Save Me (An Eddie Diaz 911 Fanfiction)

Awful People

****Trigger Warnings this Chapter! I will post it before the section, but once again, I just want to give people a heads up.*****

When she informed the rest of the team about breaking up with Xavier and his move to Vegas, everyone had been overly comforting. Almost to the point of obnoxiousness for the simple reason that they wanted to focus on her perceived drama then to take a step back and deal with it on her own. But after a week full of racists, conniving exes who overdose on drugs, and according to Buck, a terrible, former 911 operator's car accident, Jane was ready to call it in and spend her time off at home cuddling with Felix.

She felt absolutely rundown when she pulled her bag together to go to her car. Every muscle in her body felt like it was protesting movement. By the time she was walking out the door with the rest of her chattering crew, she almost thought about calling an uber she was so exhausted. Fortunately, she had caffeine in her bag and knew she'd make it home. However, she was unprepared for the general enthusiasm her coworkers had when they got off at 7pm that Saturday.

"Hey! You wanna' come out with us?" Buck asked her as they reached the parking lot. "We're going to get a beer and hang out. Eddie even has a babysitter so he's coming."

Jane sent them all a tired smile. "Sorry man," and her statement was emphasized with a yawn. "I can't tonight. I'm dead on my feet, and I haven't been able to sleep well for the last few days with the renovations in the building. I just...I need to go home and go to sleep after a nice long shower."

"They finally get that fixed?" Eddie asked her casually. The three of them had lingered between her Kia and Eddie's truck. Hen and Chimney had already left for the Bar.

"They should by now," Buck said. "It's been quite some time since your shower broke."

She'd complained to the crew about the fact that her shower had been fritzing out for the past two weeks and as great as her landlords were, a very understanding older couple, their maintenance man wasn't able to get a part in to repair it until yesterday. There was also construction on her floor to replace carpets and utilities in the older units on her floor after the last tenants destroyed them.

"Construction Crews will be gone next week, and Mrs. Delacruz left a message for me saying they got in to fix my shower today. All is well. Good thing too since Felix wouldn't even look at me yesterday, he was so irritated by the noise."

"That cat," Eddie chuckled. Like all members of the 118, he'd heard many stories about the unique cat that was Felix. Honestly, none of them understood why she kept him. He seemed so temperamental, but Jane adored him and since they adored her, they put up with stories of his grumpiness. Of course, his peculiarities and his penchant for Seinfeld reruns always made for interesting fodder.

"Yeah," she smiled at him. "That cat." She yawned again.

"You gonna' make it home?" Eddie asked. "You really do look tired."

She wordlessly pulled out a bottle of Coke from her bag and gestured grandly to it. She enjoyed the occasional soda, but it wasn't great for her, so she usually got her caffeine fix with tea. "This will do it."

"Okay," Buck said, "Just know that you have to join us next time." He pulled her into a hug, which she returned affectionately. They'd gotten closer since Abby had left. Buck, Chimney, and her had, had a marathon all of the Die Hard movies, as well as Ghostbusters and Mel Brooks comedies. Beers for them, and cheap wine coolers for her had resulted in much bonding and regrettable choices of conversation.

But it was because of these bonding sessions that when Buck finally made the leap to move out of Abby's house, he went to stay with Chimney at his place. Much to Chimney's mild frustration, because he hadn't realized that he was hosting the young man for such an extended stay. Of course, Jane had used this as an excuse to join them for another movie night, which they had both agreed to, especially when she told them that she and Xavier had broken up.