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Eddie should have listened to his doctors all those years ago.
6 years ago, to be exact, when he first moved to LA, he was told he had a susceptibility to get diabetes; he laughed in the doctor's face.
“No, he was too full of pride, and he knew better than the doctors of LA General Hospital.
Ramon Diaz would have been so proud of him in that moment.
But now the ugly truth is out.
There's no escaping his new reality.
His new truth had been foretold to him 6 years ago.
He had diabetes.
But at least he has his Buck to take care of him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today was a hectic day full of pure chaos and back-to-back calls.
If Eddie didn’t know any better, he’d say the station was cursed.
They hadn’t even had time to eat, and Eddie was starting to feel it.
“I swear, Eddie, someone said the Q-word,” Buck grumbled next to him in the engine after yet another call.
Eddie just groaned in response, not feeling too hot.
Buck looked at Eddie, looking him up and down, noticing his pale and sweaty face.
He instantly knew something was off. “Are you okay, Eds?”
Eddie shook his head dismissively.
“What? Yeah, I am okay.”
Buck looks at him, not buying it for a second.
“Buck, I swear I'm fine.”
The driver pulls the firetruck into the station, the team climbing out of it once it's switched off.
As they’re hopping out, Eddie’s vision completely blurs, his ears start ringing, his head becomes heavy, his knees buckle, and he collapses to the ground, blacking out.
Buck catches him as he hits the floor. “CAP, CAP!!!!” Buck shouts in a panic, scrambling to get a tight grip on Eddie, lying his best friend flat on the ground, protecting his head.
Buck checks Eddie’s pulse, pressing two fingers to Eddie’s neck, feeling Eddie’s weak but steady pulse, trying to shake him awake, shouting for Bobby again. “BOBBY! GUYS! HELP ME!” Buck’s voice cracks as he screams.
Bobby rushes over frantically, hearing his unofficial son shout for him, Hen, Chim, and Ravi right behind him, running for their little brother/big brother.
“What happened?” Bobby asked, now noticing the passed-out Eddie Diaz and Buck’s wide-eyed look, tears pouring from his ocean eyes.
“I don't know what happened…H-he was just getting out of the engine and…and I don't know…he just fell.”
Bobby nods, taking it all in, then turns to Hen to look Eddie over, and to Chim and Ravi to get a gurney and a blackboard ready to take Eddie to LA General Hospital.
Bobby has to practically peel Buck away from Eddie so Hen can check him over.
As Ravi and Chim load Eddie into the ambulance, Hen hops in the ambulance, monitoring his vitals, Buck pushes himself out of Bobby’s arms, and climbs in too. He doesn’t want Eddie out of his sight for a single second.
As the ambulance pulls out of the station, Bobby puts the firehouse offline, calling Athena to tell her about the situation, getting into his car and driving to the hospital to be there for his family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck paces around the waiting room, anxiously awaiting any news on his best friend's condition as he texts Carla if he could pick Chris up from school.
“Buck, you need to calm down,” Hen comforts, placing a hand on his back,
“I can't calm down. My best friend is in the hospital, Hen,” Buck hisses at her with crazy eyes.
Hen gives him a look. “Buck, you don’t act this worried over just your best friend.”
Buck’s brows raise, confusion written all over his face. “What are you talking about, Hen?”
She sighs. It’s taken these two eight years, and they still don’t know, so someone has to tell them or they never will. So she tells Buck, “I would never act this frantic over Chim. Of course I’d be scared as hell, but not practically vibrating with nervous energy like you are right now. I’d only be this concerned for my wife.”
Buck stops, looks at her, and sighs. “Not now, Henrietta.”
Her eyes go wide as she gasps, realizing. “You're in love with him, aren't you?”
“Hen, this is not the time. Please just stop.” He begs her, tearing up again,
She nods, understanding what he needs, and gives him a reassuring smile, walking over to Chim, but she sees that he’s on the phone, so she gives him space and updates Karen on what’s happening.
As Buck and Hen talk, Chimney’s phone rings in his pocket, pulling it out quickly as if on instinct, seeing that Maddie is calling him.
He answers the call immediately.
“Hey, babe, you okay?”
“Bobby put the firehouse offline…I-I wanted to make sure everyone was okay…” She replies, her voice shaky.
Chim takes a breath. “We’re okay. Buck’s okay…mostly. He’s just worried about Eddie right now because he passed out. Probably from exhaustion. It’s been a long day.”
She takes a breath of relief. “Can I talk to Buck, please?”
Chim looks over at Buck, who is nervously fidgeting with his hands as he paces around the waiting room.
Chimney sighs, rubbing his face. “I can try, but I don't think he is in the best mental state right now. Mads, I'm really worried. I've never seen Buck like this before.”
Maddie sniffles on the phone. “Tell him I love him, and please keep me updated. I’ve got to get back to work. I love you.”
“I will, I promise, and I love you too.”
Maddie ends the call after that, Chimney sliding his phone back into his pocket, walking over to his best friend to see how Buck is doing and see if there’s any news on Eddie yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie slowly blinks his eyes open, realizing that he’s in the hospital, a familiar face stepping over to him.
“Remember me, Mr. Diaz?” The doctor asks with a smile, his name tag reading Dr. Picani.
Eddie gulps and nods, sitting up in the bed. It’s the doctor from six years ago that he laughed at when he told Eddie about his diabetes.
“So, I’m sure you can guess why you’re here.”
“I passed out?”
Dr. Picani nods. “Yes, you did, because your blood sugar dropped below 70mg/dL, which is what caused you to faint.”
Eddie’s brows furrow. “Okay…?”
Dr. Picani laughs as he takes a step closer to the hospital bed. “Well, I can tell you why, but are you going to laugh in my face again like last time?”
Eddie freezes, slightly shocked that the doctor remembered that, before sighing, “Look, I am sorry about that. Can you please just tell me what the hell is going on?”
So Dr. Picani explains it, “You have Type 2 Diabetes. Which is a metabolic disorder where your body doesn’t produce enough insulin, which can result in elevated blood sugar levels, which can lead to serious health issues if it’s not managed properly. But you haven’t had enough sugar today, which is why your levels are low, and you fainted. So we have you hooked up to an IV that will give you what you need to bring your sugar up to the desired level.”
Eddie nods, processing everything.
“I do have a pamphlet for you to help you in the future on how to manage your levels properly and what to do if it either gets too high or too low,” Dr. Picani says as he hands Eddie the said pamphlet.
Eddie takes it, looking down at it, his hands shaking slightly, thanking the doctor.
“Should I have the nurses send in your family?”
Eddie nods. “Just Evan Buckley, please.”
Dr. Picani nods as he steps out of the room. “You got it, Mr. Diaz. I’ll be back shortly to check your sugar levels.”
Eddie nods. “Thank you, Doctor.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck is still anxiously pacing the hospital floors as Athena Grant walks in, taking in his anxious state, rushing to him.
“Baby, breathe, sit and relax. Eddie is getting the care he needs. He’s okay,” she soothes, putting her hands on his shoulders.
“But you don't know that for sure, Athena. I’ve been here for hours, Athena, but there’s been nothing, nothing at all.“
Athena smiles at him very motherly-like at him then. “He’s in a hospital, Buck. He’s right where he needs to be right now. You have to believe that, baby, before you end up in a hospital bed too.”
Buck takes a breath at that, feeling a small smile spread across his face. “Thanks, ‘Thena.”
She grins. “Anytime, baby. That’s why I’m here.”
That’s when a voice calls out, “Evan Buckley for Eddie Diaz?!”
Buck runs over to the nurse. “That's me. Is he okay?!”
She smiles at him kindly. “Yes. He’s perfectly fine. He’s asked for you.”
“Where is he?” Buck demands.
She leads him straight to Eddie’s room, letting the 118 know that Eddie is alright and is most likely to be discharged tomorrow.
Everyone sighs in relief and starts to head home; only Bobby stays behind. Athena wanted to stay, but Bobby made her leave so she could finish out her shift at the station, promising to call her later.
As Buck walks into Eddie’s room, he can finally feel himself breathe when he sees his best friend sitting up in a hospital bed, reading some sort of pamphlet.
Thank god he’s alive, Buck thinks as he steps closer to Eddie.
“Whatcha reading there, Eds?” Buck asks playfully, trying to lighten the mood, noticing how Eddie’s brow is furrowed grumpily.
Eddie looks up at Buck thoughtfully before handing Buck the pamphlet wordlessly.
Buck cocks his brow, taking the pamphlet, noticing the title.
“Diabetes?” Buck questions, confused, looking back up at Eddie.
Eddie nods, gulping. “Y-Yeah…”
Buck’s eyes go wide. “Oh my God, Eds…I’ve been baking so much lately…”
Eddie instantly shuts that down. “No, Buck, you are not to blame for this. It just…didn’t help because I can never resist your cooking or your baking.”
Buck chuckles lightly, a small frown on his face. “But Eddie—”
Eddie cuts him off. “No, Buck, you did not cause this. I promise you.”
Buck looks at him sadly. “Then what did my baking obviously help contribute to it?”
Eddie chuckles. “I knew six years ago that I could possibly get it.”
It finally clicks into Buck’s brain. “Oh.”
Eddie couldn't help but laugh. “You're such an idiot sometimes, Buckley.”
Buck rolls his eyes, annoyed. “Well, sorry for being worried about you.”
Eddie smiles and blurts, because he can’t hold it in anymore, “I love you so much.”
Buck’s mouth falls open as he blinks dumbly. “Uhhh, love you too… friend?”
Eddie rolls his eyes. “You’re so dumb. I love you, Evan Buckley. I’m in love with you.”
Buck cannot believe that this is happening. “Oh…I am in love with you too, Eds, like so freaking much, it’s ridiculous.”
Eddie beams, his heart swelling, grabbing the collar of Buck’s uniform shirt, yanking Buck down to connect their lips for their first kiss.
After the shock fades, Buck kisses Eddie back, dropping the pamphlet and taking Eddie’s face into his hands as the kiss deepens, Eddie’s heart racing.
Their kiss gets rudely interrupted when someone opens the door to Eddie’s room, causing the two to quickly pull away from the kiss and look towards the door.
“Break it up before I have to escort you out, Mr. Buckley,” the same nurse from before calls, with Bobby standing right behind her, a big smile on his face.
Both boys blush brightly before giggling in unison, making Bobby laugh as he steps into the room.
He knew these two idiots would finally realize what was in front of them and finally get together, which is why he and Maddie won the eight-year-long bet the 118 had for those two idiots.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Eddie is finally discharged, Buck smothers himself in research, changing up his baking recipes to keep Eddie’s sugar at a good level, constantly checking Eddie’s sugar levels, always making sure to have some food on him in case Eddie’s sugar gets low and so he doesn’t get hangry.
Eddie has never felt more cherished or taken care of in his life.
Being cared for and cherished by Evan Buckley is the best thing in the world.
He might have to change a few things in his everyday lifestyle, but his Buck isn’t one of them.
“God, I love him,” Eddie thinks to himself every day, smiling as he watches Buck bake sugar-free protein cookies with Chris—which has become a weekly thing for the Buckley-Diaz family.
And not even two months later eddie asks Buck to marry him over a plate of low-sugar chocolate fudge, forever making Evan Buckley a Diaz.