"Ooo girl, you look tired," Hen called as Mariana walked by.
"Halloween means unnecessary pranks and more visits to my ER," she groaned. She turned around the corner of the truck and almost ran smack dab into Eddie who looked just as tired as she felt. A massive bruise covered his elbow and she frowned but he quickly put his arm down.
"Whew dude, you okay? That thing's a monster," Buck exclaimed at the sight of it.
"Just roughhousing with my kid," he explained.
"Were you playing with hammers?"
"Nothing you need to be concerned about."
"Welcome back, firefighter Buckley," Chim said.
"Thanks Chim, glad to be back."
"Alright now that we've got that out of the way," Bobby sighed. "Morning briefing."
The bell cut him off which gave Mariana a perfect chance to grab Eddie before they ran off to the trucks. "Seriously, what the hell is that bruise? Christopher clearly didn't do that."
"It's nothing. Don't sweat it."
"So what? You're cutting me out now? Hitting guys, getting arrested, and now this? What the hell, Edmundo?"
"As if you haven't been doing that the past month! Where the hell did you get that cut on your face, Mariana? You freak out and tell me you're fine, you don't sleep over anymore, what is going on with you?"
"This isn't about me right now, Eddie. I'm worried about you!"
"It is about you when you're being a massive hypocrite."
"You practically swung at Buck in the grocery store and you're now coming after me. Wow, what a paragon of ideal behavior you are."
"As if you're one to talk! Have you even spoken to Buck since that fight two months ago?! No, you just play the victim and don't see that you're not the only one affected by this. You're just playing your whole wounded puppy bit and waiting for the rest of us to take care of you."
She recoiled instantly as if she'd been struck, anger flaring in her eyes. "How fucking dare you."
Eddie immediately knew he made a mistake but she was already walking away. "Marian-"
"I get that you're angry about something and I get that I haven't been the easiest person to deal with but you do not get to use me as your verbal fucking punching bag. Go to hell, Diaz."
Mariana wordlessly grabbed her turnout gear and climbed into the front seat, purposefully flipping his mic on mute.
///
"Who the hell put the checklist seven feet up? I'm five six, folks!" Mariana yelled. She was standing on the tips of her toes, stretching to grab the clipboard when a hand grabbed it and extended it down to her.
"What do you want?" Mariana asked Buck. "I need that to do my job, Evan."
"C'mon Mari, we need to talk."
"Well, you need to pass out smoke detectors to kids right now and I need to do a mid-shift check up on the truck so we can talk later."
She turned to walk away and froze, the clipboard falling out of her hands. Her eyes were locked on the sight of a woman walking in with a kid next to her. Mariana took in a shaky breath and quickly turned away, making a beeline for Bobby's office.
"Hey, is something wrong?" he asked the second she burst into the office.
"Valentina's here with Diego. I can handle her, I can't...he'd be so ashamed to see me like this, Bobby," she admitted quietly.
YOU ARE READING
In Flames // 9-1-1 Fox (seasons 1-4)
Fanfiction"Keep your confessions Cause babe I'm no saint We're playing with fire" - In Flames, Digital Daggers Mariana Ramirez doesn't let people into her life. At twenty-six, she has seen her fair share of loss not only in her life but also in her ER. After...
