No, more than a little. The military had been his entire life. Given him purpose.

Brothers.

And then came Jones, Inc.

Yeah, he needed to get out of this bed and back to work if he wanted to live with himself.

Another knock on the door, and he expected to see the nurse. Instead, Dodge backed into the room holding two cups of coffee. He was grinning, although unshaven and wearing yesterday’s clothing.

“I sneaked in some diesel fuel,” he said and handed Colt a cup. “Although yours is decaffeinated.”

“Aw, c’mon. I’m not a pansy.”

“Sorry, we don’t need anything exciting that ticker of yours.” Dodge pulled over a chair and lowered himself into it.

“You didn’t go home last night.”

“Someone needed to stick around and sign the donor papers if you decided to kick off.”

The coffee went to Colt’s bones and, caffeinated or not, fortified.

“I’m not giving up my parts yet, bro.”

Dodge raised his cup. “Congratulations on living through the night.”

“Thank you. Now get me out of here.”

Dodge leaned back, sighed, and propped his ankle on his knee. “Sorry, but I’ve got some bad news.”

Colt drew in a breath. “Please, don’t—”

“Doc says your operating days are over.”

Wow. Talk about a punch to the sternum. But no. Nope. Nada. He shook his head. Turned back to Dodge. “Doc doesn’t know me.”

“Your ticker isn’t . . . it’s not a go, Colt.”

His jaw tightened. “That’s not going to work for me. I . . .” He shook his head. “It’s who I am. It’s . . . it’s all I have.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is true!” He didn’t mean to snap, but, “C’mon, Dodge. What’s your earliest memory of me? Probably jumping off the sofa to take you or Ranger down. Let’s be honest here. I’m not a pilot. I’m not a sniper. I’m the guy who gets it done.”

Dodge hadn’t moved, didn’t raise his voice, still unflappable. “Yes. You are. And now you’re just going to have to figure out how to get it done without . . . well, so much excitement.”

Colt blinked at him. Then stared at the ceiling.

“I was wounded. In Afghanistan. My chopper was shot down.”

He looked at Dodge. “What?”

Dodge nodded. “I was retrieving a SEAL team who had been pinned down, and during the rescue, the Taliban got a shot off. I woke up in Germany, went to Walter Reed. For a while I thought I’d never walk again. The Air Force gave me a medical discharge.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Just like I didn’t realize you’d left Delta. But I felt the same way, that my life was over. And I really didn’t want to go back to the ranch. Not after . . . well, the way I left things with Echo.”

“But you two worked it out.”