Work Text:
When the 118 arrive back to the station, the smell of burnt food fills their noses the moment they jump out the engine.
Buck had been the man behind for the last few days, as it was Chimney's one condition for letting him come back to work so soon after everything in New Mexico. Buck had practically been bouncing off the walls at home and couldn't stand another day starting at his boring, white ceiling while everyone else was at work.
He'd promised a big meal for everyone when they came back from their most recent call, but the overwhelming smell now filling the station had caused their appetites to turn sour.
"Buck?! You setting the place on fire?!" Ravi called out.
At first, they expected Buck to come running over to the railing, shouting over the side to them that he'd lost track of time or something and was going to order in instead, but actually there was nothing. No shout back, no rushing footsteps, no grunts of annoyance as he tries to salvage what was left of the meal. There was only the scent of chard meat and smoke wafting in the air.
Eddie, Hen and Chim make their way up the staircase, jumping two steps at a time, with Ravi and Harry close on their tails, and what they find causes their stomachs to drop.
Buck is standing at the stove, in his apron, with one hand holding the handle of a sizzling metal saucepan, while the other was pressed in a tight fist against the counter. His gaze was far away, staring long past all five of them and somewhere in the distance.
Eddie breaks from his shock first, hearing the scary sound of Buck's skin basically hissing against the red hot metal and rushes forward to pull him away. The others come running over soon after and they all are yelling Buck's name in unison to try and snap him out of whatever trance he'd fallen into.
Hen immediately got to work on Buck's burnt hand, while Ravi and Harry switched off the oven and stove. Eddie and Chim were standing on either side of Buck and trying desperately to get the man to focus.
His usual vibrant blue had dulled to an almost grey, and his pupils were very clearly uneven, with one the size of a dinner plate, when the other was barely a pin prick.
His jaw was slack, like the rest of his body, and the team found it a miracle that he was still standing.
They tried to walk/carry him to the near table, to get a better look at what they were dealing with while Chim called dispatch for an RA unit to be sent over, but Buck wasn't budging.
His feet seemed almost glued to where he stood.
Eddie rubs at Buck's shoulders and sternum, which is incredibly hard to do while he's standing, and prays he gets at least some kind of response.
Thankfully, he does.
Buck's eyelids flutter a few times out of sync with each other. Their sluggish and droopy, and Eddie calls to try and catch his attention. It takes a second, but eventually Buck's gaze lands on him.
But this point, Hen has wrapped his hand, and is now focused on holding up her side of Buck's body in case his legs suddenly give out, which is lucky due to what happens next.
"E'die?" Buck mutters, barely audible. Eddie can see his mind trying to catch up with what was happening, but the disoriention seemed to be stopping everything from catching up properly.
"I'm here, Buck. We're gonna get you to the hospital, ok?"
Buck stared back confused.
"Why?" He asked, his brows knitting together. "How're y'u here?"
Eddie glanced at Hen, alarm bells ringing loudly in the back of his mind.
"Can you tell me where you are, Buck?"
Buck hesitated, taking in the question and thinking it over before flicking his gaze quickly but sluggishly around the room.
"Work." He responded simply.
"Ok, good. How about the day?"
"Tue- Tuesday?"
Hen sighed sympathetically beside him. "Not quite, sweetheart. It's Thursday. But that's ok!"
"Oh..." Buck replied. He sounded so small, so young, and Eddie could tell he'd be freaking out if his brain caught up just a little bit.
"Where's cap?" He asked, clutching at Hen's shirt around her waist as she wrapped his arm around her.
"I'm right here, bud. How we doing?" Chim announced walking back over.
Buck stared at him and shook his head lightly. "No..."
"No?" Eddie echoed, glancing back at Chim before meeting Buck's eyes again.
"Bobby," Buck clarified shakily. "Where's B'by? He- I was... I was help'ng him with- with lunch."
The room stilled and went silent.
The team all looked round at eachother with anxiety eating away deep in their chests. It was the Buck caught sight of Harry.
"H'ry? What are you... why're you here?"
Eddie then jumps in, trying with everything in him to stay calm and collected while he's panicking like hell on the inside.
"Ok, Buck... Can you come and sit down for me?" He asked softly, taking all of his best friends weight into himself and off of Hen as he guides him slowly and carefully towards the table.
"How long til the ambulance is here?" Eddie whispers over his shoulder.
"About six minutes. I've already let Maddie know." Eddie nods in response.
The pair almost made it to the table, very nearly, but of course, as per their luck, Buck's consciousness decided that was the very best moment to check out, within inches of the waiting chair.
He dropped HARD, like a rock, to the ground, taking Eddie with him the whole way down. Eddie had only just managed to stop his head from hitting the floor with the last second of being able to manoeuvre in time.
"BUCK!" Everyone yelled in unison, rushing forward to grab at him and check him over. Eddie now had his head in his lap and two fingers pressed against the pulse in his neck.
Buck's entire body was limp and unmoving, his skin had become instantly pale, almost grey, and sweat beaded across his brow that was now on fire. His breathing was jagged and rough too, like there was something heavy crushing his chest.
"I- I'm getting a backboard!" Harry announced, bolting for the staircase so fast he could've left a trail of smoke behind him.
"Dispatch! We need that RA unit ASAP! Patient has just lost consciousness and seems to be feverish with impaired breathing." Chimney yelled into his radio frantically.
"Copy, Captain 118! RA is two minutes out!" A voice replied a second later, muffled a little by the static of the radio.
"TELL THEM TO GO FASTER!" He shouted back.
The whole time, Eddie is speaking softly to Buck as he hovers over his head, trying to rouse him while also doing his best to stop his terrified tears from falling onto the blonde's face.
"You're gonna be ok, Buck. We've got you."
It feels so familiar, and Eddie can't help but flashback to how he was in almost the same position only a little while ago, trying to keep Buck conscious while they wait for an EMS to arrive in the middle of nowhere.
Staring down at his best friend, Eddie can't help but go through a list of terrible things that could've caused this.
- Sepsis
- infection
- lasting effects of the electrocution
- a TBI or extreme head injury
He tries to narrow it down, thinking of the way Buck had been acting before he collapsed.
The confusion, the zoning out, the memory loss, the uneven pupils, the non reaction to his hand sizzling like a BBQ steak on the handle of the saucepan.
A the last one sounds like the most likely scenario, and instantly red hot rage fills him from head to toe, because how the fuck could the hospital have missed it?!
Hen is then beside them again- when had she left?- With a wet cloth, pressing it to Buck's forehead and dampening his curls, causing them to stick to his skin.
Harry returns with a backboard under this armpit and slides it onto the floor next to Buck's body. They start to gently manoeuvre him onto it while Eddie keeps his fingers pressed to his neck, continuing to count his pulse, hoping to God that it stays beating.
It's then the screeching of tires echoes through the firehouse, and within seconds two paramedics from Station 122 are rushing in to help them lift Buck before they begin to carry him down the stairs.
Eddie vaguely hears Hen telling them Buck's symptoms as he follows so close behind he might as well be on the backboard too. Once Buck's loaded into the ambulance, Chim orders Eddie to go with him, which Eddie's deeply thankful for, while Chim calls for the station to be taken offline for the foreseeable future.
"We'll meet you there." He tells Eddie as he helps one of the 122 paramedics shut the doors while the other jumps inside.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The whole way to the hospital Eddie keeps his fingers intertwined with Buck's free hand, smoothing the still healing cuts across his skin from his encounter in New Mexico, while thinking back to the ambulance ride they had together then.
At least then, Buck was conscious. He'd been talking to Maddie with a beaming smile on his face, even through the injuries he'd sustained, and Eddie had been sat next to him the whole time watching the monitor beep evenly beside him, telling him Buck was alive.
Alive.
Safe.
But now, the beeping just brought anxiety. Eddie felt on edge and sweaty, imagining a devastating moment where the rhythmic beeps could become a flatline. He tried to shake the phantom sound from his head, but after hearing it when Buck had been struck by lightning, it's more difficult to clear than he thought.
The paramedic opposite him is doing checks. They're looking at Buck's pupils, putting in an IV, unbuttoning his shirt to check his previous injuries on his torso that Hen had told them about, just incase something had shifted and internal bleeding had started.
Eddie knew what it was.
A head injury. A bad one.
He knows what one looks like, and he knows he needs to tell them. He just can't find the ability to open his mouth. Each time it feels like there's bile moving up his throat and stealing his words from him, and he can't move his line of sight away from Buck's face! He must look damn near catatonic to anyone else.
"Diaz." Someone says, sounding a little distant and slowed.
Eddie hates it when people call him that.
"Hey! We're here! You need to let go." They continue, trying to detach his hand from Buck's while also ushering him out of the ambulance.
Eddie feels stuck,
confused,
it's raining outside when he finally is able to look up and, for a moment, he's convinced he's back to a few years ago when him and his team are unloading Buck from an ambulance while his heart was no longer beating.
Eddie jumps out on autopilot, immediately missing the warmth of Buck's hand, and reaches for his chest instead. He used cpr before to bring Buck back, he can do it again.
He's mere inches away when a pair of familiar but unwanted hands grab at him and pull him backwards. He struggles like hell to get away, yelling that he needs to help Buck, but all he gets in response is someone in his ear softly telling him that Buck's safe.
How can Buck be safe when his heart isn't working?!
He was struck by lightning!
"No, Eddie, you need to snap out of it."
He continues to fight, watching as his best friend disappears behind the sliding hospital doors.
The rain is drenching him from head to toe, and the cold is setting in so fast it's causing him to shiver awfully. Which can't be right... He'd been in his turnout gear during the lightning. He shouldn't be getting this cold!
"Eddie! Can you hear me?!"
Eddie looks down, finding himself in only his uniform, not a turnout coat in sight, as well as a pair of strong arms around his chest, holding him upright when his knees start to buckle.
He risks a look backwards and finds Athena's panicked face over his shoulder.
Athena wasn't there after the lightning... It was Bobby. Where's-
Everything snaps back all at once like a released elastic band.
The lightning was years ago,
Buck was suffering from something new,
something that had happened recently,
something Eddie had been there in the aftermath of.
He remembers New Mexico,
and the red and white striped shirt with grass stains from when Buck collapsed.
He remembers being at the station,
smelling the burnt food and the skin of Buck's palm cooking on the metal.
He remembers Buck collapsing a second time, into his arms. But not before asking for Bobby.
Bobby isn't here,
Bobby was never here,
Not since last year, and this isn't the time of the lightning strike.
Eddie wonders for a second if this is how Buck felt in those final moments before he lost consciousness at the station.
Look around for his father figure while confused and disoriented and panicking when he couldn't find him.
"Let's get you sat down." Athena says, guiding Eddie inside and out of the rain. "The others will be here in a second, I was in the neighbourhood."
Once sitting in a chair, dripping all over the waiting room floor, Eddie was finally able to speak.
"T- TBI..." He stutters through the shivers.
"What was that, honey?"
"TBI. B- Buck has... might have a TBI."
Athena kneels in front of him on the soaked floor and begins drying him down with a hand towel.
Where had that come from?
"I know. The paramedics heard you muttering it to yourself in the ambulance. They saw Buck's pupils, took everything Hen had told them, and made the assumption. He's being seen to as we speak, ok? Everything's going to be fine."
Eddie nodded lightly. He'd not registered saying a word in the ambulance, he didn't think he could! But he's glad his subconscious found a way to help Buck even when his consciousness mind had checked out for a bit.
A nurse walks over with some spare clothes. Turns out Athena had run up to the desk to ask for them, as well as a towel to dry Eddie off while he was sitting in the plastic chair. He must have blocked that part out.
The sliding doors then flew open and in came five pairs of frantic footsteps, their shoes squeaking against the laminated flooring from the rain.
Chimney, Hen, Harry, Ravi and Maddie came into sight and Athena called them over as they were making their way to the front desk.
Eddie couldn't quite remember the next few minutes, only a lot of talking, and grabbing, and eventually, he was walking out of a bathroom with Harry and Ravi on either side of him, with dry clothes on his body as opposed to the drenched uniform he'd had on before.
He blinked and was suddenly back in a chair, a brown paper cup being lifted towards him that had steam curling upwards from it. The liquid inside looked like coffee, so with trembling hands, he took it and held it tightly in his palms, letting the warmth spread across his skin.
"Are you with us, bud?" A familiar voice asked. Eddie looked up and found Chimney kneeling in front of him, just like Athena had before.
Eddie nodded, feeling a little unsure, but not wanting to worry his Captain and team.
Chimney let out what could only have been a sigh of relief, and placed a hand on Eddie's wrist.
"You scared us half to death, you know? We thought for a second that whatever Buck had was catching." Chim joked, sending a worried smile Eddie's way, trying to stay lighthearted.
Eddie's ears perked up.
"Buck." He said, more as a question than anything else. Chimney exhaled and shifted to sit beside Eddie in the seat on his right.
"You were right. Brain injury. He's got some swelling and leaked spinal fluid, but they're working on him right now and are going to keep us updated."
"He's ok?"
"He's alive. Because of you. Whether you were with it enough to realise or not, you were able to give the 122 somewhere to start, and they managed to get him stable."
Eddie thought that over for a second, before nodding again and taking a sip of his coffee. The steaming liquid burnt his taste buds in just the right way, keeping him present and aware.
"They uh- Athena said you tried to do cpr on him when they got him out the ambulance?"
Eddie shut his eyes tightly, feeling a little embarrassed for how he'd reacted earlier.
"Thought it was the lightning." He replied shamefully. "Felt the rain and thought I was back there."
Chimney hummed in response. "That's understandable, man. You've both been through a lot, especially recently, it's normal for your brain to get a bit scrambled in moments of fear or distress."
Eddie took another sip of his coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste now that his mind was finally catching up with the rest of his body. He knew it'd only be a few moments before he finally registered the heat too, but until then, he revelled in the fact it wasn't effecting him.
"He was so scared, Chim. I could see it in his eyes. The last time I saw him- saw him like that... it was seconds before the crash.
"I don't even know what happened! I wasn't found until morning... But I just remember us locking eyes for a split second as the car was about to flip, and he looked more scared than I'd ever seen him before. When I woke up in the hospital, I thought for a moment that was the last time I'd ever see him again, frozen in fear and screaming. I think he tried to reach for me when we were in the air, but I must have blacked out first because that's the last thing I remember."
Chim is silent in response, listening intently. He'd not heard anything from either of them about what they'd been through, other than the physical injury side. Buck hadn't even talked to Maddie about what he'd experienced, and he knew it was killing her to see her brother in so much pain mentally and not be able to get him to talk about it.
"I'm sorry, Eddie." Chim told him with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry about what happened, I'm sorry about what you both went through, I'm sorry you were left alone, potentially dying, for hours in the middle of the desert, and I'm sorry we couldn't get to you and you had to find Buck all on your own."
"Cap, I mean this in the most sincere and loving way... there is quite literally nothing you could have done. You do not need to apologise for anything because this wasn't your fault. What happened, happened, and Buck and I are finding ways to deal with it."
"Are you?"
Eddie starred back at him. "Sorry?"
"Are you dealing with it?" Chimney clarified. "Because after what happened with you today, and how Buck's been acting since you both got back, I don't think you're dealing with it at all. It looks more like your trying to ignore it."
"Chim, I-"
"No. I want you both to see someone for a little while. See Frank again for a few weeks, or try someone else, but I need you both to talk to someone if you want to stay at work. Not to mention Buck's gonna be off for a while anyway because of this, you're gonna need each other. I saw you shut down today, Eddie, and it scared the hell out of me.
"Not just today too! It's been happening for a while since you both got back. Standing practically on top of each other at all times, your breathing picks up when Buck isn't in the room... Don't get me wrong, while on calls you're great! You're focused and on the task at hand. But then I see your mind wander when there's nothing left to do and I'm watching you fall into your head!"
Eddie starts grinding his jaw, he places the coffee down on the floor, next to his now bouncing leg and clasps his hands together.
"I'm fine, Chim. I'm not the one who was kidnapped by a psycho and made to act like their dying son while being electrocuted and having my identity stripped away from me."
"That's what happened?" Chimney asked hesitantly, his hand now over his mouth.
Eddie swallowed, feeling guilty for sharing Buck's story without his permission, but he knows their Captain needs to hear this, so that he understands.
"Buck went through hell. He's still, going through hell! I cannot let anything else happen to him, Chim, I can't! So yeah, I'm a little more hovery, and protective than normal, but you can see why, right?!"
Chimney went to respond, but was interrupted by a man in a white coat walking into the room and asking for the family of Evan Buckley.
All seven of them stood up and rushed over with questions, overwhelming the doctor for a moment before he raised his hands to calm them.
"Is there an Edmundo Diaz here?"
"That's me! Is- is Buck ok? You're free to speak in front of everyone here, this is his sister and we're all his family."
The Doctor cleared his throat and nodded. "Mr Buckley is stable and responding well. The swelling has decreased drastically and we've been able to get a handle on everything. He's still out but can take visitors. I would say two at a time, but due to his confusion before his collapse, I recommend only one person visit him for now incase he wakes up disoriented."
The group let out a collective sigh of relief and Eddie felt his legs turn to jell-o.
"Thank the lord..." Athena muttered, leaning on Hen's shoulder.
"Can I ask, uh, how is it that the hospital Buck and I were at before coming home didn't see signs of this when they checked him out?" Eddie asked, taking a step forward. He needs an answer to this. It's been eating away at him since wjay happened at the station.
"It's possible that, due to Mr Buckley's other injuries, the injury to his brain wasn't as visible or noticeable as it is now since everything else has started to heal. Head injuries are tricky, as I'm sure you all are aware working in the medical field, and there's a chance Mr Buckley's didn't start to show itself until his body had compensated for the rest of the damage. Similar to someone running on adrenaline and not noticing they've been injured until they're finally able to relax."
"And his hand? We don't know how long he was holding the saucepan, but he definitely lost a few layers of skin." Hen wondered, wincing to herself when the image of Buck's palm, red raw, and boiling hot flashed in her mind.
"it'll have to stay wrapped for a few weeks, and regularly changed to prevent infection, but it should make a full recovery. We don't believe enough harm was done for him to lose sensation or have permanent nerve damage."
Somewhat satisfied with the answers, Eddie backed down from his confrontational stance and relaxed a little into Maddie's side next to him.
"You should go see him first." She whispered to him, placing a soft hand on his elbow. "I know you want to."
"But-"
"No buts! I'll see him in a little bit. After the reaction you had, you need to see him more than the rest of us."
Eddie bit at his inner cheek to stop himself from getting upset again, and felt Maddie pull him in for a quick side hug before agreeing and following the doctor through the large double doors and down a long corridor.
When they finally reached Buck's room, Eddie finally felt like he was able to breathe again.
There, wrapped up on a bed in a paper thin hospital blanket, was Buck. His chest was rising and falling evenly, the monitor tracking his heartbeat was beeping as it should, and his features seemed more at peace than they had been earlier.
Eddie thanked the doctor and stepped inside the room, taking Buck in as he walked closer to the chair next to the bed.
"Hey, Buck," He whispered with a tear filled smile. "It's Eddie... I'm here." He tangles their fingers together like he had in the ambulance, and rest they hands on the blanket.
Soon enough, Eddie finds himself falling asleep with his head laying on Buck's thigh, unable to keep his eyes open anymore. And that's how Maddie finds him an hour later when she goes in to swap with him. Instead of waking him and taking his place, she kisses Buck gently on the forehead and allows them to stay together, smiling softly as she exits the room.
They stay like that long into the evening, until Eddie wakes to something shifting beneath him.
His head snaps up, causing him to feel a little dizzy, and his eyes find Buck's fluttering, his eyeballs rolling back and forth under their lids.
"Buck? Can you hear me, baby?"
Maybe it's due to being exhausted, or having just woken up, or maybe he's just too focused of the man bedside him, but the sweet term of endearment goes completely unnoticed by Eddie's own ears.
Slowly, Buck starts to come round.
Within about thirty minutes, his eyes are cracking open for the first time, and is instantly greeted by Eddie smiling down at him.
"Hey..." Eddie says softly.
He tries to lick his lips and speak, but all that comes out is a raspy noise.
"Don't try to talk yet. You collapsed at the station. Turns out the hospital in New Mexico missed a few vital signs of a brain injury while they were examining your other injuries. You're gonna be ok, though. The doctors here have everything under control."
Buck humed and moved his head to look around.
"Mad- Ma-"
"Hey, what did I say about not talking, hm? Maddie and the others have been here all day. They've just popped home to take care of some things and I'm sure they'll be back. I'll let them know you're awake."
Eddie watched him register the answer and was satisfied when he seemed ok with it. He pressed the little button next to the bed to page a doctor, and waited patiently with Buck for them to arrive.
The door opened quietly a few minutes later and the same doctor from before came in with a clipboard.
"Mr Buckley, it's good to see you awake and with us. Do you think you'd be able to answer a few questions for me so we can check on how that head of yours is doing?"
It took Buck a moment, but eventually he was able to reply with a broken 'yes'. Eddie kept a watchful eye on him as he did his best to answer the doctor's questions:
"Do you know where you are?"
"Hospital." Buck replied, before smacking his lips and continuing. "Maybe First Presbyterian... as it's- it's the closest one to the firehouse."
"Very good. Do you know why you're here?"
"Uh, Ed- Eddie said I passed out... at work."
"Mhm, do you remember anything from before you collapsed?"
Buck looked to Eddie, who stayed silent. He wanted to help, but he knew Buck had to answer this on his own.
"Take your time, bud." Eddie said instead.
"Lunch." Buck responded, as more of a question than a statement. "I was making lunch... while the team were- were on a call."
"Ok," The Doctor noted something down on his clipboard and looked back up at Buck from over his glasses frames. "And do you remember anything else after that?"
Buck thought for a second, and was about to shake his head, when he let out a small gasp and gripped Eddie's hand a little tighter.
"I uh, I asked for Bobby. My- our- old Captain... He, uh, he died last year. I think- I think I forgot that for a second."
The Doctor nodded, putting pen to paper again. "It's normal to experience confusion when suffering from a head injury, Mr Buckley. Your team was there and able to get you the help you needed. They patched up your hand for you too."
Buck's brows furrowed. "My ha-" He looked down, and found his right hand wrapped in soft, white bandages. It seemed to be then that he finally registered the pain that was pulsating from the area when he tried to lift it to get a better look, wincing through his teeth.
Eddie squeezed the other one he was still holding to catch Buck's attention. "We found you kind of catatonic in front of the stove, with your hand burning on the handle of an overflowing metal saucepan, and smoke starting to come out of the oven. It looked like you'd been standing there for a while and were too out of it to notice what was going on. He wrapped your hand for you whole we waited for an ambulance."
"... oh."
"Hey, it's ok! We found you just in time. Like I said, you're gonna be ok."
The Doctor cleared his throat and the pair snapped their heads in his direction. "I've gotten everything I need right now, Mr Buckley, so I'll leave you both to it. Do you need anything before I go? Pain medication, anything to drink?"
"Uh, just when I can get out of here?"
The doctor sighed. "It's going to be at least a few days, I'm afraid. We need to keep you for observation. And, I'm sorry to tell you, but you will not be heading back to work for at least a few weeks. Your Captain has been made aware of that already."
Eddie watched Buck's heart break in real time at that news. His gaze dropped to the blanket and tears welled up in his eyes. It was then Eddie made a split second decision before he could chicken out of it.
"It's ok," he started, running his thumb over Buck's skin. "You're gonna come stay with me when you get out of here. And I'm gonna take some time off too. Chim thinks I probably need it anyway."
Buck shook his head. "No- no you don't need to do that."
Eddie shut him up with a single look and raised eyebrows. "I want to. Besides, he basically threatened me to go to therapy or something after everything that happened if I wanted to stay at work, and he suggested the same for you too. Maybe some time off would be good for us. We'll come back stronger than ever."
"I'd be with you?"
Eddie smiled warmly. "You'd be with me."
"... ok. I can do that."
Eddie tried to hide the giddiness in his expression at that. Knowing Buck was coming to stay with him, even under the circumstances, made him feel like a teenager who'd just asked his crush to prom.
That alone is definitely something he'd have to unpack later.
"Good. I'll let Cap know. You'll be ok for a minute while I step out?"
Buck whined a little from the back of his throat when he felt Eddie's hand start to detach from his. "Can you stay somewhere I can see you?"
"Of course I can. I'll be two minutes max, ok? Just out there."
"M'kay..."
Once outside, following the doctor out, Eddie pulls out his phone and calls Chim.
He updates him on Buck's condition, and agrees to take some time off work to go to therapy, while also grunting in faux annoyance when Chim tells him 'I told you so'.
Chimney promises to let everyone know how Buck is and assures Eddie has there if either of them need anything. Eddie thanks him and hangs up, before heading back into the hospital room where Buck's soft, puppy-like gaze is there to greet him, as well as the tired smile that takes over the blonde's face when Eddie comes closer.
"All ok?"
Eddie sits back down and retakes Buck's hand.
"All good. We're gonna be ok."