They got to the doctor's office and Cassie could have sworn they were waiting for hours. Time just seemed to slow down.
Finally, they were escorted into the doctor's private office. Cassie remembered the one and only other time they had been in this office, it was when he told her she had cancer. Cassie was really hoping the news would be better this time.
The doctor walked in and sat down, said hello to both of them then looked at Cassie's chart, was it her or was he taking a crazy long time looking at the chart? She was about to say something when he looked up and looked at Cassie "So, how are you feeling?"
Ugh, Cassie wasn't sure if she had the patience for pleasantries, she tried just this once "I feel good doctor."
Jon could feel her anxiety and held her hand.
The doctor went back to looking at his notes "So your test results are all back." He hesitated another moment.
Cassie was about to stand up and scream at him if he didn't tell her the results now.
"Congratulations Cassie, you are cancer free." The doctor was smiling.
Cassie was stunned at first, this was what she was waiting to hear but still didn't expect to hear it. "It's gone?" She brought her hand to her throat in surprise.
"Yes, all gone. The chemo worked." The doctor loved sharing this kind of news, it brought back all of the reasons why he became a doctor.
Jon was the first to stand, he extended his hand to the doctor "Thank you so much doctor, we really appreciate everything you've done for us."
Cassie finally stood up, she knew a handshake wasn't enough, she walked around the desk and the doctor stood up so that he could accept the hug Cassie wanted to give him. "You did it Cassie."
"Thank you, doctor, you have no idea how much I appreciate everything you have done."
When they walked out of there Cassie felt like she was floating on a cloud. As Jon was helping her into the truck he asked "So who do you want to tell first?"
"Oh god, there are so many people to tell! Can we go to Central? I'd like to tell Joe Getraer and everyone else that donated some of their vacation days."
Jon parked his truck at Central and they walked thru a back door and were walking down the hallway holding hands. They waved and said hi to people along the way but didn't say anything until they got to the Sarges office. Joe was sitting alone in his office doing paperwork when he looked up and saw Jon first then Cassie. Joe knew where they just came from and couldn't tell from their expression if they had good news or bad news. "Hi you two, have a seat, tell me how did it go?"
Cassie couldn't hold back anymore and put on the biggest grin "The cancer is gone."
Joe cheered loudly and all 3 stood up for a big group hug. "That's the greatest news ever Cassie. So how many people have you told so far?"
"You're the first Joe."
"What? Me? Really?"
"I couldn't have done this without Jon at my side and Jon couldn't have been there without your full support."
"Well gosh, I'm happy to help. Say I have an idea, there are a lot of people out on the road working right now that are waiting to hear this news. How would you like to tell them all right now?"
Cassie was confused "How can I do that? They're all over the city."
"Well it goes against all rules and I've never allowed something like this before but I happen to have a radio here that will be heard in every patrol car and motorcycle."
Cassie loved the idea and laughed, she knew this was a big deal.
Joe got on first to clear the airwaves for a special announcement then Cassie spoke "This is Cassie Baker, I want to thank everyone for their support, I am now cancer free." There were speakers throughout the building and they all could hear cheers and hollering coming down the hallway. Cassie laughed with tears in her eyes.
Jon had been looking at his cell phone reading a text message when Sarge piped up "Ok, tell Ponch 30-minute break and no more."
Jon looked up from his phone "How did you know? Oh wait, that's why you're the Sarge" Jon chuckled. He looked back down at his phone and texted Ponch where they should meet.
They got to the fast food Mexican stand that Ponch loved so much, Ponch was already there when they arrived. Cassie jumped out of the truck and ran to Ponch for a hug, Ponch was so thrilled for her he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up and swung her around, this made Cassie shriek. Ponch put her down laughing and put his hands on her shoulders "Congratulations Cassie, I knew you could do it."
They enjoyed a celebratory soda and burrito before Ponch had to 'hit the bricks' yet again.
The next day started the plans of the great big BBQ celebration. Everyone was invited and they had no idea how they would fit everyone in but they didn't care.
Jon woke one morning and saw Cassie at the kitchen table with a bunch of recipe cards and envelopes. Jon read the envelope "Top Secret" in big red lettering, then he noticed what was on the recipe card. Cassie's secret hamburger patty recipe. "What's this?" Jon had a feeling he knew as Cassie had requested a list of names of the people that had donated vacation days to him.
"I want to thank some people for going above and beyond when we needed it most."
Jon knew how closely she held this recipe to her heart, "Are you sure? You've never shared this recipe with anyone before."
Cassie looked at her husband with a big grin "I'm positive. I didn't create this recipe, it was shared with me as well."
On the day of the BBQ Cassie was in the kitchen making these famous burgers and felt a thrill that before the day was over there would be a few more people who would know what is the secret ingredient that makes these burgers taste so darn good. She put the secret ingredient back in the cupboard, she never left it out while making these in case someone came walking in unexpected. Not 2 seconds later Penny came walking through the door with a tray of vegetables and dip. They shared a hug, Cassie had a new understanding of Penny's weight and no longer judged her on being so thin. Penny looked over Cassie's shoulder and saw the ground beef "Oh, hey are those the famous burgers? Can I watch you put it together?"
"Sorry Penny, I've already put the secret ingredient in there." Penny stood on her tiptoes to see if she could tell what it was which made Cassie laugh. "Here, I'll do one better." Cassie retrieved one of her special thank you cards and handed it to Penny.
Penny was a little confused but opened the envelope and read the thank you card and gave Cassie a hug saying she was happy to help. Penny then opened the top-secret envelope and pulled out the recipe card and her eyes popped out of her head when she saw what it was. She even screamed which had Jon running from the bathroom where he had been shaving. Penny started jumping up and down then grabbed Cassie in a tight embrace and made her start jumping up as well. Jon saw what was in Penny's hand and grinned and went back to shaving. Penny stopped and looked closely at the recipe card, searching the ingredients to see which was the secret ingredient. When she saw it her jaw dropped and she looked at Cassie "Really?"
Cassie nodded "Yup, that's it." Cassie brought her over to the bowl of ground beef where she had been adding the extra ingredients and showed her.
"Wow that's so cool."
Cassie pointed her finger at Penny "Now I'm swearing you to secrecy here. You must never share this with anyone."
Penny crossed her heart promising never to share. She went home right away to put this away so she would never lose it.
As the day progressed more people arrived. It was about half an hour before burgers would be ready and people would start eating that Cassie started gathering the list of people from Central. Bonnie, Grossie, Bear, Jeb, Ponch, Cindy, Turner, Sarge (which surprised Cassie) and even Harlan donated some of his vacation days. Cassie brought all of them to the bedroom and handed out the thank you cards she had prepared for each of them. They all read the thank you cards first and expressed thanks in return then they slowly one by one started opening the secret envelope, Jon had just arrived in the doorway, he didn't want to miss this. Cassie backed up into Jon and he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head enjoying her newly grown in healthy hair. They started hearing the responses
Bonnie "Is this really?"
Grossie "No Way!"
Sarge, chuckled.
Harlan "Oh my God!"
Cassie didn't catch what the others said but as they started looking at the list of ingredients and started catching on to what it was they knew not to say it out loud. Cassie saw Bonnie and Grossie mouthing the words to each other "corn meal"
Cindy was the first to quietly scream and ran to Cassie to hug her. Cassie couldn't stop laughing, every one of them hugged her in thanks and she swore them all to secrecy. They all promised never to share.
The end
A great big thanks to Ponchygirl and AlltrekkedUp for your support as I posted each chapter. You have made my transition into sharing with the outside world much easier.