I wish I could say we were up all night doing what we did, but alas, that would not be true. We were both asleep before midnight. It had been a long, exhausting day for both of us. Our habit of waking for the 7 o’clock spawn time pulled me out of sleep. Blaze was still asleep.

  Her arms were wrapped around mine. She’d stopped me from untying her hands, so her robe’s belt still held her wrists together. They weren’t tight…she could have slipped out of them if she wanted…but I’d given in to what she wanted. Having her next to me, warm and breathing slow, my other arm wrapped around her, was worth it.

  Just before sleep, we’d talked quietly about what we wanted and what a future together might look like. How we’d deal with her job, the Game, and whatever the System decided to throw at us next.

  We didn’t make final decisions or set any dates. We only agreed we wanted to stay together. For the first time in over a decade, I was looking at having someone I cared about in my life full time again. I had to fight back tears…happy tears…because I didn’t want to move, didn’t want to wake her.

  Lying there, I listened to the spawn fight across the street. It lasted about four minutes from the first crack of spells being fired, until it went quiet again. It was longer than usual. Something new must have spawned.

  “I wonder what it was?” I muttered softly, barely moving my lips Hoping to not wake her up.

  She opened her eyes while I was looking at her. We both smiled.

  “Feel better now?” I asked, smiling.

  She nodded and tightened her grip on my arm. “Mmmm…Much better.”

  “Good. Eventually we’ll have to get up. And don’t you have a doctor’s appointment today? I can check with Ingrid. She said she’d make one.” I asked.

  “Will?” she asked, disentangling her arms.

  “Yes?”

  “Shut up,” she commanded, rolling on top of me and looping her arms around my neck, cutting off my questions with a deep kiss.

  I could have resisted her and gotten us both up.

  I didn’t want to.

  Instead, I encouraged her and helped things along. If Ingrid had made doctor appointments, they were probably early…probably with Dr. Serrano, maybe Lewis.

  Yes, I am capable of thinking of other things while being totally distracted. Just not for long.

  It was a good twenty minutes before we stopped. She was on her back beneath me, arms and legs wrapped around me, when I lifted my head just enough to say, “You’re wearing me out. I don’t have another round like that left in me. And we both need showers before we can do anything today.”

  This time, I didn’t give her a choice. I untied her wrists…something she could have done hours ago if she’d wanted. She hadn’t.

  I kissed her again, then slowly, and a little painfully, rolled off her.

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  “We both need food and coffee. Much coffee to recover. What time’s your doctor appointment?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, sticking her tongue out at me.

  We both laughed.

  “I’ll get your computer out of your car. You’ve got reports due today…knowing your boss, his boss, and the bosses over him, they won’t wait too long. Send your office a message saying you have a doctor’s appointment and you’re taking a ‘medical recovery day,’ or whatever your jargon is. You’ll do the reports and send them after your appointments.”

  She watched me closely while I talked.

  “I hope I never have to do this again,” I added. “I’m not sure it’s totally needed, but I remember how long my mental recovery took after the accident…after my wife died.”

  “The things you think about heading for the bathroom. Or while in it.”

  By the time I was dressed, I heard the coffee pot percolating and the soft hiss of something cooking. Eggs, maybe. I’d put on my regular clothes but planned to change if needed. I had enough moons now to buy the rest of the gear I needed to swap between normal clothes and armor. My only real problem was my pouch contents. Things in there that weren’t System created and I couldn’t swap in and out of INVENTORY.

  “I wonder if the System can duplicate key fobs?” Another thing for the list to find out.

  My coffee cup was full and steaming when I pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. I sat, leaned forward, and inhaled deeply.

  “There’s no better way to start the day.”

  Smiling, I finished the thought silently. “Than how I woke up this morning.”

  “What are you grinning at?” Blaze asked.

  Her grin suggested the same answer.

  “Happy memories of last night and this morning,” I said. “Seriously…how do you feel?”

  “Much better after the shower,” she said. Her smile was almost as wide as mine. “If you’re making me stay home today, I think it’s my turn to do laundry. Writing up my reports won’t take all day.”

  “What are the chances they want video meetings?”

  “Damn you, Will,” she sighed. “You had to jinx it. Yeah. I can’t do an in-person debrief, so it’ll be a call. I might have to go into the office.”

  “Tell them you’ll do that after your reports. Be detailed. VERY detailed,” I said.

  I loved the way she laughed at my line.

  We ate, talked more about what happened, and when we were done, I went out to her car to grab her computer and anything else she needed. When I came back, she had an appointment time…about an hour out. We got what we could done before leaving. I wanted to be early.

  We walked into the hospital together. She wore tan slacks and a light blue button-down. I was in black pants and a T-shirt, my black leather belt holding my pouch. Just in case. My cane was in my hand. I made a show of sort of using it.

  “I’ll claim it was all the walking, running, and stairs yesterday,” she said quietly. “And dying. That’s why I’m tired.”

  When we reached the main desk, people were waiting. Ingrid, my orthopedist, and Dr. Serrano. Serrano took Blaze to a ground-floor room to talk with her, and I was led elsewhere for X-rays…before-and-after shots of my legs and knees.

  An hour and a half later, we reviewed the images. My legs didn’t feel dramatically different, but movement was easier. Squatting, standing…smoother.

  The X-rays told the story. The healed fractures were gone. My knees looked like the textbook images they showed me of healthy bone, cartilage, and muscle. Dr. Lewis said he was writing it up for publication.

  He added that he planned to start joining adventurers on spawn fights. He wanted to be able to do it himself, not rely on other people.

  Ingrid and I laughed and told him we’d get him leveled up.

  Ingrid and I returned to the lobby and talked quietly about yesterday. What worked. What didn’t. How we could do better next time.

  We weren’t kidding ourselves. We both knew there would be a next time.

  Then, I saw Blaze step out of the elevator and waved. She headed toward us.

  I stood, crossed the distance, and hugged her.

  “How did it go?”

  “He said I’m dealing with it…as well or better than some patients who died and were resuscitated,” she said. “Knowing what was coming helped. And having your support afterward.”

  Ingrid caught up to us and she was smiling. “I knew you’d make it. Now go home. Both of you get back to your normal routine.”

  “You mean saving people, killing monsters, and generally kicking ass?” I asked.

  Even the person at the counter laughed.

  Laughter is good medicine.

  We headed home. Blaze to write reports. Me to go back to editing the monster of a book.

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