"So why are you looking for this guy?" Jay asked as the walked over towards a basketball court where a group of guys were playing.
"You probably don't want to know" She told him "But thank you, for helping me out"
Jay just raised an eyebrow at her that made It very clear that he wasn't going anywhere until he knew what she was up to.
"Not that you're not all intimidating because you are" He told her making her smile "But I'm not just leaving you out here to talk to those guys"
AnnaBeth smiled at him. Things may have fizzled out between the two of them, but Jay was still a really good guy. She was pretty sure most people wouldn't have helped her track someone down just because she asked.
"I'll try not to get you into trouble" She said patting him on the shoulder.
She was sure he still didn't know she had called in a favour for Peter with the case against Lullo. She surprised herself. She had never really been much of a rule breaker. But her job had shown her there were some grey areas. Or maybe there weren't but there were some things doing what she was supposed to do didn't feel like the right thing.
AnnaBeth walked over to the man playing basketball. She hadn't really figured out exactly what she was going to say to him. But she knew that she needed to.
"Hi" She said cautiously "Are you Damon, could I talk to you?"
She tried not to roll her eyes as he looked her up and down.
"You can talk to me all day sweetheart" Damon said throwing the ball to his friend.
She wasn't even entirely sure where to start or what to say. Someone like Herrmann knew exactly how to get to the heart of a problem. Even Lemon as harsh as she could be still somehow always knew the right thing to say.
"I knew Alicia" She told him "I was one of the paramedics who tried to save her life. I was also the first person to hold your son. He's perfect by the way. But he's lived his whole life in that hospital, he doesn't even have a name. Alicia wasn't alive long enough to give him one. That's it. I just thought it was something that you needed to know"
AnnaBeth turned and walked away. She just hoped that he would do the right thing by his son. Jay had been leaning against the fence. He stood up as she walked back over.
"Aren't you supposed to move on when you drop the patient off?" He asked.
"That's what they tell me" She replied, and he gave her an amused smile.
"It's good how much you care" He told her "It was good hearing from you again"
"It was nice seeing you too" She said "Thanks for being a gentleman"
"I don't know if I'd go that far" He smirked.
"You have your moments" She teased.
"Do you need a ride back to work?" He asked walking over to his car.
"No" She replied "I'm actually heading home; I'm flying back home tonight"
"Vacation time" He sighed "I can't remember the last time I took a vacation"
"I'm not sure it's just a vacation" She admitted biting her lip.
She had told herself it was just a visit back to Bluebell. Sometime to relax and centre herself. But truthfully, she was conflicted. She felt like she had grown so much since she had come to Chicago. But it wasn't an easy place to be. So much had changed, and she had been through more since she had been there than most people went through in a lifetime. With how she had been feeling she wasn't entirely sure that she was cut out for it anymore.
"Have you told anyone?" He asked "I heard you and Kelly had gotten together"
"I think that was more to me than him" She said shaking her head "And no, I don't know what I want to do yet"
"Well I hope you stay around" He told her "You'd be missed by a lot of people"
She would miss a lot of people too. But seeing Kelly was hard. Losing Alicia had been hard. She wanted more from life than to be a small-town receptionist, but there was a lot to say for Bluebell. A town with only 4 police officers because nothing bad ever happened there. A real sense of community. Friends she had known since kindergarten and her family. Maybe it was just being homesick, and a vacation would help, or maybe she had just run from her problems and moving hadn't been the right answer. She was just confused, there was no other way to describe it.
Jay was nice enough to drop her home. She still needed to pack. She was a little sad that she had already missed the Founders Day parade and the annual gumbo cook off. But there were a million other Belle events.
Lemon had been so excited that she was visiting. She had even said that she could stay with her instead of booking a room at the Whippoorwill Blossom Bed and Breakfast. Lemon had said she would ask George if they could go out to his parents lake house as well. She was going out of her way to cheer AnnaBeth up and make sure her visit was perfect. For all of her faults Lemon Breeland was a true friend.
It felt nice to pick out all of her best dresses. She warmed up some left-over lasagne while she packed. She had the bachelor on in the background.
She set down her plate on the coffee table and furrowed her brow at the knock at her door.
"Kelly" She said simply as she opened the door "What are you doing here?"
"Jay called me" He told her "You were going to leave and not say anything?"
AnnaBeth made a mental note not to trust Jay with any information going forward.
"I took some vacation time" She said "It's not a secret"
"Well from what I heard you're not sure it's just a vacation" He said.
"I don't know what I'm going to do" She told him "But either way it's not really your business"
"Can we talk?" He asked putting a hand on the door.
"I actually need to go to the airport" She said "So it's not really a good time"
"Five minutes" He said "I'll even drive you to the airport after"
AnnaBeth sighed and opened the door for him to come in. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't going to just go home anyway.
"So, what's so important that you needed to say?" She asked folding her arms across her chest.
Kelly looked at her apologetically as his phone started to ring. He looked down at the caller I.D and picked up the call.
"Chief" He said, "Is everything ok?"
AnnaBeth sat on the edge of the couch waiting for him to get off the phone. She felt a knot settle into her stomach and she couldn't explain why. There was just something about the change in atmosphere that was so clear as the call went on.
"What is it?" She asked as he hung up the call.
"Gabby's been taken into hospital; she's going into surgery" He told her.
Gabby and Matt meant as much to Kelly as they did to her. She could see in his face how worried he was. She took a deep breath trying to hold herself together.
"Come on" She said standing up "Let's go"
"What about your flight?" He asked.
"Bluebell will still be there" She replied "I can't leave until I know Gabby is ok"