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It was not as if he had intended it.
Buck didn't want to work three days straight, yet somehow he did. The first day was a regular 24-hour shift, but whenever he tried to leave the station, he got stopped.
First, he had to fill in for Hardy from the B shift and then Ramirez from the C shift. It was no big deal, he liked to fill in for his colleagues and everyone on the station knew it.
But right now it was getting a little too much for him.
He had a shift with his regular team in 12 hours and just wanted to go home and sleep until his next shift started.
He was just about to leave the locker room when Captain Miller stopped him.
"Hey, Buckley. Can you cover for Hardy again? He's still sick."
"I'd love to, but I've been here for three days and I have a regular shift in 12 hours," under normal circumstances, he would have said yes, but he'd been here for three almost four days and was at the end of his rope.
But Miller shook his head, "Nobody works three days straight. Come on Buckley, get changed."
And who was he to say no?
When his 12-hour shift with his regular team began, he had no memory of his last shift. He knew they had some calls and he played a role in all of them, but everything else disappeared in the fog that enveloped his brain.
He could barely move, every muscle in his body ached. Buck knew it was getting dangerous, the longer he was awake, the more often mistakes would happen to him and he couldn't afford that.
He doesn't want to let anyone down, especially not his team.
When he saw Bobby enter the station, he tried to go to him, but his muscles didn't move.
"Well, Buckaroo. How was your time off?" suddenly Chimney's voice sounded from behind him. It was not a good sign that he had not even heard him.
"Good.", he muttered. That he wasn't home at all, no one knew.
The locker room was filling up with more and more people. Hen and Eddie greeted him and chatted happily with Chimney.
He couldn't focus on the conversation Chimney kept trying to engage him in. The words buzzed through his head but made no sense. Frustrated, he dropped his head into his hands.
"Are you coming?" a voice suddenly sounded next to him, he couldn't place the voice for the life of him.
Several people moved in front of him, but he couldn't quite place who it was. Everything blurred and human-like blobs of color formed in front of his face. He could hear someone talking to him, but the words just faded away before he could understand what was happening.
He tried to get his legs under him as he tried to stand up with a loud groan. But this plan was doomed from the start, his legs no longer obeyed him.
And then everything went black.
//
As Buck slowly regained consciousness, he was almost certain he would wake up in a hospital.
Accordingly, he was pleasantly surprised when he regained consciousness on the couch at the fire station.
His eyes hurt when he tried to open them and the glare stung his eyes. He tried to sit up, but his arms immediately gave way under him and he collapsed back on the couch.
Dare noticed he was no longer wearing his uniform, instead, he had on a large sweater and sweatpants - both clothes that didn't belong to him. His uniform was nowhere to be seen.
It was pretty quiet in the station, so he guessed they were probably out on a call. He took that as an opportunity to turn on his other side and go back to sleep.
He noticed that someone tried to get him up and then he was accompanied down the stairs by several hands and sat down somewhere.
He did not know where he was nor was he able to get a single word past his lips. He trusted the hands that gently guided him blindly and shortly after the hands stopped moving he was back asleep.
The next time he came to, he was no longer at the station, he could sense that just from the texture of the couch.
The one at the fire station was rough and not exactly ideal for napping, but this one was fluffy and soft so he pressed himself deeper into the cushions.
When he finally managed to open his eyes again, he realized where he was.
In Bobby's living room.
He felt much better in contrast to the first time he woke up. After a few minutes, he managed to sit up and let himself fall exhausted against the back of the sofa.
Someone - probably Bobby - had covered him, the blanket was almost as soft as the couch and Buck would have liked to sink into it.
"He's awake," said May, entering the living room, "Welcome back to the land of the living."
He was about to say something, but his voice caught in his throat. May smiled sweetly at him before hugging Bobby, who just entered the room, and then left the house.
"Hey, kiddo," said Bobby, sitting down across from him on the sofa, "I was worried about you."
"I'm sorry," he mumbled sheepishly, refusing to make eye contact, "A-But I-I don't know what happened..."
He could hear Bobby sigh and it made him wince with guilt.
"You worked for almost four days straight and passed out in Eddie's arms."
Oh, that explains a lot.
"I'm sorry," he mumbles sheepishly, refusing to make eye contact, "How long was I asleep?"
"Almost 18 hours. I think you set a new record," a small smile showed on Bobby's smile, but Buck knew he was going to get a lecture later.
"You want something to eat? I made noodle soup."
He nodded and let Bobby help him to an upright position, on unsteady legs he stumbled into the kitchen and dropped exhausted into a chair.
"Aren't you going to lecture me?" he asked after he had eaten more than half of his soup. Bobby hadn't said a word to him the whole time.
"No," he sighed, "No matter how many times I tell you to take care of yourself, you still don't."
Buck sighed and turned his gaze to the noodle soup in front of him, "I already said I was sorry."
"And I'm telling you that's not enough," Bobby sounded really angry and to be honest, it scared him a little, "You worked more than twice as hard as most of us, to the point where your body completely shut down and you passed out."
Buck was silent, he didn't know what to say in response. He would do it again in a heartbeat if it was necessary, but telling Bobby that would clearly be the wrong answer.
"So why?"
"I-I... I was always the last one in the locker room and well... most people know I take every shift, that's why they always come to me and... I didn't think it would be that bad. Okay, it did in the end, but I-I didn't want to let you down and so-"
He paused his monologue when he saw Bobby's expression shift abruptly from angry to sad and concerned.
"You need to learn to say no, okay?" he didn't sound quite as angry anymore, yet he still didn't like the tone, "I know you love taking shifts and no one blames you, you love this job and that's great, but why hasn't it occurred to you even once to say no. Floaters are there for a reason, you don't have to fill in for everyone."
"I know that and that's why I told Captain Miller and-"
He fell silent, Buck really didn't want to tell on a captain just because he didn't believe him. But when he saw Bobby's prompting look, he knew he didn't stand a chance.
"He didn't believe me...because of the new regulations."
"I'm definitely going to talk to him," Bobby said sternly, "And you have the next three days off. I don't want to see you anywhere near the firehouse."
Buck nodded, fatigue seeming to come over him again.
God, how could he still be tired when he'd just slept eighteen hours?
Usually, he never slept more than six hours a night, so he shouldn't be tired anymore. So why was he?
"Don't ever do that again, okay."
When he nodded ruefully, Bobby kept talking, "Okay, I'll make us some coffee and you check your phone. Eddie called me three times in the last hour to see if you're awake yet."
Of course, he had. Buck had to grin at the mere thought. Eddie could get very protective.
Bobby hadn't been lying. When he glanced at his cell phone he saw numerous messages and missed calls from Eddie, but Hen and Chimney had sent him a few messages as well.
He was so engrossed in responding to all his messages that he didn't even notice Bobby come back with two hot cups of coffee and put one on the table in front of him.
"Want to watch one of your cooking shows?" he asked, to Buck's great surprise.
"Really? The last time we did that, I had to change the channel after 20 minutes."
Bobby smiled, "I'm willing to give the show a second chance."
Buck smiled as he snuggled tightly into the blanket and enjoyed his coffee. Bobby made a few snide comments, always claiming he could cook the dishes a thousand times better than the contestants on the show.
It was perfect.