Mariana had to hold back her grimace as she climbed up onto the bowling pin machine. Eddie steadied her with a firm hand on her back as she moved carefully over the equipment to get to Arlene, the owner who had her arm crushed by the pin setter.
"Garrett?!" Arlene cried.
"It's okay, Arlene, I'm here!" the employee called back. "These people are going to help you, okay?"
"Compound fracture, more out than in," Chimney reported. "Pulse is weak."
"She's lost a lot of blood," Mariana added. "We need to get fluids going. We can't stabilize her like this."
"Alright," Bobby addressed Garrett. "Do you know how to move this thing? How to release it?"
"I mean, not really. I've only watched Arlene do it."
"Manual," she grit out.
"Right! Manual release...which is here somewhere."
"We could take it apart piece by piece," Buck suggested.
"Not unless you want her to bleed out," Mariana commented dryly. Garrett grabbed a hook off the wall and passed it up to Eddie.
"Here. Put this in the back and then turn it."
"Blood pressure's dropping," Hen reported.
"Pushing fluids."
"I'll get a tourniquet, tie the arm, and get her out," Eddie supplied.
"Not gonna work. The cross brace is the only thing that's holding her arm in place. The minute you move it, she's gonna bleed out on the floor," Mariana replied.
"And given how broken her bones are," Chimney added. "It'll be like tying off a wet bag of rocks."
"What if we embrace the cross brace?" Buck suggested. "We cut her from the pinsetter here, then we weld these points here, here, and here and you've got a-"
"Damn good splint," Bobby finished. "We're gonna need a stick welder."
Well hot damn, Buck had a really smart idea. They were able to extract Arlene from the rest of the machine while still maintaining the integrity of the arm and keeping her vitals steady. Mariana high fived her best friend as they followed behind the stretcher and out of the bowling alley.
"A living tissue under a metal endoskeleton," he said in a Schwarzenegger accent.
"You know, technically, it would be an exoskeleton, right?" Eddie replied. Mariana huffed out a laugh at Buck's annoyed expression.
"Can't just let me enjoy the win."
"Good job, bud," Bobby said.
"Yeah, Buck. We'll let you take this one," she teased.
/
"But am I happy?" Chimney sighed. "Albert is annoying, but maybe he's right. Things with me and Maddie are great, but we're not exactly lighting the world on fire."
Mariana ducked under Eddie's arm to grab her belt out of her duffle bag that was in his locker as he pulled on his uniform shirt over their usual under layer for when they needed to get into turnout gear.
"Does it matter what he thinks?" Eddie asked. "Only you know how you feel about Maddie."
"I really care about her."
Both Hen and Mariana let out noises of disgust at his words. Chimney raised his hands in surrender at the two women.
"The dreaded "C" word," Hen said. "I really care about good arch support. That's not how you feel about your significant other."
"She's right," Mari sang as she started to braid her hair until Eddie gently batted her hands away and swiftly began to braid it.
"Obviously I care about her more than good footwear," Chim scoffed.
"Okay, how much more?"
"A lot."
"Do you love her?" Eddie asked, snapping a hair band around the end of her braid. She turned in response and started buttoning up his shirt as he strapped his watch on his wrist.
"Yeah," Chimney sighed.
"Does she love you?"
"It's unclear. I mean, I feel like she does, but neither of us have actually said those exact words out loud."
"You've been together for like, a year," Hen said.
"Technically we have been dating for ten months and three weeks."
"So you've been together for like a year!"
The three of them chuckled at her comment and Mariana turned around to face them after finishing the last button on Eddie's uniform.
"With everything she's been through, you know, that we've been through, we just wanted to take it slow."
Eddie barked out a laugh as Mariana elbowed him, rolling her eyes.
"Glaciers move faster, Chim."
"And they're also melting so maybe fiery is overrated."
"Hey guys? Reynolds wants to do a lineup," Buck announced as he popped his head into the locker room.
"I can't believe Cap left us with this guy," Hen groaned.
"Bobby gave me specific instructions to be nice," Mariana said innocently. "But he didn't make me promise to be on my best behavior."
"It's for that exact reason why I wasn't gonna do it again." Chimney pointed at the grinning brunette and her grin widened. She practically had a skip in her step as she followed Buck and Hen out. Eddie patted her butt once and she whirled around with a raised eyebrow poised on her face. Using his distraction to his advantage, he captured a quick kiss from her lips.
"Hey, no PDA at work," she laughed, clearly not angry at him. He grinned at her bright eyes and squeezed her hip.
"I needed something to get through the shift," he hummed. "Don't eat Reynolds alive."
"No promises," she sang, bounding out to go stand next to Buck. Eddie stopped at the door and turned to face Chimney.
"Hey, I get taking things slow, but tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. So if you love her, tell her. She might not be able to say it back, but you'll know."
He looked over towards where the brunette was now standing with a bored look on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. Reynolds looked a little pale and Eddie quickly walked over to rescue the poor man from whatever verbal evisceration she was about to put him through.
/
Mariana rolled on her side, her chest rising and falling quickly thanks to the workout Eddie just put her through. He grinned lazily at the sight of her flushed cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss. She sighed against his touch and curled in closer to him.
"I gotta clean up, sweetheart," he whispered. "I'll be right back, okay?"
She nodded and cuddled up against the pillows as he slipped out of the bed and headed for the bathroom. Eddie didn't waste any time climbing back into bed with her, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her into his chest.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Peachy keen," she drawled out. He pinched her thigh and she wiggled around in his arms, gently biting his shoulder in response.
"Serious answer please."
"I'm good. You're not that amazing, Diaz."
"You weren't saying that ten minutes ago."
She let out a snort at his statement and tucked her face into the crook of his neck, pressing a kiss to the vein in his neck. He drifted his hand over her back, tracing the scars and lines that decorated her skin with a delicate touch.
"I love you, you know that right?" he murmured.
"Of course. You're...okay with me not saying it back, right?"
"Of course. I told you. I can wait as long as it takes. Even if it means forever."
Mariana pressed her lips to his skin once more before pulling away, her brown eyes blinking up at him drowsily. He chuckled and rolled them so he was laying on his back and she rested on his chest.
"Sleep, mariposa. You need it."
His only response was her breathing evening out and coming out in soft puffs against his chest. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling in hopes that he could fall asleep too. She had no clue that he was having nightmares. He couldn't burden her with that. So he fell asleep after her and woke up before her in hopes that she wouldn't catch him in the middle of some PTSD hellscape.
He looked back down at her, admiring how soft she appeared when sleeping. He had an amazing son, an outstanding girlfriend, a great job, and what felt like the perfect life. If only the nightmares of Afghanistan would end.