6-5-23
It was a weird couple of days in Los Angelos. the air felt weird, making the firefighters of the 118 worried. it had all started when they got a call where a man had been trapped in to sand-turned-glass due to a lightening strike on the beach.
'well what was he doing on the beach during a storm' you might ask but that's just the thing, there was no storm. it was a sunny day in California. this is what they call a dry thunderstorm, but eventually after a few days, the rain had started, making the lightning more dangerous.
Buck had plopped down on the couch in the loft of the firehouse with a sigh, "weird day," he groaned, leaning his head on the back of the couch.
"Yeah, no kidding," Eddie chuckled at his exhausted best friend, handing him a bottle of water and joining him.
"how does a baby get ejected from the womb, i just don't get it," Bucks face twisted at the thought of the call they just got back from. Eddie just shrugged, changing the subject because let's be honest, he didn't want to relive it.
"you still coming over for movie night? Christopher really misses you," Eddie smiled, leaning his head back in the same way Buck had his, mocking him.
Buck scoffed, "as if i'd miss movie night with superman," he teased, nudging Eddie.
"hey love birds, y'all okay with spaghetti for dinner," Hen called out, the teasing tone in her voice as she targeted the two. Buck and Eddie looked at each other and laughed.
"not my type, hen," Buck chuckled, playing off the fact that his chest tightened at her words. him and Eddie both just laughed it off, but it hurt Eddie.
Right when Bobby got the last ingredient for the pasta, the alarm went off, making them all groan as they drug themselves downstairs into the fire engine.
the rain got heavier throughout the night and the storm was stronger, but they had a job to do, which led them to the MacArthur Park apartment fire.
"Hendrix, Meyers, Perez, start evacuating the building," Bobby shouted at them and continued towards, "Chimney, Eddie, Buck, you're on the ladder, i want you to get up to that window and hit it, let's go," Bobby ordered and the three men rushed towards the ladder truck.
Once the ladder was positioned properly, Chimney was about to head up the ladder but noticed Buck had already started towards the ladder, "hey, where do you think you're going? i got this," Chimney smiled and tried to stop Buck.
"oh no way! you got the last one," Buck scoffed and followed it with a laugh.
"didn't realize you were keeping track, Buckley," Chimney teased as he helped Eddie harness Buck up.
"Come on, Chim, you know me. i'm always keeping track," Buck smiled as Eddie finished latching him, all three of them laughed.
"all right, cowboy, go get 'em," Eddie smiled, nudging him slightly and Buck began his way up the ladder with the hose.
And if the air felt weird on the ground, you can only imagine how weird it felt at the tip top of a ladder truck. As Buck began hosing the fire to put it out, Chim left the truck and began helping guid people to safety, no one really paying any mind to Buck except Bobby.
But Buck could feel something was wrong, he could physically feel his stomach turn and he looked up, making eye contact with the dark clouds, hearing a rumbling sound, "what the hell is that," He whispered to himself, but continued doing his job, hosing off the building. he tried to shake the feeling, but it wouldn't leave.
Buck and his team all saw a flash and that's when he lost consciousness. Eddie was thrown from the truck so to the force of the lightning and Bobby watched as Buck flipped over the edge, dangling from the slack.
Hen looked up when she saw Eddie hit the ground, causing her to stare in shock, along with Chimney and Bobby and when Eddie saw them all staring, that's when he gained enough strength to get up.
What he saw, it was a sight the immediately branded his brain. it was a sight he would never stop dreaming about, a sight that he would never forget and suddenly, the pain he felt from being thrown to the ground left him and without a second thought, he ran up the ladder truck, screaming Bucks name.
he used any bit of strength he had to drag himself to wear Buck was and that's when everyone else made a move to help. he grabbed the slack, trying to get Buck to answer him.
"Buck! Buck, can you hear me?! Buck!" he yelled, not even able to hear himself yell over his own thoughts mixed with the rain and the frantic sound of people rushing to Bucks rescue.
When they finally got Buck lowered on a gurney, Eddie rushed down.
"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is Captain Nash with the 118, firefighter down at the MacArthur Park Apartment fire. Needs additional task force and rescue immediately," Bobby said into his radio in a calm but rushed tone.
Chimney and Hen began to work on him immediately as Bobby called his name, trying to get a response. Hen put two fingers to his neck but there was no luck, "no pulse," he worried tone showing as she looked at Chimney.
"get the lifepak on him," Chimney ordered, but Hen denied, shaking her head.
"he's in full cardiac rest, it doesn't make sense to shock him," she panicked but almost in a calm way, but Eddie heard.
"starting compressions," Chim called and got on Bucks lap, begging for a response as he pushed down on his chest. he felt Bucks ribs crack beneath his hands but he got no response.
When Chimney decided to stop, he felt the tears spill down his face as he looked at the litchenberg figures starting from Bucks neck, all the way down his torso, identical to the lightning strike that hit him.
he felt a hand on him pulling him off and when he looked up he saw Bobby, "chim, we gotta move, get off," He ordered, making Chimney get off immediately, but that didn't stop Eddie with the rescue breaths.
"Eddie," Bobby said, trying to get his attention, "Eddie! get off, you're driving.
"Dispatch, this is Captain of the 118, firefighter down, struck by lightning, unresponsive, 3 minutes out," Bobby said into the radio as he hopped in his captains seat of the fire truck and watched Eddie speed off.
When they made it to the hospital, they never even turned off the engine before they pulled Buck out of the ambulance, Eddie immediately getting on top of him, starting compressions again. he put his mouth to Bucks, pinching his nose and tilting his head back a bit and pushed his breath into Bucks lungs, not thinking the rescue breaths were strong enough. he felt Bucks lungs expand and deflate beneath him.
"he's in v-tach," Chimney shouted.
Eddie removed his head, "alright, clear," he yelled as they shocked Buck with the defibrillator as Bobby explained what happened. Eddie heard one thing and that was how long Buck had been out for.
his chest tightened as they got no response from the electric shock so Eddie continued his compressions. "come on, Buck, you can't leave us like this," he cried as he continued compressions. he put his mouth to Bucks again, breathing his air into Buck.
Hen checked Bucks pulse when Eddie pulled his mouth away and eyes widened, feeling Bucks faint heartbeat beneath her fingertips, "i got a pulse!" she shouted.
Eddie jumped off and let the doctors wheel Buck off, his heart aching and his vision blurry. Everything around him became distant as he stared at the hall. he heard the doctors say that they'd do their best when Bobby finished listing off anything only a parent would know.
"do more!" he shouted at them as they disappeared down the hallway.
his heart stopped, his world stop. everything surrounding him disappeared. his Buck? how could this happen. would it have happened if it was Chimney who went up the ladder? would they still be in this position? what could Eddie have done better? his best friend? why?
the same questioned repeated in Eddie's head as tears fell down his face. Hen and Chim standing in each others arms. Bobby looked at Eddie, seeing him spiral, and immediately wrapped an arm around him, pulling him to his chest.
Eddie looked up at Bobby, horrified, "he- he- i-," Eddie stumbled over his words as he pointed down the hall. his chest tightened and he choked on a knot in his throat.
"Eddie, breathe, he's gonna be okay," Bobby tried to assure him, to keep him from panicking.
Eddie's thoughts became distant again as he stared down the hallway, waiting to wake up from this awful nightmare.