Soon as Rose was allowed to leave the hospital, she started looking for her husband. He was most likely hurt because he would have tried to defend himself against his attacker. Considering the importance of the other man's injuries – and the fact he had died from them – Maxence should be no better. He wasn't a fighter at all. He sometimes was involved in fights, though he wasn't the one starting them, whenever he was out at night with friends. He was so clever he often didn't realise that his words could be insulting to someone else. And the less intelligent people always responded with fists when they were a bit tipsy. How many times had she had to put ice on his bruises and sore body! How many times had she told him to be more careful when he was around "stupid" people!
Maxence only fought when he was forced to, when someone left him no choice but to defend himself, to protect himself. And Rose knew that was what had happened earlier in the day. He surely was in a lame condition. She didn't know how much time had passed since the attack. What if he hadn't survived? He couldn't be too far from their home. The police hadn't found him yet but they didn't know where to look to find him. Rose did.
The access to their home was still prohibited because an inquiry was open to find what had happened. But it didn't matter to Rose. Maxence wouldn't be in the house. He would have run away from there as soon as possible, but he couldn't have gone far. If a neighbour had seen him, they would have called a doctor to help him. So, he must be on their property. It was large enough for him to have found a hidden place. Rose managed to enter her courtyard. She looked for Maxence in the garages, in the pool shed, in the kids' hut he had built himself for them a few years ago.
She finally found him in the small tool shed in the back of their courtyard. He was slouched against the wall facing the entrance, covered in blood and sweat, barely breathing. He had been beaten to death and when Rose knelt down beside him, she found out he had been stabbed too and that he had done his best to stop the blood. She cupped his cheek and a small smile crossed his dry lips.
"My Rose..." he murmured weakly. "I'm so sorry... He sneaked into our house..." he continued though it was weakening him. "Stabbed me in the back... Fought as much as I could..."
Rose shushed him before he could continue speaking and held him close to her, her arm carefully wrapped around his waist. Silent tears were sliding down her cheeks. She didn't know if he would survive his wounds. She called an ambulance anyway as he was slipping into darkness, silently praying for him to hold on. She wouldn't be able to live without him.
YOU ARE READING
Down to Earth
Fanfiction"Instead of killing himself, he could rewrite his whole life and have a better one. He only had to use the Chameleon arch. And maybe finally be happy in a life where his past as killer wouldn't weight so much on his shoulders."
