It has been a month since Buck and I went on our honeymoon and we are finally ready to go back to work. Luckily for us, the drive is relatively quick. Even then I almost forgot how bad LA traffic is without lights and sirens. The thought makes me giggle. As Buck and I make our way to the locker room I notice that it is dead quiet. Something tells me that the others will be throwing us a surprise return party. Thankfully it doesn't take long for us to exchange our normal clothing for our uniforms.

"I wonder where the others are," Buck remarks as I tuck the necklace with my rings underneath my undershirt.

"They will be upstairs waiting to ambush us," I respond as Buck and I close our locker doors in unison. With that, we turn our attention to heading to the rec area. The first thing that I noticed was the big welcome-back banner. Before Buck and I have the chance to do anything, Howie joins us.

"Welcome back Mr. and Mrs. Buckley," Howie remarks. After exchanging all of the required answers about how the honeymoon went we are about to settle into the cake however we are stopped by the signal bell. With that we all spring to action. After seven minutes of driving, we made it to the scene. Unfortunately, it is utter chaos. It looks like a scene from a movie where everything went wrong. While the others get to work Howie and I check on the bride. After finding the course of the incident Bobby turns his attention to us.

"Chim, how's our bride doing?" Bobby asks.

"Just a second," Howie responds as we help our victim up.

"What...what happened?" Our victim mumbles as she comes around.

"You experienced an electrical shock then you passed out," I explained the situation to her. I glance over to find Bobby looking at something that should not be here.

"Is that a polygraph machine?" He is clearly sceptical. I can't blame him.

"Umm, yeah. Is it still working?" our victim responds. Now why would someone have a lie detector machine for wedding prep? It seems odd to me. Oh well, it's not my place to judge. At least my wedding was perfect despite the lead-up to it.

"Maybe. If you are looking to grill something," Howie jokes as he moves down to examine the exit wound.

"I thought you were getting ready for a wedding," Buck points out the obvious.

"Is this some kind of reality show?" Eddie adds. The situation gives off the same energy. To be honest you never know these days.

"There is a nasty exit wound on the sole. She probably absorbed at least eighteen hundred watts," Howie announces. Well, it looks like her big day is over before it even starts. I catch myself glancing at Buck before double-checking her vitals.

"Bethany's just a little nervous about her big day, wanting everything to be just right," A woman who I assume to be the victim's mother explains.

"She thinks one of us is a saboteur, mocking her online, anonymously," One of her so-called friends snaps. Buck and I's wedding drama seems chill compared to what is going on now.

"One of you is and I am going to find out who Trapped By Bridezilla One hundred per cent is before I walk down the aisle," The bride counters as she points her fingers at each of her suspects.

"Well, I'm sorry but the only place you should be walking into is an ER. The doctors are the only ones who can tell what the full extent of your injuries are. We are going to take you to the hospital for an ECG," I confirm to our victim's annoyance. She starts laughing.

"Unacceptable," She says before trying to get up. Despite my protests, she manages to pull herself up. I catch myself being impressed by the stupidity of our victim. She seems determined to prove that someone is intentionally ruining her wedding. As soon as she is up she turns her attention to her bridesmaids.

"How's my makeup?" She tentatively asks. Bobby is quick to respond with a mirror. After a few minutes of back and forth, she gets everything in regard to her makeup organised. Now for the interesting part. Finding out who the saboteur is. Her mum is the first to admit it but a couple of the bridesmaids jump in.

"I actually am Trapped By Bridezilla one hundred per cent because I have been in hell this last year with you," Her mum snaps. It sounds like she is another victim of the pandemic.

"Traitor," The bride all but loses it.

"I always suspected that we were too lenient with you Bethany, that we spoiled you too much but dear god you're a monster," Her mum justifies her actions. With that, the bride kicks her mum out of the wedding in spectacular fashion.

"All I need are new eyebrows and my dress," The bride remarks as she thankfully starts to calm down.

"Yeah...about that...," Bobby remarks, drawing the bride's attention to the charred remains of what was a beautiful wedding dress. The bride lets out a shriek as we leave. It has been a few minutes since we got back and we finally have some downtime to eat our cake and celebrate our return to work.

"So how was the honeymoon?" Howie gets to work on asking the important questions.

"It was good. After the year that we had it was nice to get away from it all. Even for a little while," I say before taking a mouthful of cake. It has been a couple of days since then and I am waiting for the signal bell to go off again. Why? Well, it has been quiet...too quiet. As if on cue the signal bell goes. After nine minutes of travel, we made it to our destination. As the others prepare the ladder Hen and I head up to the apartment. After a couple of minutes, Hen and I arrive at the apartment. I knock on the door to make sure we are in the right spot. Thankfully Eddie lets us in. We soon get to work.

"Vitals are good. BP's one twenty over eighty," Hen confirms.

"She has cuts all over her legs. I saw some blood dripping but we can't access her till we pull her out" I add as I glance at Bobby.

"Ok, let's pry away those rotted wooden slats. We'll make a bigger opening then we will lift her out. Buck, Eddie get yourselves on safety lines before you head out there in case this whole thing goes down," Bbooby gives his orders. With a glance at each other Eddie and Buck get to work. After a minute of digging, there is a big enough gap to pull her out.

"Ok there should be a big enough gap around her to pull her out," Buck confirms my feeling. With that Eddie gives the woman some instructions. With a few swift movements, the woman is successfully rescued. It doesn't take long for Hen and I to do some basic wound care.

"The wounds are going to need stitches. The wood tore her legs up," I confirm the woman's worst fear.

"I can't go to the hospital. Charlie...," The woman has started to panic.

"Ma'am a doctor needs to clean the wounds and then sew it up so it can heal properly," Hen reassures the woman as she tries to fight back.

"What about Charlie? He has an autoimmune disease. The hospital is the worst place for a sick kid. I don't have anyone to stay with him," The woman seems adamant that she is staying put. I catch myself glancing at Charlie. Something doesn't seem right about his symptoms.

"I'll stay with him. I have a kid around Charlie's age. We'll get along fine," Eddie offers.

"No that's...I can't ask you to do that," the woman responds as we get ready to leave.

"Hey Hen, are you happy taking her to the hospital on your own? I want to stay with Eddie in case he needs help," I ask. The thing is I also want to confirm something based on the way Charlie looks.

"Yeah. We are only dealing with cuts and bruises," Hen confirms.

"Cap?" I turn my attention to Bobby who nods. With that, he helps Hen take Charlie's mother to the ambulance.

"You really don't have to do this," Charlie's mother remarks.

"Ella and I offered," Eddie counters as the others leave. It has been a few hours since then and I am watching on as Charlie and Eddie are face timing Christopher and Carla. Something is bugging me. Charlie seems fine but I can tell that there is something wrong.

"You're lucky. My mum's a terrible cook but your dad's great," Charlie compliments Eddie. He did cheat though but I am not going to tell them that.

"Did he order takeout?" Christopher asks.

"I was thinking the same thing," Carla adds.

"Hey, watch it. I'm right here," Eddie retorts, getting a giggle from the three of us. Charlie on the other hand just seems grateful. As Charlie reaches out for his glass of water he accidentally knocks it over.

"Oh, shoot," Charlie does the thirteen-year-old equivalent of cursing.

"Don't worry I've got it. Where does your mum keep the paper towel?" I spring into action.

"Upper cabinet," Charlie responds as he points out the correct cupboard. Eddie gets him a fresh glass of water. As I open the door I notice an alarming number of eye drop bottles. At that moment it hits me that we are dealing with a case of Munchausen by proxy. I was hoping that was not the case but you never know what people are thinking these days. After a suspiciously vague conversation about what Charlie does with himself his mum returns.

"Look who's back," Eddie remarks as we get up.

"And all patched up," Charlie's mum confirms. After thanking us with words that only reinforce the idea that Charlie is part of a Munchausen by proxy case we leave.

"Eddie, I think we may be dealing with a Munchausen by proxy," I voice my concerns as Eddie and I turn our attention to heading back to the firehouse.

"It may be true but it may not. You're worried for no reason," Eddie dismisses me. I sigh.

"Look even if you were correct you don't have much evidence," Eddie quickly defends himself. He is not wrong. I choose to ignore the nagging feeling as Eddie is right. There is not much that I can do without evidence. A sigh falls from my mouth. This situation has put me in a hard spot.

It has been a couple of days since we rescued Charlie's mother from their balcony and I am at work early. I couldn't get back to sleep once I'd been woken by a nightmare. Because of that, I decided to go to work early to Buck's annoyance. To my surprise Eddie and I arrived at the same time. He looks worse than I do.

"Couldn't sleep either?" I ask.

"Nope. I found out something. You remember how we stayed back to help that kid?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah. Let me guess you noticed the crazy amount of eye drops, proving that I was correct," I guess. The amount of eye drops that I found would be enough to kill anyone. It is a miracle she knew how low to keep the dose. Eddie reluctantly nods.

"Yes, and Ana found a series of GoFundMe pages. She is making her son ill," Eddie confirms. To be honest I am not surprised. I just hoped that it was me being paranoid. It has been thirty minutes since then and Eddie is now in a spin. Neither of us knows what we should do with this newfound conclusion. It is at that moment that Eddie and I notice that Buck has arrived. Alongside him is Howie. We both make a beeline to them.

"Damn. You're here early as well," Buck remarks as Eddie rubs the remaining tiredness out of his eyes.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. You remember the mum from the other day. Sheila, the woman with the sick kid?" Eddie asks.

"Yeah?" Both Buck and Howie are confused.

"He's not really sick. His mother has been making him sick and she's probably been doing it for years," Eddie announces to the horror of Buck and Eddie.

"Munchausen by proxy? That is a big accusation, Eddie," Howie reinforces the difficult nature of the situation.

"I know. That's why I tracked down some of the people that knew them before. All of the signs point to it. The non-specific autoimmune disease, the revolving door of doctors and the symptoms. Sheila is poisoning her son," Eddie confirms. He is begging the others to understand the situation. Luckily for him, he has me to back him up if he needs it. The look on Buck's face contorts as he tries to rationalise the situation.

"Poisoning him? With what?" He asks.

"Eye drops. Eddie and I saw them when we were staying with Charlie. Of course. They contain tetrahydrozoline," I explain as I make an interesting conclusion. I wish that wasn't the case but I am not going to deny what I saw.

"It is invisible unless you know to look for it," Howie adds.

"I've already called child services. They are on their way to make a report," Eddie says. It doesn't take long for disaster to strike. Eddie gets a phone call. As soon as he answers it the look on his face changes.

"I'm on my way Charlie," Eddie jumps to action. It doesn't take long for Buck and I to follow suit. For some reason, Howie stays back. With that out of the way, we take the battalion aid car. It has been a tense seven minutes since then and we are finally at Charlie's place. Luckily for us, I had the brains to radio it in on the way. The crew from the 133 have beaten us. Right now they are loading Charlie and his mother onto separate ambulances.

"I'm sorry Eddie. I saw her putting in the drops. I wanted her to know I felt," Charlie explains. I give him an understanding nod. As Eddie is about to join Charlie in the ambulance I notice something off. The next thing I know I've pushed Eddie to the ground as a shot rings out. It misses. The next one doesn't. I feel the bullet rip into my spine.

"Ella, can you wiggle your toes?" Eddie asks. I am barely conscious. Everything is slipping away. 

A/N The sequel is finally here. Yes, I jumped right into the action. I thought why not? Anyway since this is an author's note I'd like to remind you to vote and/or comment if you are enjoying this story.