The office was a ghost town.
Mariana frowned as they entered the building, noticing that there wasn't a peep to be heard. The call was about a bunch of doctors falling unconscious so Bobby ordered them to suit up and look like a bunch of minions. A phone rang in the distance of the office, adding to the creepy feel.
"What are we thinking, a gas leak?" Chimney asked.
"Could be some pathogen," Hen added. "World's a crazy place these days."
"Negative for combustibles for now. Masks stay on for the duration," Bobby ordered.
"Where is everyone? It's too quiet," Buck commented as they walked in.
"A little too Children of the Corn for you, Buck? Last time we watched a horror movie you refused to sleep alone," Mari sang.
"Really?" Chimney snorted.
"I had to practically swaddle him in blankets and sing him to sleep."
They turned a corner and headed down the hall towards the front desk. "Got one right here," Eddie announced. Mariana quickly joined him next to the desk attendant, pressing her fingers against the woman's wrist.
"We've got a pulse," she said.
A woman started screaming for help and so the others kept going, leaving Mari and Eddie to help the woman. "We need fresh oxygen. I'm guessing it's a gas leak."
"I'll go grab a tank and a mask." He was out and back in less than a minute. After setting the woman up with some oxygen, they moved onto the next room where three people were sprawled out on the ground.
"We're gonna need some more oxygen," she sighed.
"Eddie, Mari, you copy?" Bobby asked over the radio.
"Yeah, Cap."
"What's your status?"
"Found a couple more patients in the back. Also stable."
"I'm gonna send Chim your way. You three see if you can locate the tank supply room. You turn anything off that's got a knob or a valve in this place."
They met with Chimney in the hall just as Bobby announced that there was supposedly construction going on too. "Bingo," Mari muttered as they found the tarp. Construction workers were strewn across the room. Mariana immediately gravitated towards the guy slumped over the table with Chimney.
"Unconscious with a thready pulse," Mariana hummed to herself.
"This guy won't budge," Chim added. She crouched down to see under the table and immediately raised her hand to indicate he should stop trying to move him.
"Cap, found our leak," Eddie announced. "Plugging the leak now."
"Eddie, I'm gonna need some tools over here."
"Saws? Jaws? What do you need."
"A wrench."
It took them at least fifteen minutes to unhinge the saw from its hold and carry the guy onto the gurney. Mariana unzipped her hood and pushed it down so she could breathe properly. Eddie did the same, his normally perfectly coiffed hair falling across his forehead. As they pushed the gurney down the hall, she tilted her head to the side and studied him.
"What?" he asked.
"You look like Chris after a nap," she teased. He rolled his eyes in response as they walked the gurney towards the ambulance.
"Critical! Make way," Eddie called as they passed Hen and Buck. They loaded the guy into the back of the ambo and slid in, letting Chimney take over as the driver. They worked silently but in perfect sync, passing equipment back and forth as they set up machines for vitals and stabilized the saw.
"How was Christopher's one-hundred day party?" she asked, removing her stethoscope from her ears and wrapping it over her neck.
"Amazing, thanks to you. His class loved the lollipops." He shot her a lopsided grin as she merely shrugged off the compliment.
"I help the kids at the group home with class projects all the time. This was no different."
"It means the world to Christopher so it means a lot to me."
"Eddie, I'd do anything for the kid."
The ambulance doors flew open, the trauma team waiting for them to pass on the gurney. The three firefighters followed them in once Mariana announced that they needed to stock up on some supplies before they headed back to the station.
"How's your day going?" the brunette asked a suspicious Anna DuBois. Her friend narrowed her eyes as Mariana plopped into the seat next to her and batted her eyelashes innocently.
"What do you want?" she drawled. Eddie and Chimney chuckled from where they were leaning up against the nurse's station.
"I need the key to the supply closet," Mariana said sweetly.
"So you can raid my perfectly organized gauze? You devil."
"Leslie loves me more."
Mariana snatched the key out of Anna's hand just as the blonde let out a scandalous gasp. Mari winked at her and gestured for the guys to follow her down the hall. She turned the corner to go towards the paramedic/nurse supply closet when the sight of a woman talking to a nurse made her freeze.
"Woah, what's the roadblock for?" Chimney exclaimed as he ran into her back. Leslie turned at the voices and quickly hurried towards them.
"Go stock up. I need to talk about something," Mariana intoned robotically, passing Eddie the key. Leslie gently pulled her away from them.
"What is she doing here?" Mariana hissed.
"It's Diego but it's not serious. He fell on the playground and broke his arm but he'll be fine," Leslie explained. Mariana practically saw red from how angry she was as her body trembled in an attempt to control her rage.
"Is that what she told you?"
"That's what the school reported. Valentina was worried when she came to the hospital, Mari. I'm not excusing her past actions but it seems like she's making an effort. Your uncle is in prison for thirteen more years, Mariana."
"She wasn't the one who beat the shit out of me. She just never stopped him when he did."
"There's no evidence of abuse and a social worker still makes monthly visits. His teachers say he's doing well and excelling in class. He's a cheerful little boy and he loves to talk. He reminds me of Luis and he definitely has some of the Ramirez sass in him. I can ask Valentina to let you see him if that will help."
"No. I don't want to confuse him. If he's doing well, he doesn't need my issues ruining him." She glanced over at Valentina who was talking to someone on the phone and then back at Leslie. "I can't be someone's mom. I'm too fucked up."
"You and I know that's bullshit," Leslie argued. "When will you see yourself the way we see you?"
Mariana let out a frustrated huff and shook her head. "Whatever."
"You can't run forever, Mariana."
The younger woman brushed past her boss and joined Eddie who was watching from the supply closet doorway. He met her halfway, an inquisitive look on his face.
"Alright?" he asked.
"I'll be fine," she replied shortly.
"That didn't answer my question. Are you alright?"
She glanced back at Valentina who was staring her down. Mariana squared her shoulders, clenched her jaw, and leveled her with a glare. She didn't even realize how tense she had become until Eddie grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it.
"Hey, what's going on?"
"Nothing," she lied, turning back to meet his dark eyes. "It's just something silly. Are we done?"
"Hey, idiots! Can we go now?" Chimney called from down the hall. The two shared a bemused look before following him back to the ambulance, their knuckles brushing as they walked.
"Coming over tonight?" he asked. It was such a casual question because she basically came over every night at this point. She sighed and shook her head.
"I'm doing an extra half shift so Andy can attend his daughter's recital. You two have fun though!"
"And you be safe."
"Always am."