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Despite common dangers, and Bobby's constant reminders, it was quite easy to become familiar with dangerous situations, and therefore it was very easy to become lax with the safety equipment and the preventative measures taken when running into burning buildings. Buck knew that he should have been more careful, it had been drilled in him by every authority figure ever, but now he really wished he had double checked everything.
If he had, he would have had made it out of the building. The seal on his mask had been loose. It would have been an easy fix, swap it out for a spare. If he had swapped out the mask, he wouldn't have breathed in a medley of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide.
It felt surreal, he could hear his thoughts, some clear and some muddy, rushing through his head a mile a minute but the physical response wasn't there. He knew that he had to make it to an area where he could breathe better since his oxygen tank was useless with a broken mask, but he couldn't bring himself to move.
Despite this, Buck tried to lift his head. He barely got it a few inches from the ground before he dropped it quickly, head spinning from the movement. He had always heard the that the room spins around you when you get a head rush, but Buck felt like he was the one spinning.
Vertigo, he thought. He had heard Chimney mention it once or twice. He had always brushed it off, thinking he was just being dramatic but now he wished he had listened. He felt his stomach churn as he felt like he was plummeting down, as if he was on a steep roller-coaster.
Some vomit rose up his throat, it took a couple of attempts but he managed to swallow it down. The acidic taste lingered in his mouth though as thoughts of sickly days and drunken nights were brought to the forefront of his mind.
The more he focus on his thoughts, trying desperately to stay awake, the more he felt sleep lull him. He could vaguely hear his radio buzz with voices, but he wasn't too sure where it was. The familiar weight of it was missing from his shoulder. It must have fallen off when i fell down he thought,
He was sure by now Bobby was silently cursing him as he redirected the 118 to find him. He couldn't help but wonder if they would actually find him in time. Buck was usually lucky with his survival odds but this time he wasn't sure. This time he could feel his impending doom creeping up on him, its icy grasp reaching forwards.
Buck was too tired to fight back against it.