9-1-1: Love on the Job (Buck/Eddie)

Chapter One

Evan Buckley's first shift since his sister came to town was pretty uneventful so far. He'd said his greetings to Hen, Chimney, and Nash and kept it moving. Or started to. The minute he turned around, he was met with a guy on the other side of the station, standing up from the weightlifts. He was sweating a little and he was packing some serious abs.

Buck found himself staring, wondering who he was, and voiced it out loud. "Who the hell is that?"

"It's Eddie Diaz. New recruit." Nash responded to his inquiry, staring at the man himself. Hen made a whistling noise and made a comment about how if she was straight, she'd be all over that.

Buck couldn't tear his eyes away from the other man. Suddenly, the man turned around and looked up. Their eyes met briefly before he turned away, his face turning red from being caught staring. Just then the alarm went off and Buck, grateful for the chance to escape his embarrassment, rushed to get his gear on.

🔥

It was a car accident and a structure fire they'd been called out on. The driver had exceeded the speed limit by fifty miles per hour, going off the road and through the guardrail before crashing into the side of a warehouse. The front half of the car had made a hole in the wall and there was so much damage to it that there was really no surprise that the fuel line was damaged.

So that, added with leaking fuel and a live wire, you have a fire.

Buck followed orders like he always did as a first responder, doing what he needed to do to help the injured driver and her kid out of the car. The smell of fuel, gas and smoke was overwhelming, and he had to cover his face with his mask. From the corner of his eye, he could see Diaz doing his job and watching him at the same time.

"The smoke is turning black guys. Make your rounds quickly." Bobby's voice filtered out of the walkie and into his ear.

Buck ran into the warehouse, calling out for any civilians. "Fire Department! Call out!"

He could hear Diaz behind him, doing the same procedure. The fire was spreading fast and the smoke was getting thicker. If they did not back out now, they would be part of the place flashing. There was the sound of metal groaning, as if straining under massive weight, and Buck looked up fast; the catwalk was collapsing on itself. Eyes widening, Buck found himself unable to move even as the catwalk finally came down.

"Buck!" Diaz shouted.

The first responder in question felt something collide with the back of his head and his body went flying to the side, head cracking against a filing cabinet. As Buck lay there dazed and all around out of it, he felt Diaz trying to haul him to his feet. The new recruit was speaking into his walkie, saying something that concerned Buck's well-being but his brain wouldn't try to understand.

"Buck's hurt! We're coming out, have medical on standby!"

Medical? Hurt? Buck tried to understand what he was talking about but his focus was almost immediately focused on walking as he kept stumbling. His legs would not cooperate and his head hurt so much he thought it was going to explode. He could feel himself slipping, his head dropping heavily, eyes drooping every few seconds.

"Stay with me, Buck. You're gonna be okay." Diaz muttered as he began leaning heavily on the man.

As they exited the warehouse, he was hit by a light breeze and he looked up, eyes squinting due to the sunlight. Bobby and Athena were standing side by side, talking and looking at the warehouse as if waiting for something to happen. When Chimney and Hen saw them, they started forward but stared at something behind them, eyes filling with horror.

"Get down! It's gonna flash over!" Bobby screamed throwing himself on Athena, sending her to the ground and covering her with his body. Chimney and Hen ducked behind the ambulance.

Buck and Diaz, both still struggling to get to safety and yet, much too close to the damn warehouse, had no where to duck for cover. Just as Diaz tried to push Buck on the ground and cover him with his body, the building flashed over, the shockwave of the explosion sending them flying in different directions.

Diaz landed in some shrubbery nearby but Buck wasn't nearly as lucky. He was sent flying ten feet in the air before his body rolled across the top of the ambulance, hitting the ground with a sickening thud, his head following with a loud crack. Darkness rushed in to steer him away before he had time to even register the pain in his body.

🔥

A deafening silence filled the air as the smoke and ash billowed out from the broken windows and the hole in the wall the car had made. The first responders all cautiously came out of their respective covers, looking around and making sure they were okay. Eddie came to, having lost consciousness momentarily on impact and sat up. Bobby and Athena climbed to their feet and looked at each other. Hen, still crouched behind the vehicle, turned her head slightly and did a double take. Her eyes widened as she looked at what was a few feet away in front of her.

"Oh shit." Hen said, shock clear as day in her voice. Chim followed her gaze and echoed her swear before they shared a look, both getting to their feet and running towards the prone first responders side.

"Buck? Buck can you hear me?!" Chim asked, already opening the field kit up.

The blonde in question made no response or sign that he heard him. He was bleeding profusely from a head wound, blood pooling around it at a steady pace. Head wounds were prone to bleeding a lot but this was excessive. There was way too much for it to just be a head injury.

As Hen and Chim began checking him over, Eddie, Bobby and Athena made their way over to observe and call for another ambo. Buck had a bunch of scrapes and bruises, a severe head injury accompanied with a concussion, what might be a sprained wrist and a few bruised ribs.

"Is he going to be okay?" Athena was worried. Despite their differences, she thought of Evan Buckley as her own. Treated him as such too. It would pain her, probably even kill her, if anything were to happen to the young man that he could not come back from.

Chim held up one of Buck's eyelids and shined a penlight in it. "Pupils are unresponsive."

Hen took hold of his wrist, checking his pulse. It was there, strong but fast and fluttery. A little too fast but it wasn't on the dangerous side. Hen grabbed the neckbrace, placing it around his neck. She had no idea whether or not his spine had been compromised and once she fastened the brace on, they prepared to lift him onto a backboard.
Once he was strapped onto the backboard, they began prepping him for travel.

Eddie, bless his heart, was panicking inside. He was trying to get Buck to wake up, trying to get some kind of response, anything, from the unconscious blonde. Eddie didn't know what to do with himself. He was worried. Buck had been thrown clear into the air, ten feet away from where they had both been standing and must have hit his head again. Eddie counted three times that Buck had hit his head today during this call and each time he was sure was jarring and harder than the last.

"You better be okay, Buck or I swear-" Eddie trailed off as Hen and Chim loaded him onto the ambo. The sirens were turned on and he watched as they took off, the tires screeching in the process.