After "William's" trial was finished, on a work level, all that was really left was for Officer Barnes to fully recover from the gunshot wounds he had sustained in the search of Beauregard's property. And for the most part, he seemed to be well on the way to recovery from that. He had been back at work, but until his doctors were confident he do the physical things related to patrol duty, he was stuck behind the front desk at the station. And as the day got closer that he would be cleared to return to patrol duty, it was pretty clear that he was bored with desk duty.
"You okay?" I asked him as I came in after Officer Jenkins and I had finished a morning patrol.
The patrol had been quiet. The biggest single call that we ended up responding too was a loose dog that gave us, an animal control officer, and the owner a good run around over a couple of blocks. I did my best to keep my distance and make sure it didn't flee through an area. While I personally had nothing against dogs, and was perfectly fine with the reintroduction of the wolf to its former range in North America, my research on tigers to help Molly indicated that they almost instinctively depressed wolf populations where the two coexisted. I'd also found out that dholes, a species of wild dog that lived throughout much of Asia also competed heavily with the tiger. Now, individually there was no comparison. A female tiger would outweigh a dhole by several hundred pounds and was much stronger, but dholes, like most canines, were social animals whereas tigers, like all felines with the exception of the lion, was solitary. There was a recorded instance in which thirty dholes had attacked and killed a male tiger, though not without taking nearly fifty percent casualties in the process.
And I had found that Molly had gained those instincts to be wary of canines, and because of my transformation I had gained them too. The dog, while fairly large, had been clearly scared of me, but in my mind, I couldn't shake the picture of a wolf that would compete with Molly and I for deer at Bandhavgarh, or a dhole that would have enough numbers to consider attacking me. Now, of course I was able to control my instincts. I merely blocked the dog's path and allowed Officer Jenkins and the animal control officer to coral him for the owner, who was apologizing frantically for it getting away from him when he went to walk it. All of us assured him that everything was fine.
And largely, it was. My concerns and worries lay with the tiger's instincts that I had gained, but I knew that since I had control, they wouldn't be a problem. Although they still made me wonder what the world would be like now that the Animatrix Serum would be sold over the counter to those who actually wanted to be animal people... what would change? Would the laws change? What would be the changes to society? But that was all something that I could only observe, and for the moment, that was only on the periphery of things. The main issue at the moment was Officer Barnes' recovery.
"I am bored out of my mind," Officer Barnes grumbled as he filed a set of papers that had been filled out by a different officer, "other then that, I'm just peachy."
"Well, you only have a few days more before you'd be clear to return to patrol duty," I told him, "you won't have to shuffle papers for too much longer."
"I wish I didn't have to wait," Officer Barnes sighed, "I'm not good with sitting still."
"I hate to tell you this, but our day wasn't all that exciting either," I told him.
"Not from the dog's point of view," Officer Jenkins quipped as she handed me a paper cup with water in it.
"Loose dog today?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Yeah, some guy's husky," Officer Jenkins nodded, "he went to take the dog for a walk, it saw a squirrel while he was shutting the fence or the door, and ran after it. The guy wasn't holding onto the leash all that tight, and the dog led him and then us on a merry chase through the northeast end of town."
"See," Officer Barnes sighed to me, "You two at least got to do something."
"The dog looked terrified of me," I told him, "that may be part of why he ran once Officer Jenkins and I got there."
"Maybe," Officer Barnes sighed, "I still would have preferred that to sitting here. Jenkins, I don't know how you put up with it."
"I smile and put on a brave face," Officer Jenkins smiled, "and as George said, you're nearly healed and we'll soon switch back."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And indeed, a few quiet days later, Officer Barnes did return to patrol duty. As I came into the station that morning, I, Officer Jenkins, and Officer Barnes were ushered into Officer Howard's office. As we made our way in, Officer Howard moved to sit at his desk and waited patiently for the three of us.
"So, Officer Barnes," Officer Howard began, "You had your last physical therapy appointment yesterday. Do you have any good news for us?"
I noticed him give a very happy smile in response.
"I do, sir," Officer Barnes said with a smile, "very good news... as far as the doctors are concerned, I am clear to resume my normal duties."
"You're a hundred percent?" Officer Howard asked.
"Yes, sir," Officer Barnes nodded.
"That's great," Officer Jenkins gave him a quick hug.
"We're on duty," Officer Barnes reminded her, earning an almost fatherly chuckle from the Columbia Falls Police Chief.
"Enjoy it, Barnes," Officer Howard gave a slight chuckle, "Just about everyone here knows you and Officer Jenkins have been friendly with each other... long before Officer Wayne and his girlfriend, now wife, moved here."
"Just trying to be professional, sir," Officer Barnes replied.
"I know," Officer Howard nodded, "but that isn't necessary ALL the time... and it'll make your relationship easier when you two are married."
"We... we... we aren't that far, sir," Officer Barnes replied.
"Something to look forward to, then," Officer Howard chuckled, "In the meantime we will resume the normal "shifts". Officer Jenkins, this means you will be back as our desk officer, and Officer Barnes you will be back with your partner, Officer Wayne."
"Of course, sir," Officer Jenkins nodded, as did Officer Barnes.
I stood by quietly. I had the feeling that I was only there because I was Officer Barnes' partner, and since he was now capable of returning to his normal duties, I would be going with him.
"Good," Officer Howard replied, "so let's start the day off right."
Officer Barnes and I then slowly made our way out, while Officer Jenkins returned to her desk and waved to us as we went out.
"Thank you for not laughing at me," Officer Barnes commented as we made our way to our patrol car.
"Having someone who loves you is nothing to be laughed at," I replied, "I'm grateful to wake up every morning to have Molly by my side."
"You are such a sap," Officer Barnes sighed.
I could only shrug. He was probably right, but I was also sure that while what I said was sappy, it was still right. Officer Jenkins had liked him for all he had done to help her and her daughter, and from what little Officer Barnes opened up on the subject, it seemed like he liked her too.
"Would you rather, I advise you to growl at her for no apparent reason?" I questioned after a moment.
"No," he gave a sigh and then a slight chuckle.
As we made it to our patrol car, we took the seats that we fit into. Officer Barnes, seated behind the driver's seat. Me, laying across the backseat of the car. As he sat down, Officer Barnes gripped the steering wheel like he was greeting a long lost friend.
"Ah... feels good to be back doing real work," Officer Barnes said softly.
"I'm sure what you did behind the desk was just as important," I reminded him.
"Important maybe," Officer Barnes dismissed it as he backed the car up, "but not "real" to me... you won't believe what some people make complaints about. I swear one person made a complaint that his neighbor's grass was too short."
I gave a soft chuckle at that. A lot of the winter snows had melted away, but the grass didn't really look green enough yet to need to be cut. Though, I didn't really know when everything would be ready. There wasn't much of a lawn that would need to be cut at Bandhavgarh Cabin, and Michael York had some of his hired hands do the lawn maintenance of what little there was.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The day's patrols went quietly, as many of them had of late. Not, that I was complaining. Quiet streets lead me to assume that there was no trouble to be had. Of course it could only be the quiet before the storm, but with R.A.M. and Beauregard gone, I couldn't quite see it that way, and now the station's operation returned to what had been the norm before Officer Barnes was wounded.
I returned to Bandhavgarh Cabin to find everything on the first floor rather quiet. Molly wasn't watching television or cooking dinner, which half gave me the idea that I could cook something for her for a change. But she was home, and I knew it. I could hear very excited conversation coming from upstairs, which was where Molly was in fact. I went upstairs to find her on the phone, a smile on her muzzle as she talked.
"He just got home," Molly said into the phone, "I'll tell him... Thanks for the update. George and I will be there, and we look forward to seeing you... Okay. Thank you again for the update. See you."
"Was that Leona?" I asked as Molly hung up, knowing that she knew I was there.
"Yes," Molly nodded as I began getting out my uniform and began changing into something more comfortable, "she called to let us know about her probation period. Her last day under probation is this coming Friday."
"This Friday?" I asked, "so when does she plan on having the wedding?"
"In two weeks," Molly answered, "it'll be a fairly low key wedding... not as low key as ours was... but still relatively low key. She doesn't anticipate having a major rehearsal until a day before the actual wedding."
"If there is a rehearsal, then I doubt that it's low key," I commented, "we didn't need to rehearse saying "I do"."
"We also winged it," Molly answered, "very romantic on your part... but still played by ear. Besides, Leona has me as a bridesmaid and Jackson has a best man. They will have more to coordinate then we did."
"I'm not arguing with you," I told her, "I'm just saying that I doubt it'll be low key because of what will have to be coordinated."
"Most of the coordination is presently on our end," Molly reminded me, "we have the rest of this week until Leona's probation ends and then the week after is the wedding."
"I'm sure I can get the time off," I nodded, "I'll need to clear it with Officer Howard first, but I'm sure I can get the time off... and your Uncle's agreed to drive us to Peoria. You might want to call him and let him know what day you want to drive to Peoria."
"I was thinking this Saturday," Molly commented, "we'd travel on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday and then we'd have a few days to adjust to being there again... visit with your folks... then go through the wedding stuff on Thursday for rehearsal and Friday for the actual ceremony, and then begin our return home the following day."
"You've been planning this out, haven't you?" I teased.
"It's been on my mind," Molly admitted, "and it has me all shades of excited."
I gave her nice smile and hugged her she hopped up and down in excitement. There was plenty that needed to be done, but I was sure we wouldn't have any difficulty in doing it.
"I'm glad you're happy," I told her.
"I am... it has me all excited," Molly nodded.
"And you can get time off from the school?" I asked.
Molly nodded.
"Then I guess, while I cook dinner tonight," I told her, "we can go over all the other little details that need to be taken care of."