digging up a friend

Maddie jolted when the door flew open mere seconds knocking on it. She was met with a distressful Buck ushering her inside the apartment. This morning, she received a text from her younger brother in need to confide someone. Sounded quite desperate for sought out for his older sister's advice to the unknown dilemma.

"So, what was so urgent that you needed me to come down in person rather than telling me on the phone?" Maddie inquired as she settled at a seat in the kitchen.

Buck leaned on the counter and took a deep breath. "I think I'm in love with Josie...again." He observed his older sister's face who enveloped an intrigued expression.

From there, Buck proceeded to entail Maddie everything. The moment he recognized his feelings for Josephine to embarking on this love confession to only have bad timing. Which led to burying those feelings and move by entering in a relationship with Ali where it lasted a few months. Then, his friendship shifting due to her distant behavior to him damaging it with the lawsuit to which he lost her trust for the next few months. Within those few months consisted of the cold shoulder the second he returned to the firehouse. It all changed on the night they were at the bar to having a drunken hook up that evolved into a friends with benefits at the top of the year.

Despite promising to not catch feelings for one another, Buck's unresolved feelings for Josephine have surfaced even stronger.

Once finished, Buck studied Maddie's face as he anticipated for her response.

Her lips parted, glancing up with knitted brows. "Wow, it makes so much sense. Every time you had to rain check our plans, you..."

"Yeah."

Maddie nodded along, "I shouldn't be too surprised because it was bound to happen but wow."

"I get that you're processing but can we get back to my problem, please?" He pleaded to earn his sister's nod to continue. "At first, this no strings attached idea wasn't bad. I never intended for my feelings to...come back." He huffed.

"Can I be honest?" Maddie pressed her lips together, waiting until Buck gestured. "I love you, but you were fooling yourself to agree to this. Your feelings for Josie were only suppressed because she found someone else. To find this sense of closeness such as sleeping together would bring up those feelings even after months. Plus, you two have established a good relationship in the first place..."

His shoulders sunk, grumbling out. "You're right."

"What you need to do stop sleeping with her. At least tell her your true feelings because you're just taking advantage of her for your fantasy at this point." Maddie cited in a firm tone.

"I don't want to lose her again. She's one of my best friends."

"You won't. The both of you have declared how important this friendship means to you. Besides, you never know what she'll say." Maddie hid a tiny smirk at the last part. 

Buck kept that in mind before sending a nod of gratitude. "Thanks." His face scrunched up, "Please don't tell Chimney about this. He can't keep a secret. Josie will kill me if this gets out to anyone in the firehouse."

She let out a scoff, a bit offended. "Unlike you and Chimney, I can manage to keep a secret." Her gaze lingered onto her brother when she sang out, "Can't believe my little brother is in love." 

Meanwhile, Josephine met up with Bryan at a restaurant to catch up between their busy lives.

Josephine set down her drink after a sip, waiting for the meals to be served. "So, did you buy a gift for the baby shower?" She wondered, referring to Lucas and Whitney who'll be welcoming their first child into the world in a couple of months. 

"Not yet, but I was hoping after this you would help me." Bryan said with a sheepish grin.

She sent him a disapproving nod, hindering a laugh. "You're lucky that I haven't bought anything yet."

He chuckled out, "I appreciate it. Between the meetings and company growing, I haven't had enough free time. Funny thing, this is the first time I've spent with someone that isn't work related."

"I'm completely honored to be in your presence then." Josephine dramatically gasped, placing a hand upon her chest earning an immediate eye roll. 

The waiter arrived at their table with an elated smile to lay their meals down. He asked if they needed anything else to which they dismiss for him to stalk off and attend other customers. 

"Maybe you should take a deserving vacation after all that work. It's always good to give yourself a break." Josephine gave him a stern look, pointing her fork at him. 

"Well, I am kind of on a vacation with this work trip out of the country."

"A real vacation, Bryan." She emphasized. "It doesn't have to be a huge one, a little getaway perhaps. Like the ones I used to drag you out when you were crammed in your work."

"I get it." He surrendered. "I'll try to insert time for myself in my jam-packed schedule."

Bryan snuck a glance at Josephine diving into her plate. "You and Vanessa make up?" He leaned back into his seat.

"We did, actually. Vanessa showed up at my door apologizing after mom accidentally spilled about what I've dealt with last year." She shared with him. 

"Your mom might've been glad she spilled then."

Josephine let out a humorless laugh, "Which is why I'm using accidentally lightly."

Inside the locker room at the firehouse, Buck proceeded to button up his shirt while staring into the reflection of the mirror. His thoughts were scattered upon the start of this shift. One that he dreaded due to having to face and be next to the woman he's in love with for the next 24 hours. Since his conversation with Maddie, he's been making up somewhat plausible excuses from hanging out with Josephine. He was anxious about how to confess his feelings more so the best timing and her reaction. Their friendship has shifted, and this bombshell will cause another to his dismay.

He couldn't let himself believe that her romantic feelings would remain mutual since her marijuana brownie confession last year. Everything has changed so much then. He wondered if Josephine felt like this way when she was in his shoes—going crazy and wishing to cease the existence of these feelings.

Incoming steps into the room caught Buck's attention to Josephine arriving. "Good morning." She elicited a tight-lipped smile.

"Morning." Buck nodded; eyes lingered onto the brunette traveling to her locker before shutting his locker. He slipped on his shoes at the bench keeping his head down as the awkward silence carried in the room.

"What have you been up to since ghosting me in the last week?" Josephine mused, looking over her shoulder.

Buck halted tying his shoelace. He sighed, "I'm not ghosting you, Josie."

She spun around then lean on the locker with arms crossed upon her chest. "Kind of feels like you've been dodging me. If there's anything going on, you can tell me."

"Of course. Maddie is rearranging her apartment and has dragged me to help her out." He excused although Josephine didn't seem too convinced, yet she nodded shortly. Buck rose from the bench once finishing his other shoe.

"I'm going to grab something to eat before shift starts." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder with a forced grin. Taking his exit out of the locker room, Buck exhaled in relief and was uncertain how he'll be able to handle the entire shift.

Sirens came to a halt at a standalone house in large land where Athena waited for them. Two children were out playing in an open field and by the time Joy, the mother called them back inside, only one of them returned. Athena's first instinct was a kidnapping case, however, interviewing the mother her eyes caught a picture frame of an old photo of a vintage car parked in front of a windmill. Except the windmill had been torn down years ago though utilized as a water pump. Which led them to believe the boy Hayden went down in a well on an abandoned property.

The 118 scattered in search of Hayden with the hopes to find him. Josephine and Eddie partnered up to cover a section of the land. When they strolled down past a white picket fence, Eddie nodded to the brunette woman that it appeared to be broken into. They slithered through the fence and surveyed the area.

"Eddie," Josephine whispered, pointing to a miniature toy army tank on the ground. She crouched down as he followed and picked it off the ground. Clearly, they were on the right track to Hayden's whereabouts. Furthering past the garden and to the section behind led them to discover shoe prints on the wooden boards.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Eddie yelled out to the team. He and Josephine began to remove the junk stacked up in a haste. Chimney radioed in Bobby of their potential lead. Under the pile was the well Bobby and Athena discussed about. Considering it was too dark to seek out for Hayden, Bobby suggested they needed a visual.

The team and Athena watched carefully on the screen where Chimney and Buck was dropping 50 feet of cable inside the tube.

"Can a boy even survive a fall that far?" Athena pondered.

Hen interjected before Bobby could answer. "Well, the well's narrow, so there's lots of friction to slow a fall." She glanced at the well behind her. "But if he's really down there..."

"There. Right there." Eddie called when the sight of the top of Hayden's head appeared.

"Hey, he's alive!" Buck remarked.

Josephine pressed her lips together, staring at the screen nervously. "Look at the way he's pinned. Arms forward, chest constricted, shallow breath."

"45 feet. At that depth, oxygen's an issue." Chimney informed. "Cap, we gotta get a line of compressed air down there ASAP."

"You found him?"

"Okay, Commissioner, what are we working with?"

"The well sits on a water table that's about 50 feet down." He unfolded the map. "Fed by a reservoir here about a ½ mile over."

"Right now, that boy is trapped at 45 feet." Bobby commented.

"He falls another 5, he drowns." The Commissioner stated.

Eddie chimed in, his eyes never leaving the map. "Can't pull him out from above. No way to access him from the side of the reservoir." He flickered to the trio next to him.

"There could be some intersecting feeder pipes down there, maybe some drainage tunnels, but frankly, this system predates our maps. We have no way to know."

Buck looked up, "So how do we get him out?"

"We dig." Bobby proposed as he laid out a structured plan. "We set up a drill rig south of the well. We use it to dig a parallel tunnel, wider, slightly deeper, then we go down. Punch across by hand to access the well. Hopefully, we can pull the boy out."

"Punch across by hand?" Buck repeated. "Feels like a lot of distance to cover when you're 40-something feet down."

"We drill our tunnel any closer and we risk compromising the integrity of the well pipe." The Commissioner quipped. 

"If it cracks, the whole thing could collapse." Josephine gathered.

"Right on top of the kid."

The sun fell by the time reinforcements arrived to orchestrate the rescue plan that Bobby set. Soon there were obstacles that would be troubling the first responders. One being the incoming thunderstorm and two being newscast reporters intruding the grounds for a story. Pressure added and time began to be limited for this crucial save of the young boy stuck in the well.

Bobby bid his goodbye to this wife responding to a dispatch call. He retreated to the site where his team prepped. "Okay, rig is ready to drill. How's he doing?" He asked Chimney.

"Hasn't moved in a while. Could've fallen asleep down there." Chimney's eyes stayed on the screen before whipping his head to his Captain.

Squatted near the well, Eddie announced. "We're ready to put the radio down."

"How far down before we lose signal?" Buck walked up to the duo.

Bobby shook his head, "No way to know. Go down 40 feet and we'll see what happens."

"Copy that." Buck reported to back to Eddie, assisting him with the radio.

Incoming, Josephine and Hen guided the frantic mother where the team has been surveilling Hayden for the last few hours. "So, I'll be able to talk to him?" She sniffled as her heart ached for her son.

"Well, you might not be able to hear him but hopefully he'll hear you." Hen reassured the mother.

Nodding in agreement, Josephine comforted. "Just let him know you're here and help is on the way." Chimney handed the headset to the mother who attempted to compose herself, clinging onto the hope in communicating with Hayden.

"Radio's at 40 feet, Cap."

"Okay, let's do this. Everybody off, all channels." Bobby instructed his team to which they switched off in response.

Joy went ahead to press on the radio to call on her son as tears welled in her eyes. Watching her from the sidelines was difficult on the members while she pleaded for him. Eventually, Hayden's ability to hear his mother's voice through the radio dropped down in the well succeeded. He looked up into the camera reeling relief to everyone. However, Joy wasn't able to stay on longer due to the override of emotions. Josephine and Hen consoled her with Eddie taking over the radio where he introduced himself and soothed him to what felt scary to the young boy.

Unfortunately, hell indeed rain over on the rescue—slowing the first responders down. They were fragile on time now with Hayden in the well for ten hours. The rain wasn't going to stop pouring nor the incoming thunder that could possibly hit the drill rig to endanger everyone on the site. Eddie volunteered himself to go down to quicken the process.

By the time Eddie reached to Hayden, the 30-minute window cut down to the last minute then. His team didn't get the chance to hear his status from his radio's troubled signal. So, the moment he felt victorious to grab Hayden, he felt the tug on the rope which began pulling him off.

Out of impulse, Eddie cut the line.

"Josie, I want you to gear up. I'm sending you down."

The pressure intensified on the team with Eddie now trapped under and resetting for any visual of either him or Hayden. With the daunting sound of the lightning nearing didn't help them. They could only cling onto the hope that time will be on their side to save the latter below.

"Copy that." Josephine nodded firmly as she assisted Chimney to get the system back on track.

Buck rushed up to Bobby. "Cap, I should be the one to go down." He proclaimed, heaving through the rush and the thought of his friend.

"So, we can end up with two cut lines?" Hen shot a glare at him.

"Camera's back. Still can't see." Chimney shared, redirecting the team's attention to the screen. Although, the screen shown no sign of Hayden or Eddie merely dark. "Camera's underwater."

Everyone had a concerned look as Hen commented. "Hopefully it's just the camera."

The plan was set in motion for Josephine to be lowered in the well as their eyes and ears. Buck traveled to where the brunette geared up along with everyone else around them at their assigned stations.

"Stay safe." Buck exhaled deeply; his mind scrambled in worry.

"I will." Josephine told in a serious tone. Her face softened already reading the fearful look on his face. "Don't worry. Once I come back, we will get Eddie too. You won't get a second cut line." She humored light, gracing a smirk upon her lips.

He kissed his tongue, "Right."

"Just make sure you don't let go of that line." She patted his arm.

"Never."

Once hooked onto the line, Josephine descended gently into the depths of the well. Meanwhile, Eddie awakened from being unconscious after the drop to the sound of Hayden's small, terrified voice. They reunited when Josephine's calls were heard.

"Eddie, can you hear me?"

"Eddie."

His face broke out into a grin once he came face to face with Josephine. The two erupted into laughter now at ease that they've found each other.

"Oh my God."

"I was afraid I was gonna have to save your life."

"Yeah, Hayden and I are just fine, right?" Eddie shivered, tightening the emergency blanket around the little boy.

"Come on, let's get you guys out of here." Josephine said. Eddie help situate Hayden properly into her arms. "Hayden, I'm gonna take you up to see your mom, okay?" She secured an arm around his small body.

She casted her eyes upon Eddie. "I'm gonna send another line down for you. Try not to cut this one...pendejo." She sent him a glare that caused a loose chuckle slip from his mouth as she tugged onto the line to notify the team on the surface.

"Here we go, buddy. Ready?" Josephine felt Hayden tightened his grip on her when they started to ascend. "There we go. All right. Hold on tight!" She continued to speak in a soft tone to help him relax.

Outside of the well, a news reporter stood in front of the camera. "A second firefighter has now descended into the tunnel. We're not certain why, but we hope...wait there's movement." She looked back seeing Josephine return with Hayden in her arms.

The crowd of first responders applauded for the successful rescue. Joy sobbed once Hayden appeared on the surface. Josephine handed the woman back her son before Hen escorted the mother and child out to the side.

"Eddie's fine. He just needs a ride." She told them, once back on her feet.

Bobby turned to yell out, "I need to drop another 50-foot line to get my guy. Buck, let's pull Eddie up and let's all go home."

The weather had other plans when lightning struck the drill rig leading an explosion to hit the ground and the drill rig falling over where all first responders tried to dodge the imminent destruction. Josephine groaned to rise up and feel her heart tugging from the screams that belonged to Buck digging for their friend who seems to be trapped with their main entrance covered up. 

The first responders went to recuperate after the incident outside. A lot of them roamed in the house when Buck charged down the staircase to catch Bobby walking outside.

"Cap, we gotta go dig."

"We don't have a drill, Buck," Bobby reminded, continuing to walk towards the door. "—and even if we could get another one up here, their access road is flooded." He mentioned the state of the horrific weather.

"Okay. Well, then, we dig by hand." Buck offered.

Chimney disagreed from where he stood on the front porch with Josephine. "Not with all this rain. We could trigger another collapse."

Buck glanced at the LAFD USAR leader next to him. "How long can he last down there?"

"We're talking 30 feet of wet earth coming right down on top of him."

Looking around at their solemn faces, Buck assumed to what they meant. "Wait, you all think he's dead."

"Nobody thinks that." Bobby shut him down.

Josephine explained, "We just don't know how to get him out."

"Nobody's giving up on him. Nobody. We're gonna find him." Hen showed up on Buck's other side to clarify.

They were a family. Neither one of them would be willing to leave without one another. Neither did Eddie pushing himself underground to get back on that firetruck for them and Christopher.

"Okay listen up, Buck here is gonna get some thermal cams. We are going to fan out and do a grid search. Chimney is gonna have oxygen tanks and warming blankets standing by. I wanna start at the well and go outward in concentric circles."

"LAPD copters are on the way. We'll use their thermal imaging scan this wider area. Try to pick up Diaz's heat signature."

A heaving voice interrupted the debriefing, "Won't be easy."

Heads swiveled and bodies moved back for the pathway of the exhausted firefighter.

"Eddie?"

"Eddie!"

"I'm pretty cold." He breathed out.

"Eddie!"

The team raced to Eddie when he dropped to the ground. Tears of happiness were in their eyes to see him as they secured him to stand up.

"Let's get you checked out buddy. So, we can get you home."

"Yeah. I got a big date Friday."

The weather cleared up at the end of shift that took a toll on the members of the 118. Clocking out couldn't have been relieving for the group to exchange out of their uniforms and into civilian clothes to rest back home. The members began to file out of the locker room paving their exit out of the firehouse as the next shift entered to clock in. Buck bid his goodbyes to his colleagues, tugging on the strap of his duffel bag while skimming through his phone on the way out.

"Wanna go out for breakfast?" Josephine bumped next to him. Before he could conjure an excuse, she sighed out. "I know this shift was quite hefty, but I could go for a cooked meal by someone else."

He hesitated, "I don't know."

She sent him an eye roll, groaning. "Look, it's just breakfast. I'm not trying to get in your pants." She batted her lashes as her brown orbs stared into his blue ones.

By some witchery of hers that he couldn't resist, Buck sighed in defeat. "Fine. It's unfair when you're giving me that look with those eyes of yours, Santiago." He shook his head in annoyance while she beamed in victory and giggled.

"Hmph. Don't know what you're talking about."

Buck trailed after the brunette strutting towards their parked cars.

"You're right. If I would've gone home, then I most likely would go straight to my bed and drop without bothering to eat anything."

Five minutes surpassed since the waiter served their plates where Buck devoured almost half of his. The duo sat in a booth at a diner. Drinking a hot cup of coffee started to energize his body and the food satisfying his stomach after working long hours out on the field.

Josephine stifled a laugh, "That's me after every other shift unless Alexis is home. She prepares a meal for me since she scolds me for not eating." She bit off a piece of her bacon.

"Guessing she's at work then."

"Yeah. Although, I was craving for a big plate of this delight." She gestured to her plate and then sipped her ice coffee. "By the way, you don't have to keep using Maddie as your excuse to not hangout with me. I talked to Chimney, and he never recalled that she's rearranging her apartment."

Buck grimaced, he had a feeling his lame excuse would unfold. "Josie..."

"If you want to stop this no strings attached thing that we have going on, then that's completely fine with me. I'm not offended. We agreed if one of us wanted to start dating again then we end this. Is that what you want?" Josephine questioned simply.

He sharply inhaled, "Yeah."

She nodded shortly, extending her hand as a playful gesture to which Buck accepted. "Okay. Well, it was lovely to sleep with you for these last few months. I am going to miss sneaking around the firehouse. The woman you have your eyes set on must be very special to you." Indeed, their sneaking around and the adrenaline will be missed.

"She is."

"May I say that she's lucky."

-Haven't been feeling great with my writing lately. Anyways, Buck and Josie continue to run in circles whenever either of them has feelings for one another. Buck has feelings for Josie...again! Do you think his timing will be better than last time? We hope so! Let's see what next chapter has in store for them though...Hope you like it! Tell me what you think! Don't forget to vote and comment! Stay tuned!-

WRITTEN: 12/4/22

PUBLISHED: 12/4/22