Maddie nearly fell out of her chair trying to rush to the door, part of her dreaded the thought of answering, if it were Buck, he obviously would have just entered. She checked through the peep hole and felt her stomach plummet. Shakely, she unlocked the deadbolt and reached for the doorknob, hesitating to open the door to the person on the other side.
"Athena," She greeted.
"Maddie, may I come in?" Maddie nodded and let Athena pass, she lingered at the door for a moment before shutting the door and joining Athena at the kitchen island.
"To what do I owe the visit," she asked nervously. She grabbed some waters from the fridge and handed one to Athena who was dressed in full uniform only adding to Maddie's anxiety.
"I think you know why," Athena spoke authoritatively.
"Howie," Maddie sighed in slight frustration.
"Why didn't you call me," Athena sounded almost offended.
"I don't know." She collapsed into the chair and covered her face. "At first… I don't know I thought maybe he wanted to be alone but then he never came home."
"You should have called me or even Bobby."
"Buck didn't leave on the best terms."
"Bobby told me last night, it may not seem like it but he is genuinely worried."
"I dont have a doubt about that," Maddie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She stood up and paced the kitchen before setting in front of the floor to ceiling windows of the kitchen. The clouds in the sky had formed and become dense and gray, growing darker as the took over the blue sky. "Buck talked to me about how he didn't feel like he didn't belong, I thought he would figure it out but he just kept pushing me away and Howie too."
"He was isolating himself the other day when I went."
"I tried Athena, I really did but he has changed so much, and its not only because of the lawsuit; this happened long before that."
"The tsunami." Athena had noticed the change, when she visited, she noticed Buck become not as energetic and more fearful.
"It started there, he had nightmares and then this happens, and I should have seen it."
"Maddie, you didn't miss anything you've seen it, I've seen it but he tried to convince us he was fine."
"I didn't think it would come to this but if he hurt himself, if he…"
"Stop that, don't go there," Athena forced Maddie to sit down, took both her hands and spoke firmly. "I am going to start looking, until then I don't think you need to be alone, the others are coming."
"The others?"
"Chimney, Hen, Bobby and Eddie."
"Athena, it's okay…"
"We are all worried, we need to stick together it's the family we have." Maddie nodded giving Athena's hand a tight squeeze. "We are going to bring him home."
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The nausea was full force right now and he couldn't stop the world from spinning so quickly but he was sure this wasn't anything more than a concussion. He figured by now, being on blood thinners a brain bleed would have killed him by now. For the time being he was safe, in pain but safe; he couldn't say the same for Madison though. He worried as she developed a fever and her leg was starting to grow cold. He had tried to keep her awake, talking about anything and everything but she had eventually fallen asleep and for now maybe that's what she needed. He looked up at the sky, a storm was coming, and he worried about being exposed to a downpour, from the looks of the sky it looked to be building up to just that.
"Buck," He quickly turned his attention to Madison. "Buck, I don't feel good." He looked place his hand to her forehead again, she was burning up. Next, he moved to her leg, the blood had stopped but instantly his heart dropped when he saw a small red streak forming, trailing up her from her injury and up the thigh.
"It's okay someone will come soon." He barely recognized his own voice; it was hoarse and weak as he had spent the majority of the morning calling for help. He knew once that rain started there would be no one in the park at all. "We are going to get out of this." He knew that the likelihood of them being found in time was slowly growing thin.
"I don't want to die down here," Madison sobbed weakly.
"You won't don't think like that."
"I…I just came up her to clear my head." She had explained to him the fight that she had fiancé over something trivial and how she had made her way to the hiking trail to get away. "I want to see her again Buck, tell her I'm sorry."
"And you will," He held her hand tight, feeling tears of his own form. He felt the same way, he wanted to apologize, to Maddie for not appreciating everything she had done for him, to his team about how selfish he felt and stupid he was for filing that damn lawsuit. He wanted to tell them he was so sorry for cutting them out when they were hurting too and how much each of them meant to him. "You will get to see her again and apologize," he assured her. He listened to her cry for a while, telling her it was okay after each time she would apologize for being a blubbering mess. He was scared, he wouldn't deny that, not just for himself and Madison but for the thought of putting Maddie through this panic. To add on to it all he felt the first fat raindrop hit him on the cheek, followed by another, and another until finally a steady flow started to fall. He carefully pulled Madison close to him, trying to shield her as best he could, hoping that soon it would pass or better, yet they would be found.
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Maddie watched as the rain hit the windows with heavy thunks against the glass. She had been standing there ever since the rain had started, wondering if Buck was stuck in this or maybe someplace dry.
"Maddie," She jumped as Howie laid a hand on her shoulder, a left-over reaction with her time with Doug. "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you, I just brought you a plate." He handed Maddie the paper plate with a slice of pizza. She had no interest in it even though she hadn't eaten anything today or the day before. "You need to eat Maddie," he insisted. She nodded, looked behind him at Bobby, Hen and Eddie who all watched her nervously. She kissed Howie on the cheek and walked over the living room to eat, setting beside Christopher who was sitting alone watching some cartoon she had never seen.
"Mind if I join you," she asked. He smiled at her and patted the seat beside him.
"Are you sad?" It wasn't hard for anyone to tell she had been crying and a child Christopher's age would easily ask.
"More worried than sad," she explained.
"Because Buck is missing."
"Yes, because Buck is missing."
"He is brave and strong, he's going to be okay."
"I bet you are right," she smiled wistfully.
"Chris, Buddy go wash up and I will give you some pizza." Eddie entered the small alcove.
"Okay dad," Eddie handed Christopher his crutches and sent him on his way.
"Sorry Maddie."
"Don't apologize, my talk with Chris is comforting."
"I tried to explain why Buck was missing and it just didn't really compute to him."
"He knows, I can tell and he is trying to make sure we are okay." She looked over to Christopher who was being held up to the sink by Bobby. "Buck always tells me how smart Chris is, that he is way smarter than people give him credit for."
"Yeah, him and Chris have a strong bond."
"They had the same mind set," She joked.
"Yeah that too." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably in silence.
"Eddie, I don't blame anyone for Buck disappearing."
"If I had just stopped being so stubborn but I…"
"You were angry and upset, people are allowed to be angry and upset."
"But not long enough to give my best friend the cold shoulder."
"Funny; that's kind of what Buck said to me a couple weeks ago." Eddie looked at her in confusion; she tossed her plate on the tv stand and turned towards him. "He told me that he understood why you were all upset, and he didn't blame you. He said he had given you all the cold shoulder when he started that lawsuit and he knew he was making a mistake, but he was just mad."
"It did hurt, trying to tell Christopher why but wouldn't come see us."
"That hurt him too; he didn't want it, he didn't want to exile himself from his family but at the time he thought it was the only way to get back on the team." She sighed, thinking about it now maybe that was the time she should have forced him to talk to his friends about his feelings of the matter. "He realized it was a mistake and he dropped the lawsuit but he knew that it was too late. Too late to go back on it and he knew that it was going to take time before he regained any trust."
"I should have just talked to him though, I was just so mad that he cut us all out, went against our family."
"He wanted nothing more to be back with you guys, he went about it the wrong way, but he got lost in the hurt and anger."
"I don't know how you don't blame me, I was mean to him when he came back, I'm the reason he quit."
"Hey, that is not why, is that what you think?"
"If we would have given him a change."
"Eddie, he left because he felt like he messed up, he knew he made you mad and that it was warranted. He knew that he had lost your trust and everyone else's because he acted so rashly, he left because he didn't feel like he would ever truly be trusted." She tried to meet his eyeline, but Eddie was avoiding her. "You may have given him the 'cold shoulder' but he knew what coming back after his mistake was going to be like, leaving again was his decision, I am sure in his head it was what was best for the team. Blaming anyone over him going missing is a waste of time and energy." She stood up and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "what matters now is that you are here." On cue Christopher returned with Bobby and a plate of pizza. She gave Eddie's shoulder a squeeze and Bobby a smile before leaving and heading upstairs.