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Eddie hysterically wondered if this is how it felt for Buck when all that mud came tumbling down on top of him; with Bobby pulling him back and holding him down and keeping him from destroying himself in order to dig his way to Eddie.
With the ladder truck, it had been different—Buck had been in serious danger, but Eddie could still see him. He knew that he was still alive, if in excruciating pain.
But now? With the house he’d run back into after bundling an older woman to safety collapsing on top of him? Eddie was all limbs and furious threats, trying desperately to claw his way out from under Bobby and Chim in order to follow Buck back in and drag him out.
He's exhausted and begging them to let him up when Hen broke in, “guys, I think I see him. He’s coming out!”
All three men stilled for an awed second, then Eddie was finally shoving himself to his feet and running toward the staggering figure breaking free from the smoke.
Only it wasn’t Buck. It was a girl, maybe sixteen, covered in soot and ash and wearing Buck’s turnout coat and oxygen mask.
He grabbed her by the upper arms, careful but firm, “where is he?”
She coughed and clawed at the mask, pulling it free. “He’s still in there—he...he told me to take his coat, that it would protect me.”
A quick glance to the side shows him Bobby and Chim are catching up to the situation, but they’re too far away to stop him, now. He lets go of the girl, rushing back the way she came. He finds an open window at the side of the house and doesn’t hesitate to pull himself in, shouting for his partner.
There’s no answer.
“Buck!” he screams when he finds the door blocked. She had to come out that window, how—
The closet door is standing open and on a gut instinct he steps inside to find another open door farther in; the smoke is pouring heavily through the opening and Eddie strides through it out into another bedroom/inferno, and is thankful the path to the door seems clear.
He bursts into the hall; to his right, the ceiling is completely caved in and smoldering. To his left is a smoke-and-flame filled hall leading to the living room where the worst of the damage seems to be located.
So, of course, this is where he finds Buck.
He’s clearly unconscious, having succumbed to smoke inhalation; his legs are trapped under some sort of ancient bookcase that is actively on fire. He’s still breathing, so that has to count for something.
A crash sounding from somewhere behind him and a crackled order to get the hell out of there gets Eddie moving. He grabs the end of the bookcase, grunting and groaning as he tries to throw it off Buck, but it’s no use; the thing has to be at least a few hundred pounds.
He panics then, just a little. He can’t keep holding this up and pull Buck to safety at the same time. He can’t get enough leverage to throw it in any direction, as it’s situated in the corner of the room, so there’s nowhere really for it to go.
“Buck!” He screams, neck muscles straining with the sheer volume of his cry. “Wake up! You gotta help me, man.” The last part is whimpered; broken.
Buck does not wake, but help does come in the form of Chim and Bobby bursting onto the scene, helping Eddie to lift and pull Buck to safety. The three of them manage to manhandle him through the fire and out the window and into the ambulance.
It’s hours later—the next day, really—and Eddie is near-dozing in the chair next to Buck’s bed when there’s a hesitant knock at the door.
Eddie snaps awake at the noise, looking first to Buck who is still slumbering peacefully in the bed, oxygen mask attached to his face and gauze covering the worst of his burns—all superficial, thank goodness.
He then looks to the girl; she’s willowy and tall, will probably reach six feet if she gets another growth spurt. She offers Eddie a hesitant smile and when she speaks, her voice is rough from the smoke inhalation. “I—uh, I brought back his coat.”
She hefts a large white shopping bag, in which Buck’s turnout coat is haphazardly folded. “I didn’t know what to do with it, in all the confusion. Is he—is he going to be ok?”
Eddie nods, not really sure what to say. “Yeah, the doctors say he’ll be alright in a few days. He’s just sleeping now.”
She sniffs, awkwardly shuffling forward to place the bag down by the end of the bed. “Can you tell him I said thanks? I was so scared and he gave me his coat, you know? To protect me from the fire. It’s my fault he’s hurt—I went back for my mom’s photo albums—I…she died when I was little and I didn’t want to lose them and then I was trapped and he was there, and he gave me his coat and then the bookcase fell and god, his scream was so loud but then he told me to run—he told me to run and get to safety and…and…”
She looks at him suddenly, eyes wet and cheeks red, and then—“…are you Eddie?”
“Y-yeah, I’m Eddie.”
“Well he said to tell you he wants you to be happy.”
Eddie’s got a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes and he smiles a little wistfully as looks down at Buck. “I am happy.”
She slips away as quietly as she came and Eddie returns to his vigil, waiting for the next time Buck will open his eyes and give him that little smile that lets him know it’ll all be ok.