Lost and Found || Buddie

Chapter 13

Waking up the next morning, Buck calls Shannon, knowing that she was most likely already awake with Christopher. "Hey Buck." Her voice sounded over the phone after it rang three times. "You must've been busy last night when I tried to call." She didn't sound mad, and for that Buck was grateful.

"Yeah, I kind of had a date. It was a double date actually." He says, looking up at the ceiling. "And by the time I got back home it was too late to call back, I apologize."

"No it's okay Buck." She laughs softly, he could hear Christopher yelling his name on the other end of the phone. "Now, Christopher has been dying to talk to you." She spoke as she set the phone on speaker. "Alright Chris, go ahead."

Buck smiled as he heard the little boy's voice. "Hi Buck!" He shouted excitedly. "Miss you." He laughs and goes back to what he was doing previously.

"Well, I miss you too buddy." Buck laughs. "He's doing alright?" He asks Shannon.

"Yeah he's doing good. He asks about you and Eddie a lot." She murmurs, sighing softly.

Frowning, Buck finally crawls out of bed and stretches. "I'm sorry. I'll come to see him soon hopefully." He pauses. "How's Eddie?"

"I don't know. He hasn't called in like two weeks." Shannon sounded just a little worried. She always sounded worried when she talked about Eddie and Buck could understand that.

"He still hadn't even tried to call me." Buck mumbles. It upset him that his best friend wouldn't talk to him but it was the new normal he supposed. "If you hear anything from him, let me know?"

"Yeah of course. But anyways, you said you went on a date? How was it?" Shannon asks, she was always interested in what happens in Buck's life.

Buck spent the rest of their phone call telling Shannon all about his date with Tommy, the woman demanding to see what the other man looked like as Buck described him. Once he was off the phone with his friend, he decided to get dressed and head to work for the day.

The morning went by relatively quick, most of the calls just routine. Buck was sitting with Hen and Chim at the table when his phone started ringing. Grabbing his phone he excused himself and made his way downstairs. He didn't even bother checking the caller ID before he answered. "This is Buck."

"Buck." He heard Eddie's voice breathe on the other end.

"Eddie?" He asked, not believing that his best friend was actually talking to him. He hadn't heard from him in months.

"Listen, I couldn't get a hold of Shannon." The older man says weakly, and Buck looks at the time, comparing it to El Paso time, knowing Shannon had Christopher at physical therapy on Thursdays. "So I figured I'd call you and you could tell her."

Buck was confused. "Tell her what? It's Thursday, she has Chris at physical therapy right now."

Eddie groans softly. "I'm hurt Buck." And Buck froze, the blood draining from his face as he listened to the man speak. "I got shot, that's why I haven't called Shannon. Today was the first day I've felt up to talking to anyone. Someone called Shannon but she didn't answer them either."

"Uh, are you okay? I mean of course you're okay, you wouldn't be talking to me if you weren't." Buck says and runs a hand through his hair anxiously. "I'll definitely tell Shannon you called though."

"I'm fine, it was just my shoulder and leg but I'm being honorably discharged. I'm officially going home now that I'm stable." He drops the news.

"That's great! I'm sure Shannon and Christopher are going to be excited to have you home. I know they miss you Eddie." Buck spoke and made his way outside, leaning against the wall of the firehouse. "I'm glad you're okay." He whispered, a tear falling from his eye.

Eddie sighs. "Yeah me too. But I'll leave you to it. Just let Shannon know. I'll be home this weekend."

"Yeah of course. Do you need me there?" Buck asks stupidly, thinking Eddie was going to turn down seeing him.

"If you want to." Eddie spoke softly, bucks heart beating loudly in his chest. "Would be nice to see you and talk, I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in a while."

Closing his eyes and letting out a small breath Buck spoke. "Yeah, I'll be there. I'll book a flight for tomorrow morning, I want to see Chris anyways. But I have to go, I'm on shift. I'll see you soon Eddie."

There was a minute of silence before Eddie spoke again. "Thanks Buck." And the line went dead.

He went to call Shannon but remembered that she was busy with Chris and decided to just wait to tell her in person when he showed up at her door in the morning.

Buck tried to act like everything was okay for the rest of his shift and he succeeded, nobody asking him any questions. He got it cleared with Bobby to have Sunday and Monday off as he had already had Friday and Saturday off, stating it was a family emergency.

So when he got home that night, he frantically looked up flights, booking the earliest one at eight in the morning. As he was packing for his trip, Maddie came home, confused when she saw Buck walking out with clothes to put in his suitcase that was sitting on the couch. "Are you going somewhere?" She asks, kicking off her shoes near the door.

"Yeah, I'm going to El Paso for a few days. Eddies going home, he was shot." Buck says, looking over at Maddie who had wide eyes. "He's okay, at least that's what he said? He called me because he couldn't get a hold of Shannon. So I'm going for a few days, I'll be back sometime Monday."

"Give Shannon and Christopher hugs for me." Maddie gives him a small smile. "And Eddie of course."

"I will." Buck confirms and zips up his suitcase, setting it down on the floor. "I'm sorry for just leaving you." He laughs softly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You're leaving to be there for your best friend, it's okay Buck. I'm a big girl, I'll be fine by myself until you get home. I might see if Josh from work wants to do something this weekend." She says and walks closer to her brother, pulling him into a hug.

Buck laid in bed that night, dozing off until his phone dinged, a text message popping up.

Tommy: Still on for this weekend?

Buck groans and slaps a hand against his face. He forgot about his plans with Tommy.

Buck: Sorry, I have to cancel. Heading to El Paso

After sending the message Buck fell asleep, catching a few hours before needing to wake up to be at the airport.

It was around 2 in the afternoon when Buck finally walked up to Eddie and Shannon's apartment, knocking loudly.

There was a moment where he heard shuffling on the side and the door slowly opening, Shannon standing there and holding Christopher, her eyes wide. "Buck? What are you doing here?"

"Hey." Buck gives a small smile, walking inside when Shannon opens the door wider. "Um, let's go sit yeah?" He asks, and takes Christopher into his own arms as the little boy reaches out for him, squealing his name.

"Is everything okay?" Shannon asks as Buck hugs Christopher and sets him down on the sofa in front of the tv, whispering in the boy's ear that he would be right back. He leads Shannon to the kitchen and gestures for her to sit at the table. "Are you okay? Is Maddie okay?"

"We're fine." Buck says and sighs heavily, watching as she sits down. "Eddie called me yesterday. He tried calling you but you were busy and I told him that." He started, tears welling up in his eyes. "He got hurt Shan, he got shot and he's coming home tomorrow. So that's why I'm here."

The woman started crying, Buck walking closer and pulling her into a hug. "He's okay." He whispers to her. "He's coming home."