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It all happened so fast.
As a first responder, Eddie had heard the phrase a thousand times. Pulling victims from flaming houses and collapsed cars, so many said the same thing. Eddie had always nodded along and reassured them, telling them that it was normal to feel that way. However, he never really understood what they meant…until now.
How had things gone so bad so quick? One moment, he and Buck were clearing out the last section of a burning apartment complex and the next, he was on the floor, buried under a mountain of debris. The weight of it all crushed down on him with incredible force and knocked the air from his lungs. In that moment, all he could do was blink up at the crumbling ceiling and think, it all happened so fast…so fast…
“Eddie!” Buck’s hoarse shout pulled him out of his reverie. “Eddie, make a sound if you can hear me! Eddie, come on! Eddie!” On one hand, Eddie was glad to hear Buck. It meant that he’d managed to make it through whatever had happened relatively unscathed. On the other hand, he hated the fear and anguish in his friend’s voice. After everything Buck had been through, Buck didn’t deserve anymore pain. It took Eddie a minute to convince his body to follow his commands, but eventually he managed to respond.
“H-here.” He whispered, barely audible over the roar of the flames. The single word sent him into a coughing fit that greyed out his vision. Still, it was enough. When the coughs finally died down, Eddie realized that someone was pawing through the rubble, freeing him inch by inch. Suddenly, Buck’s face appeared above his own. Soot streaked and singed though he was, he was grinning like a maniac.
“I got you, buddy! I gotcha, just hang on. You hurt anywhere? Can you move everything? Any numbness?” Buck asked, working quickly to clear away pieces of drywall and chunks of concrete. Eddie gave his digits an experimental wiggle and was relieved when they did as they were told.
“Umm, not sure. Toes ‘n fingers…good. C-can’t really tell if…anything else.” He wheezed breathlessly.
“Okay, you just hang in there. I’ll have you out in a minute. Try to stay awake for me, yeah?” Eddie nodded jerkily.
“Y-yeah.”
For a while, neither of them spoke, each conserving their oxygen. Buck made short work of the pile, tossing it aside with impressive speed. Still, Eddie couldn’t escape the feeling of horrible pressure on his chest. Something was still crushing him there, stealing his breath. When Buck made to move it, the pain was suddenly indescribable. Eddie thought that maybe he screamed, but he wasn’t sure. For a while, nothing existed except for the agony tearing through him.
“-ddie! It’s alright, you’re okay. Just try to breathe. Come on, Eddie.” Slowly, Buck’s voice broke through, grounding him as he came back to himself. “There you go. Just like that.” Buck coached.
“What the hell…was that?” Eddie panted at last. Buck leaned in close, taking Eddie’s hand in a firm grip.
“One of the support beams from the ceiling fell on top of your chest. I’ve got everything else off, but it’s too heavy for me to lift on my own.” Eddie could see the fear in Buck’s face.
“Well…that sucks.” Eddie deadpanned. Buck let out a humorless laugh.
“Don’t you worry, pal. I’m gonna get this off you one way or another. Right now, though, I need to see if your comm survived. Mine’s busted and I need to call for help.” Carefully, Buck felt around the collar of Eddie’s jacket for the radio.
“You should…’least buy me…dinner first.” Eddie joked feebly.
“Fine. Only ‘cause I know you’re a cheap date.” Buck retorted, playing along with the joke. “A beer and a slice of pizza and you’re basically mine.”
“Ain’t gotta…call me out like that.” Buck snorted.
“Someone has to…ha ha! Got it!” Buck announced triumphantly as he extracted the radio.
“That thing still work?” Asked Eddie dubiously.
“Looks like it. I think it just got turned off.” Buck fumbled with the buttons, grinning when the red light flashed on.
“-uckley! Diaz! Report!” Bobby’s voice crackled through the speaker.
“Buckley and Diaz here.” Buck answered.
“You need to get out of there now! All civilians are accounted for and the place is coming down.” Bobby warned.
“Can’t do it, Cap. Eddie’s down, pinned under a metal support beam. I can’t lift it by myself, so we’re gonna need help on the ninth floor ASAP.” Buck relayed, giving Eddie’s hand an encouraging squeeze. The line was silent for a beat before Bobby responded.
“Buck, the stairwell’s blocked. Elevator shaft too. We can’t get up to you. We thought you two were closer to the exit.” Bobby said grimly. Buck shook his head.
“No. No, you guys need to figure something out.”
“We’re working on it, but it’s going to take a while and the building is extremely unstable. The whole thing could go at any time.”
“Buck,” Eddie said softly, “you need to get out of here. You’ve got gear. Maybe you can climb out or make it to a window or something-“
“Shut up, Eddie. I’m not leaving you.” Buck interrupted.
“It’ll be hard, but you can do it.” He insisted. “Just keep moving down, keep moving the debris.”
“I said no! You wouldn’t leave me any more than I’m leaving you. You’re not changing my mind.” Buck asserted stubbornly.
“Buck, you still there?” Bobby asked worriedly.
“Yeah, give me a few minutes to check out the area. I’ll figure something out and call in when I have something.”
“Keep me updated.” Bobby requested before signing off.
“Okay….okay okay okay…” Buck muttered to himself, his eyes casting around for anything that could help. Finally, he turned to back to Eddie. “How we doin’ Eds?”
“N-not great.” Eddie admitted weakly. “Can’t breathe…so good.” Buck nodded, frowning at how pale Eddie had become and the way his lips had taken on a faint bluish tinge. Without a second thought, he pulled off his oxygen tank and secured it over Eddie’s face. Eddie’s own had been lost somewhere in all the chaos.
“Buck, no…you need-“ Eddie tried to push it away, but Buck wasn’t having it.
“What I need is for you stay with me for a little longer. I’m gonna have a look around and see what we’ve got to work with, alright?”
“B-be safe…don’ be a…dumbass.” Eddie cautioned. Buck patted his shoulder. Then, not wasting any time, he headed off down the smokey corridor. As luck would have it, that section of the building had been under construction as part of renovation project designed to harden the structure against earthquakes. On the floor at the end of the hallway, just beneath a small window, Buck spotted a pile of short, reinforced steel rods. A plan began to form in his head, and he was in motion before he could finish processing it. Using the tactical markers they kept in their gear belts, Buck drew a big red X on the window. Next, he quickly gathered the rods onto a nearby tarp and dragged them back over to Eddie. As he ran, he began yelling to the radio.
“Bobby, I think I got a way to get Eddie out. Can you get a ladder up to the hall window on the ninth floor, south side? I marked it.”
“Hang on…yeah, I see it. Give us fifteen minutes to get in position.” Bobby answered tersely. Buck ran faster.
“You still with me, buddy?” Buck called as he reached Eddie.
“H-here.” Eddie coughed, his words muffled beneath the respirator.
“That’s my boy. I’m getting you out of here, just like I told you I…Eddie?” Before Buck could finish, Eddie was coughing again, harder this time. Buck’s heart froze in his chest when he saw the bright red splattered on the inside of the mask. “Eddie!” Buck pulled the mask away, but his hands hovered uncertainly.
“Shit…s’not good, is it?” Eddie laughed, his teeth stained with blood.
“You’re gonna be fine. Everything’s gonna be fine.” Promised Buck, but his voice was shaking.
“Buck, we…both know…how this ends…you can still…make it…please, Buck.” Eddie pleaded.
“No. We are not having this conversation. You are not quitting on me, you hear? You’ve got a kid to think about, Eddie. Don’t you think Christopher has lost enough? You really wanna make him an orphan because you gave up?” Buck knew it was a low blow, using the man’s own son against him, but as long as it worked, he didn’t much care. Tears were streaming down Eddie’s cheeks, mingling with the blood on his chin.
“Buck…”
“I’ve got a plan, Eddie. You just need to trust me. Can you do that?” Eddie nodded jerkily. “Okay, then let’s do this.” Buck stood and began arranging the metal rods beneath the beam that was pinning Eddie. Then, he dragged over a large slab of concrete.
“What’re you…doing?” Eddie asked.
“It’s physics, Diaz.” Explained Buck. “These rods are going to act as levers, with this here hunk of concrete being the fulcrum, thus decreasing the amount of force necessary to lift this beam off you.” Eddie stared in disbelief.
“Where the…hell you been…hiding that brain…huh?” Eddie mumbled.
“Now, my plan only works if you help me. I can’t lift this and you at the same time. Once I get this up, you feel the weight come off you, I need you to move out from underneath it.”
“Buck, I don’t know…if I can-“
“It’ll hurt, but you can do it. You can do it.” Buck repeated, refusing to accept any other possibility. He knew they had one chance at this and he wasn’t about to let it go to waste. Eddie was taken aback by the intensity in Buck’s eyes.
“Okay.” Eddie steeled himself. If Buck could survive being crushed by a ladder truck and save his son from a tsunami, then Eddie could at least move a couple feet.
“Alright you ready? One…two…three!”
With all of the strength he had, Buck bore down on the rods, forcing the beam up. Even as his muscles quivered with exertion, he held fast while Eddie rolled out from under it. Once he was sure they were clear, he let the beam crash to the floor and slid to his knees next to Eddie. The man in question was curled on his side, trembling and spitting blood onto the floor.
“Stay with me, Eddie. Just a little longer and I’ll get you out of here.” Buck swore as he gently lifted Eddie up over his shoulder. Eddie was limp at this point, completely spent and hovering on the edge of consciousness. His only response to Buck was a whimper as the pain in his chest flared.
“Buck, you need to move! The first floor is starting to collapse!” Bobby shouted through the radio.
“Coming to you now!” Even as Buck sprinted down the hall, he could feel the floor shaking ominously beneath his feet. Ignoring the way the flames licked at him from all directions, he made a last push for the exit. Just as they arrived at the window, Bobby reached the top of the ladder.
“Stand back!” He yelled through the glass before raising his axe and knocking out the pane.
“He’s in bad shape. Help me get him out.” Buck said desperately. With no small amount skill, the two of them carefully maneuvered Eddie through the opening, Buck holding him from above and Bobby supporting him from below. The trip down the ladder seemed to take hours. Every second felt like it was ticking away at his friend’s life. Once on the ground, Hen and Chim took over, shouting out vitals and doing their best to stabilize Eddie enough for transport. At some point, someone, probably Bobby, manhandled Buck into the back of the ambulance with him. Clinging to Eddie’s cold, pale hand, Buck could only hope that it had all been enough.
Eddie awoke to the sound of truly awful singing. The voice was quiet, hoarse, and absolutely butchering the traditional Mexican lullaby he’d grown up with.
“Duérmete mi niño, duérmete mi amor. Duérmete pedazo de mi corazón.” Whoever was singing was clearly tone deaf. This had to stop…
“The hell is that?” He mumbled groggily, prying open his heavy eyelids. The singing, if it could even be called that, stopped immediately.
“Eddie? Hey, are you awake?” Buck suddenly leaned into his line of sight, his face bright with cautious optimism.
“Were you just…singing?” Eddie asked weakly as he squinted up at his friend. Buck’s face spilt into a huge grin and he started laughing, though somewhat hysterically.
“You spend three days in a coma and the first thing you do when you wake up in the hospital is criticize my singing?”
“It was pretty bad.” Eddie countered.
“Hey, he didn’t seem to mind.” Buck retorted, glancing down at the sleeping boy in his arms. For the first time, and he would blame it on whatever drugs they had him on, Eddie noticed his son curled up against Buck in the recliner next to his bed. “He hadn’t really slept since you were brought in and I’d heard you sing that to him a few times. Looks like it worked.” Buck added with a shrug. Eddie shook his head in amazement before frowning as he processed Buck’s words.
“Hold up…three days? What happened? I don’t remember anything after you started lifting the beam.”
“Yeah, that would make sense given the coma. After I got you out, Bobby and I carried you down a ladder and from there to the hospital. That beam did a number on your chest. Cracked sternum, pulmonary contusions, and a few busted ribs. One of those punctured your lung. You spent five hours in surgery, and you lost a lot of blood.” Buck explained. At the horrified look on Eddie’s face, he continued. “The doctors say you’ll be just fine, provided you take it easy for a while and keep up with your breathing exercises. Peppa and Abuela have already been fighting over who gets you once you’re released from the hospital. Apparently, they think you’ll need a little extra enforcement to follow the doctor’s orders.” If anything, Eddie’s eyes went wider.
“Buck, please…” He begged. “I love those women to death, but I can’t-“
“Relax, buddy. I’ve got you. Me, Carla, and the rest of the team have already come up with a rotation so that you can stay home. But, don’t think we’ll be any less strict. You’re going to be taking your recovery very seriously.” Buck warned. “You got to boss me around after I hurt my leg. Now it’s my turn.” Eddie snorted at Buck’s slightly mischievous smile.
“Is that so?”
“Oh, yes. I got to experience Drill Sergeant Diaz, now you get to have my version of it. You forget, I went through SEALs training and those guys can yell like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Can’t wait.” Eddie groaned in mock irritation. Changing the subject, he asked, “How’s Christopher been holding up? You said he wasn’t sleeping?” Buck’s smile faded a bit.
“Yeah, he was pretty freaked out by all of this. I’ve been staying with him at your place. I thought it would be better to keep him in a familiar setting, but he never slept for more than a few hours. I brought him here today and so far, he’s been out for about four. I can wake him if you want.”
“Nah, let him sleep. He needs it.” Eddie paused, taking a closer look at Buck, not liking what he saw at all. “And so do you. You look like crap. Sound like it too.” Buck waved a dismissive hand.
“I’m fine. Just got a little smoke is all.”
“Hey.” Eddie lowered his voice and caught Buck’s eye. “I know what you did…everything you went through to get me out of there. You saved my life, Buck. I would’ve given up, would’ve died, if it weren’t for you. And you’ve been taking care my son? I’ll never be able to thank you enough for this. What I can do right now is tell you to get some rest. You’re exhausted and I doubt you’ve slept any more than Christopher since this all went down.” He said seriously. Buck looked away to hide the tears brimming in his eyes.
“I almost lost you, Eddie. I almost just watched my best friend die. I can’t just…turn that off, you know?”
“I get it. Believe me, I do. But I’m okay now, you said it yourself. Nothing bad is going to happen if you rest for a few hours. C’mon, I’m about to fall asleep on you here, you might as well join me.” Buck hesitated, then nodded as he put up the footrest and leaned back, cradling Christopher close to his chest as he did so. As if a switch had been flipped, Buck was out almost the moment his head hit the chair. As Eddie drifted off, he couldn’t help the smile as he watched his son and his best friend.
A while later, when the rest of their makeshift family came in to check on them, they found all three boys fast asleep, with Christopher sprawled across Buck and Buck’s head resting on Eddie’s pillow. And if a few pictures were snapped, then who would know?