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The call hadn’t been much more than a standard. That’s why they were all shocked when one of them had come out hurt. Not mortally injured like a piece of rebar through the skull or a ladder truck falling on top of someone, but still enough to where Eddie was sitting on the couch as Hen flashed a light into his eyes.
Eddie was being careful. He was only a couple of paces behind Buck as they made their way through the building. Someone had fallen through the floor a couple of stories above them, so they were being cautious of any unstable flooring.
Eddie was sure that half of the calls they worked on could be 100% avoided if people were able to put their critical thinking skills to use. Instead of doing something dumb, they would stop and think, hey, maybe I shouldn’t break into an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night. That is how they ended up stuck halfway through the flooring with a team of firefighters working to get them out.
Eddie also had zero ideas why the man thought it would be good to go out and do whatever this was alone. If you were going to act a fool, at least bring someone else with you so that if something did go wrong, you weren’t completely isolated. That’s why he and Buck were always together when they went out. If something stupid happened, at least they would be in it together.
Buck tested the stairs in front of them as they made their way towards right below the man who had fallen through. Bobby, Chim, and Hen were all up top, talking to the man and keeping his stable while Eddie and Buck worked on stabilizing him from the underside. Buck pushed forward against the door to the room they needed to enter. The hinges caught on each other, grinding against Eddie’s ears in a noise that made him cringe. Buck grunted as he pushed forward against the door, the heavy concrete grinding up against the wood. Eventually, he was able to push into the room and locate where the man’s legs were hanging through the ceiling.
Eddie gently tapped the man’s shin, alerting him they had gotten there. It was too dark and dusty in the room to see what was going on through his visor. Eddie pulled he helmet off over his head and wiped his eyes to clear the dirt from them. His gently squeezed the man's ankle, being careful of disrupting anything that may be injured. His legs jerked and Eddie sighed in relief at the confirmation that he was not paralyzed or anything of the sort. it didn’t take him and Buck long to stable the man’s legs enough to where the other three were able to pull him upwards and out of the hole he had fallen into.
As the man scrambled up against the concrete Eddie sighed, looking up at Buck. He was about to open his mouth to mutter some sarcastic assignment about how dumb all of this was when there was a bunch of commotion from right above them. Eddie instinctively looked up towards the noise. He didn’t have time to move before a large piece of concrete was connected with the front side of his skull.
He distantly heard Buck shout as the hit to his head stunned him enough to take him towards the floor. His head shot up towards his head, rubbing over the sharp ache. He cursed himself for not putting his helmet back on after they had given Bobby the all clear. It was a stupid mistake on his part and now he was paying the consequence for not being aware enough. Eddie groaned, peeling his eyes back open to see Buck crouched on the ground in front of him, worry shining in his eyes.
“Hey,” Buck fretted, eyes at staring Eddie’s forehead, “You hazed out for a minute there.” Eddie tilted his head. He guess it made sense that as he was collecting his bearing that he wasn’t fully aware of what was going on around him. He rubbed his fingers through his eyes, taking a deep breath, hoping to quell the spinning in his head.
He had definitely taken worse hits before. He remembers being a teenager in the middle of ballroom dancing when he slipped on the slick floor of the studio. He hit the polished wooden floor head first. His mom had taken him to the clinic a day or two later when he was still getting awful headaches during class. The doctor confirmed that he was concussed and he got a couple of free days off of school. He had loved missing school back in the day, but a concussion was the absolute worst injury to be doing it with. There was absolutely nothing that he could do. If he played video games, his head began to ache. If he watched TV, his mom would get onto him for staring at screens. If he tried to catch up on missing school work, his Tía would tell him that strain would make the recovery longer. If he tried to sleep all day, his mom would scold him for being lazy.
All the experience had taught him was that head injuries were the absolute worst. Resulting, he tried to play the incident off to Buck. He forced himself back up onto two feet, ignoring the dull ache in his skull and the sharp sting where the jagged concrete had cut his forehead. As he straightened, he could immediately tell that Buck was not buying the act. His face was covered in doubt and worry as he scanned Eddie up and down.
“You guys both okay down there?” He heard their Captain call from the floor above. Eddie looked up, ignoring the way his eyes squinted at the lights. He opened his mouth to shout that they were fine when Buck cut him off.
“Eddie got hit in the head.” The younger man sighed. Great. Now they were all going to be on his case about this. Perfect. That’s exactly what he wanted.
That was how he found himself sitting on the couch in the firehouse, skull pounding as Hen ran a little pin light back and forth in front of his face. It was beginning to make him agitated. He wanted to sleep off the remaining headache and instead he was stuck sitting as the whole house fretted over him. Buck was practically pacing circles in the kitchen as he helped Bobby cook. Eddie knew that the older man had lots of trouble seeing his best friend hurt, especially after the amount of near death experiences they had both had. He didn’t blame Buck for being on edge, but the other man was acting like he had been shot again. It was just a hit to the head. He would be fine when he woke up tomorrow.
Hen snapped in front of his face and Eddie focused back on her. The light was out of his eyes now and he sighed at the removal. It felt nice to not have the beam of light protruding into his skull anymore.
“You are definitely concussed,” Hen told him and the rest of the room, sitting back against her knees. Eddie sighed, hands rubbing over his eyes. He could feel everyone in the firehouse put their eyes on him and he cringed under the amount of attention.
“Maybe you should go home, Diaz,” Bobby suggested, placing a dish of something into the open and pulling the heat mittens off of his hands. Eddie shook his head.
“Let me just sleep it off, Cap,” He argued, not wanting to leave work, “It doesn’t even hurt all that bad.” He ignored the exhausted look that Hen and Chim both gave him and instead kept his eyes focused on Bobby. His Captain sighed, worrying his lip as he considered Eddie’s request. Eddie kept his hopes up as Bobby sighed, rubbing a hand through his short hair.
“You’re man behind if we get called, but you can stay,” Bobby settled on. It wasn’t exactly ideal in Eddie’s head, but it was better than being sent home. “And you better take it easy!” Bobby added with a pointed look and Eddie gave him a mock salute. There wasn’t all that much he could do being the man behind either way, so it wasn’t like Bobby was giving him some impossible task.
Behind Bobby, Buck was chewing his thumbnail. It was a nervous habit of his friend. Whenever he was stressed, he would gnaw on the skin surrounding his fingers until they bled. It was why Buck always had such short nails. Eddie had taken to pulling the blond’s hand away from his mouth whenever he was doing it. Most of the time Buck hardly realized he was doing it to himself, so it was good for him when somebody else made him aware enough to stop.
Eddie had tried giving the other man some of Chris’s fidget toys before to see if those would help at all. They had helped in the moment. Instead of bouncing his legs or rocking as they watched a movie, Buck would squeeze the stress ball Eddie had provided him. Alas, when they were out or just gotten back from a call, there wasn’t any stress toys on hand fast enough to keep Buck from biting his nails off. So, Eddie continued to pull Buck’s hand out of his mouth whenever he noticed it so Buck wouldn’t accidentally make himself bleed. Right now, however,he was too far away to do anything as Buck looked at him with those big blue eyes. Eddie huffed softly, a gentle smile spreading all across his face. He ignored the look that Chimney and Hen shared between themselves.
He wanted to assure Buck that he was just fine. That he had only taken a weak hit to the head and that he would be on his feet jumping around again in no time. Anything that he could do to wipe that concerned look off of Buck’s face.
Eddie sighed, “Really,” He said to the whole team, “I’m feeling fine,” He insisted. His team didn’t look at that convinced by his words. Eddie couldn’t do very much else to get them to think otherwise, so he just huffed, settling back into the couch behind him.
“You better say something if that changes,” Hen ordered him, gaining him a very pointed look. Eddie gave her the same salute that he had given to Bobby just moments ago. Hen rolled her eyes at him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Then she moved back, finally give him the space that he had been looking for since he had hit his head.
He was fine. Sure there might have been a dull pounding in the front of his skull. Sure his eyes might be aching due to the lights and his brain may be spinning because of all the noise, but he was fine. He would just need to sleep it off. Simple as that.
He didn’t go straight to sleep, much as he would have liked to. Hen forced him to stay true to the concussion protocol of not going straight to sleep in case he didn’t ever wake back up. Eddie knew it was more than valid but that didn’t mean it didn’t irritate him as he sat and stared at the walls until dinner was finally ready. He was just glad that the headache wasn’t causing his stomach to hurt as well. Usually the two went hand and hand with him, but this time thankfully, it didn’t, meaning that he could enjoy Bobby’s wonderfully cooked lasagna.
He always loved Bobby’s cooking, but on a day like today? It made whatever meal the man had cooked up tasted thousands of times better. The cheese was melting on his tongue as he ate and drank like it was any other night. He wasn’t going to let a little knock on the head keep him from enjoying his night with his co-workers, even if they rushed off on calls without him. He was fine. He just needed to sleep it off.
So when Hen finally told them that he could sleep, he waited until the next call took his team, and he retreated into the bunk rooms. If he had half the energy he would have brushed his teeth before slipping under the thin sheets, but he was already drifting off before he had a second thought about it. He was so tired. It could wait until the morning.
Awareness came back to Eddie slowly. He could feel his mind floating in between consciousness, half asleep and teetering on the edge of waking. His limbs felt like they weighed thousands of pounds, pressing him down into the thin mattress. His head was buzzing and spinning as he tried to pull his eyes open. He felt like he was floating through molasses.
He forced his body to cooperate. He peeled his eyes open and stretched his legs beneath the blankets. As sensation quickly flooded back through his body, he froze.
The sweatpants he had thrown on before going to sleep were soaking wet. Specifically around his crotch. The heat was rising to his face before he could even confirm what had happened. He reached down, feeling the fabric of his pants to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He wasn’t.
Just to triple check, he brought his fingers back to his nose and was hit by the sharp smell of urine. His stomach sank. He did not just wet the bed. This wasn’t real.
Eddie hadn’t wet his bed since he was super little, always priding himself on being the quickest in his family to potty train. He was freaking out. His stomach was sick as he sat up in bed.
Moving only reminded him he wasn’t at home. He was in the firehouse. He had just wet his bunk in the firehouse. Eddie wanted to start crying. His sheets were soaked. He could hear the soft sounds of breathing around him, telling him that his team was all back and sleeping.
Eddie had no idea what to do. He was seconds away from crying when the figure in the bunk beside his shifted. There was a low groan. Eddie froze.
“Eddie?” Buck’s voice was laced with sleep, deep and scratchy. It would have been nice to hear at any other time. Eddie loved the sound of Buck’s morning voice, but right now? Any voice at all was the last thing he wanted to hear.
His heartbeat started speeding up in his chest as he watched Buck sit up in bed and start gaining more awareness. Shit. He didn’t want Buck to see him like this. It was humiliating.
“Are you okay?” Well, whether he wanted it or not, Buck was about to figure out exactly what was going on and Eddie was never gonna be able to show his face at the firehouse again. Maybe not even in the city again. Part of him wanted to pack it all up and move back to El Paso right then and there. “Is it your head?”
Eddie kind of forgot that he had even hit his head. The only thing he could think about were the wet sheets beneath him that he didn’t connect the dots as to what might have caused it. Either it was a hell of a coincidence… or Eddie may have bonked his head a little harder than he originally thought.
He quickly wiped a hand over his eyes, trying to figure out the best way to tell Buck he had pissed himself like a little kid.
“I- um,” Eddie started, quickly cutting himself off and flushing. His pants were starting to get uncomfortable and cold. He leaned in towards Buck. “I- I had an accident.” He whispered so quietly. Buck furrowed his eyebrows.
“An accident?” He questioned, “did you hurt yourself?” Eddie quickly shook his head, regretting it when his skull began throbbing.
“No- i,” He choked on his words. This was the most humiliating thing he had ever done. “I peed the bed, Buck,” he finally admitted. He watched the realization flood over Buck’s face in a mix of shock and worry before the older man collected himself.
Saying it out loud made the tears that had threatened to fall earlier spring back into his eyes. Seeing Eddie about to cry, Buck leaned forward, shaking his head.
“Hey- it’s okay,” Buck comforted quietly, “It’s totally okay.” He began getting out of his own bed. “Can you get up?” Buck asked him gently. Eddie nodded his head, not trusting his voice. He carefully stood up from his bed, trying to ignore the way his sweats clung to his thighs. Buck had a hand out, ready to support him in case he stumbled.
“How about this,” Buck hummed, “How about you go shower, and I’ll take care of this, yeah?” Hot shame rushed through him at the idea of Buck cleaning up his mess. He began shaking his head.
“No- I can’t let you do that,” Eddie started, but Buck didn’t let him get any farther.
“I’m not asking,” he cut in. Softly ushering Eddie towards the bathrooms.
“Buck, it’s gross,” He complained, shaking his head again.
“Eddie,” Buck hummed, his voice soft and sure. It made Eddie shiver slightly. “It’s just pee. I’m a firefighter. I do worse on the daily,” his voice was saturated with assurance. “Go shower off.”
Eddie couldn’t say no to him again. He nodded at Buck, slowly making his way towards the door to the bunk room. He chose to ignore the sounds of Buck beginning to strip his bed of its sheets.
He made his was into the locker room showers and quickly kicked off his wet pants and briefs. He stepped under the warm spray and immediately melted into the feeling. The water was soothing against his raised nerves. He took his time as he washed his body off. He let the water run over his hair and down over his face as he closed his eyes. He took a couple deep breaths in and out.
His head was beginning to slightly ache again. The feeling made him frown. He let another five minutes pass until his skin was wrinkled and warm before shutting on the water and stepped out of the shower.
Where he had left his dirty clothes was now a folded stack of fresh ones. His wet ones were tied up in a plastic bag beside them. Eddie could have cried. Buck was genuinely the sweetest human he knew. He thought of everything all of the time, always looking out for the people he loved. He was the perfect person.
He dressed himself in the dry clothes and began making his way back towards the lockers. Buck was waiting for him. The man was tired and soft with sleep. He was so cute like this.
“You okay?” Buck asked him. Eddie nodded his head, quickly shoving the bag of dirty clothes into his locker to be dealt with tomorrow.
“Just embarrassed, but yes,” Eddie responded, shutting his locker and sighing loudly. Buck rolled his eyes.
“Don’t be. It’s fine,” his friend hummed, “I’m not telling anyone.” Eddies face softened. Before he could second guess himself, he pulled Buck into a quick hug. He stiffened at first, but almost immediately melted into the warm embrace. They stood like that for a moment, locked in each other’s arms, before Eddie pulled back.
He wiped his eye, “Thanks, Buck,” he whispered. Buck only nodded in return.
“Anytime.”
It didn’t take long for Eddie to fall back asleep, he had still been beyond exhausted and the stress of being awake was making his head swim.
Buck stayed awake beside him until he was sure the younger man had fallen back into slumber before letting his own eyes shut.
Eddie woke up the next morning to Chimney standing above him, poking him and asking if he was alive. Eddie had groaned and rolled over away from the other man, telling him to leave him alone. Apparently he and Hen had been told then needed to do a second check on his head.
Eddie got a little scared at first, worried they had witnessed the events from last night. It didn’t take long for him yo realize they were oblivious though.
Buck stuck true to his promise. Not that Eddie thought he would ever break it, but it was still nice to know. He did, however, tell Hen that Eddie had woken up in the middle of the night complaining about how bad his head was hurting and that apparently he needed to be checked out again. Buck hadn’t mentioned that one at any point the night before, but Eddie couldn’t get mad at him for worrying. If he was being honest, he was slightly worried himself considering what had happened.
Hen had checked him over again though, going through a standard concussion protocol. She checked the way his eyes responded to a light. She asked him questions and told him to repeat back numbers. She made him walk in a straight line both slowly and fast. It was all the things Eddie had experienced before, both on himself and on others.
Hen told him that while he wasn’t dangerously concussed, he still had a head injury and he needed to rest. Low stimulation. No screens. No working. All the things that irritated Eddie because he felt useless. He had been sent home with strict instructions on how to get better and a daily checklist made by Chim to monitor his progress.
Originally, Eddie had assumed that he would just go home, try and limit his screen time, and take his day as normal. Then Buck showed up at his door. The man became his personal caretaker, making sure that Eddie was completely sticking to every last word on the protocol he had been left.
Eddie wanted to say that it was annoying. Deep down, he knew he wasn’t annoyed at all. There wasn’t any other person in the world that he would want breathing down his neck making sure he would take care of himself. Buck helped him with Chris, made dinner for him, and sat with him and watched a movie in increments to make sure Eddie’s brain wasn’t being overwhelmed.
As they watched the movie, Eddie leaned his head in on Buck’s shoulder. Buck’s arm slowly curled around his shoulder. Eddie sighed, leaning into the warmth. He let his eyes close as he settled into Buck.
He would be okay.