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

eleven

"Mari, you go check on the wife. Make sure she's okay," Bobby ordered as they jogged up the stairs. The brunette nodded and went ahead of them, entering the bedroom to find Athena talking to the wife.

"Hey, I'm just coming by to check if she needed any help," she explained. "Ma'am, are you alright?"

"Aside from these dreadful hiccups, I do believe I am quite alright," the woman said, a British accent coating her words.

"Miss, would you like to press charges on your husband?" Athena asked. The woman stood, a conflicted look on her face as she approached the balcony.

"David, the bobbies are asking if I want to press charges," she announced.

"The bobbies? Baby, there is something that is wrong with you," he exclaimed.

"Ma'am, you don't have to decide right now. We can take him-"

"No, officer, you don't understand!" he exploded.

"I understand just fine."

"No, you don't! She's not British. Yeah, that's not her voice. She was born in Brooklyn. The bobbies? The closest she's ever been to England is binge watching episodes of Downton Abbey."

Athena turned to glance at Mariana who tilted her head like a confused puppy, examining the woman. The two women locked eyes and a silent understanding passed between them.

"I don't know what he's talking about!" the wife cried. "David, you're frightening me."

"Look, we woke up this morning and she just starts speaking like that. It's bloody this, bloody that. A spot of tea. All this weird British slang that I've never heard before. At first I thought she was joking, but then it didn't stop, and I don't know what the hell's going on so I try to take her to the hospital. She freaked out so I called 911."

Mariana pulled out her pen light and turned the wife to face her as she shined the light in her eyes. The woman hiccuped again and Athena spoke up.

"She told me this morning she woke up with a migraine. That and violent hiccups, coupled with obvious chest pains."

"She's having a stroke," Mariana announced.

"A stroke? Shouldn't she be having slurred speech or paralysis or something?" the husband exclaimed.

"Presents differently in women. Stick your tongue out for me please," Mari requested. The wife followed her order and clearly had paralysis on the left side of her face. "Alright, when's your birthday?"

"It's um....April...."

"Okay!" Mariana announced. "Grab my hand, we're gonna walk downstairs together. Chim, get the TPA injection ready. Bobby, radio County Gen and let them know we're incoming. We're just gonna sit down here so Chimney can give you some meds to relieve the clot."

"There's a clot that's preventing oxygen from getting to her brain so her synapses are misfiring," Bobby explained.

"That could cause her to speak with a British accent?" Athena asked.

"The brain is still the great unknown. Some people can wake up from a coma and can suddenly speak Mandarin."

"That would be sick as hell," Mariana muttered as she packed up her gear.

"Let's avoid coma if at all possible," Chimney shot back.

"Alright, time for the hospital!"

After they loaded the woman into the ambulance and Reynolds drove off, Mariana sighed and turned back to the two men. "Hate to say it, but I miss Buck. Kid would have a field day with that."