Ignite | e. buckley

thirty seven

The second her eyes fluttered shut, Buck started to army crawl under the truck, not being able to go out into the open. While what was left of B-Shift started to radio in the call, and the battalion truck caught on fire, he reached a hand out to grab Anastasia's arm and drag her out of the open and to the safe side.

"Shots fired! Firefighter Valdez is down! We need LAPD and air support!"

When Buck finally crawled back to the safe area, everyone started loading into the truck while he lifted Anastasia up and laid her down in the back. "Get us out of here, let's go!"

Too focused on getting the hell out of there, no one cared that the door was open when the truck started backing up, or that it fell off. Frantically, Buck started ripping open everything Eddie handed to him before placing a gauze on her gunshot wound.

Looking around, her skin now pale and her eyes in a daze, Anastasia took one look at Buck and his now bloody, white striped button up before her eyebrows scrunched together. "Did you get hurt, Bumble B?"

Looking down at his clothes, he could only assume how crazy he looked, bloody clothes, bloody face, and blood shot eyes, but he shook his head.  "No, I'm okay, princess.  I just need you to stay with me."

"Where are we going?"  She asked quietly.

Before Buck could finish telling her that they were less than two minutes away, a mask was put over her face to keep her breathing.  The firetruck came to an abrupt halt at the hospital ER doors, doctors already running out with a gurney when they parked and Buck already out of the truck to show them where to go.  "Large caliber GSW to the upper torso.  Through and through."

"Did you say large caliber?"  One of the nurses asked while everyone was moving Anastasia's now unconscious body from the truck to the gurney.

"It was a sniper attack."

Buck and Eddie watched as Anastasia was ran into the hospital, immediately going to surgery and knowing it was no use chasing after them and trying to go with her.  "Her sister's supposed to be flying in today.  I have to tell her what happened."

As he started to ramble, Eddie reached out and firmly grabbed onto his shoulders.  "Buck, calm down.  Let's go sit down inside, you're shaking."

Buck started shaking his head, his eyes unfocused despite looking ahead to the ER doors.  "She was standing right in front of us.  We need to go back and tell Bobby."

"Buck, you are not going to work today, your girlfriend is in surgery."

When the two finally got inside the lobby, Eddie sat Buck down while someone from B-Shift brought him a different shirt to get him out of his bloody one. The one that was now going to be a constant reminder of what just happened. "I can't just sit here, Eddie. I feel helpless. That bullet went through her entire shoulder, there's a literal hole in her body. And I'm just supposed to sit here?"

The two walked to the bathroom, Eddie going for emotional support and Buck going so he could try to wash his girlfriend's blood off of his face and neck.  "No, but you are not at all in the right state of mind to work.  If anything, Bobby's just going to send you right back home."

His head was down in the sink, aggressively rubbing at his skin.  Even that reminded him of Anastasia.  One of their first night's together, she walked in on him washing his face and judged him before she told him it was bad for his skin to be rubbing it in that way. Without even realizing, he let tears come out, and because his face was drenched, Eddie couldn't tell. What he could tell was that Buck's phone was ringing and he somehow couldn't hear it.

Finally coming back to earth, Buck pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that Yazmin, Anastasia's dog sitter, has called him three times. Not a second later, she called for the fourth time and this time, Buck was stable enough to answer. "Buck, I just saw the news right now, tell me they messed up the name."