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Day 3: Buddie + “Is that blood?” “…..No?” + hurt
@buddieweek2020
It was a farmhouse fire that they were called to. He and Eddie were just supposed to do a sweep to make sure all the farmhands had made it out because not all of them were accounted for yet.
What they weren’t told was that there was an unsecured shotgun and shotgun shells in said burning building. Which just so happened to have been heated so much by the flames that they had started to ignite spontaneously, firing off just as he and Eddie passed by the room.
Luckily it was at that moment that Bobby was pulling them out, saying that the two unaccounted for farmhands had made it out at a different exit and there was no one else left.
Neither of them were hurt, at least that’s what he thought as they exited the house. It wasn’t until they moved back to the truck to exchange their equipment for hoses when Eddie stumbled, a hand pressed to his chest for a moment in discomfort before straightening up again with a small shake of his head.
Buck thought nothing of it until Eddie took his helmet off for a moment to swipe at the sweat on his brow, leaving a clear streak of blood as he does so.
“Uhh Eddie. Is that blood?” Buck asks, pointing to Eddie's forehead.
Eddie just looks at him confused before he wavers again, swaying on his feet, “… no?”
Buck steps in closer for a better look and he’s glad he did because at that moment Eddie fell forward, collapsing against him. “Hey, hey, hey, I’ve got you. Let’s lie you down, alright.” He helps to ease him to the ground.
“Buck.. my chest… it… it hurts?”
“Alright, I’ve got it okay, just don’t move.” He turns to the matter at hand and inspects Eddie’s turnout coat finding three small holes that had torn straight through.
Tearing it open, Buck finds what he’s looking for and feels his stomach drop at what he finds. There was a bloodstain right in the middle of Eddie’s torso and it was getting bigger.
Holding pressure to the wounds, Buck calls Hen and Chim on the radio, doing his best to sound calm and in control, even with the panic welling up inside him.
This is the second time that he’s had Eddie’s life literally in his hands and Buck all he can do is try to stop the bleeding as he waits, doing his best to keep Eddie conscious but he can tell that his partner was struggling and that made it all the more concerning.
Thankfully, he didn’t have long to wait before Hen and Chim were by his side asking questions that he does his best to answer. He doesn’t really pay attention to what they’re saying until Chim says “His blood pressure is dropping, probably bleeding somewhere internally. He doesn’t have a lot of time from the looks of these stats, we need to get moving now!”
As they give Cap a quick rundown of what was going on as they move him to the ambulance, Buck doesn’t move from his side, keeping his eyes firmly on Eddie’s now unconscious face. Buck knows that they were far away from the nearest hospital, and he knows that from where the pellets went in, that it’s highly likely that they hit the liver and he knows that Chim and Hen know that too from the way they looked at each other.
He knows how life-threatening they can be, which is why out of fear for Eddie’s life he blurts out, “a blood transfusion. We can do a field blood transfusion to buy him some time to get to the hospital.”
It’s enough to make the two paramedics pause for a moment to look at him and say that they didn’t have the supplies for something like that, “You can use me, Eddie and I have the same blood type and we have the equipment to do it.”
For a second he thinks they’ll refuse and say it was too risky, but then they exchange a look and then Hen was beckoning him inside as Chim steps out to take the driving seat. He takes a seat in the nearest care seat and Hen quickly sets up the transfusion line and just like that they were on their way.
Even though she makes him swear to her that he would to tell her when to stop the transfusion lest he faints from blood loss himself, Buck knows he won’t, not if it meant giving Eddie the precious time he needed. H knows that he will do anything, give anything, to make sure that Eddie made it back to Christopher no matter the cost, he loved them both too much.
Hen’s voice breaks through the silence that had fallen over the inside of the ambulance “His blood pressure looks like its stabilising. That was some good thinking, Buck.”
All he can do is nod, eyes fixated on Eddie’s face only half-listening.
“You love him, don’t you?” She goes on, fully snapping him out of whatever trance he was in, as she checks and adds more gauze packed against Eddie’s wounds.
“What? Hen, no-” he starts in a knee jerk reaction to the question, but he cuts himself off when he sees the knowing look she gives him and collapses against the back of his seat, “is it that obvious?”
She leans across and pats him on the knee, “I suspected, but I didn’t know for sure until you confirmed it just now.”
“Damn and here I thought I was doing so well at hiding it.” He says with a chuckle, feeling somewhat relieved over the confession.
“We’re 5 minutes out. How are you feeling back there, Buckaroo?” calls Chim from the front of the ambulance, effectively interrupting whatever Hen was about to say.
“All good back here Chim, never better.” He answers, doing his best to sound truthful even though he may or may not have just started to feel waves of dizziness and nausea was over him.
In no time they were pulling in at the Hospital and he had been disconnected from Eddie. He watched as the hospital team wheeled him through the doors and as he steps of the ambulance, he catches himself on the door, vision spotted with darkness.
The last thing he remembers is turning to Chim and saying, “I lied,” before blacking out.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Eddie wakes slowly to the sound of beeping, it’s the first thing he notices. It takes him longer to add sight into his functioning sense as he slowly blinks his eyes open only to see the typical muted white that could only be associated with a hospital room.
It takes him several moments, before his memory of what happened filters through the haze of the pain meds he seems to be getting. Looking around the room, his eyes eventually land on the curious form of one Evan Buckley who surprisingly was not sitting in a visitor’s chair but actually sitting up in a bed next to him scrolling through his phone, with a nearly empty saline bag hanging beside him.
“Buck?”
As soon as he makes a sound Buck had dropped his phone, relief clear on his face, “Eds! You’re awake!” and anticipating the next question that was on his lips he explains what happened, “When those shotgun shells went off, some of the spray got you in the chest just below your sternum, hitting your liver. You had surgery to get it fixed.”
It takes him a second to process the information before another question comes to mind, “And why are you here?”
A new voice joins them then, taking over in answering the question. “I’ll tell you why; your crazy partner of yours gave you a personal field blood transfusion because you had massive internal bleeding and he ended up giving you twice as much blood as he should of and passed out when we got to the hospital.” Hen says disapprovingly as she stands beside Eddie and reaches over to give his hand a squeeze, “Good to see you awake, I’m going to go find your aunt and Christopher and let them know you’re up.”
Her announcement had him raising his eyebrows at Buck, who just shrugs looking completely unapologetic, and all Eddie can do is shake his head at him, unsurprised that Buck would do something like that.
He can’t help but feel something akin to both awe and love for the man. It hasn’t escaped his notice that ever since the tsunami, Buck had time and again put his safety over his own, and given the circumstance its time that he addressed it.
“Buck…” he starts, getting the man’s attention but then finds that he has no plan on what to say next and yet somehow once again Buck reads him like a book.
“Eds, I know what you’re going to say, and I know it was reckless, but if me doing something reckless means that you get to make it home again to your family, to Christopher, then I would make those same choices in a heartbeat.”
Eddie opens his mouth to respond but Buck continues on, “He can’t lose another parent, Eds, and I’ll be damned if I don’t do everything in my power to make sure you make it home to him.”
Feeling exasperated by Buck’s lack of self-preservation, he frowns at him “You’re an idiot if you think we don’t see you as family Buck, you have been for a long time now, so don’t think for a second that Chris would be any less upset losing you as he would be losing me.”
“You’re his dad Eddie, it’s completely different.”
“Doesn’t make it any less true-” Before he can continue trying to convince Buck some more, the sound of Christopher’s crutches interrupts the conversation and his attention is taken up instead by his son.
He gets it, Buck’s reasoning, and he will forever be grateful for the man himself, so when Chris was situated on his bed, so he could give his dad a careful hug, Eddie looks over the top of his head at Buck and mouths ‘Thank you’ while considering the possibility that maybe there was more to their relationship and he should probably do something about it and properly make him part of the family.
They’re all out on the front porch when Maddie goes “there he is,” and Buck knows he’s in trouble as everyone’s head pretty comically whip around to stare at the truck pulling into the drive across the way. “Eddie.”
And okay, maybe Buck’s talked about his cute neighbor a little (a lot) lately.
Prompt: “Oh no...he’s cute” + fluff
AO3 Link Here
Notes: Title is from Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money
Buck’s new house is a small two bedroom with a creaky front porch step and a need of a few renovations, but he loves it because it’s his, something bought with money he earned and saved. He’s been in the house for three weeks, and even though the gang helped him move things in and Maddie’s been over quite a few times, tonight’s housewarming party was the first time he officially had guests, and he’s ridiculously excited to show off what progress he’s made.
They’re all out on the front porch when Maddie goes “there he is,” and Buck knows he’s in trouble as everyone’s head pretty comically whip around to stare at the truck pulling into the drive across the way. “Eddie.”
And okay, maybe Buck’s talked about his cute neighbor a little (a lot) lately. And maybe he’s told Hen how dreamy Eddie is, and maybe he’s told Bobby about sweet Eddie’s son Christopher was and maybe, just maybe, he’s gushed to Maddie about the homemade cookies Eddie and Chris brought him his first night (as he ate like six of them, because why shouldn’t he eat the welcome to the neighborhood cookies Chris happened to make with his Abuela?) And maybe he has a crush; he can admit to that, alright? And maybe the whole team knows because Buck just can’t keep anything to his own self.
So basically, it means everyone is looking at Eddie as he gets out of his truck, and Buck flushes about the color of a tomato when he hears Hen say, “Oh no…” under her breath just as Chim says “he’s cute” loudly and damn it, did Eddie hear that? Or is he looking over at Buck’s house because so many people are on the porch?
No, he’s smirking, god damn it, as he raises his hand in a wave, a smirk that turns into a wicked grin when Buck automatically waves back.
“Buckaroo, please tell me you’re going to be hitting that soon?”
“Jesus, Chimney, can you be quiet?” Buck yelps, daring a glance back to Eddie, and he’s...he’s blushing. Buck is mortified.
“What? I’m just saying, the neighbor’s hot. There is sexual tension, Buck; we can all tell, and we’ve seen him for about five seconds. You haven’t been with anyone since what, Abby? Maybe it’s time to take that leap again.”
He looks at Eddie again, and he’s...rueful, maybe, considering. He gives Buck one last, warm smile before he heads inside, and maybe Buck’s not the only one with a crush? Maybe he’s not the only one who wants?
When he turns back to Chim, his friend raises an eyebrow and grins. So Buck’s friends are terrible. But sometimes...sometimes they aren’t.
He sees the last of them out by ten, and while it was so great to have his friends-his family-there, it’s also nice to be alone again. He’s cleaning up the last of the dishes when he hears the knock, and he nearly ignores it, but it comes again, more insistent, so he leaves the dishes to soak in the sink (a farmhouse sink-one of his first improvements!) and goes to answer the door.
Eddie’s standing on his front porch, nervous, hands pushed into his pockets. He’s wearing a well-worn pair of sweats and t-shirt, like he was getting comfortable for the night (and Jesus, Buck doesn’t need to think about Eddie getting comfortable at night, because thinking about Eddie in bed with Eddie in front of him is definitely a no-go zone for Buck’s body), but his face lights up with a smile when Buck opens the door. “Hey, Buck.”
“Hey, Eddie. Everything okay?”
“Um...yeah. I’m about to do something, before I lose my nerve, and please just don’t...don’t hate me.”
Buck raises an eyebrow, but then Eddie is there, hands cupping Buck’s face as he pulls him into a kiss. At first, it’s just that, a kiss, a press of lips and the warmth of Eddie’s hands against his skin, and it takes a second for Buck’s brain to figure out what’s going on, what this means. Eddie’s starting to pull away, and Buck’s hands immediately tangle in his shirt, keeping him close, and his lips part, deepening the kiss.
He doesn’t know how long they stand on his front porch, but he revels in the kiss, because it’s everything he’s wanted since he met Eddie. But eventually, they part, breathing hard, and Eddie’s grin is back. “So, uh...I take it you don’t hate me?”
Buck smiles, shaking his head. “I’ve...I’m pretty sure all my friends are getting pretty sick of hearing me talk about you. I’ve kinda wanted to kiss you since I moved in. I thought maybe after a date and all, but this is good, too.”
“We could have breakfast in the morning?” Eddie murmurs, glancing past Buck into his dark house, and...is Eddie offering what Buck thinks he is?
“Is this-”
“Buck, I’ve wanted to get your clothes off you since I saw you with the moving van, so yes, this is me wanting to sleep with you and take you to breakfast in the morning.”
Buck can’t grab the front of Eddie’s t-shirt (and how long has he had this shirt, for it to be as soft as it is?) and pull him into his house fast enough.
They have breakfast in the morning.
And Buck goes to Eddie and Chris’ for dinner.
And he keeps going over, and they keep coming to his house.
And one day, nearly a year later, Buck’s house becomes their home.
The Kitchen Scene : You can’t save someone from themselves. Not if they don’t want it. Ain’t that the truth. Especially if you aren’t around to see that they need saving. Look I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Eddie. You and Chris needed me and I had my head so far on my own behind with that stupid lawsuit. We’re way past that Buck. I’m not. I should have been there. Maybe I could have talked some sense into you. You talk sense into me. That would have been interesting. I could have told you not to buy that truck. You’d talk me into buying something more expensive. Yeah, fair point. Look, things got a little out of hands for both of us. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Why? Because you’d rather do it? Excuse me? Come on, if you’re not gonna be honest with Frank, at least be honest with me. Who said I wasn’t being honest with Frank? You said you two weren’t clicking. Maybe I’m just not a therapy kind of guy. Right. Right. You prefer to work it out on the ring. There was no ring Buck. There was a fence . Come on, you don’t think, while you were going through your phase just maybe, you were throwing the punches at the wrong guy? Seriously? You’re gonna make it about you? Again? I’m just saying you were pretty pissed. I thought for sure that day in the grocery store you were gonna take a swing at me. Not that you didn’t deserve it, but I wouldn’t do that. You’re on blood thinners. I’d still take you. You think so? I know. You want to go for the title.
