Chapter 28

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Buck's stay at the hospital was only a few days long and he was relieved to say the least. The man hated hospitals, and being cooped up in the hospital bed for days was frustrating him to no end. He had visitors of course, Maddie and Chim, Bobby and Athena, Karen and Hen, Eddie and Christopher and even Shannon came by to make his stay a little less boring, less stressful. 

When he was finally released from the hospital, Maddie, Shannon and Christopher picked him up, Eddie having been at the academy that morning. Buck was grateful that Maddie hadn't seemed to make a huge deal out of it but when Eddie got home that night, he certainly did. Eddie was hovering, and as much as Buck loved him, he couldn't stand when someone hovered, so he did the only logical thing someone could do in that situation, he got frustrated with his boyfriend. 

Sighing heavily buck looked up at his boyfriend who readjusted the pillow, for his leg to prop up on for the fifth time that night. "Eddie it's fine, my leg is propped up just enough. Will you stop and sit down? You've been hovering for the last week since I got home from the hospital, and I can't stand it anymore!" 

Eddie was taken aback by Buck nearly shouting at him. He knew the man was frustrated so he didn't make a big deal out of it. "Sorry." He mumbles and stops what he's doing before walking away to focus on something else. He could hear Buck in the living room mumbling under his breath, but he wasn't close enough to hear what he was actually saying. "You know Buck, if you've got something to say, just say it." 

"I said, I'm tired of you hovering Eddie. I hurt my leg, I didn't die or anything. You act like I can't do anything on my own and I'm tired of it!" He exclaims as Eddie comes back into view, folding his arms across his chest as he listens to the man. 

Taking in a deep breath, counting to three and letting it out, Eddie responds. "You could have died." He says simply, as if that was the answer to everything. "You could've died, and I wouldn't have you in my life anymore. Chris wouldn't have you in his life anymore. So, sue me for trying to take care of you and making sure that you're healing properly." Eddie wasn't sure if Buck was itching for a fight or not, but he wasn't about to give him one. 

"Just stop treating me like a baby then!" Buck cries. "I can do things on my own, they gave me crutches for a reason. I need to be able to get up and move around. I can't do that if you're constantly hovering and doing everything for me." He frowns, he hated feeling so helpless. 

Eddie nodded his head and pursed his lips as he thought for a moment. "Okay." He says simply. "Do whatever you need to do then Buck. I'm going to bed." He mutters and makes his way down the hall to the bedroom that they share. 

Buck wasn't expecting Eddie to just walk off, wasn't expecting him to end the conversation like that but he did, leaving Buck in the living room by himself, his crutches clear across the room so if he needed to get up he couldn't. "Great, now I'm stuck." He huffs and lays his head against the arm of the couch, trying to make himself comfortable as that's where he would be spending his night. 

Buck felt his phone go off, indicating that he had a text message. He picked it up and read that he had a message from Shannon. 

Shannon: Chris wanted me to tell you he says goodnight.

Shannon: And I just wanted to check in on you.

Buck: Tell him goodnight for me, and that I love him.

Buck: I'm fine, thanks.

Shannon: Doesn't seem like you're fine. What's going on?

Buck: Nothing Shannon, I'm tired.

Buck: Goodnight

Shannon: If you need to talk, I'm here.

Shannon: Goodnight Buck.

Buck puts his phone down on his chest and sighs softly as he lays there, willing for sleep to take him as the minutes go by. 

Once morning rolls around Buck checks the time and notices that he'd only gotten a couple of hours of sleep on the couch as it was only a quarter to seven in the morning. Normally he would have slept fine on Eddie's couch, but he couldn't move around and get as comfortable as he wanted to this time. Buck decided that he needed to use the bathroom and instead of calling out for Eddie or even calling the man's phone he tries to help himself. He slowly sits up and moves so his legs were hanging off of the couch, feet resting on the floor and tries to stand, groaning in pain as he accidentally puts weight on his bad leg. This was definitely a bad idea, but the man was stubborn, and he was going to prove to his boyfriend that he didn't need help. Once he was standing straight, he took a step with his good leg and tried to move the other leg, but he lost his balance and went crashing to the floor. 

A minute or two passed by before Eddie rushed out into the living room, the noise startling him awake. "Buck? Why are you on the floor?" He asks, immediately walking over to him to start helping him up, but Buck just swats his hands away in annoyance. 

"I was trying to prove to you that I could do things on my own. But my crutches are all the way over there" He points across the room. "And I need to use the bathroom, so I was trying to get there on my own and I fell." He says nonchalantly, as if that wasn't a problem. 

"Buck please stop being stubborn." Eddie groans and rubs his face with his palm. It was too early for this shit. "Let me help you up."

"Fine." Buck grumbles, giving in and letting his boyfriend help him up off the floor. Once he was standing with the help of Eddie, the man walked him across the room and helped him with his crutches. "Now I don't need any more help." 

Eddie just rolls his eyes as he watches Buck make his way down the hall and to the bathroom. If this was how his boyfriend was going to be during the whole length of his recovery, Eddie wasn't sure how he was going to cope with it. He couldn't stand seeing his boyfriend hurt and knowing that he feels helpless, but the man was stubborn as hell and won't let him help. What else is he supposed to do in this situation?

---

A month into his recovery at home, Buck is refusing more and more help, telling Maddie and Shannon they don't need to babysit him while Eddie is gone for the day, the women assuring him that they're solely there for Christopher. Buck knows that's a lie, because if they weren't there for him, they wouldn't be there at all. Buck should be able to take care of Chris, he's confident he could if everyone would just let him try.

He was growing more frustrated and distant as the days pass, barely uttering a word to his boyfriend when he was home. Eddie was also growing more frustrated, not knowing what to do anymore. "Hey Buck?" Eddie asks as the two were sat in the living room that night, Buck on the sofa and Eddie in the recliner. Buck just gives a small hum in response, not saying anything. "I was thinking, what if we went out this weekend? Just you and I, we could go on a date?" That older man suggested, he desperately wanted to get Buck out of his funk, he wanted his boyfriend back.

"No thank you." Buck mumbles, his eyes not moving from the tv screen where they were watching some kid's movie they had on before Chris went to bed.

"You need to get out at some point baby." Eddie points out. 

Rolling his eyes, buck shrugs his shoulders. "I get out. I go to physical therapy." 

"That's not enough. Come on, I just want to take you out and have a nice night. I miss you. I miss us." And maybe he was pleading with him now, but he didn't care. 

"Eddie, I said no. No means no." Buck huffs, turning his head to look at Eddie who was now frowning. "And I don't understand why you say you miss us. We're still together." 

He doesn't get it and Eddie doesn't have the energy to try to explain it to him right now. He was exhausted. "Fine. I'll go out on my own then." He says and stands up, making sure Buck's crutches were where he could reach them, even though he knew he'd stay on the couch again tonight since that's where he's been sleeping the last few weeks. "I'm going to bed. I love you."

And Eddie's heart broke as he waited for Buck to say it back, but he never did. 

He had to figure out how to get his boyfriend out of this funk or it was going to break their relationship. 

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