Double Jinx (Wattys2017)

Chapter 39

I stood next to Ace silently, my arms folded behind my back and my eyes cast downward. I wanted to give Ace some privacy but he practically begged me to come with. He's been having nightmares, I think he's afraid to let me out of his sight.

"Hey buddy." Ace began, his voice wavering as it had after I'd been shot. It broke my heart to hear him so defeated. And watching him stand here, talking to a block of stone, it broke me further, "I'm sorry we missed the funeral. I wanted to leave but the nurses cracked down on their security after Gen's multiple escapes." He gave a little laugh but there was no humor in it.

My eyes dropped towards the grave marker at our feet, a light gray slab of rock polished to perfection with only a few words written atop:

Robert 'Bobby' Fields

Gone but Never Forgotten

Kimber told us they weren't sure what to put on the gravestone so she picked out something she knew we'd like. Bless her soul for going through the trouble of planning a funeral for a man she's never met.

Supposedly it went really well, even Bobby's children showed up. All of them. While I can't say I agree with them abandoning their father for all those years, I was happy to hear they all came to say one final goodbye to their dad. Then again, I would have liked to have been there to guilt them about their absence. But as Ace said, we weren't allowed out of the hospital until he was fully healed. Grandma managed to convince a friend of hers to let me leave as well. We came straight here afterwards.

"I guess saying sorry doesn't mean much now ..." Ace stumbled over his words, taking long pauses to breathe, "But I'm sorry. Shit, Bobby, I'm really sorry."

My instincts kicked in when I saw Ace's eyes flutter several times. I stepped into him, snaking my arms around his waist to provide what little comfort I could, "I was with him until the very end, Ace. He never blamed you."

Ace scrubbed a single hand across his mouth, looking elsewhere as he replied, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

I held him tighter, "Don't make this about me. This is about him. And you."

Ace shook his head again as if he refused to believe in my words. A few minutes of silence passed before Ace let out a long, low breath that rolled from him like a cloud, "He hated it, you know."

"Hated what?"

His arm fell over my shoulders and pulled me into him, reassuring himself that I was still here. Still alive. He swallowed loudly, "He hated the life I had. Every time I showed up with a new bruise, he hated himself for not being able to fix it. And then Vic and Roman showed up ..." Ace sighed, dropping his head a little, "Bobby used to run with a gang when he was my age. He watched his best friend die."

More misfortune for such a kind old man, "Bobby truly was a miracle."

Ace nodded, "He was. He got out of that life, made an honest living, became a loving father and husband." He took a sputtering breath, "He didn't deserve to go out like that."

Nothing I said could change his mind. No matter how many hugs I gave him, he'll never get over what happened to a man he considered to be his father. I couldn't make it better, I could only be there for him and love him as much as Bobby loved his wife.

Ace sighed once more, then knelt down next to Bobby's grave. Ace lifted his hand to his mouth, kissing his fingers, then pressed them against the stone, "Goodbye, old timer." Ace stood back up and tilted his head to the stone beside Bobby's, the one that read Annie Fields, "Take care of him, Annie."