In Flames // 9-1-1 Fox (seasons 1-4)

seventy-one

"We need to do an escharotomy," he finally said.

"What the hell's that?" Marjan glanced between the two medics.

"Burn tissue is called eschar," Mariana started.

"It's constricting his chest like a rope," Eddie finished. "It's preventing his lungs from expanding."

"He can't draw a breath. We need to cut it," the latina added. "I don't know about you but my experience is limited to non-surgical procedures."

"Looks like I finally get to teach you something for once."

Mariana grabbed the disinfectant and poured it on the man's chest before grabbing a scalpel and passing it to Eddie. He looked at her for a brief second and she nodded in reassurance. He could do this.

"Hope you're not squeamish," he told Marjan as he made the incision. Mariana watched as he steadily and carefully worked and she was suddenly struck with the realization that she rarely saw him use his medic skills in the field. It usually fell to her or Hen or Chimney, but watching him now showed how capable he was.

"Rescue breaths." Marjan started bagging Mr Gomez again and his chest rose and fell normally. Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he gasped a ragged breath.

"Hey, hey, let's calm down," Mariana soothed as she held up the oxygen mask. "We're aware of the missing kid."

"Just nice and slow breaths for us, okay?" Eddie requested.

"Nicely done, you two," Marjan praised.

"You too, Firefox."

Mariana snorted at his comment and kicked his shoe. "I think we make a pretty good team. Now pass me the morphine. He's gonna need it."

As Mariana finished up with the counselor, Judd divided the kids up to go with the other teams back to base camp, leaving the 126 and 118 members.

"Bad news is with the missing kid we need to split up," Judd announced. "I brought Shelby along specifically for the ranger and I need a medic to go with her."

"I can," Mariana voiced. "Eddie, you need to stay here with him until medivac comes."

"Woah, no. C'mon, I have experience with stuff like this."

"Respectfully, you have experience with warfare and I have experience with wildfires. We are both equal in this front. Rule number one," she warned. He relented with a sigh but tapped his radio to remind her and she nodded.

"Let's go!" the blonde shouted from the ATV, looking not at all too pleased to be paired with Mariana again. The Angeleno let out a frustrated huff as she grabbed her medic bag and rushed back to the vehicle. Climbing into the passenger seat, Mariana barely had time to sit down before Shelby was peeling out and towards where the ranch was supposed to be.

"So, what's the game plan?" the brunette yelled over the rumble of the engine. Monroe appeared surprised that she was talking to her but shrugged it off.

"Locate the ranger and get the horses out of the corral, I'm guessing. Won't know till we get there. I'm guessin' since he ain't left yet that one of the horses is hurt or trapped."

"I'll handle the human, you handle the horses?"

Shelby smirked at that. "What, scared of an animal?"

"I'm born and raised in LA. The most I deal with is the neighborhood dog and the occasional cat in a tree."

They neared the ranch and Mariana could have sworn she came to Texas in 2020, not Texas in the late 1800s. But this ranch looked exactly like that. Shelby pulled up next to the barn and swore a blue streak when they saw the fire creeping towards the fence line.