Scarlet Ribbons

Once again, I am deeply honored to be a part of this event. My thanks to blackrandl1958 for all her hard work in putting this event together. I enjoyed writing my story, I hope you'll enjoy reading it, and... please leave those comments.

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Copyright © 2023

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Axel could hear remnants of the afternoon's spring rain trickling into the storm drain next to his ear. He strained to open his eyes and saw the scarlet-colored ribbons of life mingling with the dirty water as it disappeared down the rusty iron grid. If he'd had the energy, he'd have laughed at the irony. His life was physically as well as metaphorically, going down the drain. The coolness of the pavement on his cheek was calming. He was ready... more than ready to face the inevitable.

Axel had just closed his eyes for what he expected to be the last time when he heard the shuffling of feet and excited voices. Suddenly, he could sense people around him. They started pushing and shoving, tearing at his clothes. Jesus, he thought, can't you just let me die in peace?

The next thing he knew, they were lifting him. He groaned from the pain. He was screaming at them in his mind, 'Don't you know I'm dying? Leave me alone.'

He could feel a slight breeze on his face as they rushed him to a waiting vehicle. There were more voices, "Hang in there, mister, we're going to get you to the hospital," then came the sound of a blaring siren.

"God, just let it be over, please," he prayed.

*****

He was cold and whatever was lying on top of him felt like a piece of sandpaper. The sensation spurred his memory and his mind drifted back in time to his last vacation. He could feel the sand under his legs as he lay on the beach watching his wife and daughter laughing and playing in the Caribbean surf. He thought if he tried hard enough maybe he could go back to that point in time, but something was ruining his concentration. What the hell was that incessant beeping?

He fought to open his eyes and blinked several times from the bright lights until recognizing his surroundings. He was in a hospital room, which explained the over-sanitized, scratchy sheets. There was a woman he'd never seen before sitting next to the bed. When she saw he was awake, she stood and gently put her hand on his forearm. She told him he was going to be okay as if that was a good thing. He had no idea who she was until she thanked him for saving her life. It was starting to come back to him.

He'd come out of the bar half-plastered and saw two guys roughing up a woman. She was screaming and struggling to get away. If there was anything he hated, it was some guy man-handling a woman. The fact that there were two of them only made it worse.

He rushed to her aid, swinging wildly with a haymaker that connected with the jaw of the first assailant, sending him to the pavement, but before he could turn on the other, he felt a hard jab in his side. Inadvertently, he doubled over from the pain. He was grabbed and turned to face the first attacker who was already back on his feet. Axel saw the flash from the steel blade just before it disappeared into his stomach.

"Come on," he remembered hearing one of them yell, "grab his wallet, and let's get out of here."

Their timing was perfect, they'd saved him from a life of loneliness and despair; of course, that was before all hell broke loose and those goody two shoes went and saved his miserable life. As his mind cleared, he realized the woman was talking. He looked up at her and saw tears streaming down her face.

"I... I don't know how I can ever thank you. At first, they just wanted my purse. I gave it to them, but then they decided to take me with them. I'm sure they intended to rape and kill me. They were trying to get me into their car when you came charging out at them; you saved my life," she repeated between her sobs.

She had a tissue and wiped her eyes. Just then a nurse walked into the room. "Well, I see Sir Galahad is awake," she announced with a smile. She turned to the other woman. "I'm sorry, Barb, the doctor's coming to see him in a few minutes to check him over. It's going to take a while and after that, the patient is going to need more rest.

"I think you should go home and get some yourself. We'll take good care of Mr. Lionheart, here, and he'll be better company tomorrow."

The crying lady bent down and gently kissed him on the forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow," she told him.

The nurse took his medical chart from the foot of his bed. "Well, we can't keep calling you Sir Galahad now, can we? I need your full name, address, and next of kin."

"Do we really have to do this now?" He uttered.

"I'm afraid so," she replied. "Barbara said the two guys who stabbed you took your wallet. I tried checking your phone for your wife's number, but I'm afraid it was broken in the scuffle. I can't even get it to turn on, and we need your info for our records and insurance."

He took a deep breath and let it out with a long sigh. "Axel Brolin, thirteen-fifty-eight Prospect Road, in Arlington Hills. There is no next of kin."

"No one?" she asked, looking up from the partially filled-in medical form.

"Nope, no one," he responded. "I'm insured with United through my work. I have no idea what my number is, but I'm sure they can give it to you if you call the office." He gave the middle-aged nurse the name and phone of his employer. After getting his personal information, the smile never left her face as she followed up by taking his vitals and writing the results down on his chart.

"Okay, Mr. Brolin, that's all we need for right now. The doctor will be in shortly to check you over," she explained on her way out of the room.

He closed his eyes with a sigh and let his head sink further into the pillow. Fucking do-gooders, he thought, why couldn't they leave me a lone. Now what? What the hell am I supposed to do with the rest of my life? He was just starting to visualize life without his wife and daughter when the doctor walked into the room.

"When can I get out of here?" he angrily asked.

The doctor pulled up short and looked at him with surprise. "Is that any way to talk to someone who just saved your life, Mr. Brolin?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot," he muttered. "So, how long?"

"A few days," the doctor answered curtly. Angered by his patient's attitude, he took on one of his own. "Mr. Brolin, it says here on your chart you have no next of kin, but you had a wedding ring on when they brought you in. It's in a bag in the closet over there; would you like me to show it to you or would you just continue lying to us?"

Axel took a moment before answering. It was obvious he had pissed the doctor off, and even in the wake of all that had happened, he knew it wasn't the doctor's fault. The guy was only trying to help, and it wasn't fair to take his anger out on the man who saved his life, whether he wanted it saved or not. He decided to apologize and come clean.

"I'm sorry, Doc. You're right, I'm married, but I don't want my soon-to-be-ex notified. You see, a few hours before I was stabbed, my wife informed me she was leaving me for another man. On top of that, my sixteen-year-old daughter told me she was going to live with her mother because the guy has a ranch with horses and she wanted to live on the ranch.

"I don't know if you've ever been through anything like that, Doc, but it can literally destroy a man's will to live. When I was lying there, dying, you know what I felt... gratitude. I was thanking the men who stabbed me. I figured they saved me from a lonely, miserable life... and then you went and saved me," he said with a chuckle that hurt his gut.

"Hey, no laughing," the man in white said, trying to lighten the conversation a little, "those sutures are still very fresh."

Axel just smiled.

"I'm sorry for what you've gone through, Mr. Brolin, but are you sure you don't want us to contact your wife? Who knows, maybe she's had a change of heart, especially after finding out what a hero you are."

"I don't feel like a hero, Doc."

The despair in his voice was intense. It was deeply concerning. "Are you having suicidal thoughts?" the doctor asked in a worried tone.

"No, I doubt very much I'd have the balls to do it myself. That's why I was so thankful to those other guys."

"Well, I'll tell you what, you may not consider yourself a hero, but the woman you saved sure does. The first night you were here, she vehemently refused to go home and spent the entire night sleeping in that chair there."

"First night? How long have I been here?"

"They brought you in Thursday night at eight-forty. You were in surgery for six hours. The knife wound in your side just barely missed the kidney and didn't do that much damage, but the one in your abdomen carved up the large intestine and a chunk of muscle tissue. It looked like the guy purposefully moved the knife around to do the most damage he could. The good news is you don't need a bag."

"A bag?"

"A colostomy bag. We were able to repair the colon. In a while, you'll be good as new but I'm afraid you'll be eating baby food for a while."

"Great, so, back to my question, how long have I been here?"

"Oh, sorry," the doc chuckled. "This is Saturday afternoon."

"Saturday, what happened to Friday?"

"That's just one of those mysteries of life, I guess," he chuckled again. "Actually, we didn't want you moving around so we kept you sedated for a while."

"And that woman was here the whole time?"

"Yup, the whole time. I understand she just left not long ago. My bet is she'll get some well deserved sleep and be back tomorrow morning bright and early. Now, I have to inspect those stitches," he said as he pulled the sheet back and moved Axel's hospital gown to expose the wounds.

He wrote his own notes on Axel's chart and hung it back on the foot of the bed. "Everything looks good, Mr. Brolin. Just try not to move around too much. The nurse will bring some Jell-O for you in a few minutes." He turned to leave then turned back to face his patient again. "I'm truly sorry for your troubles, Mr. Brolin. Please... please, if you're having suicidal thoughts, please let me or one of the nurses know. In my line of work, you learn how really precious life is. Things have a way of working out, Mr. Brolin. Give it some time."

Axel couldn't help but scoff at the doctor's parting words.

*****

Julie Brolin had one suitcase already packed and was jamming as much as she could into the second one when she looked up and saw her daughter standing in the bedroom doorway.

"Mom, have you heard from Dad? I've tried calling, but all I get is his voicemail. Maybe I should stay here until he comes home."

"No, you're not staying here. Carrie, your father is a grown man; he can take care of himself. I know he's hurting, but there was no easy way to tell him."

"Do you think he'll ever speak to us again?"

"Of course he will, Honey, maybe not me but you're his daughter, he's not going to abandon you; he loves you." Even from ten feet away, she could see the tears forming in her daughter's eyes. She walked over and wrapped her arms around her only child. "It's going to be all right, honey. Right now your father just needs some space, but you know him, in time he'll probably forgive us both."

She tried to sound convincing but knew they'd hurt him badly. She was sure he never saw it coming and almost wished she'd given him some clues about her infidelity along the way. Maybe he wouldn't have taken it so hard.

She wished she could comfort Carrie longer, but they had to get going. She prayed Axel would stay away long enough for them to escape without another confrontation. She kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Now, go finish packing, honey; Jim and Chandler will be here in an hour.

Carrie walked back to her room, wiped the tears from her face and slowly continued to pack, but it was hard to stay focused. She kept remembering the look in her dad's eyes when she told him she wanted to go live on the ranch with her mother. It was almost as if he died right there in front of her.

She picked up her phone and tried calling again—still nothing. She was starting to wish she'd never seen Chandler Freeman. If she hadn't seen him, she wouldn't have fallen in love with him; she wouldn't have spent all her free time hanging around him and trying to get him to notice her.

If she'd never seen him, she wouldn't have introduced his dad to her mom, but when they both showed up at a school function, the opportunity was too good to pass up. If they became friends, it would give her more opportunities to be with Chandler, her heartthrob.

If she'd never seen him, she would have never condoned her mother secretly dating Mr. Freeman and she would never have covered for her mom's infidelity or lied to her father.

She was so self-absorbed in her own little unrequited love affair; she never stopped to think about what it could do to her parents. She never considered her mother might actually fall in love with Chandler's dad and want a divorce. Again, she tried calling her dad and again it went to voice mail.

By the time Chandler and his dad arrived, the girls had all their personal possessions packed in several boxes and five good sized suitcases.

Jim Freeman backed his extended cab pickup into the drive. Chandler started to hop out, but his dad stopped him. "You stay here until I know everything's all right in there," he told his son. "Julie said her husband left a couple days ago and she hasn't heard from him since. That scares me a little. As soon as I know it's safe, I'll call for you so you can help load the truck."

Cautiously, he approached the house. Carrie was still upstairs, but Julie heard them pull in and greeted him at the door with a hug and a kiss. After separating, he lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Did he come back yet?"

"No, I still haven't heard a word from him. I'm getting a little worried myself. Carrie tried calling him several times, but she's only getting his voicemail. She's left several messages, but still nothing."

She looked up the stairs to make sure her daughter wasn't within hearing distance. "I sure hope he hasn't done something stupid. Right now, Carrie's all excited about living on the ranch, but if something happens to her dad, she'll probably blame me."

"Do you really think he's capable?"

"I don't know. I've never seen him like that, Jim. It was bad enough when I told him I was going to file for a divorce, but when Carrie said she was coming with me, it was like all the light went out in his eyes."

"Well, if you can't get ahold of him there isn't much you can do. Let's hope he's shacked up with a girlfriend someplace," he commented with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, I doubt that very much. Axel's a good man. I never worried about him cheating on me."

The last thing he wanted to hear was what a good man Axel was. Changing the subject, Jim poked his head out the door and called for Chandler to come and help with the boxes. "We better start packing the truck. Are you sure you have everything you want? We have no idea if you'll be able to come back here once we're gone."

"Yeah, I've got everything, but I'll run up and remind Carrie." Julie ran upstairs while Chandler and his dad made their first trip to the truck with an armload of boxes. When she reached her daughter's room, she found her sitting at her desk, writing.

"Honey, are you almost ready? Chandler is here. They're loading the truck."

"I'm writing a letter to Dad," she replied with teary eyes. She looked up at her mother. "Mom, are... are we doing the right thing? He... he looked so hurt," she said before starting to cry again.

Her mom walked over and put her arms around her. "Sometimes life is hard, Honey, but we have to do what's best for us, even if sometimes it hurts others. Things will work out, hon, you'll see. Your dad is a catch. As soon as the female population finds out he's single again, they'll be knocking down his door," she said with a small laugh.

"You think so?"

"Oh, honey, there's no doubt. He'll be happily married again in no time."

"I sure hope so, Mom. I just keep thinking about how I lied when Dad would come home from work and I'd tell him you were out with one of your girlfriends when I knew you were with Mr. Freeman. I feel so guilty now."

"Please, don't feel guilty, Honey. I was the one who asked you to do that. None of us knew at the time how it was going to wind up. If we had, maybe we could have handled it better, but, Honey, there isn't anything we can do about it now. We all have the rest of our lives to live, Hon, and we owe it to ourselves to be happy.

"Now, come on, finish your letter, and let's get going."

"Okay, Mom, I'll be down in a few minutes. I'm almost done."

*****

The following morning Axel woke to find Barbara dutifully sitting in a chair next to his bed. She watched his eyes flicker open and smiled but before she could speak, Axel beat her to it. "You don't have to keep coming to see me, you know. I'm sure you have a life outside this hospital. Forget about me. Go to work or whatever you should be doing."

"Forget about you?" she exclaimed. "You saved my life; how am I supposed to forget about you?"

"Simple, walk out that door and don't look back. Look, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but if you really want to thank me for saving your life just leave me alone... please."

She was surprised. "Why... I don't get it; your heroism is all over the internet. You're a celebrity. I've already been called by three news stations for the story. They all want to interview you."

That was the last thing he wanted. "You didn't tell them where I was, did you?"

"Well... yeah but I don't think the hospital will let them in unless you okay it."

"I'm going to make sure of that right now," he said, reaching for the call button. "Nurse," he addressed the lady in white who appeared in the doorway, "I understand some reporters might be coming to see me, don't let them in here. I don't want to see anyone."

"Okay, Mr. Brolin. I'll let them know downstairs."

He looked back at Barbara after the nurse left. "How did they track you down?"

"The police report, I imagine."

"Damn it," he hissed. "Now they probably have my name, too." Axel rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "I just want to be left alone; is that too much to ask?"

"I... I'm really sorry, Axel. I didn't know... "

"Oh, it's not your fault, Barbara. None of this is your fault, don't worry about it."

"Are you being sarcastic now?"

"No, no not at all, honest. I, ah... I just don't want to be anyone's hero. I just want to get out of here and go someplace where I can be left alone, that's all."

"Well, if you want me to leave you alone I will, but you will always be my hero, Axel. You saved my life, that's something a person doesn't forget."

She stood up with tears in her eyes as she got ready to leave. Axel was sorry he'd been so hard on her. "Look, I'm really sorry. I've just had a bad week. I really do want you to stop wasting your time in here though. I know you have other things to do, but if you leave me your number maybe I can call you from time to time... just to see how you're doing?"

He saw her smile for the first time. "I'd like that," she replied. She took a pen and paper from the nightstand next to the bed and wrote down her name and number. "Please don't lose it, Axel." She bent down and kissed him gently on the lips and reiterated, "I will never forget you, Axel. You saved my life, you're a true hero," and with that, she turned and left the room.

As much as he wanted to be left alone, the sensation of loneliness he felt as she walked out was palpable. For the first time since his entire world crumbled, Axel was left with only his thoughts. Tears welled up in his eyes as he contemplated the loss of his wife and daughter. Things would have been so much easier if they'd just left him on that sidewalk.