Well, here's the next chapter! This story is going to be coming to an end soon, just a couple more chapters. Hope you enjoy it!
It's been three days since the doctor gave Sharon the good news. Three long days during which she was anticipating a call from him to let her know about the surgery date. The doctor said he would let her know about a date in the next couple of days. Sharon was just about to finish making all the arrangements for her temporary absence. She told Chief Taylor that she wanted to tell Lieutenant Provenza herself about his short-time promotion. She wanted to see the look on his face. She assumed he would put on a big grin and start talking about how he finally got the job he had so long deserved and then go immediately brag about it to the others. She couldn't have been more wrong. Instead, he looks really concerned, puts his right hand on her arm and says, "I won't disappoint you, Captain. In fact, I will make you proud, and once you feel well enough to return, you will find everything well in its place. This is your team and I will always keep that in mind when I make any decisions."
He squeezes her arm and then turns around to leave. Sharon stops him by grabbing his sleeve. "Lieutenant!" He turns around to face her again. Sharon gives him a soft smile and then says, "Louie, thank you! And I already am proud of you, of all of you. I expect to be back in about eight weeks. Usually it only takes about two to three weeks to recover from the surgery, but since I have been in chemotherapy for so long and with everything Rusty and I have gone through, my doctor suggested I take a longer leave to give my body more time to fully recover."
"Don't you worry about anything, Sharon. Take your time to recover. And I am not saying this to keep this job any longer than need be. You are doing a terrific job and I am proud to serve under you. I value you a lot, Sharon, as my Captain and as my friend, so I don't want to see you back in this office until you are absolutely better."
"What happened to the wicked witch from the east?" Sharon says matter-of-factly.
"Well, things have changed." They both chuckle. Suddenly, Sharon's phone is ringing. It's Sharon's physician. She stops breathing for a second and nervously looks at Lieutenant Provenza. When he gives her a reassuring nod, she manages to take a deep breath and answers the phone.
"Hello," she manages to say in her usual Captain Raydor tone. "That soon?" All of her control is gone. "Yes, doctor, I understand. … Yes, that is fine. I will be there. Thank you!" She hangs up the phone and stares at it for a little while longer. Then she looks up at Lieutenant Provenza, looking even more nervous than before. "They set the surgery date for the day after tomorrow. My physician asked me to come to his office to discuss the necessary steps on how to proceed next. I mean, I was hoping all of this would be over soon, but I didn't anticipate that it would be so soon."
"You look really shaky, you shouldn't drive. I will drive you."
"That's not necessary, I'll be fine," she counters.
"No arguing, young lady. Go get your things. I will wait for you in the squad room." Sharon wanted to start an argument but then thought better of it. There is no use in arguing with Lieutenant Provenza. He could be as stubborn as she is and currently, she does not have the strength to argue with him. "I assume you won't be coming in tomorrow after all and might want to say goodbye, or rather a see you later, to the team?" he asks.
"Yes, I think I will do that. Let me just gather my things and I will be right with you. Thank you!"
"It's not a problem," he replies as he walks into the Major Crimes squad room.
Once Sharon gets all of her belongings, she takes a final deep breath and enters the squad room. Everyone is waiting for her to say their goodbyes and say a few more reassuring words.
Twenty minutes later, Sharon and Provenza sit in the car and are on their way to Sharon's physician. The drive is silent, but it is not an awkward silence. Sharon is once again deep in thought about the upcoming events and Provenza knows better than to disrupt her. About thirty minutes later, they arrive at the clinic and Sharon gets out of the car.
"You don't need to wait for me Lieutenant. I forgot to tell you on the way over here that I called my son and asked him to meet me here. He should be here any minute now, so you don't need to wait for me. I told him to meet me inside in the reception area. Thank you so much for taking such good care of me. I really appreciate it." Sharon gives him a smile. She feels truly blessed to have such great friends and she knows Major Crimes is in good hands while she is gone.
"It's my pleasure, Captain!"
With that she closes the passenger's door and makes her way inside the clinic. To her surprise, Ricky is already waiting for her in the waiting area. When he sees her walk in, he gets up and comes over to greet her. "Hi mom!" He gives her a little kiss on the cheek. "Are you ready?" he asks.
"Not really, actually."
"It's totally fine to be scared, mom. We all know you are a strong woman, but even Captain Raydor is allowed to be scared sometimes. You don't have to pretend to be strong in this case."
He was right. She looks at him, grateful. No one knows her better than her children, knows her strengths and her weaknesses. She is as vulnerable as anyone else, but especially in her profession, she needs to be strong. However, right now she is not Captain Raydor, she is just Sharon, a woman and mother who is battling breast cancer, so she admits to herself that it is fine to actually show the anxieties she is experiencing and trying to suppress. "Hold me for a moment, would you, Ricky?" She puts her arms around his waist and feels herself relax a little bit as he puts his arms around her and slightly squeezes her against him.
Five minutes later, the doctor comes out of his office and asks them to follow them back inside. Sharon and Ricky take a seat at the opposite side of the doctor's desk. Ricky is holding his mom's hand during the entire conversation.
"Mrs. Raydor, I apologize for the short notice and not getting back to you sooner in general. I know you must have been waiting impatiently for my call. The lab was already working extra-hours but couldn't finish your last test results any sooner. I finally got your last results this morning and set up the date and time for the surgery as soon as I could. So, the surgery is set for the day after tomorrow, as I have told you on the phone. It will take place at 10am, so I need you to have your last meal before 10pm tomorrow night. In order for the anesthesia to work properly, you can't have any food or beverages twelve hours before the surgery," the doctor explains. "I need you to be at the clinic at 8am that morning, so we can start preparing you for the surgery." The doctor explains the procedure to Sharon and Ricky in detail and once he is done explaining, he asks Sharon to sign a couple more papers. Once this is done, they are ready to go home.
When Sharon and Ricky get home, Rusty and Bill are already waiting for them. When they see them come in, they immediately get up from the couch and advance toward Sharon.
"How did it go? What did your doctor say?" Rusty asks.
"They have set the date for the surgery for the day after tomorrow, at 10am," she explains.
"Did you manage to get everything settled for your absence today?" Bill asks.
"Yes, everything is settled. Lieutenant Provenza even behaved differently from how I thought he would react when I told him he would be my temporary replacement. I really thought he would go right ahead and brag about it to the others, but quite the contrary happened. He always pretends to be the grumpy old man, but he really is such a softie at heart."
All three men give Sharon an awkward look, not being sure they are thinking about the same Lieutenant Provenza.
"Hey mom, why don't we go out for dinner, since you can't have any real dinner tomorrow?" Ricky asks. "Are you feeling well enough to go out or would you prefer ordering food and having it delivered?"
"Actually, I would prefer staying home if you don't mind. It's been a really long and exhausting day and I am quite tired. How about we order Indian food and watch another movie? This time, it is my turn to choose," she says with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Uh oh," Rusty says, "Well, I assume we have tortured you enough with the movies we chose recently, so I guess we can suffer through one of your classic movies tonight." They all laugh.
Fifteen minutes later they have all decided what they want to eat and are done ordering. The food is supposed to arrive within the hour. While the boys sit down, Sharon is looking over her DVD rack and pondering which DVD she wants to make everyone watch. She finally decides for My Favorite Wife with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. She puts the DVD in the player and then sits down next to Bill on the couch, who then covers the both of them with a blanket. Ricky and Rusty once again sit in front of the couch beside their feet. The food arrives exactly fifty minutes later. They shortly pause the movie to get their food and settle down again with some drinks. Once the movie is over, Rusty admits, "This was actually a really good and funny movie. Looks like you have pretty good taste when it comes to movies after all." Now it is Rusty's turn to give Sharon a mischievous smile. She slightly slaps him on the shoulder and then gets up to turn off the TV and place the DVD back in its case.
"Maybe we could, possibly, let her choose more movies in the future. Who knows, she might surprise us," Ricky jokes.
While the boys were joking with Sharon, which helped her forget about the surgery for at least a little while, Bill had already cleared away all their dishes. "Everyone ready for bed?" Bill asks.
"Yup," Rusty and Ricky say in unison. They turn off the remaining lights and walk toward their bedrooms. It has become a little of a habit these past days that Bill has been sleeping over and Rusty has bunked up with Ricky in his room.
"Thank you, boys. It was a really nice evening and it made me forget about the surgery for a little while. Right now I am grateful for every distraction I can get." Sharon smiles at her two sons and then everyone disappears into their rooms after saying good night.
Hope you enjoyed it! As always, reviews are appreciated!