Page 30 of The Do-Over
“Well, I’m going to have to turn in this medical report.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think I could get your autograph on something else, maybe? Something that I could keep?”
Rob laughed. He was used to these requests, and though they made him feel a little embarrassed, he was also flattered. He pulled out a piece of his letterhead and scrawled—Safe flights, Airman Norwood! He signed his name to it and handed it to Kevin.
Kevin held it as if it was a treasure. “I’m totally framing this,” he said. “The other guys in basic training will never believe that the Air Force doctor serving Chicago is Rob Honeycutt.”
“Some of them might not remember who I am, you know,” Rob said. “If they ever knew at all. That was a long time ago.”
“Oh, I’ll tell them who you are,” Kevin said. “But I think you’d be surprised. That season came up a few times while I was in college, and everyone always remembered. And my friends weren’t basketball players or anything, just casual fans.”
“Well, that’s flattering,” Rob said.
“It was cool to meet you,” Kevin said.
“It was cool to meet you,” Rob countered. “I know you’re going to go on to do great things.”
Kevin shook his hand and left the office. Rob finished his paperwork and then went out to the nurses’ station to turn it in.
Jenny was the head nurse on duty today, and she grinned when she saw him. “That kid was a fan, you know,” she said. “Do you know he asked me if I knew you were the Rob Honeycutt?”
Rob laughed. “He was a little starstruck,” he agreed.
“As if I could work here and not know who my boss was,” Jenny said.
“We both know you’re the real boss around here.” Rob handed her his folder. “Can I go to lunch? Or do I have more that I need to do first?”
“You don’t have any more appointments until the afternoon,” she said, pointing to the whiteboard behind her head. “And I can handle things here, if you want to go now.”
“Thanks, Jen,” he said. “I appreciate that. What’s on the books this afternoon?”
“You’re seeing Mr. Winter.”
“Marcus Winter?”
“That’s the one.”
“It’ll be good to check in with him. See how he’s doing.”
“He’ll be in at one o’clock, so if you want to get lunch and be back in time for him, you’d better get going.”
Rob nodded and hurried out of the office. His lunch would be quick—it always was. He grabbed a sandwich at the shop across the street and sat at the table in the window to eat it.
“Hey, are you Dr. Honeycutt?”
He looked up. A woman was standing beside the table. Another basketball fan?
“That’s me,” he said. “Can I help you?”
“Oh, no, you’ve done more than enough for me and my family,” the woman said. “I just wanted to thank you. I thought it might be you. The lab coat, and I know your office is across the street there.”
“I’m sorry,” Rob said. “Do I know you?”
“No, we haven’t met,” she said. “But you treated my son, Zachary. Zachary Prentiss.”
“Oh, yes, I remember Zachary,” Rob said. The young man had been injured in a training accident, and Rob had been on the base at the time. He’d been the one to provide emergency care. “How is he?”
