And it wasn’t her inexperienced extraction of the bullet from my side. But, had I not met her, the next mission likely would have been my last. There is a limit to how much shit someone can take before calling it quits and checking out of this world. That night, just moments before the girl found me, I realized that I had my fill. As I sat on the ground in that alley and watched the dark sky above, I decided to make my next job the final act of my life. So, I closed my eyes and imagined the bliss of just . . . not existing.
