"It's just a scratch, Eddie. I'm fine," Buck said as Eddie forced Buck to sit down on one of the benches in the locker rooms at the 118th fire station. After they had their quasi family reunion of Eddie and Chris at the VA hospital, the crew had all returned to the station, and obviously Eddie had forced Buck to come along with them.
Eddie would blame the poor lighting of the truck cabin and moonlight, but it was only once the group had reached the station with the bright overhead lights that he noticed the giant gash that ran almost the entire length of Buck's forearm and scrapes going along Buck's cheeks.
"You're right it's just a scratch, a large scratch," Eddie said as he kept a hand on Buck's shoulder, keeping him in place, and pulled a first aid kit out of another locker with his other arm.
"He's right Buck, it's a big scratch," Chris said, agreeing with his father from the seat he had taken on the bench next to Buck.
"And it's bleeding a lot," Eddie added.
Buck sighed, resignedly. "That's just because of the blood thinners, Eddie."
"That doesn't mean it's any less dangerous," Eddie pointed out. He took a closer look at Buck's arm now that the man wasn't moving around as much. Buck had finally settled down and just started to let Eddie do his thing, knowing the man wouldn't let him rest until his wound was taken care of. "It doesn't look like it needs stitches," Eddie mumbled. "Which probably means you don't need to go back to a hospital."
"That's good, right?" Buck asked. "Just put a bandage on it and I can go home?"
"Well, it still needs more than just a bandage," Eddie said as he started pulling things out of the first aid kit he had set on the bench to start cleaning and fixing up the wound on Buck's arm. "And you're not just going to go home," Eddie added.
"What?" Buck asked.
"Well for one thing, you don't have your car," Eddie said as he finished wrapping up Buck's arm. "Another thing, we drove by your place earlier, there's no way you'd be able to drive to it even if you did have it," he said as he started repacking the bag. "And finally, after everything that happened to you two today, there's no way I'm just letting you go home alone by yourself."
"So what are you saying?" Buck asked.
"Does that mean Buck's coming home with us?" Chris said around a yawn, leaning onto Buck's arm.
"Yep," Eddie nodded. "He is."