Chapter Text
Is it possible to break into a hospital room? Buck wonders as he glares at the door. Maybe he could enter through a window. Or disguise himself as a nurse, he thinks as he sees one walking past.
He waves her over, and she gives him a tired look. “Mr. Buckley. For the last time, you cannot visit the patient if you aren’t a family member. I’m very sorry.”
He wants to protest. Eddie is family! Sure, they’re not actually related, he thinks, ignoring the leap in his chest when he thinks about marrying Eddie. But they’re best friends! Maybe he could just pretend he’s family and sneak in. A hand lands on his shoulder. “Buck,” Bobby says, as if he knows what Buck is planning, “Why don’t you go take a break? Eddie will be okay.”
“Plus, it’s not like he’s going anywhere,” Chimney adds, “His ankle wouldn’t let him.”
Ok, sue him. Buck’s been getting all worried over an ankle and a small concussion. But it could be bad! Eddie could get a blood clot or fall when trying to move and get even more injured. The concussion could cause him permanent brain damage. What if he doesn’t remember Buck? Then Buck would have to explain their lives, and what if Eddie doesn’t believe him and cuts Buck off, never speaking to him again?
Plus, Buck has to be here for when Carla drops Christopher from school. They’d let him in. Maybe they’d let Buck in with him. He tells an annotated version of this to Bobby, who tells him that Buck needs to eat some food. As if responding to Bobby’s words, his stomach grumbles, and Buck sighs.
*
Eddie’s bored. And lonely. The doctors told him that he needs to rest from the concussion, but he can be back at work soon.
Not soon enough.
With Christopher at school and everyone that Eddie talks to on the regular doing a 24-hour shift, the house is quiet. Too quiet. Eddie’s tried watching a documentary, but it’s not the same without Buck’s narration. Then he started a book that Karen got for him but got hit with the urge to move around partway through. So he’s in the kitchen, trying to follow one of Bobby’s recipes and make cookies.
“Shit!” he exclaims as the butter explodes in the microwave. He quickly turns it off, but the butter keeps popping like it's mocking him. He’s saved by the phone call. A tinny “Where is my husband?” rings out of the speakers, telling him it’s Buck who is calling. Christopher changed it, and then had shown Buck, who had laughed like Eddie wasn’t panicking about it a few feet away. Chris had given him a look when he realized Eddie hadn’t changed it, and Eddie had solidly ignored him. He refused to be made fun of by his teenage son.
“Hey Buck,” he greets, “How’s it going?”
“Did you know that millipedes practice chemical warfare?” Buck responds in lieu of a greeting, the bustling station clear in the screen behind him. Not waiting for an answer, he continues, and Eddie sets his phone down as he grabs some towels.
“The chemicals can even blister humans, but they’re normally used for self-defense.”
“What brought on the millipede interest?”
Buck grins, looking thrilled to tell this story, “Someone today tried to eat a millipede on a dare. They were eventually fine, but they started blistering after the millipede made its way back up.”
Eddie wrinkles his nose, “Who would eat a millipede?”
“A drunk teenager.” Buck deadpans.
Eddie shakes his head, “I pray that Christopher never does anything that stupid.”
“He has your decision-making skills,” Buck waggles his eyebrows, and Eddie thinks back to his time in the fight ring and groans. For Chris’ sake, he hopes he didn’t pass that on. Chris is a good kid, and he shouldn’t be making the mistakes that Eddie did. On the other end of the line Buck snaps him out of his considerations.
“Earth to Eddie?”
Eddie quickly brings his gaze back to the screen and Buck’s face, his eyebrow rising and his birthmark with it. God he’s gorgeous. Eddie mentally slaps himself. He’s your best friend.
“Sorry,” he says, “I’m just more tired than I thought I was.”
“Do you need me at home?” Buck asks, in a move that makes Eddie’s heart melt even more.
“No, I think I’ll just go take a nap.”
And if, after Buck has hung up and Eddie has put the cookies in the oven, Eddie flops on the couch and thinks “I’m so screwed,” well, only he has to know.