Page 36 of Knight
I hadn’t gotten the chance to make much of an impression on Dr. Rose. But it was only the first day. I’d have time to wow her. Time to show her I was worthy of a recommendation.
I’d fix what went wrong last year. I’d put in asmany hours as it took. Dr. Rose would see that I was perfect for a top-tier residency. If I failed again?—
No, I wouldnotfail again.
Failure was not an option.
And at least with the clinic invite, I could help real patients while I was in research purgatory.
CHAPTER 8
KNIGHT
Hollywood arrived at five,a six-pack of some fancy frou-frou beer under his arm. I didn’t care for it, but he seemed to love the designer brands.
“Where do you want this?” he asked as he came up the porch steps.
“Fridge inside is fine.”
“You want one?” he asked.
I lifted my half-finished Miller. “Good for now.”
“Okay.” He disappeared through the door.
I finished setting up folding chairs so we could hang out on the porch. I’d tasked Joyride with bringing the food in the hopes he’d feel too obligated to bail. He hadn’t come to any casual hangouts with the guys yet, but this was important.
One of our own had dropped out of the program, and I wasn’t willing to let that lie. If we didn’t look out for one another, no one would.
Ghost pulled up in a black eighties-model Jaguar that had seen better days. It was a fucking cool car, but it wore a big dent in the passenger door and rust around the fenders.
He’d found it out in the junkyard and gotten ForresterBros Auto to help him get it running enough to drive. By the sounds of the motor, it was still rough.
Ghost parked and came through the gate. “I brought beer. I can’t stand that IPA shit Holly buys.”
Hollywood leaned out of my open door. “I heard that.”
“Good,” Ghost grumbled. “Maybe you’ll stop foisting it on everybody.”
“None of you has any goddamned taste,” Hollywood said as he dropped into a chair. “Tex is the worst. He always says?—”
He stopped abruptly.
“What happened with you two?” I asked.
Hollywood shook his head. “I really don’t know.”
“Your argument sounded personal,” I pushed. “Ordinarily, I’d say that’s your business, but?—”
“You’re right,” Hollywood gritted out. “It’s my business. Besides, there’s nothing to tell. He bailed. Said it was what he does best. He didn’t want to explain much more than that.”
Ghost came up the steps and leaned against the railing. “Some men don’t know how to be at peace,” he said quietly.
“Well, he’s one of us,” I said. “We can’t just let him go off the rails. Do we know if he really went to his family in Hayworth?”
“I haven’t heard anything,” Hollywood said. “Don’t imagine I will.”
“Yeah, he’s ignoring all my calls,” I said. “I couldn’t get even a text back.”
