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“I love you-” Chim grins with a lopsided smile on his face, and Maddie smiles right back at him.
“Love you too,” She doesn’t hesitate to answer his confession, not now, not anymore. A doctor moves up to join them, checking over Chim’s bandages before turning to him.
“Sir, we’re going to get you prepped for surgery, your wife can follow us,” She announces, gesturing for the nurses to start moving Chim. And she doesn’t miss the proud smile on his face when she says wife. Maddie doesn’t let go of Chim’s hand, following him through the hallways and disappearing.
Athena helps Hen up as well, but luckily she can walk. Athena sighs heavily, helping Hen find her footing and guiding her towards the doctor who takes over.
“I’ll stay here, hold down the front,” Athena tells Hen, and Hen nods shakily, not replying as she focuses on taking her next step, and another one. Athena runs her hand over her face, watching her friend leave the entrance and letting out a long breath again. She doesn’t want to admit how much today had scared her.
Her hands are still shaking slightly, and she can feel blood drying on her hands. Bobby’s blood was on her hands.
“Are you ready, Buck?” Athena asks, glancing at the waiting room, knowing she was going to spend a few hours in there already. There was no way that she was ready to leave Bobby right now. Buck lets out a soft sound behind her, and Athena turns around to see the man standing there where she last saw him.
His face was completely white, a glazed look in his eyes and swaying on the spot. “Buck?” Athena presses, and Buck seems to try and find her, eyes darting around but never fully focusing on her.
“T-Thena-“ His voice is weak, hesitant. “I-I-“ Athena sees it happen, his face scrunching up and then he’s doubling over, vomiting up on the floor.
“We need help!” Athena shouts, rushing over to Buck. Red splatters on the ground, Buck was vomiting up blood. Before she can get to him, Buck’s legs crumble from underneath him. His eyes roll in the back of his head and he falls to the ground. Athena dives, catching the man but only managing to slow down his fall.
The weight of the man causes her to fall to the ground, hitting it hard and she grunts.
“Buck?!” She shouts as several doctors rush towards him. Buck’s face contorts, and she’s just quick enough to turn his face to the side before he vomits again. Blood gets on her clothes regardless, but most ends up on the floor. Athena’s ears ring as the doctors pull her away, hovering over her son without looking at her.
They pull his shirt up, revealing a patchwork of black and blue bruises on his abdomen, and Athena wants to throw up at the sight. Buck wasn’t okay, he wasn’t fine and it was all catching up to him now. A gurney is rushed back in, and it takes seconds before Buck is lifted onto the gurney and wheeled off.
*
*
*
There’s a soft buzzing sound around him when he wakes up, beeping steadily around him and he wants to frown. The sound is familiar, all too familiar, and he really hoped he wouldn’t hear it for at least the following year but even he knew that that was way too optimistic. Still, a few months should’ve been feasible.
Clearly not, because he instantly knows he’s in the hospital again. Two months after he had woken up from his coma, he groans, Maddie was going to kill him.
“Chim-” He hears someone say, voice almost resigned. His ears are swimming, making it difficult to listen. Everything seems to be dulled, like his body was thrown into the deep end and he’s just floating into nothingness. There’s a hand on his head, fingers carting through his hair comfortably.
He sighs, sagging into the bed a bit and he hears a soft chuckle besides him at his reaction. His head rushes slightly, and the conversation around him filters out, making it harder to listen to. But he feels comforted by the voices around him, and he knows he’s safe, he knows his family is here.
So he focuses on the feeling of someone carting their fingers through his hair, allowing himself to drift for a moment. Eventually his head clears slightly, and he feels himself blink his eyes open, light exploding his vision. He groans in protest, squeezing them shut again before he can stop himself.
Someone chuckles besides him, and the hand in his hair stops. “Always the dramatic one, right Buckley?” The voice laughs, and Buck blinks his eyes open, letting his head drop to the left and stare at Chim.
“C-Chim?” He asks, frowning. Chim was sitting up in the bed, in a white hospital gown and leaning back against the bed that was elevated so he could sit. He was digging his spoon into some jello, looking at him with a grin and eating it.
“Welcome back, buddy-” Chim greets him, and someone sighs next to him, and he looks up to see Hen sitting next to him, and he realises she was the one carting her fingers through his hair.
“What happened?” Buck’s voice sounds scratchy, and definitely feels scratchy too.
“Here,” Hen tells him softly, and before Buck can ask what she’s talking about, a straw touches his lips. He gratefully sucks on the straw, feeling the cool liquid fill his mouth. He sighs, leaning back and closing his eyes for a moment. “How are you feeling, Buckaroo?” She asks, continuing to cart her fingers through his curls.
He realises he feels clean again, there’s no dust sticking to his skin, and the uncomfortable feeling of blood on his face was gone too.
“Are you okay?” Buck asks instead, opening his eyes to look at Hen again. His eyes zero in on the bandage on her head, hiding the wound he knew was there. Hen smiles reassuringly, reaching for his hand instead and squeezing softly. Buck misses the hand in his hair, but he stays silent.
“I’m okay, thanks to you,” She says with a smile.
“You have a concussion,” Chim pipes up next to him, and Chim does his best to give him a shiteating grin as he takes another bite from the jello.
“And you were stabbed, and took it out in the field,” Hen fires back, and Buck’s eyes flicker to the jello, and the already empty container on Chim’s bedside.
“Is that my jello?” Buck asks, and Chim doesn’t even deny it.
“You weren’t eating it, better luck next time,” Chim tells him, and Buck lets out a huff. It wasn’t like he had any appetite right now, and Chim was notorious for stealing everyone’s jello in the hospital.
“Did you give it to him?” Buck asks, more confused than hurt about it. The nurses would bring him another one anyways. Hen shakes her head.
“No he got out of bed himself to steal it, I had to force him into bed again before he popped his stitches,” Hen says, throwing a pointed look to Chim, who just shrugs innocently.
“Worth it-” He murmurs around the spoon, taking another bite. Buck blows out a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. Immediately he feels a hand on his cheek, and he blinks his eyes open again.
“Are you okay?” She asks, and for a moment he can’t seem to focus on Hen but she quickly comes into focus.
“A little confused,” Buck admits honestly, and Hen leans back with a sigh. “Concussion?” He asks, and Hen understands quickly enough that he’s talking about her, not himself.
“Doctors checked me out, I have to stay for observation for a day but I”m alright,” She tells him. “We’re all alright, the doctors stitched Chim up-”
“89 stitches, a new record,” Chim pipes up, and Hen sends him a glare. “I’m stuck here for the next few days, I’m milking this,” Chim says innocently, and Hen shakes her head fondly.
“He’ll be alright, he’s been driving everyone crazy already,” Hen continues, and Buck frowns slightly at that.
“Everyone?” He asks a little confused, and Hen nods, shifting on the bed and gesturing to the other side of the room. Buck’s hospital bed was in the lower right corner, with Chim’s bed being in the middle next to him and an empty but clearly used bed next to Chim. Which must’ve belonged to Hen.
On the other side of the room were three more beds, directly opposite his bed was Eddie, sleeping soundly. There was an IV inserted into his hand, and Buck guessed that it must be painkillers that the doctors were giving him. His face looked peaceful, chest rising steadily and continuously.
Next to Eddie, opposite Chim’s bed, was their captain. Bobby was also asleep, his right arm resting on his stomach. There was a cast wrapped around his arm, and his shoulder was wrapped up as well. His ankle was also in a cast, elevated with a thick pillow. His face was also scratched up, but otherwise he seemed fine.
Buck lets out a breath, feeling himself sag against his pillow.
“We’re all fine, Buckaroo, more worried about you right now,” Hen continues. “You really scared Athena when you collapsed, she wanted to stay here but visitor hours are over,” Hen explains to him softly, and Buck wants to ask her to cart her fingers through his hair again, but he refrains himself.
“I collapsed?” Buck whispers, frowning slightly. “I-I don’t remember-”
“That’s to be expected, don’t worry about it,” Hen quickly assures him. “You had blunt force trauma, probably from hitting the windshield, you were bleeding pretty badly internally.”
“I was?” Buck questions, cocking his head as Hen nods. “I swear I didn’t know Hen, I thought I was fine until the hospital.” He feels himself tear up slightly, maybe it’s all the emotions from the past day, the fear he had felt when Bobby hadn’t answered his headcount, or when Chimney almost fell out of the ambulance.
Or maybe it was the pain that was steadily increasing, and his abdomen throbbing worse and worse. He doesn’t really know, and he quickly rubs his eyes to get rid of them, hissing slightly in pain.
“Do you need me to call the nurse? They said you could get another dose when you woke up if it hurt,” Hen asks, and Buck nods.
“Please-” He murmurs softly, and Hen reaches over to press the call button. Within minutes a nurse comes to their room to give Buck some more medicine into the IV. The tension visibly leaves his body and he sags back into the pillows again. “Thanks-” He adds and the nurse smiles at him.
“No problem, Mr Buckley,” She says before turning to Hen. “And I thought I told you to stay in bed and rest?” She challenges.
Chim snickers from his bed. “Busted-” He laughs.
“Don’t think I don’t see that jello Mr. Han,” The nurse fires back, and Buck barks out a laugh at Chim’s expression. Chim glares at him, taking the now empty cup of jello and throwing the plastic at him.
“Hey!” Buck cries out as the cup hits him, before falling to the ground. “Hen-” Buck hisses softly, turning to her for help and Hen rolls her eyes.
“Time to go to bed,” Hen mutters, shooting the nurse an apologetic look and standing up. She’s a little unsteady on her feet, but manages to walk towards her own bed without much of a problem. The nurse seems satisfied as Hen climbs into the bed too, and she silently hands her her medication.
Hen takes the medicine dry, before the nurse can even offer her a glass of water so she can swallow them down easily. She takes no offence though, walking over to Chim to take the empty jello cup and the two spoons. Buck tries to reach out for his fallen jello cup but the nurse is faster.
“I got it,” She smiles, picking it up. “Do you need anything else?” She asks, but Buck shakes his head. He has no appetite right now, and sleep is threatening to pull him under.
“Don’t give ‘im more jelly-” Buck mumbles, and the nurse laughs softly at that.
*
*
*
Buck’s in and out of consciousness for the night, waking up occasionally as a nurse checks in on them. Despite the drugs, he can’t get himself to sleep deeply. So he floats somewhere in between, not quite awake but also not quite asleep. The next time he blinks his eyes open, it’s already morning.
He blinks heavily, hearing a shower run next to him, on the other side of the wall. He frowns slightly, glancing at the rest of the room and seeing Chim still asleep in his bed, but Hen’s bed is empty again. He sits up a little more, glancing to the other side. Eddie had shifted in his sleep, head now fallen to the side but still asleep.
Bobby was awake, sitting up and holding a book, eyes roaming over the pages.
“Bobby?” Buck asks, and Bobby immediately looks up, several emotions crossing his face before deciding on relief.
“Hey Buck,” He acknowledges, and Buck groans, sitting up more.
“Are you okay?” Buck asks, and Bobby puts the book down completely.
“I could ask you the same question, I’m not the one who vomited up blood,” Bobby points out, a grimace on his face but Buck waves it away, slinging his legs over the edge with a groan. “Buck-” Bobby warns him but Buck doesn’t listen, getting up. He picks up the IV stand, taking it with him to Bobby’s bed.
He’s panting softly by the time he gets there, but the painkillers dull the pain almost completely. Still, he all but collapses in the chair, closing his eyes for a moment as his head rushes dangerously.
“You’re worse than Chimney,” Bobby chuckles, and Buck looks at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Chim stole my jello, I'm checking in on you,” Buck fires back.
“And I’m fine Buck, thanks to you,” Bobby says, and Buck ducks his head slightly at that. “Hen told me how you took the lead, got everyone out safely.”
“I wasn’t alone, Hen and Ravi were there too,” Buck tries to point out, but Bobby just shakes his head fondly. “You pulled me out of that rubble, and I’m proud of you Buck,” Bobby adds, and Buck feels a smile tugging at his lips.
“Why am I not surprised he escaped?” A new voice joins them, and both Bobby and Buck look up to see Hen exit the bathroom, freshly showered and looking a lot better than she did yesterday. She was still clearly a little unsteady on her feet, but better as she moves around and over to Bobby’s bedside.
Hen reaches out, brushing her fingers over the scratches on Buck’s face and giving him a disapproving stare.
“Buck has a habit of escaping hospital jail,” Eddie murmurs behind them, and Buck gawks a little at the claim.
“Excuse me, last time I was let go!” Buck exclaims, turning to Eddie who just grins up at him with a tired expression on his face.
“Last time?” Hen levels, and Buck ducks his head again at the memory. At the time there was nothing funny about the situation, but looking back on it he can see how ridiculous he must’ve looked sitting there in hospital jail as Eddie had put it. Like a little kid who had been grounded at an event.
Athena and Bobby talking to him, as if they were scolding a little kid. Not like he hadn’t deserved after breaking the law and making the phone useless to be used by the police.
“When Buck stole Chimney’s phone, Athena put him in hospital jail,” Eddie supplies, smiling slightly at the memory. Recognition flickers across Hen’s face at that, and Buck huffs.
“And I will do it again, because I know you didn’t just get out of the bed Buckley,” Athena announces her presence, hands on her hips as she levels a look at Buck.
“I tried to stop him,” Bobby tries but Athena shakes her head and Buck glances at the nurse standing next to Athena.
“Hey Marie-” He greets her with a sheepish grin, and Marie sighs at that. She was his nurse the last time he was in the hospital, and the few times before that. “How’s your partner?” He asks, and Marie shakes her head with a sigh.
“They’re good, so are the kids,” She says, walking over to Buck and holding out her hand for him to grab.
“Unbelievable,” Athena mutters, walking over to help Marie get Buck back to his bed. The trip to Bobby’s bed had seemed to tire him out completely, and he was leaning a little too heavily on the poor woman but with the help of Athena they were able to get him to the bed, panting softly.
“It’s worse when there’s five of them,” Marie laughs, ignoring Buck’s response to help him get settled in the bed again. After all, she was well aware of Buck’s tendencies when he was stuck in the hospital. He has never been a good patient.
“Better get the soft restraints, Thena, before he escapes again,” Eddie suggests with a laugh from his side, and Buck shoots a glare. Marie just sighs, trying to get the blanket out of the way and put it back on Buck as he manoeuvred his aching body.
“Joke’s on you, I’m into that shit!” Buck retorts with no hesitation, smirking at the response from Eddie. Hen groans from her side, still sitting down on Bobby’s bedside.
“We’ve heard enough about your Buck 1.0 days for now,” Hen tries to deflect and Buck levels her with a raised eyebrow.
“I distinctly remember walking in on you two in the living room-” Buck tries and Hen sputters in indignation.
“That was years ago, and you let yourself in!” She defends herself, and Buck huffs out a breath at that.
“I remember May walking in on Bobby and Athena last year,” Eddie pipes up, and Athena sighs.
“Children, I work with children,” She mutters, and Buck sends her a sheepish grin as Marie fusses over his injuries, pulling up his gown to check. Buck winces slightly, his stomach doing backflips as he spots the deep bruises on his abdomen, as well as the clear surgery scars that came from it.
Buck groans, letting his head drop to look at the ceiling instead. Marie works swiftly, changing his bandages and pushing another round of painkillers into his IV.
“I’m glad you’re not feeling any pain, but stay in bed or you risk popping your stitches, okay?” She tells him, patting his shoulder gently. “I’ll be right back with breakfast,” She adds, brushing past Athena. The woman was looking at him with a disapproving look on her face, shaking her head.
“How are you feeling, Buckaroo?” Athena asks, sitting down on Buck’s bed instead. Buck’s almost shocked that she’s not yelling at him, but Athena quickly levels him with a look. “I will yell at you later for the stunt you pulled, but now I want to know if you’re alright, you really scared me,” She admits.
Her voice was a bit more vulnerable than he was used to. Usually Athena didn’t show this side of her, she cared immensely but she showed that in her own way. It’s what Buck loved about her, knew he could count on her and make him feel better when he needed to. Protect him like a mo-
Buck takes a deep breath. “I’m good, I’m sorry for scaring you-”
“Again,” She adds, and Buck huffs.
“Sorry for scaring you again,” He amends, and Athena reaches out for his hand to squeeze it. “Thank you for catching me, Thena,” He whispers, and Athena smiles.
“Always baby.”