Firefighter Diaz

She nods, putting a name to the face in memory. She only gets to see the firefighters when they get hauled into emergency and once they pass through her doors, she sends them up to beds or back on the streets. But she always worries after them and the danger of their jobs. She’s like that with all her patients, though. Always wondering where their lives take them after they’ve left. What their stories say. Even the frequent flyers, who come time and time again, for whatever reason.

“Exactly,” she nods and smiles when he mentions Howard Han. Not that he looks like a Howard, and even the nurses called him Chimney. While Beth hadn’t been on the floor the night he came in with the rebar, she had seen the x-rays and had taken up on his care during her next rounds. She could only wish her other patients were so delightful, determined to get better, determined to overcome their challenges, and actually listened to medical advice. She couldn’t say the same thing about a lot of people. “I just… some days I feel like you guys should be assigned a physician or at least a nurse-practitioner at your stations, on the same schedule as you guys. I mean, you have medics and a hospital corps in the military, why not emergency services like Fire and rescue, yeah?” Not that the paramedics assigned to the service didn’t do an amazing job, but someone ought to care for the ones who took care of others. She starts to hand over the dark chocolate mocha energy bar, but something about the cough struck her as…not right. Dropping the food back into her bag, her brows furrow. She pulls her stethoscope from her neck and sets the ear pieces in place. Carefully she comes to squat down in front of Diaz. At first she takes hold of one of his wrists, fingertips on his pulse point, while turning her own wrist to look at the face of her watch. His heart-rate seemed a little high for her tastes but was nothing that couldn’t be explained by the intense heat and physical exertion. He was putting in as much effort over these long hours as anyone else here, but still…  She glanced at him apologetically, before placing the bell of the instrument on his chest. “Yeah, from Hawai’i. But I want ya to take a slow an’ deep a breath as you can, try an’ mahalo.”

“That would be pretty hard. After all the station is in action 24/7.” All of them were and hospitals were, too, but to assign nurses according to what firefighters could come in was impossible in his eyes. They trusted the staff of the hospitals like the hospital staffs had to trust them to keep the patients alive until they could give them into their hands. It worked, their system. If anything maybe they could perfect some protocols in dealing with firefighters and their stations, but that was that.

Eddies eyes widened in surprised as she basically jumped into action after his cough. “I’m fine,” he tried to pacify her. But he knew deep down it was not necessarily true. He was fine for now. But he could be very much not fine, if the cough was an indicator of smoke inhalation. Smoke inhalation itself was pretty bad news, actually. It could be potentially fatal...and he had a kid that already lost a mother, he could not put himself on the list of people he lost, especially not when he was sitting in a tent full of medical professionals where one was actively trying to help him. So he had to just swallow his pride and have her check him, because it was better to be safe than sorry. He stared at her hand and it was the slightest of reaction her fact that told him that she felt his heartrate being a bit too fast, not that he was surprised by that, he was living in that body after all, he felt it himself, but had attributed it to the adrenaline drop.

there was nothing that could compare to the feeling of coming home, feet touching the all too familiar soil with his heart finally at ease. geralt was on leave ——– a whole month no less ——— after his deployment to iraq. three months of practically choking on sand, dust and, at one point, his own blood, had him long for the concrete and asphalt jungle and sandy beaches that were his home, lost angeles. the lieutenant colonel at that point in time simply craved normalcy, the easy going mornings spent at cindy’s diner with coffee and a large plate of pancakes, catching up with his neighbours about the happenings in the city while he was away, and he liked it, despite not being a person who liked too big crowds or socializing all that much. though with a life dedicated to serving his country, even that could become cumbersome ——– every day a constant routine, waking up before sun rising, going out to scout, protect, into battle if need be, never knowing whether you and your men would make it back. it left a trace on him, left him with memories and nightmares he wished he’d rather not have. him grasping onto reality, or at least trying to, was something that still somewhat kept him sane through all the years, even if his sleep wasn’t something he could pride himself in either these days.

with normalcy and being home also came meeting people he knew, be it at the diner or on the street. that was had been no different as geralt paused in his steps upon hearing an all too familiar voice belonging to the one army medic back when they were serving together in afghanistan, and that would always scold him to no end when he’d arrive in the hospital tent —– eddie diaz. it brought a smile to his features and had the lieutenant colonel turn around, truly coming face to face with eddie. ❝ and it seems like it was yesterday, doesn’t it? ❞   he asked in return, moving to shake his hand and give his shoulder a pat. it’s truly been years. oh, how time flew by. and yet, eddie seemed to almost immediately catch up on his sleeping problem. geralt gave a small shrug, wanting to appear careless, yet knew that it were the first signs that perhaps taking a step back might be in order.  ❝ you know how it is in the army, what you see when you’re out there on the battlefield. you brush it off as nothing, but it comes back to haunt you, sooner or later. ❞ it was the sad truth. what went around, came around, one way or another. ❝ what’ve you been up to since you left? how’s your little boy doing? he’s not so little anymore, is he? ❞

“In part, yes.” In part the horrors of war were still close, like they were truly yesterday. But on the other hand, at least for him, things had changed drastically, sadly. Christopher was eight now, that was the one drastic thing, but there was so much more that happened in Eddie's life that made his deployment feel like a million years ago and so much more. And yet it was painfully close, especially on so many nights when he closed his eyes and everything was there, right there, like he was back there and like he left Christopher alone. Sometimes his current job even threw him back there.

“It always come back to haunt you, my current ob is no different in that regard. I’m a Firefighter.” He hated the fact that Geralt seemed to be unable to sleep, but he might just have the perfect idea of how to take care of that. Often distraction was what was needed in those time and he had a walking distraction from that at home, bright sunshine and an amazing family at work. He knew just the thing that would make Geralt fall asleep like a rock on Eddie's couch, should he choose to accept it.

Nick offered a smile when the man confirmed that he was infact the kids dad, offering a hand for him to shake.

“Nick Campbell. Grace’s father,” he introduced himself, “She keeps asking if your boy can come over for dinner or something, so I thought I’d extend you both an invitation to come over for dinner some time?”

Eddie took his hand with a smile. He had heard a lot about Grace of course, a friend from school whom Christopher liked very much, but so far only Carla got to meet her and she, too, was very fond of the girl and how she was around, Chrisopher, so he trusted her judgment fully. 

“Oh please, call me anything but Ma’am. I’m not that old.” Jayden said laughing, s soft sound that was more child-like. “And no Miss either.”

She took notice of his lean, her features softening a bit. A brief moment of wonder for him before she nodded. Henderson and Emma were already heading off to corral the children back into a single file line. The threat of holding hands was enough to draw most of them back into a calm state. No one wanted cooties. She saw Ally watching her and with a small wave of her finger she sent the ginger haired girl back to the others. Completely missing the mischievous glint in the girl’s eye.

“After you. Your house your rules. I promise not to climb on the truck the moment they get back.” This was as much of a field trip for her as it was for the kids. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to spend a day playing in a Fire Station House. While mostly seen coming to the rescue in a crisis, the Fire Engines really were the best part of what made up the best part of Firefighters.

“But I make no promises about not sliding down the pole though.” yes, she was supposed to be an adult.But no that didn’t mean she had to be an adult all of the time. 

“Follow me then,” he said to the others, especially the kids. Of course the kids overtook him on the way up the stairs. With his slightly messed up leg, he did go slowly, carefully. He easily agreed to riding the desk when he got injured, but he was eager to go back to actual work and thus he wanted to take things slowly and to listen to every tiny instruction from his doctor.

“You won’t get much of a chance then, it will be crawling with busy Firefighters for a while after. Three, the Captain, a paramedic and probably another Firefighter will join the presentation, the rest will clean and restock the truck and maybe repair some of it. It’s protocol, so it’s in perfect shape to go back out, too. You are welcome to go down the pole, though, as are the kids later on, if they want and if ou guys deem it safe enough.” He decided to hang back a little more.

@badgesandblazes​ "Hey, you're Christopher's father, right?" (Have a Nick)

“Nice t’ meetcha, Eddie Diaz. M’ Beth. Beth Riley.” He was right and wrong at the same time, and she didn’t bother to correct him. She was a nurse, but a nurse-practitioner. One who was another year of residency away from being a bonafide surgeon. “An’ no, not yet. But we do have a picture of ya an’ yer friend. Uhm. Tall, an’ blonde, young guy. And of course all of us know Chim.”  She smiles at that. She’s never known anyone like him, with the kinds of injuries he’s presented and his subsequent recoveries, Beth’s actually been working on presenting a paper on the man, but she doesn’t need to tell his team-mate that, especially since the patient is supposed to remain anonymous. She gives him a once-over glance from head to toe. And while most women did not have a problem seeing what a young and extremely handsome guy he was, she seemed to skip over the relevant parts. She lingers on his hands. The set of his shoulders. Strays back up to his neck. She looks away and rummages through a backpack by her feet. Pulls out a couple of Clif bars. “I got white chocolate macadamia nut, and dark chocolate mocha. Which one ya want? Looks like you could use it. My mahalo for da waddah.”

“That would be Buck.” He was not even remotely surprised it was Buck and him she had seen on said picture before. Buck had been a frequent flyer in the hospital for a while himself and him and Christopher had visited as much as they could. And then there was Chimney, who apparently had been in the hospital twice, once because of that very famous head injury he had recovered from like it was nothing. And then the stabbing. He still remembered how he had told him that he was quite charmed by the fact that he woke up to Christopher being by his side that day. He knew then and there everything would be fine if they let the kid go to him just like that. To be fair Christopher had snuck off, but there was no harm in him being with Chimney. Eddie had just been concerned it would be too much for Chimney, not for the kid. 

“I am not surprised Chimney is famous with you guys, too. He is not only a medicinal miracle, but quite the memorable guy in general.” One that he very much valued and loved like an older brother, an uncle for his son Christopher, someone who always had his back, no matter what.

Eddie watched her curiously as she offered him chocolate, as if she knew his adrenaline was now slowly subsiding, leaving his blood sugar to drop, his body start to shake just a little and his throat to start feeling raw - nothing unexpected really. He was out in the fire, helped with patients close to the fire until he was here.

Hurricanes for the most part weren’t something that TK had a lot of experience in dealing with in the past. He’d grown up in the city of New York, where the worst they saw of a hurricane was flooding and some gloomy residual weather. It was nothing like what they were quickly being prepared to face here in Austin. Locals like Judd who had seen this a thousand times before weren’t nearly as concerned as TK was about it, he just had no idea what to expect. TK stood in the bay, nervously sipping his coffee and listening to the discussion happening on the weather radio about the storm projection. He heard an unfamiliar voice call out to him, making him turn to face the man. “…hi, how can I help you?” TK greeted him, figuring he was probably a local that TK hadn’t yet had the opportunity to meet. That was, until he’d introduced himself. “Diaz, of course. We just got the briefing from our captain. Nice to meet you, man. I’m TK.” He introduced himself, offering a hand to shake. “Welcome to the 126.”

Eddie felt a sense of relief to having been announced to the team already. It would always be hard to barge in and not having been announced yet, though it would not have been a surprise. With how impromptu his help was, he would have not bee surprised if things took time to announced him properly. Apparently Austin FD worked well enough to do this on time.

“Thank you, TK. The place looks nice.” And sturdy, too. It looked like the storm stood no chance against this firehouse, which in turn not only made it a great base against the storm, but also shelter for the most vulnerable people.

“Hi. I’m Jayden Morgan.” Jayden said reaching out and taking the man’s offered hand. A good two firm shakes later and she was puling her hand back. “This is Mr. Henderson, the wonderful teacher that allowed us this opportunity. And that is Emma Davis. She’s Sarah’s mom.” 

As usual Jay was opening her mouth before anyone got the chance to. A habit it seemed that she shared with her father. Even if she didn’t have the strongest connection with the man. But it was something she had always done. ANd the teacher didn’t seem to mind as he and Emma started to corral the children together to begin the tour.

“Do you have a dog here? That’s about the only thing you need to be worried about. Because if you do, the kids might try to smuggle them onto the bus. I would hate to be charged with kidnapping a firefighter who just happens to need a leash.” It was a terrible joke. But one she hoped would get a laugh out of the man. 

“Is this a bad time? Should we wait for the others to get back. I’m sure we can take the kids some place to eat first.” She didn’t want Eddie to be swarmed by a herd of seven year old children if it would be inconvenient for him.

Jayden Morgan, the name was very familiar to him, but both Jayden and Morgan were not uncommon so he would not assume it would be the woman he exchanged letters with while deployed overseas, a friend while going through more than one war at the same time, one being the actual war, the other being with himself over his wife and kid. He would like to think he came out on top at least in regards to his son.

“Nice to meet you,” he said in greeting to not only Miss Morgan, but also the teacher and the other chaperone. In essence, they would be the kid wranglers, while the firefighters got to enjoy being cool. It was like they allowed them to just be grown kids...except Eddie and Bobby perhaps, with Bobby being the born dad and Eddie out of commission for the time being. 

“We have no canine dog at least. We have a firefighter who is essentially a human puppy.” Meaning Buck of course. “So no worries about the leash. He knows ‘heel’.”  Eddie walked a little to the side so he could lean against a pillar and take weight off of his leg. 

“Oh I’ve seen him do some fast moves with that boat!” Tani smiled softly as she watched Christopher. He was still a kid after all, and even with Cerebral Palsy, he had energy in him, that much she could see. And she liked that. He deserved to have the best childhood he could get, as carefree as it could get as well.

“Swimming with dolphins? Now I’m jealous! That sounds like a really great time! And I’m pretty sure he’ll enjoy his surfing lessons, as will you, especially if you like hitting the big waves.” She gave him a bright smile. “Which Luau are you attending? The one here at the resort?”

“You should see him on a surf board. Nothing can hold him back there.” And soon enough he would probably stand on it like a pro. Which was another reason why they were here. People here had an amazing approach to surfing and would allow Christopher to be more steady on the board. And he himself planned to learn a thing or two, too.

“Geralt?” Eddie asked as he saw what looked like a familiar figure. Shape and hair fit, at least. He had not known Geralt was back from tour. Honestly, he always seemed like the guy who would stay there forever, serving the country. It turned out it was the old friend from when he was serving. Honestly hoe often had he patched the other man up and reprimanded him for stupidity...and now he literally ran into fires.

As it was holiday time and Eddie had managed to get a few consecutive days off, he took Christopher to visit his sister Sophia in Austin. They enjoyed the time there a lot, ignoring the news, as they were mostly outside. That was until Sophias neighbor started barricading the house and asking about what they were planning to keep safe. That was when Eddie found out about the hurricane coming. Sophia immediately wanted Eddie to take Christopher home to LA, but Eddie decided otherwise. He got Sophia and Christopher tickets to LA, so they would be out of danger. He called Bobby to ask for him to stay, wait out the hurricane and help out. A few calls by Bobby later saw Eddie entering station 126 in Austin.