“I don’t think it works like that,” Geordie says. “I think it’s got to be more serious than a sprained arm, or a cure for a hangover.”

“We still should have asked.”

“There’s a lot of should-haves in both our lives,” he says. “If we stop and worry about them too much, we won’t have time to appreciate what’s happening now.”

I punch him in the arm.

“Don’t go getting all philosophical on me,” I say. “You know what I meant.”

“Ido.”

“And Geordie, me lad?”

He turns to look at me.

“I’d love to be married to you.”

That quick grin of his is so endearing that I have to pull him to a stop and kiss him again.

Like I said, we’re a couple of saps. But we’re loving every minute of it.

It’s later that same night.

We’re staying in my old studio on Lee Street because—hello? Stairs are no longer a problem for the new and improved All Mended Girl. I can get up and down the steep flight at the loft even better than I could before the accident. I have so much energy it’s almost scary. I was never the quiet and demure type in the first place, but now there’s a constant buzz in my every muscle and vein.

Maybe it’s the light everybody’s always talking about. I still can’t see it, but maybe I can feel it now.

I sure feel something.

We picked up a DVD on the way back from dinner at Christy’s apartment and started to watch it, except Geordie fell asleep halfway through. I turn off the DVD player and TV and sit there on my old Murphy bed for a while, watching him sleep. Finally, I lean down to give him a kiss, then scoot off the bed. I walk over to the window in my bare feet and look down at the street for a long time, feeling so blessed that there aren’t the proper words to express my thanks.

But I send out thanks all the same. To the crow girls, to Joe, to the Grace, to Geordie and Raylene and everybody who helped bring me to this point where I’m so healthy and happy and alive. Right at this moment I’m not carrying any baggage. I feel vibrant and ready to be filled with new experiences.

After awhile I take the phone to the far end of the studio where I won’t disturb Geordie, and call my sister.

I called her once as soon as I got back, just to let her know I was okay and say that I’d call her back later. This is the first chance I’ve had.