As much as Rene wished that Emory didn’t have to go to school, he knew it was in her best interest to do so.  Emory gave him a huge hug before Ari took her hand to leave. Ari promised to come and pick up Rene later that day, as the doctors had made it known he was clear to return home. They’d suggested counseling and specific creams for his burns and tattoo, but overall, he was in good health and was looking forward to going home. Ari gave him a kiss on the cheek, then they headed out, leaving Rene drumming his fingers on his food tray as he was left alone with a myriad of negative thoughts. 

He turned on the television and mindlessly clicked through the channels, trying to decide which movie would be worth watching with seemingly hours of commercials and safe for TV edits. Everything was soap operas and infomercials anyway. Rene turned off the television and lay back in his bed. He didn’t like sleeping. Most of his dreams turned to nightmares now, gory images of his captor, a man whose name he had recently learned was Jeff Aquino, running after him with a knife, or a noose. In his last dream, he had watched Jeff string up a struggling Misha, cackling as he did so, while Rene begged him to let Misha go. 

Nurses had offered to request more sleeping meds, but it wasn’t helping. The nightmares were just too strong. The exhaustion was catching up with him, and now that Emory wasn’t there to cuddle away the bad feelings, he realized just how tired he really was. He couldn’t hide from sleep forever. 

Rene closed his eyes, and drifted right back to his captor’s house. He was underwater again, fighting to get some air. Khal was in the water next to him, eyes wide, silently begging Rene to save him. The killer was pulling Rene out of the water, but leaving Khal under the surface. Rene cried out, begging for his friend’s release. 

“You shouldn’t have killed me. Now I’ll take your friend. A life for a life.” Jeff growled. 

Rene woke with a startled gasp to see a shadow in the doorway. He jumped, immediately sitting up in a panic. 

“Hey, whoa! It’s just me!” He knew that voice. A woman. She sounded familiar. As she slowly stepped into the room, he realized that it was Officer Clement. She smiled kindly, reassuringly. 

“Officer.” Rene said, breathing out deeply and adjusting his position in bed. He was flush with embarrassment from her seeing him so panicked, but she didn’t seem to care. She walked up to him and held out a card. 

“I took up a collection for our local hero. I know you’ve missed quite a bit of work, and on top of everything else you’ve been through, it’s the least I could do. We’re all in awe of the man who stopped a serial killer single handedly. Not a lot of folks could do that, you know?”

Rene winced. He hated going back to that moment, the moment where Jeff had gone limp in his arms, where Khal had told him the man was gone. It didn’t feel heroic. As awful as Jeff had been, as horrible as his deeds were, it felt wrong to take a life and be applauded for it. 

He reached out for the card and took it, slowly opening it to have several twenties and hundreds flutter down into his lap. The card that had been holding the cash was completely covered in signatures and congratulations from various individuals he’d never met, and some names that looked familiar. Rene immediately looked up at Officer Clement.

“This is too much. I can’t take this.” 

“If you can’t take it for you, take it for your daughter. Buy her something nice.” 

Rene opened his mouth to protest, but he knew he wasn’t going to persuade her to take it back. His mind wandered to what gift he might be able to get Emory. Maybe a nice trip, to take her mind off of all the horrible happenings of late. 

“Oh! I have something else too.” Officer Clement reached into her back pocket and pulled out a very familiar object. Rene’s eyes lit up as she handed him his phone. “I got it out of evidence for you. Figured you might need it.”

“Thank you so much!” Rene said, taking his phone and turning it on. He was delighted to see that it was fully charged. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it until it was back in his hands again. All the texts, pictures, and memories of Misha and Emory were once again safely with him. 

“Is there anything else I can get you?” She asked. 

Rene shook his head, then hesitated.

“There is one thing. Do you have the authority to get me in to see Khal?” Rene asked. “I would very much like to know how he’s doing before I head home today.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” She said. 

“Thank you. Thank you for everything.” Rene said. 

Officer Clement smiled, patted Rene on the leg, then headed out. 

*****

Rene swallowed nervously as he walked into Khal’s room after tapping lightly on the doorway. Khal looked over at him and his face broke into a grin. 

“I was hoping you’d visit.” Khal said, sitting up as Rene walked over and took a seat in the chair next to the bed. 

“How are you feeling?” Rene asked. 

“Like I’ve been worked over by the devil.” Khal said. “Better now though, since you’re here.”

“You saved my life, you know.” Rene said quietly. “You kept me going down there in that concrete prison, when everything felt so dark and hopeless. Just knowing you were down the hall gave me the courage to keep going.”

Khal looked thoughtful. He reached out and took Rene’s hand. 

“You want to talk about saving lives? You were literally willing to die for me. I couldn’t believe it. No one else has ever come close to sacrificing for me like you did. I’ve dreampt about that moment so many times, lying in this bed. You, my dear friend, are the reason that I’m still here, and I will always love you for that.”

Rene blinked back against the flood of emotions he was feeling. 

“Where will you go, after all of this?” Rene asked. “I assume you’ll want to go home.”

“I’ll be honest. I don’t really have a home.” Khal said. “I’m a bit of a nomad. Mostly I live in motels.”‘

Rene frowned, “I thought…then where were you headed the night that…I mean…”

“I knew you needed your space. I’ve always taken jobs that have allowed me to travel. Never really felt a need to settle down. It was never the right time, you know? Too much of the world to see. This job was special though, since I got to meet you and your wonderful family.”

“And get tortured by a psychopath.” Rene pointed out. 

“That definitely wasn’t in the job description.” Khal said, chuckling grimly. 

Rene suddenly felt very protective of his friend, just like he had in that basement. 

“Come stay with me.” Rene said. “With Emory and me. However long it takes. If you’re comfortable with that.”

“Are you sure?” Khal asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“100%.” Rene said. “You’re practically family now. I would miss you if you left.”

“It’s so crazy to think we only met a few weeks ago. It feels like I’ve known you for centuries.” Khal said.

“Honestly, those few weeks have felt like centuries.” Rene said. 

“Do you think Emory would be okay with it?” Khal asked. 

Rene thought about it for a moment. He could never really get a read on Emory’s feelings about Khal, but he had to believe she wouldn’t really mind. After all, Khal had saved her Daddy’s life. And he’d been there after Misha had died to pick up the pieces. As strange as the whole situation was, Rene couldn’t fathom just leaving Khal behind after everything they had been through. 

“I think she’ll be fine.” Rene said finally. 

“Well, that’s good news then. I’d been planning to stay in a motel tonight before heading out of town.” Khal admitted. “It’ll be much nicer to stay with you guys.”

“They’re discharging you today?” Rene blinked. 

“Yeah. Apparently I’m a fast healer. Physically, anyway. Emotionally, well, that’s a project for my future therapist, you know?”

Rene’s eyes traced over the rope marks on Khal’s neck, over the black eye which had shrunk in its swelling considerably. He was looking much better from when they’d escaped two days ago. 

“How are you feeling?” Khal asked. 

Rene shrugged, “Most of my wounds are superficial. Once it’s healed enough, I’m thinking of getting the tattoo off with laser removal, though I’ve heard that hurts like a motherfucker.”

“Heh.” Khal absently ran his hand over the area where his own tattoo was. “That monster was many things, but he was quite the artist when it came to tattoos. I’ll give him that.”

“I suppose.” Rene said. 

“I’ve thought about removal too,” Khal said, “but I actually might keep mine. A reminder of the time a good friend saved my life.”

A bittersweet thought. Rene smiled. 

“Well, I suppose we should get ready to go. They’ll be wanting to kick us out any time now.” Rene said. 

“Come and get me when you’re ready.” Khal said. “We can avoid the news crews together.”

“Ugh, were you harassed by that Barry guy already?” Rene asked. 

Khal smirked, “That’s the polite way to put it. I told him where he could shove it. The man was relentless.”

“I guess we’ll have to make a statement sooner or later.” Rene said. 

“Might as well get it out of the way. I’m sure we can make mint off of a proper national interview though. Maybe we can go on a nice vacation to forget life for a while.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice.” Rene said. 

He looked down. He realized that Khal had been holding his hand this whole time. Rene gave his hand a little squeeze, then let it go and stood up. 

“I’ll see you in a few hours.” Rene said. 

“See you then.” Khal smiled. 

*****

Ari drove them both home. Coordinating their release from the hospital had been a fun endeavor, but they’d finally made it out. Khal was sitting in the passenger seat, a turtleneck that Ari had bought him at Rene’s request covering his neck from the bruises. Rene was seated in the back passenger side, holding Emory’s hand for the journey as she looked thoughtfully out the window. He knew she must have a million questions to ask, but Ari must have insisted she wait. His precious Emory, always so thoughtful. 

Rene was startled to see a number of vehicles and vans when they reached his house. For a moment, he thought they must be in the wrong place, but it was definitely his home. Ari glanced back at him in concern. 

“Should we go to my place?” Ari asked. 

“Might as well deal with them now.” Khal said. “Get this craziness out of the way.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” Rene was asking Khal as much as he was wondering himself. 

“I don’t think I’ll be any more ready in the future. Might as well be now.” Khal said. 

He had a point. 

“Emory, baby, I want you to put your coat over your head and go straight inside with Ari, okay. Ari, are you okay with that?” Rene said. 

Ari nodded as she carefully pulled into the driveway, the pathway just cleared for them by rabid news teams. Rene took his own coat off and quickly covered Emory when he realized she wasn’t going to be able to move fast enough to protect herself. The last thing he needed was some weirdo out there approaching her because he saw her on the news and asking her questions. 

Cameras were clicking when they got out of the car like they were some sort of celebrities. Rene picked up Emory and handed her off to Ari, who had her hood up as well. He waved them toward the house as he and Khal walked into the throng of reporters on that chilly evening. 

Rene glanced back to make sure that Emory and Ari had made it into the house, before he turned to the reporters and spoke.

“A few questions are all we have time to answer, then we are done.” Rene said. 

Everyone started talking at once, and Rene was acutely aware of the way that Khal was being jolted into him, the man’s warmth up against his side as every reporter shoved a microphone in their faces and repeated their questions louder and louder.

Rene could just make out a woman in the front. She was familiar, and he knew she was local. He pointed to her like he was calling on her in a classroom, and she repeated her question. 

“How exactly did you manage to get away?” She asked. 

“Rene Bloom took down Jeff Aquino to save my life.” Khal said, looking around at the crowd. “Now if everyone could calm down and behave, we could give you the details you so desperately require.” His voice was firm, commanding. 

Miraculously, the crowd began to calm down, the clash of question yelling turning into a murmur, then to almost silence. Rene was in awe of Khal’s ability to direct the throng of craziness. He looked at his friend, who gave him a sheepish smile.

“Were you a teacher or something?” Rene muttered to Khal. “That’s a hell of a skill.”

Khal chuckled, and turned to the nearest reporter. 

“What is your question, sir?” Khal asked. 

“What was it like in there?” The reporter asked. He looked almost embarrassed to even be bringing up the question. 

“It was awful.” Rene said. 

“Yeah, that about sums it up.” Khal said. “Next question. Yes, you miss.” He pointed at a young lady who was recording with her phone.

“Did he mark you like he did the others?” She asked. 

“If you’re talking about the tattoos, then yes. He did. And every moment of it was excruciating.” Khal said. “The whole experience was excruciating. People died. We were drugged and tortured. I’m not sure what more salacious details you actually need. Maybe I’ll put out a book one day and you can get your twisted fix from that. Now, my friend and I are going to go and rest and try to forget this horrifying ordeal. We’d appreciate it if you all could just move on.”

The murmur of the crowd started up again, but Khal put up his hands and shook his head. 

“No. We’re done. Don’t come back here. Don’t camp out in the backyard for a picture. We’ve given you what you need to know, and you’re entitled to nothing more. Now kindly fuck off.”

Khal turned, placing a hand gently on Rene’s shoulder to guide him away into the house as the crowd just stood there kind of dumbfounded. Rene couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Teach me your ways.” Rene said as they stepped inside and closed the door behind them. He glanced out the window to see the journalists beginning to trickle away, clearly realizing they would get nothing else tonight. He even spied Barry the creep looking disappointed, and wandering away like a dog who’d been denied his treat. 

“It’s just years of not giving a shit what others think.” Khal said. “Sometimes, you just say no.”

Khal smiled at Rene, then placed his coat on the coat rack, kicked off his shoes by the door, and headed into the house. 

Rene caught himself watching Khal walk away in awe. He was once again so very grateful for his friend.

Chapter 19 https://storiesfrommontana.com/2023/05/28/writing-challenge-2023-chapter-19-forgiveness-and-strange-visitors/