Maddie Buckley has just arrived at the 9-1-1 dispatch centre in Los Angeles. She walks to her desk with a mug of coffee in her hand, sits down and places her headset on. Before she can take a sip of her coffee, a call comes in.

'9-1-1. What's your emergency?' Maddie answers with the standard greeting.

'You've got to send help! My friend, I- I don't think she's breathing!' A distressed voice tells Maddie.

'Okay, firstly, I need you to calm down and tell me exactly what happened.' Maddie tells the caller.

'We're at a party. We were just talking and she collapsed.' The caller replies having calmed down.

'Did she take any drugs?' Maddie asks.

'I don't know.'

'Okay.' Maddie nods. 'What's the address?' The caller tells Maddie the address of the emergency. 'I'm arranging help for you now.' Maddie says. 'I need you to stay on the line with me until help-' The caller hangs up. Maddie sighs and ends the call on her end.

Meanwhile, 118 are pulling up in front of the house party. Captain Robert "Bobby" Nash, Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley, Howard "Chimney" Han and Henrietta "Hen" Wilson all get out of their vehicles. Also pulling is Sergeant Athena Grant. As Eddie and Buck get the medical bags and Hen and Chimney get the gurney and backboard, Athena walks up to Bobby.

'Hey.' Athena smiles.

'Hey.' Bobby smiles back.

'According to dispatch, this is most likely a party with underage drinkers and drugs.' Athena states.

'We figured.' Bobby nods. Buck, Eddie, Hen and Chimney have re-joined him. 'Let's go.' They all walk into the house and look around. A young girl runs up to them.

'She's in the upstairs bathroom.' The young girl tells them. They all follow her up the stairs and to the bathroom where there is another young girl on the floor. Buck and Eddie kneel down either side of the young girl.

'What's her name?' Buck queries.

'Zara.' The young girl tells them.

'Does anyone know if she's taken any drugs?' Eddie looks around. Everyone shakes their heads. As he's looking around, he spots a teenage girl wearing a long sleeved jumper dress and knee high back boots, who quickly walks away as soon as she sees him look at her.. 'Chim, can you take over for a sec?'

'Sure.' Chim nods, confused. Eddie stands up and Chimney takes his place.

'Diaz? Everything okay?' Bobby queries.

'Yeah.' Eddie nods. 'I know a way we can find out if she's taken anything.'

'Go.' Bobby nods. Eddie quickly pushes past the crowd and runs after the young girl.

'Essie!' He shouts. The girl, Estelle, ignores him and keeps walking. 'Essie! Stop!' Again, she ignores him. 'Estelle Josephine Diaz!' Eddie shouts. Hearing her full name makes Estelle stop. Essie turns around and Eddie runs up to her. 'What are you doing here?' He asks his daughter.

'A friend invited me.' Estelle replies.

'You're supposed to be looking after Christopher.' He raises an eyebrow.

'No. Abuela is looking after Christopher.' Estelle corrects him.

'I told you that you've got to start helping her a bit more.' Eddie sighs. 'We'll talk more about this later. That girl we were called to, do you know if she's taken anything.' Before Estelle can reply, Bobby joins them.

'Diaz, what's going on?' Bobby questions.

'Captain, this is my daughter, Essie.' Eddie introduces Estelle. 'Well?'

'No. She hasn't.' Estelle shakes her head. 'She doesn't do drugs. She's on some form of medication. I'm not sure what.'

'Is she your friend?' Bobby queries.

'More like mortal enemy.' Estelle replies. 'We used to be friends. Kinda. Until she stabbed me in the back. Just a word of warning, she's eighteen and knowing her, she'll refuse treatment.'

'What have you taken?' Eddie questions having noticed the size of her pupils. Estelle doesn't reply. 'Right.' Eddie sighs and nods. 'We'll talk more about this later.' He turns to face Bobby. 'Captain, I know it's against protocol and everything, but do you mind if Essie rides with us back to the station and stays there until the end of shift? I would tell her to go home but I don't really trust her right now.'

'Of course,' Bobby nods, 'but just this once.'

'Thank you.' Eddie nods appreciatively.

'Take her down the trucks and wait there. We'll be able to handle things without you.' Bobby tells him. 'I better get back.' Bobby then walks off. Eddie turns back to face Estelle.

'I'm going to ask you again, what have you taken?' Eddie asks her sternly.

'It was just a tab of Molly.' Estelle shrugs. 'It's no big deal.'

'No big deal?!' Eddie shouts making Estelle jump. 'What if you had taken a dodgy one?! I take it you've been drinking too?' Estelle looks down. 'Do you know how dangerous that is?' Estelle looks back up at him. 'Come on.' Estelle doesn't move. 'Now!' Estelle huffs and starts making her way out of the house with Eddie following her. When they reach the front porch, Eddie gently grabs onto her upper arm and pulls her over to the truck. 'You can't keep coming out to parties like this.' He tells her. She looks down. 'Your drink could have been spiked, you could have taken a dodgy pill, you could have been abducted!'

'I know.' Estelle mutters.

'Then why do you keep doing it?' Eddie questions. 'Look, I know that you're mad at your mom but partying isn't the answer.'

'Who said that I was mad at mom?' Estelle looks back up.

'All of this – the partying, the drugs, the alcohol, the attitude – it all started when she left.' Eddie replies.

'It always comes back to that.' Estelle scoffs. 'This isn't about mom.' She shakes her head.

'Essie-'

'No!' Estelle shouts. 'You always blame this on mom. I get an F. It's mom's fault. I'm late to school. It's mom's fault. I get high. It's mom's fault. Stop. Blaming. Mom!'

'What kind of example do you think you're setting for Christopher?' Eddie questions. 'Seeing his older sister get brought home by cops half the time? They're not going to be lenient for much longer. The only reason they don't arrest you is because they know me.' There are a few minutes of silence. 'You're grounded. For a month. You can go to school and that's it. When Carla or abuela is looking after Christopher you'll stay with them. Do you understand?' Estelle stays silent. 'I said do you understand?'

'Yeah.' Essie nods. Just then, everyone from 118 walks out. Bobby walks up to Eddie and Essie.

'You were right.' Bobby nods at Essie. 'She refused treatment.' Everyone else gathers around them.

'Who's this?' Buck asks motioning to Estelle.

'You've all met my son, Christopher.' Eddie starts. 'This is my daughter Estelle. She prefers Essie though and she's very grounded.'

'I get the message.' Estelle sighs. 'You don't need to keep repeating it.'

'Less of the attitude, please.' Eddie raises an eyebrow at his daughter.

'We better get back to the station before another call comes in.' Bobby points out. Everyone gets into their assigned vehicles. Eddie motions for Estelle to get into the truck. Estelle stands with her arms folded.

'Don't make this even more difficult than it needs to be.' He shakes his head. 'Get in. Now.' Estelle rolls her eyes and gets into the truck. Eddie gets in after her and sits in the empty space next to her.

~

Arriving at 118, Eddie takes Estelle to the quiet room.

'I want you to stay here until my shift is over in the morning.' Eddie tells her. 'I'll be coming in to check on you to make sure you're still here so don't even think about sneaking away.' He then turns around and walks off. Estelle sighs, walks over to the sofa and slumps down. Meanwhile, Eddie is rejoining his colleagues at the table in the dining area.

'So,' Hen starts, 'you're daughter. She seems like she's a handful.'

'She can be.' Eddie nods. 'Ever since Shannon left all she wants to do is rebel. It's like she doesn't care about anything anymore.' He says. 'She's a sweet kid, really. She's really good with Christopher.' He adds. 'She just makes bad decisions.' His phone then rings. He gets it out and looks at the caller ID. 'I gotta take this.' He answers his phone. 'Abuela-' He start as he walks off.

Twenty minutes later, Buck walks to the quiet room. When he walks in, Estelle looks up at him.

'You're Buck, right?' Estelle queries.

'How'd you know that?' Buck asks.

'Christopher talks about you.' Estelle laughs. 'A lot.' Buck walks further into the room and sits on a chair. 'I know my dad has told you about me making all the bad decisions and that. It's the same speech he says to everyone.'

'You're a teenager. You're expected to have your rebellious years.' Buck tells her. 'I certainly did.' He continues with a nod. 'Except I kinda didn't grow out of it until recently.'

'Well that backfired.' Estelle laughs.

'What?'

'Trying to use yourself as an example of a rebellious teen turning their life around before it got too late.' Estelle raises an eyebrow. Buck goes to say something. 'Don't even try and deny that that's what you're doing. Plenty of other people have done the same and it has always started with something along the lines of "you're expected to have your rebellious years". Every single family member bar my mom and Christopher has given me that talk.'

'You close with Christopher?' Buck queries.

'He's my little brother. Of course I am.' Estelle laughs. 'I may act like an ass most of the time but I try not to bring that around Christopher, apart from when the cops bring me home.' There are a few moments of silence. 'I take him down to the pier all the time. It's his favourite place to go.' She says. 'Plus, I can go on all the rides with him that dad can't.' She fiddles with her sleeve which is when Buck clocks some cuts on Estelle's wrist.

'Does your dad know?' Buck questions.

'Does my dad know what?'

'That you cut yourself?' Buck asks.

'I don't cut myself.' Estelle shakes her head nervously. She pulls her sleeves further down her arm so that they're now covering her hands.

'It's okay,' Buck reassures her, 'whatever it is, you'll get through it.'

'Please don't tell my dad.' Estelle shakes her head. 'He's got enough to deal with. He doesn't need to deal with this too. I will talk to him about it just not now. He's way too angry at me right now.' There are a few minutes of silence. 'He talks about this place a lot.' She states.

'He brought Christopher here after the earthquake, how come he didn't bring you?' Buck asks confused.

'Truth be told, I was high.' Estelle replies. 'I was safe and he knew that I was safe. He didn't want to bring me here in case I passed out or ripped someone's head off.' The alarm then blares calling 118 to another call.

'They're playing my music.' Buck smiles before running off.

It has been two hours. 118 are just returning from a house fire call. Eddie walks to the quiet room and sees that Estelle is curled up on the sofa, asleep. He gets a blanket from the corner of the room and drapes it over her. He strokes her head and sits down on the sofa with her. He sighs, gets his phone out of his pocket and brings up and number he's been saving. He dials the number and puts the phone to his ear. After a few minutes, the person on the other end answers.

'Los Angeles Rehabilitation Facility, how may I help?'

~~

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