Work Text:
Buck thought he was past it. He’d gone to therapy and found people who cared about him. But Bobby died, and the 118 wasn’t the family it used to be. Buck was alone, and he couldn’t handle it.
Buck wasn’t sure how he wanted to do it. As a firefighter he had walked in on plenty of unsuccessful, and a few successful, suicide attempts. He didn’t want to do anything that would create too much blood. He didn’t want to stick his head in the oven because that was dangerous for everyone.
He was still thinking about the best way to enact his plan (he was leaning towards a bottle of pills) when he got a text from Maddie.
It was a simple text, just a picture of Robert and Jee-Yun. Right under the text was an invitation to come over for dinner.
Buck read the text a few times before bursting into tears. Buck was glad no one could hear him, because he was sobbing.
Buck had felt so alone, like no one would miss him. He had wanted to see Bobby again.
But he knew how hard Bobby’s death had been on everyone. He knew how painful grief was. He didn’t want his friends to experience that anymore. He didn’t want his sister to experience that.
There were still tears streaming down his face when Buck picked up the phone and called 9-8-8. Maybe he would talk to his friends about this later. Maybe he would tell Maddie how much that simple text meant to him. For now, he just needed someone to talk to.