Chapter Text
It was a boring shift, they only had two calls and the team didn't have much to do.
While Eddie and Henne played Mario Kart, Bobby cooked dinner in the kitchen, whilst talking to Chimney.
It was around 10:00 pm, when Chimney received a call that changed his life.
"Hello," Chimney answered the call, confused especially since it was a number he didn't recognize.
"Hello, this is Cindy from County General Hospital. I'm calling you, as you are the emergency contact for a Maddie Buckley. Is that correct?"
Chimney froze for a moment. Suddenly he felt insanely nauseous and had the urgent need to vomit. This could not happen right now, he texted her like an hour ago and now is she in the hospital.
"Yes, she is my girlfriend. What's wrong? How is she?" he stuttered anxiously. He was afraid of what the next words were.
Was she dead?
Or is she in surgery?
Was she dying?
Chimney's head was racing at full speed. The next words he heard broke his heart.
"She's in surgery right now, you should come to the hospital."
Tears ran down his cheeks as he suppressed a sob.
She is in surgery!
Why is she having surgery?
What happened?
"Yes, I'll be right there," he replied, his voice was about to break.
His cell phone almost fell out of his hand when he tried to put it on the table. His hands were shaking so much that he thought he was about to go crazy.
He sighed deeply.
He took another deep breath and made a desperate attempt to calm himself down.
But he couldn’t.
Maddie is in the hospital.
She is hurt and he wasn’t there to protect her.
He knew Buck was with her.
Shouldn't he protect her?
"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" asked Hen worriedly, interrupting her game with Eddie.
She stood up and walked toward him, gently placing her arm on Chimney's shoulder, to comfort him.
"Maddie's in the hospital. She's in surgery right now," Chimney said these between two sobs.
He was openly crying. He leaned against Henne who tried to comfort him.
"What?" asked Hen shocked.
"What happened?"
"Wait, what about Buck?" said Eddie in panic. Of course he would take care of him first. The two were inseparable.
"Why what would be with Buck?" asked Bobby. Now he seemed to be getting nervous, too. Which wasn’t a surprise Buck is practically Bobbys son.
Eddie didn't answer within a few seconds, so Bobby asked again, more worried than before.
"He and Maddie were out together. That's why he took the day off. They haven't done anything in a while," Eddie tried to explain.
"Well I guess it's a good thing we didn't get a call from Buck. I'm sure he's fine," Bobby tried to reassure not only himself but Eddie as well.
It didn‘t work. For neither of them.
Bobby was just as concerned as Eddie. Not that they weren't worried about Maddie, but that they hadn‘t heard from Buck scared them. More than they would admit.
"Not for long.", Chimney threatened.
Eddie kept trying to calm himself down, if Buck had been hurt too, he or Bobby would have received a call from the hospital, the fact that there was no call, was a good sign.
Still. Eddie couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Buck.
"I have to go to the hospital.", Chimney said.
"I'm taking the station offline. We're coming with you," Bobby said and went into the kitchen to grab the radio.
Chimney did the driving, so he could make sure they got to the hospital as quickly as possible. Henne sat in the passenger seat to talk Chimney through the ride, while Bobby and Eddie sat in the back.
"She's going to be fine. Maddie is strong. She's survived worse," Hen tried to reassure Chimney.
But Chim wasn't listening to her, all he could think about was that Maddie was hurt, but Buck wasn't.
He felt an insane rage, at his brother-in-law.
He knew that this anger was irrational, because Buck had certainly done everything to protect Maddie, and yet she was the one who was hurt, not Buck.
"I just want to know what happened. Buck and Maddie do something for once and she ends up in the hospital," he told Henne.
This irrational anger at Buck was only exaggerated by the insane fear for Maddie.
He still did not know what had happened.
It could be anything.
Buck could have done something reckless, putting Maddie in danger.
He swore to himself if Buck was responsible for Maddies injury, he would kill him.
"Hey, we don't even know what happened yet. Don't blame him right away."
Chimney knew it wasn't fair to blame Buck without having any evidence , but he was so worried and angry.
Five minutes later, they arrived at the hospital. The team, led by Chimney, rushed into the hospital.
Chimney was about to go to the front desk and ask for Maddie, when he saw Buck sitting in the waiting area.
Immediately, Chimney ran toward him, the team slowly following him.
When Eddie saw Buck in the waiting room, he took a quick inventory of him.
He was bleeding from the side of his head, dried blood was on his left cheek.
His lip was swollen and bloody, as was his nose under which was dried blood.
He does not appear to have been medically examined yet.
Eddie shook his head in exasperation, Buck would get a lesson from him later on his self-preservation skills.
Buck did not appear to have any other injuries. Eddie should be reassured, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with him.
Chimney was furious as he walked up to Buck.
He ignored Buck's injuries and that he had obviously been crying because his eyes were all red and swollen.
As long as he didn't know that Buck had done everything to protect Maddie, he couldn't calm down.
"Buckley, what the hell happened?" he yelled.
Buck startled and quickly stood up from his chair.
He staggered a little before he regained his balance.
Buck was scared to look at Chimney.
He knew Chim would be angry.
He was very protective over Maddie.
"Chimney, I'm so sorry. I did everything i could, but I...", his voice broke he started shaking. Tears ran down his face and mixed with the already dried blood.
Eddie wanted to hug Buck.
He looked terribly scared.
No one knew what they had been through that night and he wanted to be there for his best friend, but Chimney blocked his way.
He knew he shouldn't make this about Buck.
Maddie is the one who is hurt.
But that look on Buck's face, which was filled with so much pain, broke his heart.
"What the hell happened?", Chimney shouted and Eddie noticed Buck slowly backing away, afraid he was about to hit him.
This wouldn't be the first time and Eddie could understand why Buck did it, their relationship hadn't been the same after everything what happend after Boston.
There always seemed to be a distance between them.
"We... We were ambushed and I tried to protect her, but...", Buck stuttered.
Tears streamed down his face.
He did not finish his sentence because he heard Athena's voice searching for him.
He looked up, raising his arm so she could find him.
"Buck. Hey, how are you?", Athena walked up to him as soon as she saw his team.
"Did you catch the guys?", he asked quietly, ignoring Athena's question, not sure if he had the strength to answer it.
Athena nodded, causing Buck to break down.
Tears streamed down his face as he could no longer hold back the sobs, that threatened to overwhelm him.
Athena gently took him in her arms and pressed his head against her shoulder. Whispering that everything is going to be okay.
"What happened?" asked Chimney again.
Why did everyone care about Buck, even though Maddie was the one in surgery.
Chimney was so angry, he couldn’t hold it back.
"The two were attacked by two men. We suspect the men were going to assault Maddie, but Buck protected her, unfortunately Maddie was shot during this incident...", Athena said she hadn't finished when she was rudely interrupted by Chimney.
This was the last straw for him.
He was so angry.
Maddie should have been sexually assaulted.
Buck was supposed to protect her.
Instead she gets hurt and he gets away with a few scratches. Did he even try to help Maddie.
He couldn't think straight as he pushed Buck against the nearest wall.
"Maddie got shot and you only have a few scratches. What kind of brother are you? Why didn't you protect her?", he screamed loudly. Tears were running down his face now, but he still pinned Buck to the wall.
Buck was about to say something, to defend himself.
He had protected Maddie.
He had done everything he could.
He started to cry, a sob escaped him when he saw Eddie who pushed Chimney away from him.
The next moment Eddie was in front of him.
"Buck, are you all right?" he said gently, taking his head in his hand.
Eddie looked at Buck.
He didn't seem to have been hurt more by Chimney's grip. Still, Eddie was worried.
His eyes are unfocused, moving around the room.
He might have a concussion.
He was about to tell Henne, to take a look at Buck when he noticed, that Buck was slowly losing consciousness.
He leaned into Eddies hands and his eyes kept falling shut only to open again in panic.
"Buck look at me. Are you okay?", Eddie tried again and gently shook his shoulder.
He was aware of Bobby worrying behind him and calling for a doctor, but all Eddie could focus on at the moment was keeping Buck conscious.
After Eddie asked again, Buck seemed to hear the question this time.
He nodded slightly, but he immediately regrets moving his head.
Black dots danced before his eyes.
He noticed that Eddie was still talking to him.
But he couldn't understand what Eddie was saying, as if he were underwater.
Buck heard a loud noise in the background.
It was all too much.
He felt dizzy, leaning against Eddie unable to hold himself upright.
And then everything went black.