5:45am. I sleepily reached over to Luke's side of the bed. He usually comes home around 4:30 and then in bed by 5:00. In my exhaustion I assumed I slept through it.
Empty.
Cold.
He wasn't there. My phone had no missed calls and no text messages. I quickly tried calling him before allowing my mind to get carried away.
Instant relief when he answered on the first ring. He was anxious for me to get back to sleep, but gave me a brief explanation why he was late.
A suicidal man who was dismissed by others as not truly suicidal. When Luke started his shift he read the report on it that was taken an hour earlier. He instantly felt concern and started pursing it further. Pursing it further turned into search warrants to ping a cell phone, calling for a K9 track, searching the man's residence, and ultimately Luke finding him hours later with a knife and slit throat down by the water. He survived.
Before Luke hung up with me he apologized that he was covered in blood and had to throw away his watch and bracelet.
"Honey, you saved someone's life. You're a hero."
"Nah, not really. Just doing what needs to be done."
