Tor woke up in a hospital bed and for a moment he panicked. Then he spotted Josey sleeping over the end of the bed and everything from the night before came back in flashes: the man with the knife, Josey’s frightened face, the responding police officers, the EMTs loading him into the ambulance…He’d definitely downplayed his injury so that Josey wouldn’t panic, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself from passing out once they got him on the stretcher. The last thing he remembered was Josey’s wide brown eyes as he clutched Tor’s hands.

“I’ll see you when I wake up,” Tor had promised him before his own eyes closed.

Looking over his sleeping soulmate now, Tor allowed himself a sigh of relief. Josey was safe and that was all that mattered.

Josey must’ve felt him shifting, because he groggily lifted his head and blinked a few times at Tor. 

“You’re awake,” he murmured. Then, perhaps realizing what he’d said, he repeated “You’re awake!” and scrambled up to kiss Tor. Tor leaned into the kiss gratefully, taking strength from the warmth of his lover’s lips.

“How are you doing?” he croaked once they parted.

Josey laughed weakly and poured out a glass of water, which he handed to Tor. “Isn’t that MY line? The doctor said that the blade missed your vital organs, but it was a close thing. You’re going to have a nasty scar once the stitches come out.”

“Eh, what’s one more scar?” Tor said and his mouth quirked into a smile.

Josey didn’t smile; he clutched tightly to Tor’s hand. “I was so scared, Tor. I thought I was going to lose you!”

Tor swallowed thickly and kissed the back of Josey’s hand. “Me too. I was terrified that asshole was going to stab you and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. So I threw myself at him first.”

Josey nodded. “I appreciate it, believe me…but please never do that again!”

“I make no promises,” Tor said solemnly, and he kissed Josey’s hand again. “I will do whatever it takes to protect you, Josey.”

Josey shook his head, but he was smiling now.

“I guess I’ll have to accept that,” he said. “I’d do the same for you.”

Tor pulled him in for another kiss, but they had to cut it short when he felt a twinge in his side and gasped.

“Oh no, your stitches!” Josey said regretfully. “Did we open the wound?”

He helped Tor pull up his hospital gown to look at the injury, but fortunately the stitches were all intact. In fact, Tor thought the stab wound looked as though it was already beginning to heal closed.

“It looks better than I thought,” he informed Josey. “It’s my own 'red badge of courage'.”

“Indeed,” Josey replied with a smile. Then his eyes widened and he said, “I’ve just had a vision!”

But Tor didn’t get the chance to ask what his vision was, because at that moment a doctor and a nurse entered the room. While the nurse went to check on Tor’s IV drip, the doctor introduced herself as Dr. Bijal Desai and asked if she could inspect his injury. After making sure the stitches were in place, she assured Tor that he was going to make a full recovery and would be ready to be discharged in an hour.

“That soon?” Josey asked, surprised.

Dr. Desai nodded, and she sat down on an available stool. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to both of you about. As you are probably aware, there are very few people with your condition and even fewer of those are as young as you two. Very little is known about the phenomena in the medical field, but there is an ongoing study that I’m partnered with to track soulmate couples who exhibit such a bond and to document how it affects their health. Since most couples are elderly, we don’t get to see the long-lasting effects, so your unique situation presents us the chance to do an extended study over…hopefully…several decades. I was wondering if you’d consider participating?”

Tor was utterly baffled and he glanced at Josey, who looked equally confused.

“Umm,” Tor said, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, but what are you talking about? What condition? Is there something wrong with us?”

Dr. Desai blinked several times and then she smiled.

“Oh my,” she said. “I didn’t realize…I though you knew. I assumed someone said something to you before now!”

“We haven’t been together for very long,” Josey admitted. “Only about two weeks.”

The doctor nodded and made a note in the file she held. “That is very interesting.”

Tor was beginning to feel frustrated. 

“Could you please just tell us what it is?” he asked.

“I beg your pardon,” Dr. Desai quickly put the file away. “Mr. Winters, Mr. Green – it is my pleasure to inform you that your red string is visible. Not only that, but it is one of the brightest strings I’ve been privileged to witness!”

She smiled at them again and gestured at the space between their hands. Tor looked down, but he didn’t see anything there; he shared a glance with Josey, who shook his head.

“Of course, you two won’t be able to see it,” Dr. Desai said. “For some reason it is only visible to outside observers, but the prevalent theory is that the two soulmates don’t need to see the string because they already feel it. For those in the partnership, there are other signs of a close bond: the ability to communicate thoughts without words, more intense sensations when engaging in sexual activities together, and an improved healing rate, to name a few. Mr. Winters is definitely exhibiting signs of the latter, since your injury is just about healed…I expect that your wound was actually more significant than we know because you’d already begun healing before you received treatment. I wouldn’t be surprised if your red string saved your life last night!”

Tor felt as though the air had been punched out his lungs. Had Josey saved him last night after all? He glanced at his soulmate, who had tears in his eyes, and he instantly knew that Josey was thinking the same thing.

“It would explain why the hospital staff let me into your room without even asking for my relationship to you,” Josey pointed out. “I didn’t have to say anything, they just ushered me in here once you were out of the ER.”

““It would also explain how we got over that food poisoning from the hot dog so quickly,” Tor added.

Josey laughed. “OH! And the wine! The manager must’ve been nice to us because he could see the string!”

As Tor thought about it, he could see all the signs pointing it out: the many smiles from strangers throughout the week, how it was so easy to read what Josey was thinking, never mind the fact that he loved Josey enough to overcome his crippling fears. Then he remembered the old woman in the department string and her warm smile.

“She understood,” he realized. “She knew exactly how I felt for Josey and she knew it would all be alright.”

He clenched his jaw to keep from crying; fortunately Dr. Desai was talking now.

“You don’t have to decide this moment,” she said. “I will give you a folder with information about the study, as well as my contact information. You’re free to join whenever you wish and to leave if it becomes inconvenient. It won’t require more than a few check-ups a year and occasional surveys, but all that info is in the folder. In the meantime, Maggie will get your IV out and you can prepare for discharge. I will personally take care of your hospital bill, Mr. Winters, since it appears you don’t have health insurance coverage. Go home with your partner and rest – doctor’s orders.”

Dr. Desai graced them with one more smile before she left the room. Maggie (the nurse) carefully took out Tor’s IV and brought his clothes along with a t-shirt with the hospital’s logo so that he didn’t have to wear his bloodied shirt from the night before. After completing the necessary paperwork, Tor was walking out of the hospital hand-in-hand with Josey.

“I’m going to make an appointment with HR as soon as I’m back in the office,” Josey said; he’d been far more embarrassed about the insurance situation that Tor was. “But I think I need to ask Melissa for a few more days off…I don’t want to leave you alone while you’re still recovering.”

Tor squeezed his hand gratefully.

“I’d appreciate that,” he said. “We also need to tell Etta and Sam I won’t be in tomorrow.”

“Oh, they already know,” Josey said. “I called them last night while you were in the ER. We should tell them you’re out already though – they were really worried. Kristy too, I called and cried at her for half an hour. Oh! And those girls from the bachelorette party…they stayed with me in the hospital for a couple of hours until we were sure you’d be alright. Angie - she’s the one getting married – she said we’re invited to the wedding if you’re feeling well enough. I ought to let them know you’re doing OK…”

Tor sighed; it was odd to know people still worried about him after he’d tried so hard to push everyone away. He didn’t know how he could’ve been so foolish to think he’d be able to manage everything on his own.

“And now I won’t have to ever again,” he thought as he gazed at Josey, who was talking about grocery shopping now.

“We need to pick up a few things…but what you feed someone who’s been stabbed?” Josey asked worriedly.

“Cocoa Puffs, of course,” Tor answered. “Let’s get some!”

Josey’s answering grin was blindingly beautiful and Tor realized he’d never been so happy to be alive before this day.