Page 138 of Bulletproof

“Can I still get hard?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately.

“And I can have an orgasm too?”

“Absolutely. There’s nothing wrong with your body that would disrupt that.”

“Okay.” I took a breath.

“Okay.” Her smile got big, and I saw the surprise on the faces of the other two doctors with her—one resident, one attending. Maybe she was normally the scary one.

“I won’t have one of those bags, will I? I can still pee and take a dump, sitting down?”

“No, and yes.”

“I just have to move myself from the chair to the toilet and back?”

“Yes.”

“But I can get anywhere in the chair?”

“Yes.”

“And again, only my legs don’t work, but everything else is good to go?”

“Right.”

“Okay.” I sighed, taking a deep breath, and then said again, “Okay.”

“But, Mr. Harcourt, we don’t even know if⁠—”

“I’ll be all right,” I stated, smiling at her. “I can make love to him.” I pointed at Sam. “I can pick up the kids I’m gonna have and roll them around my house, and I can still take care of myself and work and help provide for my family.”

She moved closer to me. “I don’t want you to give up before we’ve even done anything.”

“I’m not giving up. I’ll try everything, but it’s important for me to know that some things won’t change, and for certain, I can still service my man.”

“Yes, if you’re in love, the physical piece is very important.”

“Exactly.”

I did not miss the fact that she was relieved to be done. Sam was massaging the bridge of his nose, and Dane looked as Dane always looked—cool, unaffected, and poised. It would take more than questions about sex to fluster my brother.

Over the next two days, people came to see me. Aaron was there and stayed all day. He talked to Sam a lot, which was strange, and Dane, and was introduced to my new friends—Ipo, Tetsuo and his wife, and all the surfers. Kawika brought me the paper with my name in it and told me that he had not wanted to see my name in the news, but there it was. I told him that it wasn’t my fault.

“Jory, you the kine guy that stuffs happen to you, yeah?”

“No, not⁠—”

“Yes,” Dane assured Kawika.

“I figured.”

To thank Tetsuo’s family for saving my life when I was in the middle of the ocean, Dane had two coolers of food shipped by courier to Chicago for Moses. It was the least, he said, he could do.

My brother, as always, was a big hit. The girls who had found me adorable and Sam stunning were all in agreement that Dane was the pick of the litter. I just rolled my eyes.

Hayes came to see me to wish me a speedy recovery and told me that he would certainly call me if he should need anything professionally. Under Dane’s watchful eyes, no more was said.