“You two had something special – it’s the circumstances that were shitty.”

“You made him feel special, Ryker…” Ryker smiles as he leans back on the arm of his couch, still holding my hand. “He is special, Natalie…he’s yours.”

“He keeps doing that.” “What?” She laughs. “Kissing your forehead.” “Yeah . . . he does.” I can’t stop my grin. “Does it bother you? I can hear your smile, you know.” “Not really. It doesn’t, like, mean anything. It’s just . . . it’s Ryker.”

“Change never comes slowly, brewing on the horizon. It's always in a second. Balanced on the rip of a razor blade, in empty pill bottles, behind two pink lines, or learning that one of your children is slowly slipping into a world of silence.”

“His body came home, but his soul had been devoured in the firefight of a godless desert.”

“You love him. You are holy-shit in love with him.”

“It feels like a lifetime ago that I was saying goodbye to you...God, I miss you. I love you so much, Natalie, and when I get home I’m going to keep loving you until you tell me to stop. But don’t, please. Don’t tell me to stop. I love you.With everything.”