Chapter Text
Eddie’s adrenaline retreated as suddenly and with as much force as it began. It went from zero to sixty the moment he saw Buck dangling from the rope, resembling a dead fish on a line. It disappeared - sixty to zero - seconds after an awake and alive and smiling Buck hugged a grinning Christopher.
Buck’s 100% ok, Eddie thought. Check.
The adrenaline receded and for the first time since he’d performed compressions on the second most cherished person in his world, Eddie paid attention to his body:
-Headache
-Dizziness
-Sore throat
-Stomach cramps
-Muscle aches
-Bruised back
-Bruised ass
-Blurry vision
-Sensitivity to light
-Shakiness
-Weakness
-Empty stomach
-Nausea
-Dry mouth
-Fatigue
-Hurt ankle
He pressed his finger against the pulse point in his neck. Fast. Thready. And when the hell did he last take a piss, let alone eat something more that a mint swiped from the nurse’s station? Had he had any water?
Oh, he thought. Oh, SHIT.
Eddie felt the color vanish from his face. The room tilted, and he struggled to not lean on Christopher in front of him or fall backward into whoever was behind him. He looked at Hen and discovered that her eyes were already fixed on him, although her body faced Buck. She shook her head twice, almost imperceptibly.
You damn fool, that head shake said.
“Hey, Christopher, give Buck a goodbye hug, buddy,” Eddie said. He heard his own voice shaking. “Then you’re going to go to the cafeteria with Hen.” He glanced at her and felt the cold sprinkle of relief when she smiled back. Of course I’ll look after him, that smile said. You damn fool.
“What? Dad we just got here,” Chris whined. “I want to tell Buck about my science project.”
“I know, buddy, but there will be plenty of time to do that later. A lot of people want to talk to him.”
“I’d love to hear about your science project, Christopher!” Buck exclaimed. “Did it have a rocket?”
“Better!” Christopher hadn’t smiled so large for so long. “A robot!”
“Whoa!”
Eddie shut his eyes and squeezed them hard. As if he could squeeze the headache out through his ears like ketchup from a bottle. “Maybe tomorrow you can tell him, Christopher. Or call him tonight. Go with Hen.”
“No really, Eddie, he can stay!”
Eddie had missed Buck’s smile. Seeing it hidden, CAGED behind the ventilator mouthpiece… He’d almost lost it.
The room tilted the other direction. Why were the lights so bright? Why did they keep Buck’s hospital room so damn hot?
“Eddie?” Chim gripped his right elbow. “Hey, you all right?”
“Buck needs to rest.” Was his speech slurred? “We need to give him time. Hen…”
Hen put her hand on Christopher’s right shoulder. “I’m sorry. Come on, honey.”
Eddie grunted when his stomach cramped. He told his body to stop swaying, told his knees to stop shaking. But his body wasn’t listening. “Now, C-Christopher,” he stuttered. “N-NOW.”
The mood of the entire room shifted - a cloud in front of the sun. Their fire-brothers left. Maddie walked around the bed, expression contorted. Eddie obeyed when Chim pulled him to the right so that Bobby could step between him and Christopher, obscuring Eddie’s sight of his son.
“Christopher, NOW!”
Buck sat up straight in bed. “Eddie? Eddie, what’s wrong?”
“I’ll get someone.” Maddie hurried out of the room.
Exhaustion hit him - truck against a tree. Eddie clung to Chim, who called for somebody to get a chair. Hen and Bobby successfully shepherded Chris away from the bed, but he was whining and fighting. Eddie looked down at his legs. He couldn’t feel them. How long had they been numb? Since the lightning?
Blood plopped onto Eddie’s shoe. Did that come from his nose?
Bobby looked back at him. “D-Don’t let Chris see,” Eddie begged. “Get him out of here!”
“Dad? What’s going—?” Bobby lifted Chris off the floor, arms under his elbows. Hen grabbed the braces. “DAD!” Christopher screamed as they took him away.
Both Chim and Buck were on the floor with him. Eddie didn’t remember falling. Chim’s inner knee cushioned his head. “Buck, you tore out your IV…”
“Don’t worry about that, Eds.” Buck was crying. His eyes were red. Damn it was so good to see those eyes again. Eddie briefly meditated on the role reversal. “Stay - I think you should s-stay awake. Right, Chim?”
Chim twisted and yelled at the open door, “Maddie!” Eddie shivered. They must’ve turned on the air conditioner. Chim turned back and leaned in close, almost as close as Buck. “Talk to us, Eddie. What’s going on?”
“Struck by lightning…” Eddie groaned. “Might explain this…”
“Lightning, what? Chim, what’s he talking about?” Buck demanded.
“He got hit, too.” Eddie heard something new in his friend’s voice. Was it sorrow? “The lightning struck you, then travelled down the ladder. Flung him a good 15 feet.”
“Off the truck?”
Chim nodded.
“Oh, my god, Eddie!” Buck gasped. “Why didn’t anybody tell me? Why isn’t he in the hospital?”
“Because I didn’t DIE,” Eddie spat with zero venom in his tone. He didn’t have the energy for it. The memory-feel of Buck’s ribs while he performed compressions made him shiver. Buck was so cold…
“Eddie, what did the doctor say when you got checked out?” When Eddie didn’t reply, Chim sighed. “What should we tell them?”
Buck had his left hand. “Eds, please! Talk to us!”
Eddie sighed. To the space between his friends he said, “I haven’t been able to feel anything below my waist since the strike,” he admitted. “Cold. Pain. Head hurts. Stomach pain. More…”
“God, Eddie…” Buck groaned.
“I… Oh. Oh, wow.” Dread slithered down Eddie’s spine. “I can only see out of my left eye.”
“His pulse is slow,” Chim reported. “Breathing is… Slow.”
Buck hiccuped and sobbed. “Eddie.”
“It’s ok. It’s ok, Buck.” Eddie gathered what little he had left in himself and squeezed Buck’s hand. “All that matters is that you’re ok.”
“Eddie, no, stay awake!”
“I am…” But he couldn’t see Buck anymore. Were his eyes closed? Was that Buck yelling? It was. He was shouting Eddie’s name. Telling him to hang on. Eddie felt deja vu from when he got shot in front of Buck. Hang on, hang on, hang on… Then he slipped away. The next time he heard Buck was in his dreams…
TO BE CONTINUED