Page 137 of Bulletproof

“Yeah, it’s my own clothes instead of the hospital ones that do it.”

And so we had been fine, until the doctor came in. She was explaining when I had cut her off.

“But I could be in a wheelchair for life, correct?”

“Mr. Har⁠—”

“Jory,” I interrupted.

She growled—because it was, like, the fifth time. “Jory, here’s the thing: You cannot let yourself dwell on what could happen when right now is the time to concentrate on physical therapy and⁠—”

“But I could.”

“You—”

“Right? I could never walk again.”

“Yes, but⁠—”

Sam lifted his hand to stop her. “He’s gotta work it out, and he’s gonna ask a ton of questions really fast in a minute, so if you could just answer like it’s a lightning round on a game show, that’d be good.”

“Mr. Kage, I⁠—”

“Please,” Dane pleaded with her, and really, there wasn’t a woman alive who could say no to the man. “He needs to go back and forth and weigh things out and absorb all the information at his disposal. That’s simply how his mind works. It’s his process, and you have to do this for him if your intent is truly to help.”

“It is.”

“Then,” he said, smiling gently at her, “please.”

She took a breath and turned from Dane to face me. “I’m ready.”

I grinned. “I’m not scary.”

“No, I know. Go ahead.”

I smiled at her, and her eyes widened just a little, like maybe she was seeing me for the first time.

“Can I still have sex?”

“Oh.” Not what she had expected. “Oh, um, we’re asking about …” She cleared her throat. “Okay, yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.” She was emphatic.

“I can still feel everything when I have sex?”

“Mr. Har— Jory, are you sure you’re comfortable with your brother being⁠—”

“Can I?”

“Yes.” She nodded, understanding how it was going to work, the volley and my rhythm.

“Sam just has to hold me ’cause my legs won’t work.”

“Right, or you can be on your back, and your legs could drape over his shoulders.”

I smiled. She was cool, my doctor.