Chapter Text
For the amount of time Buck has spent worrying about Tommy ending up in the hospital it’s kind of ironic that when it does finally happen it’s a car crash that puts him there. Tommy has flown a helicopter into a hurricane, fought wildfires, and completed several perilous rescues while Buck hoped and prayed that he’d make it home safe. Yet it’s the drive home from work that he makes every day that ends up posing the ultimate threat.
In his line of duty Buck has gotten into the habit of picking up calls from unknown numbers just in case. Even so, when he takes the call from the 818 area code he thinks nothing of it, answering with his traditional “Evan Buckley speaking.”
It’s not until the voice at the other end of the line says, “Mr. Buckley, I’m calling from Sherman Oaks Hospital, we admitted a Mr. Thomas Kinard earlier this evening, who has listed you as his emergency contact, is that correct,” That the worry begins.
Buck feels his blood freeze, “Um yes, that’s correct.” He manages to get out.
“Mr. Kinard was brought in about an hour ago by ambulance, after a car crash. He’s currently stable but has sustained multiple injuries.” The woman continues.
“Can I-” Buck’s voice gets caught in his throat, “can I come see him.” A buzzing has begun in the back of his head, but he tries to push it down to hear her reply.
“Yes, the hospital’s visiting hours end at 8:00. Mr. Kinard is currently unconscious but you’re welcome to come sit with him. He’s being moved out of the emergency room soon, so just ask at the front desk when you get here and they’ll be able to direct you to his new room. ”
“Th-thank you.” Buck fumbles over the words, the buzzing starting to take over all thought processes.
As he hangs up he lets his hand drop lifeless down to his side. He hears a voice in the back of his brain telling him to go, that he needs to be somewhere, but it’s distant and distorted as if he’s hearing it from underwater. He’s staring blankly ahead at the row of lockers in front of him, but they’re blurring in and out as his brain tries and fails to focus on anything except the static that has completely taken over his faculties.
He jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey Buckaroo,” Chimney’s voice breaks through a bit of the buzzing as he moves to stand in Buck’s direct line of sight. “You okay?”
Buck just stares at him for a moment, his body swaying slightly as his brain trys to push through the static to comprehend what’s right in front of him.
Chimney waves a hand in front of his face, “You don’t look so good.”
“I-” Buck starts and then stops, still unable to take back control of his body “It’s-” He tries again.
“Woah, woah, woah,” Chimney’s hands come up to rest on each of Buck’s arms, “Let’s sit you down before you pass out.” He gently guides Buck to rest on the locker room bench behind him, before crouching down to position himself at eye level.
The hand with Buck’s phone in it bumps lightly into the bench and Buck’s fingers finally succumb to the buzzing in his brain as the phone drops to the floor with a thunk. Chimney’s eyes track the sound, and he picks up the fallen phone, turning it around in his hands.
“Did you get a bad call about something?” He asks, looking up into Buck’s glazed eyes.
Buck summons all his willpower to offer Chimney a small nod.
“Okay,” Chimney says, maintaining his calm tone, “Was it about Maddie?”
Buck shakes his head and he sees more than hears Chimney give a sigh of relief.
“Tommy?” He guesses a second time.
This time it’s as if he’s been shot in the gut and Buck feels himself crumple from the inside out. His head is now in his hands and there are tears streaming down his face that weren’t there a second ago.
“Okay, okay,” Chimney is now patting his back, “Did something happen on a call?”
Buck shakes his head, grabbing slightly at the edges of his hair. His chest feels as if it’s going to rip in two.
Chimney seems at a loss for words for a second, perhaps having run out of guesses, before he finally continues, “Is he in the hospital?”
Buck’s head relays a feverish yes.
“Is he sick?”
Buck’s head gives another no.
“Car crash?” Chimney finally guesses correctly and Buck’s reactive shlump further into himself acts as a yes this time.
“Oh Buck.” The back patting continues.
They sit in silence for a second before Chimney peels one of Buck’s hands off his face to press his thumbs into his phone’s center button. As he releases Buck’s hand, Buck lets it drop down towards the bench and he watches with his one uncovered eye as Chimney opens his recent call list before copying and pasting the number into Google.
“Okay, Sherman Oaks Hospital,” Buck hears him say under his breath as he places Buck’s phone on the bench beside Buck’s limp hand and pulls out his own phone to type the Hospital’s name into his navigation app. “Okay,” he says louder this time, “Grab your bag, let's go see him.”
Buck feels more tears leak out of his eyes as he just stares at Chimney for a second, a sharp pang of gratitude cutting through the turmoil in his head.
Chimney begins to pull him up by the arm, and Buck finally finds himself able to take a bit more control over his body, helping Chimney right him before slipping the phone Chimney hands him into his pocket, and the duffel he holds out to him over his shoulder.
“Anything else you need?” Chimney asks, glancing around the locker room for any more of Buck’s belongings.
Buck just shakes his head, unable to focus on moving his body and talking at the same time.
“Alright let’s go then,” and with that he gestures Buck first out of the locker room, and then out of the firehouse towards his SUV.
Buck follows still in somewhat of a daze, throwing his duffel in the trunk next to Chimney’s and sliding into the passenger seat as if he’s moving through a thick fog. At the edge of his consciousness he can just barely comprehend the constant looks Chimney keeps sending him, but he doesn’t ask Buck any more questions.
Instead he hooks his phone up the a car and calls Maddie. From where he’s now resting his head against the window Buck can hear their conversation, but the words barely register. Instead of being able to focus on Chimney’s explanation of why he’s going to be home late, Buck’s brain has begun playing a reel of worst case scenarios. The only thing that’s keeping him from completely unwinding is the words of the nurse who’d called saying “He’s currently stable,” playing over and over in his head as the audio to the harrowing reel.
It feels both like seconds and hours before Buck’s aware of them pulling into the hospital parking lot. Buck zones back out as Chimney navigates the lot trying to find a spot, but is broken out of his stupor again when Chimney places a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see that Chimney has already parked the car and taken off his seat belt.
He levels Buck with a serious stare before asking, “okay?”
Buck gives a shaking nod before following Chimney out of the car, across the lot, and through the sliding doors.
Chimney takes complete control, heading to the front desk to get directions to Tommy’s room and Buck feels another burst of gratitude break through his mind’s haze. Not just gratitude that Chimney is taking control of the situation, but gratitude that Maddie has found such a great guy.
Chimney takes a step back from the desk with a thankful wave and once again Buck is being led along, this time through another set of doors, down a hall, into an elevator, and then down another hall. He stops short when Chimney pauses by one of the rooms, the door’s propped open, but from Buck’s point of view he can only see the room’s window and nothing else.
His gaze is broken by Chimney once again placing a hand on his shoulder and leveling him with a weighty stare.
“The nurse says he’s doing well,” Chimney recounts, maintaining his stare. “He’s still unconscious but they expect him to wake up any time now.” He offers Buck’s shoulder a long squeeze, “He’s going to be okay.”
Buck feels all the breath rush out of him, he knows Chimney wouldn’t make that promise unless he really believed it. Buck nods and even manages to get out a quick “thank you” before Chimney finally leads him into the room.
Despite the horrible images that had been flashing across his eyelids on the drive over, Buck still isn’t prepared to see Tommy laying battered and bruised in the hospital bed. He looks small, despite taking up almost the whole cot. During the 6 month’s they’ve been together Buck has spent plenty of time watching Tommy sleep, but this is different. Usually Tommy looks relaxed, happy, and peaceful. But against the stark white of the hospital sheets he looks uncomfortable, unsettled, and in pain.
Buck takes a step closer to the bed and that’s when he sees it, the flutter of Tommy’s eyelids. “Tommy?” He tentatively asks.
Tommy’s eyes flutter again before opening fully. Buck waits as he watches the man blink slowly before beginning to scan the room. His eyes stop when they land on Buck and Chim. Buck feels hope rise in his throat, getting ready to head to Tommy’s side the moment he’s summoned.
Instead of hearing Tommy call his name, however, the first words he says are, “Han? What are you doing here?” quickly followed by, “Where am I?”
Chimney’s the one taking a step closer this time, his hands resting in his pockets. “Hey Tommy,” he begins. “You’re in the hospital.”
“Was- was it a bad call?” Tommy asks, eyes trained solely on Chimney, not moving to look at Buck even once.
“Not this time,” Chimney continues, “You were in a car crash on your way home from work. But don't worry, the doctors think you’re gonna be just fine.”
Tommy nods before asking again, “What are you doing here?”
“I brought Buck,” Chimney gestures to the man next to him.
But Tommy’s eyes still don’t move to acknowledge Buck’s presence. Instead his head tilts and his eyebrows pinch together, “Buck?”
“Oh sorry,” Chim says with a laugh, “I mean Evan.” He says putting the emphasis on Buck’s name with an impish lift of his eyebrows.
Tommy’s pinched expression doesn’t change, however, and Buck’s starting to feel as confused as Tommy looks, but he’s never been good at handling not having all of Tommy’s attention so he takes another step forward and offers a soft wave.
“Hi baby.” He smiles, though he’s not sure it looks much since he feels like he’s breaking apart at the seams.
“Baby?” Tommy’s eyebrows finally move from their pinched position to fly up to his hairline. “What exactly is going on here Howie?” Tommy’s tone is hard and cold in a way Buck’s rarely heard it.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Chimney asks, taking another step that finally lands him at the end of Tommy’s bed.
Tommy pauses his incredulous look for a second as he tries to answer Chimney’s question, “I-” he starts before immediately stopping, his brow furrowing again, only this time in concentration instead of confusion. “You- you and Wilson threw me a going away party?” He asks more than says.
“What year do you think it is?” Chimney asks.
And Buck’s heard him ask it to so many patients over the years that the meaning of it doesn’t even register with him. Instead his mind is focused on looking at Tommy, laying in the hospital, a nasty bruise forming on his left temple.
“2017?” Tommy again answers in the form of a question and Buck is again too occupied with the butterfly bandage on Tommy’s temple to fully register what is being said.
Buck catches Chimney looking at him with a heartbroken stare which he returns with a confused one before it all begins to sink in. 2017. Tommy thinks it’s 2017. The buzzing is starting to return full force, having finally stopped the first time after Buck has laid eyes on Tommy, whole and alive.
“I-” He chokes out, “I’m going to go get a nurse,” and he rushes out of the room without looking back.