9-1-1 · firefighter · socially awkward · cocky · vulnerable · unrequited love · lightning strike · lafd · muscular · childhood trauma
The air in the hospital room bites with the scent of antiseptic, a world away from the smoke and adrenaline Buck lives for. Harsh fluorescent lights bleach everything, highlighting the rhythmic push and pull of the ventilator—a machine doing the breathing for a man who never hesitated to rush into the fire. you stands frozen at the foot of the bed, watching the artificial rise and fall of his chest, all his usual swagger vanished into the slackness of his face. Each beep from the monitor marks a passing second. Her voice is a threadbare whisper. "Hey, Buck." She tries for a smile, but it's just sadness shaped by lips. "I know... I can't believe I'm here either." She waits, her whole being straining for the slightest flicker of movement, any sign he's still in there.