Free First Class Farewell by Aj Harmon

stain on the bright white gauze, a
stark contrast that made the events of earlier seem very real now.
    “Apparently a murder and an assault are not high on the
priority list,” muttered Matt, as he stepped towards his father. “Have you even
talked to a doctor?”
    “Very briefly. He’ll be fine. They’ve just given him a
sedative because he was a bit overwrought.”
    “Naturally,” Matt said.
    “We can take him home as soon as he wakes up.”
    “Good.”
    “What’s good?”
    David and Matt swung around at the voice and rushed to the
side of the gurney.
    “Dad!” they both exclaimed, each one grabbing a hand.
    “I’m fine,” Peter muttered, trying to sit up.
    “No,” David said as he held him down. “Just lie there and
relax. I’ll go find a nurse.”
    “Matt,” Peter said looking up at his son. “What happened?
Where’s Ray?”
    *****
    “I haven’t told him anything,” Matt whispered to Paul, as he
opened the door to help his father from the taxi. “I want him to be with mom
when he hears the news. She’ll know how to comfort him.”
    Paul understood. As a Navy Seal, death was sadly a reality
he had faced too many times to count, and having to share such horrible news
should be done carefully. He leaned into the car and helped his dad slide out
onto the sidewalk.
    “What happened?” Peter demanded for the tenth time.
    “Let’s get you inside and then we’ll tell you everything,”
Paul replied helping him down the steps to the family room door.
    “Peter!” Maureen exclaimed and ran to the door to greet her
husband. “Oh, God! You’re hurt!”
    “I’m fine,” he grumbled. “Is Ray here?”
    With a startled expression, Maureen looked to her sons. They
guided Peter to his favorite armchair and settled him down with a pillow behind
his back. Matt knelt in front of him and held one of his hands.
    “Dad,” he began. “What do you remember?”
    Peter took a deep breath. “I walked into the market. I just
wanted some aspirin for your mother. Oh, Maureen!” His attention immediately
turned to his wife. “Are you alright? I never got the aspirin.”
    She smiled at him. “I’m fine, dear. Don’t worry about me.”
    “And then?” Matt asked.
    “There was a man…with a gun. He was yelling at the young man
to give him all the money in the cash register. He was screaming and waving the
gun around and I yelled at him to leave.”
    “Of course you did,” Paul shook his head.
    Peter had always stepped in when he felt someone was being
mistreated. At work, at school, in the park, it didn’t matter. He’d said that
he felt a moral obligation to stand up for that which was right and he’d passed
his sense of responsibility down to his sons. He’d always said that he had a
duty to fight for those needing assistance. And a man with a gun pointed at him
was surely in need of assistance. Even at eighty years old, Peter would
never have backed away from that.
    “And then?” Matt encouraged him to continue.
    “He swung around and told me to shut up,” Peter said. “And I
told him that I would give him the money he needed if he’d just put the gun
away, but he wouldn’t. So I reached for my wallet and that’s all I remember. I
was going to give it to him so he’d leave but I guess he hit me.” Peter reached
for his forehead and winced as he touched the cut that was now causing his skin
to turn bright purple.
    “I should call Katy and have her come change the bandage,”
Maureen said.
    “I’m fine,” Peter repeated. “Tell me what happened, Matt.”
    “Ray ran in when he saw what was happening is the police’s
guess. The cashier said that he fought the guy for the gun, but…it went off,
and…”
    “And?” Peter asked, tears filling his eyes, somehow already
knowing the answer to his question.
    “And Ray was shot. He died before the ambulance got there.”
    “Oh, dear God,” Peter cried.
    *****
    Raymond Charles Thomas, beloved father and friend, the
obituary in the paper