"There's no place for me now."
"Yes, there is. Stay. Stay with me, please."
-Daredevil.
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The following week was hectic in the Cohen household between school, work, and the latest social gathering being planned Sandy wanted to take his wife out for a relaxing evening, like the movies. Normal clothes he reminded her, no suits, ties or anything. Just normal.
He let her choose, because for him it was all about getting her to relax, and so she chose the sappy love movie that he knew she would be crying in at the end, with his arm around her.
He smiled at her when she curled up against him and in the within the twenty minutes they were there she had tears streaming down her cheeks. His wife was such a softy sometimes.
He loved her for it though.
When the movie ended he had been right for she had tears streaming down her cheeks. He gave her a goofy smile and leaned over and kissed her wet cheek. "I love you babe," he whispered softly, using his other hand to wipe her tears away.
She smiled at him and reached for his hand as they exited the theater and walked down the small alleyway towards the parking lot for the car. He intertwined their fingers together and leaned over pressing a kiss to her temple.
Walking outside there was a small alleyway that he hadn't noticed on his way in, probably because alleyway's in the daylight look much better than at night. If he had known this he would have parked elsewhere.
Sandy hated alleyways, ever since Bronx, ever since he had beaten people up and gotten beaten in them.
He pulled her close when he heard unfamiliar footsteps behind them and when he looked back he saw nothing. 'Just a figment of your wild imagination, Cohen' he thought to himself. She looked up at him slightly worried at his pause, but he smiled reassuringly at her and they continued walking.
There was no mistake this time when he heard them again and he turned around to face whomever it was he was stunned to find a gun in his face. A thousand thoughts raced through his head and the only one he paid attention to was Kirsten. He had to protect her at all costs. He pulled her behind him in a fluid motion, his hand gently squeezing hers.
"I want your wallet, your money and I want you to shut the hell up," the man said crossly as he glanced around warily.
"Sure pal, whatever you want," Sandy said calmly reaching for his wallet to take out money. Honestly he had never been so scared in his life, but not for himself, for her.
"Hurry up pal," he said shoving the gun into Sandy's chest listening as he grunted from the force.
"Sandy...?" her voice quavered.
"Shh honey, its all right," he soothed as he handed over the cash. She clung to the back of his jeans. He wished she hadn't said anything, maybe the guy wouldn't have even noticed her.
'All right? There was a gun to Sandy and he was saying it's all right? The situation at hand was far from all right.'
"Get on the ground," the man yelled frantically.
Sandy slowly obeyed and so did Kirsten but the man grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her close. She froze and looked at him with the most terrified expression he had ever seen on her beautiful face.
"Pretty girl," he sneered. "Mind if she comes along?"
Sandy saw red.
He didn't think.
He didn't realize he was off the ground and tackling the man who thought he was taking his wife somewhere. He didn't comprehend that he pummeled him on the ground and hit him in the face over and over again. There was a sickening thud with each fist that connected to the man's cheekbones.
Boom.
Sandy didn't take notice of the shot that rang out in the dead silent of the night. He really didn't feel the gentle warm gush of blood that started to seep unto his white shirt. He hardly felt the man push him to the ground and take off running his footsteps echoing in the darkness. He barely registered the scream he heard. He could hardly hear her call his name.
"Sandy? Sandy . . .No... No, No, No this is not happening, Sandy?" She collapsed, her jeans scraping pavement as she gathered him in her arms, she grabbed her cell, calling 911 in hysterics. Her hands were covered in his blood as she pressed them to his chest to make an attempt to stop the blood from rushing from the hole in his chest.
He smiled up at her like nothing was wrong, "It's getting cold out," he said as his teeth chattered together. "You should have worn a coat," he trembled.
"Honey, stay with me, I love you, I need you to stay here with me."
He moaned softly, it hurt to breath. "I'm so sorry I ruined our evening honey."
Tears were streaming down her cheeks by now, "You didn't, Sandy, you can't leave me," she couldn't keep the tremor from coming out in her voice.
'You will if you leave me Sandy Cohen. You will ruin my evening and the rest of my life.' Those unspoken thoughts ran through her head like a locomotive.
He was getting so cold and he could feel his heart skip a beat here and there, then suddenly it was pounding in his chest. His teeth chattered against his will, his jaw clenching on a sorry attempt to stop it. His breathing is starting to get uneven and it felt like there was a huge mass sitting on his chest. Oh everything hurts right now. He's clammy, and sweaty. There is a sharp pain with every breath he takes, and he knows that soon that pain will intensify to a point where he won't want to breath anymore.
His vision is starting to get blurry. Again his heart skips a beat and thumps fast against his upper body before evening out.
'Shit, shit, shit.'
He struggled to keep his breathing level, smooth, for her sake. He didn't want to die here, hell he didn't want to die at all, but most of all he didn't want her to watch him die. 'Not in front of her,' he vows to himself.
Kirsten's voice is starting to fade away. As much as he wants to he can't fight it anymore.
He was dying,
While in his wife's arms.
And there is not a damn thing he can do about it.
He felt her body shaking against his, wishing he could make it all right, to just reach over and comfort her. He couldn't even move his hands. In the distance he heard the ambulance.
"Hey," he whispered as he wills his heavy arm up and shakily but gently touched her cheek, their eyes locking, "Hey, I love you. I'm the luckiest man alive you know that? Cause I got to be with you... You've made my everyday worthwhile. I love you Kirsten... Tell Seth and Ryan that I love them too... Make sure you tell Ryan to keep out of trouble, and tell Seth to watch over Ryan. They both better watch out for you...if our boys don't do what I say, make sure you tell them I will kick their ass..."
The more he talked the glazier his eyes got, the harder it was for him to breath. Even being hurt, Sandy tried to soothe things over with her, to make sure she was all right, or that she would be all right.
Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. He wasn't thinking of the past, he was thinking of her future.
'Deus Festinatio,' he thought to himself. God Speed.
"I'm so tired honey. I'm sorry. I love you."
Her body was racked with another choking sob as she watched him close his eyes. He was still breathing but barely. She called his name over and over again, frantically begging him to open his eyes, to stay with her but to no avail.
The ambulance had arrived finally.
They said she would have to meet them there. Truthfully the EMT didn't want her to watch him crash on the way over. People had a tendency to get hysterical and cause more problems than good in these kinds of situations. He couldn't save two people right now.
The police drove in front of her while she drove the Rover to the hospital and that's where she called Ryan.
Ryan was busy studying when the phone rang.
"Hel-lo?"
"Ryan? Its Kirsten."
"Hey what's up?" he was puzzled at the tone of her voice, she was supposed to be with Sandy.
"Ryan, Sandy had, he's been," she sighed shakily, "He was shot Ryan, and I don't know what to do."
"Shit. Shoot. Sorry. Where are you? Are you okay? Tell me where you are."
"Newport General."
Ryan grabbed the keys to the BMW and ran out the door. He tried calling Seth on his cell but he wasn't answering.
Ryan managed to get to the hospital in record time without getting a speeding ticket or killed. He ran through the halls and into the waiting room when he saw her curled up in a hard plastic chair. She looked like hell; there was so much blood on her clothes he was surprised it didn't drip off her, her normally beautiful hair messy and tangled. Her makeup had run and there was blood on her hands.
Sandy's blood, he knew instinctively.
When she saw him she paused and her eyes welled up with tears and he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked softly into her hair and she shook her head no.
What was she going to do without Sandy, if he didn't make it? He was her support, her friend, her lover, the one person who understood her in short he was everything to her. He brought her boys to her. Maybe this was the reason Ryan was brought into this family - To help her in the course of her husbands death. She pushed the thought away from her mind.
"Any news?"
Again she shook her head no, "They said that he crashed twice on the way over here, but revived him both times," she whispered.
"Its okay, he'll be okay," he whispered and then told her he was going to call Seth. Luckily this time he picked up.
"Seth, listen to me, it's Ryan . . ."
The doctor came out and warily eyed Kirsten as she jumped to her feet, fidgeting with her bloody wedding bands.
"Mrs. Cohen, as of right now he's stable, but he's still in surgery and it looks like he's going to be there for a few more hours. I would suggest going home, getting cleaned up and we will call you when he's out."
She didn't know what to say so Ryan said the 'Thank You' for her.
He took her home driving the Range Rover; thankful that there was no blood in the car at all and later when they went up to visit he would have to take Seth to the theater to drive the Beemer home. He realized she was probably in shock. She stared out the window watching the world pass her by, bloody hands in her lap, the cars passing her didn't know that her husband was fighting for his life. Not only was he the husbandly figure, he was the only father Ryan ever had.
"Kirsten? We're here," Ryan, whispered softly as he parked the car and jumped out of the drivers seat to open the door for her. He led her to the house where Seth was waiting anxiously. Ryan hadn't told him exactly what happened because he didn't know. Seth's face fell when he saw the blood on his mother. Seth's face fell because of the amount of blood; the color was deep crimson against her shirt and jeans. There's no way someone could lose that much blood and live.
He didn't know what to do. Did his dad die?
"Kirsten, um, you need a shower," he said scanning the room before looking at her in the eyes.
"Actually wait," Ryan ran into the kitchen grabbed a garbage bag and handed it to her. "Pitch them Kirsten."
She gave him a blank stare before trudging up the steps to their room. She pushed open the door and was greeted by familiar sites and smells. It smelled like Sandy, and his shoes were tossed in the corner. His clothes were strewn about his side of the bed. His surfing shorts and the shirt he had worn earlier were scattered on the bathroom floor. Her eyes locked on one of the many pictures of the two of them together. She stood by the bed and grasped the picture in her hands. They had been at a charity event, and he had just come up to her. His arms encircled her waist and he was pressing a kiss into her hair. She had her eyes closed and then someone had taken a picture. She caught the flash when she opened her eyes again. After making sure she was okay, Sandy went off in search of Seth and Kirsten went over to the photographer.
"Did you take a picture of my husband and I?"
"Yes I did ma'am."
She gave the man fifty bucks, her card, and told him she wanted the picture on her desk.
The man smiled at her said he would do what she asked and actually gave her a couple pictures of them together that night.
She sighed, grabbed a towel, took off her clothes, threw them in the bag, turned on the shower and stepped inside.
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