"LAFD. Step aside, please." Bobby warns the crowd that welcomed us as soon as we jumped out of the firetruck.
"I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to move the car." Exclaims a confused woman as she holds my shoulder.
"You did the right thing. We'll take it from here." I reassure the frantic 70 looking year old.
"Do any of you have a pen? I've got a partial license plate. Somebody should write it down." Suggests the woman, seeming like she's been through this before.
"Don't worry about the license plate, ma'am. It's right here on the back of the car." Eddie reassures the woman. "Not this car. The car that hit me." She breathes out.
"Uh, wait, this isn't the car that hit you?" Asks a confused buck.
"No, this is the car that ran me over."
I look across from my spot next to eddie, to make eye contact with a confused cap
"Better be insured." She gasps. I know what's going on here. Case of the annoying Karen that thinks she can earn money by insurance fraud. She looks familiar. I roll my eyes at Eddie as he looks at me puzzled.
"Let's just focus on getting you out of here first, ma'am." Assures Eddie, as he turns back to the woman.
"I think there's enough room. We can slide a backboard under here and pull her out that way." Exclaims buck as he look towards cap before he nods, giving buck the all clear.
"Okay, c-can you tell me your name?" Asks Eddie as we look up to see chim and hen walking towards us with life PACs.
"Lorraine." The woman responds, grunting.
"Hey, wait. Don't we know you?" Asks hen as she looks at Lorraine.
"Uh, no, I don't... I don't, I don't think so." Stutters a now very conscious and suspicious woman.
"Last year, Hancock Park." Explains hen, cutting the bullshit.
"That's right." Chim and I say at the same time.
"I never forget a femur." Responds chim, now taking a good look at her face.
"Hmm." Lorraine nervously chuckles.
"It's the damned Porch Pirate." Exclaims Athena as she now arrives on the scene.
"Guess you moved up from porches to parking lots, huh, Lorraine?" I ask standing up from my crouched spot next to Eddie.
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"What's your scam?" Asks Athena, cutting straight to the point, as she looks at the woman sitting up on the back board in front of the truck.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I went to my court-mandated treatment. I'm completely cured. Haven't stole a package in months." The woman reassured my non-believing aunt.
"Mm-hmm." Replies Athena. "I heard you settled with that homeowner."
"The house she fell in front of when she was package stealing?" I scoff as Athena looks at me smirking .
"I didn't realize you could sue someone for being injured during the commission of a felony." Remarks chim.
"Pled down to a misdemeanor. Insurance companies are happy to settle instead of going to court."the woman fake squeals in pain as we roll her over a pot hole in the car park.
"Insurance companies are less happy about fraud. And I got three witnesses who claim you intentionally stepped out behind that poor woman's car. Makes me wonder what I might find when I pull the security footage from this parking lot." Predicts Athena.
" I think you'll find a woman suffering with mobility issues. Lot of trouble walking since that fall on the steps. You know, I wonder if it's because I received improper care on the scene." Protests Lorraine, as I scoff.
"So you're gonna sue us now?" Scoffs hen.
"Oh, you folks are city employees. Probably don't make that much. But the city... There's probably some deep pockets there, don't you think?" Lorraine antagonises before we put her in the back of the truck, tap the closed doors and watch her drive off.
"Aye, she was a pain in my ass." I say, before sitting down on the side of the firetruck next to Eddie.
"How do you guys all know her?"
"Insurance fraud. She'd done it for a good few months before she decided she wanted to steal packages from people, so we gave her the nickname porch pirate."
"I got the hint." Laughs Eddie as he watches me stand up. "are you okay?" He shows his concern.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I ask him confused.
"I don't know. Ever since the mall incident, you've seemed a bit shaken up." He stands up with me as we walk around the truck to the seats.
"Yeah, I mean I'm just feeling homesick and that panic attack made me realise how much I underestimated myself."
"I get that." He nods.
"I mean, I hadn't had a panic attack in months but as soon as I realised how fast people can get ripped away, you know."
"Yeah. Well, I'm always here if you need to talk. I know you don't like opening up a lot." He empathises. God, it feels good to hear that.
"Likewise" I huff out before patting his shoulder, grinning, and then hoisting myself up to start the engine.
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"Sergeant Grant." Bobby welcomes Athena along side maddie as we walk up to the crowd standing in front, waiting for the debrief.
"Captain. Mr. Personality over here starting coughing, grabbed his side and fell over. Could be appendicitis. I'm not sure." She welcomes him before stepping back.
"All right, back up. Step aside, please." Cap clears the crowd for us to get to the patient.
"Sir, I'm just gonna examine you for a second here." I explain to the man, before crouching down and pulling up his shirt to find a bag attached to his stomach. "Oh. Okay, we got a colostomy bag, probably backing up. You're gonna have to intubate him." I explain, looking up at chim and hen from my spot next to the man, before he starts fussing as chim and hen try to touch him.
"Sir, just try to relax. These paramedics here are gonna attend to you." Bobby reassures.
"Oh, hell no. You do it." Groans the man we now identify as scooter as hen leans down to check his heart rate, pointing to cap.
"Sir, I am not a trained paramedic. I can't intubate you. They can." Explains bobby as he points to the two best friends, looking at him pissed.
"I'm fine." Grunts the big man, trying to get up.
"Sir, you're not fine. Your bowel is probably obstructed. The contents of your colostomy bag are backing up into your system." Explains chimney as he goesback up to Scooter.
"You're about to choke on your own waste. You will suffocate and die." I explain harshly, as I got to sitting back on the floor from where he's trying to sit up.
"Get... away." He pushes chim and i off of him as I look up at Eddie with an 'are you serious' expression plastered on my face.
"Okay, sir, if you refuse care, we cannot administer it by force." Explains a fed up Bobby.
"What about him?" Scooter groans, pointing towards Eddie.
"Diaz." Buck corrects him.
"Diaz. What kind of name is that?" Asks a curious scooter.
"My father's from Mexico. My mother's Swedish. I can help you out with the Swedish half. But no one told me which half that is." Explains a fed up Eddie, pulling back his hands as the man shakes his head at him.
"Okay, would you like us to call you another paramedic team so you can have an all-white one?" I cut straight to the chase.
"Yeah." He exclaims before looking like he's about to sneeze.
"He's gonna aspirate." Hen and I say at the same time with no energy, as she slowly gets closer to the man before he exasperatedly starts retching. "And he's aspirating."
"Called it!" I shout as she looks at me grinning.
"Actual diarrhea of the mouth. Outstanding." Explains a disgusted chimney.
"Okay, guys, let's get to work." Urges hen.
"Let me roll him over. Ready, Buck?" Asks Eddie.
"Yeah. Three, two, one." Buck replies before the man retches and buck mere misses the man's diarrhoea.
"I need mechanical suction. This isn't cutting it." I explain as I stick my fingers down the back of scooter's throat.
"We've got suction on the truck." Chim explains before looking to cap.
"Let's get him on the gurney. Let's go. Keep him on his side. Let's go." Demands cap as we lift the guy up in to the gurney and rush towards the truck.
"We'll bring the gurney on the other side. One, two, three, go." I explain to Eddie who helps me lift the gurney in to the back of the truck. And shut the doors once the other fire station gets into the back.
"Well done." I high five Eddie as we walk over to the cemetery again.
"Well, he was a dick." I exclaim harshly, as eddie breathes out a big huff of air before laughing with me.
"Hey, stass. Do you mind if I take you out to dinner some time?" He cuts straight to the point.
"Oh yeah, sure. As long as we aren't cousins." I laugh, nudging him in his side as he looks at me seriously. "Sorry wrong time for jokes." I shake my head, keeping my composure.
"Sorry, I'm nervous." I cough out.
"I'd love to eddie. How about Friday night?" I ask him smiling.
"Sounds good." He smiles at me, before walking off as I grin, walking up to hen.
"Hum, girl, what was that about?" Asks a curious hen.
"He just asked me out." I try hiding my nerves but she sees right through me.
"You'll be fine! I'm coming over tonight to pick what you'll wear." She hurries as I let out a big laugh, walking hand in hand with her as we make our way towards, Maddie, buck, bobby and Athena.
"You must be Maddie, I've heard a lot about you!" I smile before bringing the girl in for a hug. " sorry, I'm a physical person."
"Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you." She pulls away as she turns her attention towards hen, with an even bigger grin on her face.
"And you must be hen." She smiles, taking hen in for a hug. "I've heard you girls are the better couple of the 118." She smiles.
"You could say that." I laugh before waving goodbye and walking over to the truck. As I get there, I see a pre occupied Eddie, sitting up the right side of the vehicle's window. I pull on his door and open it up to reveal a grinning Eddie.
"You right?" I ask him before he jumps down and sits on the side of the truck.
"Yeah, just thinking about Friday." He grins a toothy grin.
"Ok mija, relax. It's still another three days." I giggle, before he grabs one of my hands, standing up.
"I'm just excited." He smiles as his lips almost touch my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
"I mean, why wouldn't you be." I whisper back, trying to get my head in the game, but he sees right through me. "Mhm." He nods sarcastically, before walking over to the group I was just with.
As he walks off, hen walks up to me.
"Ok, so I also invited Maddie and Athena as well." She rolls her eyes, grinning.
"Of course you did." I smile before putting my hand on my hip and shoving her shoulder with the other one.
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"Ok, guys. I'm actually so nervous it's not funny." I smile at the three girls standing before my sitting body in the bed.
"Ok, so we'll give you our options." Athena explains.
"And then, you'll pick one of our outfits." Finishes hen.
"This is gonna be so fun!" Shouts out Maddie as she runs into my closet, leaving the girls to follow behind. I'm glad she feels comfortable already. She seems sweet.
About half an hour passes and I get a message as the girls are still in the closet.
Mija, Maria is in the hospital, call me back asap x I love you.
It's mum.
I just stare at my phone screen, as a tear rolls down my cheek and drops onto the message. Before I know it, I'm calling mama.
"Mama, what are you talking about?" I ask, concerned.
"Mija, Maria had to go to the hospital a few hours ago, she's had tests done and they think something wrong with her ovaries."
Maria was unfortunately never able to have kids, but doctors never discovered why. Now we know, I guess.
"What do you mean?" I know what she means. Maria has cancer. I know it, I just don't want to hear it come out of her mouth.
"Right now they're saying it might just be one ovarie but they wouldn't know for sure until they get scans done. All the girls and I decided to tell you before she goes through any procedures. Mija, she has cancer."
There it is. As soon as I hear the word, a sob leaves my throat like winning a game of tug a war. My throat hardens up and I can feel a panic attack rising.
⚠️ TW SEXUAL ASSUALT ⚠️
I'm the only one in the family that doesn't live in Texas, meaning I miss out in a lot. But this is important. Maria was the only sister that understood me growing up. I definitely hung out with the wrong groups and that eventually led me to get raped at a very young age, but luckily, Maria knew and helped me through it.
⚠️OVER⚠️
"Mama, I'll catch the fastest flight out." I push through, trying not to seem like I can't breath.
"Mija, you don't have to do that, we just want you to kn-"
"Aye," I interrupt. "This isn't something I'm just leaving for her to figure out. She needs all of us." Before I know it, I'm hanging up the phone and looking up at Athena who just walked in with eyebrows laced together, worriedly.
"What happened hon?" Asks Athena as she walks out of my closet, concern written all over her face.
"Maria might have cancer." I sob out.
"Oh my-" She throws a hand up to her mouth as she walks over to me and holds me in her arms.
"I'm gonna fly over as soon as I can."
"But you'll miss-"
"That's not important. Maria needs me." I explain as my lip quivers.
"Oh honey." Hen empathises as she walks out of the closet and embraces me before maddie does the same.
Thanks to them, I can breathe properly now and have gained my heart rate to a steady pace.
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"Uh, Eddie can I talk to you?" I ask the confused man as he smiles at me worriedly.
"Hey, what's up?" He asks me, concerned.
"I think I'm gonna have to cancel our date tomorrow. Is that okay?"
"Yeah. Hey, no of course. Is there anything you need help with?" He asks with his brows furrowed together in concern.
"Um yeah, I've just gotta go back home to Texas. My sisters in hospital." I shrug, pursing my lips together, trying not to cry. " she's um, going through some things-" but before I could finish my sentence, my voice cracks and Eddie grabs a hold of my shoulders, placing me down on the nearest seat which happens to be the back of a firetruck.
"Hey, hey relax. Are you alright." He rubs my back, sitting next to me.
"Yeah, no I'm fine. I just feel bad."
I look to him pushing out a smile.
"Hey, don't worry about me. I'm just praying your sister is okay." He nods his head as he speaks with a small sincere smile laced on his expressions.
"Thank you Eddie. For, you know, understanding. I appreciate it." I stand up, dusting my thighs and fixing my posture, making eye contact with him the whole time.
"Hey if you ever need to talk, I'm always here." He smiles, empathetically, before standing up with me and walking us back to the group.
"Hey hun, everything good with lover boy?" Whispers hen as she smirks in my ear.
"A-ok" I smile at her, chucking a thumbs up before bobby drags me into his office.
"Ok, what's going on?" Asks a confused cap as he sits down on his chair behind his desk, instructing me to do the same.
"I'm, well. I might be out of town. A week max. I just need to fly out to Texas tomorrow and stay for a while." I scratch my head awkwardly, remaining eye contact with the one person I see as my father figure.
"Do you mind me asking why?" He furrows his brows.
"Well, Maria might have ovarian cancer-" my voice cracks. "And I mean, you know how much she helped when I was going through some things." I smile slightly.
"Hey of course, take all the time you need." He stands up from his desk, making me get up to hug him. It lasts a while until we're interrupted by buck knocking on the door.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt. There's someone here to see you stass." I sniffle and wipe away tears from my face and smile at him before sparking up.
"Do you know who it is?" I walk up to peep my head out the door before taking a look at who it is.
"Warner!" I grin before jogging up to him and pulling him in for a rough hug. I've seen Warner and leanne a few times since the earthquake. I stop into their place at least once a week and every time I do, I always help them with whatever they need done.
Over the time I've visited them, I've learnt that their family live out of LA and only come to visits twice a year. For Easter and Christmas. Quite sad really but I've come to learn it's a tradition.
"And who do we have here?" I ask grinning at three men, all varying between buck and caps age, and one woman about my age. They all smile at me warmly.
"Well, we got a surprise visit from the kids, and thought we should introduce you to them." Leanne brightly walks around the corner with seven kids all about from 7 being the youngest to 16 being the oldest.
"Leanne!" I grin tightly before embracing her in a warm hug.
Eddie's pov
"Well that got her mood right up, didn't it?" Asks a concerned buck. I'm assuming only hen, cap and I know about her sister and I'd like to keep it that way. I know what buck can be like when things like these come up. (So I've been told, he's not great at keeping secrets.)
"Yeah, she seems alright." Smiles a happy hen before she walks off with chimney to the kitchen as we all look down at stass from up stairs. God her smile is beautiful.
"So, how you feeling Eddie? I know you were pretty excited about that date." Caps turns to me as I keep my attention on the family stassy is talking to.
"Well, you know, I wanna be there for her. Everything happens for a reason. And I mean there's no rush, I'd wait a while to even talk to her let alone date her, you know?" I exclaim, still not tearing my eyes off her.
I don't know when these feeling arose but I do know I haven't been able to stop thinking about her ever since the earth quake. I don't wanna get too ahead of myself but something about her makes me feel safe. I haven't felt that for a long time.
She's so easy to talk to, and I don't feel forced to ask her about herself. It just comes naturally when I'm around her.
"Let me introduce you to everyone!" I over hear her say, and that's when I realise my cue to pretend to do something is starting right now.
Stass' pov
"Let me introduce you to everyone!" I exclaim excitedly, before taking Warner and Leanne's arms, wrapping them around mine, and walking them up the stairs.
"We'll all be waiting for you!" I hear their daughter yell as footsteps fade away from behind us.
As we make it up to the top, I see Eddie sitting on the lounge pretending to read a book (I know he's pretending coz it's upside down.) and buck sitting next to him looking up at me.
"This is Eddie. Eddie, Warner and Leanne." I introduce them.
"Ah, so this is the infamous Eddie." Grins Leanne as she greets a now standing Eddie by kissing him on the cheek, making me blush.
"Ok. I wouldn't go that far." I roll my eyes, blushing before making eye contact with his rosy red face.
"And I'm buck." Pipes up a grinning buck, as he goes to pull Leanne in and shake warners hand.
"We've heard lots about you to." Laughs Warner. Before we walk over to hen, chim and cap, standing at the kitchen counter.
"So nice to finally meet you! Properly." Hen says as she whispers the last part into her hand before shaking warners hand and kissing Leanne on the cheek.
"And this is hen." I announce as Leanne pulls away and grins up at me.
"This is chimney." I point towards the man, as he smirks at me proudly.
"Where's that nickname come from?" Leanne laughs out.
"Long story." Exclaims chimney as he pulls away from his handshake with Warner.
"And this, is cap." I grin before Leanne speeds up and hugs Bobby instantly. Before he can hug her back, she pulls out and Warner hastily shakes his hand.
"We've heard a lot about you." Grins a proud looking Warner before turning towards me, standing in front of everyone else.
"Do you wanna stay for lunch?" I ask, taking their hands.
"Oh, we'd love to, but we better get going. You know how the kids can be." She smiles at me kissing me on the cheek.
"Enjoy your time with them, I'll walk you out." I exclaim before leading them to the top of the stairs.
"Nice to meet you!" Both Warner and Leanne exclaim before I walk them down the steps.
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I'm sorry this took so long!!!!!
But I hope I can keep finding time to write because I love it.
Also I made new cover art! What do we think????
Also I watch 911 on Disney so NO BODY SPOIL SEASON 7 AT ALL!!!!
That's all
Lot of love xoxo
3790 words 😊