So many things were happening at once but all Eddie could think about was getting hold of the gun that was being waved around and pointed at his team. They had all been laughing and talking about their soon to be three day weekend after one more shift this week and what they all planned on doing. Eddie had promised a trip to the zoo with his son and had asked Bobby and Hen if he could take Harry and Denny along with them; both parents had jumped at the opportunity to have a kid free afternoon. Next thing he knew there was a woman swinging around a gun and demanding to see his best friend.
Eddie knew he shouldn't be able to call Buck that anymore; not with the way they'd been treating him; the way he's been treating him since the lawsuit. Eddie was just so angry still; but he also knew it wasn't fair to the other man. He just didn't know how to approach Buck and talk to him now. Eddie felt like he had let all the anger and silent treatments go on too long to even be allowed to talk to his best friend now; to apologize and really talk about everything that had happened between them in the last couple of months.
Now though he wasn't sure if that would ever happen. As soon as Denny had made a sound and the woman had turned towards the couches; towards the kid and towards Buck; Eddie and Harris had moved at the same time. They had been too late; the gun had already gone off once but they were able to stop it from going off a second time as Eddie grabbed the gun and disarmed her. Harris had then tackled her to the ground; Ramirez who had been sitting at the other end of the table the whole time had joined him; she was a petite woman herself but strong (had to be to be a firefighter).
Eddie heard more then saw Hen rush around the couch for Denny and footfalls of Chimney running downstairs. Eddie clicked the safety on the gun before pushing it away. He had gone down with Harris and the woman when he grabbed for the gun; on his knees at their side so he shifted to get a foot under him; determined to stand up. That was when he heard Hen's choked and tearful voice call out to their youngest friend.
Eddie head snapped up; his eyes frantic as he took in Buck's stance. The man had his back to the rest of them and Eddie instantly zeroed in on the quickly spreading dark stain across Buck's lower back. It was a little hard to see in the dark fabric of his LAFD shirt but the soaking stain was much darker. It was clear as day what had happened even if Eddie hadn't been paying attention. The woman had aimed at Denny and Buck had stepped in front of him as the gun had gone off. Which meant...
"I uh..." A pause. "I think... I think I need to go to-to the hos...pital again."
Buck had been shot.
Eddie was up and sprinting the few feet between the table and the couch just in time to catch Buck against his chest as the blond's legs gave out from under him. Eddie wrapped his arms around Buck's chest as the sudden dead weight of his friend crumbled them to the ground. The impact of his knees to the wooden floor didn't faze him as Eddie scrambled to lay Buck flat on the floor in front of him. suddenly Hen and Bobby were also there as they shoved the couch away to give them more room; and the Chimney and Scotman were jogging back up their stairs with medical supplies from the ambulance.
Bobby and Scotman stood back to allow Hen, Chimney and Eddie the room to work. Chimney handed over packs of gauze to Eddie and he instantly started tearing them open to apply pressure to the wound already losing too much blood. The whole front of Buck's shirt was soaked and darker in color. And then Hen was cutting away the shirt to get a better look at the wound that currently sat roughly between Buck's fifth and sixth rib on the right side of his chest. Eddie knew the entry wound on his back was a bit lower; below the ribs; and they needed to worry about that too as he watched blood pool around Buck's side on the floor and soak into Eddie's pants.
Buck blinked a few times as his hand reached for anything to latch onto. He came into contact with a leg and latched; gripping the fabric with all the strength that he could as the pain rushed in. He was staring at the ceiling and just trying to breath through it; even if that was becoming a little difficult. The moment pressure was applied he arched his back; gritted his teeth and groaned.
"I know it hurts, Buckaroo." Chimney said as he leaned over to be in the younger man's line of sight as he handed more gauze over to the former Army medic and got an oxygen mask over Buck's nose and mouth.
"Denny..." Buck mumbled voice grit out as he took as deep a breath through his nose as he could.
"He's safe." Hen looked down at Buck and smiled sadly as she continued to hook him up to the portable heart monitor and automated external defibrillator; Chimney wiping away blood where needed for her. "You kept him safe, Buck."
Buck swallowed. "Go...od."
"This bleeding's not going to stop." Eddie huffed as he moved his hand to allow Chimney to place more gauze before pressing his blood slicked hand back down.
"B...blood thin... thinners." Buck groaned. "'member."
"We need to move him now." Hen stated. "Before he..."
There was a stuttering breath before Buck's body jerked and then fell still and silent; his eyes slipped closed.
"... does that."
Eddie's own breath stuck in his throat as he and Chimney instantly went to work doing compressions and breaths. Then Hen was telling them to clear and shocking Buck's heart. Eddie watched wide eyed as Buck's body arched before falling back to the floor; the heart monitor still showing no signs. Eddie returned to the compressions until Hen called out once again. He held his breath as once again Buck's heart was shocked; thankfully this time here was a beep and suddenly the oxygen mask fogged up just slightly.
"Let's move!" Hen called; looking up as Scotman appeared with the backboard.
Together the four of them loaded Buck onto the backboard and with the help from a few other crew they got him downstairs and loaded onto the gurney and into the already running ambulance. Scotman jumped into the driver's seat while Hen, Chimney and Eddie climbed into the back of the rig to continue working on their unconscious but thankfully still alive friend. The sirens blared and suddenly they were gone.
Bobby stood in the loft still starring at the floor where Buck had been laying; debris from gauze; blood soaked gauze; gloves; and other medical supplies lay in the pool of blood that had formed and spread. There was too much blood for a single person to lose. It had reached to where they had shoved the couch; art supplies scattered across the floor; much of it now covered in blood. Bobby looked down at his feet where the sketch book had been kicked as they had rushed Buck down the stairs. He picked it up and was surprised to find that the blood hadn't tainted it. He knew that Buck would have hated to throw it away had it been destroyed.
Pressure on his arm made him blink and finally look up and into the face of his wife. He could see she was fighting back from crying. He was pretty sure they all were. Bobby cleared his throat and looked around the rest of the loft. There were other police officers; the woman and the gun were both gone; a few of his remaining crew were stood around; all trying desperately not to look towards the lounge and all the blood.
"I need to... call dispatch. Take off offline."
"Cap." Ramirez took a step closer. "Sir, Bailey already did when she called in that shots were fired. Do to the nature of the... incident... we've been taken offline for 24-hours."
"There will be an investigation." Athena spoke softly at his side. "We've already interviewed a few of the crew and we'll need statements from Hen, Chimney and Eddie as soon as possible but if you're ready?"
Bobby nodded. "Was Maddie called?"
"I sent an officer to the call center to escort her to the hospital. She wasn't the one to take the call but she was bound to hear that a firefighter from the 118 was shot." Athena lightly squeezed her husband's arm. "Ready?"
With another nod Athena escorted Bobby into his office where another officer followed to take his statement. Bobby explained that they had just gotten back from a fire that had taken them almost three hours to put out. When they had gotten back Buck was on the couch with Denny - he had been dropped off by Karen who had to rush to the hospital after her sister had been in a car accident. He told them how he and Chimney was just starting on lunch when a woman came up the stairs. She had seemed friendly enough; even smiling at them. But then suddenly she was wielding a gun around and demanding where Buck was.
He told them that nobody said anything even though Buck had been right behind her. He told them how Eddie kept trying to get closer to grab for the gun; how he had stepped in front of Chimney to block his view so the other man could call for help - Athena chimed in that he had texted her - and that had been when the first shot was fired above Eddie's head. And that was when chaos erupted because the shot had woken Denny. Buck had stepped in the way and shoved Denny away as the second shot was fired; and that was when Eddie and Harris had taken the woman down and got the gun away from her.
When he was finished he looked at his wife and asked. "Do you know who she was and why she wanted Buck?"
Athena took a moment before replying.
"Her name was Elaine Mackey."
