Chapter Text
It was a quiet day at the station and everyone was nearing the end of their shift. Everyone was gathered at the table having the same conversation with one another while Bobby was cleaning dishes. The conversation was about what inspired them to become a firefighter. Almost everyone was excited to share their answer except for Buck, who was trying to figure out who inspired him to become a firefighter. For the life of him he couldn’t remember the name of the Captain who kept him awake while fire and rescue worked to get him free from his jeep. Buck was interrupted out of his thoughts by Hen who was shaking his shoulder trying to get his attention.
“Buck? Did you hear me?” Hen asked, looking slightly concerned.
“Ummm… No sorry I was lost in my thoughts. What was your question?” Buck asked as he looked at everyone else who was staring at him.
“What inspired you to become a firefighter? Everyone else has already told their story, even Bobby has and he’s not even done the dishes.” Hen stated her tone held a sense of curiosity.
“Oh right, well where should I start?” Buck rhetorically asked. “It’s quite a long story. I’ll tell you the short story.”
“Ok Buck we’re listening.” Chim said with a smile.
“Well it was almost 10 years ago I was in a pretty bad car accident and-” Buck pauses as he’s interrupted by Eddie who was sitting beside him.
“Wait, wait, wait if this starts with a car accident you have to tell the entire story.” Eddie exclaimed.
“Alright, alright, alright.” Buck said with a heavy sigh. “Like I said it was almost 10 years ago, I was in a pretty bad car accident in Minnesota.”
“Hold on, what were you doing in Minnesota?” Bobby asked as he turned to look at Buck.
“Ok I’ll explain everything.” Buck responded.
Bobby remembered there was a pretty big accident on one of the bridges in minnesota. There was a driver of an 18 wheeler truck that was carrying some fish delivery. The Driver who had been driving non stop for 16 hrs had fallen asleep at the wheel. The truck drove through the barrier and into oncoming traffic. The truck ended up hitting a dark-colored jeep which rolled a few times before hitting the guard rail. However the truck driver couldn’t stop the truck from pushing the jeep in between a gap in the guardrail. It did keep the back end trapped between the guard rail preventing the car from going into the water.
“As I said, it was about 10 years ago, I’m not sure I remember all the details, but I’ll try my best.” Buck spoke as he got into the story.
Everyone was gathered and glad the shift was almost over, they could see some of the B shift starting to come in for work.
Buck 10 years ago Driving towards Minnesota
Buck’s been driving on and off for the past week spending a little bit of time in the different states he’s driven through, he was hoping to get to Minnesota today. According to his GPS he should be reaching the welcoming sign of Minnesota. The roads out there were wet and slippery which made travel time a lot slower compared to a dry sunny day. After his recent fight with his parents he couldn't stay any longer, so he grabbed everything he needed and all the money he had and took off. He had maybe a week or two before he needed to find another job or else he’d run out of money. Buck’s had many different jobs since he was 16 years old, he’s currently 21 years old. He had celebrated his 21st birthday in Chicago at a bar not too long ago. He was feeling a little sad because no one even called him to wish him a happy birthday. Buck smiled as he saw the welcome to Minnesota sign. He smiled as finally arrived at his destination, he quickly pulled over on the side of the road and searched for a motel he could stay at. While Hotels were usually nicer to be in, he was on a tight budget. Which made motels the better place for him to be, some nights he’d be lucky enough to just sleep in his car with the pile of blankets in the back. He clicked save on his GPS for a nearby motel before searching for a nearby pizza place. Buck couldn’t remember the last time he enjoyed a really good meat lover's pizza. It must have been a year or two since the last time he went out and got some for himself. He signaled to indicate he was turning before promptly continuing the drive, making his way to the pizza place. He was so focused on his thoughts he didn’t see the 18 wheeler losing control and veering into his lane. All he heard and felt were the sounds of tires screeching, glass breaking and a crunching noise as something hit his side of the vehicle.
Present time
“I remember telling the captain all I wanted was a fucking pizza.” Buck said with a small smile. “The captain responded with, when you get out of here, I'll buy you a pizza myself.” He laughed slightly. “I never did get that pizza though.”
“Wait, how does this have anything to do with you becoming a firefighter?” Chim asked as Buck paused in his retelling of a story.
“I mean I remember bits and pieces the fire captain Made me feel safe, and heard. I can’t remember what else we talked about but the kindness shown, I wanted to say thank you but couldn’t find the captain after I fully recovered.” Buck tried to explained to the team.
“Again, that still doesn’t quite explain why this accident made you want to become a firefighter.” Chimney repeated, sounding a bit sassy.
“It’s a bit of that and what happened after, when I was allowed to leave for an hour to get a break from the hospital, because I was still in recovery and they wanted to do a few more checks.” Buck paused as he looked at Bobby who almost looked to be in tears. “I walked by this nearby apartment fire, and I helped this lovely woman and her children escape an apartment floor from their 5 th story balcony.” He spoke as he played with his fingers.
“What happened after that?” Came Bobby's oddly quiet question.
“I called for paramedics and stayed with them until help arrived. I’m not sure what happened, but to feel the appreciation from complete strangers, made me realize that maybe I could be appreciated for the work that I do” Buck elaborated. “After that I moved on to the next state.” He spoke as he got up. “I’m heading home, it’s late and I’d like to relax before the next shift.”
Bobby excused himself, before heading towards the bathroom door. A rush of emotions trying to escape, he remembers the phone call from that day. His wife and children were rushed to the hospital with severe difficulty in breathing, even with the help of oxygen masks. He was guilt ridden for days as doctors tried their best, but to no avail. His wife and children later died in the hospital; the smoke inhalation was too severe. Bobby didn’t know how long he stayed in the bathroom, all he knew was that he needed to fill Buck in on everything he forgot.