A Love Worth Having

Chapter 5 - Meeting

“UGH! Come on!” Sonya shouted her frustration at the voicemail. “Answer already. Girl ... Text me or something. You’re not going to believe this!”

Three weeks had passed since Saryah had visited. She’d gone back to Augusta, and Ben had moved on to his duty station. Saryah and Ben managed to not have another “meeting” after the run-in at the Welcome Home celebration. Maura’s doctor had given her a good prognosis if she went with the surgery and radiation. She was scheduled for the surgery right after Christmas and the radiation was helping significantly.

Sonya planned to go visit her sister soon. In fact, she and Mike were sneaking Maura to Augusta to surprise Saryah for Thanksgiving. They were leaving Wednesday after Mike was home from work. All the details from the car, to the doctor’s permission, to the hotel room they would stay in had been worked out by Mike. If she could get her sister to answer the phone, she’d at least have a “head’s up” that they were coming. The girl could be so stubborn. Sonya had to laugh at that. She was pretty stubborn when she needed to be as well.

She went on to work, hoping she’d hear from her sister at some point. Doctor Lim was an incredible doctor, and Sonya loved being her assistant. She had gone to school and was a Licensed Practical Nurse at the Family Clinic in town. She didn’t care that the pay was low, or that the hours could be long, especially during the winter months when colds and the flu ran rampant throughout the community. She loved what she did, and Dr. Lim was incredible. She was Active Duty herself for a few years, but left as soon as she could after her first child was born.

Her phone chimed a text, sending a little jolt to her heart.

“Hopefully that’s my sister.” She said aloud, even though she was alone.

It was a text from Mike:

Hey, sweet woman; Wanna grab a burger on your lunch break? I have some news.

She pondered on that one. She would text him back when she parked the car, in two more blocks. Her phone rang as she rounded the last corner.

“Sonya speaking.” She answered in a sing-song voice.

“Hi, baby girl, it’s Momma. Just getting to work?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m pulling up right now. What’s up?”

“Did you talk to Mike yet?”

The questions reverberated off the walls of her head. Mom and Mike both knew whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about.

“I got a text from him while I was driving, so I was going to answer as soon as I got to work. What’s up?”

“I’ll let him tell you.” Her voice was a little too chipper for this early in the morning. And why was everyone awake, anyway? It wasn’t even 8:00 a.m. yet and already two people had contacted her, neither of which she expected to be in touch so early in the day.

“He asked if I wanted to go grab a burger at lunch, so obviously it isn’t too terribly serious.”

“It’s more serious than you think, baby girl. I’m pretty sure he’s taking you into Jacksonville for lunch, so you may want to take the rest of the day off. Hee-hee.”

“Mamma... what are the two of you cooking up?” Sonya was getting a little perturbed at her mother’s odd behavior.

“Nothing. We aren’t cooking anything up. He just received good news when he got to work today, that’s all. He wanted to tell you in person. OH! You’re not going to believe what’s going on!” She giggled at her mom’s words. She’d used the same ones in a text just a little while ago.