#emt!buck

Well, the first bit of it.

Old Dogs, New Tricks

Buck woke up with a sigh. He was warm and comfortable and wouldn’t have minded sleeping in longer, but the sound of his alarm was unrelenting and he really couldn’t afford to be late today. There was a low groan behind him. Which made him suddenly aware of the arm heavily draped over his hip.

Damn it. That had not been the plan. He was supposed to be better than this by now. This couldn’t keep happening.

He carefully turned off his alarm and gingerly lifted his bed partner’s arm off of him. He managed it without waking the man, and freed, he slid out the bed. He gathered his clothes, strewn about the room, careful not to make any more noise. By the time he left the house he could hear deep snores coming out of the bedroom.

He made it perfectly on time.

The shift was just about to start when Chimney made it up on the mezzanine. Hen, who had gotten in early was already set up with her cup of coffee and a medical journal. She eyed her friend critically.

“You look like you haven’t slept in a week,” she remarked.

“And good morning to you, too, Hen,” Chim replied sarcastically. “Yeah, it’s called having a newborn.”

Hen didn’t take the bait and kept staring at the dark shadows under his eyes.

“I’m fine,” Chimney told her. “It’ll only be a few more months until he starts sleeping through the night and then a few heavenly months before he starts teething. At least this time Maddie’s around and we can split responsibilities.”

He said it lightly, but Hen knew full well, how worried he still was about Maddie’s PPD and how very much he didn’t take her presence for granted.

“How is Maddie?” she asked just to make sure.

“Well, she hasn’t run off to Boston yet, so…” he joked, but turned serious when Hen just continued to give him a look. “She’s doing great. She’s been doing great. No signs of PPD, Buck and I have been watching her like hawks. So has her therapist and her OB/Gyn. All her doctors are happy with her, she’s fine. She’s gonna go back to work next week, we’ll see how that goes, but she’s fine. Unlike me who is going out of my mind with worry on top of everything else.”

Before Hen could offer any comfort or advice the tones when off and the two of them got up to sprint down the stairs.

Eddie and Ravi came running out of the locker room, having only just arrived, but immediately ready to throw themselves into the fray. Robinson, the new Probie, was hot on their heels.

“Okay, you know the drill, Diaz, Ravi, Probie, you take the engine, Hen and I follow you in the RA,” Chimney called over to them.

His order was met with a collective “Yes Cap.”

He gets out of his shock and fucking goes full tilt into rolling under the truck and army crawling then pulls Eddie with all his strength even at an odd angle with having to shimmy maybe then hauling his ass up into the cab of the engine and joining in if not being the first to mainly treat Eddie he's gotta do it himself the others are there they're more trained than him but they don't knew how important it is how much Buck needs to do this how much there is to lose here they'd still do their job as best they can though and take to caring for Eddie without moving Buck aside they let Buck apply pressure and reassure Eddie as they treat him then as Eddie's out of the truck and bring wheeled away into the hospital Buck's starting to feel it the adrenaline and training kicking off shutting off and he's stuck there then chimney brings him a change of clothes and he's still shaken so fucking scattered shattered he's lost and was going to go see Christopher while still having Eddie's blood on his pants he may lose his partner his best friend his family his everything only he didn't, he doesn't, he saved Eddie, he got him out, he saved him, he pulled him away from the line of fire, he started treatment, he helped transfer him then he started dropping, falling,

and then ended up having to pull himself together in order to tell Christopher about what happened why his dad wasn't home with him, with them, and you know what he couldn't hold out couldn't maintain no contain the emotions and broke but Christopher was right there with him though and he finally knew Eddie was out of surgery and would recover and he let it out, he lost it, just like before.

Part 2 of the paramedic!Buck verse, chapter 1/2

Buck stepped into the bay of the 118 with a little bit of a weird feeling in his stomach. In his head he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about. This place had been his home for years now and he knew he was welcome even after being away for a few months. Maybe especially after being away for a few months, if Maddie was to be believed.

But even though he knew every spec of paint, every brick and bar in this station, it didn’t feel like just another day at work. Maybe it was because he was technically in a new job, with his new certification finally ready to be put into practice. Maybe he had expected to miss Bobby less after having been away.

He pushed the thought away and instead looked up towards the mezzanine, only for his eyes to fall onto a giant, slightly crocked banner stating "WELCOME BACK PARAMEDIC BUCK!"

The team that had assembled underneath it cheered when they saw that he noticed and he laughed relieved and finally the nervousness fell off of him.

He hurried up the stairs to be greeted by his friends.

There was a cake, of course. Shaped like a first aid kit, with ‘Congratulations on the new badge’ written in blue icing on it.

There wasn’t any cake at dispatch, but Josh, Linda, May and a few others had strung up a few balloons in the break room and splurged for welcome back brownies for Maddie. She hugged them all for it.

"It’s good to have you back," Josh told her. "The floor feels emptier without you."

"What he said," Linda agreed.

"Well, I haven’t actually worked here at the same time as you, but I’m definitely looking forward to it," May said. "But now: Baby photos, please."

They spend about ten minutes with tea and snacks cooing over photos of Robbie, mostly with Maddie, but also many with Buck and Chim, and the odd one with Athena or Carla. The photo that got the most awws, was of course the one of Jee holding her little brother, with Chimney steadying her.

"That is so adorable," Linda squealed. Maddie could only agree. The photo was already printed and framed in their home, and designated for Christmas cards this year.

Eventually Sue shooed them out of the break room and demanded they get to work.

"Welcome back, Maddie," she said warmly before sending her over to her desk.