“Tired, but not the kind of tired that sleep fixes.”

“I sleep better knowing that a naked cork-eater is not sneaking around at night, stealing my underwear. ”

“I can sleep like a champion. I once slept through a smoke alarm going off. For three hours. In my bedroom.”

“With that, I splashed some water on my face, fixed on a smile, and stepped out. I would find Jerome. I would make him explain to me what I was missing. We would laugh, then we would kiss with tongue, and all would be well.”

“After that, I felt like I had two lives. There was the me I had been before the attack, the one people knew and wanted to relate to. The one people wanted to comfort and fix. And there was another me, a hidden me that no one ever saw. There was a me who had tasted death. That me knew things others people didn't know.”

“The best I ever got was that woman who kept having me come up to fix her TV. There was a lot of bending involved. I felt used and dirty.It’s the price you pay for being one of those weedy but good-looking types, Scarlett said. Weedy? You hurt me. I prefer tall and scrawny. Unlike my partner, who’s right behind you.”

“Probably some period thing. I go completely mental too. Period fever. It's the worst."This effectively killed all conversation for a while...."Fixed that," she said."You told him I had period fever," I replied. "There's no such thing as period fever.""No such thing as ghosts either.""No, there is really no such thing as period fever. There's a difference between being a guy and being an idiot.”