The Night Shift

I peeled off my outfit, wincing as I slid it down over my ribs. I’m pretty sure at least one was bruised, if not cracked. Thankfully, my day job as a mixed martial arts instructor gave me plenty of excuses for the various injuries sustained from fighting criminals in tactical battle gear.

Halfway out of my outfit, the garage lights flicked on.

“Audrey?”

Crap. My husband wasn’t supposed to be home from the hospital for another few hours. I figured I had plenty of time to put my gear away, shower, and slip into bed before he got home.

“You’re that vigilante that’s been running around beating up criminals?” he asked.

“Appears that way.” I replied, looking at the mask on the workbench between us.

“You owe me an explanation.”

I shrugged.

“We talk all the time about how bad the crime is getting and how someone should do something about it. I figured maybe I can. I have the right skillset and I want things to be better as much as anyone. If not me, then who?”

“That looks like it hurts,” he said, pointing to the angry purple bruise on my ribs. “Let me see.”

He approached and ran a gentle hand over the swelling skin.

“I think I have something inside that’ll help the swelling. If you’re going to run around in the middle of the night, the least I can do is patch you up when you get home.”

Off my surprised look, he shrugged. “Maybe we can both help fight crime in our own way. It’ll be a fun family project or something.”

I smiled as I thought about my husband joining me on this journey. It sure beat sneaking around behind his back. And I’ve always wanted my own Alfred...


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300 words
Prompt: write a story of 300 words or less that includes the line "you owe me an explanation."

Originally written for "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge"  and "I Write in 2018" .