Chapter Text
Eddie Diaz is a master strategist, if he may say so himself.
His shift-plan this week has been absolutely crazy. The 118 ended up severely understaffed due to the flu putting a number of people out of commission. The Plague, as Hen nicknamed it after the fifth person had called in sick by Wednesday, has led to Eddie pulling extra hours whenever possible, yet still by Thursday they had to bring in personnel from the 173 to make up for the loss in manpower. So all in all, it's safe to say that it has been an exhausting week.
Now it is Saturday, Eddie does not have to be back at the station until Sunday evening, and he finally has two full days to spend with Christopher, and maybe get some rest and relaxation in between. Or rather, he could have two full days for all that, if it wasn't for this all the household chores that have been neglected over the week. Eddie for sure didn't have any time for mundane things like laundry or vacuuming, and those jobs definitely don't fall into Carla's realm of responsibilities whenever she's looking after Christopher.
And since the danger of The Plague wreaking even more havoc during the upcoming week is still very much a possibility, Eddie should probably get as much around the house done as quickly as possible, so that he has plenty of quality time left to spend with his son.
Which is where Eddie's tactical genius comes in.
His one indulgence this morning has been to sleep in for an hour longer than normal. Since then, though, he has run a load of laundry, unloaded and re-loaded the dishwasher, cleaned up the entire kitchen, and cleared away the arts and craft corner that has somehow sprung to life in his living room over the past week. Vacuuming the living room and bedrooms has served the double purpose of waking up Christopher, and while his son was busy munching down his cereal with bleary eyes, Eddie put in another load of laundry and gave the bathroom a quick but efficient wipe-down.
But a child that is clean, fed and dressed as well as a house that shows a baseline of order and cleanliness is only half the battle. They're running low on pretty much any kind food that isn't the half-empty glass of olives at the back of the fridge, the origin of which Eddie can't quite recall. Which means a shopping trip to stock up on everything is inevitable. And that either means a lengthy grocery shopping trip with an eight year old who has little to no patience for groceries, or the application of a different strategy.
Divide and conquer.
Eddie Diaz, tactical genius.
Which is why, half an hour later, Eddie finds himself pushing a shopping cart through the grocery store. Alone. Eddie has always prided himself on how he raises Christopher to be as well-adjusted as possible. He wants him to be able to do things on his own, and to feel normal. Christopher has an independent streak a mile wide to prove it. But sometimes, especially when time is of the essence, that independence can seriously test Eddie's patience.
Which is why he is shopping alone now, while Buck is taking Christopher to the park. It's a win-win for everyone, really. Eddie can get the shopping done quickly, he can cross 'take Christopher outside' from today's to-do-list, and it keeps Buck occupied, too. Come to think of it, that scenario means he can cross 'get Buck to go outside' off of today's list, as well. And it's not like he had to twist Buck's arm to get him to do it, either.
It's been almost three months since the tsunami. The scars are still visible all over the city, and some will probably never fade completely, but it's getting better every day. A lot of things are getting better every day. Christopher's nightmares aren't gone entirely, but they're getting fewer and farther in between. Therapy helped, talking about that day helped, being with Buck whenever it became obvious that the boy needed the presence of someone who had shared his experience helped. Christopher will probably always carry that day with him, but hopefully the scars will be minimal.
Buck...well. Buck is Buck. Whenever Christopher needs anything, whatever it is that he needs, Buck is there. At times, it frustrates Eddie that he cannot help his son because he wasn't there during those terror-filled moments when the water was threatening to drag them away. But Buck never seems to mind, even during those nights when Eddie calls him up at 3 a.m. because Christopher needs to hear his voice before he can fall asleep again. Eddie is sure Buck has nightmares of his own to deal with, but being with Christopher seems to help.
Being back at work seems to help, too, even if he's only cleared for light duty. Truth be told, Eddie has never seen someone take to cleaning equipment with the same fervor that Buck has shown over the past four weeks since he's been allowed to come back, but he decides to take it as a good sign. And man, Buck hated the medical supervision of his life that was necessary to get him to this point. But if the events of the tsunami had shown something, then that you could take Buck out of the fire-station, but you couldn't take the firefighter out of him.
No more blood clots have been detected, so the blood thinners must have done their work. By now, Buck has been off the medication for four weeks, because his doctors are convinced that the initial clots were caused by the surgery and Buck pushing his recovery, and not by an underlying condition. He's still under strict supervision, but if he remains clot-free for another eight weeks, his light-duty status will go up for revision. It seems to give Buck the goal he needs.
There's still moments when Eddie worries that something is up, though. There are instances when Buck gets that faraway look in his eyes, days when he seems surprised that Eddie calls him up or asks him to spend time with Christopher, moments when he almost seems worried that Eddie is going to change his mind, though about what, Eddie isn't sure. It's small glimpses, flashes that seem to pass as quickly as they come, but they're there, a nagging worry, an itch Eddie can't quite scratch.
Taking Christopher to the park will probably help, though. Chris has been a bundle of energy this morning, and the fact that his breakfast has consisted of sugary cereal probably hasn't helped, either. With any luck, they're going to power each other out a little, and the rest of this Saturday is going to be relaxed and easy. Eddie is going to cook them a nice lunch, and maybe in the afternoon, they'll take Christopher out for something low-key. There's a new mini-golf place they've been wanting to try out for a while now.
Eddie quickly works his way through his shopping list, eager to get home and get started on lunch. On a whim, he adds some packs of microwave popcorn to his cart on the way to the checkout counter. It feels like a movie-night kind of day. And depending on how much greens and salad he'll manage to make those two eat for lunch, he might even let them talk him into having pizza for dinner.
Maybe. He might need the pizza as a tactical incentive later, so he's keeping his options open.
The supermarket is blessedly empty for a Saturday morning. Eddie finishes his shopping, pays and gets everything loaded into his car. A week's worth of shopping in less than an hour, that has to be a new record. It doesn't take long before he's back home in his kitchen, putting away groceries and pulling out everything he's going to need to get started on lunch.
The thing is, Eddie loves cooking. Being a single father for so long, it's a necessary and acquired skill, of course, and a lot of time it's something that needs to get done as quickly as possible. He's no Bobby, but by now Eddie has a lot of practice in getting a nutritious meal done in a minimal amount of time. During those rare times that he actually has the time to cook, however, he really enjoys it.
He pulls up a playlist on his phone and starts washing the vegetables. He's so lost in the task of chopping up peppers and carrots, it takes him a moment to notice the sound of an engine stopping in front of the house a little while later. Frowning, he checks the digital clock on the fridge to see if he got so lost in the cooking that he missed how much time has passed. It's not quite noon, though, a little more than an hour and a half since Buck and Christopher left. Eddie has expected them home in an hour at the earliest.
Still, it sounded a lot like Buck's jeep, and with a frown Eddie wipes his hands on a dish towel and goes out into the hall. Maybe there was some sort of event at the park, something that stopped them from spending too much time there. He's sure Buck is going to let him know exactly why they're back so early.
He opens the front door, a snide comment about how Buck needs to up his training regimen if an eight year old can exhaust him in such a short time already on his lips, when he stops short at the sight in front of him.
Buck's jeep is parked haphazardly in the driveway, the front bumper just inches away from flattening the mailbox. Buck is no longer in the car though. He is leaning into the backseat, only his back and legs visible. Then he straightens up, and Eddie feels his heart drop in his chest.
Buck isn't helping Christopher out of the car like he might ordinarily do, he is pulling the boy out of the seat, cradling his head against his shoulder as he turns towards the front door. He is pale and his movements are frantic, and suddenly Eddie can't hear anything over the pounding of blood in his ears. Buck stops short at the sight of him, and if possible he grows even paler, before he tears himself out of his stupor and hurries towards the front door, Christopher still clutched in his arms. Eddie's world narrows down to the sight of his son lying in Buck's arms, to the white bandages he now sees around Christopher's leg and hand, to the fact that as far as he can tell, Christopher isn't moving.
"Buck, what happened? What's wrong with Christopher?"
Buck stops on the top step, as if he's afraid to get within Eddie's reach. Up close, he looks pale and sweaty, and absolutely devastated.
"Eddie, I'm so sorry."