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All it takes is one split second.
Buck had been right there beside him, talking into his radio, confirming they were on their way out.
And then he was gone.
The floor had caved in beneath them with a thunderous crack and somehow—Eddie still can’t fathom how— somehow, Buck had managed to shove Eddie to the side before disappearing in a shower of smoke and smouldering wood.
“Buck!” He screams, kneeling on the edge of the hole and peering over. He can see the yellow stripe on the back of Buck’s coat, unmoving beneath the debris. “Captain Nash, this is Eddie.” He fumbles with the radio. “Buck is down. He went through the floor, I can’t— he’s not moving.”
He doesn’t wait for the reply. Eddie scrambles to his feet heading back towards the staircase that will take him to the ground floor.
“Chim is on his way to you.” The radio crackles to life. “Can you get down to Buck and give us a report on his condition?”
“Yeah, copy that.” Eddie takes the stairs, two at a time. “I’ve almost got him.” He skids to a halt, dropping to his knees beside Buck. As far as he can tell, the turnout gear has protected him from serious burns, but the fact that Buck’s unconscious is a serious concern.
It’s probably only been a minute or two, time moves at a strange pace when you’re trying not to panic, but any blow hard enough to knock someone out is dangerous.
“Buck?” Eddie knocks away bits of debris. “Can you hear me? Open your eyes, cariño.” He rubs his closed fist against Buck’s chest, breathing a sigh or relief when it prompts a groan from the younger firefighter. “Hey, there you are. Just stay still for me.” His heart is still pounding as he clears a space around Buck, afraid to move him before Chim arrives but also mindful of the burning building around them.
“Eddie?”
“I’m right here.” He leans into Buck’s field of vision. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”
Buck blinks up at him, his eyes fluttering shut for a second before he drags them back open.
“Don’t even think about it,” Eddie warns, glancing up as another figure arrives. “Eyes open Buck, or I’ll tell Chim what you said about him this morning.”
“What’s this?” Chim asks, kneeling opposite Eddie. “Buck’s talking shit about me again?”
“Nothing that wasn’t true,” Buck mumbles.
“If you say so, Buckaroo.” Chim moves quickly, assessing Buck’s ability to move before nodding to Eddie.
“Alright, time to get out of here,” Eddie says. “Let us do all the work okay?”
“You’re good at that, right Buck?” Chim pipes up, earning a pained smile from their patient. They each hook an arm across their shoulders and heft Buck upright. He groans, eyes squeezing shut from the movement.
Eddie and Chimney carry him out into the fresh air, carefully lying him down away from the fire, then get to work.
Hen joins them as they strip him of his jacket and start a more thorough assessment of his injuries. Eddie kneels by his head, keeping up a steady stream of reassuring chatter as Hen and Chim poke and prod and jostle.
Buck doesn’t say anything, just gives short jerking nods when he’s asked a question, eyes scrunched up in pain and discomfort.
Eddie reaches down to grab Buck’s hand; the one Hen hasn’t just inserted an IV into and gives it a squeeze. The fingers in his grip tighten in response.
“Ready to transport, cap,” Hen calls out when she’s done. The three of them get Buck on the backboard and transfer him to the stretcher.
“Bobby?” Eddie glances over at his captain, still clutching Buck’s hand.
“Go,” Bobby tells him. “Keep us updated.”
With a nod, Eddie follows Chimney up into the back of the ambulance.
The ride to the hospital is tense, even with Chimney cracking jokes to lighten the mood.
Buck is in and out, drowsy with a probable concussion and who knows what else. Eddie can feel the panic clawing at his throat, but he manages to keep it together, never once letting go of Buck’s hand until they reach the hospital. He focuses on the point of contact, using the warmth of Buck’s skin to keep grounded and remind himself that Buck will be okay.
It feels like it takes no time at all to reach the hospital. Hen does the handover while Chim and Eddie help transfer Buck from the stretcher to a bed.
“Let us know what happens,” Chim says, giving Eddie a clap on the shoulder, and promising to be back after their shift.
The hospital staff try to send Eddie away too, but Buck has come around enough that he is not having that.
“I’m his partner,” Eddie explains, laying a calming hand on Buck’s shoulder. One of the nurses has cut away his pants to inspect the burns on his leg and another is tearing through his shirt. “Please, I won’t get in the way.”
Buck is pretty out of it once they give him some pain relief. He gets wheeled away for imaging tests and Eddie takes the opportunity duck outside to text Bobby an update and call Carla to ask if she can take Chris to stay with his aunt.
Chris, of course, immediately wants to come and stay with Eddie at the hospital.
“It’ll be boring, kiddo,” Eddie tells him. “Just lots of waiting around and Buck will probably be asleep.”
“But what about when he wakes up?” Chris asks. “He shouldn’t wake up alone, dad.” And Eddie just can’t with this kid. He wonders, not for the first time, how he managed to raise someone with such a big heart.
“He won’t be alone,” Eddie promises. “I’ll be here, and maybe tía Pepa can bring you over in the morning. I know Buck will want to see you when he wakes up, but tonight he needs his rest.”
“Okay, dad.”
Eddie doesn’t need to see his son to know how hard he’s pouting at the phone right now.
“Tell Buck I love him.”
“I will. You be good for Pepa. Love you.”
“Love you too, dad.”
Eddie disconnects the call with a sigh then goes to check his messages. There’s a text message from Chimney saying he’d called Maddie.
“Shit.” Eddie quickly scrolls to her number. He’d completely forgotten in all the chaos—Maddie should have been the first person he’d called.
“Eddie?”
“Maddie, I’m so sorry—”
“Don’t worry about it, Chim called me and let me know what happened. How is my little brother?”
“He’s going to be okay.” Eddie rattles off some of the words that had been thrown around in the emergency room. “Concussion, second degree burns on his legs, maybe cracked ribs?” He takes a deep breath. “They’re doing some more testing to determine the severity of the concussion, but they didn’t seem overly concerned.”
“That’s good news at least,” Maddie says. “Evan just can’t do things by halves can he?”
Eddie huffs out a soft laugh. “Half-assing it just isn’t in his vocabulary.” The ball of anxiety that’s been sitting in his chest for the better part of an hour finally starts to unwind.
“I’ll be there soon,” Maddie says. “And Chim said he was going to head over. Have you eaten yet? I’ll bring you something.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Eddie assures her.
“I know, but you must be starving. Chim definitely will be.”
“Thanks Maddie.”
“I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Yeah.” The call ends with a beep and Eddie shoves his phone back into his pocket. He’s still wearing his turnouts, he realises belatedly. His coat is draped over the chair behind him, his helmet balances on a knee.
“Mr Diaz?” One of the nurses beckons him over. “We’re admitting Evan,” she tells him. “If you’d like to come with me, I’ll take you up to his room.”
“He’s okay?” Eddie follows her down the corridor towards the elevator.
“Nothing nasty turned up in the MRI,” she explains. “His helmet protected him from any skull fractures, but he still got his brains rattled about pretty good.”
The elevator doors open with a ding, and they step inside.
“He’s got a couple of cracked ribs and the burns on his legs will need to be monitored to ensure they don’t get infected.”
“How long before he can come home?” Eddie asks.
“His doctor wants to keep him overnight to monitor the concussion, but all going well, he’ll likely be released tomorrow, maybe the day after at the latest.”
When the lift stops, she leads him out to a room on the ward. Eddie pushes the door open to step inside.
“Buck?”
The lights are low, but it’s still easy to make him out on the bed. Eddie drags a chair over, taking a seat at Buck’s side.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I fell through a floor and had the whole house land on me,” Buck croaks, looking a lot more alert than the last time Eddie had seen him. He’s still pale and drawn, but it’s good to hear his voice.
“Well—”
“Don’t say it,” Buck groans. He swallows, his face paling even more, something Eddie wouldn’t have thought possible. His birthmark stands out in stark relief against his skin.
“What’s wrong?” Eddie asks, reaching for Buck’s hand. He rubs circles into the skin of Buck’s wrist.
“Nausea.”
“I can help with that.” The nurse who’d shown Eddie up to the room is still hovering nearby. “I’ll go have a chat with the doctor and be back in a minute.” She hands Buck an emesis basin before she leaves, just in case.
Alone in the room, Eddie reaches with his free hand to run his fingers through Buck’s hair. He’s careful not to use too much pressure and aggravate anything but Buck seems to appreciate it, sinking down further into his pillow.
“How are you really feeling?” Eddie asks, his thumb trailing across Buck’s temple.
“Like shit,” Buck mumbles. “Nothing… hurts? But I know it’s going to later.” He shuts his eyes, swallowing convulsively to keep from being sick, clutching the basin in his free hand.
Fortunately, the nurse returns before he has to use it. She gives him something and leaves them alone again.
“You should get back to Chris.” Nausea dealt with, Buck is loose-limbed and sleepy, blinking up at Eddie.
“Chris is fine,” Eddie assures him. “He’s spending the night with Pepa. He wants to come by and see you tomorrow if you’re feeling up to it.”
“Mm, I’d like that.” Buck’s eyes drift shut and his breathing evens out into sleep.
Eddie watches him for a moment, still running his fingers through Buck’s hair, until he’s sure he’s truly out. He pulls out his phone to see that Maddie, Chim, Bobby and Hen have all arrived.
He stands, pressing a kiss to Buck’s forehead and goes downstairs to meet his family.
~
Maddie is the one who convinces Eddie to go home.
He’s grimy with sweat and soot from the fire they had been attending and she gives him her best big sister stare and tells him under no uncertain terms that he stinks.
“And I mean that in a loving way,” she says, handing over a box of Chinese takeout.
He sits outside with Chim and Hen to eat, while Maddie and Bobby head upstairs to check on Buck for themselves.
“How’s our boy doing?” Hen asks.
“He’ll be fine,” Eddie says. “He’ll be sore and grumpy when I take him hope, but you know Buck.”
“Yeah, I don’t envy you there,” Chim says. “Buck is the worst patient, so have fun with that.”
After they eat Bobby gives him a ride back to the station to collect his car.
“I’ve called Marcus in to cover your shift tomorrow,” Bobby says as Eddie is climbing out of the car. “If you still need time after your days off, let me know.”
“Thanks Bobby.”
“Don’t mention it, you just take care of Buck for us. And take care of yourself too.” Bobby drives off and Eddie walks to his car before he starts getting too many questions from B shift. Buck is a well-liked member of the 118 and everyone wants to send Eddie off with well-wishes to pass on.
It’s late by the time Eddie finally gets home.
With Chris off at Pepa’s and Buck at the hospital, the house is dark and quiet. Too quiet, in Eddie’s opinion.
He turns the TV just to give himself some background noise while he showers and changes for bed.
It takes a long time to fall asleep.
~
Eddie picks Chris up in the morning on his way back to the hospital.
Chris has a thousand questions about what happened, and will Buck be okay, and when can they bring him home.
It strikes Eddie that he’d said the same thing the night before. He’d asked the nurse when he could bring Buck home.
For all the time they spent together and as much as Buck was a part of the family with Eddie and Chris, he did still technically have his own apartment. Not that he used it that much. Eddie had been able to pack a bag using the clothes Buck had stuffed into a drawer in Eddie’s room. There was a toothbrush on the sink for when Buck stayed the night.
Maybe it was time for Eddie to finally ask Buck to move in.
The thought keeps him distracted the whole way to the hospital. He’s still mulling it over as he helps Chris down from the back seat and leads the way up to Buck’s room.
“He’s asleep, dad.” Chris is disappointed when they open the door and Buck is still fast asleep.
He’s got a bit of colour in his cheeks this morning. He doesn’t look quite so pale against the starched white hospital sheets.
“You sleep a lot too when you’re not feeling well,” Eddie reminds his son, pulling up a second chair and moving Chris’s crutches to a spot where they’re not going to trip anyone up. “Have you got your game with you?”
Nodding, Chris pulls his Switch from his backpack, content to play his game while they wait for Buck to wake.
It doesn’t take long. The thing with hospitals is that they’re never really quiet and Buck jerks awake when something is dropped just outside his room.
“Hey, you.” Eddie leans forward in his chair and waits for Buck to get his bearings. “How are you feeling?”
“Ugh, I feel like shi—” he notices Chris on the other side of the bed, “-t.” He grimaces. “Sorry, brain could thing of anything fast enough.”
“I think we’ll let it slide this time,” Eddie says, grinning.
“Dad says sometimes bad words are okay.” Chris puts away his game and stands, shifting his weight so he can lean against the bed for balance. “I’m glad you’re okay Buck, I missed you last night.”
“I missed you too bud,” Buck says, reaching out to ruffle Chris’s curls. “Just seeing you makes me feel better already.”
Chris beams at the words and Eddie feels his heart swell.
“So,” Buck shifts on the bed, his face tightens as he jars something, probably his ribs, but he doesn’t mention it. “Any idea when I can get out of here?”
“I was talking to a nurse last night who said you’ll probably be released today,” Eddie tells him. “But we’ll have to wait until the doctor gives you the okay.”
“Hospitals are the worst,” Buck groans, his head tipping back against the pillows. “Right Chris?” Chris nods and Buck pats the bed. “Why don’t you show me the game you were playing while we wait.”
~
Buck is discharged late that afternoon.
He makes a fuss about using the wheelchair, but when he tries to stand all the blood drains from his face and he has to sit back down real fast.
“Ready to try the wheelchair now?” Eddie asks him, keeping a gentle hand on Buck’s shoulder in case he tries to faceplant again.
“Yeah.” The word comes out in one long breath. “Sorry, I didn’t think it would hurt that much.”
“When we get home, I’ll make up the couch for you,” Eddie says, “and you’re staying there for the rest of the week.”
“Home?” Buck glances up sharply.
“My home,” Eddie clarifies, then after a moment’s hesitation says, “Our home.”
“I like the sound of that,” Buck says, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Okay Eds, take me home.”