“I know.” I sighed. “I’m tired.”

“I understand. I’ll set up to remove the catheter. Once that’s gone, you should try to walk. I can order a physical ther—”

“I’ll help her,” Chris said. “I’ll have to do it when I get her home anyway.”

I guess home for the time being was with him.

“It might be good to have a physical therapist just to see how it’s done, sir.”

“Whatever.”

I recognized the annoyed sound in his voice. Chris did not like help.

The doctor said, “I’ll order that for tomorrow. I guess tomorrow is today.”

Chris said, “Anything else you need, baby?”

I said, “I’m in some pain.”

“As you probably know, most of the regular painkillers are renal toxic,” the doctor said. “How about tramadol?”

“Low dose.”

“You get sick from it?”

“A little. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. Good to see you talking, Doctor. Take care.”

“Sure.” I let out a big sigh. It hurt my ribs. I opened my eyes and strained to look at my ex-husband. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be silly.” Chris took my right hand and kissed my fingers. “Can I sign your cast?”

“Draw a picture.”

“I can do that.” A megawatt smile. “What do you want?”

“You choose—G-rated, please.”

“Spoilsport.” He took out a pen from his jacket pocket. “How about a unicorn?”

“Unicorn?”

“Yeah, don’t girls like unicorns?”

“I’m a woman.”

“Women like money. Want me to draw a wad of cash?”

I felt myself smile. “Unicorn.”

“I thought so.” He gently stretched my right arm and started sketching. I couldn’t see what he was drawing, so I closed my eyes again.

He went silent. Then he said, “Do you remember what happened?”

“Dribs and drabs.”

“Any idea who did it?”

I could feel emotion get stuck in my throat as I thought of my son. “Probably Devek.” I paused to find my voice. “He wasn’t there when it happened.”

“How do you know?”

“I didn’t … sense him.”

“Did you recognize who was there?”

“No.” Again the tears. “Does it matter? My son is gone.”

We didn’t talk. Chris kept drawing. I could feel scratches on the cast. About two minutes later, he let go of my arm. “What do you think?”

I labored to open my wet eyes. It was a very cute unicorn with a big smile on his face. “Nice.”

“I was thinking of giving him a cute little hard-on—”

“Stop it—”

“That’s why he’s smiling.”

“Same Chris.”

“Yeah, I haven’t changed.” He stroked my upper arm. “I’m still compulsive, aggressive, dominant, controlling, and addicted to sex. I hate to be told no, and because of what I built I don’t hear it very often.”

“I’m happy for you.”

“Are you?”

I closed my eyes. “Yes. Truly.”