AnnaBeth and Peter were called into Chief Boden's office their first shift back. She really liked the chief, but it did always feel like getting called into the principal's office. It was like the time she was called in when Lemon managed to get a cow into Mrs. Gleeson's upstairs classroom or when Lemon nearly set the school stadium on fire their sophomore year.
"After what you both went through" Chief Boden said "No one would blame you if you wanted to take some time off"
"Thanks Chief" Peter said "But personally I'm fine"
"I would much rather be at work" AnnaBeth nodded.
"Well then I would like to suggest counselling" Chief Boden continued.
"I think that would be helpful for me" She nodded
"I'm fine" Peter said shaking his head.
Boden paused looking at him before turning back to AnnaBeth.
"Ok then, I'll make a call" He said.
"Thank you, sir," She said.
Peter had been quiet since Lullo was put away. She wasn't really sure what to do about it. The last thing she wanted to do was push too hard, but they were partners and she wanted to know that he was ok.
She would normally talk to Gabby or maybe even Kelly about what was going on and ask for advice, but they were dealing with enough. They had found clippings about Lesley Shay at a storage locker fire in a room filled with accelerants an arsonist would use so they were trying to investigate to get enough for OFI to open a case.
She never had much time to sit and think in the firehouse before the bells went off.
They were called out to a house. AnnaBeth shivered as the snow was coming down. She knocked on the door.
"Hello" She called through the door "Did someone call for a paramedic?"
"Fire department open up" Peter said loudly knocking again when there was no answer.
A woman was a nasty cut near her eye opened the door with the chain still on.
"Mam are you ok?" She asked looking at the bruise on her head and the bloody nose.
"I'm sorry to trouble you" The woman said "I'm fine really, it looks worse than it is"
The woman went to close the door, but Peter blocked it with his hand.
"Really" The woman said "My neighbor must have called when he heard my scream, I fell down the stairs and got a fright but I'm fine"
"Are you sure that you're ok?" Peter asked spotting the man behind her.
"You heard her" The man said shutting the door in their faces.
"Look we get in there I'll keep the husband busy and you talk to her, if she gives any indication of being beaten, we're calling the cops" Peter said "Ok?"
"Got it" She nodded.
Peter started banging on the door again.
"Look we're not leaving until you let us in, your wife will have to sign a form to refuse treatment" Peter yelled and kept knocking the door until it was opened.
"Have a seat mam" She said once they were inside "Let me take a look"
"I'm fine really" The woman said sitting down but her eyes didn't leave her husband.
"She said she's fine" The man said.
"I'm going to need you to step back sir and let us do our job" Peter said squaring up to him.
"Listen" she said quietly "If he is hurting you, we can get you out of here and you'll be safe"
"I'm fine" The woman insisted "I don't need treatment, what do I need to sign"
AnnaBeth just looked at her sadly and gave her the form to sign. One of the worst parts of the job was someone not wanting to be helped but they couldn't force her.
Peter slammed the side of the ambulance angrily as the walked back over. AnnaBeth flinched but decided not to say anything.
It was the next day when they were coming off shift that she had the courage to approach him.
"Look" She said "I don't want to get in your business, but I do want to know if you're ok"
"Just that call got to me" He told her "I'm fine"
"I was thinking maybe we can go to that counselling session together" She suggested.
"No, I'm good" He said picking up his bag and walking out of the locker room.
Jay had said he was coming over after work that night. She was sat with Gabby talking about the investigation when he knocked at the door.
Jay was with a friend of his carrying what looked like an old crate.
"What in the world" She said raising an eyebrow.
"You said you needed a new coffee table" He said "My buddy Sam upcycles it's a look cheaper and he said you could have this one for free"
"Well isn't that just the sweetest thing" She said her voice going higher as she clapped her hands together.
"I've always been function over form" He shrugged "Why waste money"
"Jay do you want a beer?" Gabby asked
"Sure" Jay replied as he went to say goodbye to his friend at the door.
AnnaBeth followed Gabby through into the kitchen and sat down.
"You hate it" Gabby said opening the refrigerator.
"It was a very nice and thoughtful thing" She said shaking her head.
"But…"Gabby prompted.
"Well it doesn't really go with the aesthetic" She said under her breath.
"Are you going to tell him that?" Gabby asked.
"Absolutely not" She replied pouring herself a glass of wine.
"Are we keeping it?" Gabby asked raising an eyebrow.
"Absolutely not" She repeated.
Gabby handed a beer to Jay as she sat down in the armchair. Everything else in AnnaBeth's apartment was beautiful and looked like it had come straight from a magazine. Not that there was anything wrong with upcycling. AnnaBeth had repainted and reupholstered a lot of things over the years for other people but it was in a very different style. But it was thoughtful so she couldn't be mad at it. She could however cover it with a tablecloth until the replaced it.
"How was your first shift back?" Jay asked, "Less eventful?"
"I mean I wasn't held at gunpoint which was nice but it's always eventful" She replied. "I would ask about your day, but I know you won't tell me"
"What are you doing tomorrow AB?" Gabby asked.
"I was actually going to pick up a present for baby Terrance" She replied, "Did you want to come with me?"
"Sure" Gabby nodded "I'm waiting to hear off OFI anyway so I'm free for a while"
"I heard Boden had a kid" Jay said, "A son?"
"It was scary there for a moment, but he is just so perfect" She replied "And Boden is just going to be such a good father"
"Well I don't do babies" He said "But if I don't get pulled into a case, we should do something before you're on shift"
"I am meeting up with Jonah and his latest girlfriend" She said "But you can come along if you want to"
"Jonah has another girlfriend?" Gabby asked, "Isn't that the third one this month?"
"Official title number 4" She replied "Outside of that who knows"
"Jonah is?" Jay asked
"A doctor at Chicago med" She replied "I know him from back home, he convinced me to move here. He's my best friends' cousin"
"Still not clear on why you're meeting the newest girlfriend" Gabby told her.
"Lemon asked me to" She replied "She's still upset I didn't use her bachelor list"
They switched on the game highlights and hung out for the rest of the night. Jay had taken AnnaBeth to a game a few days before and Gabby had jumped on the Chicago immersion program she was apparently now on. She loved that he was so good about spending time with Gabby as well. AnnaBeth wanted her to be happy.
Her next shift absolutely made the list of one of her weirder calls since she had started at 51. They had picked up a man high as a kite who was sat in his front garden cutting off his fingers with garden sheers. They moved out of the way for an incoming trauma.
"Hey" Peter said, "Is that the woman from the domestic the other day?"
"I think so" She replied.
The poor woman was going in and out of consciousness. She was on oxygen and her face was bloodied and bruised.
Peter confirmed the address with the paramedics who had brought her in and said he needed to make a stop on the way back.
He pulled up outside the house from the domestic. She looked over at the house and then raised an eyebrow at him.
"Just wait here I'll be right back" He told her.
"Peter what are you going to do?" She asked him.
"I just forgot the portable oxygen tank in there" He replied "I'll be right back"
AnnaBeth sighed and watched him walk to the door and then disappear inside. She had tried her best to be understanding with all that they had been through, but he was putting them in bad situations, and he wasn't even being honest about it. He came back out to the ambulance empty handed and drove back to the station in silence.
"Can I talk to you?" she asked when they were coming off shift.
"Sure" He said.
She opened the compartment door and pointed inside and the oxygen tank.
"Well imagine my surprise" She said "You'll notice that my surprise looks exactly like not surprised at all, seeing as it's been here all shift"
"It's an honest mistake" Peter shrugged.
"You are clearly going through something" She told him "But don't lie, not to me"
"Are you done?" He asked.
"So, help me I am going to lose it" She said through gritted teeth as he just walked off completely indifferent.
"Are you ok?" Gabby asked.
"I'll be just fine" She replied.
"We're going back to the warehouse" Gabby told her as Kelly joined them "but I'll be back later if you need to talk"
"Don't be silly what you're doing it way more important, it was just a silly misunderstanding" She said shaking her head.
AnnaBeth made her way home. She was meeting Jay for lunch and she wanted to make sure she had time to catch up with Lemon and get changed.
She left her hair down but put on a green sweater pairing it with a black skirt, tights and knee-high boots. She had given in and bought some more winter appropriate items for her wardrobe. It was a lot colder here than it ever got in Bluebell and they weren't even at the worst of it yet.
She had answered the incoming video call on her tablet. Lemon was set up on her coffee table.
"Are you on your way out?" Lemon asked.
"Not yet" She replied "I'm going out to lunch, I just wanted to make sure I was ready, so we'd have more time to talk"
"Tell me everything" Lemon said.
"I don't know what you want me to say Lemon" She shrugged "The woman Jonah is seeing seems very nice"
"Don't be so naive AB" Lemon said shaking her head "We all know the type of woman he's interested in"
"Which at one point you said was me, so you might want to explain that" She said.
"Everyone other than you" Lemon said "Like Zoe Hart"
"I like Zoe Hart" She said "And Jonah is a grown man anyway, he can date who he wants"
"Half the state by the sounds of it" Lemon huffed.
"Is this really what you wanted to talk about?" She asked smiling at her worked up best friend.
"No" Lemon sighed "Things have just been so crazy here I needed to distract myself with something else"
"Oh honey" She said, "What's going on, is it Lavon?"
"I didn't speak to him yet" Lemon replied shaking her head.
"What?" She asked, "Why on earth not, I demanded remember?"
"Because when I was on my way, I saw my father with my mother" Lemon said her voice cracking slightly.
"I wish you had told me sooner" She said, "How are you?"
"My heads just all in a tizzy" Lemon explained.
"Maybe you should talk to Lavon" She suggested "That man loves you, I know he would wait for you, but he'd also be there for you"
"With Lavon I want it to be perfect" Lemon said "Not with all this drama and sadness"
"Life is messy" She shrugged "Perfect is overrated, sometimes it's the bad times that lead us to the most amazing things"
"You may be right" Lemon told her.
"It happens sometimes" She said with a smile "And if you need it my partner is driving me insane so I might have to ask you to give him a Lemon Breeland pep talk"
"I love giving those" Lemon said wistfully.
She heard a knock at her door.
"I can cancel" She said.
"Don't you dare" Lemon told her "Knowing you're happy is the only thing that's brought me joy in days"
"Call me any time" She said "I'm still here for you, I love you"
"I love you too" Lemon told her as they said goodbye.
Jay had taken her to a diner he had been telling her she needed to go to. It didn't look much but he reassured her that the food more than made up for it. There was no way that she was going to say all she wanted to do was go and get a comfort pastry.
"You look stressed" Jay told her.
"I do?" She asked giving him a smile.
"Well if you stir that coffee anymore, you're going to drill a hole straight through the bottom of the cup" He replied.
She set the stirrer down and clasped her hands together under the table to stop herself from fidgeting.
"I'm just worried about Peter" She told him "I feel like he's about to fly off the handle at any moment, and there's so much going on with everyone else I don't know who to talk to about it. I found out Lemon's been so crazed about Jonah because she's stressed out about family stuff so that's a distraction and I feel bad that she didn't come to me sooner"
"Mills will be ok" He said "You guys had a tough time, but if he starts to spiral you have to speak to Boden"
"I know you're right" She said "I'll try talking to him again next shift and then I'll talk to Boden"
"And I don't think you need to worry about being a good friend" He reassured her.
"So, you said there's no better burger?" She asked picking up the menu trying to shake off her worries.
"They're the best" He nodded.
They were just finishing up when Jay's partner walked in with another female officer.
"Hi Jay" The female officer said.
"Hey Kim" He said "Lindsay, this is AnnaBeth, she's a paramedic over at 51, this is Kim and my partner Erin"
"It's nice to meet you both" She said "I've heard a lot about you"
"Is this girl's day?" He asked
"We're just picking up take out" Erin replied.
"How are you finding it at 51?" Kim asked.
"I love it" She replied "Never a dull moment"
Kim and Erin sat with them while they waited to pick up their order. AnnaBeth had never been a jealous person and she was only dating Jay but the way he and Erin flirted back and forth so at ease with each other made her wonder if he was someone she should get involved with. She wasn't even sure they were aware of it.
Erin and Jay received a call from the station asking them to come in.
"I can drop you home on the way" He told her.
"Don't be silly you need to go" She said "I'll be fine"
"See you later" He said bending down to kiss her goodbye.
He had left money on the table to cover the bill. She stopped at a bakery on the way home. She got a box of cream puffs. Gabby was sat in the living room with Kelly going through files. Gabby looked at the box and then back at AnnaBeth.
"Oh no" Gabby said, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong" She replied.
"You've got a box of comfort pastries" Kelly pointed out.
"There are pastries for every occasion" She replied "Not just comfort"
"Can I have a comfort pastry?" Gabby asked.
AnnaBeth just nodded putting the box down on their coffee table that was now covered with a tablecloth until she could pick up a new one.
"Spill it" Gabby said as she sat down in the armchair.
"Peter Mills is driving me insane and worrying me all at the same time" She blurted out "And I just saw Jay with his partner and the sexual chemistry is kind of uncomfortable"
"Are you two together?" Kelly asked.
"No" She replied "We've just been on a few dates"
Gabby looked like she was dying to say something, but she was holding back because Kelly was there. Instead she just let them get on with their investigation. Kelly explained some of what they were talking about and showed her what he meant in the pictures from the scene. She didn't know anything really about fires and arson, but it was clear that he knew a lot. She really hoped they were able to get justice for their friend. She had heard a lot about Lesley Shay and she was sure she would have liked her.