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It all starts when Eddie notices something seeming off with Buck in the morning, when they all arrive at the station for their twelve hour shift.
He goes up the stairs one by one while quietly humming a melody of a song he heard on the radio, aiming for the kitchen area where the rest of the team is at, but he stops his mumbling and his eyes squint involuntarily when he remarks how Buck, who is sitting on the kitchen table talking with Hen his fingers wrapped around the cup on the table tightly like he's trying to get warm, is looking a little tired and slightly pale.
Well, paler than normal.
He has his LAFD hoodie on and half slumped on the chair with his arms crossed— he looks decent, his face doesn't show any extreme tiredness, at least not in a way someone can clock easily, but Eddie isn't someone and Eddie's 'Buck Radar' is much more sensitive than other people so even from miles away, Eddie can sense when something's up.
They must have heard him coming because Hen's face turns to his side— followed by Buck's. "Morning, Eddie." Hen chimes.
"Good morning." Eddie smiles back and glances at Buck, his smile widening a little when he sees Buck staring at him with an excited look on his face.
"Morning." Buck contributes.
Eddie sits across from Hen and next to Buck, and looks at the cup Hen's holding, the coffee is almost finished. "Is it freshly brewed?" He asks.
"Yep." Hen answers. "Do you want one?"
"I'll get it." Eddie attempts to get on his feet, but Hen stops him.
"You sit, I was just about to put this in the sink." She says as she gets up, pointing at the empty cup with her eyes.
"Thanks, Hen." Eddie smiles and moves in his chair so his body can face Buck, resting his elbow on the end of the table. "You okay?"
Buck frowns. "Yeah, why?"
"You look a little tired."
"Do I?" Buck's brow arches and he twists down his lips faintly like he is trying to figure out if he's actually tired or not. "I'm not any more tired than usual."
Eddie screws his face and gives Buck an unamused look. "What's that even mean?"
"It means I'm always tired because you're a pain in the ass." Buck teases with a silly grin on his face.
Eddie rolls his eyes and chuckles. "Fuck off."
"There you go." Hen places the cup on the surface and sits in her place, her second cup of coffee in her hand.
Eddie mumbles a thanks and takes small sips from his own coffee, but until the bell rings, his eyes shoot quick glances at Buck's hands and how they stay wrapped around the cup, taking a subtle note on how white his skin looks up close.
The bell rings right after they finish their coffee and the call is both time consuming and tiring, so by the time they make it to the station, each one of them are starving and barely can hold themselves back from jumping on the food before properly setting the table.
Eddie and Buck get the duty of setting the table with plates and utensils while Bobby does the necessary final touch on their lunch even though the food will be completely gone in less than three minutes.
"Can you pass me the forks?" Eddie says as he sticks his head out to watch Buck while resting his elbows on the kitchen counter, slightly leaning forward.
Buck opens the drawer and picks up the forks and the knives, holding them in a fist, and hands them to Eddie. "Here."
When Eddie's hand overlaps with Buck's as he tries to get them from him, his face twists in confusion and the tiniest bit of shock because the skin beneath his fingers is freezing.
"Buck, your hands are freezing." Eddie's mouth gapes wide. He takes the utensils in his other hand and squeezes Buck's hand with his free one. They feel ice cold.
Buck's brows furrow. "No, yours are warm." He objects and puts the back of his hand on Eddie's neck, in an attempt to prove something. "See? You're warm."
Eddie flinches away from Buck's cold touch and shakes his head but before he can say anything, Chimney interrupts from the couch.
"Stop fighting like kids and set the table!"
With one last suspicious stare at Buck, Eddie places the silvers on the table.
After everything is done, they come to sit around the table one by one but just as Eddie takes the first bite, the bell rings.
At the end of their shift, Eddie finds Buck in the locker room, sitting on the bench with his elbows resting on his knees and his body slightly hunched, head dropped between his arms. Their shift ended not so long ago but almost everyone from their shift is gone except for the two.
“Why didn’t you leave, yet?” Eddie asks Buck as he enters the locker room but his brows wrinkle when he doesn’t get an answer from Buck.
He stands in front of Buck and tilts his head, trying to see his face. “Buck?”
Now that he is closer, Eddie can hear Buck’s short and shallow huffs of air like he’s having trouble taking a deep breath, his chest rising and falling rather quickly, his face almost white.
He doesn’t look good.
He sits on the bench next to Buck and puts his hand on Buck’s shoulder blade. “What’s wrong?”
Buck clenches his eyes shut. “I feel dizzy.” He mumbles in between his quick breaths.
With a worried frown on his face, Eddie places his two fingers on Buck’s neck to check his pulse. His frown deepens even more. “Buck, your heart is racing.” He says in a shocked tone.
“I don’t feel well.”
Eddie runs his hand down his face and lets out a sigh. “I’m taking you to a hospital, come on.” He wraps his arm around Buck’s back to support him stand up, but Buck brushes his arm away and shakes his head.
“No, no. I just need to rest.” He protests and looks at Eddie with tired eyes. “I don’t need a hospital.”
Eddie shakes his head and stands his ground in a firm voice. “Bullshit. You don’t look okay, Buck.” This time he holds Buck’s bicep and nods his head, implying Buck to stand up. “We are going.”
Buck digs his teeth into his lower lip, and gives up the fight after a few seconds of staring contest with Eddie. When he gets on his feet and takes his first step though, his eyes flutter as he sways on his feet just a little.
“Easy, easy.” Eddie says gently and folds his arm around Buck’s waist. He pulls him close to his side so Buck can lean on him for support.
Buck swallows his whimper and sucks in a breath. “I’m okay.”
“Sure you are, buddy.” Eddie tightens his hold and helps Buck until they reach Eddie’s car. After he makes sure Buck is settled on the passenger seat, he gets in and drives to the nearest hospital.
By the time they make it to the emergency room, Buck looks even more tired and paler. He looks fully conscious and awake which eases Eddie’s worry— it’s just, there’s definitely something with the way he looks, and when Eddie holds his hand to help him get off the car, he notices Buck’s hands are still cold to the touch. They get in the emergency room and find a nurse to give Buck a thorough look over as Buck sits on an empty bed. The nurse draws some blood from him to do some necessary tests and leaves Buck and Eddie waiting for her until she comes back with the results. Eddie is sitting on the bed next to Buck when Buck breaks the silence.
“Thanks for coming with me.” Buck tells him with a hesitant voice. “You don’t have to wait with me, I’m sure it’ll take a while.”
Eddie tilts his head to the side and raises his brow. “I’m not leaving you alone here, Buck.”
He knows how much Buck hates hospitals and how much he despises getting sick or even feeling under the weather— especially when the reason still remains unknown, so he sure as hell is not going to leave him alone like this.
Buck’s face softens as a grateful smile tugs at his lips. “What about Chris?”
“He’s with Carla.”
Buck nods his head.
After an hour or so, the same nurse comes in with a paper that Eddie thinks is the results of the bloodwork in her hand.
“Your results are out, Mr. Buckley.” She says calmly. “Your blood counts and iron levels are very low.”
Oh, that explains, well, everything.
Buck’s face drops and Eddie can see the way his shoulders tense up.
It stings his heart a little.
“Have you been working too much? Eating less?” She asks.
“Not real—”
“ Yes. ” Eddie interrupts Buck as he shoots him a quick glance and turns his head back to the nurse. “Yes to both. We are firefighters so our shifts have been heavy for the past few days.”
She nods his head. “It’s not something to be stressed about, I’m gonna start an IV and our doctor will prescribe you a supplement.” She smiles softly to reassure Buck.
After a reluctant sigh, Buck nods his head. “Okay.”
She comes back with an iron infusion bag and hangs it next to the bed and inserts the needle into the back of his hand, placing a tape over it to keep it stable. “You can leave when the bag finishes.” She tells Buck and looks at both of them with a smile before she leaves.
Buck rests his back against the pillows and drops his head to stare at the IV in his hand like it’s something from outer space, slightly turning his hand left and right.
“How are you feeling?” Eddie asks him gently, sitting on the other end of the bed in front of Buck.
Buck shrugs. “Not bad.”
“Do you want me to get you something to eat?”
“No, I’m good.” Buck smiles.
Since they have some time to wait until the bag finishes and Buck gets silent— probably trying to get some energy, Eddie takes out his phone to play with it.
Not even five minutes in, it all goes wrong.
He shoots his head up when he hears irritated whimpers coming from Buck and sees Buck scratching the skin around and over the tape viciously. With his screwed face and short whimpers leaving his lips, he looks distressed.
“Don’t scratch it.” He puts his hand on Buck’s to pull it away but Buck snaps Eddie’s hands away and keeps scratching the skin.
Buck sucks in a shuddering breath. “It burns.”
And then, he clenches his eyes shut and wraps his arm over his stomach as he doubles over and chokes out a groan. “Fuck, my stomach is killing me.” Another groan escapes his gritted teeth as he basically starts writhing on bed. It gets even worse because within seconds, before even Eddie can call out for a nurse, Buck’s whole skin flushes and his pale skin goes almost red and Eddie sees it happening in seconds and it scares him shitless.
Buck’s hand slides along the bed, reaching for Eddie, and Eddie immediately holds his hand, scooting closer.
Buck’s shaking hand squeezes his hand almost hard enough to crush it and he drops his head as he chokes out a loud gasp but his attempt falls short; he tries again and chokes out another gasp but it turns into a wheeze. Tears dwell in the corner of his eyes as he barely manages to speak. “C-can’t b-br’the.”
Eddie’s voice floods with worry as he shouts. “Nurse!”
The nurses come rushing in and shoot a quick look at Buck before one of them yanks off the tape and quickly pulls out the needle. “He’s having an allergic reaction.” She twists his head to other nurses. “Bring an Epipen!”
Buck chokes out in one gasp following another, trying to suck in air but ending up with painful wheezing sounds, and his eyes start to roll back as they flutter close, his body swaying, on the verge of going completely limp.
“Buck?” Eddie puts both his hands on Buck’s shoulders to keep him still, his mind trying to understand what’s going on but failing because everything is happening fast , and when Buck’s head slightly tilts backwards like a puppet, his heart almost stops beating and drops in his chest, the intense feeling of fear prickling his skin and squeezing his head.
“He’s losing consciousness, hurry!” The nurse yells and thank fucking god one of them brings the Epipen just in time before Buck completely goes limp and sticks the pen right into Buck’s thigh.
Eddie’s hands stay on Buck’s shoulders as Buck slowly, slowly manages to breathe normally instead of gasping and choking, but he still looks a little out of it so they slide an oxygen mask over his head and start an IV for necessary fluids before easing him on the bed to rest.
He sits on the edge of the bed and watches Buck dozing off laying on his side, his already tired body breaking after being pushed over the edge.
The nurse comes in short periods and checks Buck’s oxygen levels and the fluid bag as Eddie keeps sitting where he is and keeping his eyes fixed on Buck— watching the steady rise and fall of his chest in case anything goes wrong; and screw it, what they just experienced was something Eddie never wants to experience in his life ever again, so he wraps his fingers around Buck’s hand that doesn’t have the IV and keeps it there. Just to feel him. When Buck gives him the lightest squeeze and his barely open eyes fall on him, Eddie feels the heaviness on his chest slowly shifting.
By the time the bag finishes dripping, Buck actually falls asleep but he stirs awake when the nurse gently takes the tape off and sticks the needle out. She checks Buck’s levels one more time before taking off the mask. Eddie fluffs the pillow and helps Buck straighten himself up and he rests his back against the pillow.
“How are you feeling?” She asks.
Buck blinks his eyes a few times and runs a hand down his face. “Better.” His voice comes out rough and strained from all the gasping.
“I can start a different solution of iron if you want.” She offers.
Please say no Eddie thinks as he looks at Buck and waits for his answer. He is too scared to risk it.
Thankfully, Buck lets out a groan and shakes his head. “I don’t want it.”
The nurse smiles and looks at him with understanding eyes. “Okay. We want to keep you for another hour but you can leave after that.”
After Buck nods, she leaves.
“How are you?” Eddie asks this time with a low and soft voice.
Buck breathes out a sigh. He looks very tired, his skin is still slightly flushed and warm, but other than that he looks fine. “I’m just tired.”
“You can sleep more if you want. I’ll wake you up.”
“No, I don’t want to sleep here.” Buck rejects Eddie’s offer politely but still, Eddie can hear the same fear he himself had in Buck’s voice.
“Okay.” Eddie says and they sit on the bed, waiting for the time to pass while chatting occasionally.
They send Buck home after an hour and prescribe him a supplement and an Epipen just in case. Eddie stops at a pharmacy to take Buck’s things while Buck waits for him in the car.
When Eddie passes the station, Buck frowns and turns to Eddie. “Why didn’t you stop? My car is still there.”
“You’ll get it tomorrow.” Eddie answers without keeping his eyes off the road.
Buck breathes out a defeated sigh and sits back.
It doesn’t take long for Buck to speak again. “Uh— we just passed my loft.” He turns his head and stares through the window.
“Did you really think I’m going to leave you in that loft alone?” Eddie arches his brow. “You’re coming with me. And Chris is refusing to sleep before he sees you.”
“You are using your son to guilt trip me?” Buck snorts.
Eddie smirks and shrugs. “Maybe.”
Buck lets out a quiet chuckle and watches outside through the window while Eddie drives home.