The next day, Cameron called her father to let him know what happened.

“What the hell!  She was attacked?? Why was she attacked??”  Saul asked, his heart racing.

“We don’t know yet, dad.  The police have the man in custody, but they haven’t given us anymore information yet on the guys motivation for attempting...what he did”.

“And why the HELL didn’t anyone think to call ME after this happened?!!!” Saul was shouting and frantic now.  

“There wasn’t time DAD!  By the time Malcolm called Angie to tell her-”

“Wait, who’s Malcolm?”

“He’s mom’s friend from work.  If he hadn’t have been there and beat the guy to a pulp, mom would be...sh-she’d be…”  Cameron’s voice broke, she couldn’t even say the words.  Saying them would remind her how close she came to losing her mother.

“I know, baby”, Saul said, all his bluster gone.  “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t about me.  What hospital is your mom in?  I’ll stop by later tonight to see her”.

“She’s in Bainbridge.  I’ll talk to you later, Dad”.

After Saul hung up with his daughter, and dropped heavily onto his couch running his hands down his face.  Lynne almost died.  He rationalized that if he’d been there, if they’d still been married he could have prevented this.  He felt like he was responsible for what happened to his wife.  He had no idea how right he was.

************************************

Malcolm was already at Lynne’s bedside when the kids arrived to the hospital.  She was awake now, but the neurologist wanted to keep her another day for observation.  Apparently, she’d hit her head on the concrete when she’d fallen after her assailant hit her and had a slight concussion.  Lynne was still terribly shaken up, but Malcolm had come to see her right after school and had stayed by her side.  He brought her food and word search books (she loved those) and a stuffed lion named “Checkers” to keep her company after visiting hours were over.  He was a godsend for more reasons than just the fact that he’d saved her life.

“Malcolm, you don’t have to stay if you have other things you need to do.  I don’t want to monopolize your time”.

“Lynne, stop.  You’re my friend and I care about you.  There’s nowhere I rather be, nowhere I NEED to be other than right here in this room with you”.

“Thank you, Malcolm”, Lynne said softly. “You’ve been wonderful to me.  I don’t think I can ever express how grateful I am to have you in my life”.

Malcolm felt his face flush.  When he thought about the fact that he almost lost her...well, it was something that he couldn’t fathom.

“Ohmigod, Mom!”

Malcolm and Lynne turned towards the door to see Lynne’s kids Cameron and Malachi enter the hospital room.

“I’m SO glad you’re awake, mommy!” Cameron exclaimed as she gingerly hugged her mother.

“Me too, Cammie-bear”.

Malachi walked over to the hospital bed and kissed his mother’s forehead.  “Do you feel okay, Mom?”

Lynne looked at her son.  His eyebrows were knitted with worry.  Malachi had always been a sweet and sensitive child.  She knew it was especially hard for him to see her like this.

“I’m still a little sore, but I feel really good baby.  Now, give me a squeeze”.  When she had him close she whispered, “I’m fine sweetheart, don’t worry”.

Cameron turned to Malcolm greeted him with a smile.  “How are you, Malcolm?  Keeping mom company, huh?”

“Yeah, I was just keeping an eye on your mom until you guys got here.  Hey Malachi, how ya doin’?”

“Good, you?”  Mal said while extending his hand to Malcolm for a handshake.

“I’m good.  Just about to head on out and leave you guys to family time”.

“You don’t have to leave, Malcolm”, Cameron said.

“Yeah, should stay”, Malachi said quietly.

“No, I’ve been here a while.  I’ll come back tomorrow if that’s okay, Lynne?”

“Of course it’s okay, Malcolm.  I’ll see you tomorrow”.

“Okay, you guys have a good night”.

Malcolm walked out of the room and walked towards the exit.  As he was walking out, he saw a tall black man walking his way with a large bouquet of flowers.  He looked like an older version of Malachi.  “This must be Saul”, he thought. He’d always wanted to put a face to the name of THE dumbest man on the planet.

Saul saw the white man exit Lynne’s room.  “Who’s THIS guy?” he thought.  As if in answer to his silent question, Cameron popped out of the room and called “Malcolm, wait!”  The man watched as his daughter approached.  “Malcolm, you left your book”. When Cameron saw her father she said “Dad, come here.  There’s someone I want you to meet”.  Saul walked over to where his daughter and Malcolm were standing.

“Dad, this is Malcolm, mom’s friend.  He’s the one who fought off mom’s attacker.  Malcolm, this is my dad, Saul”.

Saul pulled himself up a little bit taller, in a blatant act of posturing.  He stuck his hand out to Malcolm and said with a smile that did not reach his eyes.  “Pleasure meeting you.  Thank you for everything you’ve done for my wife”.

Malcolm fought to keep the smirk off of his face.  Was this dude really trying to get into a pissing contest while his EX-wife was in the hospital?

“Nice to meet you, Saul.  No need to thank me, it’s what anyone would have done”.

“Yeah...well, don’t let us keep you from the rest of your evening.  I can take it from here”.

Malcolm almost laughed in his face.  “Alright. Take care Cameron, Saul”.

Once Malcolm was out of earshot Cameron grabbed her father’s wrist and said “What is wrong with you?  Malcolm’s a nice guy and he SAVED MOM’S LIFE.  You were SO rude!”

“I wasn’t rude, Cammie.  I’m sure he was ready to get back to his OWN life.  That’s all I was saying”.  Cameron just shook her head and walked into the room.

Malachi was sitting on the edge of Lynne’s bed, watching a “Seinfeld” rerun.  When Saul entered the room Lynne felt her son stiffen.  

“Hey Malachi.  How ya doin’, son?”

“Fine, thanks”, Malachi said without looking at his father.

Saul was disappointed that his son was still angry with him.  He didn’t know what to say that would close that void, but he knew to give his Mal his space.

Saul’s view of Lynne was obscured by Malachi, but when Mal moved to sit in one of the chairs in the room, his stomach clenched.  Lynne’s left eye was an angry purple and swollen shut.  Her face was bruised and her bottom lip was distended.  Saul felt his rage flare.  Who would do this to her?

Saul handed Lynne the flowers and said “I can’t believe this happened.  How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better, but it’s not as bad as yesterday.  I’ll probably be able to go home tomorrow”.

“I can pick you up and get you home”, Saul said eagerly.

“Oh no, thanks.  Angie’s going to take me home and sit with me until Cammie gets there.  Mama said she’d come up for a bit just to keep an eye on me.  You know how she is”, Lynne chuckled then grimaced as the action pulled at the stitches in her lip.

Saul was crestfallen.  “Well, if you need me to do anything for you, just call me”.

“Sure, Saul.  I will”.  It wasn’t yes, but it wasn’t no either.  He’d be satisfied with that.

There was a knock on the doorjamb and two plain clothes officers entered the room and addressed Lynne.

“Mrs. Dixon, I’m detective Robert Mays and this is my partner Christina Avery.  We’re here to discuss a development in your case.  Is this your family?”

“Yes, detective.  These are my children and my ex-husband.”

“Good to meet you all.  Well lets get right down to the reason we’re here.  Your assailant, Aaron Pettiford told us an interesting story.  He said that he was paid $1000 to assault you by a friend of one of his cousins.  He said the woman’s name is Alicia Staley, does that name ring a bell?”

“Yes”, Lynne said quietly.  “She was my ex-husband’s mistress”.

“Wait..this is because of YOU?”  Malachi said, rising out of his chair.  “MY MOTHER ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!!!”

“Whoa, calm down, son.  We don’t need you alarming the other patients”, said detective Mays while lightly restraining the boy.

“You’re a fucking disaster, I can’t fucking stand you!” Malachi said, venomously.

“Malachi!”  Lynne and Cameron said simultaneously.

“Miss”, detective Avery said addressing Cameron, “Why don’t you take your brother and to get some fresh air”.  Cameron pulled Malachi out of the room, whispering to him forcefully.

Detective Mays turned to Saul and said, “Given the circumstances of this case, we’re going to need you to come down to the station for questioning.  We need to begin building a case against this Ms. Staley.  Can you meet us there tonight?”

Saul had been in a daze for most of the conversation.  Malachi’s words had left him numb and the fact that Alicia may have been behind Lynne’s attack made his blood run cold.  “Sure”, he said, snapping out his fog. “I’ll leave now”.  Saul turned to look at Lynne, but she had turned away from him.

“Mrs. Dixon, we’re sorry about the disruption tonight, but we wanted to advise you of the situation as soon as possible.  We’ll let you know of any additional details come to light.  Rest well”.

“Thank you detectives”, Lynne said wearily.

When the detectives left, Lynne laid in her bed, stunned.  She’d move past all this and now that crazy bitch had people attempting to murder her?  Malachi was right, Saul brought this drama right to her doorstep.  Lynne picked up Saul’s flowers and threw them in the trash.