Buck was well aware that Tommy was previously a part of the 118 and had an intrinsic tie to his work family, but watching the older man interact with Hen, Chimney, and even Bobby, it became clear to him where the connections were. But even the way he interacted with Christopher and Eddie, complete strangers to him, seemed to suggest confidence and charisma. And Buck could not take his eyes off of the man. As he travelled towards a conversation between Bobby, Hen and Eddie, he eased his way into the conversation.
“I still can’t believe that actually happened,” Buck commented casually, “And Maurice had blades tied to him?”
“Yes, he was armed and dangerous!” Tommy interjected in mock terror. With a chuckle, he added, “Honestly, at that point, I was just glad that things were changing. You were instrumental in that, Bobby.”
“If you guys hadn’t gotten Gerrard out, I wouldn’t have had the chance to work at the 118,” Bobby commented, “It was just a shame about the timing of it all.”
Eddie raised an eyebrow at that comment. “What do you mean, Cap?”
“Harbor Station finally had an opening at Air Ops for a pilot. It was the opportunity Tommy had been waiting for. And when Captain Chambers gave me a call about it, I knew it was the right opportunity for him, even if we were losing a great firefighter...and you were the one who replaced him.” Bobby looked to Buck as he said the last part.
It was hard to get answers from the hospital, but once it was worked out that Tommy was the emergency contact they needed to contact, it made things slightly easier. He was told the doctor would update him as soon as she could. But the fact that before he could get any answers, the first thing he heard was the sound of a familiar voice, angry, frustrated, agitated. Before anyone could stop him, Tommy followed the sound of the voice to a trauma bay, where a doctor was tending to Eddie.
“Hey,” he greeted his friend gently, “Let them take care of you, Ed.”
Eddie was not in good shape, the bruising from a seatbelt, signs of bruising near his ribs visible on his exposed chest, while a doctor was trying to tend to him.
“Tommy...” There was pain and exhaustion in Eddie’s voice as he tried to speak, having finally exhausted himself from all the agitated yelling earlier.
“They won’t tell me anything about Evan yet, they told me to wait for the doctor,” Tommy explained quietly.
“I just...” Eddie let out a groan, before closing his eyes. “I wish the world would stop spinning.”
A female voice behind Tommy declared, “You have a concussion, Eddie. You need to stay put.”
Both Tommy and Eddie looked to Olivia as she continued talking.
“Those are some nasty bruises,” she commented quietly, then she turned to Tommy and added, “There’s a doctor out there looking for Evan’s Emergency Contact. You better go see what that’s about.”
Tommy gave Olivia a quick nod before telling Eddie, “Please just cooperate with the doctor. I’ll be back once I know more about Evan’s situation.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep him company for a bit,” Olivia assured both men.
