Full Summary:
Buck's friends' race to save his life after it is revealed that he was kidnapped and buried alive by a new killer in the state. Other victims were found, but only after a ransom was paid. No ransom demand has come yet and the cops have no explanation for it. Will Buck be found in time?
Buried Alive:
It had started out like any other day for Buck. He'd just gotten off work and was heading to the store for some groceries. His fridge was desperately low on food and the only thing in his cupboards were some crackers. He'd basically been living off of crackers, cheese, and water bottles; he was in need of something that tasted better than cheese and crackers. After getting his groceries from the store, Buck stopped by a coffee stand and got his usual, then headed home. He had the day off tomorrow because he'd had to make a dentist appointment, but the rest of the team had to work. When he got home, he put his groceries away and then stashed the bags under the sink so he always had a small garbage bag if needed. He was about to make himself some food when a knock came at the door. Opening the door, he saw Eddie and Christopher standing there with pizza. He let them in and Christopher went to the couch to watch TV.
"What are you guys doing here? Thought you were hanging out with Carla?"
"Carla wanted to hang out with her husband, so we came here. Besides, Chris missed you."
"And I missed him. But I don't think I'll be able to eat pizza."
"Tooth still bothering you?"
"Yes, and it didn't help that I got elbowed in the jaw on that last call."
"You want me to take a look at it? I might be able to help?"
"No, I'm fine and will be fine until my dentist appointment tomorrow. I'm just going to make some soup."
"Ok, I mean I can take a look."
"I'm good. You guys enjoy the pizza."
"So, other than your dentist appointment tomorrow, do you think you can swing by the house and hang out with Chris? He's wanted to hang out with you for a while and we've all been pretty busy."
"Yeah, that sounds like something I can do. I'll call you when I'm out of the dentist and let you know when I get there. Doesn't Carla have him tomorrow?"
"Yes, but I've been trying to get her some time off so she can spend some time with her husband; Trying to work our schedules around each other."
"Well, I don't mind hanging out with Chris, he's my little buddy."
"Good, so I will let Carla know when she gets to the house to expect you after your dentist appointment."
"Alright then; how about we go play some video games."
"Sounds like a plan."
Eddie grabbed the plates and pizza for him and his son while Buck put the soup he was making into one of the soup mugs he'd bought a while back but had never had the time to use. They went and sat on the couch on either side of Chris and ate the food as they played video games. Buck was suddenly looking forward to tomorrow. Despite the fact that he didn't like the dentist, he still went when he needed to and he definitely needed to this time. He was pretty sure he had an infection and would probably get some antibiotics for it. When the food was eaten and as Chris started to nod off of his dad's shoulder, Eddie said goodbye to Buck and said he'd see him tomorrow. Buck cleaned up the mess and food and put the remaining pizza in his fridge. Once he was back from the dentist, he'd have some leftover pizza for dinner. He got ready for bed and then climbed underneath his comforter.
Buck's alarm woke him up around 7am. His appointment was at 9am and he wanted to get that done and over with as soon as possible. He was anticipating spending the day with Christopher, so he really wanted his dentist appointment to be done and over with as soon as possible. While he got ready, he made sure to let Eddie know that his appointment was at 9am and that he'd head over to the house afterward; he texted Carla the same thing. Both texted back that that was fine and that they would see him at different times of the day. Nobody was expecting anything bad to happen especially since everybody liked firefighters.
As soon as he got to the dentist, Buck let them know that he was early and they told him to wait until the dentist could see him. He liked to show up early to any medical appointment because it was easier to be early than it was to be late. If he'd been late, he'd have had to set another appointment and probably wouldn't be able to hang out with Christopher at all today. When the dentist came out and took him into the back, Buck let him know that he thought he had a tooth infection and that he'd been elbowed in the jaw yesterday during a call. The dentist nodded and then took an x-ray of the side of his mouth that was hurting him. He confirmed that Buck had an infection and gave him a prescription for some antibiotics. He also told him to ice the area of the jaw that had been elbowed. He couldn't really do anything for the jaw since it was just a bruise, but he could tell Buck to keep ice on it. Buck thanked him, took his prescription and left the office. He hit a local pharmacy and had the prescription filled before heading back out to his jeep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck woke slowly, confused as to where he actually was. The last thing he remembered was getting into his jeep and heading for Eddie's house. He didn't remember getting into an accident or even being taken to the hospital so his confusion was very high. When he tried to move, his leg bumped into something and then he felt panic. Using his hands, he felt around and realized that he was in some kind of box. He opened his eyes, but could barely see. Looking to the right he noticed that there were a few glow sticks that hadn't been used and he snapped one to get some light. What he saw made him freeze in panic. The box was a little longer than his six-foot frame, and he only had enough room to lift his head up and look around. There were a couple bottles of water next to his right arm, what looked like a breathing pipe right above him, most likely supplying him with much-needed oxygen to keep him alive for a certain amount of time, and he was relieved to still feel his phone in his back pocket where he had put it when he'd gone into the pharmacy. He still had his watch on as well. But any indication as to where he might actually be was lost to him because all he could see was the wood box that he was lying in. He presumed that the box was buried because why would you put someone in a box with a breathing tube unless the box is buried.
Buck maneuvered his hand down to his jeans and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. Whoever had taken him hadn't been smart enough to remove his phone so maybe they weren't very smart to begin with. He unlocked the phone and looked at the time. It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. He knew people would be looking for him, but he didn't have any service underground. However, just because he didn't have any service to answer the texts messages back, didn't mean the messages weren't getting through. He saw multiple messages from Eddie wondering where he was, from Carla asking if he was alright, and finally from Maddie saying that Eddie had called her asking if she'd seen him. He could tell they were all worried, but it's not like he could do anything from where he was from. He needed to conserve any and all air that he was getting. He put his phone on airplane mode to preserve the battery and then turned on the locator so that anyone looking for his phone would be able to find it. He hoped that they wouldn't be long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie's phone buzzed around 11am. Looking at it, he noticed that Carla was calling him. Answering the phone, he learned that Buck hadn't shown up for the scheduled day of fun with Christopher and Carla was wondering if Eddie had heard from him. Eddie said no, he hadn't heard from Buck but that he would call just to be on the safe side. Carla thanked him and hung up. Eddie called Buck's phone but only got the voicemail, to which he left a message. Another hour went by and nobody had heard from Buck. Eddie was starting to get worried. It wasn't like Buck to not answer his phone and it definitely wasn't like Buck to ignore his friends when they were trying to get ahold of them. They had just gotten back from a call when Athena walked in. Bobby greeted her but the look in her eyes told him something was wrong.
"Athena, hey, is everything alright?"
"Have any of you heard from Buck today?"
"He had a dentist appointment at 9am and then he was supposed to go by my place and pick up Chris. They were going to hang out. But I got a call from Carla saying he never showed up. We haven't been able to get him on the phone either."
"I was afraid of that."
"What going on Athena?"
"Buck's jeep was found behind a pharmacy shortly after twelve o'clock today. The owner of the pharmacy called it in because it had been sitting there for a while. When we checked the security camera for the back of the building we saw what we didn't want to see. Seems like Buck got himself grabbed and were still trying to figure out where he might have been taken. Luckily, whoever grabbed him wasn't smart enough to lose his phone, because that wasn't found at the Jeep."
"Buck was kidnapped? Have you called Maddie?" Chimney asked.
"I went by the call center on my way here. They are trying to locate his phone now, but that could take a while. Maddie was very adamant that she be able to look for his phone. We'll find him, but I want you all to be on alert. There's something funky going on in the city as of late."
"What does that mean?" Hen asked.
"We're pretty sure we have a serial killer on the loose but as of right now, we can't link him to Buck's kidnapping. We just know that Buck was kidnapped."
"What's this serial killer known for?" Bobby asked.
"He kidnaps his victims, buries them alive and then a ransom demand is made. All we know is that Buck was kidnapped. No ransom demand has been made. Maddie hasn't received any phone calls except from Eddie letting her know that he hadn't shown up to hang out with Christopher."
"I'm calling Carla; get her to bring Chris here. I want to know that he is safe."
"I already called Michael; he's picking the kids up and bringing them here. Hen, you might want to call Karen."
"Yeah, I'll get right on that."
Eddie and Hen left the area to call their respective persons. Carla was immediately packing some stuff for Christopher so that he would be entertained at the firehouse and then they headed for the firehouse. Karen packed up Denny and the dog and some things that would be needed and headed for the firehouse as well. By the time Carla, Christopher, Karen, Denny and the dog were at the firehouse, Michael and the kids were as well. None of the kids really knew what was going on, but they all understood that it was what was for the best at the moment. The kids went upstairs to the common area with May helping Chris by picking him up and carrying him up the stairs. All the adults went to the bunk area so that they could talk.
"Athena, you weren't very specific on the phone when you told me to get Harry and May, so do you want to tell us what's going on, for those of that just got here."
"Buck has been kidnapped and we aren't sure if it's by the same guy that kidnapped, buried and nearly killed about nine other people across the state. The FBI is involved. But so far as we know, no ransom demand has been made."
"Wait, this guy buries his victims alive, like on purpose?" Chimney asked.
"Yes, which is why we are trying to find out if Buck was grabbed by the same guy or if he was grabbed by someone else altogether. If he was grabbed by the same guy that buried the other nine victims, we know he has a pattern. What we think happened was that he forgot to grab Buck's phone so that a ransom demand could be made. We think that, but we don't actually know that."
"So, how does the FBI think they can help?" Eddie asked.
"They are going to send one of their agents over to try and help. She's supposed to be very good at her job."
"How good is good?" Bobby asked.
"Apparently, she was this guy's third victim, so I'd say pretty damn good if she can survive this lunatic."
"Do you know how she survived?" Hen asked.
"The criminal, in this case, thought it would be a good idea to kidnap a federal agent who works with a team that just so happens to use math geniuses to help solve crimes. Not sure how that works out."
"It works out perfectly well. The Violent Crimes Unit needed an edge in solving crimes and well we got two math geniuses and a physicist. Hi, I'm Katarina Jones. The young girl told me where I could find you."
"Sorry, our talking got a little long. I'm Athena Grant, my husband Bobby Nash is the Captain of the firehouse. These are his friends Eddie Diaz, Henrietta Wilson, and Howard Han. These are our respective significant others. How do you plan on finding Buck?"
"It won't be easy but I hear he has his phone, so that'll make it easier. But from what I can gather, Buck was just some random guy off the street. Normally, this guy chooses his victims after he studies them to make sure he can get a ransom out of them. Buck may have been a victim of circumstance. He may have been aiming for someone else but Buck got in the way or something to those measures. There hasn't been a ransom demand yet and I honestly don't think there will be one. If Buck was a random victim, then there might be another victim out there that was his intended victim. We may have two buried victims that we are looking for. Any luck pinging his phone?"
"The 911 call center is still trying, we haven't heard anything from them just yet, but Buck's sister is one of the dispatcher's trying to find his phone. Hopefully, we'll find him soon. The other victims, how long were they buried? Or better yet, how long were you buried?"
"I was buried just under twelve hours but I had hope on my side from the beginnings. The others were buried for up to forty-eight hours before their ransoms were paid. By the time we got to them, all were unconscious and were rushed to hospitals near them. But not knowing exactly where Buck is at the moment, may be his only way of keeping everyone at an arms length. If another ransom call comes in for someone else, we follow that lead. They may very well have been buried together, albeit separate boxes, but near enough to each other that we find them both. There are a ton of possibilities and at the moment, not enough time to go through them. We'll start with where he was taken and work our way out. My team should be getting a perimeter set up as we speak."
"You should know, he's on blood thinners. He's been on them for a while." Eddie said.
"Thank you, that will come in handy when we find him. Here is my card, my numbers are on it and you can contact me if you have any questions. I need to be getting back to my team."
With that, Katrina turned around and walked out of the firehouse. She hadn't told them everything. She hadn't even told them that they were dealing with someone who didn't care if he killed just to get what he wanted. She didn't want to worry them any more than they already were. She knew what they would do if they found out that there were close to thirty victims, most of which were never found and when they were, they were already dead. She hadn't wanted them to think of their friend dying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck woke slowly; he knew that he hadn't been found yet because he could see the top of the box. What had woken him up was the sound of someone panicking. The sound seemed to becoming above him, but he couldn't be sure just yet. He continued to listen, trying to figure out just what was going on. It finally dawned on him that he might not be the only one in the hole, that there might be another box on top of his. Positioning his head under the breathing tube, he started to talk. He told the person that they needed to calm down or they would waste what little air they already had. He told them that they needed to take slow and steady breaths, that they would be found and that they needed to keep up hope that their friends and families would realize what had happened.
The voice started to talk back, asking if he was okay and Buck told her that he was. He asked about her and she told him that she had been on her way home from school. That her father was a rich oil man and that he would do anything to get her free. She asked him if his family would look for him. He told her that they would and that his family was his sister but the family he chose was the LAFD, that they would stop at nothing to find him, and now her because they were in this together. He asked if she had anything with her when she was grabbed. She told him that she'd had her phone but that he had taken it from her. She asked what he had. Buck told her that he had his phone but wasn't able to get anyone on the other line. There wasn't any service underground.
She asked if he knew what time it was and he told her he'd look. Looking probably wasn't the smartest move he'd made that day, but he needed to know how long he'd been underground. Looking at his phone, he noticed that the locator on the phone was starting to ping, something he hoped was the searchers and nobody else. But he also noticed the time: 3:30am. He'd officially been missing for over twelve hours and he had no idea if anyone was even looking for him, but he hoped they were. He told her what time it was and she whimpered. He tried to get her to calm down but knew what the possibility of that was. He wasn't up there with her; he had no idea what she was thinking or what exactly she was trying to do. He tried to calm her down but she started to say things that made no sense.
When she said that she knew where she was and that they were never going to be found, he felt dread in his heart. He asked what she meant by what she'd said. So she told him. She could hear snakes above her box, snakes that were more or less rattlesnakes and she knew where she was because she'd been out here recently, for a party that her friends had thrown. He asked her where they were and she told him. They were in an abandoned construction site. Her father had owned the property and had abandoned it because nobody wanted to live out in the desert, especially not right on top of a rattlesnake pit. A couple houses had been built but they'd had to stop when the snake pit had been found. The place was crawling with them and they hadn't been able to get them relocated, they just kept coming back so the site had been abandoned.
Buck looked at his phone one more time. The battery was still at 75% because of his smart move to put it on airplane mode. He pulled it off of airplane mode and tried dialing 9-1-1. He hoped he got through.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"
"Maddie…Maddie…"
"I'm sorry sir, but can you please speak up, I can barely hear you."
"My sister is Maddie…I need to talk to her…"
"Sir, can you tell me where you are?" Josh turned to where Maddie was and motioned her over. Athena & Agent Jones had also been in the Call Center. Twelve hours and they hadn't heard anything or been able to ping Buck's phone, but now they might have a lead to finding him.
"I'm underground…there's a sixteen-year-old girl here too…we need help…"
"Sir, you're breaking up. Do you know where you might be? Sir?"
"Abandoned construction site…desert…rattlesnake pit…"
"Can you tell me if you are hurt?"
"I'm not…don't know about the girl…get here fast…"
"Help is on the way. Do you know if the snakes can get to you?"
"Not the girl…but me, yes…pretty sure one is coming down now…"
"We're coming, just hang in there, sir, can you hear me?"
A scream was heard over the phone and it was pained. If a rattler had been able to make it down the air tube, then Buck was going to be in trouble. Rattler venom can and will kill if not treated within a few hours. Agent Jones got on with her friends and gave them the information. Her closed eyes told them all they needed to know.
"Someone else was grabbed, weren't they?"
"Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth James. Her father is a rich oil man. He received the ransom five hours ago. But we don't have time to wait for the ransom. They called Mr. James and he knows what construction site he was talking about. My agents are going to pick him up. We need to get out there."
"What he said about the snakes?" Maddie asked.
"Mr. James said the snake pit kept growing. Only a few houses had been built and his daughter goes out there every now and then to have parties with her friends but they never stay long. Once the snakes start to make themselves known, the parties end and everyone scatters. But if they are buried near the pit, all bets are off. Snake venom has a not so nice side effect against blood thinners. So that medicine your brother is on, might just get him killed if we don't find him immediately."
"Then what are we waiting for. I'm riding with Athena." Maddie and Athena got out to her car and then sped towards the coordinates that they were given. Hopefully the 118 was also headed out that way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A call came in over intercom for the 118 to dispatch to an abandoned construction site. And though they were wondering about it, they didn't yet know that the site was where Buck was. Once they got to the scene and noticed so many cop cars around, they seemed to understand what was going on. Bobby saw Athena and Maddie standing on an abandoned shipping container. He climbed the ladder as did the rest of the team.
"What do we know Athena?"
"Buck is somewhere out there." She pointed out towards the other side, where the snake pit came into full view. "Animal control is on the way and until they get here, we can't look. Animal control will get rid of the snakes and as soon as they do, we'll bring in the backhoe. Right now, look for an air tube, it's feeding the boxes."
"Boxes? So someone else was grabbed?" Chimney asked.
"The sixteen-year-old daughter of the man who owns the site."
"Anything else we need to know?" Hen asked.
"A couple snakes may have gotten down the air tube."
"And we know this how?" Eddie asked.
"Buck called 911. It was spotty, but it was enough to learn how to find him. And then we saw this. Just before we lost contact, we heard a scream. Agent Jones said that snake venom has an adverse effect on blood thinners*. We have to find him and now." Maddie said.
"We'll find him Maddie; we'll get him out," Chimney said reassuring her.
They had to wait another hour until all of the snakes were rounded up. Animal control had never had to deal with that many snakes before so they kind of had to put them in buckets and deposit them inside the shipping container. Once this disaster was averted, the snakes would be released and the entire site would be locked down for good. At least that was according to what Agent Jones said. Mr. James was already in the planning stages of getting a wall built around the whole property so that nobody could get in, even if they wanted to; and no snakes could get out, no matter how hard they tried. Once all the snakes were gone, the rescuers got to work. The only reason they hadn't been able to see the air tube was because the snakes had been hiding it. Now that all the snakes were off the ground, they could see it clearly. The got a backhoe over to the area and started digging. Animal control stayed on the scene just in case any snakes made it down the air tube.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck could hear digging but he didn't move. After the first snake had made its way down the tube, more had followed. All of the glow sticks were used up and showed just how many snakes were now in his box and he tried to keep his breathing under control. They were slithering all over him and he'd already been bit a few times. He could feel the effect of their venom in his body and it didn't feel right. Yes, it hurt when he was bitten but something was wrong and he knew it.
A snake slithered over his neck and he held his breath. One strike to his jugular and he'd be dead. Once the snake had coiled next to his neck with its mouth pointing towards his shoulder, he let out his breath. The digging stopped for a second before the sound of something above him moving was heard. He knew they had to move her box in order for them to get to his box, he just prayed that they would hurry up. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to stay awake. The darkness was calling to him and he really wanted to sleep, though he knew he shouldn't. Just as he heard the digging start back up, he passed out, right as the snake next to his neck bit his shoulder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not knowing how many snakes were in the box with Buck was what was keeping his family from just jumping down and prying the box open. When the last pile of dirt was removed, they hooked a chain to the box to get it out of the hole. Eddie was having a hard time not reacting, they needed to do this correctly, if they didn't Buck could die. The first box had been a hurdle and once the girl was out of her box and being taken care of by paramedics and her father, they had gotten back to digging out the box that Buck was in. The only way they knew for sure to get him out alive was with a fire extinguisher, so they'd grabbed every available extinguisher from the trucks and waited for the box to be hauled out of the hole. The air tube had been cut close to the box after the first box was out of the way since it was the air supply for both victims.
Once Buck's box was safely on the ground and the backhoe was turned off, the silence was interrupted by the snakes hissing. They hadn't liked being moved and had started to act up. Bobby, Chimney and Eddie pried open the lid with crowbars and then very carefully pulled the lid off. What they saw made them stop in their tracks. Maddie looked into the box and screamed. She turned away and wouldn't look back. Athena kept her away from the box. The extinguishers were brought in and they blasted the snakes to make them stop moving. Once all the snakes were dormant, the animal control officers moved in and removed them, then moved out of the way so that the paramedics could help their friend.
Eddie and Bobby carefully lifted Buck from the box and put him on the gurney. He was assessed and thankfully none of the snakes had bitten him on his head or neck, but that couldn't be said about the rest of his body. All in all, about ten snakes had managed to get down the air tube and the wounds on his body showed just how much pain he had to endure. But they couldn't dawdle for long; Buck needed a hospital and he needed one immediately. An ambulance wouldn't get him to one quickly enough. A helicopter was called in and he was loaded into the air ambulance. Eddie jumped in after him, despite the protests of the air medics. The look on his face told them to argue. They looked back at the people around them and understood. One of them would be going either way.
As soon as the helicopter took off, everyone got busy cleaning the site up. Well trying to. During the whole ordeal, Athena and Agent Jones had been taking photographs so that when this guy was finally caught, they'd have the evidence to put him in jail for the rest of his life. Athena had to stay on the site, but the others left. Since Maddie had come with Athena, she jumped into the truck with Chimney. Bobby didn't say anything, just told Athena to call their families and tell them what was going on so that they could get to the hospital.
Enroute to the hospital, Bobby got a call from Eddie telling them that they were at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. The hospital was known for having snake venom on hand for the worst-case scenarios.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck woke slowly. He had no idea where he was. He felt warm, so that must be a plus. He could hear beeping in his ear so he deduced that he was in a hospital. But beyond that, he didn't know what day it was or how long he'd been asleep. He tried to open his eyes, but they were way too heavy for his liking. He tried licking his lips, but his mouth felt extremely dry. His body hurt and he didn't remember why. This throat hurt too, but when he tried to move his head, he couldn't. Something was down his throat and it was stopping him from moving his head. He gave up and fell into a comfortable silence and let sleep drag him down once more.
When he woke again, the thing down his throat was gone but he still couldn't move much. The pain that radiated through his body had become a dull plain. He still couldn't remember exactly what had happened. He tried, but his tired mind wouldn't let him. The beeping was still near him so he knew that he was still in the hospital, but he didn't know how he'd ended up there in the first place. What had he done this time that made him come to the hospital? The last thing he remembered was going to the dentist. How did a trip to the dentist end up with him in the hospital? He didn't have an answer to that question so he let sleep drag him back down once again.
When he woke up for a third time, he could hear more than the beeping. He heard people around him but he couldn't make out what they were saying or who was saying them. How long had he been in the hospital? Why was he in the hospital? He didn't have answers to anything and he couldn't ask anyone either. He was still way too tired to do anything but sleep and he got the feeling that the people in the room were starting to get frustrated but he didn't know why. He felt his body slip back into the comfortable silence of sleep and he let his mind drift away.
When he woke for the final time, he was finally able to open his eyes, but his mouth was way too dry for him to say anything. He was able to move his head and he did, but just barely because that hurt way too much for him to have an answer for. He saw Maddie sitting in of the hospital chairs. She was asleep and it looked like she had been crying. He couldn't really move so he kept looking around, trying to figure out why he was in the hospital and why Maddie had been crying. His eyes flitted around the room and it looked like Maddie wasn't the only one in the room. His eyes landed on Eddie, who was asleep in his chair and then on Hen who had started to come around from her sleep. He kept his eyes on Hen waiting for her to fully wake up. When she saw his eyes on her, she gasped. She stood up quietly and walked over to him.
"Hey, Buckaroo, you had us all worried."
The confused look on his face told her he couldn't remember what had happened. Before she could say anything else, his eyes flitted closed and he was asleep again. Hen kept her hand in his and when she was sure he was sleeping again, left the room to get the doctor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buck was awake and sitting up. His family had been ushered out of the room only an hour ago, visiting hours were over, for now. He still couldn't piece everything together, but he said that in time, he would remember. Maddie had refused to leave and when the doctors came in and said that she had to leave, Agent Jones had shown up saying that Buck was still in danger and that he needed to have someone with him at all times. The doctors and nurses had relented and said that they would check back soon. Maddie was now sitting by the bed, her hand holding his. He was intent on just sitting there but Maddie could tell that he wanted to talk.
"What's on your mind Buck?"
"What happened? I don't really remember anything."
"You mean before or after you were kidnapped? What's the last thing you remember?"
"Uh…last thing I remember is going to the dentist. After that, everything is a blur. Maddie…what happened? How did I end up here?"
"Buck, the dentist appointment was two weeks ago. You really don't remember anything?" Maddie asked concerned.
"Two weeks? I've been here for two weeks?"
"Okay, let me start from the beginning. The doctor said that you may not remember much. We were kind of hoping you would."
"You've been in that chair for two weeks haven't you?"
"I wasn't about to leave my little brother's side."
"Maddie, can you explain what happened?"
"Alright, but no interrupting."
So she told him all that she knew and all that they were able to piece together from the time it was found out that he was kidnapped up until they got him out of the box that he'd been buried in. She watched his facial features to see if anything was coming back to him. She saw some hint of recognition to certain things, but to the things that she said while they were searching, she knew he'd need more time with. She told him about the girl that had been kidnapped and how the girl had told him that she knew where they were. That he had called 911 to let them know what was going on and where they could look to find them. She told about the rescue of first the girl and then him. How his box had about ten snakes inside, all of which had bitten him multiple times. She told him that the venom from the snakes had had an adverse effect with his blood thinners and that they had basically put him into a coma even while he was in the box.
She told him what Eddie had said had happened while in the helicopter, how they'd had to start CPR because his heart had stopped, most likely due to all the snake venom coursing through his veins. She told him how when everyone got to the hospital, Eddie was pacing the waiting room because they hadn't let him into the ER to stay with you. She told him that Agent Jones had put a security detail outside the room just in case the kidnapper came back and that the girl he'd been buried with also a protection detail. That's why when he'd finally waken up all three of them had been in the room. The protection detail had the names of his family and friends and they were allowed to stay in the room way past visiting hours. Agent Jones said it was best if multiple people were in the room, just in case, so someone was always with him.
Maddie stood up from her chair and sat on the bed, still holding his hand. She looked into her little brothers eyes as what she said sank in. And as he started to remember, he grew pale.
"Evan, it's okay. We aren't going to leave you. You'll be here for another week or so, so we will be as well. The team is here when they don't have to work and so am I, though Sue said I could have more time off."
"Am I okay?"
"You are on the mend. You had to be taken off the blood thinners because of the venom coursing through your veins and they didn't want it to be a problem when they gave you the anti-venom. You will make a full recovery."
"So much for our pact of never getting hurt again."
"I will let you slide on this one. This was not your fault at all. Though, when you get out of here, you will need to stay with someone. I'd offer my place, but while you were in here, Chimney moved in so, that's a no go."
"I'll be fine by myself Mads. I don't need anyone looking after me."
"Oh no, until you are 100% fully recovered, you are staying with someone. I don't want you ending up back in the hospital for no reason other than the fact that you tried to get back to work faster."
"Come on Mads…"
"No, and don't even think you'll get out of it with the others. We've all agreed."
"Ganging up on me while in a coma is not fair."
"Yes, yes it is. We had to talk about something while you were sleeping."
The conversation dwindled and Maddie found herself moving to lie next to her brother. She had tears in her eyes again.
"You scared me Evan. I've never been so scared in my life. When I saw you in that box with those snakes surrounding you, I screamed. I didn't think anything could be worse at that moment. So please, indulge our over-protectiveness just a little longer. You were so pale, so lifeless in that box. I didn't know if you were going to make it to the hospital in time. Don't ever scare me like that again, do you understand me Evan Buckley!"
"Got it Mads…I'll do my best to not get kidnapped again."
And with that, the two siblings fell asleep in each-other's arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie opened the door to his house and moved out of the way as Buck moved inside. It had been decided for him that he would stay with Eddie and Christopher. Nobody else had the room. Eddie put Chris in his room and then moved to the living room where Buck was sitting on the couch. His best friend was not liking the fact that he wasn't allowed to sleep in his own bed. Eddie moved to the guest room and put Buck's things on the bed. When he moved back out into the living room, Buck had fallen asleep on the couch. Eddie didn't try and move him. Even a couple hours out of the hospital and Buck was still very weak. Eddie maneuvered Buck to his side so that he was lying on the couch rather than sitting and then put a blanket over him. When he was sure Buck was fine, he went into his own room and got ready for bed. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
A scream woke him from a dead sleep. For a second he thought it was Chris, but his son was asleep when he went to check on him. He went out to the living room and found Buck on the floor, where he had fallen after waking up from his nightmare. Eddie knew he was bound to have nightmares. Nobody goes through being buried alive and not come out with some emotional scars. He went over to his best friend and tried to calm him. Somehow, Buck's shirt had come off in his fight with his nightmare and Eddie could see all the scars that littered his chest and arms. There were more on his legs, but those weren't visible at the moment.
Eddie sat on the couch and took Buck's hand. He tried to give him a hug to reassure him that he'd be fine, but Buck wouldn't let him. The look on his face told him he was ashamed. Ashamed that he had to have someone take care of him again; Ashamed that this was happening again; Ashamed of the nightmares that never went away anymore. Eddie finally got Buck back up onto the couch. Buck couldn't pull away from the hug this time and he just broke down. When the crying had stopped, Buck pulled away. Eddie looked at his best friend. What he saw made his heart break.
"Buck, you can't keep the nightmares in forever. You need to talk to someone, anyone. Keeping them in isn't going to help."
"I know that, but it's not like I was injured on the job. This isn't like the firetruck or the tsunami. This is worse. I can't escape these."
"And you shouldn't have to. We know that you have started remembering what happened to you. You need to talk about it. Look, I have the day off tomorrow. We can go see Frank if you want, get you set up with some appointments. Then we can take Christopher wherever you want to go."
"You sure you don't have other plans?"
"I've got nowhere else to be. You'll get through this; we are all here for you."
"I know, I just hate feeling like this. I'm a grown-ass man; I shouldn't have to be babysat like a ten-year-old."
"We aren't babysitting you, Buck. We're caring for you. There is a difference, especially since it was ordered by your doctor."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I should probably get some sleep. Thanks for this."
Buck got up and headed for the guest bedroom. Eddie watched him go before getting up and moving to his room. He checked on Chris first and thankfully the kid was still asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~911~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A month of staying with Eddie and Christopher had done wonders for Buck, who thankfully was back in his own apartment. During his hospital stay, the doctors had also put him on the antibiotics for his tooth infection so at least that had cleared up. He was seeing Frank weekly and having dinner with Maddie nearly every night. He'd gotten remarkably better over the last month. He no longer fell asleep at odd times and the nightmares seemed to go away, but he knew that they weren't really gone, not altogether. He was still recovering, but not so much that he needed to stay with the Diaz family. He was back in his own apartment and ready to get back to work. Frank had already cleared him to return to work, but he knew that Bobby was going to keep him on light duty for a couple shifts, to get him back to his old self. They didn't want a repeat of what had happened after the tsunami. They wanted Buck back, just maybe on a short leash for now.
Every time Eddie came back from work, he had told him just how many people came up to him every day asking how Buck was doing. Now that Buck was able to go back to work, he needed to be back in his own apartment. He knew the hazards of the job so he knew what could happen. He may not have been on the blood thinners anymore, thanks mostly in part to the snake venom, but he wasn't about to push himself too far either. He needed to be 100% better before he was allowed to go out on calls and he understood that, he understood where Bobby was coming from. He didn't complain as he knew that once he was fully healed from his ordeal, he'd be off light-duty and back in the fold with everyone else.
For now, he helped Maddie put the remaining groceries away, after all the food in his fridge had been thrown away. He knew that Maddie had come over and trashed everything that had very badly expired sometime after he'd woken from his coma. Now, they got everything situated and Maddie ordered Thai food. Chimney would be over later once he got off shift. And as soon as they were gone, Buck was going to go to sleep. He still thought it odd that after everything that had happened, sleeping was the one thing he did more than anything. He didn't understand it. Tomorrow would be his first day back to work and he needed to be up and ready to go before leaving.
When dinner was over, Chimney and Maddie left and Buck cleaned up. He put everything away and then headed to his bed. He placed his phone on the charger and then fell into bed. When he woke to his alarm the next morning, he wasn't surprised when Eddie called him. Eddie said he'd be by to pick him up as soon as he got Christopher off to school. And it's not like Buck could drive anyways. Though his Jeep sat in its designated parking spot and though he had been cleared to go back to work, he had not been cleared to drive just yet. The doctors wanted to make sure all of the venom was out of his body. They said it was going to take a long time for the venom to be completely gone, up to two and a half months and he was only going on a month and a half so he still had a long way to go.
When Eddie picked him up, he put his stuff in the back of the truck and climbed in. Eddie smiled at his best friend and told him it wouldn't be forever. Buck knew he was right; he just didn't like being driven around everywhere. He figured it'd be best to start to take the bus when he didn't have to be at work. That way, nobody had to drive him around. As they pulled into the parking lot of the firehouse, Buck tensed a little. He knew what it would be like going back for the very first time. It wasn't like going back after the lawsuit. He was actually wanted back this time. He'd been missed and he'd missed working. Sitting around the house and doing nothing all day had seriously gotten to him. He could do this, he knew that he could. Getting out of the truck, he grabbed his stuff and followed Eddie into the firehouse.
Man was it good to be back.
*AN-I'm not sure what actually happens if someone on blood thinners is bitten by a poisonous snake, but in this story, it has an adverse effect which could kill Buck if he isn't found in time.*