Sideways

Chapter 13 Reunions

Eddie lifts his phone to his ear. "Hey Maddie, are you at the hospital yet? Ok, great. Who is in the waiting room with you? Ok, good. Maddie, he's awake." Eddie pulled the phone away from his ear, and Buck could hear the sound she squeaked across the room. "Yeah, Maddie, he's talking to me. I just paged the Doctor. Can you head back here?"

Eddie no sooner hangs up with Maddie, and Sky walks in with both doctors Stark and Guzman. "Oh my god, he's awake!" Sky beams.

"Mr. Diaz, it's nice to see you, both of you!" Dr. Stark says. "Eddie, would you mind stepping outside for a moment while we look him over and get him caught up on the last week's events."

"Can Eddie stay, please?" Buck asks, "I'm a little confused and would feel better if he stayed here with me."

"That's fine, Mr. Diaz." Dr. Guzman says, "Sky, if you don't mind, can you close the door on your way out? We need a few moments undisturbed." Sky nods to them.

"Sky, Maddie is here. She is on her way to us. Can you?" Eddie asks.

"I'll find her, Eddie. Is anyone else you want me to call? Sky asks.

"Hen, she has Christopher. Ask her to tell the others."

"I'll take care of it, Eddie," Sky says as they close the door behind them.

"Mr. Diaz tell me how you are feeling?" Dr. Stark asks Buck.

"Buck, he means you." Eddie laughs.

"Oh right, sorry." Buck says as he shakes off his grogginess; he continues, his voice hoarse and strained. "I feel kind of weird. Sore. My whole body hurts. I have a horrible headache."

Dr. Stark walks over to the table, pours him a glass of ice chips, and hands them to him. "Slowly, there is no rush." Buck takes the cup from him and wets his mouth with the ice chips, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"Better?" Dr. Stark asks.

"Much." Buck answers, sounding much more like himself.

"Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Dr. Guzman offers. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Evan Buckley. Um, sorry, Evan Diaz." Buck stops and looks nervous. "I swear, I know who I am. The name change is recent."

"How recent?"

"I don't know today's date. But we got married the Monday before Thanksgiving." Buck looks to Eddie, and so do the Doctors. Eddie nods, and the doctors continue.

"Can you tell me your son's name?"

"Christopher."

"Your firehouse?"

"118."

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

"I was on the firetruck with my team. We were at a bridge or maybe an overpass. It's a little fuzzy. Eddie helped me into the harness then I went up the ladder. I remember talking to Bobby and then Eddie on the radio. Eddie said my name, and then I was waking up here."

"Eddie?"

"He's got everything right. I don't know when he lost conciseness. But he relayed the night's events accurately."

"So, Dr. Guzman, what do you think?" Dr. Stark asks.

"His memory seems to be fine. We still need to do some more testing. He will need to go for a few scans before I can confirm."

"Can someone tell me what else happened?"

"Well, Mr. Diaz..."

"Buck."