Mariana took another bite of her burrito, feet propped up on the dash of the ambulance as Malcolm drummed his hands on top of the wheel. They stopped for a quick dinner run and were currently jamming out to classic rock.
"So...are you currently seeing anyone?" Malcolm asked.
"Nice try. No, I don't date," she drawled.
"Huh, could've fooled me. You and Diaz seem to be pretty close. What about Buckley?"
"And my foot seems to be getting pretty close to your face."
"You're kinda aggressive."
"What's new?"
The radio crackled to life and Mariana straightened up in her seat, buckling quickly as Malcolm turned the key and the engine roared to life.
"RA 118, come in," dispatch said.
"RA 118 responding," Mariana answered. "What do you have for us?"
"Report of a man stabbed at 1832 Bryson Avenue."
Mariana felt her jaw slacken at the words. "Dispatch, can you repeat that address?"
"1832 Bryson Avenue."
"RA 118 responding. Drive, Malcolm. Drive!"
That's Maddie's address.
She gripped the handle of the door tightly, her eyes hard and cold as Malcolm slowly weaved through traffic. "For fuck's sake, hit the horn and threaten to hit them!"
"What's got your ass on fire?"
"That's my friends apartment," she spat out. Malcolm screeched to a stop outside of the apartment and Mariana barely gave him a chance to stop before she was out the door and running towards the man kneeling over a body.
"Buck?" she cried out once she saw who it was. Her heart stopped for just a hint of a second. Was he injured?
"Mari! It's Chim. You gotta help him," Buck begged. "I can't find Maddie."
"I've got this. Go!"
Mariana kneeled down by Chimney, grabbing gauze patches out of her pack. She started to tape them down to staunch the bleeding but it was just coming out too fast.
"Get the fucking gurney," she barked at Malcolm. "Then call General and tell them we need packs of O neg and AB pos ready. I'm going to stabilize him and then I want his ass in the ambo."
Everything moved in a blur. The only way to keep adding pressure was for Mariana to manually apply it. Once they got the gurney into the ambulance, Mariana hopped onto the gurney and straddled his waist, holding down on the gauze packs.
"Stay with me, Chim. You haven't paid up your debt yet so you can't die on me," she begged. "Damnit, Howie. I can't lose you so I refuse to let you die!" Blood soaked her gloves and spilled all over the gurney and her uniform but she paid it no mind.
The ambulance doors flew open and Mariana glanced back at the trauma team who were all staring at her in various stages of shock. "I can't get off him without letting a bleeder gush out so you better fucking work around me!"
Multiple people reached out and the gurney was lowered to the ground before they rushed them into the ER. Mariana kept her eyes on Chimney's face, checking to see if he had any reactivity.
"C'mon, Chim. For Maddie. Do it for Maddie," she whispered as they raced them into the ER bay. Leslie stepped up next to the gurney, her eyes darting towards the bay then back to the young brunette.
"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!"
"Yeah, yeah. I know," he sighed. "What were you thinking, Buck? I already got an earful from Athena."
"Oh no, I know what you were thinking. I got sisters too. Still not sure how you thought you were getting away with it though."
"He wasn't thinking," Mariana snorted. Her snarky demeanor was off put by the tight grip she held on his hand and the worry in her eyes. She reached up and wiped a tear of his cheek, cupping his jaw and stroking her thumb along his cheek.
"I wasn't worried about that," Buck sighed. "It's like, police have all these rules, you know? Rules that are gonna get Maddie killed. B-but I'm a civilian. Those rules, they don't apply to me, right?"
"Then why are you in hospital jail?"
Buck didn't know how to answer that and instead he turned his focus back to the floor below his feet. "I told Maddie...I said that she didn't need to keep on running. That she could start over here. That she would be safe. That I would keep her safe."
Mariana squeezed his hand and let him drop his head onto her shoulder, letting him take energy and strength from her. Her heart hurt seeing him cry.
"This isn't your fault," Eddie assured him. "What if she had kept running? You think he wouldn't have found her? Only then, she'd be alone."
"She's alone now. With him."
"Buck." Mari spoke softly, drawing both men's attention to her. "When you're abused...sometimes you want to give up the fight. But I know Maddie and I know you. She's strong and she's going to fight to get back to you. Because she's your sister and she loves you."
She ruffled his hair before she smoothed out the front pieces, a gentle but haunted look in her eyes. "She would do anything to come back home to you."
///
A soft touch on her cheek woke up the latina. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up straight from whatever she was leaning on, a wild and slightly distorted look in her eyes.
"Hey, hey. It's me. Sorry for waking you," Eddie calmed her down. She settled down and glanced down at her hand that was clutching his in a vice like grasp. She sheepishly removed it from his grip.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"Someone's here to visit," he announced. "Pepa dropped off Christopher but you were fast asleep. Anna said she would watch him until I woke you up."
Mariana stretched and took his offered hand as he stood. They glanced over at the nurse's station, noticing a distinct lack of one young Diaz.
"Anna," Mariana greeted her work wife. "Where is Christopher?"
"Oh...uh...Chimney's room?"
It was a comical sight for Bobby and Chimney seeing the young couple practically slide into Chimney's room with equal looks of parental panic. It soon turned into relief once they saw that Chimney was awake.
"Welcome back man. We were worried about you," Eddie greeted.
"I wasn't worried. I'm starting to think he's invincible," Bobby chuckled.
"Like a superhero?" Chris exclaimed. Mariana crouched down next to his seat with a grin.
"Yeah. Just like a superhero."
"It's because he had the best paramedic working on him, huh?" Mariana teased.
Eddie tugged on her braid before he patted Christopher on the head. "Okay, buddy. Let's let Chimney rest. We can visit him later."
He helped Chris out of the chair just in time for the young boy to offer some sage advice. "Don't eat the meatloaf. That's how I lost a tooth."
"Thanks for the tip, buddy." The adults in the room grinned at Christopher's statement and Mariana pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
"Go with your dad, pollito. I'll join you in a second, okay?"
Mariana watched them leave with a fond smile on her face which made the other two men stare at her with amused expressions.
"What?" she hummed before she leaned down and dropped a quick kiss to Chimney's forehead. "I'm glad you're okay. You gave me quite a scare there. Let's try and stop having the medical emergencies, alright?"
"I'm trying," he groaned out.
Mariana squeezed his hand and left, meeting up with Christopher and Eddie as they made their way back to the waiting room. Eddie instinctively reached out for her hand, their fingers intertwining as they walked down the hall.
The three found spots in the waiting room to sit on the couches which Christopher took the opportunity to hug Mariana the second she sat down. She gently returned the hug, shutting her eyes as all the tension slipped out of her shoulders.
"Thank you buddy. A hug from you was exactly what I needed," she hummed. "You should go give one to your Aunt Hen too."
"Love you, Mari," he mumbled as he pulled away.
"Love you too, pollito." The words came out instinctively. She immediately looked up at Eddie, expecting to see anger or something, anything other than the soft smile that graced his face. Christopher slipped away to go hug Hen, leaving the two adults behind.
"I didn't...I'm sorry if I overstepped any boundaries or something," she breathed out.
He simply shook his head, his smile growing. Eddie turned away to talk to Bobby, leaving the latina to sit there in confusion.
///
Maddie was safe. The news took a weight off of everyone's chests. Mariana vowed to call Buck the next day and swing by the hospital to bring Chimney some flowers and a teddy bear. For now, she needed some sleep for three hundred years. A silent question and answer passed between her and Eddie and he didn't hesitate to lead her and Christopher out to his truck. Truth be told, he was exhausted as well. He picked up some sandwiches on the way home and they all tiredly ate them before Eddie carried Christopher off to bed.
He returned to the living room to find her curled up in a little ball on the couch and slipping into dreamland. Eddie bent down and slid one arm around her back and the other under her knees, lifting her up easily. Rather than jerking awake like usual, she simply curled in closer to his touch. Eddie hesitated after he tucked her into his bed.
He brushed his fingers along her hairline and began to pull away but he stopped when she let out a soft, dejected sigh. Her brows scrunched up and Eddie couldn't help but study the peaceful, innocent expression on her face.
Love you too, pollito. She loved his son. That much was obvious. He felt...something for her. Was it love? Too soon to say. There was this tiny part of his brain reminding him constantly about how he fucked up his last relationship by leaving and then she left. Would Mariana do that too? She didn't seem like the person to leave, but he didn't want to test the possibility.
It was around two in the morning when he heard a noise coming from the bedroom. He frowned and got up off the couch to check on Mariana. She was wrapped up tightly in the sheets, sweat clinging to her skin as she thrashed back and forth.
And then she let out a strangled, heartbreaking cry.
"Mari! Mari, wake up, you're fine. Wake up querida. You're okay, you're safe," he repeated, pulling her into his lap as she shook. She flung her arms around his neck and let out a gasping sob.
"I'm so sorry. I just couldn't stop the bleeding. It's all my fault. I'm sorry. Luis and then me a-and then Chimney."
"Chimney is fine and so are you. Don't apologize, querida. Just feel my heartbeat," he whispered, pulling her hand up so it rested right on his chest. Her shaking subsided as she tucked her face under his chin.
The bedroom door creaked open and Christopher peeked in with wide, concerned eyes. His gaze fixed on his dad holding his friend and he slowly entered the room.
"It's okay, Chris. Mari just had a bad dream," Eddie assured him.
"Does Mari need a hug?"
Eddie was about to gently send him off when Mariana pushed herself away from him and nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks. She slid off the bed and crouched down to scoop Christopher up into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her neck and clung tightly to her as she gently rocked him side to side, taking a seat on Eddie's bed again.
"I needed that buddy. Thank you so much. I'm sorry I woke you up," she breathed.
"You told me that hugs are to help make others happy."
"You're right, I did. Thank you for making me happy."
Eddie woke up a second time that night to the sun starting to rise and his son fidgeting in between him and Mariana. She looked at peace, her dark hair spilling across the pillow as her arm held Chris protectively, as if she could guard him from the world. His eyes trailed over the small scars that littered her face, invisible if you didn't know where to look, and across the bridge of her nose and down to her full lips. The soft rays of the sun slipped through the blinds and cast a ray across her tan skin and onto the curly mop of golden hair of his son.
The world was silent but his heart pounded in his chest, echoing in his ears as he realized that he wouldn't mind seeing this every morning. And that scared the hell out of him.