Chapter 2
**TWO**
Eddie feels beads of sweat roll down his temple as he presses down on a young man’s chest. The man's wife had called after finding her husband floating unconscious in the pool. Performing CPR, Eddie does compressions, trying to bring the man back. There is blood in the water, and it doesn’t take a scientist to figure out what probably happened. The man was likely running, slipped, and hit his head.
“Eddie! Eddie!” He turns to Buck, who looks down at him as he keeps doing compressions and gets no response. “Eddie, he’s gone.”
***
Hot water burns his skin as he stands beneath the shower. Eddie keeps his eyes on the tiles and bites down the scream he wants to let out. The man was only twenty-five, and just like that, he was gone.
Leaving behind a pregnant wife.
“You left your pregnant wife behind,” says a voice, and he turns with wide eyes towards the man standing behind him.
“Greggs,” Eddie stumbles back as his former army sergeant stares back at him. His face is bloody, and Eddie watches the blood mix with the water.
“I missed you,” says the ghost, and Eddie shuts his eyes tight.
“You’re not real,” he says, turning away. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in days. This was probably his mind playing tricks on him. “Go away,” he whispers, terrified, opening his eyes to find himself alone again.
Grabbing his towel, he scurries out of the showers, dressing as fast as possible. He was probably just tired.
His phone has a message from Frank, and he ignores it as Buck walks into the locker room.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” says Eddie, trying to keep his voice steady. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Buck looks at him with a furrowed brow, and Eddie keeps his face blank. Their eyes meet, and Eddie finds himself in a sea of blue. How could anyone’s eyes be so blue?
“Eddie, if you need to talk—”
“I’m fine, Buck,” he says, trying not to sound as bothered as he is. “People die; it’s part of the job.”