AnnaBeth had spent her days off baking, exploring the city, making jam and avoiding Lemon Breeland's phone calls. Avoiding Lemon also involved avoiding Jonah who Lemon was also calling. She had left before Lemon had gotten back from her Grandmother's so she knew it was inevitable, but she wasn't ready to let her best friend tell her how she should run her life. For now, ignorance was bliss.
She decided to take some of her jam into the firehouse. There was no sign of Bill and his cart out front.
She put her bag away in her locker and carried the box of jam through into the common room.
"What's in the box AB?" Gabby asked peaking over the top.
"Well I've had a lot of time on my hands, so I've taken up Jam making" She replied setting the box down.
"Oh, I love homemade jam" Mouch said looking over.
"Well you sir are in luck" She said "My kitchen was starting to look like that start of an episode of hoarders, so I decided to share it"
"What flavors have you got? Peter asked as she set some out on the side.
"Apricot, Loganberry Quince and Raspberry" She replied with a smile "Please everyone take some home"
"Can I take some for Trudy?" Mouch asked
"Yes" She replied happily.
"I think you should take that offer on coming to Molly's kid" Herrmann told her patting her on the shoulder.
Joe opened a pot of the loganberry quince and dipped a spoon in to try some.
"I have no idea what this is, but it is amazing" He said closing his eyes.
Joe's rave review was enough for everyone to take some. She decided to take a jar of each to give to Chief Boden and to Connie.
"Good morning Connie" She said setting down the trio on her desk.
"What's this?" Connie asked raising an eyebrow.
"Homemade Jam" She replied
"You know I love it" Connie told her "But I always get a step wrong"
"Oh, I know it's a science" She agreed "But I've had a lot of free time, I can send you my recipe"
"I would love that" Connie said flashing a rare smile.
"Is it ok if I just set this on Chief's desk?" She asked.
"Go ahead" Connie said with a nod.
AnnaBeth set the gift down writing a little thank you note for the opportunity she had been given. She was feeling a lot more positive after a few days off. She was a happy bubbly person who liked to make the best of things, so she was not going to be awkward or shy she was just going to be herself. She'd even embrace the stress baking and jam making.
"I don't think I've ever seen Connie be so nice to someone" Gabby told her as she walked back through and poured a cup of coffee.
"Really?" She asked taking a sip "She seems nice to me"
"She's the most difficult woman" Herrmann said under his breath.
"Oh no" She smiled shaking her head "I know difficult women"
"I thought all southern women were supposed to be polite?" Otis asked.
"That's called a stereotype" Gabby said rolling her eyes.
"Well" She said "There are some women who will cut you down with polite words and a smile on their face"
"That doesn't sound so bad" Otis shrugged.
"Bless your heart" She said
"Thank you" He replied helping himself to breakfast.
Gabby just laughed and patted him on the shoulder. She chose not to explain that it wasn't really a compliment.
"Oh" Gabby said looking up "AB this is Lieutenant Kelly Severide, Severide this is AnnaBeth, she's the new paramedic on 61"
"Nice to meet you Lieutenant" She said extending her hand.
"Yeah you too" He said shaking her hand.
AnnaBeth raised an eyebrow as he walked straight off and sat down with a paper.
"Is he always so friendly?" She asked quietly.
"Shay was his best friend" Gabby explained "He just needs a little time, kind of like me I wasn't the warmest person last shift"
"Oh, I've been through hell week when I rushed Delta Sigma and had Lemon Breeland as a best friend for twenty-five years, I can't be too sensitive" She said brushing it off.
"So hazing is a real thing?" Gabby asked wide eyed.
"Oh yeah, even with my group the Belles, Lemon brought it back for the belles when Zoe Hart wanted to join, she made us chase that poor girl down with paintball guns out of her house, they banned it back in the 70s when three girls almost drowned getting their river boat paddling" She replied.
"I kind of want to know more and I'm kind of afraid to ask" Gabby mused "You are a strange woman from a strange place"
"That is possibly very true" She agreed.
"I like it" Gabby told her "I think you'll fit in here"
AnnaBeth smiled happily. She thought she was maybe making her first real girl friend in Chicago. She set her coffee down as the bells went off to send them to a call. They pulled up into a side street where a man was lay unconscious on the ground surrounded by a group of men.
"I hate this area" Gabby said getting out of the ambulance as AnnaBeth grabbed the jump bag.
"I actually live just on the street over" She said looking down the alleyway.
"This is not a good area AB" Gabby told her as they approached the scene.
"Does anyone know what this man has taken?" She asked the group as Gabby checked over the patient.
"Most likely heroin" Gabby sighed "I'm going to prep the naloxone"
"Hey what do you think you're doing" She said pushing the hand away of a man who was trying to grab into the patient's pockets.
"Back up and let us work" Gabby demanded "Or he's going to die"
AnnaBeth looked around to see Truck 81 rolling up on the scene. They jumped out chasing off the group of guys as Gabby injected the patient. He woke up almost instantly complaining about his lost high and ran off so they couldn't take him to the hospital.
"Thank you" She said to Casey and the others.
"We'll meet you back at the house" Gabby told them "Come on AB show me this place of yours"
They drove a street over and pulled up outside her front door. She smiled and waved to Bill who was hanging around outside.
"Bill you wait right there" She told him "I've got something for you"
"Who's that?" Gabby hissed.
"He's kind of my neighbor" She shrugged opening her front door.
She grabbed the bag she had left there this morning. There was a new pair of shoes, and socks. She had seen his shoes were falling apart. She had spoken to him a few times about shelters but he wasn't interested so she would at least make sure he had something on his feet.
"I can't take this" He grumbled.
"You can and you will, or you'll hurt my feelings" She told him "I'll see you around and you better be wearing those shoes"
Gabby followed her inside shaking her head with a smile. AnnaBeth was nothing like Shay but she was just as caring.
"This place is huge" Gabby said looking around surprised, from the outside she had been expecting a dive.
"You know I don't know much about housing here, but I thought it was a good size" She nodded.
"And the decoration looks like it's all brand new" Gabby said looking around at the perfect walls and how it had been furnished "It looks like a show home"
"Well I just had to do it up" She said "It needs to feel like home"
"Can I tell you something?" Gabby asked when they got back into the ambulance needing to tell someone already.
AnnaBeth felt relief seeing the smile on Gabby's face.
"Of course, you can" She replied.
"When I was training with Matt for my new candidate position, he proposed to me last night" Gabby told her.
"Oh, my goodness that is amazing" She gasped "You said yes right?"
"I did" Gabby nodded happily.
"I need to see your ring" She told her "I need all of the details"
Gabby promised to show her the ring later and give her the full story. When they got back to the station Chief Boden had told Gabby she had been requested down at headquarters. 61 was taken out of service for a short while so she could attend the meeting.
AnnaBeth waved goodbye to her.
"AnnaBeth" Chief Boden said in his deep voice that still intimidated her a little bit.
"Yes Sir" she said "I mean Chief"
"I wanted to thank you for the gift that was very thoughtful" He told her "If you keep working hard the way you have been I think you'll do well here, you've already made an impression"
"Thank you Chief" She said unable to keep the beaming smile from her face, but she did manage to stop herself from giving him a hug.
AnnaBeth walked into the common room feeling on top of the world. She did a double take when she saw a little girl sat at the table.
"Well hello there" She said taking a seat "I'm AnnaBeth, what's your name?"
"Hi, I'm Naomi" the little girl said shaking her hand.
"This is my daughter" Newhouse told her "Her school is off for the week, so she'll be spending some time here"
"Well that is just wonderful" She said "I bet you're excited to spend some time with your Dad"
"Yeah I like it" Naomi nodded
"What are you reading?" she asked looking over.
"The Wizard of Oz" Naomi replied.
"That's a great book" She said, "Have you seen the movie?"
"No" Naomi said "But I want to"
"I watched it with my Dad when I was about your age, it was one of the last movies I saw with him" She told her "It was the most magical story"
"You haven't watched a movie with your Dad since you were a little girl?" Naomi asked "Why?"
"Well" She said "My parents are a little strange, they checked out after Top Gun, the figured they'd never see anything better"
"You know I never realized you were so funny AB" Newhouse laughed.
"Sadly, that is not a joke" She said with a smile "They are on their second retirement cruise and the only thing that is watched in that house is football"
"So, you're a football fan?" He asked.
"Go Auburn Tigers" She replied putting a fist in the air.
AnnaBeth wrinkled her nose as a smell wafted over from the kitchen. She saw Joe stirring a pot of something that didn't smell right at all.
"Cruz honey what are you making?" She asked.
"It's always the worst food day" Peter told her.
"It's my own recipe" Joe replied as he started listing off the ingredients.
"Oh, Sweet Lord" She said standing up to go and watch Joe in the kitchen "Let me try some"
Peter leant back on his chair to watch her face as she dipped a spoon into the pot to try whatever concoction Cruz had come up with.
"How is it?" Joe asked.
"Well" She started not wanting to hurt his feelings "Its…it just needs a few more things"
"Like what?" He asked
"I'll just show you" She replied smiling sweetly as she pulled out all the herbs, spices and condiments she could find.
She couldn't perform a miracle, but she could at least make it edible. And there was no way she was letting that poor little girl eat that for dinner. After a few tries on ratios she was finally happy.
"Ok it's ready" She told him.
Peter braved trying a bowl first. He cautiously raised the spoon to his mouth.
"Considering what I know you started with that's not half bad" He told her.
"Why thank you sir" She replied.
"Hey what do you mean what she started with?" Joe demanded.
"Cruz you know you're not the best cook" Otis told him.
"You know I've seen worse" She lied "And I've seen them turn it around, I can teach you"
"You can?" Peter asked as they sat back down.
"Well I can certainly try" She replied.
"Did you leave your phone in the locker?" Kelly asked taking a seat "It's vibrating like crazy"
"Excuse me" She said standing up to go and check.
She took a deep breath as she opened her locker. It was mostly missed calls from Lemon, a few from Jonah, Zoe and George and then one from Lavon. She sat down on the bench staring at the unopened message with his name. She felt herself getting emotional.
"Is everything ok?" Kelly asked leaning against the lockers.
"Just testing the limits of my waterproof mascara" She joked wiping her eyes "Yep there it is"
"I know I wasn't that friendly earlier" He said "But 51 is a good house, if you need someone to talk to"
"I'm fine really" She said with a smile "Thank you"
She decided to not open the message from Lavon but did send a message to Lemon just to let her know that she was ok and that she would call her soon. AnnaBeth was just grateful that the rest of the shift was uneventful.
Gabby had sent her some apartment listings that she would go through. She had realized that she wasn't living in a good area, but it was good to get some insider knowledge on where the best places to look were.
"Don't forget to stop by Molly's tonight" Herrmann told her as she left shift.
"I promise" She replied as she said goodbye to Naomi.
AnnaBeth didn't like to spend all day at home. She decided to go out to a bakery and sit with a pastry and a tea. She looked up some near by gym classes and just explored some more. She wasn't the type to sit home all day long she never had been. It did make her miss having a group to belong to or girlfriends to go to lunch with. She decided to call Jonah and ask him to go to Molly's with her. She felt bad for avoiding him to avoid Lemon. They were friends and she needed to treat him like one. He had been there for her through her heart break.
She wasn't a pants and t-shirt kind of woman. She loved to get dressed up. She wanted to take advantage of the summer weather while she could. She left her chestnut hair in soft curls and pulled out her favorite cream and blue spotted sleeveless silk wrap dress. Green was usually her go to color, but she had been embracing blue lately. As always, she was accessorized fully. She decided on a simple pendant and matching bracelet.
Jonah opened the beautiful heavy wooden door for her as she stepped inside.
"Why thank you sir" She told him.
She looked around at the beautiful twinkling lights on the ceiling and was really impressed. It wasn't a big place, but it just had a good atmosphere. There weren't many people there, but Herrmann was behind the bar.
"Hey, there she is" Kelly called loudly from the bar "Come and sit down"
AnnaBeth raised an eyebrow at how animated he was being but just smiled politely.
"You look too fancy for the likes of this place kid" Herrmann told her.
"That's so sweet thank you. Kelly, Herrmann" She said taking a seat at the bar "This is my friend Jonah Breeland, he's a doctor at Chicago med, Jonah this is Christopher Herrmann and Lieutenant Kelly Severide, I work with them"
"Oh, you're on a date?" Kelly asked "Sorry sorry"
"Oh no" she laughed "We're just friends from home"
"Oh, so you're from Bluebird too?" Herrmann asked
"Bluebell" Jonah said "But I left for college and never went back, except to visit family"
"It helps everyone think he's some town hero because they don't know better" She shrugged.
"Thanks a lot AB" Jonah laughed.
"I'm kidding he's a great doctor" She said smiling fondly.
"Nice to meet you Jonah" Herrmann said, "What can I get you?"
"Hey no, this rounds on me" Kelly interrupted.
"Oh" she said "Well I'll take a white wine please"
"You don't want that" Kelly said shaking his head before Jonah could order "three scotch and soda's"
"Oh no I don't drink scotch" she said "Thank you"
"Come on" Kelly said
"Buddy I think you've had enough" Herrmann said "I think maybe you should go home"
"I'm fine" Kelly said standing up "Everything's fine, what are you talking about, fine we'll just go somewhere else"
"Good lord he is six king size sheets to the wind" She muttered.
"Severide we're just looking out for you; you work with people here" Herrmann tried to reason with him.
"Come on" AnnaBeth said standing up "I'll help you find a cab"
"I don't need your help" He said storming out of the bar.
"Is it always this eventful?" Jonah asked.
"I have no idea" She replied.
"Pay no mind to him" Herrmann told them "It's just been a rough time for him lately"
"Jonah will you order some drinks, I'm just going to see if he's ok" She said leaving her purse with him.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jonah asked.
AnnaBeth walked outside to see Kelly leaning against the wall trying to get into his phone.
"Hey" She said standing next to him.
"I don't need another lecture" He told her looking away.
"I just wanted to see how you are" She replied "Return the favor from earlier"
"I'm just having a good time" He said "If no one else is ok with that there's plenty of other bars"
"You know I haven't been here long" She said "But I can already tell you have some great friends in there, maybe you should talk to them, kind of like that good advice you gave me"
"Shay was my best friend" He said "And now she's gone"
"I can't begin to imagine" She said "But I do know a lot of people care including me, I'd like to be your friend if you'll let me"
"I'll see you around" He told her walking off down the street.
AnnaBeth hated seeing someone in pain but she also understood not being able to turn to friends. Sometimes you just needed to work through things alone until you were ready to talk to other people.
She walked back inside. Jonah was sat at the bar with a glass of wine for her.
"Everything ok?" He asked as she sat down.
"Yes" She replied simply.