A Love Worth Having

Chapter 10 - Thinking and Thanking

Ben called Mike as the nurse discharged Saryah. “Hey, man, they’re releasing her in about twenty minutes. We’re grabbing take-out. Meet us at her place?”

“As long as you grab enough take-out for the three of us. We’re famished.” Echoes of the same sentiment resounded in Ben’s ears. 

“Sure thing, man. This isn’t exactly how I wanted the evening to play out, but we’ll still have fun!”

Mike laughed. “I hear ya. Hey, I’ve got something huge to tell you when we get there!”

“You and Sonya getting’ married?” Ben teased his best friend.

“Yeah, someday, but that ain’t it! I’ll tell ya when we get there. I’m swinging by a store to grab a six pack. You okay with that?”

“Sure, Mike. Always. Besides, I’m staying on Saryah’s couch until she isn’t a complete invalid.” That earned a slap on the shoulder from a gorgeous woman on crutches. Her scowl made him chuckle and shake his head. “OW! What was that for?” She just looked at him as he turned back to his conversation.

“Alright, buddy.” Mike choked back the hilarity threatening to take over. From the sounds of things, those two were getting along well. “How long before y’all get here. She might hurt me at this rate.” 

Saryah mumbled something about him not calling her an invalid again.

“We should be there within the hour, unless these two ladies in here decide to make it a shopping trip when I grab beer. Make it two hours. They’ll need to stretch and use the ladies’ room while we’re there. And knowing these two, they’ll be shopping, too.” 

Mike was getting “evil glares” from Maura and Sonya. Maura winked at Sonya when Mike wasn’t looking. The truth was, they both knew he was right, and it would play out exactly like that. 

It was Ben’s turn to laugh out loud. He enjoyed this family, and Mike added to it was just that much more fun! Now he’d met and become close to Saryah. The lot of them kept him on his toes, but they kept the post traumatic stress demons at bay, too.

“See ya soon, brother! God bless.”

He cast a sidelong glance at Saryah. Her eyes were closed, though, by her breathing, he could tell she wasn’t really sleeping. Even with scrapes and bruises, she looked fantastic. Her ponytail was askew, her clothes ripped, and he wanted to kiss her again. What? They weren’t even interested in each other past being friends, destined to be so because of her sister’s relationship to his best friend. He knew better than to want to have a connection with any woman, much less her. His issues from war kept him from getting too close to anyone. He had seen marriages ruined; soldiers unable to cope who took their lives or beat their spouses and kids. He didn’t want that to happen to anyone he loved, so he chose to keep those personal ties at bay. Maybe Saryah would understand. At least, he hoped when the conversation came up, she would.

Without opening her eyes, Saryah commented. “Do I look that awful that you have to stare at me?”

“Quite the contrary, Miss Williams. You’re breathtaking.” He said with a smile in his voice. She opened her eyes and jerked her head to her left.

“What? Okay, Mr. I saw what I looked like in the bathroom mirror before we left, and I look like road kill.” Her disgusted moan for her appearance didn’t ease the urge he had to grasp the back of her head and kiss her until she was dizzy. 

Saryah couldn’t make heads or tails out of the look Ben was giving her. She knew she enjoyed his kiss earlier, but that’s as far as it could go for more reasons than her foggy brain would let her think about at the moment.