Love isn't chosen

by AiriaMurillo

What if Buck wasn't so lucky at the end of season 6? What if Eddie finally realizes the perfect family he's been searching for is closer to home.

Chapter 1

Au cause ya know this girl didn't like the Buddie build up in season 6 only to be disappointed.

Eddie P.O.V

I'm waiting anxiously in my hospital room for Buck. He texted me telling me that he was going to be driving me home once I have been discharged from the hospital. You'd think we would be used to it when our jobs don't go to plan. Though I don't think anyone could have prepared or predicted the whole bridge collapsing on us. I felt nothing but pride for Buck throughout the whole rescue mission as he assumed the role of captain whilst we couldn't find Bobby and Hen was out of commission due to her concussion. I have some broken ribs which is not fun, but there's not a whole lot they could have done about it. At least I get discharged the same day, like Hen. Unfortunately for Bobby and Chimney they have to stay at least overnight.

There is a knock on the door, it doesn't sound like the way Buck would knock though. "Come in," I tell them. Athena walks in, with a look on her face I can't quite read. I don't think it is good news if my first visitor is my captain's wife/the adoptive mother of the person I want to date. Everyone knows that Bobby and Athena have taken Evan on as their son. She had a cup of the nasty coffee in her hands, but they were shaking quite badly. It was understandable given the circumstances, she almost lost two of her boys today. She took a seat next to my bed and sighed. She knew I was ready to be discharged, the papers had been signed and I was just waiting for Buck and the pharmacy to bring the medication I'd need.

"Turns out our Buckaroo didn't have as lucky of an escape as we thought. He is going to be fine, but he has to spend a night or two in here himself," Athena says. I thought something was wrong, Hen was talking about how she came around to Buck helping her and he had blood on his face. He narrowly avoided being run over by the ambulance to begin with. He was too busy prioritizing saving everyone else like normal than focusing on himself. I can't believe this is the second time in a few short months that Buck is in the hospital again. At least from the way Athena is talking he's not in intensive care or a coma this time. Or at least that is what I am basically assuming from all of this. He could be seriously injured.

"How bad is it?" I ask, watching for her reaction to my question. I am fairly decent at being able to read faces. After all we have to deliver bad news to people all the time when it comes to how well things have or haven't survived a fire. I know I am going to have a battle on my hands from Buck's family. I want to go and see him, and they will let me, but also, they will be pushing for me to go home, rest myself. There is also Christopher to think about, he's going to be worried out of his mind when he finds out. It was widely broadcast on the news that the bridge went down with firehouse 118 on it at the time. I know Carla has been kept in the loop as she always does when this events occur, but Chris is getting older now.

He will want to see for himself that I am okay as well as Buck. At least if Buck stays out of the ICU, then visiting won't be an issue. "He was in the waiting room of the ER when he collapsed. He's not fully awake yet so they can't rule out a head injury but there was some minor internal bleeding which they believe was caused by the impact from him hitting the windshield of the ambulance. They don't know if he lost consciousness when he hit the windshield either," Athena tells me. Giving me everything I need to no and not sugar coating it which I do appreciate. Everything about the rescue went by in a blur and I couldn't really help much because I was trapped under a fridge in a van and couldn't see what happened.

I am going to make Buck come and stay with me when he gets out of hospital, which will alleviate some of the concerns people would have and Carla would probably be more than happy to help if she's needed. So will Maddie and Athena as well, I am sure. There is going to be a fine balancing act going on to make sure that everyone gets the rest they need whilst taking care of the loved ones they deeply care for and worry about often. Maddie will definitely want to be checking in on her brother and I between caring for Chim. Everyone will find ways to make it work without more people ending up in hospital. I do feel sorry for the people who are going to have to cover our shifts whilst we recover.

It's going to take a few weeks at least with Hen and I probably being the first ones able to go back. Bobby would be next followed by Chim and Buck. It all depends on how quickly people recover and how long it would take for the doctors to clear us and declare us medically fit to work. "It was a good thing he was here instead of at home. I dread to think how much worse it could have been," I tell her. I was worried, he has his pregnant friend living with him at the moment. Nothing against her at all but she wouldn't know what to do if he suddenly collapsed in front of her. I just hope Athena is right and he's not hiding anything worse. We all know he is the type to put himself last, some of our comments during the lawsuit didn't help.

I remember calling him exhausted, which in hindsight was an extremely shit thing to do whilst he was struggling. It wasn't his fault that Bobby had gone full on overprotective dad on him and decided he wasn't ready to come back. The pulmonary embolism didn't help his case either, but he was desperate to get back to work. He is really enjoying being a firefighter, he was struggling to figure out what he wanted to do with his life until then. Its going to make this second recovery time off in the span of three months difficult. He was going stir crazy the last time, he came over to mine to escape the people Maddie kept sending over. Part of me wished that I could have him stay over every night and be mine.

Athena helps me to my feet and escorts me to Buck's room when I had everything I needed to be discharged. She knew I wasn't going to go straight home yet; I will go home tonight though. As much as I want to be with Buck, I know my ribs are not going to thank me for a night in the armchairs next to the beds. Chris won't be happy knowing I am injured and not being able to spend the time with me he would want. He'd be restricted to the visiting hours whereas I could pull some strings and stay overnight. The best thing for me will be to go home and get as much rest as possible so that I can help look after Buck when he is discharged. "How's Bobby doing?" I ask Athena as we walk. I don't like silence or stares.

"He is alright, he wants to be discharged as soon as possible but they said they can't yet. He really wants to see Buck and Chim to see for himself that they are going to be okay," she replies. I can imagine that she has had to stop him from trying to leave his room. He needs all the rest he could get, that was a really scary one. Then you find out that the kid you love, like a son, has collapsed in another part of the hospital and you can't see him, and the nurses aren't great at giving out that information either. As we get closer to where Buck was, I felt able to move better. It still hurt, but I was finding myself leaning on Athena less and less. She was worried about me, but she was letting me have some independence.

"I can imagine, especially so soon after the whole lightning incident. They've been through so much lately," I tell her, and I see her nod in agreement. I don't think anyone was going to forget that night for a long time to come. I don't think I have ever been scared like that for a long time. Watching Chris tell Buck to wake up broke something in my heart. That kid loves Buck in a way only a son could. I am more than happy to spend the rest of my life co-parenting my son with Buck if I could. I know it would be too soon to ask him now though. I don't know what is going on between him and Natalia. She could be in the room with him right now and I would feel as awkward as he did when Ana was in the room after I had been shot.

"What is it with you boys and overthinking. I swear to god all the men in the one eighteen get lost in their own heads," Athena says, bursting the bubble of my thoughts. Apparently, I do that a lot and I literally don't notice. I know for definite Buck does it, the man can't help himself especially after a difficult situation. We stop walking for a moment, it's not far to go bow but with the pain and everything it felt like it was taking forever. Athena looks at me, like she was analyzing all of my thoughts and feelings. Chimney does it in a more audible way though like that time he found out Buck was only born to try and save his brother and he was dealing with trying to keep that secret from Buck himself.

"I know, today has been a lot though and I am still trying to process it all. I think today also made me realize how much I love Evan in a more than a friend way," I tell her. I see her eyes light up and she has that knowing smile on her face. It was like she already knew what I was going to say and like she knew that I was in love with Buck. It seems like everyone but me knew until now with that smile Athena had. She put her hand on my shoulder. I was going to get some form of pep talk from her any minute I knew it. She looks after the people around her and makes sure that they are okay. Since Bobby considers us to be his family she does too. There was no way I was telling Buck about my feelings today though; we have been through enough.

I am still not sure if Buck is single now. I knew things with Natalia were getting strained, he had been talking about it. "I know you do. I think he does too he just hasn't realized it yet. Nobody makes my Buckaroo smile as much as you and Chris do," Athena tells me. She always knows what to say and how to turn any shitty situation into a nice one. We manage to make it to the door of Buck's room. The number of times Buck has been in this hospital over the time I have known him should get him a VIP room or at least a hefty discount on the bills. You'd think that first responders would get a discount just from the nature of the job but nope. No mates rates with the hospital staff even though we are all friends.

I suddenly got nervous as I opened the door. I did briefly knock on the door, but I didn't know if Buck was sleeping or not. Athena helped me through the door and helped me to the chair next to the bed. Buck's eyes lit up when he saw me and Athena. "Hey Buck, you gotta quit scaring people like this," I joke with him. He looked pretty tired, but he hadn't been out of surgery for long so the anesthesia would still be wearing off. He smiled at me, and I resisted the urge to hold his hand, now is not the time. Athena was reading Buck's chart so she could answer all of Bobby's questions. I still find it funny that we are medics, we know how everything works, but we still end up being the worst patients they have to deal with.

I know if it wasn't for how many drugs currently making Buck sleepy and out of it, he would be desperate to get out of here. "I didn't mean to, I didn't think that it was that bad myself when we were out there," Buck replies. To be fair I think to some extent we all downplayed our injuries as we focused on making sure Chimney and Bobby got out of there okay as well as any civilians that might have been caught up in the chaos. Athena came over to the other side of Buck and squeezed his hand. Buck was looking between the two of us and I could see the cogs slowly turning in his head. He was probably wondering a lot of things right now. He was probably expecting Maddie or Bobby to be his first visitors.

Maddie was coming up in a bit. "Bobby's going to be just fine sweetheart. The nurses don't want him pushing himself too much yet, so I told him I'd come see you and let him know how you're doing," Athena answers and Buck does relax a little. I'll bring Chris up to see him tomorrow if he hasn't been discharged by the time the kid gets out of school. Then again, I see there being a big challenge to get Chris to go to school tomorrow. Too many people he loves have been hurt today so he will want to spend the day making sure we are okay and trying his best to take care of me. Carla will be around to help as well. God, I wish today would have gone better than this. I wanted to ask Buck to come over for a movie night.

"How did you know?" Buck asks, and Athena chuckles. We could see he was looking for Bobby when he realized that Athena was here still and no one else has walked into the room. Maddie was asking for an update, so I quickly texted her back. He is awake, no signs of any concussion but the anesthesia hasn't completely worn off yet and he is talking. She sent me a thumbs up in reply and told me to let her know when I was going home so she'd come to sit with him for a bit. That way when he is more with it, he's not alone. Hopefully, he'll be able to get plenty of rest overnight and he won't have to spend long in here. Tomorrow we can have that discussion about whether he was going to go home or come stay with me.

"Mother's instinct Buckaroo. I know you are just as worried about him as he is for you. He'll come and visit you when you are home feeling better," Athena replies. We will also probably have to let Kameron know that Buck's in hospital because she's currently staying at his place. That is going to factor into our discussion as she is heavily pregnant, and it probably won't be good for her or the baby to look after Buck who will probably hide how he is really feeling to minimize the stress which will end up making things over all worse. Speaking of which, Kameron started ringing Buck's phone. Buck looks up to me and passes the phone to me without a word. I can't believe he's trusting me with this, but I feel honored at the same time.

Athena looks after Buck whilst I step outside to answer the phone. "Hey Kameron, it's Eddie here. Buck just handed me the phone. He's been admitted into hospital at least overnight," I tell her. There isn't a chance she won't know that we were caught up in the bridge incident. It was all over the news as we were in the hospital with people saying it was a miracle that we had all made it out alive after Lucy's distress call to dispatch. Kameron sounded like she was trying not to panic on the phone, but it is natural to be worried when the best friend of your friend answers his phone for him and tells her he is in the hospital. I really hope I don't accidentally send her into labor before the baby is due to be born.

"He's going to be fine. It was just a small surgery to control some bleeding. He's not showing any signs of concussion, but he is fairly out of it because of how many drugs they gave him. I don't know when he's going to be home or if Maddie is going to make him stay with her whilst he recovers," I explain to her. They aren't going to be thinking of discharging him tonight anyway as they will want to monitor him for any possible concussion signs or any signs of any other injuries, he might be hiding from us. I could hear her sigh in relief, and I was happier knowing that she was calmer. She wasn't about to go into labor on me and I wouldn't have to explain to Buck that he was going to need another new couch.

"Thank you for letting me know. Could you tell him me and Connor have had a lengthy talk, and I am going back home tonight and that we hope he recovers quickly," she replies. I was surprised at this, from the way Buck was talking it was like the relationship between them was heading down a dark path. He didn't think that she was ever going to get home, and Connor might end up missing the birth of his baby. I wasn't keen on the whole sperm donor idea at first, but the more I thought about it the more I came around to the idea. Buck is just doing what he does best, helping people and fixing things. I thank her and the call ended. Buck was probably beginning to wonder what was taking me so long.

"Hey, Kameron and Connor hope you recover soon. They had a big talk before they found out about the whole bridge thing and decided that they could give things another go. Kameron is going back tonight," I tell him as I walk back through the door and I see a relieved smile on his face. I think it was pretty obvious that he was worrying about trying to take care of her as he recovers himself. I don't know how good his mobility is going to be so the loft was probably going to be a no go zone. I carefully walk over and take my place next to Buck. He was completely relaxed, but it probably helped that Athena was comforting him at the same time. She was completely in mother comforting mode and I love that for them.

"That's great. Now Buckaroo I am going to go back to Bobby before he tries something he is going to end up being told off for. You behave for the nurses and we'll come visit when you get out of here," Athena says. I held back another laugh as she went from kind and motherly to seriously almost scolding him and I know if I said or made a noise that sounded like I was making fun of him I would suffer the stern rath of Athena. I know she would tell me to behave and take care of myself. She would probably give me a sterner talking to knowing what she knows now. She will know that I will be wanting to take care of Buck if possible. I will not hesitate to use Chris if I need to, not that my kid needs any words of encouragement from me.

He has Buck like putty in his hands with just a please and the best puppy eyes a boy his age could have. Half the time I don't even think he needs the puppy eyes its just the please. Buck will do anything he can to make him happy. "Okay 'Thena. Tell Bobby he doesn't need to worry about me," Buck says. He was starting to get sleepier. She smiles and lets us know that she'll pass it on. Not that it will stop Bobby from worrying about Buck, or any of us for that matter. He is a good captain and after some warming up he has taken us all on as family. Of course when something big like this happens his instincts go into overdrive and his worry skyrockets. I was surprised that he didn't burst in here himself to see for himself.

"Hey Eddie, I didn't get the chance to ask earlier, but are you okay?" Buck asks. I felt bad, but I had to roll my eyes. He hid his injuries so well he needed emergency abdominal surgery but the first thing he asks me is if I am okay. That is another thing we seem to do a lot in these situations is ask if the other one is okay first. If my ribs weren't ever so slightly sore right now I would have pushed him. If his whole abdomen area wasn't hurting I would probably would have done it. I don't want to put him through any more pain than he was already in. Yeah he's on a pretty decent cocktail of medication, but that doesn't mean that any sudden movement won't make the pain suddenly become ten times worse.

"My ribs are a bit battered and bruised but I think out of the two of us I am okay," I tell him. I have learned over the years to not sugar coat things with Buck. He will be watching me like a hawk for any signs that I could give when I think he isn't watching to give the game away that I wasn't as okay as I told him initially I was. He wasn't too pleased with that answer but at least he knows I am being honest with him. I'd consider that to be a big step in us being more open and honest with each other about our feelings. It was at that moment that Chris decided that he needed to face time me. I happily answered knowing Buck would be cheered up hearing and seeing him even though it isn't going to be in person.

"Hey Chris. How are you?" I ask, the camera is focused on me and I know that he knows that I am currently in the hospital waiting to go home. I could see initial worry on his face when he was waiting for the phone to connect but he saw me and I could see the relief. I was going to talk to him a little bit, make sure he knew I was okay before I break the news about Buck's newest injuries. I could hear Carla talking to my Tia Pepa in the background making sure the house was just right and the food was cooking so I didn't have to worry about it when I got home. Chris was telling me all about his day in school. Buck was listening with a smile on his face, knowing Chris doesn't know about everything yet.

Then Chris asks about how I am. "I'm okay buddy, the doctor said my ribs are gonna hurt for a bit, but I am going to be okay," I tell him. Chris is a very smart kid, I don't need to dumb anything down for him. He already knew my ribs had been broken by what I went through and how Buck saved me and saved everyone else. It is going to be up to Buck how much he tells Chris about what happened in the hospital. I respect him enough to know that he might not want Chris to know everything. He won't want Chris to worry about him. I could hear Pepa and Carla had gone quiet realizing that he had called me. They knew I was being discharged today so they didn't have to bring him to the hospital unless he asked to be there when I was picked up.

"Dad, is Buck okay too?" Chris asks. I look to Buck as if I was silently asking him if he wanted to talk to the kid. I give Buck the chance to think it over before I even think of passing the phone to him. He might not want Chris to see him in his slightly dopped up state. He thought about it a little longer before he made the motion to pass the phone over. I slowly turn the phone camera around so that he can see Buck was in the room and I was about to pass the phone over to him. I could see Carla's head over Chris' shoulder. I didn't exactly have enough time to let them know Buck had become a patient as well. I only found out not to long ago myself and then Athena helped me up here with all the stuff I would need.

"Hey Chris, I'm okay. I needed a little operation so they are going to keep me in hospital at least tonight, but I will be able to go home soon and maybe we can have our movie night soon," Buck says. We were supposed to have a movie night tonight I only just remembered but obviously plans have changed slightly. Christopher's face was telling it's own little story as he went from extremely concerned, to relieved and then finally to excited as he heard that Buck was happy to rearrange our little movie night when he was out of hospital. I could just about see Carla's face and she was planning something. Chris looked at her and she whispered something in his ear. He was getting good at muting it so we couldn't hear anything.

"Buckaroo, you're not going back to that loft after your abdominal surgery are you? You have a rock for a couch thanks to your mom and those stairs oh boy they won't do you any favors," Carla says. I knew that speech was coming his way, if not from Carla it would be from Maddie. Their nursing experience alone makes them Buck's worst enemy. Well, enemy is a strong word to use in this scenario because they are nothing but loving and caring towards him. He just has that Buckley head strong stubbornness and fierce independence that he doesn't necessarily listen the first. He'd rather try himself and end up getting into a worse state. Although I have to say after our little chat after the lightning strike he was getting better.

Then again it wasn't exactly much time between then and now. "My first thought was yea, but knowing you, Eddie and Maddie as well as Bobby one of you was going to tell me to go home with one of you so I'm looked after. I'm sure Eddie won't mind me borrowing his couch for a few days," Buck replies. He knows I won't but the couch isn't probably the best place in my house to heal for either of us. I think have a camp bed I can set up for myself so he can take my bed. I don't think he'd be fond of the idea of sharing a bed with someone right now. We will just have to see how it goes. He's got a bed for tonight at least. The finer details like where people are sleeping who is going to be helping us when we struggle can wait.

"You bet Buck. I want to keep my eye on you this time," Chris says. This kid wows and amazes me all the time. I don't doubt that he wants to keep an eye on who he considers to be his favorite person in the whole world. The lightning incident and the resulting coma scared Chris more than he was willing to tell people. I knew just from the fact of being his father and how he reacted when he wasn't allowed into the ICU and me and Carla had to work on sneaking him in just so he could see him. There wasn't going to be a chance that Buck could slip away and try and hide from the love and care. Obviously we would give him the space if he felt like it was too much. It is a lot one trauma after another on top of all of the other traumas he has been through.

"I know Chris, I wouldn't expect anything less from you. Are you sure you are gonna be okay taking care of your dad and I?" Buck asks. That is when Tia Pepa comes into view. I know the fire house is going to get a lot of donations of food and baked goods over the next few days and it's going to be passed along to us. I know when Bobby is allowed he is going to make a ton of meals to keep everyone going. There is four households of people recovering that he wants to take care of. Ravi is the true lucky uninjured one here. From the pandemic days Chris had become an expert at being able to mute the microphone so myself and Buck couldn't hear what he was whispering to Pepa. The kid is smart, I could spend hours bragging about how smart he is.

"You'll have a whole village behind the two of you. At least until Edmundo feels like he can help you without being in pain. You've got a bigger family than you had in Hershey now," Pepa says. I don't know if this was from the drugs that he has been given or the mini speech Pepa just gave him, but I could see the tears out of the corner of his eyes. It was true, Buck's family has doubled in size from when he first started. Who needs his parents when he had Bobby and Athena ready at a moment's notice to help their son. Maddie is back and as helpful as ever and he has the rest of us at the 118. He also has my family as they seem to have become smitten with the Buckley charm which made me fall in love with him to begin with.

They wrapped up the call pretty quickly as we could all see Buck struggling to stay awake and I needed to go home myself. Carla was going to pick me up from the hospital, because as much as I wanted to stay here and stay with Buck overnight, nobody in our friendship circle would agree to that. He's not going to be on his own for his little overnight anyway as Athena, Bobby, Chimney and Maddie are on either the same ward or the next one along, so not very far away. It is only going to be one night this time. By this time tomorrow he's going to be in my bed, no way am I letting him take the couch with this one. It's not like we've never shared a bed before. I might have done it back during the pandemic the four of us (myself, Chim and Hen) stayed with Buck in his place during the first lockdowns.

We didn't want to risk our work exposing our kids to the virus, especially with how young Nia was and how it could have made Christopher really ill. "Eds are you going home tonight?" Buck asks and I could just tell he was very sleepy. The poor man has been through a lot today, especially the little emergency surgery. I think when I see Bobby next I am going to talk to him about how Buck could maybe shadow him on captain's duties. He definitely did well as emergency interim captain Buckley. He saved all of our lives today and I could not be prouder. He has come along way since that reckless naïve kid I met back on my first day. I know from day one that I said he could have my back any day, but he has proven time and time again that he will save me.

"Yeah, Athena wouldn't let me stay because of my ribs and I don't think Chris would be happy being away from me for too long. He also said to Carla we have to make sure that the house is set up for the two of us to recover. Also I will make this clear now that you are not staying on that couch this time. The bed is big enough for the both of us to comfortably recover," I tell him. Trying my best to be stern but not too bossy either. I know as soon as he comes over tomorrow he will want to sleep on the couch but that's not going to be the best for him. I could see the cogs in Buck's brain trying to come up with an excuse as to why he should be on the couch, but the drugs were still in his system and he was exhausted.

"I am guessing if I try and say no tomorrow that our doctor of recovery Chris is going to ban me from the couch too. Either that or Carla and Pepa are going to glare at me until I give up. I also have nothing against sharing a bed with you. I just never want to feel like I am overstepping over any boundaries," Buck replies. I like that, doctor of recovery for Chris. He's definitely going to try and take charge of our recoveries as best he can. He won't have to worry about meals, between Bobby when he is a little more mobile, Pepa, Abuela and the public we are going to be well fed. The family we have found is going to make sure we are well taken care of and that we get plenty of rest. We are not going to worry about anything.

"Definitely. Also I will one hundred percent let you know if you are overstepping. I feel like after all of the trauma we have been through this year we need a break. It may also be a bit selfish of me but I need to have you close. I know I don't talk about my feelings a lot but it has been two back to back really scary traumas you have been involved in and I feel like having you next to me makes me feel like I know you are here and safe," I tell him. It is not often that I do open up like this but there has always been something about Buck that has made me feel like I can be myself and don't need to pretend anything. It also feels good to have these emotions off my chest a little. I was terrified when he was in that coma.

Through all of the traumatic experiences we have been through together I have never been as scared as I was that night when we did CPR on him and tried to bring him back to life. Then the whole uncertainty about whether or not he would make it through his coma. Then just as everything was getting back to normal then the bridge came down and I was trapped under a fridge. I was more worried about Buck than I was myself. Turns out I had every reason to be worried. "Yeah, it might make me feel a little more better about things too," Buck replies. He told me about how he has a check list he goes through when he wakes up after a particularly weird dream that was similar to his coma ones.

"Are you sure you are going to be okay tonight?" I ask him. I know Maddie and Athena are nearby but he won't want to burden them when they have their partners/loved ones to take care of. He is still stubborn when it comes to asking for help for himself. I could always keep myself on facetime with him so he is not lonely overnight. Sure it would be mostly us sleeping but if he woke up in the middle of the night I would be right there with him. It would be easier for him then him debating in his head on whether or not he should call Maddie or Athena to come and sit with him until he fell back asleep again. Carla texted to say she was getting some Buck surviving the hospital essentials, which is basically some clean clothes for his discharge, his phone charger and something to keep him entertained in the meantime.

"Yeah, I am going to do the rare sensible thing and sleep for once. Maybe it is true what we tell kids, the quicker we go to bed, the quicker the morning comes and the quicker I can go home and spend some time with some of my favorite people," Buck replies. Now if this was Buck a few months ago I would have been really concerned about his overall well-being. I think this year has taught Buck that maybe taking a rest every now and again is a good thing he doesn't need to be worrying about. I did chuckle at his comment about the whole thing we tell kids. It works on Christopher every Christmas Eve that the quicker he goes to bed and goes to sleep the quicker Santa can come and deliver all of the presents.

"Well, it seems to work for Christopher every year. If it doesn't end up working for you I am always a facetime call away," I tell him. It's not even going to be that long. The doctor comes in to check on him during his rounds and announces that Buck will be able to be released into the care of our family once morning rounds are done tomorrow. It is also quite early in the morning so Carla can swing by to pick him up on the way back from dropping Christopher off at school. That is if we can convince the kid to go to school tomorrow. He is definitely going to put up a fight making sure he wants to be there for when Buck gets home and to look after the two of us. I'll be honest the way Buck is going right now he will probably be sleeping on and off tomorrow whilst the drugs still work their way out of his system.

"Thanks Eddie, I appreciate it," he says, finally closing his eyes. Loosing the battle against the meds I am surprised he has stayed awake this long to be honest. Then again he would have been excited to see Athena and check up on how Bobby was doing. Then he was also excited to hear from Chris and the plans our wonderful kid has on making us all feel better. Buck has always been the coparent I never knew I needed. I never even thought to ask but he was there from the earthquake on. Even when Chris was angry at me when I told him I was dating Ana the person he went to for help and advice and a bit of love and care was Buck. He got an uber to his house which I couldn't be mad at him for because that was smart.

"Goodnight Buck, you're always welcome," I tell him. Though he was out for the count by now so I wouldn't get that goodnight I would be looking for. It doesn't matter though, I know he is comfortable and for once not needing to be told to rest. He is in good hands with the nurses and no one is going to need to tell him off for anything. I will make sure Maddie knows he's going to behave himself and will be fast asleep probably for the whole night if he's lucky. She'll be pretty happy to know that her brother doesn't need a babysitter for once and he is going to behave himself. I text that to Maddie with photo evidence of Buck being asleep. There was going to be no way she'd believe me otherwise or she'd come down and see for herself.

Carla comes in about ten minutes after Buck fell asleep. Maddie and I were texting about how Chim was doing and how I was doing. I will be honest I am looking forward to being in my own bed tonight. I don't want to be separated from Buck for too long but I know he's where he needs to be and I will be where I need to be. "Hey Eddie, didn't think our Buckaroo would be sleeping right now?" Carla says as she walks in. She puts his bag down and I immediately go to put his phone on charge and leave it close enough so he can reach it in the middle of the night if he needs it without hurting himself too much. Hopefully the morphine will help keep that pain away so he can get as much rest because there will be a lot of people checking in on him when he gets out of here.

"Me too, but in all fairness the morphine and the general made him pretty sleepy. He's also finally learned that if he rests he'll recover quicker. Besides the doctor came in whilst he was still awake and promised if he rested that he should be fine to be discharged tomorrow morning after the first rounds were done so he'll be tucked up in bed back at the Diaz house before lunch," I tell her. She smiles, she already agreed to picking him up on the way. The hardest part we have to do tomorrow is convince Chris that he is better of going to school instead of waiting at home for Buck to come. Then again he might surprise us like Buck has and decide that he doesn't want to fight going to school tomorrow. There might not be any pizza takeaway bribes either.

"Our Buckaroo has been through too much this year. You all have really, I think a call needs to go out to the universe that the one eighteen needs some time off and a break," Carla says. Normally I would be against this kind of thing. I don't really believe in jinxes or fate or any of that kind of thing but it does seem like we can't catch a break at the moment. I think the next time we get some leave we can book off I am taking Buck and Chris on a nice holiday somewhere. Preferably somewhere warm and not in the least bit dangerous. Then again the man I have a huge crush on is the biggest danger magnet I have ever come across in my entire life. If you would have told me all of these things happen to Buck from the outside of the fire station I wouldn't have believed you. I have lived through all of them so I can confirm they are true.

"Yeah maybe we could convince the LAFD to give us an all expenses paid vacation somewhere where we aren't going to end up in a hospital bed," I tell her. She laughed at that and it didn't wake Buck up which I was kind of expecting it to. We better go now though before we do wake him up because I can't let myself sabotage any chance of him getting rest so he can have that early discharge tomorrow. I resist the urge to kiss Buck on the forehead as we leave. I am still in quite a bit of pain when I move about and I am due to take some medication for it. Luckily because of Carla's steady hand helping me I narrowly avoided being forced to sit in a wheelchair to the car. She doesn't waste any time once I am settled in the seat driving home.

"Pepa and Chris are putting the finishing touches on their plans. Don't worry it is nothing too crazy, I told them we just need some calm and comfort tonight because it's been a long scary day for everyone. We need some more rest before Buckaroo comes home tomorrow," Carla says. At least we have someone with a sensible head on her shoulders to make sure that nothing gets too out of hand. Abuela will probably be cooking up some tasty dishes before they go home for the night. It isn't going to be too bad for me. I have broken my ribs before, I know what my limits are and I am fairly sure Chris is just going to be sleeping all night anyway. Carla will be back in the morning to help get Chris ready and fed before school.

"You know what I think Buck is going to be quite calm and relaxed this time around. He didn't even need convincing to go to sleep this time. The only problem I can see is how worried about Bobby he's going to be. That man is more like a father to him than his own biological father. I could hear the pain and worry in his voice when he kept calling out to him on the radios. Athena came and saw him and told him Bobby is okay. I don't think he quite believed it though," I tell her. It really is no secret that Buck should be a Grant-Nash kid and not a Buckley. Same goes for Maddie, but she was treated a little better. Athena sends me a picture and I open it to see Bobby asleep on a face time call with Buck who was still fast asleep like I left him not even five minutes ago.

"Managed to get the nurses to set this up for him. Bobby was going out of his mind with worry that he couldn't be there for his son," Athena adds to the photo. I am not surprised in all honesty it has been too soon after the lightning incident. Then again with something like that lightning incident is there ever really a good time to end up in the hospital again this time needing surgery to control some internal bleeding no one knew about? It's one of those I don't think we're ever going to get the answer to. We have just arrived at the house so I show Carla the photo of Bobby and Buck. At least they are both getting some much needed rest. She gets out her phone to text Athena about it, or at least that is what I am guessing she's doing.

"I'm glad, I know Buck was really worried about him. Don't think I will forget how painful it sounded hearing him calling out for Cap on the radio. Do you think there is like an adult adoption thing somewhere?" I text her back. Now it is the moment Chris is probably eagerly waiting for, time for me to walk into my home, eat some food take my meds and sleep for at least the next six hours if not longer. My family will be anxious to leave me to rest once they see for themselves that I am okay and I have eaten something. I don't remember the last time I did eat something in all honesty it has been that much of a whirlwind of a day. I don't even think Buck has had the chance to eat either since we were there not long after he woke up and I am fairly sure we missed dinner time.

"Dad you're okay," Chris says when he sees me walking into the house. I give him the gentlest hug I can manage and let him know that yes I am okay, still sore like I told him but having a fridge land on you hurts. Like I predicted the ladies didn't stay too long once they made sure I ate something and took my meds. I didn't complain when later on Chris climbed into bed with me. I can just picture him between Buck and I tomorrow night. The perfect family I dreamed of is within reach I just didn't realize I needed to look a little closer to home to find it. When this is all over and everyone is recovered I am definitely telling Buck how I feel and with any good luck on my side making the dreams a reality.

That is the end of the first chapter hope you enjoyed.

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