"If nobody moves, nobody get's hurt!"
It took a moment to click. He was just at the grocery store, there was no reason for something to be happening. Though in the back of his mind he had to admit he had been hoping something would happen - it wasn't a coincidence that he had gone to the market that the team frequently went to. He had just hoped it was more of an 'accidentally' run into each other and get to catch up sort of thing. Not this. Never this.
"Get down on the ground! All of you. Pass me your phones, don't even think of doing anything smart!"
There was a blonde woman crying as she pulled her daughter down so that they were both on their knees. The cashier, Roberto, moved his hand toward the counter, likely going to hit the panic button. Unfortunately, the robber caught his eye and turned to see what he had been looking at.
"Stop! Don't even think about it. Keep your hands where I can see them," the robber ordered.
There was a quiet sliding noise, and you could briefly hear the sound of a car driving through the parking lot. All of us looked at each other in horror, seeing that someone new just got caught in this mess.
"Run! Please!" Roberto called out.
The man took a quick look around, assessing what was going on. Dude! Run! Why wasn't he leaving? The man smirked, prompting a cold feeling of horror to rise within him.
"Good job, I didn't think you'd get this far," he told the robber.
"Thanks, boss!"
"Though you're still a failure. Why's he still standing?" he gestured at Buck. "And finish gathering the cell phones."
The robber gulped and nodded before walking over to him. "Did you think you were special? Maybe you wanted to play the hero? Get down!"
"I-I can't. Please. I'm recovering from leg surgery," he pleaded.
He knew that if he ended up on the ground he would be in a worse position to do something. He was going to do whatever it took to stay standing.
"Fine, whatever. Grab that basket then. Round up cell phones."
He sighed in relief before doing what he was told. Surely there would be an opening to act soon. He couldn't help but memorize their faces as he waited for them to put their phones in the basket. The blonde from before grabbed his wrist as she handed over her phone.
"I activated emergency mode on my phone. 9-1-1 will know something's wrong," she whispered.
He nodded to her and gave a sigh of relief. At least something was able to be done. He kept moving before their attention could be drawn to them. Finally, he grabbed the last one and brought the basket back to the robber.
The robber and his boss were busy collecting money from the cash register when the boss looked up for a moment, glancing at the doors.
"Shit! Firetruck is here. Handle him," he said, jerking his thumb in my direction.
Oh shit. He started to try and hurry away from them, towards the blonde woman and her daughter.
"Don't bother running," the robber laughed.
He sprinted over to him and grabbed his arm. Before he could yank him off, the robber tugged on him, using his momentum against him. He wrapped one arm around his throat, putting him in a choke hold while the other one went to his stomach.
"Got him, boss!"
The door slid open again.
"Alright, you all have your lists, meet up when you get everything," Bobby told them.
Then came the unmistakable sound of shopping carts being pushed into the store. It didn't take them long to freeze.
He locked eyes with Bobby, trying to convince him with his eyes to pack up the team and leave. Bobby's eyes flicked down, studying the robber's hands. Before raising back up. He raised his hands up in a pacifying gesture.
"Alright guys, let's take it easy. We don't want anyone to get hurt."
Robber dude just laughed. "Sure, you don't want anyone to get hurt. But guess what? We do!"
I felt a sudden pain in my abdomen and my knees buckled beneath me. In a turn of events, it was only the robber's chokehold on me keeping me on my feet.
"Buck!"
"What the fuck, dude! That was not part of the plan. Are you crazy?" the boss started yelling.
"What do you mean it wasn't part of the plan? Why else would you have told me to grab him and given me the knife before I came in?" the robber asked, sounding a little high pitched from his nerves.
"The knife was so that they would listen to you and give you the money, you dimwit! Not to kill someone with!"
"Please," Bobby's voice broke through. "Let my team help him. He's still alive. We can keep him that way," he begged.
They looked at each other.
"Fine," the robber said before releasing me from the chokehold and shoving me at the team.
Hands reached out to catch him, before they helped lower him to the ground.
"Stay with us, Buck!"
He tried to watch them, trying his best to stay awake. They were scrambling, trying to make due without their med kits since they didn't bring them into the store.
"Buck, stay with me. Look at me!" Eddie said.
He blinked his eyes back open, wondering when he closed them. His stomach was aching, and Eddie was keeping pressure on the wound.
"That's it Buck, keep those eyes open!" Eddie encouraged.
Chimney was coming back then, and all he could see was gauze and rubbing alcohol.
"I guess we'll be matching now, huh Chim?" he groaned out.
Based off the matching bitch faces he received, he should have waited to say that one for once they got him to the hospital.
"Not funny, Buckley. Not funny," Chimney said.
As Chimney worked on him, he tried to listen to what else was happening. There was still muffled sobbing and he heard whispered prayers for help. He heard Bobby talking to the robber and his boss, trying to buy them some more time. He heard Chimney and Hen whispering to each other, trying to discuss how to help him without gaining too much attention.
Eddie tapped on his nose. He swatted at his hand. Eddie tapped him again, incessant. He blinked his eyes back open with a glare.
"You know, I would have to annoy you to death if you would just stay awake," Eddie told him.
"Well, the next time you end up in my position, I'll remember this," he threatened his revenge.
Eddie smiled. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."
The doors opened again.
"LAPD! Hands in the air where I can see them! Drop your weapons!"
There was a flurry of chaos. He couldn't see what was going on, but there was the sudden sound of shoes squeaking on the floor and shouting. His pain intensified as Eddie threw himself over him. It was too much.
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Waking up was a slow process. You'd think with all of the surgeries he's had recently he would be used to the anesthesia by now. But nope. It took him hours to manage to stay awake after the surgery. He could barely remember through the fogginess what had happened the previous times he woke up.
This time, he was by himself when he woke up. Though he had a feeling that there had been people around earlier.
He tried to sit up at first, before he felt a tightening in his abdomen that made him regret all of his choices in life.
There was a brief knock at the door before it opened.
"Hey Buck," Eddie said.
"Hello again, Mr. Buckley. I hope you don't mind having a visitor," Nurse Smokey said with a grin.
His mouth started moving before he fully took anything in. "Of course I don't mind, come on in."
Eddie walked over to the bed and sat down on the side of it.
"Buck, how does this keep happening to you?"
Rude. "Hey, I don't plan it or anything," I defended.
Eddie smiled. "Well, I'd hope not. It'll have everyone saying I'm a shitty firefighter if my partner keeps ending up in a hospital bed every few months."
He automatically grinned right back. Then he scowled. "Not like that's an issue now. You have Bosko for your partner."
"Buck, you're always going to be my partner. I've got your back, remember?"