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It was almost 8pm when Eddie pulled into his parents’ driveway - he had been hoping to be there by 7, but the final fare had unexpectedly turned into a multiple drop-off. It was the high school graduation day and what with the ceremony and all of the celebratory meals and parties and what have you, it had been a great day for fares. Still, he could have done without the extra driving at the end.
His parents were happy to have Chris hang out with them for the evening, of course - too happy, was the problem.
It had been… awkward, since Chris had moved in with him two weeks before. Though his mother hadn’t put up too much of a fight when he’d declared Chris was going to be staying with him - and his dad hadn’t been present to do so - it was clear that neither of them were happy with the new arrangement. However, since Chris was notably glad about being back with Eddie they weren’t willing to come right out and say so, and had resorted to cold politeness and pointed remarks that set Eddie’s teeth on edge.
He was determined, however, not to let them get to him - or, at least, not to show them that they were getting to him. He was going to win this passive aggressive battle, so help him god.
Eddie’s father met him at the door, opening it before he could knock.
“We expected you almost an hour ago,” he said, mildly but pointedly.
Eddie kept his face carefully neutral. “I know, sorry, the last fare turned into a longer trip than planned - did you get my message?”
His father shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he said, closing the door. “My phone is charging.”
“Right,” Eddie said. There was a moment of silence. “Well, sorry again.”
Ramon nodded, and then looked over Eddie’s shoulder as his mother bustled in from the kitchen. “Ah, Eddie, there you are,” she said.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, again. “Is Chris ready to go?”
His parents exchanged a look, and Eddie braced himself for yet another overly-polite suggestion that he stay, and his refusal of their kind offer.
“It’s probably best he stays here tonight,” his mom said, right on cue, “he’s not been well all day.”
Eddie had opened his mouth to reply to her first statement, but stumbled over his words as what else she’d said sunk in.
“He - wait, not well?” He said.
“Yes, he has food poisoning,” his mom said. “He was sent home after being sick, and he has a stomach ache.”
Eddie’s head spun. “Sent home? But the school didn’t…” He shook his head, realising exactly what had happened with the school. He’d deal with it later. “Why didn’t you call me?”
His mother spread her hands. “You were working, Eddie, we know how important days like today are for you,” she said.
It was incredible how she could sound perfectly reasonable and yet so very patronising at the same time.
Eddie felt the familiar red mist rising, a tingling in his fingertips as he forced the frustration down. “Nothing is more important than Chris,” he said through gritted teeth. “You should have called me.”
“He’s fine, mijo,” his dad cut in, walking round him to stand with his mother, the two of them facing him down, united as ever. “He’s been comfortable here.”
The double meaning was clear. Eddie took a deep breath. “Just tell me what’s going on. Please.”
His parents both frowned, but his mother started talking.
“The school called at about noon. He had been sick and was complaining of stomach pains so your father collected him and brought him home. He didn’t want to eat anything, but had some water. His stomach was hurting, so he’s been in bed, where he can lie more comfortably. I checked on him an hour ago and he was asleep.”
Eddie frowned. “That doesn’t sound like food poisoning.”
His mother tutted dismissively. “Of course it is,” she said. “He was sick again this afternoon. He said you made fish tacos last night?”
Eddie had to actively stop himself from clenching his fists at the insinuation. “Yes, I did,” he said. “I make them all the time. And if it was those, I would be sick too, because I also ate them. Also, Chris ate barely half of one, because he’s been off his food since yesterday morning. Which I could have told you, if you had called me.”
“Edmundo,” his dad cut in sternly. “You do not have to take a tone.”
Eddie just shook his head and made his way through the house towards Chris’ - what used to be his - room. The frustration - the anger - was boiling inside of him, but it was tinged with worry as well. He’d told Chris to call him or message him if he felt worse - why hadn’t he contacted him himself? And he was kicking himself about the school: swept up in the euphoria of Chris being with him full time, he hadn’t thought to check on his contact details with them himself. His mother had told him that she’d given them his number - it was on him for not making sure it was as the primary contact.
Chris’ door was slightly open, and Eddie pushed on it. The lights were off. “Chris?” He said softly, not sure if he was still asleep.
“Dad?”
One word was enough to shoot Eddie’s worry from mild to severe. He flipped the light on, and found Chris lying on top of his quilt, curled in the foetal position facing the door, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and his face creased with pain. “Dad… it hurts.”
God, he sounded so young. Eddie was at his side in two strides, reaching out to smooth back his hair - the curls were damp and he was slightly warm to the touch.
“Oh Chris…” he said, crouching down besides the bed, “mijo, why didn’t you call me?”
“I… I’m sorry…” Chris said, his breath catching from the pain. “My phone… it’s in my bag, I can’t reach it.” His eyes filled with tears. “It hurts too much to move.”
Eddie stroked his hair again. “It’s okay, I’m here now,” he said, trying to tell himself that as well. “Where does it hurt?”
“Stomach.”
“Where exactly? Is it all over, or in just one place?” Eddie asked gently. He had a feeling he knew exactly what was happening here, and as much as he wanted to scoop his boy up into his arms and get the hell out of there, he needed to be methodical about this.
“One place.”
Eddie nodded. He got onto his knees so Chris could see him better, and pointed to his own lower stomach, low down on the right side. “Here?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah.”
“Right.” Eddie sighed. “Okay, this is going to hurt, but I need you to roll onto your back for me,” he said. Chris looked at him doubtfully, and Eddie gave him what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “I need to check you out properly, so I know what’s wrong.”
Chris nodded, and then closed his eyes, clearly steeling himself for the effort. Eddie loved him so much.
Eddie helped him roll onto his back without too much effort, but lowering his legs so he was lying flat made Chris grit his teeth against a moan of pain, and tears began to roll down his cheeks.
“There you go,” Eddie said, stroking his hair again. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He took a breath and pulled up Chris’ shirt. There was no bruising or redness, no swelling. Eddie gently swept his hand over Chris’ abdomen, and noticed Chris’ stomach muscles tightening as he did so.
Eddie paused, hating what he was about to do. He glanced at Chris, who had his eyes screwed tight shut. “Alright, I’m sorry honey,” he said. Then he pressed down gently on a spot in the lower right part of his stomach before quickly lifting his fingers.
Chris’ reaction was immediate, and heartbreaking. He howled, his body jerking with pain and then immediately curling back into the foetal position and bursting into tears.
Eddie threw himself forward, hovering protectively over Chris and rubbing his shoulder. “I know, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said, feeling like an absolute asshole as his son sobbed. He had his answer though.
Eddie stood up, pulled out his car keys so they were to hand, and then bent down to pick Chris up - he slid his arms under his bent knees and his shoulder blades, trying to keep Chris in the same position as much as he could. “Okay, up we go.”
As he straightened, he was more aware than ever that his little boy wasn’t so little anymore, and he was also struck with the realisation that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d picked him up.
He also wished he was still a firefighter who worked out every day instead of a taxi driver who was lucky to manage a few times a week.
As he turned, his mother appeared in the doorway, clearly drawn by the sounds Chris was making. “Chris, are you-” she stopped in her tracks at the sight of Eddie with Chris in his arms, looking faintly scandalised. “Eddie come on, surely you’re not going to move him while he’s like this? He can go to your house tomorrow.”
“We’re not going to my house, we’re going to the ER,” Eddie said shortly. Ramon suddenly appeared behind his wife. “Dad, could you grab him a bucket or something for the car?”
He walked forward with the confidence that his parents would move out of his way and, luckily, they did.
Helena was shaking her head. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of an overreaction to -”
“All the signs point to appendicitis, so no, I don’t think so,” Eddie cut her off. Her eyes widened, and she clutched at the cross around her neck. “And he’s at almost 48 hours for symptoms, so we’re going now.”
His mother looked stricken. “Eddie - he wasn’t, he was asleep, he seemed fine…”
Eddie didn’t have time to wait around and make his mother feel better while his son was still sobbing in his arms, so he just made his way through the house and out to the car, trying to be as careful as possible with Chris, and not jostle him more than he had to. He was aware that his mom was right behind him, but she didn’t say anything else.
He debated a bit over front or back seat, but he wanted Chris close, so he went for the passenger door. Chris cried out as Eddie sat him down, trying to curl up in the seat. “There you go mijo, it’s okay, I know,” Eddie said soothingly. He reached down to push the seat back a little bit to give him space for his feet. Then he reached over him to secure the seatbelt. “Let me just… okay.”
When he straightened up out of the car, he found both his parents hovering by the trunk. His father cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped forward, a small trashcan with a plastic liner in hand. Eddie took it with a nod and turned back to Chris.
“Here, for if you’re sick again,” he tells him, tucking the trashcan in next to him. He shut the door and turned back to his parents. His mother looked like she was going to cry.
Eddie held her gaze for a moment, and then walked to the driver’s side of the car. “I’ll let you know,” he said shortly.
“Yes, we’ll…” his mother started, before coughing. “Let us know.”
Eddie nodded, got into the car, and drove away without another word.
Luckily, the hospital was only a ten minute drive from his parents’ house, but Eddie was hyper aware of every slow car in front of him, every red light, and every bump in the road - Chris hissed in pain at even the slightest jolt. He didn’t throw up again, but by the time Eddie pulled into the ER parking lot, he was white as a sheet.
Eddie wasted no time getting him out of the car, and was bursting into the ER lobby a minute later.
A nurse in floral scrubs jumped slightly as Eddie hurried towards her.
“I need help - my son.”
“What’s happened?” She asked, stepping forward and clearly looking Chris over for an injury of some kind.
“I’m pretty sure it’s appendicitis,” Eddie said.
The nurse nodded, but the tension in her shoulders seemed to relax. “I see - I’ll get you a wheelchair for him, and then you can check in at reception and someone-”
Eddie shook his head. “No, he has extreme pain in the lower right quadrant, guarding, rebound tenderness, a slight fever, vomiting,” he said. “He’s been off food since yesterday morning, so pain wasn’t the first symptom, and we could be anywhere between 36 and 42 hours at this point.”
The nurse cocked her head to one side. “Are you a doctor?” She asked him.
“Former army medic, and EMT for the fire department,” Eddie explained.
She nodded. “Alright. Bring him in here,” she said, leading him down a short hallway and then into a curtained cubicle with a bed. Eddie carefully lowered Chris onto the sterile sheets, and he immediately curled in on himself, whimpering.
“What’s his name?” The nurse asked Eddie.
“Christopher Diaz.”
The nurse bent down so she was in Chris’ eyeline. “Christopher? Hi, my name’s Laurel,” she said gently. “I can see you’re in a lot of pain, has it been getting worse?” Chris nodded, and she nodded back. “When did it start?”
“This morning, in third period,” Chris said weakly.
“Was it always in that one place?”
“No, it was all over at first and then it moved.”
Laurel nodded again. “Your dad said you’ve been off your food as well? When did that start?”
“I don’t know… I felt weird the other night when I went to bed, and then definitely from yesterday morning, I only ate a bit at breakfast, and then nothing for lunch or dinner, not really,” Chris told her.
Laurel glanced up at Eddie, in time to see his eyes widen at Chris’ words, and the realisation that they might be closer on 48 hours than the 36 he’d hoped for. He saw the same realisation in her eyes as well as she turned back to his son.
“Okay. I’m going to send a doctor in to see you very soon, you hang tight,” she said. She straightened up and faced Eddie. “I’ll send someone in to do paperwork, so you don’t have to leave him.”
Eddie’s shoulders slumped a little. “Thank you.”
She nodded, and hurried out.
“Dad?” Chris’ voice sounded even weaker than when he was talking to Laurel. Eddie hurried around the bed so that Chris could see him.
“I’m here, mijo.”
“Do I have to have surgery?”
Eddie sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “If it’s appendicitis and… honestly, I can’t think what else it could be… you’ll have to have your appendix taken out tonight.”
Chris frowned, and Eddie sank down into the chair next to the bed, and reached for his son’s hand. “It’s a simple, quick procedure, they do it all the time,” he told him. “And you don’t need your appendix, so you’ll be fine once you’re healed up.”
Chris nodded miserably, curling his fingers around Eddie’s. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you.”
“It’s okay, you told me. You couldn’t reach your bag.”
Chris shook his head. “No, but, before,” he said, “I should have made grandma call you. But when she picked me up she said you were busy with the graduation ceremony and we needed to let you work and shouldn’t bother you…”
Eddie squeezed Chris’s hand tightly for a moment before he got control of his body again. He swallowed, hard. “Chris, mijo, I am never too busy for you when you need me,” he said firmly. “You are never bothering me.”
Chris nodded. “I know, I know, and I realised that but then I was in bed and it felt a bit better so I thought I’d just wait until you came to get me, and then I fell asleep… but when I woke up it was so much worse, and I couldn’t move at all, so I couldn’t get my phone, and I didn’t want to bother grandma or abuelo…” Tears began to spill down his cheeks again, and Eddie felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside out.
“Shh, Chris, it’s okay,” he said, stroking back his hair. “I’m here now, and we’re getting you the help you need.”
Chris' lip trembled and his watery eyes were wide and staring. “You’ll stay with me?”
Eddie bent forward to rest his forehead against his son’s. “Until the moment they wheel you into the operating theatre, I am not leaving your side.”
“‘Kay.”
An administrator came in with forms for Eddie to fill out, and Chris lay still, eyes closed, as Eddie quickly dealt with insurance information. The nurse, Laurel, returned as Eddie was just finishing up, a young male doctor in her wake.
“Hello,” the doctor said cheerfully. “I hear there’s an appendix being difficult in here?”
Eddie glanced down at Chris, unsure how he’d react to the jovial approach, but Chris’ lips twitched slightly as he opened his eyes.
“It’s being a bastard,” Chris mumbled.
“Chris!” Eddie scolded, but the doctor laughed.
“Can’t be having that,” he said, rounding the bed so Chris could see him. “Hi Chris, I’m Doctor Holland. I’m just going to look you over and make sure that this is what we think it is, okay?”
Chris nodded.
“So, I’m told pain started this morning but that might not have been the first symptom?” He looked to Eddie, who nodded.
“He’s been off his food and feeling unwell for almost 48 hours,” he said. “He has abdominal guarding, and rebound tenderness.”
Doctor Holland nodded, and looked over at Laurel. “Could we get an ultrasound cart in here, please?” Laurel nodded and hurried out of the cubicle.
“Right,” said the doctor, “Chris, I’m gonna need you on your back.”
Chris whimpered, and turned his face into the pillow. “No…”
“I’m afraid so,” said Doctor Holland. “I’m guessing this part wasn’t fun when your dad did it earlier… but I have to see for myself.”
Manoeuvering Chris onto his back was slower than earlier, accompanied by tears and moans that made Eddie have to grit his teeth and force himself to continue to help the doctor. When Chris was lying flat, crying steadily, the doctor moved round to the other side of the bed and repeated Eddie’s movements from earlier, lifting his shirt and running his hands carefully over Chris’ abdomen. His stomach muscles clenched as they did earlier, and Doctor Holland looked up at Eddie with his eyebrow raised.
“Definite guarding,” he said.
“Please don’t,” Chris said suddenly, causing both men to look down at him. He shook his head. “Don’t do the thing again.”
The doctor looked confused, so Eddie translated for him. “He means the rebound test.”
“Ah,” said Doctor Holland. “Yeah, it sucks doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s an important test for diagnosing appendicitis.”
“Why?”
“Chris…” Eddie shook his head - Chris was trying to stall, and while he usually appreciated his kid’s gumption, now really wasn’t the time.
“It’s ok,” said Doctor Holland. “You seem like a smart kid. When the appendix is inflamed, it leads to the inflammation of the peritoneum, which is the cavity wall around the internal organs in your torso. Often when people have abdominal pain, when you press on it it hurts more. With appendicitis, with the inflammation of the peritoneum, it’s not the pressing on it that hurts - it’s when you let go. When it rebounds. So the rebound test helps us to understand what type of pain you’re experiencing.”
Chris scowled. “A really bad one,” he said simply.
Doctor Holland grinned. “Yeah, I know - I had it when I was ten,” he said. “Like I said, it sucks. The good news is it will be over really soon - the operation is a literal snip, and then you get to just lie around eating ice cream for a couple of weeks while you recover.”
Chris gave him a weak smile. Just then, Laurel backed into the cubicle, pulling a cart with an ultrasound machine on it behind her. The doctor winked at Chris. “Saved by the cart,” he said. “Alright, you win, no rebound test - let’s have a look inside instead, shall we?”
Eddie stepped back against the wall next to the headboard of the bed as Doctor Holland and Laurel worked together efficiently, rubbing a gel onto Chris’ stomach and preparing the machine.
“Okay,” said the doctor, when everything was ready. “Usually we press down in an ultrasound scan, to get a clearer picture, but I will try to be gentle.”
Chris screwed his eyes tight shut, but nodded. From where he was stood, Eddie could only reach down to place his hand on his shoulder. Laurel, noticing this, took one of Chris’ hands, and Chris gripped back tightly.
Eddie had seen ultrasounds plenty of times, and he could tell that Doctor Holland was being gentle, to the point that the image on the screen was flickering and grainier than usual. Nevertheless, Chris tensed the second the wand touched his stomach, and was soon keening in pain. Eddie gripped his shoulder tightly, and Laurel was stroking his arm, making soothing noises, but Doctor Holland kept his eyes on the screen, clearly trying to get it over with as quickly as possible.
In the end, the ultrasound didn’t take long at all, even though it felt like an eternity and Chris was sobbing by the end of it. Doctor Holland nodded and got to his feet, turning to face Eddie.
“Yep, there’s clear inflammation of the appendix,” he said. He turned to Laurel, who was gently wiping gel off of Chris’s skin. “Notify the OR, and let’s get him prepped for surgery.” Laurel nodded.
“We’ll be taking him up as soon as possible - next half an hour or so,” the doctor said to Eddie.
“He has CP,” Eddie said quickly, realising that that hadn’t come up yet since he had carried Chris in himself and they might not have seen his details.
Doctor Holland’s eyes widened. “Oh,” he said, clearly surprised. He swept his eyes over Chris again, and was clearly re-labelling telltale signs like Chris’ halting speech patterns and stiff muscles from appendicitis symptoms to CP presentations. “Right - sorry, I haven’t seen a chart.”
He looked at his watch, and then back to Laurel, who was also watching Chris. “Page Doctor Waterhouse, hopefully he hasn’t left yet, but get him back if he has.” Laurel nodded, and hurried out of the cubicle.
“He’s our Senior Anaesthesiologist,” Doctor Holland explained to Eddie, who nodded.
“Thanks.”
The doctor gave him another nod, and then turned back to Chris. “Alright. Well, Chris, it was nice to meet you, but let’s not make this a habit,” he said cheerfully. He held out a hand, and Chris weakly lifted his own to shake it. “See you on the other side!”
“Bye.”
And with that, Doctor Holland swept out of the cubicle and Eddie was alone with Chris. They spent a couple of minutes getting Chris back into a more comfortable position, and Eddie sat back down next to the bed.
“Why does it matter that I have CP?” Chris asked after a while.
“It changes the way they have to handle your anaesthesia,” Eddie told him. “That’s why they’re going to have the senior guy do it.”
“Oh.” Chris closed his eyes, breathing heavily through his pain. “Can’t I have painkillers while we’re waiting?”
Eddie stroked Chris’ hair back. “Not this close to the surgery,” he said apologetically. “Besides, with appendicitis, it helps to know the pain’s still there.”
Chris opened his eyes to squint at him in confusion. “What?”
Eddie shrugged. “Basically, your appendix is swollen, and the pain is the pressure that’s building up as it swells,” he explained. “Sometimes, the pain just disappears, really suddenly, and it means the pressure’s gone because the appendix has burst. Which is… not good.”
Chris watched him for a moment before his next question. “Would I die?” He asked in a small voice.
Eddie’s throat closed up, and he swallowed hard. “No,” he said emphatically, “it’s obviously dangerous, it’s full of toxins and nasty things you don’t want in your body, but you’re in exactly the right place. If it happened, they would clean you up, pump you full of antibiotics and keep you here to make sure you’re ok.” Eddie swept his hand over Chris’ hair again. “And you would be.”
Chris nodded. “Well, it still really hurts, so we’re fine.”
Eddie huffed a laugh. “It won’t be long now, mijo.”
“The doctor was nice,” Chris said after a few minutes.
“Yeah.”
“He reminds me of Buck.”
Eddie thought of the doctor’s wide smile and his natural way with Chris. “I can see that,” he said with a smile.
Laurel was back with another nurse about ten minutes later, and Eddie stood by wincing helplessly as they gently changed Chris into a surgical gown, bringing back his tears and leaving him as white as the bedsheets. Doctor Holland had been correct that they would bring him up for surgery fast, and things moved quickly. Chris barely had time to get into a semi-comfortable position again after getting changed when a nurse and a porter came in, to take him up to surgery. Eddie held his hand tightly, walking alongside the bed as it was wheeled through corridors, into an elevator and then down another corridor, until finally they came to a set of double doors leading to the theatres. He swallowed hard.
The porter caught Eddie’s eye as he slowed the bed to a stop. Eddie squeezed Chris’ hand, and he opened his eyes to look up at him.
“I can’t go any further, Chris,” Eddie said softly. “I have to stay here.”
Chris’ face crumpled and his grip tightened, but before Eddie could even think of what to say to comfort him, he just nodded and released Eddie’s hand. “Okay,” he whispered.
Eddie’s throat constricted, and he had to take a deep breath before he could speak. He brushed Chris’ hair back from his damp forehead. “I’ll be right here when you wake up,” he promised. “I love you, mijo.”
“Love you too, Dad,” Chris replied.
Eddie nodded and took a step back from the bed, letting his hands drop to his sides. His throat was tight again: he tore his eyes away from his son and nodded to the porter. Seconds later the double doors were swinging shut behind them.
God, how had this happened? How had he allowed this to happen? He’d missed the signs, and he’d sent Chris to school with appendicitis. A school that didn’t even have his goddamn phone number to call him when his son, his baby, was ill. What the fuck kind of father was he? How had he -
“Sir?”
Eddie startled, snapping out of his thoughts to find a middle-aged nurse standing a couple of feet away, looking at him with concern. He realised he was completely tensed, his fists clenched tightly against his legs, his shoulders hunched, and tears brimming in his eyes. He took a shuddering breath - possibly his first since the doors had closed - and took a step back from the nurse, rubbing his hand over his face.
“I - sorry, I -”
The nurse smiled. “It’s alright,” she said kindly. She nodded behind him. “The waiting room is just down the hall. We’ll come and find you when your son’s surgery is done.”
Eddie nodded, and thanked her, trying hard to appear normal and not like he was on the verge of a breakdown. He needed to hold it together, for Chris. He’d be out in an hour or so, and Eddie wasn’t going to let him down again.
The waiting room was small and dingy, with an ancient-looking coffee machine in the corner and ten vinyl chairs. He found it empty, much to his relief, and sank down into one of the chairs only to stand up again immediately to pace instead.
He felt a buzzing in his pocket, and pulled out his phone to find four messages from his mother, the last one having just arrived.
Any news?
What’s happening? Are you still at the ER?
Eddie?
We are on our way.
Eddie shoved the phone back into his pocket, not bothering to reply. There was nothing to say anyway - he didn’t want them here, but there was no way to stop them. They would do what they wanted to do, like they always had.
He didn’t want them here. He didn’t want them near Chris. They had left him, lying there in pain, so convinced that Eddie was a terrible father that he didn’t even deserve to know that his son had been sent home from school. So determined to score a point against him that Chris had been left to suffer.
A position he wouldn’t have been in in the first place if Eddie had just…
His fists were clenched again, and he could feel a red mist rising. This wasn’t good, it wasn’t good…
Jello. He was jello.
It took a few minutes, but finally he felt like he could breathe again. He sat down and stayed there this time, continuing to breathe deeply.
He hated hospital waiting rooms. He’d been in so many of them over the years, and it never got easier. There was always someone he loved on the other side of the doors, and he could always only sit there, helpless and terrified. Never more so than now, with Chris the one behind the doors, and no one to turn to while he waited.
Not until his fucking parents arrived, anyway.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t been alone in a hospital waiting room for at least seven years, and he felt a pang of loneliness so strong he lost his breath again for a moment.
He took out his phone and placed the call before he could talk himself out of it.
Buck picked up within two rings.
“Hey Eddie!” He sounded so cheerful.
“Hey.”
“What’s wrong?” Buck said immediately, clearly picking up something in Eddie’s tone. “What’s happened? Are you okay?”
Eddie let out a shaky breath. “I’m… yeah, it’s Chris.”
Buck gasped. “Oh my god what happened?”
“Appendicitis. He’s just been taken into surgery.”
“Fuck.” Buck groaned. “How many hours since he started showing symptoms?”
“Honestly I think we’re pretty close on 48.”
Buck paused. “How?” He sounded bemused, like he couldn’t imagine how Eddie could possibly let it get this far. He wasn’t wrong to be judgemental.
“Pain wasn’t the first symptom,” Eddie told him. “He was off his food, felt funny since the other night. Barely ate anything yesterday.” He ran his hand into his hair and gripped in frustration. “I thought it was just… a bug or something. I missed it.”
“Hey, no, you didn’t,” Buck said immediately. “Or, well, you did, but literally anyone would have. You know how rare it is for appendicitis to present that way, even in children.”
“I know but-”
“You can’t beat yourself up over this, man.” Buck sounded so sympathetic, so understanding and sure. Eddie shook his head.
“The pain hit him before lunch today and I only got him to the hospital like an hour ago,” Eddie said flatly, refusing to let Buck let him off the hook.
Buck was silent for a couple of moments. “Well something must have happened,” he said eventually. “What’s going on?”
Eddie sighed. “I didn’t check with the school that they switched to my contact details,” he admitted. “So they called my mom to collect him.”
“And she didn’t call you?”
“Nope.” Eddie spoke in a monotone. “She thought he had food poisoning because he threw up. Put him in bed and just left him to sleep it off.”
“And didn’t call you?” Buck repeated, sounding appalled.
“I’m so… I’m so angry, Buck,” Eddie burst out, jumping back up and starting to pace again. “I know it’s my fault as much as theirs, but they just… they should have called me. They’re on their way here and I don’t know how I can sit in a waiting room with them.”
“It won’t be for long,” Buck said. “You know it’s a simple surgery. It’ll be over quickly.”
“But what if -”
“Don’t, Eddie,” Buck interrupted. “Don’t borrow trouble.”
Eddie refused to let the phrase comfort him. “He didn’t call me himself because he was in so much pain when he woke up he couldn’t move to reach his phone.”
“Eddie-”
“He asked me if he was gonna die.”
“Don’t.” Buck’s voice was strangled, and Eddie shut up, breathing hard. There was silence for a few moments before Buck spoke again, his tone firm.
“He’s going to be fine,” Buck insisted. “They do this surgery all the time. And even if there’s complications, he’s in the best place he can be.”
Eddie took a shaking breath. “I know. You’re right, I know. I just…”
“I know. It’s okay.” Buck sighed. “And Eds, I know it’s hard but please, please don’t blame yourself. How long did it take you to decide to take Chris to hospital once you saw him in pain this evening?”
“Too long,” Eddie grumbled.
“How long?” Buck insisted.
Eddie sighed. “A couple of minutes.”
“Exactly,” Buck said. “You didn’t miss anything. As soon as you got a clear look at the developed symptoms, you knew what it was and you got him to the hospital. It is not your fault that your parents didn’t see the signs, or that they kept you in the dark.”
Movement in the hallway caught Eddie’s eye, and he saw said parents walking quickly towards the waiting room, looking worried. “They’re here. I’d better go,” he said quietly.
Buck sighed. “Okay. Look, just keep your cool,” he said, his voice steady and calm. “Drink some shitty hospital coffee and don’t say anything. Not yet anyway - just focus on Chris. And call me when he’s out of surgery.”
His parents were in the doorway now, eyes on him. “I will. Bye.”
“Eddie, what’s going on?” His mom demanded as he finished the call. She looked stricken with worry - it made Eddie’s insides boil. “Is Chris alright? Is it - is it…”
“It’s appendicitis,” Eddie said flatly. “Pretty advanced. He’s been taken into surgery, so all we can do right now is wait.” He sat down in the chair again, and looked down at his feet, desperately trying to hold on to Bruck’s advice. Keep your cool.
His parents were still standing by the doorway. “What do you mean by advanced?” His dad asked after a moment.
“It’s been almost two days since his symptoms started, so they need to get it out of him right now before it bursts,” Eddie said flatly.
“But he - the pain only started earlier today,” his mom said, stepping further into the room and walking over to stand in front of Eddie. He didn’t look up at her face, but he could see she had her arms folded defensively. “You said -”
“I said that pain wasn’t the first symptom,” Eddie said, his eyes trained resolutely on the chair next to his mom. “He’s been off his food and feeling strange for over a day.”
Eddie heard his father clear his throat awkwardly. “I didn’t realise that could be a sign of appendicitis,” he said.
“It’s rare,” said Eddie. He didn’t say anything else. There was nothing else to say. It didn’t matter that it was rare, it was still a symptom that he knew, that he would have caught if he’d been told about what was happening with Chris earlier that day. Chris wouldn’t be in this situation if his parents had bothered to call him.
“Well… then I suppose there wasn’t really anything we could do,” Helena said after a few moments.
Focus on Chris. Don’t say anything. Focus on Chris. Focus on Chris.
Every muscle in Eddie’s body tightened with the effort of keeping silent. He wasn’t in the least bit surprised that his mom’s response would be to let herself off the hook, or that she was clearly fishing for him to tell her that she wasn’t to blame. But he wasn’t going to do this now - he couldn’t. Chris would be out of surgery soon and he would need him - and not a him that was trying to reel in his emotions after losing it with his parents. It wouldn’t help anyway.
“I mean, if it’s that rare…”
Eddie stayed silent.
“Anyone would have missed the signs.”
Focus on Chris. Focus on Chris.
“Eddie? You’re not even -”
Eddie’s dad stepped forward and seemed to pull Helena back slightly. “Let’s just sit down, shall we?”
“I’m just saying that-” Helena’s voice had dropped to a hiss, but Eddie could still hear it from where he continued to stare at a worn patch on the chair opposite him.
“I know, amor, but let’s… let’s talk about it later,” his dad murmured back, and the two of them sat down across from Eddie, but not quite in his line of sight. His shoulders relaxed a little as his mom seemed to drop the subject, though he could feel her indignation from three feet away.
Ramon cleared his throat again. “How long does the surgery take?”
“It’s quick, usually around 30 minutes,” Eddie said. “It’s been about fifteen.”
“Fifteen to go,” said Ramon, in what Eddie assumed was meant to be an encouraging tone.
Fifteen minutes came and went. But, of course, you needed to add on prep and putting Chris under in the first place.
Another fifteen minutes - they would need to get him situated in recovery before coming to get Eddie.
Another fifteen - some extractions were trickier, and they had to be especially careful since Chris was so far advanced with his symptoms.
Helena started talking again at the hour mark, murmuring questions and platitudes that Eddie ignored. Ramon got up and started pacing ten minutes after that. Eddie stayed where he was, his eyes burning a hole into that chair, fingers clenching so tightly together that they turned white.
It was okay. Chris was okay. They were just being careful.
At ninety minutes, Eddie’s control snapped, and he shot to his feet so quickly his mom gasped in surprise. Ignoring her and his dad, he strode out of the waiting room and over to the small desk in the corridor outside. The nurse behind the desk - the same one who had directed him to the waiting room earlier - didn’t look surprised at his approach.
“Do you have any news about my son?” Eddie asked her. “It’s been ninety minutes - it shouldn't take this long.”
The nurse gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry sir, I don’t have any update for you,” she said. “Your son’s surgeon will come out to speak to you as soon as the procedure is complete.”
“Could you call someone, and find out what’s happening?” Eddie suggested tersely.
The nurse’s expression of patient, apologetic understanding made Eddie want to scream. “I really am sorry, but anyone who knows the details of your son’s surgery would be in the surgery, and a phone call would be too disruptive,” she said gently.
She was right, of course - at this time of night, only emergency surgeries were taking place, so they were down to a skeleton crew, and of course Eddie didn’t want them distracted from taking care of Chris. So he nodded and stepped away from the desk, staring intently at the double doors and willing them to open.
“Mijo?” His dad called softly from the waiting room doorway. Eddie looked over at him for the first time in over an hour, and saw that he looked exhausted. “Any news?”
Eddie just shook his head, not trusting himself to speak.
Finally, after over two hours of waiting and just when Eddie was ready to charge through the doors into the surgical wing, they opened, and a woman in scrubs walked out, pulling off a surgical mask. Eddie strode down the hallway to meet her - he heard his parents’ steps behind him, but didn’t pause to look at them.
The doctor had been walking towards the desk, but she stopped when she spotted Eddie, and turned towards him instead. “Mr Diaz?”
“Yes - what’s happening?” Eddie said, hurrying over. “Is Chris alright?”
The doctor nodded. “He’s alright, he’s out of surgery and being moved to a room as we speak.”
Eddie didn’t sigh with relief - it was like the sigh got caught in his throat, and while he felt relief wash over him he knew he couldn’t relax. He could see in the doctor’s face that she had more to say.
“Oh thank god,” he heard his mother say behind him, and the sound of his father’s relieved laugh, but Eddie just kept his eyes on the doctor.
“Did his appendix burst?” Eddie asked.
The doctor squared her shoulders. “Yes, I’m afraid it did,” she said. “We had just begun to operate when it ruptured. It meant that we had to switch to an open surgery approach, rather than keyhole, in order to remove the appendix as quickly as possible. We drained the abdominal cavity and flushed it, and I’m confident we managed to remove all infected lymphoid tissue. In layman’s terms -”
“I’m a medic, it’s fine” Eddie said quickly. The doctor nodded, but Eddie thought he could see a question in her eyes - then how did you let it get this far?
Eddie cleared his throat. “So he’ll need to stay in,” he said.
The doctor nodded again. “Yes, we will need to keep him in for observation for at least four days - possibly up to a week. The risk of infection is still considered high, and we need to be on the lookout for any signs.”
Eddie nodded mechanically. He knew the dangers associated with post appendix rupture recovery.
“Can we see him?” Helena asked.
Eddie tensed, and was glad that he had his back to his mother so she couldn’t see the look on his face. It was clearly something special, because the doctor flashed him a look of concern before turning to face his mom. “I’m sorry, visiting hours are long over,” she said. “But as Chris is a minor, one family member can stay with him overnight.”
“I’ll be staying,” Eddie said firmly.
“Eddie, honey, you’ve been working all day, I could-”
“Can we go now, please?” Eddie said to the doctor, completely ignoring his mom.
“Eddie!”
“Helena, let’s just - we’ll be back tomorrow, mijo,” Ramon said, his voice sounding strained.
Eddie nodded, still not turning to face them, eyes fixed ahead on the doors to the surgical wing. The doctor cleared her throat, looking extremely uncomfortable, and Eddie felt a brief flash of guilt for putting her in the middle of their shit, but not enough to stop.
“Okay, Mr Diaz, I’ll take you to his room,” she said, gesturing for him to follow her. “Good evening,” she added politely to his parents.
Eddie didn’t say a thing to them as he followed her through the doors and into a labyrinth of hallways he barely paid attention to.
Chris was in a private room, and had clearly just been wheeled in as there were two nurses flitting around his bed, attaching wires and IVs to various screens and devices. He was still out cold, the anaesthesia leaving him preternaturally still in a way he never was in simple sleep.
Eddie stepped closer to the bed, taking in the steady rhythm of Chris’ chest as he breathed. His phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Buck.
Any news? Eddie put the phone back in his pocket and hung back as the nurses finished up what they were doing, then made a beeline for his son, reaching out to take his hand. It was warm, and Eddie felt one small knot of anxiety loosen in his chest.
“He will be under the effects of the anaesthesia for several more hours, and will be groggy for a while after it wears off,” the doctor said from behind him. “We will monitor him carefully for at least five days, to manage his pain and to look out for any signs of infection. We’ve started him on a course of IV antibiotics as a preventative measure.”
Eddie nodded, his eyes still on Chris. His curls were flattened to his head from sweating earlier, there were dark circles under his eyes, and his eyelashes were casting shadows on his pale cheeks.
“A nurse will bring in a cot for you, so you can get some sleep,” the doctor continued, and Eddie didn’t protest even though he knew he wouldn’t be using it. “I’ll be checking in on him when I can.”
Eddie heard her turning to leave, and finally wrenched his eyes away from his son to look over his shoulder. “Thank you, doctor,” he said quietly.
The doctor - Eddie realised at that moment that he hadn’t even given her a chance to tell him her name - nodded to him and then left. Eddie turned back to Chris, and swept his eyes over the various monitors he was attached to. From what he could see, everything was within normal parameters.
He let out a shaky breath, but it didn’t make him feel any better. His stomach was twisting itself in knots at the thought of what could have happened if he’d been even half an hour later picking him up. And at the thought of what could still happen.
Eddie realised with a start that he hadn’t washed his hands before coming in here - he looked around wildly and saw a hand sanitiser station, which he quickly jumped up to use. Everyone who came to see Chris would have to be careful around him.
Eddie pulled out his phone, remembering Buck’s request for an update. It was almost midnight now, but he knew Buck wouldn’t mind - in fact, Buck was probably out of his mind with worry by now, it had been so long since they’d spoken. However, he found himself hesitating, his thumb hovering over Buck’s name in his recents log. He knew Buck would be understanding and comforting, and Eddie just didn’t think he could face that kind of kindness right now.
He went into WhatsApp instead and typed out a message.
He’s ok. Sorry for late update, he’s only just out. The appendix burst just as they started so it got complicated.
Buck’s reply came almost immediately.
Shit. I had a feeling when you didn’t call. You ok?
No, Eddie thought as he typed his reply. Fine. Staying with him in hospital. He’s still out cold.
Call if anything changes. And try and get some rest.
Eddie sent back a thumbs up, and then put the phone away. He took a step towards the bed before turning back to the station and sanitising his hands again. He left a little on his fingers and rubbed it into Chris’ hand when he went back over and sat down.
Better safe than sorry.
Eddie found himself flashing back to previous times he’d seen Chris like this, after surgeries when he was younger. It had always been terrifying, he’d always felt helpless, but this felt different. Those surgeries had been planned and scheduled and understood, so he’d been prepared for them.
He hadn’t been prepared for this one, but he should have been.
Okay, so appendicitis wasn’t exactly something you could schedule, but it should never have come to this. To Chris stuck in hospital for god knows how many days, subject to poking and prodding and in danger of…
Hours passed. Two nurses wheeled in a cot and set it up in the corner of the room - Eddie thanked them, but didn’t move from the chair. The nurses took turns coming in every hour or so to check Chris’ vitals, making notes in his chart and giving Eddie a small smile each time.
Eddie did his best to stay present, to not retreat too far into his own mind, but the inner recrimination was too strong, and he spent most of the night embroiled in a mixture of self-blame and anger at his parents. He replayed every possible scenario in his mind - both the better and worse, and either type made him feel more and more tense. He felt like his entire body was a ball of anxiety, or a live wire ready to spark out at the slightest touch.
He needed to get a grip. Chris would wake up soon, and Eddie needed to be there for him. Chris needed - deserved - him at his best, not stewing in hatred.
At some point in the night Chris’ sleep became a little more natural, his fingers and toes twitching and his head listing to one side or the other on the pillow, but he showed no signs of waking up. Morning light was starting to filter through the beige blinds when Eddie heard a throat clear behind him.
“Hi Mr Diaz.”
Eddie’s head snapped up to find Doctor Holland from the ER standing in the doorway. He blinked in surprise, and sat up straight, his anxiety spiking. “Doctor Holland. Is there something wrong?”
“No - I just got off my shift and wanted to check on Christopher. I heard what happened in the surgery.” The doctor stepped into the room, and Eddie saw that he did indeed look like he was about to go home - civilian clothes instead of scrubs, and a messenger bag slung across his body. He walked over to the end of Chris’ bed and picked up his chart, flipping it open to read.
“Well, everything looks good,” he said, looking between the chart and the readouts on the machines around Chris’ bed. He looked over at Eddie as he put the chart back in place: Eddie didn’t say anything. Doctor Holland cleared his throat. “Are you a doctor? You clearly knew what you were talking about earlier.”
Eddie shook his head. “No - I’m a, I was a firefighter,” he said. “And I was an army medic, before that.”
“Then you know it’s looking good,” the doctor said. Eddie looked away again.
Doctor Holland was silent for a moment, before starting to speak. “First year of residency, a mom brought in her eight-year old daughter because she was off her food and a bit lethargic. I gave her some advice and sent her home, basically blew her off.” Eddie looked up at Doctor Holland, who shrugged. “She was back the next day with acute appendicitis symptoms, and her appendix burst within two hours of her first feeling pain.”
Eddie sighed. “Doctor-”
“Seriously: it’s rare,” Doctor Holland said firmly. “You know it’s rare. You can’t blame yourself.”
Eddie kept his eyes on Chris’ face for a moment before answering. “Was she okay? The girl?”
“Yes. Three hours of surgery, in hospital for a week, and her mom was pissed,” the doctor said. “But she was fine. Christopher will be too.”
Eddie wasn’t exactly reassured, but he appreciated the effort nonetheless. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” the doctor said. “Take care of yourself Mr Diaz.”
Eddie nodded, but the doctor stayed where he was until Eddie looked at him again. “I mean that literally - do you have family, friends in town?”
Eddie clenched his jaw. “Yeah.”
“Let them help you - Christopher will need you at your best, don’t let yourself burn out.”
Eddie had to hold back a snort. He knew the doctor wasn’t wrong, but there was no chance he was trusting any part of Chris’ recovery to his parents after the last 24 hours.
A shuffling sound drew Eddie’s attention back to Chris. He had moved his head to the side, towards their voices, a frown on his face.
“Buck…” Chris mumbled, his head lifting slightly and then falling back. Eddie held his breath, but Chris was silent again.
There was a moment of silence before Doctor Holland chuckled. “Well that’s a new one,” he said lightly. “See? He’ll be fine.”
Eddie just stared at his son, a sudden lump in his throat. Eddie nodded. “Yeah.”
The doctor said goodbye and left the room. Eddie kept his eyes on his son’s face, focusing on the colour that seemed to be slowly returning to his cheeks. The doctor’s words had made him feel marginally better: he felt ready to accept that he himself hadn’t missed any obvious signs. But that didn’t mitigate the anger he felt towards his parents, which was still swirling around in his gut. They would be back when visiting hours started up at 9am, and Eddie wasn’t ready to sit in a room with them and watch them fuss over Chris as if they weren’t the reason for him being kept in hospital for a week.
The doctor was right - he needed help. And Chris was right too - there was only one person he actually wanted to help him.
He took out his phone and placed the call before he could talk himself out of it. It only occurred to him that it was barely 5am in L.A. as the phone started ringing, but it didn’t matter because Buck picked up almost immediately, and he didn’t sound like he’d been sleeping.
“Eddie, hey,” he said warmly. “How’s Chris?”
“He’s still out. But I think he’ll be waking up soon… he’s starting to mumble.”
“Good, that’s good. Are all his stats okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Eddie - that’s great.”
“Yeah.” Eddie fell silent, and for the first time all night suddenly felt how tired he was.
As though Buck was reading his mind, he asked, “have you gotten any rest?”
Eddie shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“Eddie, I -”
“Buck, could you…” Eddie interrupted, before trailing off uncertainly. He ran a hand through his hair and squared his shoulders. Just ask. “I know it’s last minute and you’ve got work but…”
“Eds -”
“Could you come here for a visit?” Eddie asked in a rush. “I know Chris would love it, and I… I really want to see you.”
There was a pause, just long enough for Eddie to feel nervous, before Buck answered. “I’m on my way,” he said simply.
Eddie sighed. “Thanks Buck.”
Buck chuckled. “No, I mean, I really am on my way,” Buck said, sounding sheepish. “I left after you called me last night. I’ve just gone through Tucson.”
It took Eddie a second to really register what Buck was saying to him, but when he did - when he realised that Buck was literally already on his way to them - he felt like his entire body went weightless. The sense of relief hit him so hard that it was like his muscles gave up every last piece of tension they held. He slumped forward, resting his forehead on the bed next to Chris’ knee.
“You’re really on your way?” He asked quietly.
“Google Maps says I should get there just gone 10,” Buck said. “Assuming you’re at St Saviour’s?”
“Yeah, we are,” he said. He cleared his throat and forced himself to sit back up. “Please be careful - if you get too tired, please stop. We’ll still be here.”
“I will, I promise,” Buck replied. “But I feel fine at the moment, honestly. I’ve been catching up on my podcasts.”
“Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you soon,” Eddie said with a disbelieving laugh.
“Four hours.”
Eddie gripped his phone tightly. “Buck - thank you.”
“Any time Eds, you know that,” Buck said simply, before hanging up.
The sense of relief Eddie felt at knowing that Buck would be here soon seemed to drain all of the energy out of Eddie, and his sleepless night started to catch up with him. He held Chris’ hand and put his head down on his arm, closing his eyes for the first time all night.
He definitely drifted off, but snapped wide awake when he felt Chris’ hand twitch in his own.
Eddie sat straight up, and saw that Chris’ eyes were open, though he was blinking heavily. His other hand lifted up for a moment before dropping back down.
“Chris? Mijo, it’s okay, you can open your eyes,” Eddie said, jumping to his feet and stepping closer to the bed. “Come on, open your eyes.”
Chris blinked rapidly for a second, before his eyes opened properly, looking up at him blearily. “Dad?”
“Yeah Chris, it’s me, I’m here,” he said. “You’re okay.”
Chris frowned slightly. “What…” he turned his head away for a moment, seemingly taking in his surroundings. “What…”
“It’s okay,” Eddie repeated. “You’re in the hospital, you’re just waking up after surgery, so things will be a bit fuzzy.”
“Surgery…” Chris blinked again. “Ow?”
“Are you in pain?” Eddie asked. He pressed the call button next to the bed, and then brushed Chris’ hair out of his eyes.
“I don’t… I don’t know,” Chris said.
“It’s okay Chris, you just need to rest. Don’t worry about anything.”
The door opened and one of the night nurses bustled in, smiling when she saw that Chris was awake.
“Christopher! Welcome back,” she said warmly, walking over to the other side of the bed. “I’m Terri. How do you feel, honey?”
Chris blinked up at her. “Floaty,” he said, after a moment.
Terri laughed, and Eddie felt himself smiling too. “Well I’m not surprised,” she said. “You’ve been asleep for a while. You’re going to be a bit floaty for a little while longer, so just get some rest, okay? We’ll bring you something to eat in about thirty minutes.”
She looked up at Eddie and smiled. “He’ll probably be in and out for a couple of hours,” she said. “He might feel a bit nauseated, so I’ll leave a pan here, in case he’s sick. But call me if you need anything.” She took a bedpan out of a cupboard in the corner, and left it on the bedside table before heading back out of the room. When Eddie looked back down at Chris, he saw he’d fallen back asleep.
Eddie looked at his watch - 7.36am. Two and a half hours until Buck arrived. He decided then and there that he wouldn’t say anything to Chris, and would let it be a surprise.
Terri was right - Chris’ sleep was fitful and he’d woken up and gone back under three times before she came back in with a breakfast tray, consisting of a very small bowl of oatmeal and a cup of apple juice. Terri chatted away about post-surgery dietary restrictions as Eddie helped her raise the head of the bed so Chris was sitting up a little, which made him wince, and then wheeled the overbed table into place.
Chris was awake, and pulling a face Eddie hadn’t seen since he was four - what he thought of as his ‘brocolli-is-disgusting-and-you-can’t-make-me’ face. It made him look so much younger.
“Not hungry,” he said mulishly.
Terri just smiled. “I know honey, but you need to eat a little something to kickstart your system,” she said. “Even if you just manage a few bites.”
In the end, a few bites was right, and Terri retreated after ten minutes with the half-eaten oatmeal, leaving the apple juice behind. Chris was still sat up and seemed to be dozing again, but after a couple of minutes he spoke, and sounded more lucid than he had earlier.
“Did they take my appendix?”
Eddie nodded. “Yeah mijo, it’s out,” he said.
“Did they get it in time?”
Eddie winced. “No,” he said. “It burst during the surgery. You’re okay, they fixed you up, but you’re gonna have to stay in hospital for a little while.”
Chris frowned. “How long?”
“Probably about five days.”
Chris groaned and his head dropped back against his pillows. “We got here too late,” he said after a minute.
Eddie winced again, the words like a blow. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Yeah - I’m sorry Chris.”
Chris shook his head. “Not your fault,” he said shortly. His voice was frank, almost curt. Eddie sat back slightly, looking closer at Chris. His head was tipped back against his pillows, and he was staring up at the ceiling. No, glaring up at the ceiling.
Eddie opened his mouth to say something, but wasn’t really sure what he wanted to say. How could he tell his son not to be angry, when he himself had spent the last twelve hours broiling in his own rage? But he was an angry person. He didn’t want Chris to be like him.
“Chris…”
“I’m tired,” Chris said, cutting him off.
Eddie swallowed. “Okay,” he said. “Get some rest, I’ll be right here.”
Chris closed his eyes, and Eddie sat silently, wondering how he could make this better.
Chris must have been serious about being tired, because he did actually fall asleep again within a few minutes. Eddie pulled out his phone, which was now low enough on battery to go into low power mode, and saw that he had a message from his dad, saying they would be in to visit as soon as the visiting hours started, and asking for the room number.
Eddie thought, for a moment, about telling them not to come. Of explaining to Terri and the other nurses that neither Chris nor he wanted his parents there, and to keep them away. It was tempting. So tempting that Eddie knew it was a terrible idea. Chris was clearly angry at his grandparents for the delay in getting him treatment, as was Eddie. And he had every right to be… as did Eddie. But cutting them out and letting the anger stew wasn’t going to help anyone. Eddie had tried that too many times in too many ways to know that it didn’t work, and that half of the reason why his parents thought they could just make decisions for him and Chris was because Eddie had stepped back and pushed his anger down.
He would need to have it out with them, once and for all. For Chris’ sake as well as his own.
Eddie sent the room number to his dad. Then he sent it to Buck as well, his anger giving way to relief as he did so. Buck would be here soon.
True to their word, his parents appeared in the doorway of the room about five minutes after visiting hours began. Chris was still asleep, so Eddie quickly made his way over to them to prevent them from waking him up.
“Hi - he’s sleeping,” he said. “Quiet as you come in.”
Eddie returned to his seat on Chris’ right side, and his parents walked over and hovered awkwardly at the end of the bed. His mom ran her eyes over his pale frame and the various machines he was attached to.
“The poor darling,” she said softly. “Has he woken up yet? Is he in much pain?”
Eddie’s jaw tightened and he breathed heavily through his nose for a moment before replying, forcing himself to speak in an even tone. “Yes, he’s woken up a few times, he’s had some breakfast,” he said. “He’s okay, but he’s on some mild painkillers, and antibiotics.”
“Antibiotics?” His dad asked. “He doesn’t have an infection, does he?”
“No, it’s a preventative measure,” Eddie said shortly.
“Right.” Eddie’s dad cleared his throat awkwardly but didn’t say anything else.
“You look tired, Eddie,” said his mom. “Why don’t you go home for a few hours and get some sleep?”
“No thanks,” Eddie said. He didn’t say anything else and, surprisingly, his mom didn’t press the point. They moved chairs over to the other side of the bed and sat down, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room.
Eddie kept his eyes on Chris. Time passed. A nurse - not Terri, she’d probably gone home - came back in at some point; she politely greeted Eddie’s parents and then added Chris’ vitals to his chart before leaving the room again.
“How long will they keep him in?” Eddie’s dad asked.
“Probably about five days,” Eddie said.
“That long?” His mom asked. “Julia’s nephew went home the next day after having his appendix out last year…”
Eddie practically bit his tongue staying quiet. Luckily, Chris chose that moment to shift in the bed, clearly waking up, and Helena immediately sat forward and put her hand over his.
“Chris, darling, are you awake?”
Well he will be now, Eddie thought, but Chris was blinking his eyes open so it wasn’t worth saying anything.
Chris frowned and turned his head towards Eddie. “Dad?”
“I’m here, mijo,” Eddie said, squeezing Chris’ other hand. “You’re okay. Grandma and Abuelo are here too.”
Chris turned his head to look at his grandparents, who both smiled and gave him soft greetings. Chris looked at them in silence for a moment before turning his head again to stare up at the ceiling. “Hi,” he said shortly.
Ramon shifted forward and put a hand on Chris’ calf. “How do you feel?”
Chris didn’t look at him. “Sore,” he said. “Tired. Kind of sick.”
“Sick?” Eddie’s mom sat back, looking alarmed. “Should we call the nurse?”
“No, mom, it’s just because of the anaesthesia, it’s normal,” Eddie said. His mom didn’t respond - she was looking down at the bed where Chris’ hand had been. When she’d sat up her hand had shifted off of Chris’, and the second it had he’d moved it onto his stomach, away from her.
Eddie coughed awkwardly. “Let me know if you do feel like you’ll be actually sick though, Chris,” he told his son, who nodded.
“I need the bathroom,” Chris said.
This turned out to be easier said than done - Eddie called the nurse in, who ended up conferring with another nurse. Usually, they would be getting Chris out of bed and walking to the bathroom, but given his reduced mobility it was deemed too hazardous to attempt so soon after general anaesthetic, so they went to get a bedside commode. Eddie had to explain to Chris what this meant, and he looked so horrified Eddie had almost laughed.
“Did you bring Chris’ crutches?” Eddie asked his parents. They clearly didn’t have them in the room, but maybe they were in the car or something.
“Er, no,” Ramon said. “We didn’t think that he would be, well, up and about so soon.”
“Well I can’t be, without my crutches,” muttered Chris.
“Chris,” Eddie said softly.
“What about my backpack?” Chris said, ignoring Eddie’s warning. “Did you bring that?”
“No, darling, but you shouldn’t be worrying about schoolwork right now,” Helena said with a chuckle.
“I’m not,” Chris scoffed. “My phone is in it.”
Chris’ tone was practically dripping with disdain, and Eddie was ashamed to say that part of him was enjoying the way it made his parents squirm. But the bigger part of him hated seeing his son act this way - this wasn’t his sweet Chris.
The nurses came back at that moment, and Eddie firmly told his parents that they needed to wait outside - luckily, they didn’t try to argue. Eddie asked Chris if he wanted him to wait outside too, but Chris shook his head, so he helped the nurses get Chris sat up and then moved onto the commode. The nurses were professional and efficient, sorting him out and cleaning him up, but even so Chris’ face was burning with humiliation by the time he was back in bed and they were leaving. Eddie tried to imagine being fourteen and having two adult women and his dad helping him use a toilet, and just hoped that Chris would be deemed stable enough to walk to the bathroom later in the day.
Eddie checked his watch - Buck should be getting there in about thirty minutes.
His parents came back in after the nurses left, with bright and very fake smiles on their faces.
“Well, I bet that feels better!” His mom said cheerfully.
Chris, who was still blushing, scowled at his grandmother. “Oh yeah, it was great,” he said sarcastically.
“Chris-” Eddie started to say, but his mother cut in before he could get any further.
“Alright, Chris, I know you’re uncomfortable, but that is no reason to be rude,” she said, dropping her cheerful act.
“Mom!” Eddie exclaimed. “Don’t.”
“Oh, so you’re fine with him speaking to his grandparents this way?” She said, glaring at him.
Eddie glared right back. “This is not the time or the place,” he said flatly. “Chris had surgery just a few hours ago, he’s literally in a hospital bed: not now.”
Helena pursed her lips angrily, but she just folded her arms and humphed, walking over to the window and scowling out of the window. Eddie looked over at his dad who, like last night, just looked exhausted. Eddie could not find it in himself to feel sorry for him.
The next twenty minutes dragged by excruciatingly slowly. Ramon asked a few questions about the machines that were monitoring Chris. Helena went and sat back down in one of the chairs, but was pointedly not speaking. Eddie took this as a win.
Chris had fallen asleep again. Or… Eddie narrowed his eyes slightly. No, he hadn’t - he was just pretending to be asleep. Eddie felt kind of jealous of the tactic, to be honest.
There was another five or so minutes of uncomfortable silence before Eddie’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to find a message from Buck.
In the elevator.
Eddie’s heart leapt, and it was all he could do to contain a wild grin. He cleared his throat. “Um, I’ll be back in just a minute,” he said, before jumping up and heading into the hallway. He felt a little guilty at abandoning Chris with his parents, but he just had to hope that his fake sleep ruse would keep them at bay.
Though what if they said something, thinking that Chris was asleep, and…
Eddie’s catastrophising was interrupted by the sight of Buck, finally here, in the flesh, rounding the corner and striding up the corridor, looking side to side at the room numbers. He was carrying a drinks tray, and a paper bag, and wearing jeans and a hoodie, and apart from a slight paleness there was no indication he’d been up all night. Eddie doubted he himself looked as good right now.
Buck looked up and spotted him, and the second Eddie locked eyes with his best friend a wave of emotions went crashing through him - he literally stumbled forward a step as his feelings slammed into his body. Relief, joy, longing, hope - they all mingled with the fear and anxiety he’d been brewing all night, and he suddenly felt like his knees might give out.
But that didn’t matter, because two seconds later Buck was right in front of him, and he quickly dumped what he was carrying onto a chair and caught Eddie up into a hug.
Eddie clung onto Buck, who hugged him just as tightly. Neither of them said anything and Eddie just held on, eyes shut tight. He wasn’t going to cry, but goddamnit this was the closest he’d come since this thing started.
“You okay?” Buck said eventually, still not letting go.
Eddie nodded against his shoulder. “I am now,” he said. He heard Buck give a little laugh of surprise, and realised that that was probably a bit more honest than he usually was when talking about his feelings.
They pulled apart, but Buck kept a hand on Eddie’s shoulder.
“How is he?”
“Physically he’s okay - right now he’s pretending to be asleep,” Eddie said.
Buck chuckled. “Why?”
“He’s angry,” Eddie told him.
“At what?”
“My parents. For not taking him to hospital. For not calling me sooner.”
Buck rubbed the back of his head. “Well…”
Eddie sighed. “I don’t want him to be angry,” he said. “I don’t want him to… to be like me.”
Buck frowned, and reached out to clasp his shoulder again. “That’s not - Eddie, that’s not what this is,” he said. “He has a right to be pissed, but it’ll pass.”
“Yeah,” Eddie conceded, before moving off the subject. “Come on, he’ll be so happy to see you.”
Buck grinned and stepped away to sanitise his hands at a dispenser on the wall. He picked up his paper bag and drinks tray again. “I brought some bagels, and coffees,” he said. “Well, I brought you coffee. Your mum drinks tea, right? And I think you said your dad switched to decaf a while back?”
Eddie just shook his head with a smile and went to open the door. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Buck grinned again and followed him.
Eddie braced himself as he opened the door, but he needn’t have worried - Chris still had his eyes closed, and his parents had moved over to the window and were talking quietly. For a moment he wondered if Chris had actually fallen asleep but nope - he was definitely still faking.
Eddie cleared his throat loudly, stopping in the doorway. “Chris, you have a visitor,” he announced.
Chris cracked open an eye, peering at Eddie suspiciously, but both his eyes flew open as Eddie stepped to one side.
“Buck?!” He exclaimed.
Buck stepped into the room behind Eddie, and grinned at Chris. “Hey Superman,” he said.
Chris stared at him for a second, and then promptly burst into tears.
“B-Buck…”
Buck’s face was stricken, but he quickly recovered, striding over to Chris’ bedside, only stopping to drop the food he’d brought with him onto the overbed table as he went past. Chris held out his arms as he got closer, like a toddler begging to be picked up.
“Hey, okay, it’s okay,” Buck said gently, settling a hip on the mattress and letting Chris fall against his chest, one arm around his shoulders and the other stroking his hair.
“It hurt so much, I didn’t know what to do,” Chris sobbed out.
“I know, shhh, it’s okay,” Buck soothed him. He glanced over his shoulder at Eddie, who just gave him a little shrug, unable to speak because this was the closest he’d come to crying.
“I couldn’t get to my phone, it hurt to breathe -” Chris’ voice was muffled by his tears and Buck’s hoodie, and Eddie could still make them out, and he couldn’t help but look over at his parents. They were watching what was happening with confusion written all over their faces.
“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Buck repeated, rocking Chris slightly. “It’s over now.”
Chris seemed to nod, and his cries quietened slightly, but he didn’t let go of Buck.
Eddie felt a sort of odd calm wash over him, and he knew that this was the moment he’d been waiting for. He picked up the drinks tray from where Buck had left it, and then nodded to his parents. “Come outside a minute,” he said to them, heading back to the door.
They walked over to him, extremely reluctantly, eyes continually darting towards Chris and Buck. “Eddie, Chris needs -” his dad started, but Eddie just shrugged and held open the door.
“He’s okay, Buck’s got him,” he said. He ushered them out into the hallway, and stole one last glance at the bed - Buck was whispering something to Chris, his chin resting on top of his head. Eddie stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. His parents were standing right next to him, and he gestured over to the chairs by the door. His parents had some kind of silent conversation with each other before sitting down, and Eddie sat down opposite them.
“Here, Buck got us drinks,” he said, passing them across. They took them with frowns, but Eddie could see that while his dad looked nonplussed, his mom looked angry.
“I don’t understand how you could leave Chris like-”
“It’s a trauma response,” Eddie said simply, cutting her off. “I should have expected it really.” And he should have - Chris had been tense all morning, he’d clearly needed an outlet. Seeing Buck for the first time in months was an obvious trigger, in hindsight. He took a sip of coffee - the perfect order, not that he’d expected anything less.
“He’s gone through something scary, and he’s been bottling it up, and seeing Buck…” Eddie explained. He shrugged. “Buck is someone he’s gone through a lot with, and feels totally safe with, so I’m not surprised he broke down. It’s okay. It’s good for him to let it out. He’ll feel better for it.”
Eddie’s dad was nodding slowly, though still looking confused, but his mom puffed up indignantly. “So he doesn’t feel safe with us?” She exclaimed. “He blames us like you do?”
Eddie sighed, and reminded himself to stay calm before carrying on.
“I know you think that I’m angry with you for not realising he had appendicitis,” he said. “I’m not. It can be easy to miss the symptoms if you don’t know what to look for.”
His mom looked slightly mollified, but Eddie didn’t give her a chance to say anything in response. “But the thing is, I do know what to look for,” he continued. “It took me about a minute to realise what was wrong with him when I saw him last night, but by that time it was too late. So I am angry, but it’s because you didn’t call me.”
“Eddie, we were just trying to help,” his dad cut in, placing a placating hand on his wife’s arm before she could speak.
Eddie nodded. “Maybe that’s true,” he said. “Maybe you really believe that you’re helping. But what’s actually happening is Chris is getting hurt because you have this narrative in your heads that I don’t know what I’m doing. That I’m still a 19-year-old kid who got his girlfriend pregnant and doesn’t know what to do. You decided you knew what was happening, that I’d screwed up and fed him something to make him sick, and that I didn’t need to be told about it. And because of that, Chris got to the hospital eight hours later than he should have.”
His mom glared at him. “That was not what happened - this is not our fault!” She hissed at him.
“You chose not to tell me,” Eddie said firmly. He took another sip of coffee to keep his nerves down.
“We didn’t want to bother you!” His mom exclaimed.
Eddie tipped his head back, the anger threatening to rise up for the first time since the conversation began. He breathed in slowly, deliberately, trying to formulate the response he needed without flying off the handle.
“I hate that word so much,” he said after a moment. “It’s all I heard growing up - don’t bother me while I’m cooking, don’t bother us while we’re talking to the neighbours, don’t bother your father when he’s tired from work.” His voice started rising slightly, and he could hear it but couldn’t stop it. “Don’t bother me with your homework. Don’t bother me with your questions. Don’t bother me with-”
“Eddie, honestly, this is-” his dad tried to cut in.
“Chris is never bothering me,” Eddie snapped.
Ramon sat back with a frown, but Helena scoffed. “Eddie you’re being ridiculous,” she said. “You know we don’t mean it that way.” She huffed, shifting her weight in the seat, and then huffed again. “Alright, this time we would have been better off giving you a call, but Chris really did seem fine. He was sleeping it off. And he could have called you himself.”
Eddie glared at her. “His phone was in his bag and it hurt too much for him to be able to reach it,” he told her. “He literally couldn’t move because of the pain.”
She looked away for a moment, before raising her chin defiantly. “Well, he wasn’t that bad when he got home, he… he should have said something, we would have realised…”
Eddie cut her off coolly. “He told me he didn’t want to bother you.”
His mom reared back as though he had slapped her, and though she opened her mouth to speak she seemed to think better of it, and stayed silent, her cheeks going red. Eddie’s dad also stayed silent, and he looked away when Eddie looked at him.
Eddie got up and went back into Chris’ room, leaving his parents in the hallway. He raised his hand to push the door open and realised it was trembling slightly. His heart was racing too. It was funny - he’d had terrible arguments with his parents over the years, but that comparatively calm conversation had really set him on edge, but in a… a good way, somehow. For once, he’d known exactly what he wanted to say to them, and he’d said it.
Eddie shook his head slightly and pushed the door open.
Buck had moved to sit in the chair that Eddie had been in, and was leaning forward, stroking a hand over Chris’ curls. Chris was lying back against his pillows with his eyes closed, and Eddie could see straight away that he was on the verge of sleep - real sleep, this time. Eddie let the door close behind him; Buck looked up at him as he did, and smiled softly.
Looking back on the moment later - much later - Eddie was surprised at how almost anticlimactic it was. It wasn’t like a bolt of lightning, or a sudden quickening of his heart. In fact it was the opposite - his heart rate slowed, the tremor in his hands ceased, and it was like all the anxiety he’d been holding onto for the last day just leeched from his body. He looked at Buck sitting next to his son and just thought, oh, and that was it.
Eddie smiled back and walked over to join Buck.
“Everything okay?” He asked quietly.
Buck nodded. “Yeah - he stopped crying pretty quickly but it wiped him out,” he said. He gave Eddie a scrutinising look. “Are you okay?”
Eddie nodded. “Yeah, I am,” he said firmly. He smiled again. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
Buck ducked his head bashfully, and Eddie had to fight down a besotted grin. Now was not the time or place for any of his newfound thoughts, not when his parents were about to walk back into the room.
As if reading his mind, the door opened and the two of them trooped back inside, pinched expressions on their faces. Eddie noted that his mom wasn’t holding her tea, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Buck cleared his throat and nodded to the overbed table. “I brought some bagels, if anyone’s hungry,” he said.
Eddie reached over and opened the bag. “Thanks Buck, I’m starving,” he said. And he was - he hadn’t eaten since a late and hurried lunch the day before. The bagels were individually wrapped in foil and still warm.
Ramon shook his head. “We ate before coming here,” he said. He looked vaguely guilty - perhaps it was just now occurring to him that bringing his son something to eat might have been an actually helpful thing to do, as would delivering Chris’ crutches or backpack. Eddie shrugged and handed one of the bagels to Buck before tearing into his own, leaving his father to stew in his thoughts.
Chris slept on while they ate, and Eddie asked Buck quiet questions about how everyone in L.A. was as he started on a second bagel. It had been about twenty minutes when one of the nurses - Eddie really should have listened when she introduced herself earlier - popped her head in to let them know that the morning visiting hours were coming to a close.
"I’m afraid only one person can stay with Chris,” she explained, “but you’re welcome back at four when the evening hours begin.”
She left them with a smile, and Eddie turned to Buck to find that he had his shoulders set and a determined look on his face.
Eddie shook his head. “No, Buck, you’ve been up all night-”
“So have you.”
“Yes, but I was just sat here, you’ve driven eight hundred miles,” Eddie argued back.
Buck shrugged. “It’s fine,” he said. “I’m fine. I’m still used to working forty-eight hour shifts - when was the last time you pulled an all-nighter?”
Eddie opened his mouth to argue the point, but before he could say anything he started to yawn. He started shaking his head as he did so, refusing to let this be a point against him, but Buck was already holding up his hands in a told-you-so gesture.
“Seriously, Eds, go home and get some sleep,” he said. “Come back later and we’ll swap out for overnight.”
Eddie sighed. He really did feel tired. His worry and rage had fueled him through most of the night, but Buck’s presence was a balm that soothed those rough edges, and without them he could feel his exhaustion creeping over him.
“Okay,” he said after a moment. “Okay, you win. I’ll be back at-”
“You can’t be serious!”
Eddie’s head snapped round to look at his mother, who was standing on the other side of Chris’ bed and looking furious. He’d somehow almost forgotten she and his father were there, they’d been so quiet, but clearly Helena wasn’t planning on being quiet anymore.
Chris stirred slightly under the sheets.
“Eddie, come on, this is ridiculous - one of us should stay here,” Helena snapped. She glared over at Buck. “Your friend can come back with you later, it should be family that-”
Chris’ eyes started to flutter, and Eddie had had enough. He stood up abruptly. “Outside, now,” he said through gritted teeth.
Ramon frowned. “Edmundo!”
“Now,” Eddie practically growled. He stalked to the door and threw it open, and scowled at his parents until they made their way back into the hallway, which they eventually did, Ramon looking perplexed and Helena bristling with anger.
Eddie stepped out after them and rounded on them immediately. “Chris is hours out of surgery, he does not need to hear any of this crap.”
“Eddie! Watch your tone,” his mom scolded.
“We are just trying to help,” his dad insisted, sounding frustrated.
“No, I’m done putting up with this,” Eddie said. He was trying to keep his voice down, well aware that the door between them and Chris wasn’t soundproof, but his calm from earlier was rapidly waning. “You can either accept the decisions I am making for my son, or you can stay away, because this? This isn’t help. It is just making the situation about you.”
His mom huffed and folded her arms. “Eddie you aren’t being reasonable - you can’t expect us to just-”
“Do you know what happens when an appendix bursts?” Eddie interrupted.
She blinked. “What?”
“When an appendix bursts,” Eddie repeated. “What happens?”
She frowned, and started to bluster. “Well it… it just… Eddie, what-”
“An inflamed appendix is filled with bacteria, and infected lymphoid fluid, and it all spills out into your torso, getting in amongst all of your internal organs,” Eddie said flatly. “The reason Chris’ surgery took two hours instead of thirty minutes, is because the surgeon had to stay in cleaning out his insides. Literally flushing his organs with saline to clean it out.”
His mom swallowed, looking a little green, and Ramon shifted uncomfortably. “Eddie, really-” he started, but Eddie kept going.
“Appendicitis patients get sent home within 24 hours of a normal appendectomy - you know, like Julia's nephew. Chris is going to be kept here for almost a week. That’s because if the surgeon didn’t get all of it, if she didn’t clean him out properly, it leads to a severe infection, peritonitis, and that can lead to sepsis.” Eddie paused and made sure both his parents were looking at him before he said his next words. “Septic shock can kill you.”
Helena breathed in sharply, and Ramon placed a hand on her shoulder. He coughed. “Son-”
“Do you know the early signs of peritonitis?” Eddie pressed on. “Of sepsis?” His parents both looked away.
“Of course you don’t - why would you need to?” Eddie said. “I do. And so does Buck. We have been trained to know these things. And until Chris is healed, until he is home, and out of danger, one of us is going to be with him at all times, watching for anything wrong. Listening to the two of you complaining about that isn’t something I or Chris should have to deal with.”
Eddie’s voice had definitely risen a couple of notches by this point, and he could see the nurse from earlier at the other end of the corridor, watching them with mingled curiosity and concern. He took a deep breath, forcing himself back under control.
“At some point, the two of you need to accept that I know what I’m doing,” he said simply.
“I’m sorry,” his mom gasped. She looked back at him, and Eddie was startled to see that she had tears in her eyes. “You’re right - I, I wasn’t thinking of… we should have called you,” she stammered, barely able to hold his eye. “If Chris- I’m sorry.”
Ramon nodded, and put his arm around his wife. “We both are,” he said.
Eddie blinked silently for a moment, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it didn’t, he cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he said.
They stood in awkward silence for a few moments, before Ramon reached out and placed his free hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “Mijo - let us drive you home,” he said. “You’re exhausted, you shouldn’t drive. I’ll get a taxi back here and pick your car up for you, so you have it for later.”
Eddie’s knee-jerk reaction was to insist he was fine, but he could see on his dad’s face that this wasn’t just a peace offering, this was his father really trying to be helpful. And, for once, he actually would be.
“Okay, thanks,” Eddie said.
“You could drop me at the store on the way,” Helena said to Ramon, before turning back to Eddie. Like his dad, his mom had a painfully earnest look in her eyes. “I’ll get in some groceries for you, and I’ll make some meals for the… three of you. So you don’t have to worry about that, and you can just concentrate on Chris.”
Eddie glanced away before nodding. “That would be good, thanks.”
Eddie stood with his parents for a moment more, a strange thread of silent understanding hanging in the air that he’d never felt before, before he nodded and turned back to Chris’ door.
Chris was awake, bed in a more upright position and grinning at something Buck was saying to him. Eddie couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Buck shot Eddie a questioning look as he came in, and Eddie just nodded to him.
“Alright mijo, I’m going to head home for a bit, and get some rest so I can come back later,” Eddie said, walking over to Chris’ bedside. “Buck will call me if you need anything.”
Chris nodded, clearly fine with the arrangement. “Okay Dad,” he said.
Eddie bent down to give him a hug, holding on for a few seconds longer than Chris usually allowed these days. He allowed it now. “Maybe make a list of what you want from home, and I’ll bring it all with me later,” he said as he pulled back.
“My phone!” Chris said immediately. “And my Switch. And maybe -”
Eddie shook his head with a grin. “Get Buck to text me, okay? Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Eddie stepped back from Chris to find that his parents were hovering awkwardly on the other side of the bed.
“We’re glad you’re alright Chris,” his dad said, smiling at Chris. “We’ll come and see you tomorrow.”
Eddie’s eyebrows shot up slightly at the implication that they wouldn’t be back again that evening, and he saw that Chris also looked a little surprised. And a lot relieved.
“Take care darling, get some rest,” Helena said, and she leant down to kiss Chris on the forehead. He let her, and even gave her a small smile as she straightened up, though he quickly looked away again and didn’t say anything.
It was a start, anyway.
Helena looked over at Buck, and nodded to him. “Thank you, Buck, for being here,” she said. It sounded sincere, though the accompanying smile was definitely forced.
Buck blinked in surprise, before nodding. “Of course,” he said simply. And Eddie knew it was simple to him - as simple as jumping in his car as soon as he knew that Chris and Eddie needed him.
Eddie’s parents nodded and headed out of the room. Buck followed Eddie to the door and pulled him in for a hug before he left. Eddie sagged against him, and buried his face into his shoulder. “Thank you,” he mumbled into Buck’s hoodie.
“I’ve got your back, Eds,” Buck said. They pulled back and smiled at one another, and Eddie wanted nothing more than to burrow back into his embrace but again - not the time or place.
Soon, he told himself.
Eddie turned back to Chris, who was watching them with a somewhat calculated look which he chose to ignore. “Get some more sleep,” he ordered his son.
“No problem,” Chris said with a sly grin. “Buck just needs to start talking and…”
“Wow,” Buck said, turning away from Eddie and heading back to his chair. “Texas has made you mean.”
“I just call it like I see it, Buck,” Chris said airily.
“And just for that, I’m gonna -”
Eddie smiled and closed the door softly behind him.