My phone rings in my purse, for the third time.

“I’ll check in with you tomorrow,” I tell the veteran sitting across from me, one Frederick Brown, and move to stand.

“Don’t get up,” he says with a grin. We shake hands over my desk while I’m still sitting down.

As soon as he’s out in the hall, I grab for my phone.

It’s a FaceTime call.

Dayton? Using FaceTime?

I swipe to answer the call and run a hand over my hair. I wasn’t counting on this.

The call connects, and the image widens onto the screen. It’s not Dayton’s face. It’s the floor of what looks like the VA hospital. Then the sound cuts in.

“—oh, sorry, I don’t know—” The camera swings upright, and there he is.

“Hey, Sunny,” he says.

I stare.

I can’t help it.

What’s different?

He’s standing so tall. He’s standing so well.

“Oh my God, Day, is that your new prosthetic?”

“Yeah.”

He’s beaming.

“Show me!”

The camera backs up, and Day takes a few strides down the hall and back again.

I can’t help the delighted squeal that escapes my throat, and he laughs.

“Doesn’t it look good?”

“You look great,” I tell him, and that’s when I get choked up. How could I not? I didn’t know how much the pain weighed him down, dipped his shoulders, until this moment. “I’m so happy for you, honey.”

He steps closer, and then the camera flips around to show his face. “Don’t cry. Sherry’s here. She was holding the phone.” He lifts the phone away from his face and there’s one of the nurses from the hospital, waving. She has tears in her eyes, too.

“Hi, Summer,” she says, and wipes at one of them. “Cry all you want. It’s an amazing sight, isn't it?”

“Yes, he is.” I go through so many tissues it’s unbelievable. Today is going to be no exception, clearly.

Day rolls his eyes, but they’re still lit up by his happiness. “I’ll show you at home, okay?”

I want to make a sex joke, but I don’t know if Sherry’s still close. “You’d better.”

“Hey.” The light changes. He must be moving down the hall. “You remember my old roommate?”

I barely remember his old roommate. He was too thin, and I saw him for twenty seconds on my single visit to the apartment. “Yeah?”

“He’s a vet, too.” Concern flashes across Dayton’s face. “I saw him today. I told him to give you guys a call. Has he called yet?”

Carla pokes her head in the door. “Message for you.” She puts the paper on my desk and tiptoes out, smiling.

I look down at the yellow slip. “Curtis Howard?”

Day looks relieved. “That’s him.”

“I’ll call him back right now.”

He nods. “Good. That’s good.”

“I love you.”

Another smile that melts my core. “I love you. See you at home.”

* * *

Curtis is in bad shape.

I can tell by the way he sounds when he answers the phone. His voice is hoarse, trembling, and my heart goes out to him.

“I didn’t want to call,” he says with a sigh after I introduce myself.

“I’m glad you did,” I tell him. “We can offer you a variety of services, from job placement to treatment programs.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

I keep it professional. “Can I tell you more about those things? Do you have a minute?”

“You can,” he says, but a heartbeat later, he adds, “but I’m not going to remember anything you say over the phone.”

“That’s no problem.” This poor guy. “Would you be willing to come in tomorrow for a quick meeting? We can go over all of this in person and make some decisions about what you want to do.”

“I guess.” He lets out a short, barking laugh. “Day said he’d come back here himself if I didn’t call. I’m guessing he’ll do the same if I don’t meet with you.”

“I’d take him at his word,” I say briskly, and he laughs, the sound more genuine this time. “How about one o’clock? Is that too early?”

“That’s fine,” he says, a note of concern in his voice. “Are you far from the subway station?”

“No. Not far.” I think of Dayton walking here on that old prosthetic of his, that very first day. “I’ll text you the directions.”

“Sounds good.”

“See you at one.”

* * *

Dayton’s hand is beneath my belly, angling toward my clit, when I stop him.

I have to stop him now, because the moment he gets his fingers down there, I won’t be able to concentrate on conversation. We’re lying beneath the blankets, the air conditioning unit blowing directly onto the bed.

“You’re not in the mood?”

“I’m in the mood.” I kiss him, ending with a little nip on his bottom lip. “I have a question.”

“Ask away.” He smells so good, fresh out of the shower, that I wish I had the energy to stay up all night with him.

“What made you go see your friend today?”

Dayton blinks, his forehead wrinkled. “I needed something from him.”

Worry draws a finger down the back of my spine, but Dayton inches his hand downward and pleasure overtakes it. “If I ask you what that was, will you tell me?”

“No.”

“Fine.”

“Don’t be upset.”

I spread my legs under the blankets. I’m propped up on two pillows because I can’t sleep any other way, but I still feel Dayton over me.

“I’m not upset. I’m worried about him, though. He sounded…”

“He’s a wreck.”

“I’m glad you told him to call.”

“I knew you’d help him.”

“I’m going to try, but—”

“You’re the best there is, Sunny. Was there anything else?”

“No, I—”

He holds his hand still. “You what?” Day’s voice is teasing, warm.

“I can’t remember.” I whisper the words and close my eyes.

Dayton kisses my neck, once, twice, three times. By the third kiss, I’m trembling. “Keep your legs spread like that. I love it.”

He strokes his fingers between my legs, sending heat down to my toes. I raise my arms over my head and grip the headboard. One more stroke, and I’m lost to his touch.