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Christopher looked down with a watery smile, one hand resting on the grey curls and his thumb brushing a pink birthmark. Buck’s breathing had been getting worse by the minute and the man knew that the time with his father was coming to an end.
It wasn't really a surprise that Buck crashed mere hours after his soulmate's funeral. The former fireman had always said that he wanted to go like a couple from a call years ago. Together, not being forced to keep on living without Eddie at his side. And while it saddened Christopher to lose both parents in a week, knowing that this was what Buck wanted, that he was following Eddie, it gave a sense of peace to the man.
“Hey you.” May entered the room, closing the door behind her. “How is our Buck doing?”
“Ready to join the 118.” Christopher tried to smile but he knew it was a pathetic attempt. “Your mom is going to kick his ass to keep them waiting for the reunion bbq.”
May placed a kiss on the birthmark and chuckled. “I think this is the only time she didn’t mind waiting for him.” She took place on the horrid plastic chair opposite to Christopher and took Buck’s hand in hers. “Harry is dropping off little Michael with Daryll and will be here in a few minutes. He was babysitting the tyke. Nia, on her way?”
“Her flight got delayed, she’s hoping that she’s going to make it.” Chris said, rubbing his face. “I feel guilty urging her to go, she wanted to reschedule but I thought he had a little more time.”
“It's not everyday you get an interview in San Fransisco as chief of medicine.” argued May, “And we all thought he would have more time.”
Squeaky shoes could be heard through the hallway and soon an out of breath Denny entered the room, followed by Jee. “I’m here!”
“We see.” chuckled the two and Jee repeated May’s gestures by placing a soft kiss on the birthmark and taking a seat.
The ‘118-children’ hadn’t been children for a long time and were all pushing the sixties themselves (May almost near retirement but if anyone mentioned it, they would be slapped), and most even had young grandchildren. All the children and grandchildren adored their ‘opi Buck’. In the last few days, while Buck had been slipping in and out of consciousness, many had visited and the room was filled with drawings, cards and teddy bears. Showing that the man on the bed had lived a good life, filled with love.
“Are any of the kiddo’s coming?” asked Christopher. His own son was out on deployment and command had not given leave for Eddie’s funeral and most likely wouldn’t receive any for Buck’s either. The man had followed his grandparents’ footsteps and became a Navy Seal like Buck had been. The team was currently out on a mission and while Christopher had sent a message to the commander about a family emergency, it was likely Evan jr wouldn’t receive the message his grandparents were gone until the mission was over. Christopher was fortunate to have a great daughter in law to help him but Chris’ granddaughter was in terrible twos and Chris had sent her home to spend time with the toddler who had no business being cooped up in a hospital room.
“After school or work,” said May. “Daryll offered to watch over the youngest at our place.”
May had bought her mother and stepfather’s house when Bobby started struggling with the stairs, and with the house, also came the hosting duties. The 118 bbq’s were still going strong, even if from now on it would only be the children attending.
“Eddie?” a raspy voice weakly called out. “Ed’s? Where?”
“Ssh pops.” Christopher bowed over Buck, making sure that the man could look in his eyes. “It’s okay, dad’s coming. It’s okay.”
“He’s, he’s coming?” asked Buck, his blue eyes confused.
“Yeah, Eddie is coming.” promised Jee. “Mom too, Bobby, Athena, dad, Hen, Karen, they’re almost here. It's okay.”
“Okay,” mumbled Buck, eyes dropping again. “Okay.”
“Has he been asking for the others a lot?” asked Denny, with a little frown.
May nodded. “He’s been pretty out of it, yesterday he asked me if mom needed him to bring a dessert.”
Athena had been the first to go, going like everyone knew she would go, getting involved with an investigation. At 75 she had been retired but when she saw someone in trouble… the perp had pushed her and she hit her head wrong. After that, Bobby made the hard decision to donate her organs. This had been over twenty years ago.
Chimney had been next to leave, cancer taking him away.
Not long after that, Bobby’s heart gave out shortly before his eighty birthday.
As Buck slowly watched his family fall away, from dementia or sickness, or just old age, the man never showed his pain to the younger generation. When Eddie and Buck were the last from the 118, they were seen as the grandparents of all of the 118 grandchildren.
‘Opi Buck’ and ‘Abuela Eddie’ never missed a game, graduation or performance, even when Eddie started to have trouble moving around, Buck would be there.
Harry joined them, sitting down and crossing his arms. “I have to be honest, I never would have thought that Buck would be the last to go. I mean, truck, tsunami, lightning and those were the things where he got hurt and not counting the time he climbed the crane during the sniper and all those other things.”
The group chuckled thinking back to the most daring rescues from the 118. After Bobby and Athena retired, Hen took over as paramedic trainer and Chimney took over as captain of the medical team from the 118 and to everyone's surprise, Buck stepped up as youngest captain, Eddie becoming his second in command. They built new teams, but their ‘A’ team was kept close to their heart.
Buck never lost his daredevil attitude, much to everyone's dismay, so Harry’s opinion wasn’t unshared.
“While Buck might have been reckless, he always made sure that he got to go home to his family.” May said, looking at Christopher. “He loved you very much.”
“I know.” smiled Chris. “Buck loved so freely. I was always a little jealous about that.”
“And let’s be honest, while Eddie and Buck only had a four year difference, mom was the youngest after them and she was 16 years his senior. By age, Buck is still the youngest one to go by two years.” argued Denny. “The end of an era, the last of LAFD finest.”
“Hey!” Harry protested, jokingly. “There is still one left.”
“You’re a paramedic, that’s like a firefighter without the danger.” joked Jee. “It’s not the same.”
An alarm softly warned them that Buck’s oxygen levels were dangerously low. A nurse came in and adjusted a setting but this was hospice. They were only making him comfortable now.
“It’s going to be so strange.” mumbled Christopher, pressing a kiss on the wrinkled knuckles. “Last week I had dinner at their place and pops was still running after Maaike, with dad watching them.” Chris choked on a sob. “And now they're both gone.”
Denny moved closer to lay an arm around Chris’ shoulders, pulling him in a side hug. He didn’t say anything, only offering comfort. There wasn’t anything to say.
“It’s fitting he’s going from broken heart syndrome.” mumbled May. “He loved Eddie so much,they were like the relationship goals. I can’t imagine Buck living without his partner.”
“I think the only reason he didn’t die like Thomas was so that I didn’t have to arrange dad’s funeral by myself.” admitted Christopher. “I mean, it can’t be a coincidence that his heart stopped the day after.”
Silence fell over the room as they thought over their time with Buck. Until Harry breathed out a laugh through his nose. “Remember when they got those matching tattoos to announce their relationship? I thought mom was going to slap them silly.”
“I mean, everyone knew they were dating by then.” shrugged Jee, “Just waiting for the announcement.”
“They were not really good at hiding it.” laughed Harry, “I remember Bobby complaining about catching them making out after that rescue Buck slipped while doing the maneuver.”
“Mom caught them on the roof during down time,” said Denny. “I overheard her telling mama.”
Buck started mumbling Eddie’s name while his heartbeat started to slow down. And when it started to sometimes skip a beat, Chris leaned close, whispering to his father… “You can let go now,” he urged. “It’s okay, I’m going to be okay. You’re going to be missed, because you’re so, so loved. But it’s okay, you can go.”
“Eddie,” breathed Buck, and his eyes looked around the room, stopping to focus on empty spots. “You all came.” and the blue eyes closed.
The heart monitor showed a flatline and Christopher buried his face into Buck’s chest, letting a few tears escape.
The group came together and cried but they knew it was okay. Buck’s face was relaxed and held a soft smile.
The 118 was together again.