Buck had successfully completed a month of fatherhood and couldn't remember what it was like before his son came into his life. Him and the boy had settled into a routine now with Buck having enrolled Aidan in a daycare that was just down the road from the firehouse. When Buck had his 24-hour shifts, Aidan would stay with Maddie who thankfully loved this time with her nephew. Buck had noticed a sharp increase of broodiness in Maddie since the boy came along, something that alarmed Chimney quite a lot. The man often complained to Buck that it was his fault that he hadn't had a night without sex in nearly 2 weeks, because Maddie was desperate for another baby. Buck couldn't quite see the problem there and had told Chimney to get over himself.
Buck spent every spare second he had fawning over his son. The little boy had filled a hole in his life that he hadn't even known was there. Buck would generally wake up before the baby and spend the first 20 minutes of his day getting himself ready before waking Aidan up. He'd give the baby a bottle, burp him, and then they'd spend some time on his playmat doing tummy time. Aidan was starting to get very good at lifting his head up during tummy time and Buck was pretty confident his friends were getting sick of all the photos he'd send to them when the baby did just about anything. All his friends, that was, except Eddie.
If Buck had thought Eddie had had his back previously, nothing would have prepared him for the level of support he received from his friend now. Since Aidan had arrived, Buck and Eddie had become pretty much inseparable. They'd kept up their usual Friday night dinners with Christopher, but Eddie often came over at least two other times during the week, or Buck would go to theirs. It had taken a lot of psyching up and no small amount of reassurance from Eddie for Buck to feel comfortable leaving the house with Aidan, but once Buck had seen that the baby couldn't care less about sleeping at home or at Eddie's, they'd taken several trips to the older man's house.
The day seemed to be progressing as any other. Buck had dropped Aidan off at daycare at 7:30am, getting to the station just in time for his shift to start at 8am. Their first call had been about 10 minutes later and the whole team had piled into the truck. It had been a moderate house fire and didn't take much effort to put out. Hen and Chimney had transported a lady to hospital with a laceration on her head from when she'd tripped over trying to exit the building, but there'd been no other casualties.
They'd gotten back to the station and Buck and Eddie had settled onto the couch to watch whatever was on TV. They were joined by Hen and Chim not much later and that was where they were sitting now. Hen had found an old episode of the Bachelor and her and Eddie were watching with enthusiasm, arguing over who they thought should be the one to be offered the rose. Buck wasn't much of a reality TV person and was struggling to stay awake, having had another rough night with Aidan the night before. His eyes were drooping and head lolling to one side as his breathing slowed and deepened, falling into an light slumber.
"Hey, looking at Sleeping Beauty next to you" Hen whispered to Eddie, pointing at Buck's sleeping form.
Eddie watched in amusement as Buck's head dropped lower and lower before finally coming to rest on his shoulder. Buck let out a small snore and nuzzled his head into Eddie's neck, his mouth opening a little. Eddie pulled a face as he felt a drop of Buck's drool hit his shoulder.
Hen had alerted Chimney to the spectacle and the older man had his phone in hand, happily taking photos and sending them off to Maddie.
"He must be pretty tired, huh" Hen remarked as she watched Eddie pick up a pillow and tentatively try and nudge it between Buck's head and his shoulder.
"Aidan kept him up all last night" Eddie replied, breathing a sigh of relief as he managed to wriggle the pillow into place.
"You look remarkably chipper though" Chimney said as he took one last photo, sending this one off to Bobby and Athena.
Eddie looked at him blankly. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, confused.
"Come on Eddie, we know you've been spending a lot of time at Buck's lately. Even sleeping over, I hear" Hen replied, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively in his direction.
"That's right" Chimney added. "It wouldn't be unreasonable to believe you'd been at Buck's last night. Doesn't he call you whenever Aidan pulls a weird face or sneezes or something?".
Eddie rolled his eyes at the pair. "You're both ridiculous, you know that? I've been helping him through this because I know how hard it is to be a single parent. And for your information, I haven't slept at Buck's house for almost 3 weeks".
"Okay okay don't get your panties in a twist" Hen soothed, smirking in Chim's direction. "We were just teasing, that's all".
"He asks me to come over, it's not like I just turn up and demand to spend the night. Besides, I don't mind helping him" Eddie replied, feeling as though he had to defend himself, although not entirely sure why.
"I'll bet you don't" Chim muttered under his breath.
At that moment their conversation was interrupted by the alarm ringing shrilly through the building. Buck woke up with a start, jerking himself off Eddie's shoulder and looking around in confusion.
"What happened, where's the fire?" he said, looking around wildly, his hair ruffled and some drool on his cheek.
Eddie reached out and wiped the corner of Buck's mouth with his sleeve.
"You fell asleep for a second. Come on, we gotta go get ready".
Buck accepted Eddie's outstretched hand and the older man hauled him off the couch.
Buck did his best to ignore the knowing looks and smirks Hen and Chimney exchanged as him and Eddie joined them in the back of the truck. He knew how it looked; him and Eddie had been spending a bit more time together lately. Okay, a lot more time. But that was just because Eddie was helping him with the baby, right? It hadn't even occurred to Buck that anyone would think anything different. Eddie was his best friend and had been a great support over the last month. In his mind there was nothing more to it, and he was certain Eddie felt the same way.
They arrived on scene after a quick drive, the team piling out of the truck and taking stock of the situation. They'd been called for a boy in distress after having climbed up a tree and gotten stuck, unable to get back down and too high to jump. The boy looked to be all of 8 or 9 years old, sitting at the top of a tall elm tree and crying loudly.
"Chim, get on the ladder and see if you can't reach the boy that way!" Bobby instructed as he strode towards the boy's mother to comfort her.
"Got it, Cap" Chimney replied, scurrying up the side of the ladder truck. Eddie followed behind him, getting ready to take the controls of the ladder.
"What's your name, buddy?" Buck shouted up at the boy, craning his neck to see if he could find an easy path up.
"Connor!" the boy called back, his voice shaking with fear.
"Okay Connor, just hang on there bud, my friend is going to come up the ladder and get you down from there. Can you stay nice and still for me until he gets there?"
Buck saw the boy nod, his face streaked with tears.
"Reckon he's okay up there?" he asked, turning to Hen.
"He might be dehydrated, depending how long he's been up there for, but I can't see any significant injuries from here. I'm gonna prep a bag of saline just in case" Hen replied, rummaging around in her gear for her IV kit and the bag of fluids.
Buck was bouncing on the balls of his feet, impatient with how long it was taking for Chimney and Eddie to get the ladder in position. All he could think of was how he would be feeling if it was Aidan that was stuck up the tree, clearly scared out of his mind. He watched as Connor squirmed and suddenly the boy slipped, catching hold of the branch he'd been on just in time to stop him falling completely. He was now dangling precariously, and Buck's mind went straight into autopilot.
"Connor, hang on!" he yelled as he threw off his turnout coat and helmet and sprinted toward the tree.
"Buck! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Bobby shouted as the blond began to scale the tree, grabbing any branches that seemed thicker than his arm and pulling himself up.
"He's going to fall Cap! I can get to him faster than the ladder!" Buck replied, grabbing furiously at branches, and hauling himself up.
Buck was halfway to Connor when he felt a branch creak beneath him. He stopped for a second, tentatively putting a bit more weight on it. The branch creaked again and suddenly snapped beneath him. Buck's stomach flew up to his mouth as he felt himself falling, arms flailing around to grab onto something. His hands grabbed at whatever they could find, struggling to find purchase on anything solid. His face was whipped by the twigs as he fell through them, stinging as they cut into their skin. Buck managed to spin his body so he would land on his front and stretched out an arm instinctively as the ground rushed up to meet him. His arm hit the ground first, making a sickening crack as the rest of his body landed on top of it. His head knocked the hard concrete and he thought to himself "Bobby's gonna to kill me", before slipping away into darkness.
Buck awoke in the back of a swaying ambulance, Hen and Chimney peering anxiously over him. He let out a small groan and bought his right hand up to his head, noticing the other didn't seem to be able to move.
"Buck!" Hen exclaimed with relief, putting an arm on his shoulder to prevent him from sitting up.
"Steady there Buckaroo, you've had quite the fall" Chimney added, gesturing to Buck's left arm. Buck felt queasy as he looked down, noting the obvious deformation of his forearm. Definitely a broken bone then.
A wave of nausea flooded Buck's body and he frantically tapped Hen's knee, pointing towards the emesis bags. Hen grabbed one and thrust it in his direction just in time for him to puke violently.
"We think you've also got a concussion" Hen said after Buck was finished, settling back against the gurney, shaky and sweating. "You took a bad hit to the head and were unconscious for about 5 minutes".
"Give me some painkillers, please" Buck begged, his head and arm throbbing painfully. Chimney sighed and rifled through their drug bag.
"Best I can do for you right now is some morphine, is that okay?" Chimney asked, grabbing a drawing up needle and an ampoule of the drug.
Buck nodded weakly, feeling himself going a bit green around the edges again. He reached nervously for the emesis bag as Chimney borrowed his good arm, gently inserting the needle into the vein in the crook of his arm.
"I'm not feeling so good" Buck said thickly, the world starting to spin around him. Hen shook his shoulder.
"Stay with us Buck, don't go to sleep" she commanded, slapping his cheeks lightly, but it was to no avail. Buck's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he slipped back into the warm embrace of unconsciousness.
When arriving at the hospital, Buck was immediately whisked off for a CT scan of his head and x-rays of his arm. Buck was in and out of consciousness, not managing a GCS any higher than 8. The CT scan showed what Hen and Chimney had suspected, a hairline skull fracture with no associated bleeding and minor bruising of the brain. In order words, a concussion. His arm x-ray showed that he'd fractured both his radius and ulna, explaining the deformation of his forearm. He was rushed off to surgery to re-align the bones and cast them back into place.
The crew of the 118 stayed in the waiting room of the hospital while Buck was operated on, Eddie ducking out at one point to go collect Aidan from daycare and bringing him back to the hospital. The baby provided a much-needed distraction for everyone, his big smiles and small coos soothing everyone's nerves for a bit.
One by one the crew tapered off as their shift finished, Hen having to get back to pick up Denny from school. She offered to get Christopher too, much to Eddie's relief. Chimney needed to get back to Maddie and Jee-Yun. He ordered Eddie to send them an update as soon as they had one.
Eddie and Bobby sat quietly in the waiting room, Eddie holding Aidan in his arms, his chin resting on the baby's head.
"You okay, Eddie?" Bobby asked, noticing Eddie's quiet demeanour.
"Yeah" the man replied, clearing his throat as his voice broke slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine, just worried about Buck".
"We all are" Bobby replied, scooting closer to Eddie, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "But he's a tough kid and the doctors said his injuries won't be too bad. He'll get through this".
Eddie nodded, swiping at the tears on his cheek with the back of one hand. He couldn't bear to think of the alternative, not now that Buck had a baby that relied on him. And, if he was being honest, Eddie wouldn't know how to continue without Buck in his life. The man was his rock, his best friend, always there for him in a time of need. Heck, he'd cared for Christopher when Eddie had been shot and when the tsunami hit. Christopher would be devastated if anything happened to Buck. That's why Eddie needed him to get better.
A nurse walked into the waiting room. "Family of Evan Buckley?" she called out, causing Bobby and Eddie to shoot their heads up and look at her expectantly.
"That's us" Bobby said, pushing himself off the bench as Eddie frantically buckled Aidan back into his car seat.
"Mr. Buckley is out of surgery now and recovering in his room. If you'd like to follow me?"
Bobby went after the nurse, Eddie hot on his heels with Aidan. They arrived in Buck's room, taking in the sight of the young man asleep against the pillows, arm in a cast and a sling. He had some steri-strips on the cuts on his face and an impressive bruise around his left eye and on the forehead above from where he'd hit it on the concrete.
"Jesus" Eddie breathed as he saw back, collapsing back into a chair in the corner. He was relieved to see that Buck looked pretty good all things considered. A quick survey of the monitors showed that his vitals were stable, his heart rate, respirations, and oxygen all at good levels.
Bobby put a steadying hand on Eddie's shoulder. "See, he's okay. Just sleeping off the anaesthesia".
Eddie smiled gratefully up at the fire captain. "He's okay".
Bobby frowned as his phone dinged, pulling it out and sighing as he read the message.
"Eddie, I've gotta run, something's come up. Can you text me when Buck wakes up?"
Eddie nodded. "Sure, Cap. I'll talk to you later".
Bobby turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Eddie alone with a sleeping Buck and his son, equally as unconscious.
Eddie moved himself so he was sitting in the chair next to Buck's bed and pulled out his phone, settling down to wait for his friend to wake up.
Buck felt the pull back to the realm of the living, screwing his eyes up at the light as he slowly began to open his eyes. His brain felt fuzzy, and he had a headache behind his left eye. He tried to move his arm and a stab of fear shot through him when he realised, he couldn't until he looked down and saw the sling that strapped his arm to his chest. He turned his head to his right, noticing Eddie for the first time.
Eddie was slumped in the chair, head tilted back and mouth open as he slept. Buck looked down at the car seat on the floor that Eddie was absentmindedly rocking with his foot and his heart gave a great lurch. He hadn't even thought about Aidan and how his getting hurt might affect the baby! Guilt washed over him, and Buck wanted to pick up his son and hold him close.
"Eddie?" he croaked.
Eddie's eyes shot open, and his head snapped up, waking up instantly.
"Buck? Eddie shuffled forward in his seat and grabbed Buck's good hand, enveloping it in his own. "How are you feeling, man?".
Buck let out a soft chuckle. "I've felt better" he admitted, gesturing to his face and body. "I'll bet all this doesn't look pretty".
"You've looked worse, at least you're not comatose this time" Eddie replied with a smile. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit tired" Buck replied.
"Good" said Eddie. "That means I won't feel so bad about doing this".
Eddie leaned forward and smacked Buck on the back of the head, making sure to avoid the already injured spot.
"Ow! What was that for?" Buck grumbled, rubbing his head.
"What the hell were you thinking, Buck?" Eddie replied, his worry quickly turning into anger in the classic Diaz fashion. "Did you stop to think for one second what might happen if you'd been seriously hurt? What might happen to Aidan?"
"Well I-" Buck tried replying before Eddie cut in.
"- No you didn't! You just ran into a dangerous situation without thinking, yet again! You can't do this now, you've got a son to think of!" Eddie's eyes were flashing as he ripped into Buck, making the younger man shrink back.
"Eddie, I- I didn't think I'd get hurt, I –"
"Did you even think how I might feel if something had happened to you? You're my best friend, you absolute fucking moron, and I can't keep sitting by your bedside at hospitals, wondering if you're going to live or die!"
Buck gulped as he watched Eddie breathe heavily. He tentatively reached a hand out to Eddie's, but the older man pulled away.
"Don't ever do something that stupid again, Evan. If not for your son, then for me. Please".
"I'm sorry Eds, I really am" Buck whispered, twisting the bedsheets around in his hand.
Eddie let out a shaky breath and ran a hand over his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. The two sat in silence for a second before Eddie spoke.
"I'm sorry, Buck. I just- you scared the shit out of me, and I can't bear the thought of having to raise your son if you died".
"You'd do that?" Buck asked, trying to catch Eddie's eye. Brown eyes locked with blue, both with a film of tears.
"Of course I would, you fuck-knuckle" Eddie replied fiercely.
Buck let out a shaky laugh, eliciting a smile from Eddie who chuckled. After a couple seconds of unhinged laughter, Buck caught his breath.
"I should probably change my will then" he hiccupped, wiping a tear from his eye. "By the way, can I please see my son?"
Eddie nodded and leaned over to the car seat, gently unbuckling the baby and lifting him up. Buck held out his good arm and sighed contentedly as Eddie lowered the baby onto his chest.
"Hi Aidan" Buck whispered, pressing a kiss to his son's soft hair. The baby, just waking up, settled his head onto Buck's chest. He didn't seem too perturbed by the sling. Buck held him tight until a nurse arrived to take his obs and check his pain levels, Eddie taking Aidan back at that point.
"When will I be able to go home?" Buck asked as the nurse turned to leave.
"We want to keep you in overnight for observation, Mr. Buckley. Just to keep an eye on that head injury" the nurse responded, giving him and Eddie a smile. "I can call your husband when it's time to come get you if you like?" she continued.
"Oh he's not- he's just my- I mean – we work together" Buck stammered, turning beet red.
"Oh! My apologies" the nurse responded sheepishly.
"Please call me when he's ready to get out" Eddie said to the nurse with a smile. "Here's my number". He quickly scribbled something down on a piece of paper and the nurse accepted it, adding it to Buck's folder and leaving the room.
Eddie turned to Buck with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "We work together?" he repeated.
"Well we do" Buck grumbled.
"I'd have thought that the fact that you're my son's legal guardian and apparently I'm now your son's legal guardian would make us more than just colleagues, wouldn't you?" Eddie teased.
"Fine fine, I'll tell her you're my friend. Best friend" Buck added quickly when he saw Eddie's eyebrows raise again.
"Much better" Eddie said, patting Buck on the shoulder, standing up and leaning over the bed so Buck could give Aidan a kiss.
"I'll take him home with me tonight and we'll come get you in the morning. Now, get some rest" Eddie ordered as he buckled Aidan back into his car seat.
"Are you sure, Eddie? I can always call Bobby and Athena to take him?" Buck fretted.
"It's fine, Buck. Christopher will be delighted to have some quality time with him anyways."
Eddie turned to Buck and ruffled his hair good-naturedly. "See you in the morning".
"See you. Thanks, Eds" Buck replied, collapsing back against his pillows. He watched Eddie and his son leave the room, noting how much emptier it was now they were gone.
Closing his eyes, Buck allowed the residual pain relief and anaesthetic pull him into an uneasy sleep. Morning couldn't come soon enough.