FRIENDLY FIRE: A 9-1-1 fanfiction

Part Thirty-Two: Call Me Poirot

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EMMA

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I stayed perfectly still, keeping my eyes shut,  pretending to the best of my abilities that I'd fallen asleep. It had been ten minutes. 

Why would they not just believe it?

"I think she's out for real," Buck mumbled quietly, "we should go."

"She might wake up still and if she wakes up she might try hunt down some answers for herself and we don't know how she's gonna take what she finds out." Eddie combatted simply, the sound of him shuffling cards fluttering into my ears again.

"She'll be good as peach on a cobbler," Marcello scoffed, "you don't seem to know her well but Emma's built tough. This won't change a thing for her."

"You're an idiot if you think what happened to her won't change anything," Eddie shot back without missing a beat. "You lose by the way."

"I got nineteen!" Marcello burst out.

Buck shushed him loudly, "Sleeping person!"

"And I got twenty," Eddie continued calmly, "and that's your last five I believe."

"You cheated."

"At blackjack?"

Marcello huffed, the chair scrapping as he stood up, his shoes loud on the floor, "I'm going back to my hotel, I don't want to be around you two anymore."

"He's such a sore loser," Eddie sounded very entertained by the fact, "but you're probably right, she's out for the night. We should let her sleep."

"She'll need the rest before the storm," Buck sighed, his chair moving back quietly.

"You know what?" Eddie faltered, "I'm actually going to stay here. Chris is at my Tia's house, Ana's out of town, I've got nowhere else to be and she needs a friend."

Buck sighed heavily and I could imagine him scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah, sure, fine. Whatever you think is best, I guess."

"I just don't want her to feel alone," Eddie mumbled, "we got into a fight before all this happened and I feel bad about it."

Buck hummed in response, "Alright. Let me know if anything happens. I'll come visit before my shift in the morning."

Eddie stood up with him, "I'll walk you out, I'm going to ask the desk if they can spare a pillow and a blanket."

The rest of their words faded out as they made their way out into the hall and I took that as my chance.

My eyes snapped open again and I threw the blanket off myself quickly, shuffling off the bed. I grabbed a jumper that Hollis had left on one of the chairs, slipping it on over my pyjamas and then, slowly, I made my way over to the door, sliding it open.

I carefully poked my head out, looking from side to side to make sure the coast was clear; the hospital was mostly empty, with staff at their bays and patients asleep in there rooms.

I had wanted to check my phone earlier in the day but Eddie had been insistent that there was no reason for me to use my phone just yet. It led me to the simple conclusion that there was something I'd find online that they didn't want me to see; probably, the answers to all my questions.

I knew the hospital had to have a TV somewhere and I had a feeling that the waiting area was the place to go. Hollis's hospital had a waiting area on every floor which led me to the decision of clambering into the elevator and heading down to the first floor.