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

thirty

"Will you be okay going in?" she asked. The scene was startlingly familiar to one that happened years ago. Mariana shut her eyes and inhaled deeply before looking down at the face of her friend.

"I have to be."

///

They stabilized the bleeding and set up transfusions to ensure Chimney had enough blood to survive an operation. Mariana sat in the locker room in one of her pairs of extra scrubs, her stethoscope clutched tightly in her hands. She tried to scrub the blood off her skin as best as she could, but there were still some flecks here and there.

"Mariana," Leslie said from the doorway. "Some of your teammates are here."

"Any news on Maddie?" The brunette didn't turn to look at her and kept her gaze focused on the cream linoleum tiles below her bright yellow clogs.

"None."

"Have they been updated yet?"

"I was waiting on you."

"Alright."

She stood and made her way to the door where Leslie stopped her with a tight hug. "This isn't three years ago, Mari. He's stable and he'll be fine. Best surgeons in LA, right?"

"Still fucking hurts," the brunette muttered as they pulled apart and made their way to the waiting room where Hen was pacing back and forth. Just as Mariana opened her mouth to explain, Eddie barged through the ER doors and made a beeline towards them.

"I got here as fast as I could. How's he doing?" he asked.

"Chim's alive but he's got a punctured lung and a lacerated stomach," Mariana explained.

"Is he in surgery?"

"Not yet. We're transfusing blood because he lost a lot of it. As soon as he's stable, they'll take him in for surgery."

"Who would do something like this?"

The three members of the 118 shared a look full of mixed emotions. Exhaustion seeped into her bones and she sighed, shaking her head. Leslie patted her upper arm in comfort before heading back to the nurse's station.

"Wha- why are you in scrubs? I thought you said you were covering a shift tonight," Eddie asked.

"I was the paramedic who responded to the call," she explained. "I'm off shift now but my uniform is ruined. I think Bobby is sick of putting in requests for new uniforms for me. I just keep getting blood on them."

Her breathing hitched at that last sentence and she shut her eyes, pressing a hand to her forehead as she held back the sob that threatened to tear from her throat. Hen gently pulled her in for a hug, feeling the normally strong woman tremble.

"He'll be fine, Mari. He's survived worse."

"It was just like when Luis died," she whispered. "Same room, same situation. I was trying to stop the bleeding. I failed once and I was so scared I would fail Chimney this time."

"But you didn't fail him. And you didn't fail Luis either. Sometimes, death just takes people. But not this time."

Her grip tightened on the younger woman. "C'mon, you need to sit down and rest."

///

"He what?" Mariana hissed as she led Eddie down the hall of the hospital. The two pushed through the doors to another hall, finding Buck sitting dejectedly on a bench with an officer standing nearby.

"So...that was a bold move," Eddie commented as he sat on one side of Buck.

"Evan, what the hell?" Mariana snapped as she crouched in front of Buck. "Do you want to get arrested? That's my schtick, not yours!"