The fact that kids were not allowed in the ICU wasn't going to stop Christopher Diaz from seeing his Buck. Insisting to Carla after she picked him up from school was enough to get him to the hospital. Then he insisted to his dad that he didn't care what the hospital's policy was.
He needed to see Buck today.
Thankfully, Carla came up with a little 'work-around' to get him in. While she distracted the nurse, Eddie helped sneak Christopher into Buck's room. Hen was already in there.
Christopher was a lot braver than his dad. As much as he wanted to be by his best friend's side through this endeavor, Eddie could barely stay in that room for more than ten minutes. It wasn't just seeing Buck in his current state. The first time he had sat with him the other day when they could first visit him, Eddie had sat right next to him and held his hand. He had begged Buck to squeeze his hand. Something to show him that he could hear him and that he was going to wake up and be okay. But there had been nothing. No squeeze.
In his head, Eddie knew he shouldn't have expected a squeeze back. Even if Buck could hear him asking him to, it was fairly unlikely he would be able to act upon his request.
Still. Eddie needed the reassurance. And with none, staying at Buck's bedside for too long became unbearable.
And yet, he went back into the room with his son. The sight of Christopher speaking to Buck, reassuring him that he'd get better, pleading with him to come back to them, it warmed both Eddie and Hen's hearts as much as it broke them.
Christopher loved Buck so much. He didn't want to lose him as much as they didn't.
He had seen Buck sleep before, but this was different. He wasn't snoring, which he never thought he'd hope for. Seeing all the tubes he was hooked up to was scary but after Hen and his dad explained that they were there to help him breath and heal, he was glad they were there. But he still didn't like the fact that Buck needed them.
What Buck really needed was to wake up. But he wasn't ready to yet. The machines were still making him better, then he'd wake up.
Then he'd come back to him and their friends.
Worried about being caught, Eddie insisted that Christopher make his visit short. After saying what he needed to, Christopher reluctantly let his dad and Hen sneak him back into the waiting room.
Carla was there along with most off the rest of their family; Bobby and Athena were sitting together, Chimney sat with Jee Yun in his lap, Maddie was beside him, and then there were their parents; Margret and Phillip Buckley.
Everyone greeted Christopher with big smiles. Carla had already told them—quietly—what she and Eddie had done so they knew where they had been coming from. They were all swore to secrecy.
Buck had been hospitalized before but this was the first time his parents had come to see him—or rather, coincidently, they were already in town but still came to the hospital.
Eddie still wasn't too sure about them, based on what Buck had told him about them, but he also told him that things were getting better with their relationship. So, for Buck's sake, he'll be friendly. For now.
There were two empty seats next to the out-of-town couple, so Eddie and Christopher approached them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Buckley. Nice to see you again," Eddie greeted them kindly, offering them his hand to shake.
Phillip and Margret stood and smiled at him. "Nice to see you too. Eddie, right? You also work with Buck," Phillip said, shaking his hand. They remembered him from the last time they were in LA. When they came to the firehouse to talk to Buck, he had chatted with them and told them a few tales about Buck from working with him while waiting for him to come back from a doctor's check-up.
After him, Eddie shook Margret's hand too.
"He's my best friend," he reminded them. "This is my son, Christopher," he said, gripping both his son's shoulders.
Phillip and Margret both looked down at the young man and smiled.
"Hello Christopher," Margret said, holding out her hand for him to shake too. Christopher shook it. Then he shook Phillip's.
"You're Buck's parents?" he asked. He remembered his dad and Buck talk about them before—not all nice things—but this was his first time meeting them. The older couple just nodded to him. "I'm glad you could be here for him."
They both just gave him sad smiles. "So are we, dear," Margret said before they all sat back down.
Things became quiet in the waiting room after that. Margret and Phillip would ask occasional questions about Buck and someone would reply with a quick story from on the job or when they were doing something casual.
Chimney was regaling every one with the time a drunk driver with a head injury drove off with him in his car and Buck hopped on a bike to chase after them. He cut across lawns and road down stair cases to get in front of the car, making the driver finally stop. Everyone was laughing, including Buck's parents. They knew Buck had been riding ever since he was a little kid so a ride like that would have been a piece of cake for him now. And he saved his friend/sister's significant other. When the laughter died down, Christopher spoke up.
"Dad." Eddie turned his attention back down to his son. "I was thinking, when Buck's better and they let him out of the hospital, he shouldn't be living in his apartment all by himself. Maybe he could stay with us, just for the first few days, incase he needs help or just company. And he could stay with me overnight while you're working."
Eddie paused for a second. They were all still concerned that Buck wouldn't pull through, but Eddie was also glad that Christopher was staying optimistic. It helped him stay positive too.
"That's, um. That's not a bad idea, buddy," Eddie replied, plastering on a smile. "We'll see. If the doctors say that that would be best for him, we can invite him." If—when—Buck woke up, he might not let him out of his sight for at least a week. Having him live with them would make that easier.
"And even if he doesn't need to, he could come over for a movie night," Christopher continued. Whether Buck needed to or not, he wanted to have him over as soon as he was better.
Eddie nodded, agreeing with him. "Yeah. I think he'd like that very much." He'd like that too; a normal evening with Buck over, hanging out, eating pizza, watching a movie. They could all use that.
"You have Buck over often?" Margret asked. She knew they were close but she wasn't sure that meant hanging out outside of work that often.
Christopher turned to face Mrs. Buckley in the chair next to his. "Yeah. He's over all the time."
From there, Christopher told her and Mr. Buckley about some of the things he and Buck did together. Like their trips to the zoo, playing video games together, that time he helped his dad build him a harness with wheels so he could skateboard, all the times he babysat him if Carla wasn't available, all the times he was there for him when he was upset or in trouble.
Everyone else listened intently, enjoying hearing Christopher tell familiar tales of their dear Buckaroo. Talking about Buck made Christopher happy in this difficult time, and it cheered them up as well.
"Dad got so paranoid. So Buck sent him a Hildy coffee maker and dad didn't know who it was from, so he assumed it was actually from Hildy," Christopher explain while laughing. Everyone else laughed too, except Eddie. He just smiled and rolled his eyes. "Until I called Buck to tell him and we laughed."
Phillip and Margret chuckled, charmed by not just the stories but by the little boy telling them.
"Well, you two are both very close with him," Phillip said, pleased to hear more about Buck's close relations with his coworkers.
"That's why dad made him my godfather," Christopher smiled.
Both Margret and Phillip's smiles fell for a moment, surprised by the new information. "What?" Margret asked. Neither of them had been told that before.
"Buck is Christopher's godfather," Eddie repeated, putting an arm around his son proudly. However, he was a bit surprised that they didn't already know. Had Buck never mentioned it to them?
As the information set in, both elderly parent's smiles returned and they looked back at each other.
"Our son has a godson," Phillip said to his wife before looking passed her, back to Christopher. "I guess that makes us family too," he said to him.
"Buck was already family," Christopher replied.
Magret chuckled, reaching back for her husband's hand.
Buck might not have any children of his own, but he was the donor to his friend's child, and he was also a godfather to another friend's child. From how Christopher talked about him, he loved him as if he was a father.
It warmed their hearts to hear how loved Buck was here by so many other people. Especially by his godson.