Chapter 5

Andy was finally released from the hospital after spending a week there. She was only held so long due to the lack of her eating, drinking and sleeping. Jack had insisted she move back in with him for a while, due to the fact the police still hadn't tracked down Jeremy. Andy didn't resist, she was so frightened of being alone in her apartment, and she was so glad Jack had asked her to stay for a bit.

She had settled into Jacks place within hours of being there. She was starting to feel a bit more comfortable in her own body, and was finally starting to feel like herself again. In order to prepare herself for returning back to work, Andy had agreed to start seeing Diane the stations therapist for a while to ensure she was mentally ready. Chief Ross had made reassigned Andy back to 19 with Theo, as they were going to need more firefighters at the station due to the larger area of the city they were covering since Station 23s closure. Andy was more excited about going back to work than anyone realised, being stuck in her own thoughts while Jack was working was quiet scary for her. Her sessions with Diane were tiring, but worth it in the long run.

It had now been a month since the incident, and Andy had had 2 sessions a week with Diane. Chief Ross was thinking about allowing Andy to come back to work soon, but only if she was cleared by Diane. They had been slightly nervous with bringing Andy back to work, while Jeremy was still out there, but were working with the police to ensure no harm would come to Andy.

"Are you ready to leave yet Jack, my session with Diane starts in 30 minutes and I wanna get to the station!" Andy shouted across the apartment, she had another meeting with Diane today and they were discussing dates she could return to work with Chief Ross. Nobody knew Andy was coming back to work anytime soon, and she wanted to keep it quiet because she was feeling a little bit nervous.

"Hold your horses, im ready." Jack said, as he exited his bedroom with his things. He then grabbed his car keys and ushered Andy out the door.

The drive to the station only took 15 minutes, and with traffic it could take a little bit longer.

When they reached the station Andy took herself straight to the meeting area to wait for Diane. Jack had kindly bought her through a cup of coffee for her wait to settle her nerves.

When Diane arrived, her and Andy spoke for a little while while they waited for Ross to show up.

"So, todays session is not therapy. Today we talk about finally letting you back to work. I don't want you to get your hopes up, it might only be light work for a while like desk duty or even lower hours than the others to get you settled back in. We don't want you to rush into things right away, we want you to take it nice and slow considering everything we've spoken about." Diane explained, Andy nodded and just slowly sipped on her coffee.

"Sorry I am late ladies, I had a meeting at 88 that ran longer than I expected" Natasha explained, as she took a seat opposite Diane and Andy. "So, Herrera. I am so happy to bring you back to work. There are a few things we would like to discuss with you before we do, but your first shift back would be today if you feel ready?" She added.

"Definitely Chief" Andy responded, smiling

"So Andy, we have spoken briefly. We do think for the first week back, you stay on desk duty and get used to being around the station again. Then after that, we would have you go out on just one call a shift to get you used to the work environment outside of the station again for at least a week after that. After all that is done, we would be so happy to have you back into the station as normal after that." Diane said. Andy was pleased, she was willing to follow any orders and instructions she was given as long as it meant she was able to be back at work.

"That's great. I can't wait to get stuck back in again" Andy said, smiling.

"Good, I'm glad. Welcome back Herrera" Natasha said.

Andy had managed to change into her station uniform without any of the others seeing her. They had all been called out to a fire during her meeting, and Ross had explained that Beckett would introduce her back into the team when they returned. Andy was excited but nervous, her team were not expecting her back yet and she didn't know how they would react.

When the team returned, Andy and Ross waited in the captains office until Beckett had the team lined up.

"Right 19 line up. I just wanted to say, great work out there today. Fast containment, nobody died it was a good call." Beckett said. 19 cheered and began to disperse.

"Before you all go off and do chores, Chief Ross and I have something to say." Beckett started to say, as Ross came into the barn. "We have a new firefighter joining our team, and I hope you all make her feel warm and welcome" He added

"19, you all know this firefighter. We hope you make her comeback as easy as possible. If I find out that anyone of you make this difficult, there will be repercussions. 19, please welcome Andrea Herrera back to your team." Ross said, as Andy came in.

19 had erupted into cheers, claps and hugs. They were all so happy to have Andy back on their team, and couldn't wait for things to start returning to as normal as normal could be.

Decided to skip ahead a month, to kick in the story of Jeremy being found and the affect it has on Andy. I managed to get this chapter done today, as i was eager to give you guys an update.

I hope you all enjoyed reading

:)