Notes: idk if anyone is going to really read this because everyone is kinda distracted with the new episode and the promo for next week but yeah. this idea wouldn’t leave my head so now you get to read it too.
title from “agnes” by glass animals
beta’d by @marjansmarwani
read on ao3
Watching the bustling waiting room, TK nervously twiddles his thumbs. He’s spent far too much time getting to know the emergency room at St. David’s that when he closes his eyes, he can picture the entire layout.
And yet, he somehow found himself back here again.
It wasn’t exactly his fault though. Granted, he could have been a little more careful going up the ladder on the truck. But the situation was getting urgent and he was so focused on getting to the top of the ladder that he didn’t even notice when his right foot got caught on one of the rungs and twisted his ankle in the wrong direction.
Which is how he ended up sitting in the waiting room yet again, his right ankle elevated on the chair across from him and the now melted ice pack resting on the swollen joint. He knows that he could just ask someone for a new one, but he’s been here long enough that they should be calling his name any moment now.
However as the minutes tick on, he gets more and more restless, and he wishes that there was someone here to talk to and take his mind off the persistent ache in his ankle. There had been some discussion about someone from his team staying with him but he had insisted that there was no real reason for the team to be two members down for something as minor as what’s probably only a sprained ankle. And of course, the 126 was called to another scene before it could be discussed further.
After Tommy dropped him off at the ER entrance, he thought he would be okay. However, on this abnormally busy day at the hospital, he only gets lonelier as he waits for his name to be called.
His loneliness getting the best of him, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and shoots a quick text to Carlos.
TK: are you busy?
He doesn’t even have shut the messages app before he sees the typing dots appear on his text thread.
Carlos: I’m on a call right now, but I can call you in a few minutes?
Of course. TK knew Carlos was working today, he should have known better than to bother him.
TK: nevermind, forgot you were on shift. it’s okay.
He shuts off the device, only for it to light up again with Carlos’ name in the call ID. TK frowns, hitting the red decline button. His boyfriend should be focusing on his job, not needing to worry about how accident prone TK is.
His phone lights up again, and he declines it again.
By the third time it lights up, TK sighs in resignation and presses the green accept button.
“Hey Carlos,” TK greets with his best cheery voice and fake smile.
“TK, you denied my call twice. You do not get to ‘hey Carlos’ me. What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing, I forgot you were working today,” TK answers quickly. “I can talk to you later”
“It’s clearly something. Just tell me TK,” Carlos says, pausing while he waits for TK to answer.
TK wonders if it’s worth it to explain the situation to his boyfriend. He knows that as soon as he tells him, that the other man will drop everything to come be by his side. And while the companionship would be welcome, he would feel guilty pulling Carlos away from his job.
Unfortunately, he waits too long to answer and Carlos speaks up again. “Wait, aren’t you on shift today too?”
“Well, yeah..”
“TK, where are you?” he firmly asks.
TK can tell he’s beginning to put the pieces together. The ambient noises of the waiting room are no doubt filtering through his phones speaker, not to mention the red flags it raises that TK is calling him while on shift to begin with.
“That’s not really relevant,” he says, trying to shift away from the topic.
“You’re at the hospital, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit, TK. Okay,” Carlos says, and TK can hear him mumble something in the background before coming back to the phone. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“That’s not really necessary,” TK tries to wave him off before Carlos cuts him off.
“Is anyone with you?”
“No,” he trails off.
“Then I’m coming.”
TK smiles to himself. He knows at this point there’s no talking Carlos out of it, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to seeing the other man. “Okay, I’m still in the waiting room.”
“See you soon.”
The call disconnects, and TK cycles through the apps on his phone while he waits for Carlos to arrive, periodically looking up at the sliding glass doors of the emergency room entrance.
Eventually, Carlos does make his appearance in the waiting room, still in uniform and face flushed as he scans the area before meeting TK’s eye.
TK gives him a little wave and small smile, greeting his boyfriend with a kiss when Carlos takes a seat next to him.
“Hey, what happened?” Carlos asks, trying to mask the concern in his voice but TK still picks up on it.
TK explains the situation, watching as Carlos’ eyebrows furrow in worry as he processes the story. When TK finishes, Carlos smirks a little before speaking up. “I thought you making the transition to being a paramedic was supposed to be less dangerous.”
“It’s not my fault they needed a medic up there, and I have more experience on the ladder than Tommy or Nancy.”
“Clearly,” Carlos stifles a laugh, gesturing to TK’s ankle while the other man gently swats him. Leaning down, Carlos removes the ice pack to further inspect the swollen joint. “TK, this ice pack isn’t very cold.”
“Yeah, I’ve been here a while,” he shrugs.
Carlos presses his lips together, before getting up, ice pack in hand, and making his way over to the reception desk. TK watches as the other man exchanges a few words with the nurse sitting at the desk. After their brief exchange, Carlos returns with a fresh ice pack which he places gently on TK’s ankle.
“The nurse says they should be calling you back next,” he says with a smile.
“Thank you,” TK says softly, returning the smile.
True to his word, just a few minutes later his name is called and Carlos is helping him transition into a wheelchair to be wheeled back to an exam room.
After being poked and prodded, and an x-ray just to confirm it’s nothing more major, the doctor verifies Tommy’s initial diagnosis that it’s just a bad sprain. He’s given a sturdy black brace, a pair of silver crutches, and strict instructions to take the next few weeks off work.
That last note causes a pout to settle on TK’s face as the doctor exits the exam room.
“Hey,” Carlos catches his attention, rest his hand on top of TK’s own. “It’ll be fine. Tommy will understand.”
“I’ve barely been on the job for a week, and I already have to call out. Not a great reflection.”
“Well she’s been working out your house for a few months, so I think she knows to expect that her newest paramedic is also a danger magnet,” Carlos chuckles.
“Yeah, I guess,” TK sighs.
Carlos gently runs his hand through TK’s hair, knowing that it calms the other man down. “You ready to get out of here?”
TK nods. “Can you just drop me off back at the station?”
“I thought I would just take you home. You should probably rest and ice your ankle a little more.”
“There’s ice at the station,” TK says with a mischievous grin, only to be met with Carlos’ unwavering expression. “I just would rather be around the team that sitting at home alone while you finish your shift.”
“TK, my shift ended 30 minutes ago.”
“Shit, Carlos,” he looks up meeting the other man's eye. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to get pulled away for this long. I hope you don’t get into trouble.”
“It’s fine, I told my captain what was going on after you called and she let me go. I wasn’t planning on going back anyway.”
TK smiles, wondering how he got so lucky to have a boyfriend this caring that he really would drop everything to spend a few long hours in the emergency room with him.
“Now, why don’t we get out of here, yeah?”
He nods eagerly, letting Carlos help him off the bed and graciously accepting the crutches the other man hands to him. “Thank you,” he whispers to Carlos with a smile, before making their way out of the hospital.
Summary: 5 times TK’s sobriety is tested after he arrives in Austin but he keeps it to himself, + 1 time it gets so bad that he tells someone.
Written for the @badthingshappenbingo square “addiction/withdrawal” - requested by Max, though he also helped a lot with this one so it’s not really a surprise lmao
Also shoutout to @marjansmarwani who helped a lot with this one from the start, and to @trkstrnd who helped me write more words and is the reason this fic is very long.
Entering the Honky Tonk after his first shift with the 126, TK is immediately met with the smell of alcohol. Not that he’s planning on drinking tonight, but he would be lying if he said the temptation isn’t there.
When his crew made the plans to go to the bar after Michelle mentioned it, his dad did pull him aside to ask if he thought it was a good idea and they could both stay home if TK wasn’t feeling up to it. But of course TK waved him off, saying that he would be fine. He had a great AA meeting today, and Austin was already starting to feel like home
He wasn’t exactly lying at the time, though his confidence dropped just as soon as he actually arrived at the bar. Maybe surrounding himself with the thing that hasn’t left his mind since he packed up his bags in New York wasn’t such a good idea.
He’d come so far since they crossed the state line. The early days had been rough. He had been determined to be there, determined to put all his effort into this to show his dad that he was fine; to distract himself from the fact that he wasn’t. However, there were only so many walls you could sledgehammer when you constantly felt on the verge of upheaving the content of your stomach into the nearest trash can.
But he found a way to work through all the withdrawal symptoms and he’s here now. In a bar that he knows he probably shouldn’t be in. But before he can duck out and pretend like he was never here, he spots Marjan waving him over.
He gives her a small wave back, before pointing to the bar. He knows that going over to his crew first might be too much temptation. None of them know about his issues, and with the large pitcher of beer resting on their table, it would be far too easy to pour himself a cup. Grabbing the attention of one of the bartenders, he orders a mineral water before he can change his mind.
He gets his glass of water and takes a seat at the barstool, still not quite ready to face his team. They probably wouldn't say anything about his non-alcoholic beverage choice, but they would all be thinking it. And that alone is enough to make him stand back for a bit.
written for the “gunshot wound” square on my bthb card @badthingshappenbingo
so no one requested this square but a lot of people said it was the square they were most interested in seeing completed! this idea stemmed from a combination of most people voting for carlos being the one who gets shot, while jillian clicked the both option...
tagging some people who said they were interested in the gsw square: @mtnofgrace @moviegeek03 @221bsunsettowers @trkstrnd @immortalstrand @lndnrs (as well as 1 anon and jillian) - i only tagged the people who said it was the square that were most looking forward to!
as always, thank you to @firefighterstrand and @marjansmarwani who are the reason any of my fics actually get done at this point.
TW: gunshot wounds, mentions of guns
The heat of a burning building never fails to get TK’s heart racing. Moving through the smoke, searching for any signs of life as his lungs scream at him for fresh oxygen over the amount he has left in his tank
He feels that same adrenaline now, working his way through an abandoned warehouse that had gone up in flames. While they didn’t know for sure if anyone was inside, the 126 made the call to put their lives on the line and search the building anyway.
As his crew spreads out in their different directions to cover more area of the large space, TK can’t help but smile. Selfishly, these are his favorite calls to be on. While of course he hopes that no one is seriously hurt, there’s nothing quite like running head first into danger.
Not to mention, on this call in particular he also got to briefly see Carlos before he geared up. Dispatch had warned the 126 that a suspicious figure had been spotted leaving the scene and that APD was also responding. TK would be lying if he said his heart didn’t leap out of his chest at the thought of being on the same call as his boyfriend.
Though they were only able to exchange a few quick smiles before they were both forced to do the job they were there to do, it was enough.
Now making his way through the warehouse, TK can’t help but notice how the structure surrounding him creaks.
