.
“Hey, stay awake, Buck…Buck!”
“Jus’ gonna…lay down…for a bit. Wake me for…m’shift.” After that, no amount of cajoling or shaking could rouse him. Eddie scrambled for his radio.
“Bobby, how much longer? He’s getting worse!”
“I’ve got the foreman here and he’s got the crane back online. We’re going to start bringing you down, okay?” Bobby answered. True to his word, a moment later the crane began moving again, slowly lowering them to the ground.
“Stay with me, Buck.” Eddie whispered, cradling Buck’s head close with one hand and supporting his injured arm with his other. “Stay with me.”
“Hi Buck.”
That voice. Soft, young, full of joy. Buck knew that voice. Images of bright smiles, curly hair, and fire engine red glasses flashed through his mind.
“Christopher?” Buck mumbled hoarsely, prying open eyes that felt like they’d been welded shut. Although his vision was still blurry, he couldn’t miss the wide grin that split the little boy’s face.
“I told dad you’d wake up today. He said you were still tired, but I knew.” Christopher said triumphantly. Buck squinted in confusion. Wake up? Rolling his eyes around, it quickly became clear that he was in a hospital. If the sterile room and flimsy gown hadn’t clued him in, the throbbing pain in his head surely would have.
“What happened to me?” He asked, more to himself than anything. Christopher hummed and adjusted his glasses.
“Dad said you had an accident and your brain got hurted.” He explained. Then, he leaned in close as if to say something in confidence. “He was really scared.” Christopher whispered.
“Oh yeah?” Buck asked tiredly. “And what about you? You okay little man?”
“I wasn’t scared.” Christopher gently patted one of Buck’s cheeks. “You’re gonna be okay, kid.” Buck huffed out a small laugh. Despite the ache in his skull, that boy never failed to brighten even his darkest day.
“Christopher, careful around his head!” A voice warned from the doorway. “You know what the doctor said.”
“S’okay, Eddie.” Buck rasped. Eddie’s eyes widened as he stepped into the room and hurried over to the bed.
“Buck! You’re awake!”
“Told you, dad.” Christopher gloated. A wide smile spread across Eddie’s face as he ruffled his son’s hair with one hand and took Buck’s hand with his other.
“Yes, you did, mijo.” He said, sinking into the open chair next to Christopher. As his eyes scanned his friend, his expression became more serious. “How’re you feeling? Any pain?”
“I’m okay. Head hurts a bit. What happened? Christopher said I had an accident?” Buck asked. Eddie nodded.
“Yeah, accident is a nice word for it.” He muttered, then quickly filled Buck in on the events at the collapsing high-rise. “You got busted up pretty bad. Dislocated shoulder, couple of broken ribs, fractured clavicle, and one mother of a concussion to top it all off. There was some swelling in your brain and you’ve been out for three days.” Eddie explained. Buck blinked in shock.
“Three days? What, like I’ve been here the whole time? Eddie-“
“Hey hey hey, easy buddy. Don’t go getting yourself worked up, it’ll just make the headache worse.” Eddie soothed, cutting Buck off before he could start panicking. “Everything’s okay. Just try to relax, alright? The doctor said your last scans look good. I was just calling the others to let them know before I came in here. We’ve all been worried about you, pal.”
“So…so no permanent damage, right?” Buck asked nervously. It was obvious to Eddie that he was thinking about his ability to return to work. After everything he’d gone through to get back after the truck bombing, Eddie could understand his concerns.
“So far everything looks good.” He assured him. “You’re gonna be laid up for a bit, but you should be able to come back.” Immediately, the tension fled from Buck’s body and he seemed to melt back into the mattress. With the anxiety quelled for now, the exhaustion was quickly catching up with him. Christopher noticed and frowned, then leaned close to his father.
“I think he needs another nap.” He whispered loudly. Eddie chuckled and gave Buck’s hand a light squeeze.
“I think you might be right, kiddo. Head injuries are nothing to mess with and Uncle Buck here is gonna need a lot of rest. We should let him get some sleep.” Buck’s grip tightened.
“Wait, Eddie can you-“
“Relax, Buck. We’re staying. We’ve got a backpack full of Legos and nowhere else to be.” Quieter, so only Buck could hear, Eddie added, “I’ll make sure you wake up again.”
With Eddie’s promise, Buck finally allowed himself to give into the sleep that had been beckoning him since he’d woken up. He drifted off peacefully, surrounded by his little family.