Marlene helps me dress and scrub down. I won't be actually touching any of the sterile field, but she makes me wear a mask and hat over the medical clothing. I am given a stool and I carefully place myself so that I can hold his right hand without disturbing all the lines attached to it and rest my chin on his shoulder.

"Vincent," I whisper into his ear. "I'm here, I've got you." I nod to the surgeon who slices into Vincent's flesh. I only watch my husband's face for signs of distress. The monitor blares an alert as Vincent's pulse and blood pressure shoot up. Even unconscious, he growls.

"Vincent, you're finally gonna get rid of that damn arm, but you've gotta hold back your friends," I tell him. His right fingers curl around my hand and his head lolls toward the sound of my voice. His eyelids flutter open. The left one is still swollen and the bruise around it is a dark purple, but his eye looks undamaged.

"Hey, baby," I say. "You've got beautiful eyes. I didn't think I'd ever see them again."

"He's awake?" the doctor asks.

"Just keep going," I say, not looking away from Vincent's crimson eyes as tears leak down his cheek. "I'll take full responsibility." He tries to opens his mouth to say something, but the anesthetic has paralyzed him. The doctor's confer for a moment, then continue.

"It's gonna hurt, Vincent, but if you can keep them back, it will be over soon."

Marlene, who is assisting the surgeon, waves until she get my attention. She flashes her gloved hands until she counts sixty. I nod my understanding. "You've only got to hold out for about an hour. Hell, you've endured worse for longer. This will be like a day at the beach in comparison."

The monitors quiet as Vincent's pulse and blood pressure fall into his normal range. His chest expands with one long respiration and then his breathing slows to a resting rate. His eyelids close. I sit up a little bit and watch the doctors. I narrate the best I can to Vincent. Like me, he always does best when he knows what is happening. I'm not sure if he's awake or asleep, but he's aware of what's going on and he's at peace – that's what I tell myself at least.

By the time the doctors anchor the socket for the prosthetic shoulder joint into his raw wound, I have almost no voice left. I'm parched and trying to work up spit anyway I can, but he's not resisting and he's alive – the rise and fall of his chest confirm that – and that's all that matters.


As they roll him into recovery, Marlene offers me a bottle of water, which I down in one long gulp, forgetting to breathe myself.

"That was amazing, Reno, you should have gone into medicine," Marlene tells me. She pulls off her mask and cap and I disrobe as soon as the water is gone.

"Nah, I couldn't do that with anyone other than Vincent."

"I bet you could," she says. "But I won't argue with you. You need some rest now. With his low Vitality, he'll probably sleep hard for a few hours, even if he wasn't out during the surgery, he'll be now as his body heals. His Spirit is high though –"

"His Spirit soared after he met you, Reno," Nanaki brags on me. "He'll be fine, just believe in him."

"I didn't for those few minutes when I thought he was dead; I won't ever make that mistake that again."


"Even Vincent took a break to pee while he was waiting for you to wake up," Nanaki teases me. I haven't looked away from my husband in so long, that when I turn to Nanaki, I feel dizzy. "Gaia, Reno, your eyes are practically floating. Go to the bathroom."

"But I want to be here when he wakes up," I whine. We're still in the recovery room, so there is no close bathroom. I'd checked that out on our way here, when I had to go an hour ago.

"What's the likelihood of him waking up in the next five minutes? Just go, if he wakes up, I'll tell him you went to the bathroom. Knowing him, he'd be thrilled that you were taking care of yourself."

I nod and carefully work my fingers loose from Vincent's. I kiss his forehead and then dash out and down the hallway to the bathroom. I pull at the door, but it is locked.

"Just a sec," says a female voice from inside.

"Please hurry, it's an emergency," I call back.

"Going as fast as I can, sonny."

"Please, please, please," I chant, dancing around in circles. I put my forearm against the wall and rest my head on it. I count the seconds aloud in my head and at forty-three, the door pops open and the oldest woman I've ever seen traipses out of the bathroom, a piece of toilet paper dragging from her shoe. I slip in behind her and shut the door.

I pull open my fly and stand there, tool in hand and I can't pee because I've been holding it for so long, my anxiety soars. I stand there over the bowl and take long deep breathes until my bladder finally releases and empties. The counter in my head keeps rolling and I've been gone for almost two minutes when I rush through washing my hands and grab a single paper towel on my way from the room. I sprint back down the hall and overshoot the room, skid to a halt, and throw myself into the doorway. Vincent is, of course, awake and sitting up.

"I'm gone two minutes and nineteen seconds," I grouse, smiling. "And you wake up."

"See, I told you," Nanaki chuffs. "You should have pretended to be asleep until he came back.

"Would you like me to go back to sleep, so you can be here this time?" he yawns. "I really don't think that'll be much of a problem for me."

"No," I say, hiking my hip up onto the bed. I sit on his left side and reach over to take his right hand.

"Tell me what happened, all of it," he says.

"They've amputated your arm, I told them to take all of it, up to the shoulder. I hope I did the right thing."

"I meant at the Golden Saucer, but yes, you did the right thing. I've wanted it gone for years, but didn't have the guts to rip it off myself."

"At the Saucer, yeah," I say. I'm not sure how to put it into words.

"We all escaped," Nanaki answers for me, "with the exception of Rude. We thought you were both dead, the park was falling down around us, we were all in shock, and then you swooped in and brought him back to us, but he didn't make it."

"I got to say goodbye," I whisper, tears forming in my eyes again.

"I'm glad. I'm sorry, Reno, I heard you cursing at me when I gave you over to Cloud, but I had to try and save him. He was your brother – in everything but biology – and he deserved my best try. I'm sorry I couldn't save him."

There are so many things I want to say: hateful things, loving things, stupid things, smart-ass things, but I can't put any of them into words.

"I know," I finally choke out, "I love you."

He shakes my hand loose and touches my check, collecting the tears there.

"And I love you, Reno. Thank you for making the hard call when I couldn't. I think I need to sleep now, come." He reaches across his body and pats the empty space next to him. I get up, kick off my boots, and settle in so that my empty chest cavity rests against his armless side.

"Hey, we almost make one whole person," I say, as he leans forward enough for me to slip my arm behind him. He settles into me, his head on my shoulder, and is asleep in seconds.


When I wake up later that same day, Nanaki is gone and Elena and Cloud sit on the couch next to the bed. He's texting furiously and she's consulting a map.

"What's going on?" I ask. Vincent startles awake, reaching for Cerberus, but it is safely inside the nightstand.

"Relax, Vincent, it's just us," Cloud beats me to it.

"Where's Nanaki?" Vincent asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Taking a break, we've been taking turns watching you. After what we've discovered in the last few hours… there's was no way we'd leave you unprotected."

"What did you find out?"

"They're back," he says, not having to say the words out loud.

"I thought you took care of them after the Fort Condor incident?" I ask.

"So did I. We swept everything off the board while you were still recovering, but apparently it goes deeper than we surmised."

Elena's hands say: It's not safe to talk here. Cloud nods.

"How long did they say it would be until you're ready to go? We want the whole team on this," he says.

"I don't know." Vincent looks at me.

"Marlene already has the prosthetic arm ready, but you have to be awake long enough for them to fit it. Six weeks of rehab…" I shrug.

"Good, as soon as you're fitted, we're heading to Seventh Heaven for a strategy meeting," Cloud says loudly, but Elena signs: Cosmo Canyon.

"I need to talk to Cid," Vincent says. "Where's my cell phone?"

"We didn't find it," I tell him, handing him mine.

"Damnit, how I'll have to learn a whole new phone system," he grumbles, then hits the speed dial on my phone and switches to speaker. He knows my phone better than he did his own. "Get me one of these, will you?"

"Is he awake yet?" Cid's hoarse twang comes over the phone.

"I'm awake," he answers. "I'll need a rapid loader –"

"I'm already on in, Vinny, I needed somethin' ta do while we waited for news on ya. I'll have a prototype done by the end of the day," Cid laughs.

Vincent hits the end call button on the phone.

"I'll be ready, whenever you call, Cloud," Vincent says, and suddenly I have chills.


Thanks for taking this journey with me. I'm still working on the fourth and final story in this saga of Vincent and Reno. Keep an eye out for Boss Fight coming soon. Thanks again for all your help making this story worth writing - Kazu