Archive of Our Own

"Your boy is out in chairs," Linda informs him as she rolls Mrs. Jones in room eight toward the elevator.

"My boy as in my actual son or the guy who told me I had nice eyes before vomiting on me yesterday?" Eddie doesn't look up from the chart he's fixing for one of the residents who can't spell to save their life.

Mrs. Jones snorts, she'd been witness to vomitgate yesterday. Eddie gives her a fake glare to remember him by now that a bed has opened up for her on the cardiac floor. She winks back at him, "You do have lovely eyes honey."

Linda ignores the compliment. Which rude. Eddie has great eyes thank you very much, "Your boy, or should I say boys. Beefcake and his mini me."

Eddie groans. Not again. Beefcake's name is Buck. Well actually, his name is Evan Buckley, but after the third time he brought his son into the ER, Eddie had been asked to call him Buck. Buck's been to the ER seven times in the last six months. All related to one little hurricane named Theo.

Theo's stupidly cute, the kind of cute you put in a commercial for juice boxes or something. He's also chock-full of energy, the kind of energy you put in a commercial for child leashes.

Lena cackles from behind the nurses station, red bull in one hand and a patients chart in the other. Fuck. This is gonna suck. Don't get Eddie wrong, he loves kids, Theo included. There's a reason Eddie's the go to guy when kids come into the ER. What he doesn't like is the way the other nurses pick on him.

Listen, he gets it. Buck is hot, like movie star meets rugby player meets single dad firefighter. It's a dangerous combination that comes straight out of a weird hallmark movie. Eddie, however, does not live in a hallmark movie. He lives in a sort of fucked up crossover between the Pitt and Scrubs. He doesn't have time for hot single dads.

Especially because being an ER nurse means that Eddie has rules for dating no Ps. No pilots, physicians, police, paramedics, or pfirefighters. He's also considering adding phlebotomists to the list after the horrendous date Lena set him up on. He doesn't care if it's the guy's profession, you shouldn't ask someone what their blood type is on the first date.

Besides, Eddie's of the opinion that it's less important to know your blood type than one might think. The hospital doesn't even trust lesbians or virgins to know that they're not pregnant. It's not like they take your word on a blood type. So, really Eddie's an overachiever knowing that he's got AB negative flowing through his veins. A fact, he's not telling the fucking phlebotomist. He'll end up on some universal plasma donor list, and his email will never recover.

So yes, phlebotomists are definitely out, and firefighters are certainly out. Eddie's seen enough come through the hospital doors to know they're nothing but trouble. Even though Buck seems like a perfectly nice guy, and his son is the second cutest kid Eddie's ever met, he still runs into burning buildings for a living. Eddie's not sure his blood pressure can handle that.

And it's not like Buck is even interested in Eddie. He's just sort of dopey and cute in a way that people read as flirting. Eddie's not special, Buck is just universally kind. A universal donor of good vibes. Metaphorical O- good vibe blood. Which again, Eddie would not trust him on without running a test.

Speaking of tests, he opens the doors to find Buck sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs with Theo in his lap. Theo looks a little rumpled, but he's not actively bleeding or crying. Which is a step up from a couple of times that Eddie has seen him.

"Theo, my favorite patient. What are you doing here?" Theo beams when he sets his eyes on Eddie, and he has barely enough time to reach out his arms before Theo is jumping into them.

"Nurse Eddie!" Theo cheers, rubbing his head against Eddie's chest.

"Hi, honey, are you sick?" Eddie sits down next to Buck in the waiting room chairs. A little unorthodox, but Eddie's trying to keep Theo out of the germiest parts of the ER. Most of the time when Buck and Theo come, Theo doesn't actually need to be admitted or even seen by a doctor. So Eddie considers this to be freeing up chairs in the waiting room and issuing preventative care, by keeping Theo away from the various sickness that spreads out here.

"I th'ew up," Theo pouts, his small lisp dropping the r sound.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry," Eddie pats his head. There has been a stomach bug going around, but there's not a lot they can do for it here other than administer fluids. But Theo doesn't show any visual signs of dehydration.

"He tried kiwi for the first time today and I'm worried he might be allergic," Buck explains, worry written clear on the handsome lines of his face.

Eddie does his best to keep the doubt off of his face, "Honey, what were you doing before you ate the kiwi. Did you eat or drink anything else?"

Theo's eyes grow wide, and he shoots a guilty look at Buck. Eddie sighs, "Theo, remember, we have to be honest at hospitals. I can't help you feel better if you don't tell me."

Theo sighs, "Nina and Cody let me have their chocolate milk from school. I drank it when Buck was making dinner."

Buck winces, "Bud, did you keep them in your bag?" Theo nods. "Theo today was a half day, those were sitting in your bag for at least four hours." Now it's Eddie's turn to wince.

"Did you do anything else while Buck cooked?" Eddie asks.

"I jumped on the bed because I was being a fireman," Theo looks down in shame, refusing to meet Eddie's eyes.

"So you had two cartons of contraband milk and then jumped up and down a bunch?" Eddie smirks, meeting Buck's eye.

Theo nods, still looking ashamed. "Not good?"

Eddie shakes his head, "Honest mistake, but milk needs to go in the fridge, and Buck needs to know if you're jumping on his bed."

Theo sighs, "Okay. Can I have a lollipop now?"

Eddie hides his laugh, pulling one from his pocket, "Eat it while I talk to Buck, alright?"

Theo agrees, accepting the lollipop. Eddie pulls nods a few feet away and doesn't wait for Buck to follow him. Buck follows, just as Eddie was expecting. He looks less frantic than before, but there's still a spark of panic in his eyes.

"Are you aware that the healthcare system is deeply broken?"

Buck's eyebrows knit in confusion, "I- I mean, yeah I guess?"

"Great, then stop trying to give them your money by bringing your kid to the hospital. Your insurance bill must be insane."

Buck flushes, "I have pretty good insurance."

Eddie rolls his eyes and scans the room, "And I have at least three people in this waiting room that are contagious."

Buck's eyes widen scanning the room. His face pales when he sets eyes on someone nearly hacking up a lung. Eddie crosses his fingers that it's just a respiratory infection and not TB, "I didn't- Theo threw up. I panicked."

"You're a good dad, Buck, and I know you really care about that little fireball of a child you have. Which is why I don't want you wasting your time and money bringing him here constantly," Buck deflates at that, "I wouldn't normally do this, but I'm giving you my number."

Buck's eyes widen in surprise, but he can't speak before Eddie continues, "Next time you think Theo is sick text me before coming here."

"Eddie, I don't know what to say. Thank you," Buck smiles, all stupid and handsome.

Eddie takes Buck's phone from his hands and programs in his number, "If he has a strange bowel movement describe it, don't send pictures. I will not be offering advice on any weird moles you have. And I don't care if you think you have the mumps, under no circumstances are you to send me a dick pic. I will block you so fast your head will spin. Understood?"

Buck nods, "Understood." He does a dorky little salute, that both annoys Eddie and makes him want to chew on his bicep.

Eddie ignores him in favor of returning to Theo, "I hope your tummy feels better Theo. It was nice to see you."

Theo smiles, lips stained blue from the lollipop, "Bye Eddie, thanks for being the bestest."

Buck smiles as he loads Theo on his hip, "Yeah Eddie, thanks for being the bestest."

The first text comes surprisingly soon after Theo's last ER visit. Eddie's on a break, and by that he means he's hiding in the bathroom stall until someone does the bed change from room three so he doesn't have to.

Unknown Number: can theo have grapes?

Eddie: He's not a dog?

contact changed to Buck

Buck: right but the internet says it's a choking hazard

Eddie: So listen to the internet

Buck: but he says he loves grapes and ate them with his parents all the time!!!

Buck: he's sobbing for grapes

Eddie: cut them?

Buck: holy shit

Buck: you're a genius

Buck: i swear i would have known that, but i'm coming off a 48 and i'm losing it right now

Eddie: Tell Theo I said enjoy the grapes

Buck sends back what Eddie can only describe as an excessive amount of emojis. Eddie lets a chuckle escape from his lips. This as it turns out is a critical error because it means within seconds there's a knocking on the door.

"I fucking knew you'd be in there Diaz," Lena calls.

"God, can't a man piss in peace?" Eddie sighs.

"Not when we've got a multi-car accident coming in in five, there might also be a motorcycle involved."

Eddie unlocks the door, "What do we know?"

"As much as we ever know," she answers while walking away, knowing he's already following her.

"So nothing."

"Well I know our attending started a week ago, and one of my friends at the hospital where he did his rotation said he fainted after seeing a nasty case of roadrash," Lena wrinkles her nose in displeasure. Lena is always particularly hard on the doctors, quick to point out when their skill level doesn't match their rank at the hospital.

Eddie gets it, but he's got a soft spot for the particularly pitiful med students who come through the hospital doors. "He did a rotation here before you started in the ER a couple years ago and he was fine."

"All I'm saying is if he's one of the doctors that pushes off all of the hard stuff to the nurses I'd like you to be the nurse he gives this one to," Lena turns back toward the nursing station while Eddie heads for the bay doors to meet the ambulance.

"That was almost a compliment," Eddie calls to her.

She rolls her eyes, but doesn't continue the conversation. There's no time for it anyway, the ambulance arrives and suddenly everything is moving at lightening speed. Lena's unfortunately right that the attending is in a little over his head, but Eddie's had worse. He'd much prefer someone who lets him help to someone who thinks they're better than him.

It's three hours later when Eddie feels like he can finally breathe. Everyone from the crash was alive, and the worst cases were out of the ER and up to surgery. His attending is back to looking his normal pasty shade rather than green, and he's only got thirty minutes before he can leave and finally eat some food.

His good mood comes crashing down when he hears giggling at the nurses station. Eddie's learned the hard way that if people are giggling without him they're almost always doing it because of him. Diwa, one of the nursing who is almost always gossiping about something gives him a bright smile.

"You have a secret admirer, Eddie."

Eddie freezes for a moment, genuinely confused, before the nurses part to reveal a fruit basket. Mrs. Thompson, who is notably not supposed to be up and walking right now, gives a low whistle when she sees it.

"Wish someone would send me one of those," she remarks.

"I thought about sending you one, but then you ignored your care instructions," Eddie sends her a stern look that's mostly ignored, "Diwa, can you please take Mrs. Thompson back to her room?"

"Fine, but if you're sending me away so you can figure out who the card is from I've already looked at it," Diwa informs him, ushering Mrs. Thompson into the wheelchair she's been giving the stink eye for the last few minutes.

Eddie sighs, "I'm sending you away because it's your job, and because I don't like you very much. I was under no illusion of privacy in this god forsaken place."

Diwa laughs, "Well whoever grape guy is, tell him to send me something next time."

Grape guy. Of course it is. Eddie reaches for the note.

Eddie! Heard from my sister there was a bad accident coming your way. Figured some fruit would help you get through your shift. Plus Theo wanted to make sure his grape savior had fruit as well. The fruit people refused to quarter all of the grapes in your basket, but I figured you'd still appreciate the gesture. You're a life saver.

PS. Earlier when I said my sister told me about the accident it's because she's a 911 dispatcher, not like a psychic or a professional ambulance chaser. In case you were wondering.

Eddie, was in fact, not wondering, but it's nice to know that Buck's sister is at least somewhat normal. Eddie has at least three family members who think they're psychic and he wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially not Buck and Theo. The only thing Eddie's really thinking about is how this note confirms this is not poison fruit and he's now set to have some.

He inhales three chocolate covered strawberries before someone manages to distract him, "Beefcake sent you a fruit basket?"

Eddie doesn't respond to Lena, but he does slap her hand away when she reaches for a piece of pineapple. She glares, and he extends a peace offering in the form of some cantaloupe. She accepts without fuss. Eddie knows it's because she missed her lunch, and not because she's particularly fond of his melon based olive branch.

"Can we not call him beefcake? And why do you think it was Buck and not someone else?"

"No we're calling him beefcake, and you have no friends and you're mean to your patients."

Eddie gasps, "I am not mean to my patients!"

"Fine, you're mean to all of the ones old enough to afford fruit baskets, besides, the dopey look on your face gives you away."

Eddie forces himself to drop the small smile that's been sitting on his lips, "I gave him some solid medical advice and he was thankful, there's nothing more to it."

Lena snorts, "He's trying to get into your scrub pants via grapes."

Eddie rolls his eyes. Buck hasn't even really flirted with him. Sure he's done that thing where he looks up at Eddie through his eye lashes all pretty, but Eddie's pretty sure that's just a side effect of being Buck. Eddie can't fault him for that.

Besides, Buck's new to this whole father thing. Eddie understands that. Eddie doesn't know the whole story of how Theo came to live with Buck, but he knows it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies. Especially, the way Buck seems to talk about Theo's parents in the past tense. Eddie understands that Buck probably doesn't want to date right now.

Not that Eddie wants to date him. Eddie has still sworn off firefighters. Even ones who are all beefy and adorkable, especially those ones. He drives home his point by reminding Lena of this.

"Even if I was interested in Buck—which I'm not! He's doing the whole single dad thing, I'm sure he doesn't want to add a relationship to that," Eddie spots two nurses from the night shift walk in. Which is good because it means it's almost time to go home, and bad because they're notorious gossips. "And now I'm ending this conversation, because I want to get home at a reasonable time."

Lena nods, at least they're in agreement on that, "I get it, gotta get home to your beefcake."

One of the young night shift nurse's head whips around, "Beefcake?"

"No. Lena is a liar and sent from hell. There's no beefcake," Eddie shoves the strawberries and pineapple into his lunch box, "Just a thankful citizen who sent fruit. Help yourself after we do hand offs."

Eddie pretends to ignore Lena when she mouths, I'll tell you later to the night shift crew, but then when he turns, he pelts a grape at her head. It miraculously bounces off her head into Diwa's waiting hands. She doesn't waste a second popping it into her mouth. He sighs. He can't believe these are the people he's meant to be saving lives with.

In the three months since Buck has had Eddie's phone number Eddie has grown accustomed to getting texts from him at odd hours. Raising a four year old is hard, and it's not as if Eddie keeps normal hours either. Now that Chris is older, it's much easier for Eddie to feel comfortable picking up extra night shifts when he needs. Chris's college isn't going to pay for itself after all.

It's definitely not because Eddie hates being alone. Eddie handles being alone really well actually. He definitely isn't lying in the dark in his bed at 8pm hoping that his aunt plays him back in their virtual scrabble game. That would be pathetic. The nudge feature is there for a reason, and if it was lame to use it, the developers wouldn't put it in the app.

So yes, Eddie is used to texting Buck. Who is very good at filling up his alone at home, no one to play scrabble with time. What Eddie is not used to is a call from Buck. Which is probably why he answers embarrassingly fast. No other reason.

"Buck, what's up? You alright?"

"Nurse Eddie!" Theo cheers, "I knew it was your number because of the little mustache guy next to your name."

Eddie blinks for a moment, confused, before understanding that Buck's probably put a emoji next to his name, "Hi honey. Is everything alright? Where's Buck?"

Theo giggles, "In the potty, he let me watch a show on his phone."

Eddie breathes out a sigh of relief, "That's nice, hon. What show are you watching?"

Theo giggles again, "I was watching Paw Patrol, but now I need your help."

"Theo, are you safe?" Eddie asks, sitting up in bed in an instant.

"Yeah, but my friendship bracelet broke so I put the beads up my nose," Theo sighs, "Buck is going to be mad, but it won't come out."

"Oh, buddy. Why don't you go get Buck and he and I can figure out how to help?"

"Um I don't know," Theo hesitates and then whispers, "I think he had to go poop." Eddie can't help but smile at the loud giggles that stream from the phone.

"Everybody poops, Theo. Trust me I'm a nurse."

"I know. That's why I called. Can we come to the ho'pital and see you?"

Eddie bites his lip at the cuteness, "I'm not at the hospital right now, I'm at my house."

"Oh, can we come to your house? Are there toys?"

"How about I come to your house instead?" Eddie asks, toeing on his shoes, "Do you know where you live?"

Theo goes quiet then says, "Oh I'm saying yes with my head."

"Nodding."

"Yeah, that."

"Where do you live Theo?"

Theo takes a big breath, "My name is Theo and my grown up is named Evan Buckley. He fights fires at station 118. I live with him at 317 Sycamore Lane. His number is (555) 432-5545. My friend Athena is a police officer and if you touch me I'll scream really loud."

Eddie types the address into maps, "That's really good buddy, did your Buck teach you that?"

"I'm nodding again. Except, my big kid friend Harry taught me the last part. I'm really smart so I can remember it all," Eddie can practically hear Theo's smile through the phone.

Eddie chucks his medical bag into the car, "Good job bud. I'll be there soon and we'll deal with the beads in the nose."

"Alright, Nurse Eddie. Bye! I love you!"

Eddie can't hold back the smile, "Love you too, Theo."

It's not until Eddie's pulling up in front of Buck's house that he realizes it's probably weird to show up unannounced, but the fact still remains that Theo has a bead inside of his nose. So up to Buck's door he goes.

Eddie knocks on the door holding his medical bag, like a freak, but hopefully a freak who will have the police called on him only once he removed the beads from Theo's nose. Buck opens the door, and instead of looking upset he mostly just looks confused.

Worse than his look of confusion though, is the fact that he's dripping wet and his tee shirt is sticking to him. Eddie's heart does an embarrassing backflip. Then even more embarrassingly he thinks that unless Buck's house is a three bedroom, they'll have to buy a new house for when they get married.

The most embarrassing thing, though, is what comes out of Eddie's mouth. Because upon seeing a Buck freshly out of the shower he states, "Theo, said you were pooping."

Buck blinks in confusion, "So you came to my house?"

Eddie shakes his head, "No, Theo has a bead in his nose."

Buck pales, "Do you have like spidey sense but for dads?"

"No, Theo called me. Good use of the mustache emoji by the way," Eddie shifts awkwardly on the front step.

"Oh my god Theo called you," Buck let's his face fall into his hands.

"Because of the beads in his nose," Eddie adds, because he really should be dealing with that.

"Shit, yes. Beads in nose, let's handle that."

Buck ushers Eddie into the room. There Theo sits on the ground under an ill constructed blanket fort. Theo smiles when he sees Eddie, but the smile drops when his eyes land on Buck's worried face.

In an instant, Theo is in tears. Not just tears, but full blown overtired, scared toddler tears. Buck stares at Eddie like a deer caught in headlights. Deer… Buck.. ha! Eddie focus, you're somehow the one with more Dad knowledge in this situation.

"Buck, he thinks you're mad at him. Just give him some comfort and tell him you love him."

Buck nods, rushing to Theo, "Hey, Spiderman. Everything is alright. I'm not mad. Just worried about you."

Theo's sobs slow.

"I love every part of you so much, Theo. Including your nose, so I just want to make sure it's okay. Everything is alright, and you're not in trouble," Buck tucks Theo into his side. Theo's tears begin to ebb.

Then before Buck or Eddie can do anything. Theo grabs hold of Buck's shirt and blows his nose into it. Eddie watches as Buck holds back a gag. Then, a laugh escapes him as he looks at Buck's shirt. There, surrounded by toddler snot, are two blue beads.

"Hey look at that, Buck you managed to get Theo's beads out all by yourself. Got anymore rattling around in there Theo?"

Theo looks down at the beads, "No, just those ones."

"Mind if I check anyway? I'll get to stick this cool thing up your nose."

Theo cheers.

After noses have been checked, both Theo's and Buck's at Theo's insistence. Theo had let out a big yawn and announced that Eddie was going to read him a story. Eddie, who had dearly missed reading bedtime stories, had jumped at the chance. It wasn't long before Theo was out like a light and Buck and Eddie were back to standing in Buck's entry way.

"Sorry if I overstepped, but Theo called and I wanted to make sure everything was okay," Eddie rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No, Eddie you were perfect. I'm the one who was a total mess. I can't even shower without Theo getting into something.

Eddie shakes his head, "It's fine, it happens. He's just at that age. If Chris had full mobility at that age I would have been fucked."

Buck laughs, but Eddie can still see the hesitation in his eyes, "Listen I know this probably isn't how you planned, but you're a good Dad to that kid. Anyone with eyes can see it. You just have to trust your instincts."

Buck nods, "Instincts. Right, I have those."

Eddie nods, "They come free when you buy the kid."

"My kid was free," Buck jokes.

"Yeah, you think that, then suddenly they need every video game consol known to man," Eddie jokes.

"Or dinosaur toy."

"I miss the dinosaur days," Eddie sighs.

"Well," Buck pauses, clearly nervous, "Theo's still firmly in them if you ever want to pretend to hide from them with him. I can't promise he won't try to T-Rex chomp you though."

The pulls a laugh out of Eddie, "It would be an honor. You don't have to do this alone Buck. Clearly I'm only a call away."

Buck beams, "Clearly. Though I don't really know why you're willing to step into this particular brand of crazy."

Eddie opens the door and steps through it, then over his shoulder he says, "It's because I've been in your shoes, and because I miss the dinosaur phase. And maybe it's a little because I have trouble saying no to cute faces."

That last line is out of Eddie's mouth before he realizes how bad of an idea it is.

"You think I'm cute?" Buck's body shifts, going into full peacocking mode.

Eddie rolls his eyes, "In your dreams Buckley, I was talking about Theo."

Buck smirks, "Well, he is genetically 50% me."

Eddie steps away from the house and back to his truck, "Have a nice night, Buck."

"Good night Eddie, for the record I think you're cute too."

Eddie doesn't let himself smile until he's far enough away from Buck that he's sure he can't see him.

The texting becomes more frequent after that, and calls, and visits. So much so that Chris has starting telling people that Eddie's planning on trading him in for the newer model. Not that Chris is complaining. If anyone is a fan of Theo it's Chris. Chris is Eddie's baby, and Eddie will always sort of see him as a six year old—but seeing Chris with Theo makes seem a little more grown up.

Chris is nurturing, kind, and patient, in a way Eddie hadn't expected from a sixteen year old. Not that he should have ever doubted Chris, but still. Sometimes Eddie watches the two of them together, and he can't help picturing Chris as a dad one day. Then, of course, the thought makes Eddie feel so old he has sit down before his heart fails him.

Theo being around more means that Buck is around more. Which is good, because Buck is perfect, and bad, because Buck is perfect. Eddie can feel his heart fall a little bit more every time Buck sends one of his stupid smiles his way.

Still Eddie's got his Ps rule. Though, now that he thinks about pfirefighter doesn't actually start with a P. It begins with a very respectable F. There's plenty of good F jobs. Like fashion designer, flight attendant, Fulbright scholar and face models. Another F job Buck could have. With his stupid handsome face.

Regardless of Eddie's stupid feelings, what really matters is that Buck and Theo are staying out of the ER. Of course, that all goes to shit one sunny Saturday afternoon.

"We've got a couple injured firefighters coming in. Ceiling collapsed during a house fire. Nothing too serious, but you know how they are," Lena tells him.

Eddie's mind instantly goes to Buck, "Too stubborn for their own damn good." Eddie worries his lip between his teeth, "Did they say what firehouse?"

"137," Eddie breathes out a sigh, "and 118." Fuck.

Lena pauses, looking at him up and down, "Beefcake's firehouse?"

Eddie nods, but he can absolutely not have this conversation here. He moves toward one of the rooms to start prepping. He can't worry himself with the what ifs. A little girl in the pediatrics room waves to him. She'd come in this morning after nearly drowning in the pool at a friend's birthday party. She's in better spirits now, but she's stuck down here until a bed in pediatrics opens.

He pops into her room, "Need anything sweetheart?"

She shakes her head, "I made this for you."

She hands him a string of beads. Eddie can't help but smile, the beads are the exact same ones that were in Theo's nose. There's also some letters, best nurse eva. He beams.

"Thank you so much sweetheart," Eddie comes to her bedside to adjust her pillow.

"You look scared."

Eddie nods, "I am," he makes a show of looking around the room. Her mother had run to the cafeteria for coffee so it's just the two of them. "Can I tell you a secret?"

She brightens in an instant, head bobbing quickly. "There's this guy—" Eddie can't even finish the sentence before she's squealing.

"Do you have a crush on him!?" She asks.

He pretends to shush her, "Shhh what if someone hears?" She giggles, but quiets down. "I maybe like this guy, but you have to be cool about it."

"Why are you sad about having a crush. Does he not like you back?" She's whispering now.

"Maybe, I don't know. Either way it's not why I'm sad. I'm nervous because he's a firefighter," her eyes light up at the mention of firefighters. Poor girl, hasn't learned the P rule yet. "We just found out that someone on his team got hurt in a house fire and is coming here."

She frowns, but then brightens, "Well it's a good thing he's coming here. You're an awesome nurse."

"Thanks, sweetpea," Eddie goes to say more, but he catches the bay doors swinging open out of the corner of his eye.

She clearly notices too, "Go get him!" then her smile turns devilish, "go kiss him better."

He blows her a raspberry before hurrying out of her room to meet the group coming in from the ambulance.

The first person he sees isn't someone he recognizes, and he almost breathes a sigh of relief until he hears him, "Please tell me nurse Diaz isn't working today. He's going to freak if he sees me. I swear I'm fine, head wounds just bleed a lot. I may be concussed too actually. Is it normal to feel like you're in a canoe?"

"Buck," Eddie calls.

"Shit," Buck mutters, blood dripping down his face, "Fancy seeing you here."

"You're supposed to be bringing other people to the hospital, not coming in yourself," Eddie takes over from the EMT who had wheeled him in. Lena points him to room four which is open. Buck doesn't put up a protest as Eddie moves him toward the bed.

"Anything hurt besides your head?"

"My ego," Buck grimaces.

"Too big to be truly hurt," Eddie rolls his eyes as he checks over the wound.

"Still, it's embarrassing to be bleeding on the hot nurse," Buck jokes.

"Huh, you really are concussed."

Buck winces, "Yeah."

"How about you don't talk for a little while and you let me and one of my doctors patch you up?" Eddie's already going through his Rolodex of residents that he'd trust to touch Buck. Embarrassingly, he finds it's not a particularly high list. Which is odd, because Eddie's usually pretty trusting of most of the doctors, except when it comes to Chris.

Fuck, Eddie's a little in love with this guy isn't he?

In the end, Samia, the R4 whose bedside manner is a little lacking, but whose medical skills are bar none, is the winner. He pulls her into the room and together they work quickly on patching Buck up. Samia barely speaks, which again, normally a fault, but right now is not a teaching moment. Right now is about helping Buck, and Samia is just fine for that.

In fact, she speaks so little that when she finally does say something Buck and Eddie both startle slightly, "I'm going give him something for the pain, but he might be a little loopy. Nothing too crazy, but a little out of it."

Eddie nods, working to administer the script she gives him. As she moves to leave, she gestures him over to the door. His stomach turns, anything she can't say in front of Buck can't be a good thing.

He braces himself, expecting some sort of medical issue he missed. Instead, she whispers, "That's your beefcake?"

Eddie gasps, "Samia, you're better than this."

She turns back to catch another glimpse of Buck, "I'm really not."

Eddie rolls his eyes, "Gross. Get out of here, you're no longer of use to me."

She leaves, but not before giving him an eyebrow wiggle and a wink. Eddie flips her off.

"You really have to stop coming to this hospital, the people here are completely unprofessional," Eddie announces as he takes a sponge to clean the blood off of Buck's forehead.

"Yeah," Buck lets out a sigh of comical proportions, "but you work here."

"That's true."

"It's why I kept coming here," Buck says, the weight of the statement clearly lost on his concussed brain.

"Buck-"

Buck continues, smiling at him, "You told me everything was going to be fine."

Eddie nods. It's true. The first time Buck came into the ER it had made sense. Theo had jumped off the bed and had gotten a pretty gnarly cut above his eyebrow. Buck had been seconds away from a meltdown when Eddie had entered the hospital bed to help glue the wound.

Eddie had taken one look at him and felt as though he was looking at his past self. Theo was cradled against Buck's chest as he sobbed, and Buck wasn't much better, silent tears pooling in his eyes as he rocked Theo.

Eddie had gotten Theo calmed down, and with it, Buck settled as well. It was an easy enough fix. What had been harder to fix was the sad broken look on Buck's face.

You're good with him. Eddie had whispered once Theo had settled down. Buck shook his head, a final tear dropping.

I just started fostering him, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. Buck had whispered back.

They talked for a while after that. About Chris and how still to this day Eddie didn't have anything figured out. Then, once Theo had been cleared to go home Eddie had rested his hand on Buck's shoulder and told him the truth, everything is going to be fine.

Now here they were, nearly nine months later and so much has changed. Now Buck sits here, a similar cut near his eyebrow. Opposite to the birthmark on his other eye. Eddie reaches for it unconsciously. Fingers dancing just below the cut. He doesn't let himself touch properly, he can't.

Then, stupidly, he leans forward and so does Buck, and for a brief fleeting moment Eddie thinks that he's finally willing to give into this. Then, less than an inch from Buck's face he hears it.

"EDDIE!"

Eddie jolts back, and he's moving toward the voice in an instant. Buck let's out a small sigh, but Eddie's too focused on the new voice to hear it. There, at the nurses station, is Theo standing next to a short blonde woman.

"Eddie," Theo rushes toward him. Extending his arms so Eddie will lift him.

"Oh, you're real," the woman remarks.

Eddie blinks at her, "Yes, I'm real. Sorry who are you?"

Her eyes widen slightly, "Sorry I'm Theo's Aunt Maddie. I thought you were an imaginary friend. When I told him we were going to the hospital to see Buck he kept asking about his friend, nurse Eddie."

Theo pokes Eddie in the cheek, "See Maddie. He's here. Eddie did you make Buck feel better?"

"Yeah, honey, I did. Do you want to go see him?"

Theo nods, and he ushers Maddie toward the room Buck's in. Eddie can tell Maddie is watching him in confusion. Clearly trying to piece together how Eddie knows her family. Eddie tries his best not to look like a weird stranger. Hopefully the scrubs and the unrelenting trust of the four year old help.

When Eddie enters the room with Theo on his hip, a few things happen at once. Buck smiles brightly enough to blind the sun, Maddie lets out a sad little sigh, and Theo burst into tears. Buck's smile drops in a second.

This isn't Eddie's first time around the block, he's seen kids cry when they see their injured parent, but it being Theo breaks his heart in a new way. Theo can't seem to decide if he wants to continue to be held by Eddie or if he wants to reach for Buck. So he's doing this odd squirm while fully in tears. Eventually, Eddie makes the decision for him and deposits him on the bed next to Buck.

"Buck got hurt," Theo sobs, keeping on hand gripping Eddie's scrubs while the other clings to Buck.

"I know, honey, but he's right here," Eddie placates.

Theo sobs louder this time. Buck looks at him with wild eyes, panicked and desperate. Eddie gives a small nod trying to beam into his brain You've got this. You're a good dad, you'll know what to do.

Buck seems to understand him, because he takes a big breath in and then adjusts Theo so he's looking at him. Theo blinks, confused by the sudden movement. Buck grabs his hand and puts it to his chests. For a moment they both stare silently, Theo's hand rising and falling with Buck's breathing.

"I'm here buddy. I'm okay. I got hurt, but I had Eddie and he made it all better. It was a cut, just like the one you got when you fell off the bed. I know it's scary, but I'm here and I'm fine. Eddie's here too, and Aunt Maddie," Buck's voices trembles, but does not break.

Theo nods softly, "Eddie made you better?"

"Yeah, Spiderman, Eddie made me better," Buck agrees.

Theo reaches out to squeeze Eddie's hand.

"Buck is actually going to be good to go home soon," Eddie turns to Maddie, "Are you familiar with concussion protocol?"

Maddie laughs, "Yes, sorry to laugh, but I was a nurse before my current job."

Buck shakes his head. Eddie can tell he immediately regrets it from the way he winces, "Maddie you have Jee and Nash to take care of, and Chim's still at work."

Maddie looks like she's going to protest, but before she can speak, Theo interrupts, "Eddie has to take care of Buck."

"Theo," Maddie begins, "Buck needs someone to come to your house to take care of him. Eddie only takes care of people at the hospital."

Theo scrunches up his face at that, "Eddie comes to our house all the time. He helps me and Buck and Chris."

Maddie's eyes dance between the three of them, and Eddie can tell she's holding back a laugh. Buck looks a bit like a kid whose hand has been caught in the cookie jar.

"I get off shift in three hours, I'll head straight to yours," Eddie ignores Maddie's look. He's had plenty of time ignoring judgemental sisters in his life.

Buck flushes, and Eddie can't help but feel incredibly smug about it. Theo cheers, and Maddie appears to be preparing the interrogation she'll be giving Buck once Eddie leaves.

"Eddie," Samia calls from the doorway, "We have a patient with dementia and she insists on only taking her medicine from a, and I'm quoting here, 'hunky nurse'. Can you try?"

Buck startles out a laugh, which prompts Theo to be thrown into a fit of giggles too. Eddie sighs, rolling back his shoulders, "Well, Buckleys duty calls."

"Fresh meat," Lena sing songs to him in the elevator up from the parking garage.

"You promised you'd stop calling the nursing students that. It's one thing to make fun of the student doctors, but at least be nice to our own kind."

If Eddie's being honest, having the student nurses doing clinical rotations in the emergency department always makes his days just a touch harder. He loves nursing students, don't get him wrong, but god are they new. Eddie's emergency department is a well oiled machine. If that well oiled machine was severely underfunded and seconds away from falling off the hinges at all times, but oily nonetheless.

So he's not all that excited when the door opens and there's a huddle of fresh faced baby nurses standing there like deer in headlights.

"Eddie and I get first dibs," Lena announces to the other nurses at the station.

"Why?" Carol, who Eddie is sure is days from retirement at this point, asks.

"Because Eddie's covered multiple shifts for every single one of you, and I have to work both Halloween and Christmas this year."

Eddie ignores the part where Lena specifically requested Christmas so she "wouldn't have to come up with a lame excuse not to see her family."

Carol nods, "Why did I even ask. I'm old enough they all look the same to me anyway."

Eddie kind of agrees. They're all fresh faced and doe eyed in a way Eddie's not sure he ever was. Maybe before Chris and the weight of the world that had been balanced on his shoulders. He scans the group of nursing students, and miraculously one of them catches his eye while the others look away.

He can tell the moment she processes that she's made eye contact. He watches her eyes pinch ever so slightly in regret before she eases her shoulders and looks into his eyes dead on. She's got spunk, he likes that.

"What's your name?"

"May Grant."

"Don't introduce yourself to patients with your last name, they'll go home and add you on Facebook," Eddie jokes.

"I don't have Facebook."

"Good, you'll do then. Come with me." May follows without hesitation. He has a good feeling about her.

That good feeling completely disappears three hours later when he's doing paperwork and she's listening intently to Lena's gossip.

"So, Grant, you're dating a firefighter? Eddie is too."

He doesn't even look up from very professionally writing about how the drunk guy in room seven acted like an asshole, "I am not."

Lena sighs, "You still haven't locked beefcake down?"

"We have to stop calling him that," Eddie begs, "And I'm not trying to lock him down. We're friends, and he's a firefighter— no offense May."

"None taken, both of my brothers are firefighters, and my step dad was. They're an interesting bunch," May shrugs, then she points at a spelling error on Eddie's screen. Eddie thanks her by not rolling his eyes.

"Interesting. Since you're an expert, would you say it's platonic firefighter behavior to constantly spend all of their time with a certain ER nurse to the point that his young son views the nurse as a step parent—"

"He does not view me as a step parent. I'm just another stable adult in his life. The kid has been through a lot."

Eddie doesn't want to hear Lena's response, so when the phone at the nurses station starts ringing he picks it up without hesitation.

"Hi is Nurse Diaz there?" Buck's voice sounds tinny over the landline.

"Buck?"

"I called your regular phone, but you didn't answer."

"Is Theo alright? Are you alright?"

Behind him May makes a noise of confusion, but he ignores her, instead waiting for Buck to respond, "We're okay, but Eddie. There was an incident at Chris's school. An issue with the lab equipment, and he got some pretty bad burns on his arms. He's going to be fine, but we're bringing him here to you."

Eddie's vision tunnels, and Buck words start getting further away after that. Chris got hurt at school. Chris was hurt badly enough that Buck was called. Chris is hurt. His baby is hurt.

"Eddie, focus," Buck practically snaps into the phone, "I know this is a lot, but you have to stay in the moment. Just like you taught me to do with Theo. He's hurt and he's scared, but he's going to be even more scared if he sees you freak out. I've got him Eddie. He's going to be fine."

Eddie breathes. He can do this. He is jello. Buck has got him. Buck is safe.

"What's your ETA?" Both Eddie and Buck ignore the way his voice shakes.

"Three minutes tops," Eddie switches the phone to speaker so everyone can hear, "Two other injured students with Chris. Chris took the brunt of it, pushed them out of the way."

Eddie lets out a choked little sob, "Alright, we'll be prepped for them."

"Eddie, all you have to be is Chris's dad. We'll all handle the rest. Tell Lena what's going on," Buck's voice stays steady.

"Right here beefcake," Lena calls, already moving toward where the ambulance will pull up.

May lets out a groan, "I know this isn't the time, but I was really hoping Buck wasn't beefcake."

Buck. Beefcake. Brother. To think he spent his whole life avoiding Ps instead of Bs.

It's the last thought he has until all hell breaks loose. It's hard not to when the entire floor knows Christopher. The attending, Dr. Lansing moves toward Christopher, and Lena pulls Eddie into the seat in his room.

Buck's there too, close by but always keeping enough distance to let the doctors work. Eddie honestly wouldn't have noticed him if it wasn't for the the weight of his hand on Eddie's shoulder. All he can truly focus on is Chris, who is crying.

Chris who hasn't cried like this in years, he keeps trying to put on a brave face, but he's clearly in pain, "Hi Dad, fancy seeing you here."

"Chris—" Eddie's voice peters out for a moment, the grip on his shoulder tightens. Eddie steadies himself, "How many times have I told you bring your kid to work day isn't until July? Besides it's less cute now that you're a teenager. The doctors are starting to be intimidated by your intelligence."

"Exactly," Buck pipes up, "Healthcare workers don't like when you're smarter than him. Just ask your father."

Eddie has to shake his head slightly to keep the panic down, but it works, "If I ever met anyone other than Chris that was smarter than me I'm sure it would annoy me."

Buck balks, but it gets a laugh out of Christopher so it's a win. Then, in an instant, the laugh is gone and Chris's big eyes land on his, "Dad I'm scared."

"I know, bud me too," Eddie pauses, feeling far too vulnerable, "but I've got you, you've got me, and we've both got Buck."

They stay quiet for a while after that, letting his colleagues work. Eddie rotates between petting Chris's head and biting his own lip until it bleeds.

Dr. Lansing clears his throat. "All very treatable, no nerve damage as far as I can tell, but we'll get an expert to confirm. It might impact his ability to use his mobility aids because I don't want too much friction on the wounds, but other than that and it obviously hurting like all hell, we've got a good prognosis.

Eddie lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Chris does too, "Cool, cool, cool."

Buck laughs, "Super cool."

"Christopher, I gave you something for the pain, but you're going to start feeling pretty tired soon. Don't feel the need to fight sleep, alright?"

Chris laughs, teeth still gritted, "Doctor, I'm sixteen I've never felt the need to fight sleep."

Buck nods his head, "It's true, last week he fell asleep at my dining table and Theo managed to pile four cookies on the back of his head without him knowing."

Chris shakes his head, yawning loudly, "I knew, I just wanted him to have fun."

"Sure you did, bud," Eddie smiles at him.

It doesn't take long before Chris is nodding off, and with him goes the last of Eddie's adrenaline. Eddie finds himself nearly dropping out of his chair as it all hits him. Buck's hand still on Eddie's shoulder being the only thing that keeps him in place.

"Hey it's alright, you're alright," Buck placates, "He's safe, and you're here for him. It was scary, but he's okay."

Eddie nods, feeling a little sick. For some reason he feels the need to stand, but that only has the effect of sending him crashing into Buck's waiting arms. They stand like that for a moment, Eddie wrapped up in Buck as his son sleeps in the hospital bed beside them.

"Hey, Buck," Eddie finally whispers.

"Yeah?"

"You totally saved me just then," Eddie curls his head further into Buck's neck.

"Well I learned from the best," Eddie can feel the way Buck wants to shrug, but can't because Eddie is still clinging to him, "I can only hope I'm half the dad to Theo that you are to Chris."

It's an innocuous comment, but it's the thing that finally breaks the dam. Eddie pulls back and then, without thinking leans in and kisses Buck. Buck responds in an instant, returning the kiss with an equal amount of excitement.

Eddie lets himself get lost in the kiss, until he hears a noise from the door way, "Gross, Buck can you not ruin this clinical rotation for me?" May asks.

Eddie pulls away, but Buck doesn't let him go far. "Sorry May, but I've been a frequent flier here for far longer than you've been working here."

May knits her brows together, "That's not really a flex, Buck."

"May will you stick with Chris for a minute?" Eddie asks, and upon her approval he pulls Buck out a side door where the older nurses sneak cigarettes. Not the most romantic spot, but it will do.

"You kissed me," Buck announces.

Eddie nods, "Very good observation, glad to see you've recovered from that concussion."

"Eddie if you're going to be sarcastic, I'm going to double down with earnestness," Buck glares.

Eddie, never one to back down from a challenge lets out an long flat "Oh no."

"Fine, you leave me no choice," Buck locks eyes with him, "Taking in Theo was he scariest thing I've ever done and I don't think I could have survived it if I hadn't meant you. My kid loves you, and I love you too. Will you go on a date with me?"

Eddie smiles, "I'm sorta stupidly in love with you."

"So yes to the date?"

"On one condition. Stop bringing both of our children to this god foresaken emergency room."

"Deal."