Black And Blue-E.Buckley (9-1-1)

FortyNine

Who would you be?

What would you look like?

Would you have my smile and her eyes?

Buck couldn't wait to get home after this long, sad, and exhausting day. They all followed Bobby and Athena to the hospital. Once she was settled and they knew she'd be okay everyone headed home. 

Buck had a missed call from Eleanor. He tried to call her back but it went straight to voicemail. Maybe she fell asleep and forgot to charge her phone, he thought. The power was off for a long time, and Buck couldn't remember if they had charged any portal chargers. 

Buck drove a little quicker than normal, trying to get home as quickly as possible. There were a million possibilities as to why Eleanor hadn't answered. But Buck was still worried. Among those million possibilities were about a hundred thousand bad ones. If Buck had learned anything in his life it was to always anticipate the bad outcomes. 

Buck parked his car and headed up to the apartment. The whole building was still on the darker side and eerily quiet. As he neared the door he noticed it was slightly open. Now he worried more, Eleanor rarely left the door unlocked so she'd never leave it open. Buck rushed toward the door, pushing it all the way open. A figure lay deathly still on the floor. The only light was a small flicker from a candle on the table. 

"El," Buck called as he rushed over, kneeling beside her. "El," he shook her slightly. There was no response, no reaction to his touch. He dialed 9-1-1 on his phone as he ran over to flick the light on. He rushed back to her side, assessing her condition. Tears pooled in his eyes.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" A familiar voice spoke through the phone.

"My fiance, she's hurt, bad. She's breathing but not responding."

"Buck?" Josh's voice came through again. "What happened?"

"I-I don't.. I don't know. I just got home."

"Okay, paramedics are on the way. And Buck.. I texted Maddie too."

Buck let out a small sigh of relief, "Thank you."

Buck sat beside her, unwilling to move from her side, as he waited for the paramedics. He continued to talk to her. Her limp hand rested in his as he squeezed it. Finally, the paramedics arrived. Buck only moved a few inches, enough to give them space but not too far from her.

********

"Buck!" Buck turned to see Maddie rushing toward him. Chim and Eddie followed behind her. She wrapped him in a tight embrace, tears pooled in both of their eyes.

"How is she? Any news yet?" Chim asked as he hugged Buck next. Buck shook his head.

Chim and Maddie stepped back a little and let Eddie comfort Buck. A few tears slipped down his face as Eddie held him in a tight embrace. "She's strong, she's gonna pull through this," Eddie whispered to Buck. 

Buck thanked them for being there. They all found semi-comfortable spots in the waiting room, it was going to be a long night. 

About an hour later and there was still no news yet. Buck was getting anxious. Eddie followed him with his eyes as Buck paced the length of the waiting room. Chim and Maddie came back with coffee. None of them had the stomach to eat at the moment. Maddie and Eddie shared a concerned look as Buck continued to pace.

"Buck, why don't you sit down? You're gonna wear a hole in the floor."

"I can't, I can't just sit still. What if.. what if she-"

Maddie cut him off quickly. "Don't think like that." Buck looked at her and just nodded before pacing again.

"You guys don't have to stay all night. It's probably gonna be a long night."

"Are you sure?" Maddie asked. Buck nodded. "Call us if you need anything. And let us know as soon as you hear anything." Maddie hugged her brother once more.

After they left Buck turned to Eddie, he was still in the same spot more comfortable than before. Eddie looked up at him. "I'm staying. You shouldn't be by yourself." Buck nodded, a silent thank you. 

"Eddie.." Buck finally sat down. Eddie turned his head toward him, giving him his full attention. Buck couldn't look at him instead, he stared at the wall. "She's pregnant.." Eddie sighed and rested a hand on Buck's shoulder. He didn't know what to say to comfort him this time.

********

"Evan Buckley," a nurse called. Buck and Eddie both jumped up from their seats. The nurse looked between the two as they approached. 

"It's okay, he's family too."

She nodded. "Eleanor is out of surgery, she's in the ICU. She's not awake right now but you can go back and see her. Two people at a time. She's in room 234."

"Thank you," Buck and Eddie pushed through the doors and headed for her room. When they finally reached the room Buck stopped at the doors.

"You okay?" 

"It's, uh, it's worse than the first time.." The sight before them was hard for Buck to see. Eleanor lay in the bed, completely still, tubes and wires everywhere. It didn't look like her though. Buck sighed and walked into the room. He took the chair beside her bed and grabbed her hand. It was still limp like before. Eddie sniffed back some tears, attempting to stay strong for Buck.

A nurse opened the door and came in. "Sorry, I just need to check a couple of things. I'll be out of your hair in a minute."

"You're fine," Buck gave her an appreciative smile. "Can I ask you something?"

The nurse turned to him with a small smile. "Of course."

"Do you know when she's going to wake up?"

"We don't, I'm sorry. I know this is tough and not having answers doesn't help. I can have a doctor come in to talk to you if you'd like."

"That'd be great, thank you." Buck smiled. She turned to leave but Buck caught her attention before she could. "I'm sorry, just one more thing. The baby..?"

The nurse grabbed the chart off the end of her bed and flipped through the papers. She put the chart back and gave Buck a sympathetic half-smile. "I'm so sorry.."

Buck nodded, tears in his eyes. Eddie turned away, letting a few tears of his own fall.