Work Text:
Today is Buck’s day off. Sadly, it was one of those occasions where it wasn’t BuckandEddie’s day off. Just Buck’s. So, now here he was, sending Eddie off to work under babysitting duties that were more hangout than babysitting.
“Eddie, you’re gonna be late.” Buck smirks, mocking the man who, for the past five minutes, had been saying goodbye to him and Chris.
“Yeah, dad, we’ll be fine. Won’t even leave the house.”
“Unless we need to stack up on snacks.” Buck winks at Chris, earning a laugh and a nod out of the boy and a slight chuckle from Eddie.
“Okay, okay, fine. I’m leaving. If you do go buy snacks, buy me a sour patch.” Eddie says, finally heading towards the door and closing it behind him with one last ‘I love you’ to his son.
“Was he joking about buying him sour patch or did he mean it?” Chris asks, making Buck laugh.
“No idea,” Buck chuckles, “But when we go, we buy them just in case.” he says. For now though, breakfast for the eight year old.
Chris follows behind as Buck walks through the house and into the kitchen towards the ingredients to make waffles.
“Now that you mention it, I don’t think we have any snacks, Buck.” Chris mentions, watching Buck make breakfast in front of him.
“Okay, while you eat, I’ll go to the corner store to get us some snacks, how about that?”
“No! I wanna go too! You won’t get the specific ones that I like.”
“Okay, okay,” Buck chuckles, finishing up making the waffles and setting them up for him and Chris, “Finish your breakfast first, then I’ll take us both to the store, okay Superman?”
“Okay!” Chris easily agrees before diving into his waffles.
Gosh, this kid will be the death of him. Buck wouldn’t have it any other way though. This is his life, his joy and he will cherish and protect it till the end of time. If anything, he would prefer if his best friend maybe wasn’t as straight as he was, but he’s not one to complain. He’s allowing him into his home and trusts him to care for his kid, plus, they’re glued by the hip. If there is a small possibility that he would ruin this by letting the truth out, which there is, he won’t risk it.
“Okay, I’m done, let’s go Buck!” Chris excitedly informs Buck, unknowingly throwing him back into reality and away from his thoughts.
“Alright, put on your shoes and jacket, and off we go.” Buck smiles, already going for his jeep keys and his black hoodie, Chris right behind him, begging Buck to walk faster.
“C’mon Buck! The faster we leave, the faster we get there and come back to watch movies.” and honestly, Buck found nothing wrong in his logic, so he slightly picked up the pace with a grin.
----------------------------------------------
After what was probably a two-minute drive but to Chris felt like an eternity, they walk inside the store at the corner of their street.
“We need to buy ruffles and skittles.” Chris says, already walking towards the candy aisle at a faster pace than one would think someone with crutches would be able to.
“Ew, Still can’t get over you liking skittles.”
“Still can’t get over you not liking them, honestly Buck, it’s skittles, it’s the rainbow…in a bag!” Chris exasperates.
“Whatever, I’m grabbing your dad’s sour patch.” Buck chuckles, walking towards the end of the aisle to grab them, both boys making a face at each other, finding common ground in their dislike for the not-present man’s taste.
As Buck grabs the bag of the abomination, he hears someone yelling at the front of the store. Buck throws a quick glance at Chris, who’s already looking at him with slightly big eyes, “Probably just a customer whose car didn’t work and now he wants to start a war.” he jokes, rolling his eyes as he walks back towards Chris, earning a light chuckle from the boy.
As they head towards the counter, a yell suddenly rips through the store.
Buck quickly walks in front of Chris and towards the front, noticing a man aiming a gun at the cashier.
“Open up the drawer!” yells the man, the hand holding the weapon shaking as he threatens poor Ryan, who Buck had started to grow fond of.
Buck is brought back to his priorities when he feels a small hand tug on his own. Christopher is looking up at him, terrified, his eyes already comically large and tearing up slightly.
“Bucky…I’m scared,” he whispers.
“Hey, it’s okay Superman,” Buck whispers, the armed guy doesn’t seem to have noticed them and he’d rather keep it that way.
Just as Buck is about to move Chris towards the back of the store, another outburst from the gunman towards Ryan scares Chris enough to tumble back and into a can of soup that loudly falls on the floor.
Buck’s world pauses for that half a second. He swears he can hear the flapping of the butterfly outside as his heart drops before his focus is thrown back inside the store.
The gunman quickly turns around towards Buck and Chris, his eyes expanding as he makes eye contact with Buck and glances at Chris.
There goes the plan of hiding it out on the back of the store.
Buck quickly puts his hands up as the gunman shuffles to have Buck and Chris is in his vision with Ryan.
“Hey, we don’t want any trouble man.” Buck slowly says, trying to calm down the gunman who is now pointing the gun at them.
“Uh, uh. No. Stay there. You!” he yells back at Ryan, “Once you finish with the cash, open up the bag and throw some cigarettes in there too.”
Okay, okay, so as long as Ryan does as he’s told, nothing will happen. At least it shouldn’t, but now that Buck notices, the guy’s eyes are bloodshot like he hasn’t slept in days or is on something. Judging by his shifty eyes, shaking hands, and unbalanced movement, Buck’s voting on the latter.
Okay. Facts. He has to keep them straight. There’s a guy with a gun. The guy with the gun is most probably on drugs. Buck has a very scared Christopher with him and needs to protect him. He also has an equally scared but more determined looking cashier.
Suddenly, Chris lets out a sob making Buck’s calculations come to a full stop.
“Hey, buddy, I’m here.”
“I’m scared, Buck.” Chris sniffles.
“Hey, shut up!” the gunman exclaims, making Chris sob more while trying to hide in Buck’s hoodie, and if the guy didn’t have a gun in hand, he’d be on the floor already, probably in need of an ambulance. Not from his drug use but from the beating Buck would've given him by now.
Buck tries his best to hug him from the side while still facing the guy.
“It’s okay, dude. He’s just a kid, he’s scared.” Buck tries to explain and calm down the guy's increasing shake.
“I don’t care. Shut him up or I swear I will.” he growls, his movement more erratic.
“Okay, okay, let’s not. You’ll get your stuff. What’s- what’s your name?” Buck internally face palms when saying it. Why would he ask that?? His ‘calming down people while in danger’ senses overloaded when confronting the overstimulated guy.
“David- Wait no! No, you can’t know that!” he hisses, now fully pointing at Chris. Why Chris, why not him, who asked the question??
“I didn’t even hear you, you’re good! Let’s- let’s call you Mark, okay?” Buck tries to calm him down, “Unless your name is actually Mark, then that’s counterproductive.” he nervously chuckles.
“Okay, Mark,” he gestures at David, he definitely did hear him, “my friend here, the cashier, will get your money ready so you can go on your way, right?” he says, giving Ryan a pleading look, begging him not to fight back.
The worst thing they can do is allow for the guy to get pumped up because the little control he has over his trigger finger will turn into none, or he might just get trigger-happy, which is not the goal.
“Uhh…sure.” Ryan agrees, getting back to the half-filled bag.
Buck still doesn’t like how the gun is still pointing at Chris, who is now trembling all over, trying his best to hold it together. This kid is so brave trying to keep quiet even though he’s clearly terrified.
Buck feels Chris trying to shuffle behind him, still in the open for danger, so Buck, as quietly and slowly as he can, shuffles in front of Chris to give him more protection. His own body is the best defense he has.
Suddenly, the whole room stills, and the oxygen of the store feels to have left as Buck makes eye contact with David, who’s staring back like a panther stalking its prey.
Eyes wide and full of immobile attention staring right into Buck’s soul, towards the foot he had just moved and back at Buck.
Fuck.
From the way he’d caught the movement on the foot, it makes sense why what happened next flew over David’s head until it was too late.
As Buck stills like a weeping angel, he catches Ryan, who now has David’s back facing him, slowly moving. Full of determination.
Please don’t. Please don’t do that. Please don’t do exactly what Buck would’ve done if he was in that place and Chris wasn’t here.
Please for the love of whatever you hold dear, Ryan, don’t go for that gun, Buck internally begs to the seven seas and the four winds, but it turns futile.
With Buck’s luck, it truly is no surprise, he should’ve known.
Ryan jumps over the counter, lunging for David’s gun, when David, from the scare, shoots randomly and Buck quickly covers Chris with his own body, hugging him tightly, trying to protect what he holds dear.
The second it’s over, Buck turns around and, seeing the gun finally out of David’s hands and all of his football training from high school rushing back to him, lets go of Chris, runs full speed at David and tackles him with all two hundred and some pounds of pure muscle to the ground.
“Call the cops, Ryan!” Ryan is frozen. Now that he’s not the one fighting with a crazed man, he decides to freeze.
“Ryan!” that jumps him out of the shock, poor kid, he’s only nineteen and trying to survive college but Buck needs him to act, “Call the cops, now!” he’ll apologize later.
Ryan finally beelines for the store’s phone, calling 9-1-1.
Buck, after some time, takes a good hold of David, putting his arms behind him on the floor in an uncomfortable position with Buck on top of him. He still hasn’t forgotten about David making Chris cry.
“They’re almost here.”
“Check on Christopher, please.” Buck asks, knowing nothing got to him due to Buck’s own body blanketing him, but he’d rather be safe.
Chris is still standing where Buck left him before tackling David, but he’s standing, meaning he’s not hurting, meaning he’s okay.
“He’s good. Just a little scared.” Ryan says, hugging Chris to calm him down.
Buck’s heart is still pumping, he can hear it in his ears, in his head, in his hands that are still holding David down. He’s still scanning for a possible threat. Who knows if he had a getaway driver, someone out there, waiting to come inside and shoot everyone.
Before Buck can even attempt to calm himself down, he hears the sirens as they pull in.
Cop cars and an engine.
“I said there were shots fired and that you were wrestling the guy. They might think someone got hurt with the shot or might want to look you over for injuries.” Ryan explains quickly after seeing Buck’s face.
“Better safe than sorry, I guess.” Buck tries for positivity, the sight of the number ‘118’ written on the engine already giving his brain a foreshadowing of the yelling he’s about to get.
Athena bursts through the door suddenly, looking unimpressed when noticing Buck, as if he was going around looking for bad people to tackle. There’s another yelling he can look forward to.
“Why am I not surprised?” Athena sarcastically tells Buck as she cuffs the guy that was still being held down by Buck.
“Heyy, ‘Thena. He said his name was David-”
“Buckley! What the hell?” Eddie hisses, appearing out of thin air.
“Hey…Eds.” Buck nervously smiles, trying for casual.
“Why the hell are you here?”
“Uh…” the adrenaline has finally worn off Buck’s system, even though he feels like he should still have some due to a very angry Eddie in front of him, but he feels his energy leave him slowly, “We- we wanted snacks and…and surprise there was more than snacks.” Buck grimaces, the tiredness not letting him think straight.
“So what? You saw danger and decided you could be a hero about it? Chris is with you, in case you forgot, Buck. You can’t only think about yourself.”
“No, I- I didn’t…I wouldn’t, I swear, I-”
“No, I don’t want to hear it. You’re always putting yourself in danger, but now you put my son in danger, Evan.”
Buck physically feels all his energy drain out, not that he had much left, but the little he had just crumples under him at that moment. He didn’t mean to put Chris in danger. That’s not what he tried to do. Did he do that though? Put Chris in unnecessary danger.
“I can’t believe you,” Eddie continues, oblivious to Buck’s inner turmoil, “All for another hero story.” he finishes with a huff before turning.
Buck sees him as he picks up Chris and takes him outside to get checked. He tries to call out to him, to explain himself, but he can’t. He’s too tired.
“I- I didn’t mean to.” Buck mutters under his breath but it doesn’t even sound convincing to his own ears. His ears that were currently ringing louder and louder confusing his brain.
Buck blinks quickly and before he knows it, as if having teleported, he’s kneeling on the ground, when did he get there?
He can hear Athena closing in, asking if he’s okay, but it sounds distant.
The ringing isn’t letting him hear anything at all anymore.
Buck feels a pair of hands holding him by the shoulder, Athena, he thinks but he wouldn't be able to tell. The pain coming from his whole body drowning out every other feeling.
Pain. Why is he in pain? He can feel it now, scorching him from his abdomen and expanding into his body. The hands are still there, shaking him, trying to ground him, but it’s futile.
“I-I think-” he hears someone say, it might’ve been him, right as everything turns pitch black.
----------------------------------------------
Athena isn’t one today much, she doesn’t do gossip, but if she’s ever seen a couple fight, the one she’s seeing at the moment is on the top three.
Buck did a noble thing, with no thought behind it probably, as always, but noble. She does see where Eddie is coming from though. Chris, his son, his eight year old son, was in danger. Thankfully no one got injured, but it could’ve been worse.
As she hands off the now identified David Ramirez to another officer, she notices Eddie leave Buck to go check on his son. She can join that train and check on hers, she thinks.
She might not be a paramedic but she can at least breathe properly once she realizes he’s okay.
“Don’t mind him, Buck. He’s just a parent worried for his kid. As I am, are you okay?” she asks, walking towards his still unmoving figure. “...Buck?” Okay, now she’s getting worried.
Suddenly, like all weight and fight has left him, Buck drops to his knees.
There is absolutely no way that didn’t hurt, he went right at the concrete!
“Buck! You’re not invincible, don’t do that!” Athena stresses, now getting close to him at a faster pace.
Now that she’s with him, she can see Buck’s very pale. Sickening and horribly pale. Is he in shock from what happened? He looks like he’s not even in this world right now.
“Buck.” Athena tries to bring him back from wherever his mind has taken him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. It’s not working.
“Buck! Snap out of it!”
He’s still nonresponsive. This might be worse. Athena needs a medic, someone to tell her the kid is okay and just needs a good night’s rest or a good meal. She can deal with that.
“Hen, come inside the store please, I need your help.” Just as Athena finishes talking to her radio, Buck finally talks.
“I- I think-” and he faints.
Buck faints in front of Athena.
“Buck! Buck, wake up!” Athena panics. She shouldn’t panic. She’s not supposed to panic. She’s a police officer. But Buck is on the ground nonresponsive and Hen isn’t here and Eddie is gone.
Finally Hen walks in and rushes once she sees Buck on the floor and Athena trying to reawaken him.
“What happened??”
“I don’t know! He was okay a second ago then Eddie and him got in an argument then Eddie left and he collapsed suddenly!” Athena tries to explain, trying to stop herself from panicking.
“Ok, ok, I need to check his pulse.” Hen says, already switching to medic mode and checking.
“Something is very wrong. His heart rate is through the roof and he’s still nonresponsive. Here, help me position him correctly.” Hen’s diagnosis does not help Athena’s heart, but she can’t imagine what Hen is feeling, having to make herself professional to stay focused.
So Athena does what she can and she grabs the hem of Buck’s hoodie to help her. That’s when she notices that it’s unusually wet and… sticky?
Athena slowly pulls out her hand from where it was holding. Please. Please, God. Please don’t let it be that. She’s seen too many things throughout her career. Felt too many things, physically. Even though she hopes she’s wrong, she knows that feeling, but oh does she pray she’s wrong.
Not today, not him. Please.
“Hen…” Athena says, barely a whisper, she can’t bring her voice to go any louder. She’s staring at the undeniable proof.
Hen looks over and stops.
She stops for two seconds. They stop for two seconds. Two seconds too long, before Hen breaks into action with Athena.
“Chim! I need you in here now. Bring gauze, lots of it. And an IV line and anything that treats major blood loss. Hurry!” Hen says to her radio, already working on lifting up Buck’s thick black hoodie to find the wound.
Why did it have to be black, why did it have to be the most stain-hiding color??, Athena thinks as she helps Hen.
Chimney rushes in carrying the medic bag with everything needed inside. As he finally reaches the scene, he stops for half a second, letting his brain process what he’s seeing. Athena and Hen attempting to take the hoodie off a very pale looking fainted Buck.
He snaps out of it, rushing towards the girls, “I have the scissors.”
“Cut his hoodie, I think the wound is on his back.”
They work mechanically but flawlessly and efficiently, attempting to patch him up the best they can once they find the wound.
Suddenly, the door burst open again. Eddie, with a backboard and looking panicked, starts running towards them.
“What happened? I heard you needed to treat blood loss, he was okay a few minutes ago!” Eddie hurriedly says, trying to make sense of things. He had just been talking to Buck, how is it that he has a wound so big he seems to have lost half of his blood supply?!
“He might’ve been hiding it. Not that he had to, you didn’t even let him say a word before leaving.” Athena accuses.
She knows that was harsh. She knows it was uncalled for and mean to say that, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. At least not right now that Buck was still bleeding out and Eddie was just taking up space.
Suddenly Buck wakes up, hissing in pain and looking around in a panicked daze.
“Hey, hey you’re okay. You’re gonna be okay.” Eddie immediately says, rushing to Buck’s side and trying to comfort him.
“It’s Eddie, you’re hurt, you’re gonna be okay.” he’s not sure who he’s trying to convince.
Buck keeps looking around, hissing and grunting.
“That’s as stable as it’s getting.” Hen informs, “ We need to take him to the hospital, now.” she emphasizes, “Eddie, keep him awake, Chimney, the backboard.” she says, attempting to take back control of the chaotic situation.
Chimney hurriedly grabs the backboard and positions it beside Buck before grabbing him by the legs.
Buck on his part, still looking out of it, tries not to scream. His muffled growling is heard through the whole ordeal of moving him to the backboard.
By the time they finally get him on, his eyes look glassy and unfocused. His grunting having turned to whimpers now, breaking the team’s hearts.
“I’m sorry, we’re sorry, Buck. We have to move you, you’ll say thank you once you’re out of the hospital, you’ll see.” Hen says, trying her best to hold back her tears.
His eyes slowly blink as he whimpers get quieter and quieter. Each blink taking more time to reopen than the last.
“Hey, hey. No sleeping. You know this.” Athena says, lightly tapping Buck’s cheeks as Eddie and Chimney lift the backboard and take it outside towards the ambulance.
Eddie quickly glances at a crying Chris being held back by Bobby. Bobby who is also tearing up but attempting to hold it together for the kid.
“Eddie, you’re driving.” Hen says while getting on the back of the ambulance with Chimney.
Eddie wants to fight it, he feels the need to be in the back with Buck pulling him into an argument, but he looks at Buck. Buck who is barely holding on now, barely even opening his eyes, not even making a noise anymore even though the pain must be unbearable and Eddie gets behind the wheel.
There is no time to waste, he needs to go now if he wants Buck to be okay.
Eddie doesn’t remember the drive to the hospital, doesn’t remember what route he took, doesn’t remember informing the hospital they were on their way, but he must’ve since they’re outside waiting by the time they get there.
All Eddie remembers is the beeping noise behind him making him drive perfectly. He remembers the beeping followed by a sudden continuous note played by the machine. The yelling coming from the medics, the panic, he remembers pressing on the gas more.
Now, Eddie stands in the waiting room. Hen and Chimney sitting on the chairs as he paces. Bobby had stayed behind with Chris and Athena, probably also to inform dispatch that they’d be offline for a while.
So Eddie is in the hospital, in the waiting room, staying for Buck. Buck, who’s fighting for his life right now. Buck, whose pulse was lost in the ambulance and hadn’t come back by the time they got to the hospital. Buck, whose last clear memory was probably of Eddie yelling at him.
Why didn’t he let him talk? Why didn’t he give him a chance? Why did he just assume? There might’ve been a good explanation or at least he might’ve informed Eddie of his injury or Eddie might’ve been able to notice it.
Buck fainted and bled out and coded on the way, who’s to say he’s not de-
“He can’t be dead. They would’ve come to inform us already. If no one is here to talk to us yet that means he’s still alive and worth fighting for.” Chimney suddenly says, gazing at his curled hands in between his knees.
Eddie isn’t sure if he said it to calm himself down or Eddie and Hen, but it’s a logical explanation, so it does help slightly. He can’t be dead. He just needs a few weeks of rest and he’ll be okay. He has to.
So Eddie waits. He waits as Buck is fighting for his life somewhere in the hospital . He waits as doctors walk around the whole hospital and back but don’t stop to talk to ‘family of Evan Buckley’.
Suddenly, Athena walks into the waiting room looking pissed and going straight for Eddie, some type of tablet in her hand.
“He wasn’t being reckless, he wasn’t being stupid and he wasn’t looking for a hero story.” Athena growls, shoving the tablet at Eddie’s chest.
Hen and Chimney quickly get up and next to Eddie to see the CCTV footage the tablet is paused on. Eddie doesn’t want to press play, scared of what he’ll find, but he does anyway, he has no way out.
Reluctantly, Eddie lets the video play.
He lets the video play and watches as Buck and Chris walk in. He watches as they, as usual, make a face when grabbing the sour patch and Eddie smiles because it is so them to be disgusted but still grab them for Eddie.
Their eyes are then pulled to the front door of the store as the guy with the gun walks into the store and Hen and Chim exchange a quick look. This is where it’ll all go wrong.
Every one of them sharply inhale as they see Chris drop the can accidentally, as the gunman turns and aims at Chris.
“David Ramirez. He’s in custody and he will pay.” Athena hisses from the side.
David. The man who brought Eddie’s world crumbling down, quite literally. He won’t forget that name.
They keep watching the footage. They see Buck try to deescalate, they see him be compliant, calm, protecting Chris. They also see the second Buck moves slightly towards Chris, stare at David and the way everyone freezes.
Eddie also freezes, Chim and Hen following him, his heart is pumping all the way to his ears. He can’t hear anything, he can feel himself try to be quiet even though he knows what will happen, the inevitable. They’re here for that very same reason, but he still hopes, wishes.
Eddie sees Buck’s face, sees his pleading eyes turn to the cashier that Eddie knew Buck had made friends with. He sees the way Buck begs with his eyes as the cashier starts grounding his feet, getting them ready and Eddie knows what will happen, in that second, he realizes what actually happened.
One second Buck is facing David and the cashier and the next Buck is hugging Chris as the gun is shot. If Eddie had blinked, he would’ve missed how suddenly Buck turns and tackles David.
“That- that was something.” Chim lets out a big sigh, still processing.
“It wasn’t his fault.” Athena emphasizes again, “He tried to protect Chris the whole time. The cashier jumped at Ramirez, scaring him into shooting.” Athena continues, still trying to defend Buck.
“There was a single shot…when Buck- when he hugged Chris an- and covered him…” Eddie whispers to no one, “he covered Chris.” He can't even process it yet, his mind working overtime.
“Had Buck not gotten in front of Chris…” Chimney doesn’t finish his sentence, none of them wanting to imagine what could’ve been.
Had it not been for Buck though…There was a singular shot, there’s no doubt of where that bullet was heading.
“How the hell did he have the strength and energy to tackle and then brawl with the guy??” Chimney continues, impressed.
“I mean adrenaline does keep people going for a while longer. Have you seen those cases of people going miles after a traumatic injury? It’s insane the random strength they get out of seemingly nothing.” Hen explains.
“Yea but I mean…he got shot in the abdomen! It doesn’t even look like he registered it until he was already on the floor.”
“Yea well, that’s Buck for you. Doesn’t process his own pain until everyone is okay.”
Eddie just stands next to them, hearing the conversation but not listening to it. Background noise. He was still trying to get his brain to stop replaying himself yelling at Buck while Buck was actively bleeding out. Buck was dying but still let Eddie yell at him.
No. He didn’t let him. Eddie just didn’t allow him to speak. Didn’t give him a choice. He couldn’t say his piece, couldn’t say anything like the fact that all he did was protect Chris, or that he never started anything, that he wasn’t looking for a hero story, that he wasn’t being reckless, or maybe that he had been shot in the abdomen! Or that he was about to faint! Or that-
“Eddie!”
He turns sharply towards Chimney, hit back with reality, not fully back from wherever his mind took him.
“Finally dude, I’ve been calling you for a while already. I said that Bobby took Chris to Athena’s. He’ll be taking care of him, Harry and May. Also Athena just got off the phone with Maddie, she’s on her way.”
Eddie just nods at Chim, not confident in using his voice at the moment.
Minutes later Maddie walks in, straight to Chimney. Eddie hates when they remind him of Buck and his relationship, because the only difference is that they kiss and officially live together while Buck unofficially lives with them since he’s always over but they’re only friends.
Eddie watches as Chimney comforts Maddie, knowing if the roles were reversed Eddie would be comforting Buck in the exact same way, except Eddie would be doing it with a line in between, a reminder in his mind of what could or couldn’t be. And now…now there’s a possibility that it will never be and that’s what Eddie regrets the most, what breaks him the most.
The man who could’ve been is now playing with the rope of never with a memory of an angry Eddie and Eddie can’t forgive himself.
----------------------------------------------
After what feels like hours, a doctor finally walks in.
“Family of Evan Buckley?”
Everyone stood up from where they were sitting and, in Eddie’s case, fast-walked towards the doctor since he was already standing up.
“I’m his emergency contact, this is his sister and everyone else is also family.” Eddie explained quickly when the doctor froze looking at everyone.
The doctor lightly smiled at Eddie, “He’ll live,” the doctor clarifies first, earning smiles and sighs from everyone that has his attention, “I knew that’d need to be out of the way first. My name is Dr. Peña and I am Mr. Buckley’s doctor.”
“Thank you, Dr. Peña, how bad is he?” Eddie asks, not wanting to do the whole dancing around and just needing to know.
“Ok, well the not so exciting news, he was shot and arrived with severe blood loss. Thankfully, the bullet did miss vital organs. It was a penetrating gunshot wound so we did have to perform emergency surgery to locate and retrieve the bullet. We were able to get it and he is in the recovery room now.” Dr. Peña finishes with a tight smile.
Eddie needs to choose his battles. There’s wins and there’s losses. No major organ was hit and he is in the recovery room.
“Are we able to visit him?” Eddie asks, praying they don’t take that away from him.
“Yes! You can, if ya'll follow me I’ll lead you to where he is.” the doctor smiles, already walking out, the group right behind him.
“Now, he is really really weak due to the major blood loss so don’t be surprised if he doesn’t wake up today, it might take until tomorrow for him to awaken. If he does wake up please click on the call button and inform one of the nurses.” he says once they stop in front of a door.
As they slowly shuffle their way inside, Eddie catches sight of Buck, of weak and vulnerable Buck under all those blankets, the IV line getting lost under the sheets, his birthmark contrasting his pale face, eyes closed and slightly strained like he’s fighting something they can’t see or protect him from, the continuous beeping of the heart monitor reminding Eddie that he didn’t lose him. He didn’t, but he almost did.
Maddie instantly goes to Buck’s left side and holds his hand, careful of the IV line. Chimney and Hen go to the couch that’s on the side and Athena goes to Buck’s right side, gently moving his curls out of his closed eyes and combing them with her hand.
As the day passes, everyone goes home. Athena being the last one out, giving Buck a kiss on the cheek and smoothing his hair one more time before saying goodbye to Eddie and letting him know she’ll take care of Chris for whatever amount of time he needs.
Every single one of them leaves, to their homes, their families, their lives. And Eddie…well, Eddie stays. He stays and he moves around the whole room but he stays inside it. He stays and he waits because he needs Buck to know that he didn’t mean anything that he said. He needs Buck to understand that Eddie was blinded by worry for Christopher, that Buck isn’t any of those things. But first, he needs Buck to wake up.
So he stays and he waits.
Night arrives and Eddie keeps waiting because there was no timeline to when Buck would wake up. The doctor said it could take until tomorrow, but just in case Buck decided to be funny and wake up in the middle of the night when everyone’s asleep, Eddie would be awake.
As the night passes, Eddie does everything possible to stay awake, but he slowly drifts off. The exhaustion he bears in his body slowly takes over him as his eyes close.
Suddenly, Eddie bolts upright, frantically looking around. He has no idea what woke him up randomly but he’s glad he woke up, he almost fell asleep.
Eddie quickly walks closer to Buck, checking him over one more time to make sure he’s okay. He’d rather check too many times and everything’s okay than not check enough times.
As Eddie makes sure Buck is comfortable and fully covered by his blanket, he reaches his face and he freezes.
Staring back at him are those beautiful blues he’s missed. The blues that stare at him with that same intensity they always do.
They keep looking at each other for a few more seconds, Buck watches him like he’s looking for something inside him, like there’s something he’s not sure of, something he cannot find. Eddie hopes he’ll find whatever it is he’s looking for in Eddie’s soul.
“How long have you been awake?” Eddie whispers, not wanting to break the moment the quietness has brought with it.
“Just a minute or two.”
Good, so at least not that long by himself. Eddie checks the time, 3:17am. Still night. Maybe he’ll let Buck sleep before having the whole conversation with him.
“Why don’t you sleep a little more? It’s still late at night.”
“I think I’ve slept long enough, don’t you?” Buck replies with what sounds like it’s meant to be a joke but has an undertone Eddie can’t really place.
“Are you sure?” Eddie says, keeping his voice low.
“Yea, I- what happened though? I don’t remember much past…past you walking away.” Buck asks, his voice going quieter in the last part. His eyes turning towards the now interesting-looking floor.
“You uhm- you fainted from blood loss, Chim and Hen patched you up before bringing you to the hospital. You woke up for a little but I’’m not surprised you don’t remember, you were really out of it. Doc said you should be okay after some rest though.”
Bucks nods along with what Eddie says, like he’s trying to register it but it doesn’t seem to make sense. He’s still looking at the floor, the fluorescent lights becoming the only noise heard once Eddie finishes.
The more Eddie waits the more awkward it’ll be so he decides to just rip off the band-aid, “Look, Buck, I- I know what I said at the the store…I- I need you to understand-”
“I know, I know. I put Chris in danger. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that…I still did it though.” Buck interrupts, looking away with his face full of defeat and regret.
“No, no, no you- you have it wrong!” Eddie exclaims, finally getting Buck to look at him in the eyes, confused but still looking at him, “You protected him, Buck. You saved him.”
“No, I didn’t. He wouldn’t have needed saving in the first place if it wasn’t for me.” Buck mutters, slowly trying to sit up.
“Evan Buckley,” now he’s finally listening, “You saved his life,” Eddie says with conviction, helping Buck sit correctly and grabbing him by the shoulders, “There was a singular bullet shot, when you jumped in front of Chris. Had you not, the bullet would’ve shot right at Chris.”
“But I made him shoot in the first place by making him angry.” Buck keeps fighting back, resting his back on the bed frame and looking at the ceiling with pain-filled eyes.
It hurts Eddie’s heart to see Buck like this, it truly hurts. What hurts even more though, is the fact that he put those ideas there. He’s the one that told Buck he was at fault, he hadn’t seen the facts and still told Buck, now Buck full-heartedly believes it.
“Don’t lie, not to yourself and not to me. The cashier-”
“Ryan”
Eddie jokingly scoffs, “yes, Ryan, of course you know his name. Ryan scared him from the back. Had you not covered Chris, he would’ve been hit and had you not tackled the guy, who knows what else he would’ve done to you or Ryan,” Eddie fights back, “I know what I said and I’m so sorry. I saw Chris after hearing ‘shots fired’ on the radio. I was a scared dad at that moment. I didn’t think of what I was saying, but I could’ve gotten the facts first.”
“No, you were scared for your son. That’s not something to apologize for.” Buck suddenly says, turning to Eddie with a confused face.
Of course that’s what Buck hangs onto. Of course he wouldn't listen to him apologize but he does listen to Eddie think badly of himself.
Eddie smiles at Buck, chasing his gaze that is trying to run away again, “I’m apologizing for getting mad at you. I shouldn’t have. I know you’d protect Chris with your life. That’s what I’m apologizing for.” he replies fondly, looking at Buck. Looking at all of Buck. His recklessness, his hyperactivity, but also his love, protectiveness, his self sacrifice.
Eddie understood now, this is the man that would do anything for his son. The man that would jump and take a bullet for him with no hesitation.
Buck smiles back at him, his eyes finally staying on Eddie’s, finally finding whatever it is they were looking for in the beginning, “All forgiven…Now let me go to sleep.” he chuckles, going back under his sheets and getting comfortable.
“The sun is already rising, Buck.” Eddie says with a laugh, now fully sure he needs this man in his life…but that was something for another day.
“Yeah but I got shot, so I get to sleep past sunrise.”
“Fair, but I thought you weren’t sleepy.” Eddie replies amused.
At that Buck stills for a moment, had Eddie blinked he might’ve missed it, before going back to getting comfortable under the covers.
“I was sleepy…I was just scared of falling asleep and not waking up…” Buck whispers, “Having not talked to you and not waking up, that would’ve been a big regret.” Buck finishes, hugging himself in his injury softly.
“You’ll wake up, Buck. Don’t worry, sleep.” Eddie says his voice soft but with the determination of an army behind it, and Buck finally relaxes, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.
The sunrise filters through the window, promising a new beginning, a restart, leaving behind all the pains and misunderstandings of the past behind and bringing forth hope for the future to come.
----------------------------------------------
As the days pass, everyone visits Buck as much as they can. He stays in the hospital for a week, against his wishes. Eddie stays with him most of the time, Athena not falling far behind with all the coddling and spoiling she gives him after the initial scolding for not telling anyone he was hurt.
Once he’s finally released, everyone agrees for him to stay at Eddie’s house, feeling as that’s the best place for him to feel comfortable and still be taken care of.
“I still can’t believe I had to stay there the whole week and then I didn’t even have a say on where I would stay the rest of my recovery time.” Buck huffs as he gets on Eddie’s truck.
“It’s only for two more weeks. And even then, would you have said no to staying at mine?”
Bucks rolls his eyes, crosses his arms and faces the window, “...No.”
Eddie breathes a laugh, knowing that was the answer but still relieved to hear it, “Exactly, now put on your seatbelt.”
“Yes, dad.” Buck mocks as Eddie starts the truck and starts driving.
Soon enough after Eddie starts driving, Buck starts spitting facts about hospitals and the mortality rates of the most useless or random things such as there being 2-3 deaths a year by vending machines in the U.S.
Eddie listens to it all and nods along. He missed this every time he went home, leaving Buck behind in the hospital. Now, he gets to take it home with him. Only for a week, but even then, Buck is over enough times that it doesn’t give Eddie enough time to miss it again.
“Aww, you missed my chatter.” Buck suddenly says.
“What? Psh, you’re crazy.” Eddie scoffs, now paying more attention than needed to the road.
“You know you said it out loud right.” Buck chuckles, making Eddie blush.
When they finally get to the house, waiting outside is a very happy Chris with Carla right next to him. A huge smile plastered on both of their faces as they wait for them to park.
The second Buck opens the door he is met with a crushing hug from Chris.
Buck tries his best not to hiss at the contact, he’s free from the hospital but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt.
“Hi buddy! I missed you so much!” he says through gritted teeth, trying to hide his pain.
“I missed you so much Bucky! C’mon lets go inside, you need to watch this movie I found, it’s about a dad clownfish and his son, we need to see it now. Hurry!” Chris says, already pulling on Buck’s arm while trying to go back inside.
“You only have two hands, Superman. Here, take hold of your crutches and I’ll follow right behind you. I need to help your dad but get the movie ready.” Buck chuckles, hiding the winces.
Chris goes back inside excitedly as Carla finally gets a hold of Buck.
“Glad you’re okay, Buckaroo,” she smiles, hugging him carefully, “I will leave you boys to it.” she says, giving both men a farewell and saying goodbye to Chris before leaving.
The day passes with no problems, Buck watches movies with Chris and tries not to wince every time Chris presses on him a little too hard, Eddie cleans the house and watches movies with them while also sometimes moving Chris a little bit further away when he’s hurting Buck unknowingly.
As night gets closer, Eddie watches as both his boys start getting sleepy.
“C’mon buddy, let's take you to bed,” Eddie says as he gently picks up Chris and takes him to bed, “goodnight, son.” he kisses Chris’ cheek.
“Dad…thank you for bringing Buck home.” Chris smiles before rolling to the other side and falling asleep.
Eddie smiles at his kid, his own son already loves Buck, Eddie is already there too, to another level, but he loves him.
Eddie slowly and quietly walks back to the living room and he catches sight of Buck, already half asleep on the couch.
“Hey, Buck, c’mon let's go to bed. There’s no way I’m letting you sleep on this couch when you’re injured.” Eddie softly says to him, grabbing his arms and pulling him towards the bedroom, Buck slowly following him.
As they reach the bed, Eddie helps Buck get under the covers slowly.
“You really need to learn to say when you’re getting hurt, baby.” The nickname slips out of Eddie like it was always meant to be there. It doesn’t feel foreign to Eddie, feels like it was always meant to be said, as Eddie gently takes care of Buck.
“I love you” Buck whispers and if the night sky hadn’t made the room so quiet Eddie wouldn’t have been able to hear it.
It doesn’t even catch him by surprise as he had expected. Now, he truly feels at home. All the puzzle pieces have fallen together so smoothly the transition doesn’t even feel like a change.
“I love you too” Eddie replies with a fondness he didn’t even know he had for anyone but his own son.
Eddie slowly goes to the other side of the bed and gets ready for the night. His two boys under the same rooftop as him, all together, this is how it was always meant to be. Maybe Buck didn’t even realize what he said tonight but for now, he will bask in it.
With that, Eddie falls asleep through the night.
----------------------------------------------
As Eddie awakens slowly, he feels more weight on him than he usually does in the mornings. Even if Chris was here, the weight isn’t normally this heavy.
Eddie slowly opens his eyes and turns around just to find Buck all on top of him.
Awake.
Staring right at him.
“Comfortable?” Eddie asks with a smile.
“Very,” Buck replies, smiling back, “You’re a really comfortable pillow.”
“Pillow and bed, I believe.” Eddie laughs, noticing how Buck is fully on him, even though he is taller than Eddie.
Buck chuckles lightly, “Did I say…did I uh say anything last night?” Buck asks, slowly hiding his face but maintaining eye contact.
“I don’t know, did you?” Eddie smirks, trying not to laugh again at Buck’s sudden embarrassment.
“Did I?”
“Depends”
“Was it a three word sentence with one of the words being four letters long?”
Now Eddie knows he’s sure of what he said.
“I don’t know, did you mean the three word sentence with the four letter word?” he asks, playing into Buck’s games.
“If you remember them, then maybe I did.”
“Then maybe you did say something and I do know what it is because I said it back.”
Now, Buck pauses. He stops moving completely before quickly lifting his head up, “really?!”
That makes Eddie fully laugh, not able to stop his laughter to Buck’s excitement, “Yes, really.”
“Like really really? Like actually? Like, you said it how I said it?” he asks excitedly.
“Yes! I said it exactly how you meant it. I wouldn’t have you laying on top of me after you’ve woken up if I didn’t.” Eddie continues, laughing.
Buck finally calms down, looks at him right in the eyes, actually looks at him.
“Say it again.” he challenges.
“I, Edmundo ‘Eddie’ Diaz, love you, Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley, like dating, love you, like getting married in the future, love you.” he says with full conviction.
Eddie doesn’t know why but he feels at peace with it, he doesn’t feel nervous or anxious or scared or anything, just calm and at peace. He knows Buck loves him too. He doesn’t know how he knows, but he knows. And if he ever had any doubts, Buck’s face right now would squash them.
“I love you too, Eddie.” Buck smiles back.
“I know, baby,” he replies, moving Buck’s hair out of his eyes slowly, “now let me look at your wound.”
“Ughh” Buck groans, finally getting off of Eddie.
And Eddie knows today will be a good day. His life will be good, there will be bad days and good days, arguments and compliments, losses and wins, scares and reliefs, but overall, there will be love in this household, in this family, no matter what the future may hold.