Chapter Text
Ana hated the woman that was her boyfriend’s best friend. Both he and Christopher were closer to her then Ana was comfortable with. Edmundo and Christopher were always talking about her, always hanging out with her and Ana was done. She needed a way to make sure that Evelina ‘Buck’ Buckley would be out of their lives, forever.
*With Buck*
Buck was sitting in the bar, alone. Eddie, the love of her life, was with someone else. She had thought that her and Eddie would be together after they slept together a little over 6 months ago. But, after that night, Eddie ran into Ana Flores and asked her out rather then start dating her.
So, here Buck sat, in the bar, alone, sipping on a club soda. Usually, she would drink beer but lately the smell of alcohol made her sick to her stomach. If she didn’t know any better, she would say she was pregnant, but she did know better. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with endometriosis, and she knew that it would decrease her chances of getting pregnant.
So, here she sat, the music loud and the sounds of everyone having a good time were all around her now that restrictions have been lifted. A good-looking Hispanic man sauntered up and sat next to her at the bar. In the past, Buck would definitely hook up with him, but now she was just heartbroken.
“What is a beautiful girl like you doing alone?” the man asked, giving her a blinging smile, though there was something in his dark eyes that she couldn’t really comprehend.
“Just needed a night to myself, I guess,” She told him.
“Can I join you?” she quirked; an eyebrow at him.
“It’s a free country,” The man just smiles and orders a drink.
“Another one for you?”
“No, thank you. I’m Buck, by the way,”
“Jose, Buck is a strange name for a girl,” He commented.
“It’s a nickname from my last name,” she explained. Something about him though was setting her on edge.
They sat and talked for a few hours. It felt nice, but she started to feel dizzy. She bade Jose goodbye and made her way to her jeep. She was dizzy and stumbling and her mind felt fuzzy. Something was definitely wrong, and she needed to go to the hospital. Before she could climb into her jeep someone grabbed her and spun her around. It was Jose and he looked downright evil as he glared at her.
“This is a message; you shouldn’t try and steal a girl’s boyfriend,” He snarled.
The first hit through her off guard.
She slammed into her jeep with a gasp as the hits kept coming. Buck didn’t understand, she hadn’t stolen anybody, quite the opposite in fact. She could barely lift her arms to herself as he threw her to the ground.
The back of her head hit the ground and her vision blacked out for about a minute. When she came to, Jose was on top of her, thrusting into her and it hurt! A scream erupted from her throat, and he punched her across her face.
She tried to kick him off of her, but she felt too weak.
Tears were streaming down her face as a bad cramp took over her belly. She felt something stream down her legs as Jose finally got off of her. He then produced a knife and stabbed her right in the side of the chest. All around her were screams and sirens could be heard coming towards them and she knew no more.
*With Eddie*
Eddie was not happy, not since he started dating Ana Flores.
He wasn’t sure what made him think it was a good idea since he was in love with Buck instead. He would have asked Buck out, but he kept thinking about what his parents would say. They probably wouldn’t like Buck only because she wasn’t Latina. But Eddie was tired of Ana, she always dismissed Chris and she would sneer at the mere mention of Buck.
Yet, here he was, sitting on the couch at Ana’s place. Chris was at Abuela’s as she was now fully vaccinated. He wanted nothing more then to be at home with Buck and Chris watching movies and playing games.
Eddie was brought from his thoughts when his cell rang.
“Are you seriously gonna answer that call?” Ana asked incredulously.
“It could be an emergency,” Eddie stated giving her an odd look before answering his cell. “Hello?” he didn’t recognize the number.
“Is this Edmundo Diaz?” a woman asked, he didn’t recognize her voice.
“Speaking, who is this?”
“I’m calling on behalf of Evelina Buckley, she was admitted just a while ago to LAC+USC Medical Center.”
“Ay Dios mío, is she okay?” Eddie asked, his face pale.
“You need to come down, right away,” She said.
“Okay, I’ll be down there as soon as I can,” Eddie hung up the phone and turned to Ana. “Listen, Ana, I gotta go. Buck’s in the hospital, I need to be there.” Eddie said as he got to his feet, gathering his things so he could leave.
“Are you seriously expecting me to be okay with you rushing off to be with Buck, again, seriously? I don’t get why you need to be there.” Ana said huffing and glaring at Eddie. Eddie just stared at her flabbergasted.
He didn’t get why Ana was acting like this.
“Really?! Do I really have to explain it to you? I don’t have time; I really don’t have time for this. I need to get to the hospital.” And he left before she could say anything else.
The trip to the hospital was fast, probably because he broke several traffic laws on the way. His heart was pounding in his chest as he raced into the hospital. He quickly made his way to the information desk.
“Excuse me, I’m Edmundo Diaz, I got a call that Evelina Buckley was brought in.” Eddie said it felt weird to call Buck by her given name.
“Yes, I’ll let the team know, someone will be out to talk to you soon. Call anyone else you need while you wait.” The clerk said.
Eddie nodded and walked over to the waiting room. His anxiety had skyrocketed. Eddie pulled out his phone to call Bobby. Bobby would be able to call everyone else.
“Eddie, what’s going on?” Bobby asked, he seemed a bit frazzled.
“I’m at LAC+USC Medical Center. Buck’s been admitted, I don’t have anymore information, only that its bad. She’s gonna need us, Cap.”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can. I’ll call everyone else, hopefully the doctor will talk to you soon,” Bobby said.
“I’m freaking out here, Cap,” Eddie breathed, his heart pounding in his chest.
“Just breathe, Eddie, I’ll be there soon,” And with that Bobby hung up, leaving Eddie alone with his thoughts.
It didn’t take long until a doctor came and walked over to him. Eddie couldn’t read his face, so it was hard to tell if it was good news or bad.
“Are you here for Evelina Buckley?” the doctor asked. Eddie just nodded, unable to speak through the knot in his throat. “I’m Dr. Owens, I’m in charge of Miss Buckley’s care,” They shook hands as Eddie finally found his voice.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Eddie asked quietly.
“We’re working on stabilizing Miss Buckley. It seems she was attacked; we’re working on saving her and her baby, she’s gone into early labor, we’re working on stopping it but she’s lost a lot of blood.”
“Baby? She’s not pregnant,” Eddie felt faint. He knows that he is the only man that could be the baby’s father. The doctor just gave him a kind look.
“Miss Buckley seems to be 27 weeks pregnant; she’s not showing I know but trust me she is. Now, we’re fully prepared to deliver if we have to. Do we have your permission to do what we can for both of them?” Eddie could only nod then the doctor walked as his pager went off.
Eddie was numb, still trying to process the fact that he was a father again. If Ana hated Buck, she would loathe Buck even more now, which only cemented the fact that he needed to break up with her.
“Eddie!” he was snapped out of his thoughts at the shout of his name. Bobby and Athena were making their way towards him. “Anything yet?” Bobby asked his voice calm but there was panic in his eyes.
“Yeah, um yeah, the doctor just came out,” Even to Eddie he sounded weird, and he still felt numb.
“Well, what happened? How bad is it?” Athena asked.
“Bad, she- she was attacked, they- they are trying to save her and the baby,” Bobby and Athena sucked in gasps at the reveal.
“Buck’s pregnant?” Bobby asked, his eyes wide.
“27 weeks, according to the doctor.”
“How likely is it for her and the baby to survive? Does she even know,” Athena asked, her face hard as she wanted to hunt down who hurt Buck.
“They didn’t say, and I don’t think so. She would have told us, I would think,” Eddie whispered.
“Eddie, are you the father?” Bobby asked softly, eyes soft as he took him in. Eddie could only nod as Bobby brought him in for a hug.
“Eddie! Bobby! Athena! What happened! What happened to Evie?!” Maddie cried, running up to them, panting and clutching Jee-Yun with Chim and Hen trailing behind her.
“We don’t know everything yet, Maddie, all we know was that she was attacked,” Athena said calmly.
“Attacked! Oh my God!” Maddie had tears streaming down her face.
“There’s more isn’t there?” Chim asked as he and Hen gathered around, worry filled their faces.
“Yeah, she’s 27 weeks pregnant, the attack sent her into early labor. They are trying to stop it,” Athena informed the team. Shock filled their faces.
“What are the chances for her and the baby?” Chim asked.
“It depends on what the damage and where on Buck’s body it is, as for the baby…” Hen stopped, not willing to think about it.
“There’s a chance that the baby can survive being born this early,” Maddie sniffed, tears streaming down her face.
“But, who is the father?” Chim asked. Eddie just sighed and looked away.
“Seriously? Eddie, are you seriously the father?” Hen asked, staring at the man.
“You love her, I can tell. So, why be with Ana?” Maddie asked, wiping the tears from her face.
“I just kept thinking about my parents. Their voices kept yelling in my head. Then I ran into Ana, so I asked her out even though I wanted to be with Buck.” Eddie said as tears began to fill his eyes.
They hugged him comforting him because the very real truth is that the baby may not survive. They sat and waited. It wasn’t much longer until a nurse came out and walked straight to them. She was still gowned up and her lips were pressed in a firm line.
“Is the father here? We need him back, unfortunately we have to deliver the baby,” Fear gripped the team as Eddie stood and followed the nurse to the operating room.
He followed the nurses lead and cleaned his hands and gowned up. Eddie steeled himself as he walked into the operating room. He was led to Buck’s head, away from where they were going to be operating. Buck was out, unconscious, but the dark bruises adorned her normally beautiful face. She was intubated her stats were low as he gripped her hand.
“Mr. Diaz, we need to start now,” Dr. Owens said.
Eddie just nodded as the doctor started the surgery. He just gripped her hand, keeping an eye on the stats of both Buck and the baby. That’s the reason they decided to deliver, the baby’s heart rate had dropped, and it made him worried. Soon enough a very soft cry could be heard throughout the room. He pressed a kiss to Buck’s birthmark. He then followed a nurse as they weighed and measured the tiny newborn.
“It’s a girl! Mr. Diaz,” The nurse said as tears streamed down his face.
“I can’t even think of a name,” he said, taking in the sight of the tiny baby.
She was so small and could fit in the palm of his hands. She really didn’t have many notable features that Eddie could pinpoint yet, but he loved the little girl and there was no doubt in his mind that Chris would too. He followed as they placed her in an incubator and placed a little c-pap like device over her nose and they headed to the NICU.
“Take your time picking a name,” the nurse finally said.
“I can’t pick a name without Buck,” He said, at the nurses confused look Eddie explained. “That’s Evelina’s nickname.” The nurse nodded and he looked at her more closely. “What are their chances, Buck’s and the baby’s.”
“I’m not gonna sugar coat it, Mr. Diaz, there is always a chance that both of them won’t make it, but as of right now they have good odds. Now, Mr. Diaz, only two at a time are allowed in the NICU, and please make sure no one is sick.”
“How much does she weigh? I wasn’t really paying attention.” Eddie asked, watching the little girl breathe.
“Well, she’s measuring at 27 weeks so she seems to have been right on track on her growth, at the moment she’s at 2lbs and 14 ¼ inches.”
“She’s tiny,” He breathed and took out his phone and took a couple of pictures. “Can you show me back to the waiting room?”
“Of course, first let’s get this bracelet on you, so you can come back,” The nurse said, putting the hospital band around his wrist as he was led out of the NICU to the waiting room.
Bobby spotted him first and stood quickly. The others followed suit and began bombarding him with questions. As if sensing that he was overwhelmed, Athena silenced everyone with a glance.
“How did Buck look?” Athena asked after a second.
“Bad, they have her intubated and she is covered in bruises.” Eddie said, wiping his eyes again.
“And the baby,” Maddie asked.
“She’s a little fighter! She’s so small, they have her in the incubator right now.”
“It’s a girl?” they asked in awe.
“Did you take pictures?” Maddie asked right away. Eddie nodded and pulled out his phone to show the pictures he had taken of the little girl.
He noted that Ana had sent several texts and called several times.
He ignored them and opened his photos. By the time Eddie had gotten pictures they had already had the baby girl hooked up to monitors, c-pap and an IV. The IV was placed at the back of her little hand.
“She’s so tiny. How far along exactly?” Maddie asked.
“She was measuring at 27 weeks.” Eddie said.
“And she never showed, I wonder why Buck never suspected.” Hen said.
“My sister has endometriosis; her cycle has always been very irregular,” Maddie informed them.
They lapsed into silence as they waited on the news on Buck. Eddie looked at the picture of the baby girl, names rattling around in his head.
He looked up in time to see; doctor, Dr. Owens walking up to them.