Scarlet Ribbons

*****

For Julie and Carrie, Sunday morning was the start of a new life. Julie had spent the night making love to her new man. He was everything she could ever want; he was tall, extremely good-looking, successful, and good in bed. She couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as she felt his body next to hers. He made women all over Chicagoland swoon with dreams of being in the very spot where she lay. Once she was officially divorced and they could go public, she would be the envy of women from Wisconsin to Indiana.

James emitted a small moan as she nestled up and pressed her breasts against his back. She reached over and fondled his flaccid cock as she nibbled on his earlobe. "Wakie, wakie," she whispered.

With a smile, he turned his head, straining just a little to meet her lips with his. "You are insatiable aren't you."

"Too much?" she asked with a pouty face.

"Are you kidding, that wasn't a complaint, it was praise."

"Oh, I see big Jim has the same idea. I'll bet I know how to make him grow even faster." He turned over on to his back as she covered his semi-flaccid cock with her mouth. Julie's oral abilities were definitely one of the reasons he fell in love with her. In no time, he was pointing at the ceiling.

"I'm still wet from last night, Honey, just push it in."

Jim took his time and changed pace several times to extend his stamina. Julie had two orgasms by the time her partner climaxed.

Carrie woke up dreaming of a future with Chandler. Now that she was literally living in the same house with him, there was no doubt in her mind that he would learn to love her as much as she loved him.

She couldn't wait to see the expressions on her friend's faces when they saw her riding to school with him on Monday morning. Her father was the furthest thing from her mind while she imagined all the questions they'd be asking.

She was still daydreaming when she heard a knock on her door. "Honey, are you awake yet?"

"Yeah, Mom."

"Get dressed and come down to breakfast. We still have a lot of unpacking to do and Jim wants to go for a horseback ride around the ranch, later."

"All right, Mom, I'll be down in a few minutes." Ranch, why did everyone call it a ranch? It was twelve acres in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. I guess they call it a ranch because of the horses, she thought.

The truth was, Jim Freeman had wanted to be a cowboy ever since he was a kid. When the opportunity arose to buy the house and all the land around it, he jumped at it. He had the stables built, bought a couple of horses, and named it the J Bar C Ranch. When he realized horseback riding wasn't as easy as they made it look on TV, he hired an instructor for both Chandler and himself. He even bought a couple of Stetsons, although Chandler's stayed in his closet.

As soon as Julie started to hint that she wanted to divorce Axel and move in, Jim bought two more horses. Julie didn't show any interest in learning to ride; just sitting on top of the beast while he walked around was good enough for her, but Chandler was an excellent rider, so of course, Carrie wanted to learn too. Her first lesson would be the following Saturday.

Monday morning, Julie got a small taste of what it was going to be like being married to a TV news anchor when the alarm went off at five o'clock. She just simply groaned her displeasure. By the time she opened her eyes, Jim was already sitting up on the edge of the bed. "Sorry, Honey, but the morning gig pays better than the ten o'clock news spot. Go back to sleep. I'll be back about eleven-thirty."

Julie hummed her approval with a smile, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Chandler was used to getting himself off to school. He had set his alarm for fifteen minutes earlier than normal so he could grab a quick shower before waking his future step-sister. By the time she showered, Chandler had breakfast ready. Julie came down to see them off just before they left; after which, she sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and pondered the new morning routine.

Jim was in a great mood as he walked into the studio. He greeted several members of the staff on the way to his dressing room, picked out a light grey suit to wear for the show, and made his way to make-up. He was in the chair for about ten minutes before Todd Kozlinkski, the director, caught up with him. "Hi, Jim, a couple of the cameramen said you were in a good mood... have a good weekend?"

"Yeah, I did; it was busy but very enjoyable, how about you?"

"Same as always, nothing new. Here's the script for the opening newscast. We're leading with the guy who was stabbed the other day. I've had Tim down at the hospital trying to get an interview with the guy almost all weekend, but so far it's been a no-go.

"You open with the first three lines, then you'll voice over the videos. We have one of him getting stabbed and cuts of several others showing him being loaded onto a gurney and taken away by the ambulance. Hopefully, by the time we cut back to you, we'll have Tim ready with a remote interview, if he can't get one we'll still have him say a few words from the hospital."

Jim was listening while going over the text when he suddenly almost jumped from the chair. "Axel Brolin, he's been stabbed?" He almost yelled, shocking both Todd and the make-up artist.

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Shit, Todd, I can't do this piece. You'll have to have someone else do it."

"What do you mean you can't do it? It's our lead story for Christ's sake; you have to do it."

"Shit, shit, shit, how the fuck did he get stabbed, he didn't do it to himself, did he?"

"Are you kidding me? Where have you been hiding all weekend, in a cave? Hell, the YouTube video of him getting stabbed has almost a million hits already, not to mention Facebook, Instagram, and about a dozen other sites. How do you know this guy?"

Jim looked at the make-up artist. "Audrey, could you give us the room for a couple minutes?" She put her make-up sponge down and didn't look happy being asked to leave but did so anyway. Jim waited until she closed the door behind her. "I stole his wife and kid."

"You what? What do you mean you stole them?" It only took a split second before he saw the light. "Don't tell me you've been fucking around with a married woman? SHIT, Jim, you've got to be kidding me! With all the pussy in this town, you couldn't find one who's single? I suppose that's the reason you're in such a good mood." He snatched the script from Jim's hand. "CHRIST," he yelled as he stormed out of the room.

Audrey poked her head in the door, "Should we continue or not?"

"I wish I knew," he responded. A couple minutes later he was called into the producer's office.

"Go home, Jim. We'll announce that you're feeling under the weather."

"What about the ten o'clock spot tonight?"

"I don't know yet. Go home; we'll call you when we figure out what to do. You know this is going to get out, right? With all the fucking reporters we have in this town, somebody's going get the scoop. This Brolin guy is a national hero and you know what every hero has in common don't you.. a villain. Hopefully, we can limit that moniker to the guys who stabbed him but I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if the public gets wind of your role in this. Go on home." Jim turned for the door when his producer had one more parting shot. "And Jim, I sure hope she was worth it."

It was that last comment that followed Jim back to his dressing room. He looked at himself in the mirror, "You stupid motherfucker," he said out loud to the man looking back at him, "he's right, you should have known better." He'd been in the business long enough to see careers ruined over less than what he was facing.

Shit, he thought to himself, it was too late to do anything about it now, the damage was already done. All he could do was pray that none of his colleagues caught wind of the full story, but that was unlikely, especially since everyone was waiting to interview Brolin.

He hoped it was his imagination, but everyone seemed to be scowling at him as he left the building. About the time he was walking to his private parking spot, his son was pulling into the school parking lot. Once inside the main doors, he told Carrie he'd meet her back there after school. She was standing by her locker when a friend, Jenny, saw her and rushed over.

"Carrie, how's your dad?"

Astonished, Carrie looked at her friend wondering how she could possibly know what happened. "Ah, ah, I... I don't know, I haven't been able to reach him. How..."

"Isn't he in the hospital?"

"Hospital, what do you mean, why..."

"Wasn't that your dad who got stabbed? It sure looked like him."

"Stabbed..."

"Hey, Carrie, another friend called out, "How's your dad? Is he going to be okay?"

Carrie stood there with her mouth open. Jenny spoke up again while bringing out her phone. "Here, isn't this your dad?" she asked, showing Carrie the screen.

"Oh, my God," screamed Carrie. She bent down and in a panic, retrieved her own phone from her knapsack, and called her mom as her friends watched.

"Mom, Dad's been stabbed!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"He's been stabbed, it's all over YouTube. That's why he hasn't been answering my calls."

"All right, calm down. I'll make some calls and find out what's going on."

"I want to go see him, Mom. I don't want to stay at school, I can't, I want to be with him."

"Okay, Honey; go to the office and tell them what happened. Let them know I'm coming to pick you up but I want to make some calls first so I'll be a little while."

"Okay, Mom, but don't be too long."

"I won't, Honey, I'll come to the office when I get there."

Carrie was crying when she left her friends and headed toward the office. Meanwhile, Julie called Jim. He answered with his car's Bluetooth. "Yeah."

"Jim, it's me; have you heard anything about Axel getting stabbed?"

"Oh yeah, I sure have. He's supposed to be some kind of national hero, now."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I just heard about it, why, what's going on?"

"Carrie just heard about it at school, she's hysterical. I'm going to go pick her up now. She wants to see him, do you know what hospital he's in?"

"No, but I can find out. I'll call you back in a few minutes." Jim disconnected then spoke to his phone, "Call Tim McDaniels."

"Jesus, Jim, I just got off the phone with Todd, no I haven't gotten in to see him yet..."

"Tim, I'm sorry to bother you but I'm not calling about the interview; I just need to know what hospital he's in."

"He's in Northwest General, but if you're thinking of a phone interview, good luck. Everybody's being really mysterious about this guy. The nurses are acting weird, I'm starting to wonder if the guy made it."

Jim's heart almost sank in his chest. "Oh, shit, that's all I need," he said out loud.

Tim heard him over the phone. "Why?"

"Never mind, thanks for the info, Tim," he said as he disconnected the call. "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" he yelled out while pounding the steering wheel of his new Corvette. He took a deep breath before calling Julie back.

"Hi, did you find out where he is? I'm just getting ready to pick up Carrie."

"Yeah, he's at Northwest General but... "

"But what?"

"Well, I talked to a reporter who's there trying to get an interview and he says everyone's acting strange. You should have Carrie wait someplace while you go talk to someone."

"You... you think he might be dead?"

"I don't know, Hon, but Tim seemed to think it's a possibility."

"Oh, my God. God, I hope he's not dead. Seeing the hurt on his face would be the last memory Carrie has of her father. I pray she doesn't have to live with that the rest of her life."

"Yeah, this is bad for all of us; I'm on my way home."

"What, why?"

"Why do you think? Your asshole husband is big news. He's the lead story for this morning's show. When I told my director I couldn't read it, he made me tell him why. TV news is a cutthroat industry. Somebody's going to find out my part in this whole mess and the one thing you don't want to do in this business is become the news. If this gets out, I could get fired."

At that moment, Julie's sympathies were with her daughter. "I can't worry about that right now, I'm concerned about Carrie. I've got to go," she snapped as she disconnected. Now, in addition to being worried about her daughter, she was pissed at her fiancé for his selfish attitude and caring more about his job than Carrie.

It was almost nine-thirty when she pulled into the school parking lot. Before going in, she grabbed a tissue from her purse and wiped her teary eyes. "Mom," Carrie cried out as soon as she walked into the school's office.

"Okay, okay, Honey, everything's going to be fine," she said, while the two embraced.

Still hugging her daughter, Julie looked over the counter and caught the eye of one of the secretaries. "Go ahead," the young woman told her, "she's already checked out, and you both have our best wishes," she added. "I'm sure he's going to be okay."

Julie thanked her as she escorted Carrie out. As they walked into the main entrance of the hospital, Julie told Carrie to sit and wait for her until she talked to the woman behind the desk. She didn't like it, but she obeyed her mother. Julie was terrified as she approached the hospital greeter. "Excuse me, I'm Julie Brolin, Axel Brolin's wife. Can you tell me his condition?"

She didn't like the anxious look she got. "Mrs. Brolin, the doctor will want to talk to you. You see those small rooms off the hall over there?" she said, indicating the direction with a nod of her head. "Please have a seat in number two and I'll let the doctor know you're waiting."

"Okay, but at least tell me if he's alive or dead, will you."

"Mrs. Brolin, I know you're concerned, but you must talk to the doctor."

Julie gave her an aggravated look, and sighed. "Okay, listen, that's our daughter sitting over there. If she says anything about being in there with me, tell her she's underage or something. If her father's dead, I don't want her learning about it from some doctor."

"I understand, Mrs. Brolin. The doctor will want to talk to you alone, anyway," she confirmed.

Carrie jumped up as soon as she saw her mother walking her way. "Is he okay?"

"The woman I talked to doesn't know anything, Honey. I have to go over to that small room over there. Your dad's doctor is going to let me know how he's doing. I'm sorry, you're too young to be in there with me, but I'll be back as soon as I talk to the doctor." Carrie didn't like it, but went back and sat down while keeping an eye on her mother.

Julie didn't have long to wait. A middle-aged man with greying temples and a white coat walked in and closed the door behind him. Julie didn't wait for him to sit down. "How's he doing, doctor?" She saw him scowl and immediately thought the worst.

"I was hoping you could tell me," he replied.

Now Julie wore the scowl, "What are you talking about? How the hell would I know? You're his doctor, aren't you?"

"He snuck out of here last night. Don't ask me how, because your guess is as good as mine. We were going to release him today anyway, but we have meds we were going to give him for pain and to help with his bathroom functions."

"How could you let him go like that?"

"It's a hospital, Mrs. Brolin, not a jail. He was out of the woods so we'd taken him off the monitors. He somehow got past the lock on his closet, got dressed by himself and slipped past the nurses. I was hoping he went home."

"We... my daughter and me haven't been home for a few days. We... we were out of town. My daughter tried calling him several times but he didn't answer so I came right here when I heard what happened."

"He hasn't answered his phone because it was broken in the attack."

"Oh, I see. I can explain that to my daughter. She thinks he just doesn't want to talk to her. You said he was out of the woods, that means he's going to be okay, right?"

"Well, not exactly. He's been stitched up inside and out. Too much activity can rip the sutures, especially if he tries to lift anything. He's got to take it easy for at least two to three weeks. If he rips open the internal wounds he could bleed to death internally.

"Here's the packet of instructions we were going to give him on his release. I shouldn't, but I'm also giving you his meds. The instructions are in the packet. If you find him at home or see him, please give this to him, it's vital he follows the procedure, and call me if you find him. I'll want to see him immediately to check those wounds. Here's my card."

"I will, doctor." She took his card while looking out into space, wondering what she was going to tell her daughter.

"There's ah... there's one more thing, Mrs. Brolin, he told me you and your daughter left him for another man before he was stabbed. Axel is in a very bad place mentally. After surgery, he cursed me out for saving his life. He told me that when he thought he was going to die, he was grateful to the two men who stabbed him. He needs to see a mental health professional as soon as possible. Also in that packet is the number for the Crisis Prevention Center and the Suicide Hotline. Good luck, Mrs. Brolin."

As he turned his back on her and left, Julie was starting to realize the difference between having a life partner and a lover. Based on her earlier conversation with Jim, she didn't feel she could count on him, not like she could count on Axel. In times of trouble, he'd never leave her side.

Carrie jumped up and rushed to her mother as soon as she walked out of the small room. "What's going on, Mom? Is he okay? Can we see him?"

"He's not here, Honey. They let him go earlier this morning," she lied. "He probably went home. We're going to head over there now, oh, and the reason he hasn't answered his phone has nothing to do with you; it was broken in the attack."

Carrie was visually relieved and started to relax even more when her mother said the hospital released him. She was just starting to believe her mother's assertion that everything would be all right until Julie pulled into the driveway and told her to wait in the car. "Why, what are you not telling me, Mom?"

"Nothing, Honey. I just don't know what kind of reception we're going to get. Please, stay here and I'll call you as soon as I see how he's doing." Carrie was fuming, but stayed in the car while her mother went inside the house.

Julie was encouraged when she found the front door unlocked. He would never leave the house without locking up first. "Axel," she yelled upstairs, "are you up there?" There was no answer. "Shit," she mumbled. She looked around the corner and into the kitchen. She could see the coffee pot was half full. She knew it was empty when they left. Of course, he could have come home right after they left and made it. She walked over to feel the pot and smiled. It wasn't hot but it was still a little warm which gave her hope. Maybe he's upstairs asleep, she thought.

Julie almost ran up the stairs, expecting him to be lying in their queen-sized bed but he wasn't there, only a couple of wrinkled sheets that suggested he had at least laid down for a while. She walked into the master bath. There was a towel hanging over the shower doors that wasn't there before. She felt it with her hand; it was still a little damp. The only other thing she noticed was the charger for his razor missing from the counter. She opened the top drawer and saw his razor was missing as well.

She walked back into the bedroom and checked the closet, some of his casual clothes were missing. She checked around some more and found more items missing, personal items, things that had sentimental value.

She checked his jewelry box and saw his dad's and mom's watches were also gone. They weren't very valuable but they held some great memories for him. After his folks passed, he took the two watches and half the money from the sale of their house; his asshole older brother took everything else.