Mabe's Burden by Kelly Abell

doctor, whose name read Dr.
Anderson on his name tag, smiled. “Pink it is.”
    He finished casting her arm and signed
a release form. “We’ll see you in two weeks.”
    She rolled her eyes, annoyed. “Okay. In
two weeks.” The nurse handed her a card with the doctor’s office
address written on it. “Thanks. Okay,” she declared standing, her
arm in a sling against her chest. “Let’s go home.”
    Mara drove the group home in Mabe’s
SUV. Before she’d driven too far, Emma was asleep, her head on her
mom’s lap in the back seat.
    “ This sucks,” Mabe
commented. “I’m not going to be able to work with just one
arm.”
    “ I’ll help out,” Meg
offered.
    Mabe twisted in the seat, eyeing her
sister curiously. “Who was the doctor you spoke to? When would you
have been at the hospital in Tallahassee?”
    Meg glanced out the window, watching
the city zoom by as they traveled up the interstate.
    “ Meg?” she
pushed.
    Her sister sighed, looking down at her
daughter, making sure she was asleep. “Just before you emailed to
tell me Da had died, I’d just gotten home from the doctor. A blood
test came back abnormal.” She paused to wipe at a tear sliding down
her cheek.
    Mara eyed her sister in the rearview
mirror. “Spit it out, honey. It’s best to deliver bad news all at
one time.”
    She bit her lip, glanced from Mara’s
reflection in the rearview mirror to Mabe’s wide eyes. “I’ve got
Ovarian Cancer.”

Chapter Nine
     
    The rest of the drive back to
Monticello was quiet. Meg didn’t want to discuss any details around
Emma, so Mabe and Mara had to wait until later. With two bottles of
wine, they sat on the front porch enjoying being together once
again as a family. Meg explained to her sisters the doctor
suspected she was in Stage II but wouldn’t know for sure until
they’d performed the hysterectomy. He’d referred her to a
specialist in Tallahassee once she’d told him about family living
nearby.
    “ The visit to the
Tallahassee hospital occurred the night I came from Little Rock. An
attack of pain had been more than I could bear, so I checked into
the ER to see what was going on. That’s how I know the doctor you
two saw in the hallway.” Tears pooled in her eyes. She took a sip
of wine. “I’m too young for this. I wanted my daughter to be able
to have brothers and sisters, if I were to ever meet another man. Now I’m just used
goods. No one’s going to want me.”
    Mara slammed her wine glass down on the
wicker table, the dark liquid sloshing out on two sides. “What bull
shit. You’ve got plenty to offer to any man. Not every man in the
world wants to have children. Look at Jacques. He would rather die
than have children running around. Emma needs you. We need you.
We’ve just been able to reconnect as a family, so we’ll see you
through this. I promise.” She reached out, grabbed her sister’s
hand. Mabe did the same with her free hand.
    “ Mara’s right. Don’t even
worry about men or what your potential future might be. Let’s just
concentrate on getting you through your surgery. That will be
enough for you to deal with.”
    Mabe held her sister against her good
side while she sobbed.
    “ Let it out, sis. I know
you’ve felt like you’ve had the world on your shoulders, but you’re
home now. I want you to arrange for all your stuff to be shipped
back here. You and our darling little girl will move in with me.
We’ll get her registered for school, and I’ll take care of her
while you beat this thing. You got it?”
    Mara got on her knees in front of the
swing, placing her hands on Meg’s knees. “Don’t worry about money
either. Like I told you at the hospital, I’ve got some put aside.
I’ve been very successful in New York, and Jacque’s restaurants are
known worldwide. I’ve saved for a rainy day. I’d say it’s raining
just a little in your world. We’ll get through this
together.”
    Meg sniffed, wiped her face on a
napkin, and sipped her