umm i need reassurance that my presence is wanted but i can’t ask for reassurance because that’s really Embarrassing and it wouldn’t feel genuine if i asked for it
I will outlive him. I will be here when he is gone. I will be here when he has been erased. I will be here, telling stories, loving my wife, protecting my friends and family, cherishing joy and kindness and diversity. I will be here. He will not. It is only a matter of time.
Summary: Both Eddie and (Y/n) work in the hospital, but while Eddie is in surgery, a patient down in the ER attacks (Y/n). And the staff have to go and find her husband quick.
Enjoy.
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A rush of adrenaline sparked through (Y/n)'s stomach when a pair of arms deadlocked around her waist. Shivers coursed up and down her spine at the feeling of a chin pressing down on her shoulder and a familiar chest gluing against her back.
Her head twisted to the left and she pressed a quick kiss to her husband's temple, reaching her hands down to squeeze his wrists.
She loved the way he grinned and meshed his lips into the side of her neck, softly kissing her skin even though they were in the middle of the cafe. The feeling of Eddie's fingers squeezing her hips made her want to melt into a puddle. And she loved the body heat radiating off of him making her feel warm and fuzzy.
"Want a coffee?" She nudged her lips against his temple and began walking closer to the till, feeling him murmur 'please' into her neck.
Eddie kept his chest pressed up into her back and unhooked one hand from (Y/n)'s hip to grab one of the sandwiches from the fridge beside them.
He wasn't sure how long this break was going to last before he was summoned back into work, and Eddie didn't want to go back without eating something first. And he had a funny feeling that his wife hadn't eaten anything yet either so he knew sharing some food would be the best idea for them both.
When (Y/n) grabbed the two coffees the cashier held out, Eddie swiped his card from his pocket and paid before he finally unlatched from (Y/n). He wove his right arm around her waist and tugged her into his side with his lips attached to the back of her head and the sandwich in his left hand.
He followed (Y/n) towards a free table near the window and once she sat down, he wedged into the booth alongside her.
Once they were both sat down, (Y/n) leaned her head on Eddie's shoulder and tucked herself under his arm like he was a bird and she was taking shelter beneath his wing. She felt his hand gliding up and down her arm and the touch made her smile and she inched closer until one more inch would mean she was sitting on his lap.
"How's your morning going?" Eddie whispered against her hair and took a look around the practically empty dining area.
He hadn't seen (Y/n) since they both arrived at work this morning and parted ways for their respective positions. Eddie had gone upstairs to do routine appointments in the hospital, whereas (Y/n) had been put on the rota for the emergency room for the day. It was always both rewarding and challenging to work the ER.
Eventually he turned his head and took a bite of the sandwich. Lunch breaks weren't very long when they both worked in a hospital and if he didn't eat now, he dreaded to think when he would eventually get to eat.
"You wouldn't believe the kind of people who turned up so far. Oh, and dad brought a patient in too, the guy had a tape worm almost my height."
"Glad I'm not down there with you then."
Eddie would much rather be up with routine patients than dealing with emergencies. Half the people who walked into the emergency room didn't need urgent help and the other half had such strange issues that it scared Eddie to let them leave and fear what they would get up to when they went back home.
And Eddie knew his father-in-law was always one to deal with 'special cases' as they came to call them.
Bobby worked for the fire department and as such, he was always bringing people down to the emergency room. Which meant that (Y/n) often got to see her dad if she was working down there and she knew he always had fun cases to bring in and dealt with lots of strange things on his shift.
And it was usually (Y/n) who dealt with the cases her dad brought in. His team's motto and rules were that once they brought someone down to the hospital, they left them at the doors. No check-ins, no follow ups to see how they were doing, just leave them to the doctors. They got handed over to (Y/n) and Eddie.
Eddie leaned back in his seat and when he looked down at (Y/n), he nudged the other half of the sandwich over to her.
"Eat something now while you have the chance."
The look in his eyes made (Y/n) relent and take the sandwich, a grateful smile on her lips as she mixed some sugar into her coffee. Their respective jobs at the hospital were far from easy and when they were busy, it was hard to take a lunch break or a ten minute breather to go and get a drink. But while they were here together, Eddie would prefer if (Y/n) ate something, then at least he would know she would be alright if she got busy down in the ER. He didn't want her wearing herself thin.
"Do you think if I hid out here, anyone would notice?" She was only joking and they both knew it, but it was such a tempting thought.
To just sit here in the cafe and hide out for a while, take a proper break that they both deserved rathe than a few minutes to choke down a boiling hot drink and eat half a sandwich.
"Afraid so, baby. Don't worry, if I need a nurse for a consult I'll page you."
"Thank you,"
Eddie had paged for (Y/n) quite a few times when he had to have a nurse present in a consult to check a patient. It stole her away for a little while and got her out of the emergency room and all the hustle and bustle.
Closing her eyes, (Y/n) leaned further into Eddie's side and looped her arm around his middle. She would prolongue lunch as much as she could and scrape together as much time with her husband as possible before she had to go back to the team.
But it was comforting to think that if the emergency room got too much, she could head up to Eddie's office for a while.
Sitting down made (Y/n) feel tired enough that if she closed her eyes, she feared she would fall asleep. She was fine until she stopped moving and actually sat down, that was when the lack of energy hit her like a truck and knocked her back. And right now she felt like they were at home, curled up on the sofa together.
It was nice to feel Eddie's hand gliding up and down her arm while they both sipped their coffees.
Eddie closed his eyes for a few moments, but he groaned when he felt his pager vibrating and beeping on his belt. He knew it was too good to be true. Five minutes with his wife was all he was going to get. He was supposed to have a good twenty minutes for his lunch break, but clearly that wasn't going to happen today.
He leaned into (Y/n) and set his cup down so he could grab his pager and see what he was being called for. He was supposed to be on consultations today, but Eddie was always on standby. If there was an emergency, he would hand his cases down to a GP and head off wherever he was needed.
*Emergency appendectomy OR 6.
"Great. I'm gonna be in surgery for the next few hours." He twisted the pager in (Y/n)'s direction before he slotted it back on his belt. "If I don't catch you before we finish, just wait in my office for me."
They usually finished at the same time when their shifts lined up and Eddie would drive them both home. If he didn't see (Y/n) beforehand, he would see her when she came by his office when they both finished.
Their shifts didn't finish late tonight so Buck was getting Chris from school for them and he would drop him off after tea. They knew all of Bobby's team and they were all close, but Buck had become a very close friend to the couple.
"Have fun." (Y/n) sat up straight so she wasn't leaning on Eddie any more and she smiled when his hand cupped her chin and tilted her head back.
She could taste the sugar on his lips from his coffee and his thumb traced her jaw while he leaned into her.
"See you later baby, be careful."
Eddie's words spun round (Y/n)'s head that felt like it was full of air when he finally parted from her lips after stealing all the air from her lungs. His touch lingered on her skin as she watched him down the last of his coffee and weave between the tables.
His white coat flowing in the breeze at his quick descent and (Y/n) knew in half an hour that coat would be traded for a mint green set of scrubs.
With a sigh, (Y/n) downed her own drink, grimacing as it burned the back of her throat and settled heavy in her stomach. She felt a shiver coursing down her spine when she got up and slowly trudged out the cafe. She would head back to the emergency room, but she wasn't in any hurry.
There didn't seem much point in (Y/n) sitting here by herself any longer. She had gotten a small break and she got to spend a tiny portion of her day with her husband. She may as well get back to work now; the quicker she got back, the sooner her shift would finish.
She hoped.
***
(Y/n) ran her fingers through her hair while she finished writing up her notes, leaning against the nurse's station.
She could feel a headache rolling in and she just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. But there was still a few more hours left of her shift until she could go and find Eddie and head home. (Y/n) couldn't wait for next week. She and Eddie had booked the week off and that meant no one could ring either of them and ask for them to cover shifts or be on call.
They would get to be together for the week, the wouldn't have to be up early or home late or knackered from long twelve hour shifts. And they would get to be home with Chris. No swapping shifts and finding people to help watch him until they finished work. They could spend the whole week with him, and they had plans for the seaside and the amusement park.
She could barely contain her relief and excitement at the thought of leaving and heading home with Eddie this afternoon.
With her lower back arched out, (Y/n) leaned her head on her forearm as she finished up writing her notes and slotted the paperwork in the discharge file. It was easier when they got to see and discharge people on the same day rather than send them all over the hospital. Files got easily missed and the computer system didn't always update quick enough.
"(Y/n), did you discharge that last patient?"
Her head snapped to the left and she looked over at the Doctor Ardas. He was in charge of the ER today, and (Y/n) wasn't his biggest fan. He was all for pushing people past their breaking points. He didn't like people taking breaks or taking too long and to say he liked effeciency was an understatement.
"Yeah, she's been sent home."
"Good. Cubicle three needs assessing and bloods, the full works. Go." The way he pointed and wagged his hand in the right direction made (Y/n)'s jaw lock as she scowled.
What did he think she was, a trained puppet?
She didn't have chance to tell him not to be so crude and have some manners before he turned and walked away.
Great.
She thought about turning and skulking off somewhere, Eddie's office was only up on the second floor. She could make a break for it and hide away in there so she didn't have to deal with anymore patients.
(Y/n) had already taken blood samples, sone scratch tests, checked eyesights and set up patients on drips of antibiotics and saline. She had seen three different patients and discharged two of them after her short lunch break and she had barely discharged the last patient. She could use five minutes to just breathe and sit for a moment before she was run ragged again. But this was the job, and she couldn't exactly say no.
Pushing off the desk, (Y/n) clicked her spine into place and walked away from the nurses station to head down the short hall towards the emergency cubicles. Each one was a large room with glass doors and walls, all kept private with blinds and curtains.
When she reached the third cubicle, she grabbed the chart sheet from outside the room before she walked in and shut the door behind her.
Her eyes cast across the chart sheet but she could feel her blood draining down to her toes when she read it over.
(Y/n) wasn't prejudiced or discriminating in any way, she couldn't be in her line of work. But if there was one set of patients she didn't particularly like caring for, it was the ones on drugs. The ones who would become frantic and paranoid and could get vevry crude and snappy.
Sometimes with patients on drugs they were frightened, and (Y/n) could deal with them easier than the ones who got verbally aggressive and lashed out. Especially when they didn't want help, yet came to a hospital.
The chart said this patient had been brought in after a collision on the motorway and they suspected he was on drugs. (Y/n) was going to have to take bloods to confirm as well as check him for injuries and get him onto a ward, if necessary.
"Hi Joe, I'm nurse Diaz." She set the chart down and moved over to stand beside the bed.
The man was sat up on the bed, one hand cradling his temple and the other holding the rail like he feared he might fall off the bed.
"Can I take a look at you?"
When he didn't respond, (Y/n) leaned over and tried to move her hands towards his face so she could get him to look at her. He had a large gash on the side of his temple that needed attending to.
He didn't seem bothered when, after putting on gloves and getting some cotton swabs, (Y/n) started to clean the wound on his temple. His eyes constantly darted from his lap up to look at (Y/n) and then went back down to his hands that were now fiddling on his lap. He was shaking his hands and curling his fingers like he was losing sensation in his hands, but (Y/n) guessed it was because he was high and packed with adrenaline.
It didn't take long to clean his temple and (Y/n) determined he didn't need any stitches or glue, it would heal up just fine on its own.
But the way he looked up at her and suddenly had a smirk playing on his lips made (Y/n) wonder if he hadn't exactly noticed or looked at her earlier. He was staring at her now like he had only just took a proper look at her and seen the kind smile on her features.
"You're pretty." His voice was almost as sleezy as the smile on his face and he reached out to try and either touch her cheek or cup her face, (Y/n) couldn't be sure. But either way, she leaned just out of his reach.
"Thank you. Can I set you up on the monitor?" She pointed to the ECG machine in the corner and grabbed the clips that would need to be attached to his chest, but he didn't reply.
This time, when (Y/n) leaned over him and tried to motion to his chest, he seemed to come to life. His arm flung out and whacked her wrist, sending her arm jolting down to the side and causing a dull sensation to sting towards her elbow.
So he didn't want the monitors on.
(Y/n) took a deep breath and put them down. He wasn't about to go into cardiac arrest and he had refused, she couldn't force him to wear the monitors.
"Head up for me please." She swiped the flashlight from her top pocket and leaned in front of him so she could check his eyes.
He grunted and pulled back when (Y/n) lifted his eyelid and shone the light over his pupils. They were blown wide and not reacting as good to light changes. His nose scrunched and he huffed when (Y/n) grabbed a stethoscope and listened to his breathing and his heart, but he didn't hit her away this time.
"Have you taken anything today? Medication, narcotics, any drinking?" She jotted a few notes down on his chart but she was dismayed to see him snarling at her like she had insulted him.
"Nar-whats?"
"Non-prescription drugs, Joe." Using his name might make him calm down and feel listened to; at least that was the hope. It might also make him feel like (Y/n) was treating him as a person and not just as a patient, another casualty being brought through.
"If I s-say yes, will you arrest me?" He had a teasing manner to his voice and leaned forward towards her.
"I'm a nurse, not a police officer. I just want to help, if you tell me what you took I can make sure you don't have any adverse reactions and that you haven't overdosed."
He muttered "Nothing." beneath his breath, but (Y/n) wasn't sure if he was simply disagreeing with her or telling her he hadn't taken anything like that today. Not that she was inclined to believe him anyway.
(Y/n) may not be a police officer, but her step-mum was. She wouldn't arrest Joe, she would only treat him. Once he was on a ward and sorted out, then (Y/n) would inform her step-mum who would probably be the one to come down here and arrest him. But Joe didn't need to know that yet.
"I need to take a blood sample now, it might be uncomfortable but it won't take long."
(Y/n) moved over to the small unit in the corner of the room and got what she needed to take some bloods. That would tell them what Joe had been taking today to bring him here and if he was on drugs, it would be used against him for driving under the influence.
She pulled the small stool over towards the bed and sat down, laying the items down in a dish on the side table.
His left arm was closest to her and (Y/n) tried to be tender and careful when she pulled the plastic strap around his bicep to cut off his circulation. The action made him grunt again and he looked down at her with a raised brow and confusion plastered on his face.
"What're you doing?"
"I need to take some bloods." She got the needle ready and poised at the crease of Joe's elbow, but the moment she tried to slide it into his vein, he came alive.
His hand slapped into her shoulder and his other hand reached around to try and grab her. His fingers narrowly missed her head, clawing at a few strands of hair as (Y/n) scuffled back on the stool to be out of reach.
"You're not injecting me with anything." The gritty tone to his tempered voice made (Y/n) wince and she tried to hold up the needle with the empty vile attached. There was nothing to inject, she was retrieving a sample not giving one.
"I'm not-"
"Listen, just sign the forms so I can be discharged." He stumbled up onto unsteady feet and advanced over to (Y/n) who hurriedly hopped off the stool.
She had to take his bloods, it was far easier than taking a hair sample to test for drugs in his system and bloods also helped them rule out any infections and check on organ function. He was here to be checked over, he had to let (Y/n) help him.
"Joe, I'm only trying to help. Please sit down and as soon as I'm done, we can get you on an IV. You might have a concussion." He might indeed be concussed, but (Y/n) couldn't discharge him in this state, especially when she didn't know what he had taken and in what quantity.
"I don't wanna be prodded and poked. Sign the damn forms, you can even stay in here with me if that's what you're worried about."
"I'm flattered, but you need your bloods done so we can check you're okay. Let's get them done now, hm?" (Y/n) motioned to the tray and picked up the needle again while she motioned for him to sit down, but he didn't seem to be listening.
Once his eyes locked on the needle in her hand, his lips curled into a snarl and as quick as anything, he grabbed her wrist and bent her hand to the side. The motion was swift and violent enough to make (Y/n)'s hand tremble and she dropped the needle with a cry.
Her free hand grabbed his wrist and she pushed her effort into her arm to try and make him relent. Any second now she was expecting to hear her wrist snap from the brute force he was using.
"Let go." Her hand was trembling when Joe finally relented and released her wrist that was pulsing from lack of blood to her fingers.
She coiled both arms to her chest and looked around the room. If he wasn't going to cooperate then she would have to call for assistance, maybe even security. (Y/n) had had her fair share of tough patients, but the most she dealt with was verbal aggression or the odd shove when she had a panicked patient. This was different; Joe was different.
"You're a tough one." His words made her tremble and she sidestepped towards the end of the bed where the buttons and controls were. She needed to press the call button for help.
A gasp tumbled past her lips and (Y/n) flung her arms out in front of her when Joe suddenly grabbed her hips. His fingers pinched into her skin and he yanked her so forcefully that her feet bent awkwardly beneath her and she stumbled forward into him.
Her whole body went rigid when he tried to kiss her. She agreed with the officer's statement that he was most likely on drugs, but (Y/n) could taste alcohol on his breath too.
As soon as his lips touched hers, her trembling hands shoved at his chest and she writhed from left to right until he let her go and she could stumble back.
It didn't matter if someone was attacking (Y/n), if they hit her, put her in a headlock or tried to kiss her, she couldn't physically attack them back. (Y/n) couldn't kick, punch, hit or grab at a patient. She had been to the training, she vaguely remembered all the techniques to 'calmly and kindly' get out of a bad situation without harming the other person.
It didn't mean that it was easy when she just wanted to slap him and use force to get him away from her. But not at the risk of her job.
"That's- sit down. You can't do that." Her voice was croaky and her chest heaved as she sidestepped to the left towards the door. She didn't want to be in the room with him anymore and (Y/n) didn't need to be. He had tried to assault her, that gave her grounds to leave and she couldn't be forced to care for him any longer.
A high-pitch 'no' tumbled past her lips when a hand was suddenly latched into her hair and her body was propelled backwards. No one had ever grabbed (Y/n) or done anything like this to her before. She had never been in this situation and she didn't imagine she ever would be, either.
Most of the people down in the ER were seeking help, they didn't want to lash out or cause inappropriate situations. They needed help and most of the people (Y/n) treated weren't in any fit state to try anything like this.
"Where'd you think you're going?"
He seemed to try and twist (Y/n) around to face him, but she fought against him, turning her body in the direction of the door, desperate for an escape. And her head stayed twisted away from him as not to give him any satisfaction and show she wasn't agreeing to this situation.
Both (Y/n)'s arms coiled up in front of her but it did no use. She predicted Joe would swoop down and try to kiss her again. She didn't expect him to thrust her to the side and crash her into the bedframe. The beds in the emergency room all had plastic frames with rails around the sides and at the bottom to keep patients stable and secure.
That plastic frame felt like metal when (Y/n)'s forehead collided with it and when Joe slammed into her, the left side of her chest cracked against the bed frame. It knocked all the air from her lungs in the form of a scream and her eyes snapped closed as she felt her body tingling and turning numb.
She crashed to the floor, gasping and trembling through coughs and when her body seemed to come back under her control, (Y/n) could feel a horrible ache pounding in her chest.
Had she broken her ribs? She'd never broken anything other than her fingers before. She didn't know what it was supposed to feel like, but this horrible impaling feeling was close enough.
Her arms were trembling too much and her hands were too numb to try and find the pager on her waist. And she knew she wouldn't have the capability to try and send a message to anyone, not right now. and now she was on the floor, she was out of reach of the emergency buttons at the head of the bed.
Something croaky like a broken whine parted her lips when she felt Joe try to grab her legs. And she realised with utter dismay that he was kneeling over her waist with her thighs trapped between his knees. Pinning her down.
"You're my nurse, aren't you?"
His voice was horrible and gritty and sounded like poison in (Y/n)'s ears and again, she tried to raise her arms above her for protection.
She screamed as loudly as she could, ending in a cough while her legs writhed beneath him, heels scraping against the floor and her hands batted out in front of her when Joe tried to lean down.
He had something in his hand.
(Y/n) screamed again, repeating 'no' and 'help' because she couldn't see what he had grabbed. If it was a needle, she couldn't let him stab her with it. If she got an air bubble in her bloodstream it could kill her, air in the blood caused heart attacks and embolisms. (Y/n) couldn't have him causing that; she could die.
Tears streamed down her face that twisted to the right and she screamed when a sharp burning sensation scraped along the left side of her neck. Quick thorough; it couldn't be a needle he had hurt her with, that would have gone into her skin not sliced against her.
A scalpel. He'd found one on the medical trolley in the corner, that was the only thing sharp in here that he could weaponise.
"Help!"
(Y/n) scraped her heels against the floor, trying in vain to press her feet down and bend her knees to try and give herself some momentum. It didn't work. She couldn't sit up, and she couldn't move Joe off her either. And when the scalpel came within her blurring sight, she tried to reach out for his wrist to keep him at bay.
His hand curled around her already tense, bruised wrist and fought to pin her hand to the floor, earning another scream from (Y/n)'s lips.
Someone had to hear her. Someone had to come to her aid and get this idiot off of her. They had to stop him before he did some real damage or did something unforgiveable because (Y/n) couldn't fend him off on her own.
A sob got stuck in the back of her throat and her vision blurred with more tears as she screamed loud enough to make Joe wince above her and pause, if only for a few seconds.
Would Eddie still be in surgery? Would someone be able to go and get him once someone finally came to (Y/n)'s aid?
She wanted Eddie. She wanted her husband.
For a moment when his hand let go of her bruised wrist, (Y/n) thought maybe he was letting her go. She thought he might be having second thoughts or realising what he was doing in a drug-fuelled rage. But when she saw his hands roaming away from her face and she couldn't see the scalpel anymore, she started to shout.
It took a lot of effort to lift her head from the floor, trying to get her blurring eyes to focus and see what he was doing. She didn't want another injury.
The door flung open and bodies bustled in just as (Y/n) let out a horrific scream when the scalpel imbedded in her waist. The small blade wasn't long enough to imbed into her skin and hit an organ or reach the bone. It would barely cut to the muscle, it was made for skin and light layers of tissue and the blade was as thin as card.
But with enough effort, it plunged at least half an inch deep into (Y/n)'s waist, just above her hip bone.
Something akin to "Fucking nurse!" Blundered past Joe's lips when hands were grappling with his shoulders and at least two doctors and one security man grabbed him.
They dragged him back while a nurse hurried to crouch down beside (Y/n) who all but blacked out when Joe was dragged off of her.
Both her shaking hands moved to plaster against her waist and she coiled her knees up to her abdomen, twisting onto her side. The scalpal was still in Joe's hand. He had yanked it out when the doctors pulled him off her. Thank God it hadn't been a knife and hadn't inflicted a deep wound or (Y/n) would of bled out.
She tried to open her eyes but she could barely see a thing for the spots covering her vision. But she could hear Joe screaming and the thrashing about implied they were trying to pin him to the floor. They would sedate him. (Y/n) knew the drill, she knew a psychotic outburst like this meant they would sedate him and strap his wrists to the bedframe so he couldn't hurt anyone else when he came round.
"(Y/n)? It's okay, let's sit you up so I can take a look at you. Come on."
She recognised that voice, it was Amanda, a fellow nurse. Her hands were warm and cautious when she held onto (Y/n)'s upper arms and tried to get her to sit up. They couldn't help her if she curled up into a ball like this.
(Y/n) trembled back and forth like a leaf when Amanda eased her so she was sitting up, but that was as much help as (Y/n) wanted. She shuffled across the floor until she was cowering against the bedframe, clutching the plastic frame like it was her lifeline. And when Amanda tried to reach out for her again, (Y/n) sobbed and shook her head.
"E-Eddie." She didn't want anyone else's help. She wouldn't let any of them touch her and if they tried she was going to scream.
Amanda sank back on her heels, but she was already nodding and looking across at one of the doctors now that Joe was sedated on the floor. "We need Doctor Diaz down here."
***
"Diaz!"
Eddie couldn't help the sigh that tumbled past his lips and he hung his head down for a moment to try and collect himself.
His hands twitched at his sides, covered in a light layer of powder from the latex gloves he had been wearing for over three hours. He could feel the sheen of sweat trickling down the back of his neck and the way his hair crimped and flopped about his temple, probably flattened like a pancake by now.
With as much of a smile as he could muster, Eddie turned on his heels to see who was calling out to him. He moved his hands to his hips, clutching at the mint green scrubs that felt a little too baggy for him right now. At least he had gotten the scrubs off his shoes, he hated walking in those.
"Hey Jones, you okay?" His smile stayed strong even though his shoulders sagged and he waited to be asked something, it was inevitable. He had only just come out of surgery and already someone had gotten to him before he had the chance to change back into his work clothes.
"I- we have a situation down in the ER-"
"Jones, I'm not being funny but I've been in the OR for what, nearly four hours and I've not even got changed yet. Can't someone else deal with this?"
Was that so much to ask? Was Eddie being too demanding by wanting to have a few minutes to himself before he was dragged from one situation right into another? Why had they collared him? Was it because he had been the closest colleague Jones could find, or had someone sent for him specifically?
"It's your wife," A flash of panic crossed Eddie's face and his hands dropped from his hips while his back straightened out. Now Jones had his full attention. "She had a patient on drugs, he went bezerk and attacked her… he had a scalpel."
"Is she still in the ER?!" Eddie was already sprinting down the hall before Jones could reply.
He heard a faint 'cubicle three' shouted behind him and he waved his hand to signal that he heard the instructions. He slammed his hand against the lift button, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the lift, but it was on the fourth floor and it was taking a long time to get down two levels.
With a grunt, he twisted to the right and aimed for the stairs instead. He had no idea how long ago this incident had happened. (Y/n) could have been hurt up to three hours ago while he had been in surgery. Eddie knew no one would come and get him during surgery unless it was a life or death situation. They would have waited until now to tell him and that meant (Y/n) could have been seen by a colleague or she could have been waiting all this time for Eddie.
He didn't like the thought of either of those options.
He almost skidded twice as he twisted round the corners and bolted down to the ground floor. Panting and breaking out in a cold flush by the time he swiped his badge to enter the ER through the doctor's administration area.
It didn't take long to hurry down the hall, weaving between the cubicles until he found the third one. He knew he must of looked a bit of a sight when he barely knocked on the door before blundering into the room.
He prayed (Y/n) was still in here and he didn't have to go scouting round the hospital to find her.
She was here. Eddie's sights set on her immediately. Surprise washed over his face when he looked around the room which looked twice its usual sight now that there was no bed in the middle of the room. The beds in entire hospital were all moveable so people could be transported quickly and easily. Clearly whoever (Y/n) had been treating in here had been transported out and no one had brought the bed back in yet.
Something snapped inside of Eddie when his eyes locked on his wife. Why had they not moved her out of here? Why was she sat on the floor, curled up like she was a child trying to make herself disappear?
There was (Y/n) in the right corner of the room, pressing herself up against the wall while she stayed as curled up as a little kitten. Eddie recognised the nurse knelt down beside her to be (Y/n)'s friend Amanda. And when he looked to the left, he was a little more than shocked to see one of the security team stood behind the door on the other side of the room to (Y/n).
"Eddie," The relief in Amanda's voice caught Eddie off guard and he headed over to them while Amanda pushed up onto her feet. "She won't let me help."
"I'll take care of her. Both of you, out please." Eddie waved his hand towards the door, trying his best to be polite. He knew his wife. He knew (Y/n) hadn't let Amanda help because she wouldn't want anyone trying to patch her up. And he knew she certainly wouldn't want them standing and observing while Eddie tried to help her either.
Amanda seemed to understand because she didn't look at all put-out or upset. She nodded and led the way out, followed closely by the member of security who nodded in Eddie's direction before leaving, closing the door firmly shut behind him.
His heart broke to see (Y/n) crying like this. He crouched down in front of her, unsure whether or not to reach out for her in case she shrugged off his touch too. But when he rested his cautious hands on her arms, he was relieved to have (Y/n) push herself into his embrace.
Her face burrowed into his chest and she wedged herself into his arms, shivering until Eddie tilted his head down and kissed the back of her head.
"Oh, baby. What happened, Jones said a patient tried to hurt you." Eddie had never worried about (Y/n) getting hurt at work.
Sure, when they had contagious outbreaks and people coming into the ER with unknown illnesses, he worried. He didn't want (Y/n) being susceptible to those illnesses and needing to be treated herself, and neither of them wanted to take anything like that home where Chris could catch it too.
But no one had ever tried to attack (Y/n) before, the thought had never crossed Eddie's mind because it wasn't something that happened often here and (Y/n) was never involved.
His fingers tangled in her hair and for a few seconds, Eddie breathed in her scent and focused on the way her shallow breaths mingled into the thin scrubs he was wearing. But then he moved his hand to cup the side of her face and carefully tilted her head back. She had to talk to him. He had to assess her and find out what was wrong so he could help.
(Y/n)'s hand trembled as she cupped Eddie's wrist and leaned into his touch, trying to look up at him through blurring eyes.
"He was- he was okay, until I t-tried to do bloods. He wouldn't let go, he threw me into the bed…" Her eyes glanced down and she leaned more into his hand until he was practically holding her head up for her, waiting patiently for her to carry on. "He pinned me down, Jameston had to- to get him off me."
It hadn't been (Y/n)'s best hour to have her colleagues have to rush to her aid and physically drag a patient off of her like that. But she didn't have a choice. (Y/n) did everything she could to get out of that situation, but without being allowed to use force and with no one else there was backup, (Y/n) had been defenceless.
Eddie could feel resentment growing inside of him and he hoped he didn't have to see the patient who had done this because he wouldn't be able to hold back.
He went to reply, but his brows furrowed and his heart battered against his ribs when he looked down at his hand which was cradling her face.
He wrenched his hand away from her face and unravelled his other arm from her waist so he could grab her wrist. He pulled her hand close for inspection, taking (Y/n) by surprise, before he held her chin and tilted her head back.
"Where's the blood coming from?!" The urgency in Eddie's voice made (Y/n)'s stomach jump.
Her palm was coated in blood and so was Eddie's wrist from where she had grabbed him. Why was she bleeding? Where had she been hurt to start bleeding? What had that psychotic patient done to make her bleed?
(Y/n) stayed quiet as Eddie tilted her head to the side so he could inspect the slash mark down the side of her neck. It wasn't deep and it had already stopped bleeding, but seeing her with any blood from any altercation like this made Eddie want to scream.
"What'd he do?"
Eddie let go of (Y/n)'s chin and trailed his fingertips down her arms, scanning his eyes up and down her frame while he got a lack of response. But his frown deepened when he realised (Y/n) was slightly creased over and she had her right hand pressing down on the right side of her waist. Something he hadn't noticed earlier.
He held her hand and pulled it away, nostrils flaring as he sucked in the deepest breath (Y/n) had ever seen to the point his chest looked like it was going to explode.
Blood was soaked into her shirt and coated her hand like she was trying to do finger painting.
She tilted her head back and closed her eyes tight when Eddie scrunched up her shirt to see the wound. It was small and clearly not deep enough to hit muscle or bone, but it was enough to cause a lot of bleeding like this and the way (Y/n) kept creasing forward with every breath told Eddie it hurt more than she was trying to let on.
"Baby, what did he do?" The guttural tone to Eddie's voice made (Y/n) whimper and she went back to clutching his wrist while he tried to inspect the cut.
"Found a scalpel… Eddie I- I think he broke my ribs, when I hit the bed."
The way Eddie dropped his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose made (Y/n) cry harder. She felt like she had done something wrong. She was a nurse. She was supposed to care for patients and stop situations from getting out of hand like this, but she didn't manage it today.
But when Eddie looked back at her, she was surprised when he pecked her lips and moved his hands to her elbows.
"I'll patch you up, get you an X-ray, then I'm taking you home." He could see his words took her by surprise and he hated how (Y/n) trembled when she gripped his arms, letting him take her weight as he got her up to her feet. He guided her trembling frame across to the chair in the corner and eased her down before he grabbed the stool and wheeled it across so he could sit in front of her.
(Y/n) stayed still and quiet, trying to stifle a whimper when Eddie lifted her arms and took off her shirt, leaving her in her bra and trousers.
Her eyes followed him as he scrubbed the blood from his hands and snapped on a fresh pair of gloves. Expertly finding the cotton swabs and anticeptic before he wheeled closer until their knees were touching and he was hunched over her lap to reach the wound.
Her stomach sucked in and she flinched away from his touch when he started to clean the wound. And he murmured a soft "Sorry baby," every time she flinched.
"Dios, he got you deep for such a small wound." It angered Eddie until he felt like a volcano on the brink of errupting. There had to of been a lot of force to cut (Y/n) this deep with such a small blade and cause this much bleeding.
Eddie threw the cotton swabs in the bin, grimacing at how many bloodied swabs he was using to clean her wound and the surrounding skin. But he had to make sure it was clean and that the bleeding was slowing down. At least it was small enough not to need stitches or gluing back together. Once the bleeding slowed down, Eddie applied some cream and looked for some suture strips.
He needed to keep the wound closed so it wouldn't bleed out. The strips were great for small cuts, but he winced each time he applied one of the thin rectangular strips. Three of them kept the wound tightly closed, and then with a patch of gauze over the top, (Y/n) was patched up.
"Can I check your ribs?"
(Y/n) wordlessly nodded and tried to sit up straighter, holding her left arm out at her side so Eddie could check them.
She felt like closing her eyes, but focused her vision on Eddie's face instead. Their eyes locked for a few moments while his index and middle finger tenderly prodded at her chest, checking each rib down the left side.
"I count two, you'll need a scan because I don't know if they're fractured or clean breaks."
Fractures were worse, they weren't complete splits in the bone and they could heal wrong. And Eddie needed to make sure if they were broken that they weren't at risk of puncturing a lung.
"No other injuries I need to know about, right?" He dreaded to ask in case (Y/n) had any other breaks or sprains or bruises he had to check over. She shouldn't be injured at all. She should be tending to patients and calming them down instead of sitting here, beaten up, needing Eddie to tend to her wounds. This wasn't right, it wasn't fair.
(Y/n) shook her head and sniffed, trying in vain to stop herself from crying but she couldn't seem to help it.
"I- I'm sorry, I should of-"
"Hey." A gasp elicited from her lips when Eddie's hand gripped her chin and their eyes locked. "I don't wanna hear any of that, mi amor. He hurt you, he had no right to do that and you have nothing to be sorry about. Understand?"
When she nodded, Eddie brushed his thumb across her chin, murmuring a soft "Good," against her lips that he stole a tender kiss from. He could feel salt tears trickling across her lips and each shallow breath she let out, but after another deep kiss, her breaths deepened and began to even out.
He wouldn't have (Y/n) apologise or feel bad for anything. She hadn't done anything wrong, she was the one who had been hurt.
Eddie slid his hands down to (Y/n)'s waist, carefully helping her up from the chair and he managed a smile when she tucked her face into his chest and looped her arms around his neck. He cupped the back of her neck and wound his other arm around her waist, pressing his palm into her lower back where his fingers tapped and messed with the band of her trousers.
"You're okay. I've got you, amor." He pressed his lips longingly and lovingly against the side of her head, breathing in her scent as he began to sway them from side to side.
They didn't need to go for an X-ray right away, they finally had a few moments to spare for Eddie to comfort her and hold her in his arms like this. And he knew in a little while he was going to have to call his father in law and pray that he got through. He didn't want to leave a message for Bobby to say (Y/n) had been attacked at work, it was a conversation that had to happen in person.
I did this painting a while ago and I think it’s the first time I’ve done one and actually sat back and felt happy. I didn’t look for mistakes I didn’t panic that it didn’t resemble the actor. I was very happy with it and finally decided to see what you all think.
I think Oliver is such a great muse for photos and drawings ❤️
Okay, so this is my first time writing an AU fic for 911, Eddie Diaz, as requested by a lovely anon. I utterly loved writing this and I hope to do more like this soon.
(If anybody would be interested in a Doctor AU series for any of the 911 boys please let me know)
Summary: When a tsunami strikes LA, Eddie pulls overtime at the hospital to care for as many patients as he can. Little does he realise that his wife will be one of his patients, and he won't let anyone else look after her but him. (AU, Eddie is a Doctor)
Enjoy.
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Eddie's nose crinkled at the smell of the coffee. Too strong. A splash of milk he didn't intend. A hint of tea curdling the mix. No amount of sugar in the world could make this bearable, but Eddie couldn't be bothered to buy another three cups from the decades old machine to get the perfect blend.
He didn't have time to run down to the cafeteria for a proper cup and all the machines on each ward were either old, broken or used the cheap blend Eddie would never touch outside of work.
He only drank the coffee from the machines when he was desperate and right now, with a twelve hour shift that was probably going to be extended, Eddie needed something to keep himself awake.
His lips curled down at the corners when he took a sip and a shudder rocked his body at the curdling taste.
With a sigh, he turned on his heels, dragged his free hand down his face and took a step away from the machine. His break would be over in a few minutes, he had to get back to his office.
His head snapped back and his shoulders barged into the machine, pushing the decrepit coffee maker into the beige wall loud enough to create an echo surging down the corridor. Eddie lifted his arms and hissed when the coffee spilled over his hands and dribbled through his fingers while he pushed himself back enough to be out the way of the gurney speeding down the corridor.
"Dios, Marcy, where's the fire?" Eddie's voice lowered a few tones and he rose a brow when he locked eyes with the familiar nurse who almost ran him over.
The gurney was empty- well, it was empty of a patient, at least.
There were over ten IV bags wobbling about on the mattress like bags of jelly that looked rather weak and ready to pop. Rolls of bandages, gauze, bottles of anticeptic, cotton swabs and packaged needles were littering the gurney that looked like it had robbed the supply cupboard.
The young nurse paused in her speeding attempt down the corridor. Sweat trickled across her forehead and down the side of her neck, causing a few loose strands of hair to stick to her skin. She puffed and leaned against the end of the gurney, letting her shoulders sag.
When she relaxed, Eddie realised how panicked and worn out she looked. She hadn't been on shift for more than five hours, she turned up way after Eddie clocked in for his shift.
"You mean the flood."
"Pardon?"
"Didn't you hear? The ER's been taken over, we're swamped down there. Everyone's being redirected."
"Why?"
Eddie hadn't heard anything, he had been in theatre for the last six hours of his shift. He had been removing an appendix, sorting out internal bleeding and stitching up a ten year old. He hadn't had time to bustle about and find out the latest gossip in the hospital. Before he went into surgery, everything had been as normal as ever.
Now though, he had encountered at least four nurses running around like headless chickens. Another two of his colleagues had been called to the ER over the tanoid and Eddie had barely seen anyone on the upper floors here. He thought it odd, but he had no idea something big was happening.
Marcy tilted her head at an angle and let out a shallow breath. She took a moment to swipe her hand across her temple before she looked back at the doctor stood beside her.
"There's- there's been a tsunami, high level. It took out the pier and all the coast, at least four miles inland."
"Jesus," Eddie dumped his cup in the bin beside him, shaking his hand free of coffee remnants before he dragged his hand down his chin.
A tsunami? In LA?
There had been no warnings or signs about this. No one had been on red alert or suspected anything. Usually they got a small warning, maybe an hour or less before the disasters happened, like with hurricanes or thunderstorms. The hospital had preparations and plans in place, they could usually get set up ready for a natural disaster if one were to occur.
"We've got people coming from all over, brought in on trucks, walk-ins, even the LAFD are out driving people to us. The ER is overspilling… I gotta get these supplies down there."
"Go, go." Eddie patted her shoulder and watched her give him a sympathetic smile before she resumed her high-speed charge towards the lift at the end.
Eddie's shift wasn't going to finish anytime soon.
How could he go home when they were getting people being brought in from all across the state? People were dying. People were crawling and dragging their families down to the nearest hospitals, wading through water and grime and busted cars and broken telephone wires. They were trying to get themselves to safety and thousands of people could be injured.
There was no way he could go home when people were being brought in on trucks, needing medical help.
He was a doctor. It was his duty to help people and save as many lives as possible. Eddie couldn't go home until the hospital had people on wards and they had helped every person that came in through their doors.
Rummaging his hand in his pocket, Eddie fished out his phone. He was surprised to find he still had some signal, a tsunami usually brought down the phone lines. They had to be far in land here to be unharmed.
He had to call (Y/n). If he wasn't going to be getting out of here anytime soon, he had to let (Y/n) know and make sure she and Chris didn't venture out far with this mess going on. The last thing he needed was his family getting stuck in a traffic jam or being caught up or swamped somewhere with the waves still lashing out and coming inland.
She didn't answer.
"Hey mi amor, I don't know when I'm gonna be home, there's some sort of tsunami happening and we're getting casualties left right and centre. I'll call you when I know more. I hope you and Chris are having a better time, amor. Stay safe."
With his phone in his pocket and his pager in his hand, Eddie looked through the two messages he got. They wanted him down in the ER. He was on standby for any emergency operations if any casualties came through.
Into the chaos.
The tails of his pristine white overcoat flapped behind his thighs as he jostled down the stairs towards the emergency room. There was no point waiting for the lift when others needed it more and Eddie could use the stairs.
He didn't like what he saw. People sat on the floor in the stairwell and the adjoining corridors. Sat on blankets. Holding gauze to major cuts, empty water bottles sat beside them. Water trickling down the stairs causing a major hazard. Two, three and four people sharing one oxygen tank between them, taking turns with the mask to try and keep each other from gasping like fish.
Were these people all walk-ins from the disaster? Were these patients that had been moved out of their rooms and wards to make way for more dire emergencies?
How many more people were going to be coming into the hospital? How many more people could they help before they were overflowing and had no space left?
Could they even turn people away? Eddie had never known them to turn anyone away, especially not in a disaster. But they were clearly reaching maximum capacity if people were sitting in stairwells and lying in corridors. They might have to turn people away, how could they help people if they had no space and were using up their extra resources?
The doors swung open when Eddie barged into the emergency room. He clipped his ID badge onto his waistband for easy access in case he had to go and grab more supplies. All the corridors were locked for safety, if the patients wanted through they had to be buzzed in and all staff had keycards.
"Darren, what have we got?"
"What haven't we got?" The nurse deadpanned, dropping his shoulders as he spun to face Eddie. He rose a brow when he realised what Eddie was wearing. He wasn't in his usual button up shirt or trousers. He was in pale turquoise scrubs and his usual bleached white overcoat. That was a giveaway that he had been in surgery.
"Alright, smart arse, who's shift lead down here?" Eddie's hands moved to his hips and he took a look around.
The emergency room had never been so compact.
Most of the curtains were pulled back with little privacy so they could push the beds closer together and squeeze more patients in. People were sitting on blankets on the floor. Others were lining the walls, sat, crouching and stood waiting to be seen by anyone available.
Some were wearing wristbands of different colours, red meant someone was in dire need of help, green were those who could wait and amber meant they would need attention soon.
Black was reserved for those who were either dead or not going to make it. It had been a long time since Eddie had seen the wristband system come into play.
"Jameston was pulled up to theatre, Macabee's been pulled somewhere else, we're just helping who we can."
"Fuck." Eddie's fingers scratched through his scrubs until he was sure he would have red indents in his skin and blood wheels bubbling up beneath his skin. If no one was on shift lead then people didn't have anyone to report to, that meant people would just help whoever they wanted or whoever was closest. They needed a system.
If no one was going to take charge then Eddie would take that role himself. People could listen to him or get out the emergency room.
"Alright, listen up." He made his way over to the circular reception desk in the middle of the room. "If you don't have a wristband, come get one. Green bands in that corner, amber over here. If you have red then someone will come and move you towards the back."
Coloured bands were there for a reason, people were meant to be segregated into their groups, not compiled together like this. Eddie pointed for where he wanted them to go and waved his hands towards the back for all the red patients to be escorted over. The back was closest to the equipment and near the lifts for easy transfer.
"You three, go to red I want four nurses in the red corner at all times, do not leave those patients. Johnson, you're in charge or those three, deal with amber and get them onto a different floor. The rest of you sort out the greens, anyone who can be stitched up and sent out needs to go. We aren't a cafe we are here for serious injuries."
Eddie could see the funny looks he was getting, but no one dared argue with him. He was putting himself in charge and they needed to agree or go to a different ward for different orders.
This was a hospital. Anyone who had minor injuries needed to be given paracetamol, checked for cuts and sent home. They could get antibiotics from their GP and they could get seen by a pharmacist for any minor complications. They had no room, no space and no time to deal with anyone who wasn't in critical condition.
"We've been separated, w-we need to find out families-"
"Ma'am, I completely understand that, but you can't do that here."
"We need to see if our families have been admitted!" An angry father, or, Eddie presumed he was a father by his stance and his panicked temper, stomped his foot on the floor.
He wanted to find his loved ones. He had a few injuries that weren't life-threatening. He wanted to find his family and he couldn't leave the hospital if he wanted to do that.
He looked Eddie up and down when the doctor advanced over to him with a calm expression and his hands at his sides.
"Look around," Eddie's voice was gentle but his words were oddly firm. "We aren't taking names at the moment, we treat people, we get them onto a ward or on their way. We don't get names until they are safely in a bed or about to leave. In here, we have no way of knowing if your family have arrived, have been transferred or are in theatre."
They couldn't take names straight away. Some people weren't in any fit state to give their names or ask about their families. Their job as doctors was to patch people up and get them safely into theatre or onto a ward.
"If you go out into the gardens, the emergency services will set up tents and take names. They will help you find your family, but I can't have you taking up time and resources in here if you are fit and able to wait outside. Please."
It sounded harsh, but this was an emergency like no other. Eddie had no space for people to sit here and people-watch, waiting for their families to come in or to hear any news they were desperately seeking.
The emergency services and some of the hospital reception staff would already be setting up tents outside. They took names and cross-referenced against those who had been able to give their names on arrival. They checked for people on wards, people in the morgue and those who were dead but yet to be identified.
Once the man nodded, Eddie pointed at someone to check them over and guide the group of people out who had green wristbands.
He turned to face the reception desk, taking deep breaths to try and calm down the tremors that were rattling through him. But his brows furrowed and he sighed when he looked at the desk. Papers were scattered everywhere. Some were drenched in water from the patients who came in, scrambling for help at the desk. Others were scribbled so hastily that Eddie couldn't make head nor tail of the words.
"Janice, what is going on here?" His hands fumbled around, motioning to all the paperwork.
"I've had over two hundred people to sign in and send upstairs-"
"How do you know which ones are which?"
Her lack of reply had Eddie running his hands over his face with a deep, grumble that racked his chest and had his jaw locking in place. Could no one organise in this mess? Had they all forgotten how to cope in a disaster? It had only been a year since the Earthquake and Eddie had worked three days straight during that period.
They had a great system during that disaster, did everyone just forget how to cope and how to function in times like these?
"Dios, we can't work like this-"
"What do you want me to do? Doctor?" She added on quietly at the end, looking down to her hands when she realised she might just be speaking a bit out of term to a senior doctor.
"I want you to organise this desk. Forget about filing the paperwork, okay? Blank paper is what you need. Get people to write their names down if they can, one page for green, one for amber, one for red. Keep them in piles, then we know where people are when we have to log into the system after everyone's sorted. Get rid of this shit, start over."
Eddie's abdomen dug into the desk while he grabbed a large stack of paperwork and tossed it behind the desk onto the floor.
Forms were no good in an emergency, things needed to be plain and simple. Names, where they were being sent, that was all they needed right now. No insurance forms, no past discharge notes, just the main details. Names, dates of birth, allergies, that was it.
When Janice nodded, Eddie spun on his heels and looked around. Everyone was listening to him, people were more organised and it meant the nurses fluttering around here were helping the right people and they weren't stuck like headless chickens.
"If you just sit down here-"
"If he's amber sit on the left, if he's red move to the right but not in front of the bloody doors please." Eddie snapped, pointing across at the young nurse who was just about to sit an elderly man in front of the back doors that led off to the X-ray corridor.
Did people not use their brains? Where they all shutting down and waiting for Eddie to take charge? Was he going to have to order them all around and do their jobs for them? They couldn't sit someone in front of the doors because if they swung open that poor man would be knocked flying and he would be in a worse shape than when he arrived.
He could see the nurse bite down on her lip as if she might start crying and it made Eddie's heart spasm. But she held herself together. She put on a shallow smile and helped shuffle the man to the left and sit him down next to a cot bed with a young woman on.
"Doctor Diaz?" A timid voice broke Eddie out of his thoughts and had him spinning on his heels.
A young nurse. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five, maybe younger, he wasn't sure. Both her hands were clasped together in front of her and her fingers were scratching at the back of her hands. Her arms were shaking, elbows were pinned into her waist and her shoulders were hunched and pulled forwards.
She looked like she needed medical help with how anxious she was and Eddie wasn't sure if she was about to be sick or not. Tears were in her eyes and she was breathing shallow.
"Yes?" His tone was softer than before and he tried to smile to calm her down but it didn't seem to work.
"What- um, what do we do with the bodies?"
Her words stunned Eddie and he took a cautious look around. He had seen people looking like they were on Death's door, but no one seemed to have passed away yet. But when the nurse shakily pointed over her shoulder, Eddie saw.
He saw the body of a teenager, just a few years older than his own son. Not breathing. Not moving. Laid languidly on a cot bed as if he was passed out.
Eddie ran a hand across his face and took a strangled breath through his fingers.
He could feel his hands about to tremble with the adrenaline shooting through his system. He reached out, tensing his fingers to keep his hand from shaking and he gave her shoulder a squeeze before he spun to face the reception desk.
His nimble fingers scoured through the paperwork behind the desk until he found what he was looking for.
A black lanyard. A rectangle piece of paper, as black as night and as scratchy as hay. There were white lines for a name to be written across and a time, date and cause of death.
"Johnston! Gurney." Eddie waved the nurse over and walked the younger nurse back towards the patient. He handed her the lanyard. "Do we have a name?"
She shook her head.
"Then take him towards X-ray, out the side doors and into the foyer… he needs to be laid with the unidentified and recorded."
Eddie didn't want her taking the teen out through the ER doors. People were still coming in. No one deserved or needed to see a dead body being wheeled out, it would cause panic and it wasn't respectful. If they had a name then he could have been taken to the morgue. Without a name, he had to be laid in the tent with the other unidentified and the easiest way to get there without alarming people was through the X-ray corridor.
This was going to be a long day, and it had only just begun.
***
"We're nearly there, you just hang on for me, okay?" Tremors rattled through Buck's voice and gave away the sheer desperation welling up inside of him.
He continued to push the gurney with his right hand while his left hand deadlocked around his sister's palm. He could feel her hand, a mixture of sweat and salt water dribbling between their fingers, squeezing his tightly. And her nails that were split and had layers of mud stuck beneath them were scratching into the back of his hand. Holding tightly to let him know she was still hanging on, just like he asked.
The emergency room doors parted easily and allowed the 118 to glide straight through, but Buck's voice boomed over the rest of the sounds like a siren, demanding to be heard.
"Diaz! Where's Doctor Diaz?"
"Sir, we're very-"
"Get me Doctor Diaz now!" Buck all but slammed his foot down on the glistening tiled floor that was littered with smudges of blood, dirt and puddles of salt water that was as brown as milk chocolate.
He needed his brother in law. He needed Eddie. (Y/n) needed a doctor and the only one she needed right now was her husband.
Eddie spun on his heels, pen light clasped between his teeth and stethoscope hung around his neck. He looked over his shoulder, hands paused in mid air as he crouched in front of a young boy he was trying to assess.
It wasn't enough to direct people in the ER and try to create a system, Eddie was still a doctor and until he was called up to surgery, he had to assess people down here. He had to do his fair share, or more than his fair share when no one here seemed to be able to do their jobs properly. Eddie had assessed patients, sent them to X-ray, sent others to an MRI.
He had done CPR on an elderly woman, a tracheotomy on a middle-aged man choking on what he had inhaled during the floods. And he had the harsh job of sending another three people to the unidentified tent out in the foyer when they passed away.
But he knew that voice.
He knew that loud, sometimes obnoxious, but mostly caring voice that had risen an octave and sounded as distressed as Eddie had ever heard him.
Buck. His brother in law. Eddie thought his brother in law would be working today, this was an emergency and he knew Buck was all for helping anyone he could. But Eddie hadn't thought he would see Buck today, he thought their jobs would keep them separate and he would see him in a few days to talk and go over what had gone on today.
"Buck?" Paranoia flooded Eddie's voice as he narrowed his eyes and looked around the emergency room.
He found Buck easily. That sandy blond hair, damp and curled to the max. Those broad shoulders, towering over everyone else within reach. Those ocean blue eyes that held so much pain and panic within them that it physically made Eddie feel sick.
"Buck, what are you…"
(Y/n).
His wife. There she was. Not safely tucked up at home. Not at home snuggled up with Chris watching a movie or listening intently to the news.
She was laid on the gurney, looking worse for wear and clinging to her brother's hand.
What had happened?
"No, no no!" The pen light dropped to his feet, his hands began to shake and his shoes clicked against the floor as he skidded over towards his wife.
He didn't know the other people gathered round the gurney, but it didn't take much to work out that they had to be Buck's team who he worked with. There were three of them, to be exact, all gathered round the gurney like they were waiting for a premonition to take place.
The moment he reached the gurney, Eddie was stooping over. His trembling hands cupped (Y/n)'s face that was damp, although he couldn't tell whether it was sweat or sea water. His thumbs glided over her cheeks that were a mix of hot and cold all together, all at once. He creased his abdomen to double over the gurney and his elbows pinned into (Y/n)'s arms.
She shakily let go of her brother's hand and tried to open her eyes. They were still burning like the fires of Hell from all the water. She could barely breathe. She couldn't see properly. Eddie's figure looming over her was almost as if she was seeing an angel, guiding her to the afterlife.
A halo of light surrounded Eddie's frame, but (Y/n) just managed to make out the creases around his eyes, the bridge of his nose and those ruby red lips that were barely touching her own.
"Mi amor," Eddie didn't trust himself to speak properly and he couldn't drag his eyes away from his wife.
He pecked her lips, feeling just how frozen cold they felt against his own and it made him cringe. His thumbs continued to glide across her cheeks while he tilted his head to the right and looked up at his brother in law.
"Eddie," (Y/n)'s voice was quiet and each breath she took hitched higher than the last, but the look in her eyes had Eddie's heart breaking. She was relieved. She was staring at him like she had taken a long pilgrimage and had finally found safety and sanctuary with him.
She knew she was safe now.
"What happened- w-where's Chris?"
"We found them clinging on top of a swamped fire truck. Chris is in our truck, h-he's fine I swear. But you need to help her."
A small ounce of relief dwelled in Eddie's stomach. His son was safe. Chris was patched up and clearly didn't need any medical attention like (Y/n) did. They had found both of them and managed to get them out of the wreckage. (Y/n) had been saved by her brother and his team. She had managed to stay with Chris and not get separated, at least, not for very long. They had both been found.
"Let me look at you, mi amor." He hushed quietly and pecked her lips again before he reeled up enough to assess her.
His hands wandered up and down, checking for any deep abrasions or broken bones or anything that didn't seem right.
Both (Y/n)'s arms were pinned to her chest, but she deadlocked her hands around Eddie's arm. Tears flushed her face, sniffles and gasps left her split lips and she was trembling back and forth. Her knees were lifted up like she was trying to curl up and get into the fetal position to make herself feel better.
Eddie could see hundreds of cuts littering her arms and her exposed chest. Her shirt had been cut down the middle, presumably so they could assess her chest and there was a cut just under her fifth rib. It didn't look extensive, but it would need stitches.
When he tried to press down on her abdomen, (Y/n)'s knees jolted up and a mewling sob left her lips. Her head tilted back into the gurney, pushing her throat out and she gurgled through each breath.
"Hurts!"
"Shh, sorry baby, I'm sorry. Let me see, please." He gently moved her arms away so he could assess again but when he pressed down on the right side of her abdomen just above her hip, she coiled inwards again. "Intestine's ruptured. Shit."
"I'll go sit with Chris." Chimney patted Buck's shoulder before he jogged out, they didn't want to leave Chris sat on his own for too long.
"Her breathing's very laboured and mismatched." Hen had tried to assess (Y/n)'s chest, but she was still breathing. Every now and then she would cough or take five sharp, thin breaths all at once. She couldn't hear any water in her lungs and she was still breathing so that couldn't be the case.
Eddie swiped the stethoscope from his neck and pressed them to his ears. He let (Y/n) smother her face against his right arm while he leaned over her and pressed the stethoscope against her back to listen to her lungs.
But he suddenly felt (Y/n)'s forehead slamming into his arm and her fingers scraped through his jacket sleeves, digging into his arm so tightly she was cutting off his circulation.
He dropped the stethoscope and reached forward, taking the small torch light from Hen's top pocket before she could ask what he was doing.
He twisted (Y/n) so she was laying on her left side, facing him as he crouched down in front of the gurney.
"Open. Open up."
Eddie shone the light in her mouth and squinted to try and see if there was any obstruction.
(Y/n) clasped her fingers around his wrist, closing her eyes tightly as she started to shake. Something didn't feel right. Her chest felt constricted, her lungs weren't opening up and taking proper breaths anymore. She felt like she was going to be sick.
She could feel someone's hand at the back of her neck and when she started to cough, her body shuddered and she jerked her legs out when Eddie's hand moved to her mouth.
"I'm sorry- baby just keep breathing it's okay." Eddie grimaced as water spluttered past (Y/n)'s lips and dripped down onto the floor. He pushed his fingers past her lips towards the back of her throat, hating the way she squirmed and tried to push him away, but he could see she was choking on something.
Buck wrapped an arm around his front and gagged, turning his head away when he watched Eddie slowly pull a long stream of either seaweed or some sort of tangled up plant from (Y/n)'s lips. She must have inhaled it during the struggle when the first wave hit. She didn't even know she had inhaled that into her lungs.
Eddie tossed the seaweed onto the floor by his feet, shaking his hand, relieved he was wearing gloves for doing that.
"Janice!" He tossed his head to look over his shoulder at the receptionist who was dumbstruck, unsure what to do. "Find me an OR and a surgical team. Ruptured intestine, I need to operate now."
"Um… theatre four, floor two should be free."
"Someone bring Chris."
Eddie reeled up back to his full height, grabbed the edge of the stretcher and began steering them towards the back corridor through the middle of the ER. Chris could come up, he could wait in Eddie's office where Buck could wait with him once (Y/n) was in theatre and being looked after.
This was his worst nightmare. This was something Eddie had always been fearful of. Having his wife and son caught up in something horrid like this. He had been extremely lucky last year that Chris had been safe at school and (Y/n) had been at home when the Earthquake hit. Both of them had been out the way and in no danger.
Not like today. They had been caught up in this natural disaster and now Eddie had to operate on his wife. He had never done this before. He had stitched (Y/n) up at home a few times, but he had never had to operate on her or have her need any type of hospitalisation like this.
He wasn't supposed to operate on family members. It was too dangerous in case something happened or she died or Eddie made a mistake. But this was an emergency. All their staff had been redirected, no one was where they were supposed to be. Any doctor was being diverted to any theatre, operating room, ward and scan that they could to observe and help and intervene.
Eddie didn't have time to wait around for another colleague to come over and operate on (Y/n). He had done this procedure hundreds of times before and he wasn't going to trust anyone else to look after his wife the way he would.
"E-Eddie," (Y/n) gave a soft tug on Eddie's hand that she had confiscated and pinned against her chest. She could barely open her eyes to look up at him, but she was relieved when he leaned down and kissed her temple.
She managed to focus enough to watch him scan his badge against the doors and guide them out of the emergency room and into a more secluded corridor with less casualties around ever corner.
"Yeah, baby?"
"Don't l…leave me."
"I'm not going anywhere without you, mi amor." He kissed the back of her hand before the three of them crammed into the lift.
Bobby was hanging back with Hen, waiting for Chimney to come out with Chris so they could catch them up. The team weren't leaving, they would wait and stay with Buck so they could comfort him and wait on any news of his little sister. It had been a stroke of luck that they had found (Y/n) rather than any other team. Buck had made it his mission to look after his sister and he told them exactly which hospital to go to, although none of them had known why Buck was fixated on this hospital. Until they saw Eddie.
Once they were up on the second floor, Eddie flagged down a passing nurse before he turned to face Buck.
"My office is around that corner, second door on the left. I'll find you as soon as it's done." He unclipped his keycard from his scrubs and handed it over. Buck was welcome to wait in his office, Chris had been in there hundreds of times before so he would know where to go and he would be okay there. Chris had a few of his books in the office to occupy him.
Once Buck headed back into the lift so he could go find the rest of the team, Eddie began his descent down the corridor, pushing the gurney single-handed.
"Okay, reception said we have an emergency?" Cranston placed his hands on his hips and stood outside the empty operating room he had been told to get scrubbed up for another surgery.
But once his eyes landed on the girl on the stretcher, his hands fell at his sides and he shook his head. (Y/n). He had seen her here many times when she came to visit Eddie or when she brought Chris down for a visit. Eddie couldn't be here for this. He couldn't be the leading surgeon, he wasn't allowed.
"No, Diaz you can't-"
"No one else is touching my wife. I'm her doctor now, got it?"
I'm crediting @hippolotamus for the idea for this cause she sent me a WHOLE FUCKING FICLET when I asked for ideas. Thanks my love, you're so appreciated.
"Can you show me where it hurts?" Buck pleades as he kneels next to the couch. His hands hover over Eddie's curled up form on the couch, afraid to touch but desperate to comfort, to sooth his hands over his best friend's sides and ease the hurt that Eddie's clearly in. "Please, Eds, let me help you."
Eddie curls further into himself, bringing his knees up to his chest and he wraps his arms around them, hugging himself close. An ugly sob rips from his throat and Buck's heart shatters into a million pieces. If he could shield Eddie (and Chris, for that matter) from all the pain in the world, take the bullets for them, he would, and the fact that he can't protect Eddie from... this - it's causing him physical pain.
"Baby, please," Buck begs again, the pet name falling from his lips without him even noticing. It feels as natural as breathing, as normal as waking up in the morning and going to sleep at night that he doesn't even think twice, but Eddie recoils violently.
"Don't," he rasps, his voice rough and frayed from crying. Eddie pushes himself up the couch, away from Buck's hands. He looks absolutely wrecked and Buck just wants to hold him close, to kiss it all better but he knows he can't. They're not like that.
"I'm sorry I just - Eddie please tell me what's going on," he implores instead. "I want to help."
Eddie sniffs and wipes his nose with his sleeve. He looks Buck up and down, his expression guarded as though he's protecting himself, and lets out a long, shaky sigh.
"You want to know where it hurts?"
Buck nods vehemently. There's nothing he wants more than to fix whatever's going on. When he'd walked in to see Eddie curled up on the couch, shaking with sobs, his immediate thought had been some kind of abdominal trauma, or appendicitis. The closer he'd gotten though, and the more he heard Eddie's throat-shredding sobs, the more he'd begun to realise that this wasn't a physical type pain.
Eddie seems to steel himself before slowly reaching out and circling his arm around Buck's wrist. He guides Buck's hand until is settled on his breastbone, right over his heart. Buck can very faintly feel the thump thump of Eddie's heart beneath his fingertips.
"Right here," Eddie whispers, his voice breaking ever so slightly as he chokes back another sob. "Always here."
His hand covers Buck's, linking their fingers together, and everything suddenly clicks together. Why Eddie had been acting weird since they'd sat down and properly talked about the Will. Why Eddie had been pulling back, hardly touching Buck and never hugging him when they were usually attached like Velcro.
And oh. Because that changes everything. Because if this is what Buck thinks it is, if Eddie loves him, then holy shit. Holy fucking shit.
Buck tenderly cups Eddie's face, his thumb stroking over his cheekbone and brushing away the tears. Eddie doesn't flinch away, instead he lets out a small whine and sinks into Buck's touch, his eyes fluttering shut.
Another tear rolls down Eddie's cheek and Buck can't help himself. He leans forward and brushes his lips against the soft skin, the salty liquid collecting against his tongue when he pulls away. Eddie looks up at him with pleading eyes and Buck kisses his other cheek, the tip of his nose, his forehead, the space between his eyebrows, and finally comes to rest with their foreheads pressed together.
"Can I -" he whispers, licking his lips as his mouth suddenly dies. "Can I kiss it better?"
Eddie nods and the tips of their noses brush. "Please."
The first brush of their lips is hesitant, soft, as though neither of them quite believe what's happening. Eddie's lips are soft and taste like his tears, and Buck tenderly licks them off as Eddie whines into his mouth.
Their lips slot together like they were made to fit each other, like Buck's entire life has been leading to this moment, to the taste of Eddie on his tongue. To the feeling of Eddie's fingers sinking into the hair at the base of his neck and pulling him in impossibly closer.
It's perfect, it's everything, it's everything he never knew he wanted, everything he'd never dared to dream for. And it's real. It's happening.
When they break apart, both breathing heavily, their lips are kiss swollen and glistening. Eddie's cheeks are pink and his eyelashes are wet, and Buck can't stop himself from leaning back in and capturing his lips in a brief kiss.
"Is this real?" Eddie whispers. He's still crying but now Buck senses it's because he's overwhelmingly happy (or so he hopes) and Buck wants to wrap him in his arms and never let him go.
He kisses Eddie again and again, revelling in the way Eddie melts into his touch.
"Yeah baby, it's real."
Send me a ship and a sentence and I'll finish it!!
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