A few days later.

INT. GREY SLOAN MEMORIAL – PRIVATE ROOM – NIGHT

The room is dim. Quiet.
City lights glow faintly through the window.

Link is on the couch, scrolling on his phone without real purpose.
One leg stretched out, arm in a sling.
Discharge papers stacked neatly on the coffee table.

The door opens softly.

Jo enters, coat over her arm. She looks tired — not wrecked, just spent in the way long days leave you.

LINK
Hey.

JO
Hey.

She crosses to him, presses a soft kiss to his lips, then drops onto the couch beside him.
No rush.

JO (CONT’D)
Big day tomorrow?

Link nods.

LINK
Yeah.

A beat.

JO
You okay?

LINK
Yeah…

Not convincing. Not dramatic either.
Jo doesn’t push. She knows better.

Another beat.

LINK (CONT’D)
I have waited so long for this moment—

Jo looks at him now.

LINK (CONT’D)
And now it’s here.

He exhales, quiet.

LINK (CONT’D)
I feel completely lost.

JO
The kids can’t wait to have you back.

LINK
I know.
And I can’t wait to be back for them. 

A beat.

LINK (CONT’D)
Scout asked me the other day if I could carry two babies with one arm.

A small breath of a smile.

Jo’s face softens.

Then—

LINK (CONT’D)
But they won’t clear me for the OR for a while.

There it is.

JO
I know.

LINK
Everyone keeps talking like going home is the finish line.

He exhales, quiet frustration.

LINK (CONT’D)
Like being better…
but not entirely back.

Jo lets it.

LINK (CONT’D)
Here, at least, no one expects anything from me except healing.

JO
And at home?

LINK
At home, life keeps moving.
Which is good but—

A beat.

LINK (CONT’D)
—I don’t want this to be all I am.

Jo takes his hand. Grounds him — not to reassure, but to stay.

JO
It won’t be.

LINK
It doesn’t feel like that yet.

JO
I know.
But you did the hardest part...

A beat.

JO (CONT'D)
And you’re more than the part you’re missing right now.

She rests her forehead against his.

JO (CONT’D)
You don’t have to figure it out tomorrow.

LINK
Feels like I should.

JO
You almost died.

He looks at her.

JO (CONT’D)
You’re allowed some time where the only thing you do is heal.

Silence. Real.

LINK
I’ve had plenty of time already.
Lying here. 

JO (CONT’D)
You’ll get there, okay?
Let’s take it one day at a time.
 
Simple. Open. True.

Link nods — not because it’s solved, but because it’s enough for now.

LINK
I love you so much. You know that?

She settles against him. His good arm comes around her carefully. He leans in and kisses her softly.

JO
I’ll come get you tomorrow morning.
And we’ll start from there.

They sit like that — breathing in sync.
Not healed.
Not resolved.
But facing forward.

Outside, the city keeps moving.
Inside, they let themselves move slower.

FADE OUT.