Thanks to all who supplied technical advice on saving corrupted flash drive files. I was able to salvage a little more than before with some of that advice, so your kindness is appreciated. I also thank the folks who sent along kind wishes and told me not to be "devastated" by the loss ... although after a life containing tours of duty, divorces, death of loved ones, and cancer, I can't say I'm "devastated" by lost files. "Mildly irked", maybe. But regardless, I appreciate the sentiment.
What's most mildly irking are the now-mostly lost chapters 6 & 7 for "Playing Ball with Mom". I recovered the beginning paragraphs of 6, and recreating the rest has been pretty easy. I didn't get anything for 7, though ... and I'll be damned if I can remember it properly. What happened in the chapter, yes, I remember the beats of it; but the wording and the little details are a mystery. All I know is that whatever I've tried to write so far to recreate it has been a shitty copy of the original. (Which perhaps isn't surprising. I am, after all, a talentless smut-peddling hack, or so I've been told by other writers. But I digress.)
Again, "mildly irked", but irked enough that I want to take a break from it. So maybe it's the Colte Vacation before back to the next round of medical treatments, and bye-bye to writing altogether for the next few weeks. With luck, I can still squeeze out Chapters 2 & 3 of that one. If not ... then maybe I'll have new chapters in September of something.
I hope.