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“Bucky! What happened to your eye?”
Buck winced, and winced again when pain shot through his face. He knew this was a risk when he called Eddie to come over and make sure that nothing was broken. There was a total possibility that Christopher might come with him.
Okay, scratch that. If Christopher was with Eddie, he would absolutely come with him.
But Buck didn’t exactly want to go to the emergency room, and it probably wasn’t that bad. If he went to the ER, it was possible that they would file a report, and it could get back to the LAFD (or Athena, depending on who was on shift and how much they knew about his found family). He didn’t want to make waves about a punch to the face.
But maybe going to the ER could have saved him from the look on Christopher’s face. It was a combination of fear and worry, as well as annoyance and anger. Which, on a ten year old kid, was uncomfortable to see, to say the least. But those other emotions weren't being directed towards him. They were for him.
Buck knelt down in front of Chris and tried to give him a smile (ignoring how the tugging of his face muscles made him want to scream in pain, dear God his face hurt). “I’m okay, I promise. This will go away in a few days.”
From the kitchen, where he was making a cold compress and grabbing a couple beers, Eddie scoffed. Eddie was making it clear how he felt about his injury.
“Does it hurt?” Chris carefully raised a hand and touched Buck’s cheek, near the bruising, but not on it. With a shaping finger, he traced the dark mark spread across his face, looking like he was trying not to cry.
“Yes, but it’s already feeling better, now that you and your dad are here to take care of me.”
Christopher’s face lit up, all negative emotions immediately being chased away at the thought of helping his best friend. “Really?”
“Sure! Just having you around makes me feel better.” He carefully tugged the boy into a soft hug, avoiding Christopher’s shoulder as he pulled him closer. Christopher in turn wrapped his arms as tight as he could around Buck, snuggling close.
"I don’t like it when you get hurt, Buck,” Christopher whispered into his ear, and wow, did that rip his heart into two.
“I know. Neither do I. But this was an accident.” Another scoff from Eddie. “This will clear up quick and I’ll be back to my normal self soon.”
As he slowly broke the hug with Christopher, an ice pack dangled in his view. “Put that on, or the swelling is going to get worse,” Eddie ordered.
Keeping his swearing to just what he could say in his head, he carefully covered his eye, and quickly made a funny face at Christopher, who giggled at Buck’s antics. Assured that Buck was already on the mend, Chris made his way over to Buck’s couch, immediately finding one of the “approved” channels that he could watch and left the two men to their delayed argument.
“An accident? Really Buck.” Eddie leveled a glare over the rim of his beer, letting the look explain everything that was needed.
“What, you wanted me to tell him that someone coldcocked me? That would have gone over real well.” Buck set down the ice pack and reached for his beer. “Besides, it really doesn’t hurt that much.”
“Say that again without wincing, and maybe I’ll believe you.”
Buck didn’t bother to dignify that with a response, instead choosing to glance at his phone scene and the fact it was empty of notifications. No apologies, no accusations, no demands for more knowledge. Just silence.
“Hey.” Buck looked up, unable to keep the wince away from his face. “If that is still aching as bad as it is, we’re going to head to Urgent Care tomorrow, mandatory reporting be damned.” Eddie was still looking furious about the whole situation.
“If it’s still hurting tomorrow, which it will be, because this isn’t the first time I’ve been punched in the eye, I’m calling off. I may end up doing that anyway. Imagine me showing up at a scene with a bruise like this across my face. Doesn’t exactly instill a good image for the LAFD.”
Eddie nodded. “Might as well call Bobby now. Hell, you should, just in case he’s already looking for more coverage for him.”
He didn’t care how much it was going to hurt. Buck immediately rolled his eyes. “Okay, stop making him sound like he’s the devil.”
“He’s your brother-in-law by all but marriage, I’m your best friend. I’m allowed to hate him for you.”
Buck snickered, thinking back to years ago, when Hen said almost the exact same thing to Chimney after his breakup with Tatiana, so long ago. “Thanks for defending my honor, kind sir,” he said sarcastically, making both of them break into chuckles.
Eddie grabbed the abandoned ice pack (when did Buck put it down, he had no idea) and pressed it carefully against Buck’s face again. “Keep that there, or I’ll call Bobby myself.”
Buck quickly grabbed his phone and dialed. “Yeah, no, I’ll call him. You go find out what Christopher wants for dinner. My treat, for making him sad.”
Eddie chuckled. “Sure, he’ll appreciate it. Then we can kick your butt at Mario Kart.”
“You’re on!”