Chapter 2

Eddie arrives at his new house in LA. It had been a rough few months and a lot of arguing, but he had finally managed to get it all sorted and was happy. He was getting to start a new life, not just for him but for his son, too. He gingerly gets out the truck and places his stick on the floor as he uses it to help him move around the truck to open the door to get Chris out.

"You ready buddy?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah! New house, new adventure!" Chris says with a smile.

"That it is, buddy," Eddie replies as he helps Chris out of the truck grabbing his crutches and handing them to him.

"Right, let's go get the door open before the rest of the family turn up with our stuff," Eddie says.

"Ok," Chris replies.

They both take their time walking up the path to the new house. It had taken Eddie a while to find the right house that suited both his and Chris' needs and he couldn't believe his luck when he found this one level house. It had plenty of room for both of them as well as yard space for Chris to play in. He opens the door into the little hallway and watches as Chris charges inside.

"Be careful," Eddie shouts as he watches his son move into what will be their living room.

He wanders through the hallway and past the living room, which was bare and needed a coat of paint. It had white walls which Eddie had learnt with a kid is never a good idea. He continued through to the kitchen which was modern so he didn't need to do much with it, just move his appliances in.

"Is this my room?" Chris shouts and Eddie walks over.

"Yeah, it will be," Eddie states.

"Can I have it blue? I don't like green," Chris says and Eddie chuckles.

"We can paint it, but that may be a while so you will have to make do, ok?" Eddie replies.

"Yeah," Chris says.

"Edmundo, are you in here?" his mother's voice could be heard.

"Yeah," Eddie shouts. "Come on, let's go get the boxes in so we can make it more of a home," he adds.

They wander to the front door and Eddie sees his mum and dad both stood smiling at him.

"Thanks for helping," Eddie says.

"Well, we couldn't let you do this on your own! You know there is still time to change your mind." his father explains.

"We have had this discussion plenty of times. It's happening," Eddie states.

"Well, let's get you unpacked and sorted then," his mother says.

They head out the door and see the delivery truck as well as two other cars appear and Eddie watches as his sisters climb out. They all greet and talk about where to put most of the stuff. There were also moving men, which Eddie didn't want as there were plenty of them to move it all, but his mother had insisted they have help. Eddie walks to the truck and places his stick down so he can grab a box.

"Edmundo! What do you think you are doing?" one of his sisters shouts.

"Picking a box up," he says.

"No, you and Chris are to sit and tell us where stuff goes! I mean, how will you carry the box and walk with your stick? And your leg isn't strong enough yet for you to try and walk without it," she states and he knew she was right.

"I just don't want to sit there and watch everyone else work! You know I like to be busy," he replies.

"Well, go sit with Chris and keep him busy. I tell you what, we will get Chris' stuff out first so that you can both sort his room out as we sort the rest," she explains.

"Ok, fine," Eddie says as he places the box down and picks up his stick and walks towards Chris.

"Come on Chris, they're doing your boxes first so we can set your room up," Eddie says.

"Yay, can I have a fort?" Chris asks.

"Maybe later," Eddie chuckles.

They head into Chris' room and watch as a few drawers and his bed is put into place. Eddie watches as his father and sister place several boxes labelled 'Chris' on the bed. Then he and Chris work through the boxes, placing stuff away and making new homes for the many toys Chris has. Then they make Chris' bed. Eddie sits down and Chris sits next to him.

"We will be ok," Chris says.

Eddie's heart aches at that little statement.

"We will, we have each other," Eddie smiles.

"Edmundo, can we talk?" his mother asks and Eddie nods. "Christopher, you play with some toys. We just need to speak to your father," she adds.

Eddie slowly gets up and wanders back through the house, noticing things were being unpacked and placed away in the kitchen, where his appliances were in place and turned on. As he entered the front room he saw his TV on its stand, a box labelled 'living room electronics' in front of it and his sofas and coffee table placed in the middle. He didn't like where they were, so he would move them later. He saw his father sat there looking at him and he didn't seem pleased, so he knew this was most likely going to turn into a full-blown argument again. Eddie was too tired to argue right now.

"Whatever you want to moan about, can we not do it today? I'm too tired," Eddie states as he sits down resting his stick next to him.

"We just want to ask if this is what you really want to do?" his mother asks as she sits.

"For the millionth time, yes! After everything, me and Chris need the new start," Eddie replies as he taps his stick.

"But you don't have a school for him. Who will look after him while you start this restaurant you want to do?" his dad asks.

"I will sort it. I need to find a place for the restaurant first," Eddie explains, "and I will find a place. I promise it will be all sorted, I just need to get settled and then start moving forward Shouldn't you all be heading to the hotel anyway?" Eddie asks hoping it will shift them.

"There's no rush, I was thinking we could go for a meal first," his mother says.

"Ok, I need to shop anyway. I only have snacks in the boxes," Eddie says.

"Good. We are just worried as you have sunk a lot of money into getting this house and will spend even more with the restaurant," his mother explains.

"That's why I took the pay-out after I left the Army. I knew I could make good use of it and provide for me and Chris," Eddie explains.

"How about we go for this meal and leave the heavy talk for another day," his sister says, entering the room.

"Ok, I will go get Chris ready then we can go," Eddie explains.

He slowly gets up and starts walking to Chris' room and gets him ready. They head out to the restaurant and start eating and most of the time Eddie is looking at how it is run. The restaurant is filled to maximum capacity and he can see people being turned away, something he could only dream of! So, he starts making notes about what they have on their menu and drinks list, all the little details that seem to be making it a success.

"Do you really need to do that now?" his father asks harshly.

"Yes! It's prime information," Eddie replies, not even looking at his dad.

"Ramon, leave him. If it helps, let him do it," his mother states.

They eventually get their food and eat it, while having a civil conversation - mainly because his sisters keep changing the subject whenever their parents try to question him. As they get up to leave Eddie notices his younger sister watching something on her phone.

"What are you watching? Some stupid Tik tok?" Eddie asks.

"How do you, never mind, it's a video that's trending. It's a firefighter getting attacked at a gig," she explains and passes the phone to him. He can't see the firefighter - just his body being kicked, and a scream for help. He passes the phone back since it was bringing up memories he'd rather forget.

"Ah yeah, that's the latest one. We've had several in town. I don't know why they're doing it but they will get caught soon. Is there anything else I can help you with today?" the waiter asks.

"No thank you, just the bill," Ramon says.

"Certainly," the waiter replies, and disappears.

"See! This is why you shouldn't move here, firefighters getting attacked for god's sake. What is the world coming to?" Ramon says.

"I can't control what others do! We will be fine, I'm not a firefighter, am I?" Eddie says and sees his father roll his eyes.

They pay the bill and they drop Eddie and Chris off at home, explaining they will pop round tomorrow before they head back to Texas. Eddie thanks them as he and Chris head into the house. As they enter, Eddie watches as Chris takes a seat on the sofa and Eddie looks round the room.

"Hang on bud, i'm going to move the couch next to the wall," Eddie says as he pushes the couch to the wall. He then moves the other couch round, and the coffee table too feeling the strain in his leg.

"Dad, can we watch a film?" Chris asks.

Eddie looked at the time and it wasn't late so he thought there was no harm in a film.

"Yeah we can do," he says and then realises nothing is plugged in.

"Ok, go get changed into your pjs as I need to plug it all in first," Eddie says and he watches as Chris disappears.

Eddie sits on the floor next to the box of electricals and slowly empties them, thankfully he had gone over the top and taped everything together so each item had their wires tied to them. He starts unpacking and plugging them all in, and by the time Chris comes back in Eddie has all the stuff connected and sorted and is waiting for his Xbox to load up. Once it's on, he loads Netflix and lets Chris scroll through the films while he goes to the kitchen and gets them some juice. He shakes his head at the nearly empty fridge they had forgotten to go to the shop, then grabs the juice and two glasses in one hand and carries it all as he walks with his stick. As he gets into the front room he is greeted by an ever so familiar film.

"Finding Nemo, again!" Eddie chuckles.

"It's my favourite," Chris replies.

"I've noticed. Well, let's get it watched, then get you to bed. It's been a long few days for us," Eddie explains.

Eddie sits down and Chris cuddles up to him and they watch the film. Eventually as it nears the end Eddie notices Chris has fallen asleep. He knows he has to get him to bed but doesn't want to wake him so he shifts and stands up, then bends down and gently picks him up and places his head on Eddie's shoulder. With one hand firmly holding on as he reaches for his stick, he starts walking to Chris' room. The whole way he could feel his leg crying out in pain - he hadn't taken his pain pills as he had forgotten with everything happening. He finally makes it to Chris' room and places him down and pulls the cover up. He decides to sit down for a minute or two, looking round the room. Already there were toys scattered all over it, which made Eddie smile.

He finally pushes off the bed and heads out, leaving the door ajar and goes to the kitchen and grabs his pain killers, then heads back to the front room. He takes the pills and starts to flick through the many film options and he settles on some film, not really paying attention to what it was. He starts to watch it but soon loses focus, though is brought to attention when he hears an explosion and sees soldiers running and shooting. As he watches the film, seeing people getting shot he feels a sharp pain rise up his leg, there are flashes around him, and he is back there...

"Diaz, come on we need to move!" his Sergeant shouts.

"Yes Sarge," Eddie replies, picking his rifle up before they started to move out.

He followed his team as they wandered through the dark rooms. The only time it lit up was as gunfire rained towards them.

"Right the evac vehicle is one hundred metres outside. I need someone to go out and get in it, and once inside use the gun on top to lay cover fire for the rest of us," the Sarge explains.

"I'll do it," Cooper responds.

"No I will, I'm quicker than you Coop," Eddie explains.

"Whatever man, I'm doing it - you have a kid at home," Coop says.

"Right Cooper on three, the rest off you lay some ground fire for him," Sarge orders. "One, two, three," Sarge shouts, and as it gets to three Eddie and the others start shooting at the hillside where the enemy fire was coming from, after a few minutes they hear the roar of the APC engine followed by its turret fire.

"That's our cue ladies, let's move!" Sarge shouts and kicks the door open.

They start running out through the door taking cover by a burnt-out car before making another run, but as they start moving Eddie notices a rocket flying towards the burnt-out car and sees Sarge still standing there.

"Sarge, move!" Eddie shouts as he runs, pushing Sarge to the ground just as the rocket hits and explodes and Eddie hits the ground hard. He looks forward and sees his Sarge in front of him.

"Hold on Diaz, we will get you out of here, you stupid fool," Sarge says.

"I can get up," Eddie says as he tries to move, but is stopped by Sarge. And then the pain hits him. He looks down and sees a chunk of metal sticking into his leg, Sarge has his hand holding bandages round it soaking the blood.

"I need you to stay awake," Sarge states. "Where is that goddamn medic?" he shouts.

"Sarge, if I don't make it tell my wife and son, I love them," Eddie says. He could feel the tiredness kicking in.

"None of that now! Stay awake," Sarge says, and Eddie sees the medic tie a tube to the top of Eddie's leg, wrap more bandages round the shrapnel and inject morphine.

"We need to move him now," the medic says.

"Ok, on three we're going to lift you, Eddie," Sarge says and Eddie nods.

After three they lift him up and Eddie can feel the pain in his leg is worse. The morphine wasn't working as well as he thought it would. They get him into the APC and settle him as the sound of movement and gunfire fills the cab.

"Hold on, Diaz," the medic says and Eddie watches him change the bandages.

"DAD!" Chris shouts and snaps Eddie out of the flashback, he could feel the sweat dripping down his face.

He gets up and makes his way to Chris, wiping his face on his shirt as he enters the room.

"What's up, Buddy?" Eddie asks.

"I had a bad dream," Chris says and Eddie can see the tears.

"It's ok, I'm here. Want to tell me about it?" Eddie asks.

"I dreamt you never came back from the Army and I was left alone," Chris sobs. Eddie holds him close.

"I would never leave you, and you will never be alone," Eddie explains.

"But Mum didn't want to stay, she doesn't want us," Chris states.

"Your mum left, yes, but she loves you so very much," Eddie explains. He knew why she left but it was too complicated to explain to a 7-year-old. "How about we read a book for a bit?" Eddie asks.

Chris nods and Eddie gets up and picks a book up and starts reading it to Chris. He continues until Chris is asleep and gently tucks him in before yet again leaving and heading back into the living room, where he turns the movie off. He decides to have a game, first checking if any of his friends were on and they were so he dug his mic out and started Halo. He spends a few hours gaming. He loved to game - it was something he learnt to do while at the army base. It helped him relax and take his mind off everything before heading to bed as he knew he had a busy few days.

Over the next few days he spent time sorting the house out as well as looking online at listings for places to rent for his restaurant. He had managed to get a few locations pinned down that he liked, but had to settle on two, as the others were asking way too much. He then spent time on the phone to the Health Department trying to find out what help he could get for him and Chris. He was getting frustrated as he was just being passed from one person to another and never seemed to get a proper answer at all, which didn't help. He was home-schooling Chris the best he could. He could send him to the local school, but after viewing it he wasn't happy they could offer proper care for Chris and didn't want to put him in any risk. So here he was, trying to explain fractions that he didn't even fully understand himself.

The day for his viewings came, and he had hoped that he would have had Chris in a school by now. Today though, he has no choice so he calls his Abuela, who instantly says yes to having Chris. Eddie packs a bag and takes him round to her. He explains he won't be too long and heads off to meet the estate agent. The first place they visit is not as good as the pictures made out and they head off to the second one. As they go around the property Eddie can see his vision would fit in perfectly. It has ample inside space and lots of outside space too. As they continued the tour Eddie can't believe that so much space would be so cheap and he knew there must be a reason why it was cheap. He decided to ask her, as he couldn't afford to mess it up.

"So, what's the catch?" Eddie asks.

"What do you mean?" Jessica the Estate Agent asks.

"Well, for this amount of room you were asking nearly triple in other locations? I know it's a bit out from the main town but not that much? So I'm guessing it has a bad history or something," Eddie states.

"It was infested with rats as the previous owner wasn't exactly the cleanest person. But once it was closed and we took over, we cleaned it out and ensured it has been kept clean since. A few good promotions and you can have people back here - but it does have a reputation. I'm sure you would be changing the name so it could work," she explains.

Eddie takes in what he has just heard. It was hard. This place was perfect, but if it already had a bad rep could he really gamble his and Chris' future on the hope he could make it work? As he thinks about it all, he sees a fire truck go by and watches as it pulls into a building that wasn't too far away. He looks at Jessica, who smiles at him.

"Yeah, so it's also close to a firehouse. But to be honest, it wouldn't bother most people round here as there's always sirens going off in LA," she explains.

Eddie knew she was right about that, he has heard them everyday since he got here. But to have one so close? People inside might not be bothered, but it could affect the ones outside.

"Let's go look at the kitchen and storeroom," she says, and Eddie follows her round to the kitchen.

"Wow, this is massive and could give me the options to do what I was hoping," Eddie explains.

"Which would be?" she asks.

"Well you might find it silly, but I would split the kitchen in the middle. One side would cook a full menu and the other would deal with only the vegan side. I know that's a big thing now - so I'm thinking if I offer both, it will better my chances," Eddie explains.

"I think it will, there are so many places opening now that just do one or the other. To have the option of both would set you aside, plus there are two walk-in fridges and two walk-in freezers, so it could work easily," she explains. Eddie could feel this was the place, but he kept thinking back to the bad history this place had.

"As much as I love it... can I think about it?" Eddie asks as they wander through the restaurant.

"Of course, I'll put a hold on any other viewings until next week so you can have plenty of time to think," she explains.

"Wow, didn't think you would do that!" he replies.

"We know as a company how hard Vets find getting a job, so we always help anyway we can," she says.

"Thank you, wish other places were as helpful! I'll give you an answer by the end of week," he says with a smile.

They walk over to their cars and say their 'byes. He watches as she drives off. Eddie takes some pictures of the frontage so he could spend time at home seeing what design he could do if he was to take it on. He looks at the photo and sees it's getting late and he needs to rush to get Chris. He turns to head to his truck, but drops his stick.

"Hey, I got that for you," a voice says, and Eddie turns to see three people walking over in firefighter uniform, as the nearest man bends and picks it up for him.

"Thanks," Eddie replied.

"You ok? Not seen someone look at this place for a long time," a woman asks.

"Since the rats!" the shorter guy chuckled.

"Yeah, I was looking at renting it to set up a new restaurant but heard about its checkered past, so that's kind of putting me off," Eddie explains.

"Well, that's a shame as it was handy for us! I'm the Firehouse Chief Bobby, and this is Howie, or as he likes to be called, Chim and Henrietta, or Hen for short," Bobby explains.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Eddie," Eddie replies.

"Well if you were to take it on we would love to help in any way we can. Like I said, we used to eat here. Plus it means less cooking for me," Bobby chuckled.

"Yeah I'll bear that in mind. Just have to make the right decision," Eddie explains. He also rubs his leg as it had started to tingle, he needs to take some painkillers.

"I'm sure you will. Are you ok?" Hen asks.

"Yeah, just a war wound playing up. I just need to get some pills to help with the pain," Eddie explains.

"Want me to get them for you?" Chim asks.

"Yeah please! In the passenger seat," Eddie explains.

"So, war vet? What happened?" Bobby asks.

"Yeah. And, well, a piece of shrapnel went through my leg. Severed some arteries and did a number on the nerves in my leg so that makes it hard to do anything without my trusty stick," Eddie chuckles.

"Yeah, I can imagine it could have been worse, though," Hen says.

"At one point they said I could lose my leg if the operation didn't go to plan. Luckily for me, it did," Eddie says. He sees Chim pass him his pills. "Thanks," Eddie says as he takes them.

"Well, glad to see that didn't happen. Look we've got to head back in case we get a call, but if you do take the place on and you ever need anything moving or sorting out, come over and we will help. That's what neighbours are for," Bobby says.

"Thanks!" Eddie says.

They shake hands and Eddie watches as they leave. He gets in his car and sets off to go pick up Chris. As he drives he thinks about what happened and smiles. Having the local fireteam on-side could help him, he decides. He will have a think about it later, as he pulls up to his Abuela's and heads inside.

"Hey, how was he?" he asks.

"A gem, as normal," she replies.

"Thank you for having him, I will get him into a school soon, I promise," Eddie explains.

"It's fine, how were the buildings?" she asks.

"First was a no... the second is a maybe. It comes with a bad past but I met the local fireteam, well some of them, as their firehouse is right nearby and they explained they would offer some help, so that might work to my advantage," Eddie explains.

"It would, they could pass on how good the place is as well as hosting their meetings. Offering discounts could go a long way, and when they do social events you could offer takeouts," she says and Eddie hadn't thought about that.

"I didn't think about that," he says.

"Well, that's why you have me! Right, Chris is fed so you don't have to worry about feeding him later," she says.

"Thank you," he replies. "Chris get your things, we are heading off!" he shouts.

"Your mother called me earlier, asking how you were doing," Abuela explains.

"What did you say?" Eddie asks.

"I explained that you were doing fine, and to give you time as these things can not be rushed," she explains.

"Guess that went down well," Eddie chuckles.

"It didn't, but it's tough. They have got to learn to let you try," Abuela explains.

"I'm ready, Dad," Chris says, interrupting their conversation.

"Brilliant. Have you had a good time?" Eddie asks.

"I did!" Chris replies.

"Well, let's get you home and settle for bed," Eddie says as he takes the bag off Chris.

They say their goodbyes to Abuela and head to the truck to drive home. Once home, Eddie gets Chris cleaned and ready for bed and they sit in Chris' bed reading books until he falls asleep. Eddie leaves and sits in the living room searching for schools. He can't believe how much the charges are for ones that could offer proper care for Chris. He sees he can apply for grants but doesn't know how he will get through the paperwork as it looks complicated. He decides to leave it and game.

He loads up Halo and starts playing with his friends, racking up kills and points along the way. As they talk, they can hear others shouting at someone and Eddie hates when people do that.

"Oi! If you're going to start on people, we will kick you out the game," Eddie shouts and all his friends follow suit.

Eddie doesn't hear any return, but follows the guy that was getting the abuse and was so obviously a newbie. When he checked the leaderboard, he could see that the person had their mic turned off, and had 0 kills but 8 deaths.

"Hey, guys let's try to help this newbie," Eddie says. He knew how hard it was for a newbie to even get anywhere in the game. His friends agree.

Eddie looks at the time. It is nearly 11pm, and he has time for a few more matches, so he loads the leader board and looks for the person's name and finds it - Buck93 - and clicks on 'send message'.

'Hey, notice you are new. If you want some pointers, give me a message back, we could team up if you want?'

Eddie sends and goes back into another game and follows on with a few more. After an hour, he notices he had no reply and thinks to himself, 'maybe they thought he was mocking them so that's why they didn't answer'. He finishes up his game and is about to leave when he gets a message back.

'Hey, sorry about my brother ignoring your message. He's been through something bad recently with regards to people so he panics with people talking to him. It's nothing personal.'

Eddie reads the message and wonders what has happened - but he knows better than to be nosy, so he sends a simple message back.

'Hey, it's fine, I just saw he was struggling. People were shouting at him, and we told them off but I'm guessing he had his mic and audio off so wouldn't have heard anything. Just explain to him we want to offer him some tips, etc. and that I'm willing to help him improve.'

Eddie knew how hard being a newbie was. Another message arrived.

'I will have a talk with him tomorrow. Thank you.'

Eddie watches as the profile goes offline and he decides it is late and he needs to sleep too, so he sends a quick message back.

'Hey, just to say I will be on around 9ish tomorrow night, if you want a game.'

He then turns off his console and heads to bed, checking on Chris on the way before going to sleep.