As everyone had hoped for, Buck's condition stayed well. So, the following morning, he was moved into a recovery room.

Everyone was given the thumbs up to come and visit when they could. Maddie and the Buckley's were the first ones in right after Buck was settled into him new room. Barely a few minutes later, Boddy and Athena arrived.

"How is he?" was Athena's first question as she and her husband entered the room, seeing the three Buckley's around Buck's bed.

He was still unconscious but only had a nasal cannula on to help give him more oxygen. Which was promising.

"Still hasn't woken up yet," was Maddie's reply after hugging them both.

"He's still getting his strength back. Now that he's breathing on his own, it's only a matter of time," Boddy said optimistically as he watched the young man sleep.

"Good. Because after the others arrive, I don't think they'll want to leave until they see Buck at least open those big blue eyes of his," Athena said, staring at his closed lids, hoping they would open.

"I know we won't," Margret said. She and Phillip planned on staying at the hospital all day, until visiting hours were over, so they could be there when their son woke up. "Thanks for coming back," she said to the other elderly couple. All of Buck's friends and co-workers were so kind and loved him so much. It was comforting to them, knowing he would be surrounded by such people after they went back home.

Bobby smiled at them. "Anything for Buck," he replied.

Everyone in the room was silent for a minute as they all just watched Buck's chest rise and fall. Still unconscious. Maddie looked over at Bobby and Athena's concerned faces.

"Hey Mom, Dad, we didn't even eat breakfast before we left," she said to her parents then turned to the fire captain. "Bobby, do you and Athena mind watching him while we go to the cafeteria?" Truthfully, she and her parents had been in such a hurry to get there, they neglected to eat. Chimney, Albert, and their folks were watching Jee Yun at the house but they were coming too a little later. But it wasn't just that. Maddie thought Bobby and Athena deserved a minute alone with Buck. True, they had had plenty of that the past few days, but that was before Buck was off the ventilator. Now that he was off it, there was more hope that he was going to be okay.

Bobby and Athena looked at each other with silent communication before Athena answered, "of course not."

"No place we'd rather be," Bobby added.

"Sounds like a good idea. We should eat something, dear," Phillip said to his wife. Food hadn't really been on their minds before they left and now that they were there, they were starting to feel hungry. Margret nodded in agreement. As much as she didn't want to leave Buck after they just got there, she could use something to eat, and they wouldn't be going far. The cafeteria was just downstairs.

As they were making their way towards the door, Bobby spoke up, stopping them for a moment. "Oh, wait. Margret, Phillip. Before I forget, when Buck's better and before you leave, we'd love to have you over to our house for dinner."

Phillip and Margret looked at each other again and smiled. "That sounds wonderful. We'd love to," Phillip replied to Bobby.

"Buck told us you're an amazing cook," Margret said, delighted. "We'll be back in a little bit," she said before leaving the room with her husband and daughter.

When Bobby and Athena were alone in the room with Buck, Bobby pulled up a chair and sat at Buck's right side. Then pulled his rosary beads from his pocket and started muttering a prayer, holding them tight in his hand.

Athena stood behind him with a hand rubbing his back. All four of their eyes on Buck.

Buck's face was as peaceful as ever as he slept.

"He's gonna wake up, Bobby," Athena reminded him.

"I know," Bobby replied. They knew Buck was going to be okay but waiting for him to finally open his eyes was agony. They needed to see for themselves that he was alright. "I was mostly praying that when he does, there's nothing major wrong that prevents him from coming back to work longer than expected. He can't go through that again."

He prayed for no brain damage, no blood clots, and no future lawsuits. But above all, he prayed that something like this never happened to Buck again. He didn't deserve all this pain and almost dying. Buck was a brave man with a kind heart. A fire fighter. He deserved to stay healthy and well so he could keep doing what he loved; helping people. He knew it might be asking too much to never let anything ever happen to Buck, but Bobby still hoped for it. He loved this kid like a son and wanted him safe and happy. And a part of him being happy was being a fire fighter, which meant he was most likely going to get hurt again. So Bobby also prayed that no matter what, Buck could always get back up again.

"The doctors say everything on the inside is fine. Brain function is normal, no blood clots to be found. So I don't think he'll be suing anyone," Athena reassured her husband, making Bobby grin for a moment.

Then his mouth became a concerned frown again as he looked at Buck's still face.

Bobby took one hand away from his rosery and grasped Buck's limp hand wrapped in bandages resting on the bed.

"Buck?" he whispered. He got no reaction. "If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." When he still got no reaction, no squeeze, Bobby squeezed Buck's hand himself, extra tight. Like he was willing Buck to do something. Anything to show them that he was okay. "Buck?" he uttered again, a bit more choked up and a bit of mist in his eyes. Bobby added his other hand to grasp Buck's hand and lowered his head, pressing their joined hands to his forehead.

Athena watched on, her heart aching for her husband and almost-son. She squeezed his shoulder tight to show that she was there for them both as her gazed staying on Buck's face.

If she had blinked, she would have missed it, but Buck's forehead crinkled. Athena was shocked, then thought she had imagined it; seen what she wanted to. But then she saw him do it again, along with his mouth twitching and his neck rocked a bit left then right.

"Bobby," she said. When her husband didn't move, the police Sargent gave his shoulder a good shake. "Bobby!" she said louder.

Bobby finally looked up back at her for a second but then turned back down to Buck and his eyes widened too. He saw it too.

"Buck?" Bobby said, still holding his hand.

Buck's face continued to scrunch and twitch like he was trying really hard to open his eyes but his brain was hazy. Then he coughed.

His first coherent thought was that his mouth and throat were dry, then that his head felt light and dizzy. His eye lids were heavy too but he still fought to open them.

He fought. He kept fighting.

His memorizes of his coma dream were fuzzy but they were coming back to him. He knew what had happened to him before that caused this; the lightning. He fought to come back to the real world. To his real sister who was happy with the man she deserved and their beautiful baby girl, his real parents who were repairing their relationship with him, his real team and dearest friends.

He couldn't wait to see them. He just had to open his eyes.

"Buck," he heard over and over again. It got clearer with the passing seconds he became more coherent but he couldn't tell who's voice.

As he tried to open his eyes, he also felt his hand being held by something. Or someone. It was tight but in a comforting way, and sort of shaking.

For some reason, his head turned toward it—to his right side—as he finally got his eye lids to open.

The room was bright, making Buck's vision blurry. He couldn't tell where he was but he had a predetermined guess that it was a hospital.

Finally, his vision came into focus a bit cleaner. He could see his hand being held by someone else's hand. And when he looked up at the person it was attached to, he recognized them.

"Cap," Buck whispered but coughed again.

Bobby laughed with tears in his eyes, as did Athena, who Buck was also able to make out a second later.

"Yeah, kid. I-It's me," Bobby said with a sniffle, still holding his hand tight.

Buck gave a weak smile, happy to see his Captain. Athena leaned down and placed her hand on top of theirs. Buck smiled up at her too.

"Welcome back, Buckaroo," she said.

It was Saturday, which meant no school, which meant Christopher could come to the hospital with Carla and his dad to be with Buck at his bedside. Now that he was out of the ICU—as promised—anyone and everyone could go in and visit him.

"Dad?" Christopher asked from the back seat of the truck.

"Yeah, buddy," Eddie said, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove them to the hospital.

"Do you think Buck will wake up today?"

Eddie hesitated for a second before answering, "I'm sure he will. And if not today, maybe tomorrow," he said, choosing to be optimistic for his son's sake as well as his own.

"Can we come back tomorrow if he doesn't?"

"Sure, buddy," Eddie nodded. Tomorrow was Sunday so he could bring Chris back if need be. But not the day after. He didn't want Chris missing more school. Yet another reason why he hoped Buck woke up soon. "If you can do your homework in the waiting room," he added.

"Deal," Chris replied, already knowing their agreement.

Christopher had some homework to do over the weekend, which was sitting in his backpack beside him. Eddie's only condition for letting his son spend all day at the hospital was that he had to get all his homework done while they were there. And Carla was with them so she could help him if he got stuck on any questions.

When they approached the hospital, Eddie parked the truck. He got out, then opened Christopher's door. Christopher put his backpack on before letting his dad lift him out. Carla got out of the passenger's seat and grabbed the boy's crutches. As she walked around the truck to give them to him, Eddie's phone chimed inside his pocket.

As Carla helped his son with his crutches, Eddie took his phone out and glanced at the screen.

Then he froze.

Then he breathed. It was mixed with a sudden sob and a sigh of relief.

Once Christopher was settled with his crutches, he and Carla looked over at Eddie staring down at his phone with tears in his eyes.

"Eddie?" Carla asked, concerned.

"Dad?" Chris asked, also concerned.

"Eddie, what is it?" Carla tried again after he didn't reply to either of them.

Eddie smiled and finally looked up at them. "He's awake," he uttered quietly. "Buck is awake!" he said louder before laughing as his eyes got mistier.

Carla and Christopher both cheered then moved forward to hug Eddie. Eddie hugged them both at the same time. When Carla pulled back, Eddie scooped Christopher up into his arm and held him tight.

Chrisopher cried happily into his dad's shoulder as he hugged him back. Eddie cried too.

They were getting their Buck back.

Once Eddie finally put him down, Carla started urging them to follow her into the building.

"Come on. Let's go, let's go!" she said, ushering them to the main entrance.

The three anxiously made their way through the automatic doors and into the elevator. Bobby's group text had also included Buck's new room number so they knew where to head to.

The whole way, Eddie had to suppress the urge to run ahead of Carla and Christopher. He knew he was faster than either of them but he couldn't leave them behind. No matter how much he wanted to get to Buck's room as fast as possible.

Finally, they made it to the room. Eddie and Carla let Christopher go in first—they could see over his head anyway. The first person they saw was Maddie. She was standing between them and the hospital bed. Bobby, Athena, Margret, and Phillip were on the other side of the room. Upon hearing them approach, she turned around, smiling and with tears in her eyes, before stepping back, allowing the group of three to see the man in the bed.

There was Buck. Nasal cannula, big blue eyes open looking right at them, and a tired but genuine smile on his face.

"Hey, Eddie," he said a bit groggily as his eyes locked with his best friend's. Then they shifted down to his other best friend in front. "Hey, Chris," he said, reaching out his closest bandaged hand to the boy.

Christopher, still with tears in his eyes, closed the gap between him and the bed. When he reached it, he let go of his crutches and let them lean against the bed carelessly. His hands now free, the growing boy leaned down against Buck and hugged him. Buck wrapped the arm he reached to him with around his back. He was fairly light still so it wasn't that much pressure on the injured fire fighter's chest.

"I knew you'd come back," Christopher cried into his hospital gown.

Buck buried his face in Christopher's adorable light brown curls and inhaled. He smelled like home. "Always," he muttered into his hair.

Eddie approached from behind his son. Buck could clearly see the shine of unshed tears in his eyes. His mouth was morphing back and forth between a trembling lip and a happy smile.

Buck smiled up at him before offering him his other hand. Eddie took it firmly into his hand.

One of his tears fell when he felt Buck squeeze his hand.

Eddie had read it in Bobby's text, then seen Buck smile while staring at him, but to actually feel his hand in his, not limp and unresponsive, but squeezing his back.

Now he truly knew.

Buck was going to be okay.

Not long later, Chimney came by with Jee Yun, Albert, and their folks. Then Hen, Karen, and Denny. Then Ravi and the rest of the 118. All of them overjoyed to see Buck awake and officially on the mend.

Buck was just as overjoyed to see them too.

This was the life he had almost lost in just a flash. The life he had built and fought to get back to.

This was home.

Buck claimed that he was going back for himself, even if the evil nay-sayer doppelganger in his head said no one needed him. But now that he was officially back, he knew that guy was dead wrong.

Even if he wasn't needed, he was still loved. And that was more than enough motivation to come back. He loved them all and they loved him.

He was their friend, their teammate, their partner, their uncle, their brother, their son…

Their Buck.

The End.

Glad to be finished with this, and just before the holidays start. Now I can focus on holiday/winter stories.

Happy Thanksgiving! ;D