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“Stay with me, Buckaroo.”
This was not how today was supposed to go, Chim thought as he held Buck close. He was supposed to be at home, helping Buck prepare dinner to celebrate Maddie’s birthday. He was supposed to be elbow-deep in pasta, picking out wine, and lighting candles. Instead, he was elbow-deep in his best friend’s blood, desperately trying to plug a hole in the young man’s chest. Instead, he was watching as bright red continued to well up beneath his fingers no matter how hard he pressed. Instead, he was watching Buck die and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
How had it all gone so wrong? It had seemed like a simple job. They were responding to a med call to treat a man who’d been injured in a home invasion. Police had already swept the premises and they’d cleared every room…or so they’d said. Chim and Buck had headed in first while Hen and Eddie grabbed their gear and Bobby paused to talk to Athena. None of them had been expecting the intruder to still be in the house. They had been wholly unprepared for the man to burst out of the basement and start shooting. Chim had narrowly missed the bullets, but their victim, the cop on the scene…and Buck, hadn’t been so lucky. Chim knew the others were gone, the bullets having torn through their heads, but Buck had taken his to the chest. The impact had slammed him back against Chim, and before he even had a chance to start assessing the damage, they’d been forced at gunpoint into the small pantry. Chim had had to drag a wide-eyed and trembling Buck inside, leaving behind a gruesome streak of blood. Once the lock had clicked into place behind them, he’d snapped into his role as a paramedic.
“Buck, you still with me?” He asked, ripping open Buck’s shirt and cursing himself for dropping his med bag in the other room.
“Y-yeah…I…oh God…” Buck gasped, his breathing already fast and shallow.
“You’re gonna be just fine, bud. I need to put pressure on the wound, okay? It’ll hurt, but you have to stay conscious. Can you do that?” Buck gave a jerky nod as Chim pulled off his outer uniform shirt and folded it into a makeshift compress.
“That’s my boy. Just keep your eyes on me.” The moment Chim pressed down on the wound, Buck tensed and let out a horrible scream. Chim forced himself not to wince, even though he knew this would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. “Hang in there, Buck. I know it hurts, but you can do this.”
“Ch-Chim…please…stop…” Buck whimpered, tears streaming down his pale face. His hands were pawing at Chim’s arms, trying to push them away.
“Can’t do that, kid. You know that. Maddie’d kill me.”
“C-can’t…use my sister…’gainst me. S’low.” Complained Buck.
“You know it’s true.” Chim replied, pulling Buck to him so that his body rested against Chim’s chest. “You remember what happened when you cut yourself at that garage fire last month? She made me sleep on the couch for a week.”
“Sayin’…you’re scared of h-her?”
“Absolutely.” Chim didn’t hesitate and Buck’s pale lips curled into a small smile. “Dude, I love your sister, but you know she’s a force of nature…especially when it comes to her baby brother. She can be downright terrifying when she wants to be.”
“G-gonna tell here…y’said that.” Threatened Buck breathlessly.
“Yes, you are. As soon as we get out of here, you can call and tell her all about it.”
“Mmmmmmm…” Buck hummed in response, but said nothing else as he sagged back against Chim. Chim frowned and gave his arm a squeeze.
“You still with me?” No answer. “Buck!”
“M’wake.” Buck mumbled sleepily. Chim let out a breath.
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” They sat in silence for a few minutes while Chim busied himself checking Buck’s pulse and breathing.
“Chim?” Buck asked after a moment, his voice quiet.
“Yeah, Buckaroo?”
“I think…’m in shock…”
“Yeah, kid, I think you are too.” Chim sighed, He knew there was no use lying to him. Buck knew the signs and Chim had already noticed the ashen skin, cold skin, and weak, rapid heartbeat. “Just try to stay awake for me. Athena’s gonna have us out of here soon.”
“How soon?”
“I don’t know.” Chim answered honestly. “Probably not long. Once they figure out that we’re out of the way, they’ll come in and take him down. We’ll be out here before you know it.”
“Dunno if I can-“ Buck broke off into a fit of painful, wet coughs. By the time he stopped, a thin stream of blood had trickled down his chin. “S’not good.” He rasped.
“Hey, you’ve been through worse.” Chim offered, thumbing the blood away from his mouth. “Coughing up blood is nothing new for you, right?”
“Chim.” Buck said seriously, his blue eyes finding his friend’s. “It’s different…an’ you know it. I think-“
“Buck, no.” Chim cut him off. “You’re gonna be fine. You just have to hang on a few more minutes.” He wasn’t doing this. He wasn’t watching the kid he’d come to regard as a little brother-long before he’d met Maddie-die in his arms, surrounded by nothing but boxes of cereal and canned soup.
“There’s an…envelope.” Buck continued. “Nightstand. S’everything you’ll n-need. Left most of it to Maddie. L-little to Christopher.” Chim shook his head, no longer bothering to hide the tears coursing down his face.
“Stop. You’re not doing this, Evan Buckley. You are not giving up, you hear me?”
“Don’…wanna go...” admitted Buck, “but…”
“But nothing. You can do this. You just need to stay with me, a little longer. You… you can’t leave us yet. You have a family here that loves you. Maddie, Bobby, Athena, Hen, Eddie, Christopher…me. We need you. So please, Buck, you gotta keep fighting. Promise me.” Chim pleaded.
“Trying…cold…so tired.” Buck slurred weakly, his eyes falling shut.
“Hey. Hey, Buck! Come on, open your eyes. Buck!” Chim was shouting now, shaking him, but nothing he did roused the other man. With one hand pressed tightly to the wound and the other curled around Buck’s wrist, Chim did something he hadn’t done in years. He prayed. Outside, Chim could hear the sounds of wood splintering, voices shouting, guns firing.
“You hear that, Buck? Help’s here.” He whispered into Buck’s soft blond hair. “Just stay with me, Buckaroo. Stay with me.”
A few minutes passed, then the door flew open to reveal Athena, gun drawn and eyes hard. Her expression immediately faltered at the sight before her and she began screaming into her radio for medical assistance. Moments later, the rest of the team was there, faces draining of color as they took in the blood. Around him, people were moving and shouting, but Chimney took no notice. His entire focus was on the faint flutter of Buck’s heart beneath his fingertips. If that stopped…
“Chim!” Eddie’s voice finally broke through the haze in his mind. “Chim, you gotta let go so we can help him, okay? We’ve got him. It’s alright now.”
Chim wanted to laugh. Nothing was alright now. Maybe it wouldn’t ever be.
Buck squinted in the bright light as his eyes fluttered open. Around him, fuzzy dark shapes gradually shifted into focus. People. Maddie. His team. Movement to his left caught his attention. Chim squeezed his hand and leaned close.
“You back with us, Buck?” He asked earnestly. Buck thought for a moment, trying to figure where he was and what had happened.
“Ummm…I think so?” Buck croaked, blinking away the last remnants of sleep.
“Good.” Chim said with a relieved smile before he lightly slapped Buck on the side of the head. “Don’t you ever do that again, Buckaroo.” Buck stared back in wide-eyed confusion.
“What I do?”
The room broke out in laughter, so bright and joyful, that Buck realized he didn’t much care. His family was here, and that was what really mattered.