8 with buck or buddie x reader please!! nsfw if you like~ thank you <3
Sitting at Eddie’s side as he slept off the surgical anaesthetic, Buck was starting to understand why Eddie hated hospitals almost as much as he did. As bad as being a patient was, seeing Eddie so vulnerable lying in the bed, monitor leads and IV lines peeking out from beneath his gown, was far worse. The worry, the anxiety, the thoughts of what had happened to you and Eddie while he and Chim had been fighting the fire in another part of the building were a lot.
“Knock knock.”
Buck jumped at the sound of your voice and you smiled when he turned to watch you as you crossed the room to join him at Eddie’s bedside. He could see that you were limping and he immediately stood, stepping aside to make room for you in the chair he’d just been occupying.
“How are you doing?” Buck asked, his gaze sweeping you head to toe, looking for any other signs of injury. “What did the doctor say?”
“A few scrapes and bruises, a sprained ankle; nothing a few days of rest and ice won’t fix.”
Buck looked like he wanted to argue, but he settled for stepping into your bubble, cupping your cheek and giving you a soft, sad smile. You mirrored it for a moment, nuzzling into his touch briefly before looking over at Eddie.
“How about him?” You asked.
You hated that you’d been injured in the fire. You hated even more that Eddie had been hurt worse while diving to save you. You knew you’d likely have been killed if not for his quick thinking, but you wished he hadn’t put his own life on the line for yours. Seeing him out of surgery and sleeping peacefully helped assuage your guilt a little, but the memory of watching the surgical team whisk him away while Bobby insisted you stay in the ER to have your own injuries checked, of telling Buck to go with Eddie, that’d you be fine on your own, gnawed at your composure.
“They managed to fix the bleed laparoscopically,” Buck assured you. “He’ll be back on his feet in no time. It could have been a lot worse.”
Buck’s words, which you were sure were meant to be comforting, made all of your emotions bubble to the surface and a single, ragged sob escaped you before you could stop it. You clamped a hand over your mouth, averting your gaze as Buck knelt so he could get a better look at you.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he murmured, reaching out and grasping your wrists, gently pulling your hands away from your face as tears stung your eyes.
You shook your head, sniffing quietly as Eddie shifted just the smallest bit, not wanting to disturb him. You leveled your watery gaze on Buck, wincing as your rib cage ached when you curled in on yourself.
“He almost died because of me.”
Buck’s gaze hardened, turning fierce but not unkind. He squeezed your wrists in reassurance.
“He was doing his job,” Buck said firmly. “He didn’t get hurt because of you; he’d have done the same for anyone else, and you’d have done the same for him. It happens in this line of work, we get hurt sometimes, things go wrong, bad stuff happens, but we pick up the pieces and get back on our feet and do it all over again the next time. That’s the job. It’s what we all signed up for, what we’ve all deemed an acceptable level of risk, and as bad as it was, everything’s going to be fine. You’re going to be fine. Eddie’s going to be fine.”
You were ready to protest again, but a noise from the bed beside you got your attention first and both you and Buck were on your feet in moments, leaning over Eddie’s bed as he opened his eyes, hissing at the brightness of the overhead lights.
“Am I, though?” Eddie asked, his tone both somewhat pained and playful - you could tell he’d overheard your conversation. You hurriedly wiped the tears away before he could look too closely at you.
“Yes, you are,” Buck pressed, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “Stop being such a baby.”
Eddie chuckled softly, grimacing a little as it pulled at his stitches. The pained expression on his face passed as quickly as it came on, though, and the three of you lapsed into a conversation far more lighthearted than the situation warranted. You knew that it was a deliberate move on Buck and Eddie’s parts, and while you still felt guilt in the pit of your stomach, you allowed yourself to be reassured by the two of them. As the minutes wore on, you felt the knot starting to loosen a bit, and by the time a nurse came around to kick you and Buck out for the night so Eddie could get some rest, you were starting to feel a little less terrible.
With one last goodbye and a whispered order to Eddie to behave himself until you could come back to visit the following morning, you allowed Buck to wrap an arm around your shoulders and lead you out of the room. You trusted the nurses to take care of Eddie, and as Buck held you close, supporting you and keeping you steady, you knew you could trust him to take care of you.
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