Three friends leave home to serve their country. Only two make it back. After the twin towers fall, Derek Mitchell enlists in the U.S. Army with two of his best friends. He dreams of helping people, whether in the field of combat or back home in Grant's Crossing, Ohio. Juan dreams of marrying his high school sweetheart and starting a family. Joey dreams of being happy and living his own truth. Together, they serve in multiple deployments until Juan and Joey are each grievously injured in separate combat missions. Thirteen years after initially enlisting, one doesn't make it back. Four months after the funeral, friends and family gather to celebrate Derek's return to civilian life. With each story shared, he relives their final missions together, carrying the guilt of having saved one friend but not the other. What do you do when the one friend you've always turned to is no longer there?

No part of this book was created by generative AI. This was 100% my own creation. CW: Domestic violence, attempted suicide, violence, grief.