AN: Hello everyone! This chapter is the continuation of the previous one, it's set in the same day and shift. I'm not too happy with the result, so please, bear with it.
After finishing their call and as soon as they arrived at the station, Andy went upstairs to the beanery, not saying another word to Ben. He, otherwise, feeling the need to burn some adrenaline, made his way to the gym where he joined Miller, who was already doing his workout.
"Hey!" The later greeted him. Warren simply nodded to him and started to hit hard the punching bag. "Wow, what happened? Bad call?" Dean asked, concerned. "Bad talk would be more precise." Ben answered, shaking his head. "Oh, Andy" Miller acknowledged. "Yep"
"Give her time, she's kinda in a bad place, right now."
"Yeah, I...get...that...but I...tried to...talk…" He explained between punches, while Dean approached him, to hold the punching bag. "Her whole world is upside down, right now, I'm sure she agrees with you that it was the right thing to do, I don't think that's what bothered her." Warren stopped, taken aback by Miller's statement. "You've talked to her about this?"
"Not really, I listened to her when she talked briefly about it. I, actually, changed the subject, 'cause I honestly don't wanna take sides on this." Ben looked at him, incredulously, stepping aside from the heavy bag. "And yet, you just took hers."
"No, I didn't. I told you to give her time. It's not the same. And you know you and I are good, I chose you to take care of my baby." Dean denied, unconsciously lifting his arms with the aim of showing innocence. "I know, I know. But I gave her time, three weeks, exactly." Ben emphasized, a little hurt. "She's not fine, ok? She's dealing with a lot. I can't tell you about it, but just…be patience."
"Is there something wrong Sullivan? She made a weird comment and…" Miller hurried to answer. "I can't tell you"
"But there is, and you know it all!" Warren guessed by his friend's poor attempt of poker face. "Damn! Is his leg ok? Is he on drugs again? He didn't answer my calls." Ben inquired, genuinely worried about his former chief. "I can't tell you, man!" Dean begged, trying hard not to disclose it all. "Oh come on, Miller!"
"No. Don't push me! I'm not Vic." He replied, making a funny face that soon was replaced by a painful shadow, at the thought of her. Thankfully for him, Ben was so invested in the Sullivan issue that didn't notice. "I just want to make sure he's ok, because she's not ok. Does that make any sense to you?" Ben rambled.
"Yeah, it does. But I. Can't. Tell you." Dean stated, seriously.
"Dean, come on. I'm not asking you to reveal his dirty secrets or anything. I just want to know if he's fine. I asked Miranda and she said he didn't want any visitors when he was in the hospital, so I called and he didn't answer. He's probably mad at me, but... today Andy looked… I can't tell if it was sadness or...I don't know…"
The little speech made Miller's features relax a bit, but he still didn't want to break Herrera's trust by talking about her problems without her permission. "I get that you're worried, I do. But if you wanna know, you gonna have to ask her...or Sullivan." He concluded, leaving Warren very few possibilities to answer back.
Later that day, Travis was on the entrance desk, looking for some files, when a woman came in.
"Good evening, Ma'am. What can we do for you?" He offered, politely, without recognizing her. "Hi, I came to see my daughter, Andrea Herrera." Montgomery opened and closed his mouth a few times, no sound made, before he could come up with something to say. "I'm Travis Montgomery." He began hesitantly, shaking her hand. "I think she's upstairs. I'll take you to her."
"Thank you"
Montgomery chatted nervously with her, probably more than he should have, until they found Herrera in the beanery, already starting dinner preparations with Miller and Jack, while Warren set the table.
"Hey Andy, your mom came by!" Travis announced, awkwardly, as the others froze in place. "Mom? What are you doing here?"
"I came to check on you, m'ija. I was worried about you, you don't answer my calls."
"I don't need you to check on me." Herrera didn't intend it to sound rude, but it did and Elena looked down uncomfortably. "I know you're a grown woman, but the funeral was hard on you and I wanted to make sure you were doing alright." She explained, in a lower voice, both of her hands clenched on her purse straps. Andy paused, not sure of what to do, while all of the presents stayed in heavy silence. Deciding that he had had enough of Andy's silent treatment for a lifetime, Warren addressed the woman.
"I'm Ben Warren." He introduced himself to soften the atmosphere, prompting the rest to do the same. After the round of presentations, Elena felt more welcomed and told them a few things about when Andy was little. Maya and Vic joined them at some point in the middle of the story telling and they all laughed at the anecdotes she was sharing, which actually put a small smile in Herrera's face. "Now I wanna hear you." Elena said to the guys. "It's obvious I've missed a lot and she's not talking much lately, which is understandable." She continued, giving her daughter a reassuring look, wishing it would be enough to let her know that she was aware of how hard it must've been for her.
After checking for any signs of dissent in Andy's expression, Maya intervened. "Well, she's a great friend, a little bit stubborn sometimes, but I'd trust her with my life." Dean and Jack also pleased Andy's mom with a couple other facts about her, that earned a proud smile from Elena. "Good, what else?"
"She's always willing to help others, but she's too independent when she's the one in need, even thought she wouldn't need to, because we're here for her." Ben's addition took Herrera by surprise, but she was abruptly brought back to reality by Hughes enthusiastic intervention.
"Ok now, my turn, because someone has to say it out loud." Vic declared, totally oblivious. "She was way more fun before she became Mrs. Sullivan and that needs to change, like soon."
"Mrs. Sullivan?"