The first thing Buck sees upon waking up in the hospital the morning after his surgery is Abby. She's sitting in one of the chairs next to his bed, lost in a paperback book with her feet tucked up underneath her. She's still wearing her dress from their date, something that makes his heart swell with gratitude when he realizes that means that she'd stayed with him the entire night. A sympathetic nurse must have taken pity on her, he thinks, because there's a thin white hospital blanket thrown over her lap. He couldn't have asked to wake up to a more welcome sight. Buck tentatively tries clearing his throat to get her attention and immediately winces as the healing tissue protests his efforts. The pathetic noise he manages to make has its desire effect, though. Abby instantly looks up. She tosses aside her book and scoots her chair closer to his bedside.
"Hey," she says brightly, "welcome back! How are you feeling?"
He basks in the light of her grin for a moment before answering. "Sore," he croaks. "But alive. Thank you so much. I'm sorry I ruined our date."
She shrugs a shoulder and leans forward, taking his hands in hers. "Eh," she tells him. "I've had worse."
Buck raises an eyebrow at her. "Not possible," he replies skeptically.
She runs her thumb over his knuckles thoughtfully. "Possible. You didn't, for instance, judge all of my food choices."
"Well, I didn't get the chance to," he protests playfully, "we didn't get past the bread."
"And whose fault was that?"
His eyes widen in mock indignation. "Ouch. Low blow, Abs!"
She laughs and he nods toward the little nest she'd made for herself overnight. "How did you not get kicked out of here last night?"
She crooks a finger at him and he leans close, humoring her. She waits until her mouth is nearly against his ear before whispering mischievously, "I paid off the nurses."
There's a courtesy knock at the door just then, announcing the arrival of the nurse that had been periodically checking up on Buck all night. They spring apart like guilty teenagers as she sweeps back into the room and beams at Abby when she sees that Buck is awake.
"Hey darlin'," she says. "See! I told you there was nothing to worry about."
Abby smiles gratefully at her. "You were right. Thanks, Ellie."
Nurse Ellie turns her attention to Buck, making conversation while she bustles around the room checking vital signs and making notes in his chart.
"Mr. Buckley," she says jovially, "I understand that you owe this gorgeous woman your life!"
He nods. "I do. She's pretty amazing, isn't she?"
She laughs. "Amazing doesn't cover it! She performed an emergency tracheotomy on the floor of a seriously swanky restaurant with only a knife and a pen without breaking a sweat. I watched the whole thing thinking you were definitely a goner even though you were right here in front of me in this hospital bed. Amazing my foot."
Buck glances at Abby, who blushes. "Someone posted a video online," she informs him. "We've gone viral."
He blinks at her, dumbfounded. "Oh."
"And it has thousands of views already," Nurse Ellie put in. "You two are famous!"
Buck groans at that. He knows he'll hear all about the incident once he makes it back to the firehouse. Nurse Ellie, who clearly was getting a kick out of the whole situation, touches his foot to get his attention. "Mr. Buckley, you've got a prize here. Be good to her."
Buck reaches for Abby's hand, covering it with his own as he grins at her. "Oh, I will."
The nurse smiles and nods her approval. "Good." Putting levity aside for a moment, she focuses on his condition. "Everything looks good, Mr. Buckley. You're doing quite well for a man who almost died yesterday. You're obviously able to talk. How's your pain?"
"Just some soreness," he answers truthfully, "and my throat feels dry. Can I have water?"
She nods in the affirmative. "You can, just take it slowly. Don't try to gulp anything." She approaches his bed on the side opposite Abby. "I just want to take a quick look at your wound, here."
He sits still as she carefully peels away the dressing and lets out an approving whistle. "It's healing nicely already. You'll be back to normal in no time." She puts the dressing back into place and moves toward the door. "The doctor will be through on his rounds soon. He'll talk to you about wound care, and if you're lucky, clear you to go home today. I'll be back with some water." She opens the door and turns back to them with a wink. "Take care, you two!"
"Thank you," Abby and Buck chorus together as the nurse shuts the door behind her. True to her word, she's back in no time with a pitcher of cold water, which both Abby and Buck were grateful for. After cautiously drinking his fill, Buck sits aside his cup and sighs.
"So," he said, "Nurse Ellie. Wow."
Abby chuckles. "She reminds me of Carla."
"Your mom's caretaker, right?"
Abby gives a confirmatory nod and Buck suddenly feels a wave of guilt.
"Oh! Abs, do you need to go home to your mom? I'll be ok here until they release me. I can call an Uber or something to get home."
She gives him a grateful look. "Thank you for that, but my mom's fine. Carla was planning to stay the night anyway in case, well –"
"You got lucky." Buck supplies knowingly.
"Yeah," she says, rolling her eyes at him affectionately. "Then she saw the video too, and gave me strict instructions to stay by the side of my, and I quote, 'hot hunk of fireman', end quote."
"Hmmm," Buck hums, "do you think I'm a hot hunk of fireman?"
Abby gives him a predatory smirk. "I may have used that phrase to describe you on occasion."
Pleased, he shifts in bed so he can lean closer to her. "I guess that's something I'm going to have to live up to."
She shrugs innocently. "I guess so. Our next date has to be worth me saving your life."
"Oh," he tells her, "it's on now."
With that, he gently cups her chin in one hand and kisses her. Abby makes a small sound of pleasant surprise, but eagerly responds. She pushes her hair out of the way and then places her hand on his cheek, brushing her thumb against his barely there stubble. His tongue slips inside her mouth and she feels all of the worry and anxiety and terror she experienced over the last twelve hours melt away. They break apart long enough for him to move over to make room for her on the bed. Abby hops in and he pulls her closer, kissing her again. She takes advantage of his current state of undress, snaking a hand under the bedcovers and finding her way up his hospital gown. She slowly runs her fingernails up the inside of his thigh, stopping just before she reaches his groin.
"Abs," he groans low in his throat, causing her to grin against his mouth.
"Hmmmm?" she hums.
He breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against hers. "Don't start something we can't finish here," he warns her, his need palpable in the roughened tone of his voice.
"The door's closed," she counters with a nip to the side of his neck under his ear. "and who knows how long it'll take the doctor to get here."
Buck closes his eyes and swallows hard, summoning strength. She's straddling his lap and currently doing something very nice to his ear with her tongue and it takes everything he has to stop the situation before it spirals out of control and the doctor walks in on them in their current state.
"Abs," he says again. His objection is weak at best, but she pulls away after one last kiss to his jawline.
"Oh, fine. You're such an adult," she teases, gently taking a swipe at his chest.
Unable to let that one go, because hey, he's only human, Buck leans into her and presses a soft kiss to her collarbone, then slowly makes his way up the side of her throat, ending with a nip to her earlobe.
"Oh, Buck."
The breathy way she says his name makes him want to throw caution to the wind and strip off her dress right there in his hospital bed. Instead, he sits back and watches with pleasure as her eyes flutter open. He gives her an impish smile.
"Payback," he informs her smugly.
Abby makes a frustrated noise and reluctantly disentangles herself from him. She climbs off the bed and settles back down into her chair. "You're gonna pay for that one," she threatens.
As if on cue, there's a knock at the door.
"Told you," Buck says triumphantly, "we totally would have gotten caught."
Abby makes a face at him. "Yeah, yeah. You were right. But," she says with a wink, "you owe me, and I intend to collect."