Burning Flowers

“Well that one was tough.” Chimmy said, plopping down on the couch. “Yeah it was.” Hen stated, looking over at the table where Eddie was sitting with his head in his hands. “His first loss in the field, and it being a kid probably makes it worse.” Hen explained more. “Just hope he can bounce back soon.” Chimmy said, pulling his phone out to text Maddie.

“Hey Eddie.” Bobby said, pulling out a chair and sitting on it. “Hi Cap.” Eddie said quietly. “First loss is always the hardest.” Bobby said, passing him a cup of coffee. “That's the thing, it's not my first loss.” Eddie leaned back into his seat. “I lost people back on my tour, this shouldn’t affect me that much.”

“Maybe. But you see it differently than losing a person back there, you were trying to survive to keep others from dying; seeing horrible things. Here there’s not supposed to be those horrible things, not supposed to be death. But there is, it sucks I know but soon you’ll learn to live with what the world does.” Bobby explained laying a hand on his shoulder.

“It still shouldn’t have happened like that though.”

—

“LAFD Anyone there?!” Bobby shouts as the team enters the school. As they start going through letting kids out of classrooms, “Help! We need help! Someone!”

“Cap!” Eddie shouts. “Go, take Hen with you.” Bobby says over the commons. “LAFD, open the door!” Eddie yells. The door opens to kids in the middle of the room. “What happened?” Hen asked the kids. “He… he came in and..” The kid spoke through tears.

“Ok can you guys give us some space to work.” Eddie says moving to the kid on the floor. “Hey there bud, can you tell me your name?”  Eddie kneels down, ignoring the blood pool on the ground.

“Ch….Charlie.” The kid coughed.

“Ok Charlie, I’m going to cut your shirt open so we can see what's going on. Is that ok with you?” The kid nods shyly. “Hen.” “Already on it.” Hen says, passing gauzes towards him. 

“So Charlie, how old are you, bud?”

“Sev… Seven.”

“Well Charlie, it looks like you lost a lot of blood here.” Eddie says, looking at the ground beneath them.

“Yeah….k..kinda stinky.” Charlie stutters.

“Yeah it kinda is. Well this is going to hurt a bit but I have to pack this wound if we're going to make it to the Hospital. Then we’re going to move you onto the back-board.” Eddie says, putting pressure on the bullet wound. 

The scream from Charlie tore through the school. “Cap, get these kids out of here, they don’t need to see this.” Eddie said, over the commons. “Copy that.” He hears over the radio.

“Hen, how are his vitals?”

“Not good, we need to get him to a hospital right away.” Hen says, move to get the back-borad.  The monitor went off, “His coding, Hen the pads!” Eddie yells, grabbing the pads from her. “Ok, charger to two-hundred…. Clear.” The shock vibrated the boy's body, Eddie started compressions again.

“Charger to three-hundred…..Clear.” Charlie's body joints again, Eddie starts compressions again.

“Eddie.” He hears from the side of him.

“Eddie, he's gone.” Hen says pulling him away from Charlie's now lifeless body. “Guys you ready to go.” Chimmy comes into the doorway. “Oh….I’m,” Chimmy pauses to look at the scene in front of him. “I’ll go get Cap.”

“Eddie, we should go.” Hen whispers. “Yeah we should.” Eddie says, putting the supplies away in the medical bags. “Ok lets go.” Hen says putting a hand on the small of his back.

“Ok let's wrap this up guys, when we get back I’ll call dispatch to take us off the ration for a bit.” Bobby says, giving the team a knowing look.

—

“I know, kid. How about you get dressed? You have the rest of the shift off.” Bobby says getting up. “No Cap I can work.” Eddie protests.

“Eddie, go see your kid, that's an order. We’ll see you next shift.”

“Ok.” Eddie agrees, already running down the stairs to the locker room.

“So how's he doing Cap?” Hen asks, putting her book down. “He's doing as good as you can be. He just needs to see his kid, he’ll be back next shift.” Bobby explained.

“Yeah I get that I still worry about Denny when kids are involved on a call. Even though I know he's safe with Karen.” Hen tells them.

“I might be able to get Buck to talk to him.” Bobby says. “Yeah, if you can get those two in the same room.” Chimmy laughed remembering the last time the two were in the same room.

“Yeah those two couldn't keep giving each other death glares.” Hen gave Bobby her phone with a picture of Buck and Eddie glaring at each other.

“I bet if I talk to him about why he will.”

“Yeah, Buck's good like that, even if he hates the guy he’ll still try to help.” Chimmy says. “Well I’m going to give him a call and see.” Bobby says, getting up to go to the kitchen.

—

“Dad!” Chris yells running out the school doors. “Hi bud.” Eddie says, pushing off his car meeting his son half away.

“Why are you here?” The boy asks in his Dads arms.

“Can’t I just come and see my son.” Eddie put down Chris. “So how's your day been, Mijo?”

“It's been great Dad!” Chris smiles.

“Well Mijo, let's get in the car cause we’re going to the Zoo today.” Eddie says, guiding the boy to the car.

—

“Okay, Chris, go to the bathroom. I'll be waiting out here.” Eddie says leaning against the brick wall. “Ok Dad.” Chris says, walking into the bathroom. Eddie was about to text Karen about wine night when he got a text from Carlos.

“Hey man, how’s LA treating U and Chirstoper?”

“Good, right now we're at the Zoo”

“So that's all I’m getting, is that ur at the Zoo?”

“Sorry, hmm lets see, an old teammate of the 118 hates me, though I don't want him to because he’s kinda cute. 😐 Everyone on the team loves Chris. I also had my first loss on the job.”

“Oh Eddie, that must suck. 🙁”

“Yeah it does, the only reason we’re at the Zoo is because the person who died was a kid 😔”

“Oh… so it was a hard call?”

“Yup indeed, but spending time with Chris helps”

“That's good, but hold up, can we go back to you thinking that one of the old 118 teammates is cute? 😏”

“Ok if you could see him u would think so too”

“Ehh, I already have a boyfriend, I don't need a new one”

“Oh so you two finally worked it out? 😯”

“Yes we did. But that doesn’t matter rn, I want to know more about this ‘cute guy’ u met 😏”

“There's nothing to talk about anyway, cause he HATES me Carlos”

“Oh come on he can't hate u that much”

“Yeah sure cause giving your supposed ‘patient’ a death glare doesn’t mean they hate u 😑”

“Ok fair.. Wait patient? Did you get hurt again and not tell me?”

“It was just a burn Carlos, nothing too serious”

“Ok good, cause after TK I don’t think I can take another person I love getting seriously hurt”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask how TK has been doing”

“Good, other than he still gets really cold at night”

“Well tell him I say hi. I have to get Chris home before it's too late to do homework”

“Ok then bye Edmundo, also say hi to the little squirt for me 😁”

“I will, and don't call me Edmundo 😤”

“🫡”

—

“Hey Buck.” Bobby's voice came over the phone. 

“Hi Bobby, what do you need? I kinda need to get going.”

“Oh sorry I can call back if you really need to go.” Bobby says in a rush. “No no, what do you need?” Buck asked, closing his apartment door behind him.

“It's just we had a bad call, it was Eddie's first loss. He was a kid, Buck.” Bobby says, trying to convince him. “Bobby, I…I just can't. I’ve been really busy at work, and still trying to figure this thing out with the Interns. Also I can’t be in that place.” Buck says waving Taylor down to help him with his stuff.

“I know Buck, I just thought it would be nice.”

“You know I’d love to, but I just… I’m too busy.” Bucks says, closing the trunk of the car. “I get it Buck, have a good day at work.”

“Yeah you too.” Buck hears the call disconnect from the other end. “Ready to go?” Taylor raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, sorry Bobby called.” He explained.

“What did he want?”

“He wanted to see if I'd go to the station for lunch.” Buck said, scrolling through his notes on his phone. “And I guess with that long face of yours, you said no again?”

“What's so wrong with that?” Bucks sigh. “It's not like I’m doing it on purpose.”

“I know that, but do they know? Buck, I know you haven’t been to the station since the last time you rode with the 118 but are you sure that this time it's not about a certain Firefighter?” Earning a grin from the blond.

“So it is about Eddie!” Taylor claimed.

“Maybe.” Buck mutters under his breath. “What was that, did I just hear Mr. Evan Buckley say ‘maybe’ to something about Eddie.” Her eyes widened.

“No, I’ve told you I’m not ready yet, Taylor. Especially right now with the Hospital and the research project, I-.”

“Buck I know you're busy okay, but someday you have to get back out there.” Taylor cuts him off. “For now we're going to listen to some music, and go to work. We’ll talk about this another time.” She plugged in her phone, turning the volume up, and rolling the windows down.

—

The car was filled with blasting music, windows down, wind blowing; coming at their faces while they drove. 

You know you make me feel good,

And that's something I don't take for granted lately, no,

And those eyes, that smile, yeah it glows,

But I can't help feeling like something's missing though,

The duo started taking turns singing a line of the song. “You’re pretty good” The blond sang, looking at the passing cars. “Probably better.” The redhead sang.

The duo paused looking at each other before starting the next line together. “But please don’t waste your pretty time on me.” Their voices mixed together like they did this before. Seeing how it was Taylor and Buck it made sense, they always go on rides like this just to sing and enjoy each other's company.

'Cause I could fall for you if I,

Wanted to,

And I could get attached and love the hell out of you,

Yeah I could fall for you if I let myself,

But I don't think I'm ready to love someone else,

And I hate him for not letting me feel like I can finally breathe,

I hate it,

'Cause I could fall for you if I wanted to,

But I can't,

Buck signals to Taylor to turn the music down, which she does. “What is it, Buck?” She asks. “Just that you might be right.” Buck imitates. “Right about what exactly?” “You know.” Buck says bleetly.

“No I don't know.” Taylor says rolling the windows up.

“About how I’m scared to get back out there.” He said, looking away from her.

“Oh, Buck.”

“I know it's so stupid, I shouldn’t be this scared to put myself out there again.” He said, sounding more disappointed in himself.

"I know this isn't easy",

That's all that people tell me,

When you come out of a love as the one who's not enough,

It feels like there's no healing,

“Buck, it's okay to be scared about something like this. You were tricked into marrying that man. But now you have me, Zach, the 118, and honestly probably the whole Hospital to lean on.” Taylor said, looking at him while he tried to hide his shame; Taylor can read him like a book.

“You haven't told 118?” Taylor says softly

Buck shakes his head,”No I haven’t. It just never comes up in a convestion.”

“Does it not come up, or do you avoid it so you don’t have to talk about it.” Taylor said, knowing Buck so well. “The second one.” Buck says, laying his head on the window of the car. “Buck.”

“I just don’t want them to see me as weak. They knew I had time on my hands after what happened, but they didn’t ask why. So it just never came up and now that he's gone there's no reason to bring it up.” Buck explained.

“Buck I know that you hate what happened, but you came into the Hospital beaten to crap. How did that not come up?” Taylor looks at Buck.

And I know you're probably best for me,

I see the way you look at me & I hate it,

'Cause I could fall for you if I wanted to,

But I can't,

“Because maybe, I don’t want them to know!” Buck yells. “I.. I didn’t mean to..”

“I know you didn’t mean to, I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“No it's okay, I should tell them just.. I still haven’t gotten over it yet.” Buck shies away. “And that's okay, you don’t need to be over it.” Taylor grabbed his hand.

“Taylor, it’s been three years.”

“Buck there's no time frame for healing from something like this.” Taylor squeezes his hand. “Ok.” Bucks says, wiping away a tear that fell without his knowning.

You know that I would,

You're so much better,

But that's not enough,

If I can't get over,

The way he used to look at me,

And how he left so easily,

“Ok, then let's get to work.” She says turning onto the street to the Hospital. “Those kids won't last a day without you.” Making Buck laugh. “Yeah the nurse would probably end up huddling together in a corner.” Buck says.

“If I was to tell you the truth, they might have once you were out with Chirs at the ZOO.” Taylor tells him. “Wait really, they did not!” He says getting out of the car. “Oh they did.”

'Cause I could fall for you if I wanted to,

And I could get attached and love the,

hell out of you,

Yeah I could fall for you if I let myself,

But I don't think I'm ready to love,

someone else,

And I hate him for not letting me feel,

like I can finally breathe,

I hate it,

“Me and Zach got a page from one of them, when we got there they were all covered in marker and pen.” Taylor laughs. “Please tell me you have photos.” Buck asks.

“Oh no, we were sworn to secrecy to never show anyone those photos.” Taylor says walking through the Hospital doors.

And I know you're probably best for me,

I see the way you look at me & I hate it,

'Cause I could fall for you if I wanted to,

But I can't,

“Well I guess I just have to steal your phone someday.” Bucks says clicking the elevator button. “Well I guess I’ll just have to keep my phone close to me all the time.” Taylor says, waving her phone in Buck's face.

The elevator doors open, “What are you guys doing?” Zach questioned. “She has photos of the nurse being bullied into a corner, and I want to see them.” Buck pouts.

“Oh yeah, no, you can’t see those. Taylor.” Zach says, giving her a signal to pass her phone to him. “Oh I'm going to get that phone.” Buck starts running after him, Taylor tailing after them. People watched as the trio ran through the hallways like kids.

Zach stops abruptly, making Buck run into him cause them to fall. “Why did you stop?” Buck questioned getting off of him. “Mhm.” A strong voice interrupted.

“That's why.” Zach whispered.

“Hey Chief, we were just heading to the break room.” Buck pushes Zach down the hall.

“Taylor.” The Chief spoke.

“Chief, I really should make sure they don’t get lost.” Taylor said moving passed quickly.

“Just don’t run in the hallways!” He yells down to the redhead that was already gone.

“You know they’re just going to do it again.” A nurse says. “Yeah but I have to look like I’m trying to keep them in order.” He says, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yeah, but you can’t say it's not fun seeing them running through these halls like children. It lights up the place.” The nurse says laying her hand on his shoulder.

“It is fun, they got all of us wrapped around their fingers.”

“And we’re all okay with it.” The woman says looking around the floor full of laughing doctors and nurses watching Zach running away from Buck while Taylor follows behind.

“Zach over here.” Taylor says catching the phone; running the other way causes Buck to fall.

Everyone burst out into laughter,  no one caring that they have things to do. 

“Ok guys, I know we all love to watch these kids chase after each other but we have patients to take care of.” The Chief says clapping.

With that the trio went to work not caring about their playful chase they had.