Eddie had been sick for almost a week now, he was always cold. Buck had been over a few times to help where he could. "Eds, you need to eat something," he encouraged when he was over there tonight. All Eddie did was just grunt and slowly fall back asleep. Carla had placed a cold rag over his forehead, that was now somehow almost off his forehead. Buck slowly picked it up without disturbing the restless Eddie, who was sleeping what looked like to him peacefully, when it was restless. He dipped the rag into the water basin that was sitting on his nightstand and wrung out the excess water and placed it back on his forehead.
Carla had mentioned that Eddie could hardly stand on his own and that she had to help him to the bathroom so he could throw up. Eddie was still warm to the touch, and he had a fever of 101.2 as well. Buck knew he had to get some sort of liquid in him, but he didn't know-how. He wouldn't drink water or any sort of juice. Even Pedialyte. The only other option was taking him to the ER to get an IV in him. But it would be a challenge to get him there because he hated going to the hospital when he was sick, but this was the worst he had been sick. And what Buck saw, was that he was pale and had cold sweats. And the last time Eddie was sick, he didn't have any of those symptoms, and he did this time around.
Buck made sure Eddie was comfortable, by fixing his blanket over him completely and adding another blanket. Eddie hadn't developed a headache, and he never did. Buck shut the bedroom lights off and shut the door and walked into the kitchen to talk to Carla, who also was tired with taking care of Eddie, and Christopher but he doesn't know how she does it. Christopher had been riding with a friend ever since Eddie got sick. As Carla couldn't handle leaving Eddie for a good 5 minutes.
"How's Eddie?" Carla asked Buck. "Well, he's dehydrated. Still has a fever of 101.2, I put fresh water on the rag you had for him and gave him another blanket," Buck answered. "Buck, we need to get him to the ER," she reasoned. "I know, it's just he won't cooperate," he groaned. "He's thrown up 3-4 times already in the trash can beside him, which makes it all together 20 times in this last week," she mentioned. "He's pale, and he has cold sweats. He's delirious as well," he added, rubbing his head against his hand.
"Let's see how he does through the night tonight, I got Christopher to bed while you were in there with Eddie. He wants to see his dad but I can't let him yet until he gets better," she said. "I know what you mean, we don't even know what Eddie has unless we get him to the ER," he said, taking a deep breath. "I'll call 911 if I need you guys tomorrow, don't worry about it, Buck. I'll know when Eddie has to go to the ER," she said, grabbing ahold of Buck's hand. "Thanks, Carla," he chuckled. "Anytime Buckaroo," she said.
"Well, it's getting late. So I better get back to my apartment," he said, checking his watch. "Thanks for stopping by Buck, I needed that break," she said. He smiled and said, "Anytime Carla," he pulled on his jacket and walked out the door to his Jeep. he hopped in and turned over his engine, and drove to his apartment. He woke up that next morning and walked into the kitchen and started a cup of coffee. He couldn't stop thinking about Eddie while he was drinking his coffee before he went into shift.
It was now Tuesday, and tomorrow would be a week since Eddie has been sick. Buck hated all the trouble Carla was going through, but he knew she could manage because she did it with Abby's mom. He finished his coffee and went back upstairs and got dressed into his clothes and walked back downstairs and put his shoes on, followed by his jacket and slung his jump bag over his shoulder, locking the door behind him. He unlocked his Jeep with the press of a button on his keys. He opened the driver's side door and threw his bag in the passenger seat.
He got in himself, turned over the engine, and started to drive towards the station. He didn't want to go in today, but he had to. He walked in once he was parked in his normal spot, and walked into the locker room where Hen was sitting on the bench tying her shoe. "Hey Buck," she said. "Hi," was the only thing he said as he was pulling his work pants on. "How's Eddie?" she asked him. "Well, he's dehydrated; delirious still with a 101.2 fever, I and Carla are trying to cool him down with a washrag we soak in water but it's not doing anything," he said; pulling his 118 button-up shirt on.
"You need to get him to the ER Buck," she answered. "I know, I know. And if we try he won't cooperate at all, Carla told me last night she'll call 911 if she needs us and since we're closer, we'll be the ones responding," he said somberly. "Buck, Eddie's your friend. He's ours as well. Hell, I've been worrying about him ever since he got sick last week," she expressed. "Yeah, I know. He's never got this sick before. All it's been was a common cold from him, not this serious," he said as he was pulling on his work boots. "He's probably got pneumonia or something. What're his symptoms?" she asked.
"Fever, sweating, chills, vomiting, that's all he has right now," he breathed. "Sounds like he has the flu, he hasn't had a headache?" she wondered. "Not that I know of," he responded. "As I said, it's the flu. But you do have to get him to the ER to check to see if I am correct or not," she sighed. He nodded his head and proceeded to walk out of the locker room to get to work. Then the call came in, for Eddie. They were 2 hours in when the call came through. When Buck heard the address, he panicked. He didn't waste any time getting into the truck, he wanted to get there as fast as he could.
Hen and Chim followed behind him, sitting where they normally sat. Eddie's spot, empty. All buck did was look out the window, not conversating with anyone. It felt like forever for Buck to get to Eddie's, but after 5 minutes they did. Buck hopped out, snapped a pair of gloves on, and waited for Hen and Chim to get the equipment they needed. Buck was the first one to walk in the door, as it was unlocked. "Carla?" he yelled. "Up here," she bellowed. He walked up the stairs, missing a few on the way, everyone else following behind him. "What happened?" Hen asked. "His fever spiked to 104, his breathing is labored, he- uh thinks he's in Afghanistan," she stammered. "No, come back," Eddie stammered.
"I tried to tell him that he's not, but he doesn't realize," she blurted. Buck didn't know what to do, he hadn't seen Eddie like this before. "Eddie, you aren't in Afghanistan. You're here in LA," Bobby responded, getting to his eye level. Eddie looked somewhat normalized, but he wasn't fully there. "Alright, Chim and Hen, get in there," he said, backing up. He stood there next to Buck, who was at the head of the bed looking at Eddie's pale and ghosted face. Eddie looked like a ghost to Buck, who knew Eddie wasn't his normal self.
"Start a line and run it wide open. Buck, can you go out and get the backboard?" Hen asked, making eye contact with him. He nodded, without saying anything. He walked out of the room, down the stairs, and through the front door, which was now ajar. He opened the back of the ambulance, pulled the backboard out. He proceeded to run inside, up the stairs, and into the bedroom. He set the backboard on the floor and stood next to Bobby. Hen and Chim were ready to transport after 15 minutes of getting everything ready. Eddie had an IV in his left arm, an oxygen mask over his face, ghostly pale, and unconscious as Hen gave him something so he could calm down.
He was put on the backboard and carried down the stairs by Bobby, Chim, and Hen as Buck stayed back with Carla. "Now what?" she breathed. "Well, I can either stay back here with you or go to the hospital and wait on a condition for Eddie," he sighed. "I can take care of things here, I need to put new sheets on the bed anyway, go. Go get an update on him," she objected. "Ok, ok. I'll go," he surrendered. He walked out of the bedroom, then ran downstairs. When he got outside, Chim and Hen were already gone. Bobby was still there, as he was waiting on Buck. "Are we going to the hospital?" Buck asked him. "I was planning on it," Bobby answered. He didn't answer Bobby but hopped in the truck. And that was Bobby's answer to go to the hospital.
The driver of 118 started the vehicle, followed by driving towards the hospital. Buck and Bobby arrived 15 minutes later and walked into the waiting room, where Chim and Hen were. "Anything?" Bobby asked. "No, we've been waiting for almost 20 minutes now to get an update," Hen said, checking the time on her watch. They waited, and waited. And after 45 minutes of waiting, the doctor came out and said that Eddie did indeed have the flu, but should stay in the hospital for a few days to get rehydrated and all of that other stuff that everyone didn't understand, except for Hen.
A week passed, Christopher finally got to see his dad. He was happy that he got to see his dad again after not seeing him for close to 2 weeks. Eddie was back to work after 2 days of rest and was glad to be back, hoping nothing else would happen again.
A/N: Hello my readers! Here's a life update for me, I was placed on quarantine for the first time as I was in close contact with one of my classmates who tested positive for COVID Monday. And it is finals week for me, but I am taking my finals as I'm receiving them as a hard copy from the school as a family member of mine gets them. I am doing well, with no symptoms. Let's hope it stays that way!
Hope you all enjoy this chapter as I rushed it at the end!
~ChicagoPD24