“Pain?” Lou ventured.

“A little spasm. Nothing I can’t handle. So, is it your job?”

“Let’s just say me and Filstrup have had a parting of the ways.”

“He is such a jerk. It’ll work out. You’re the best thing that ever happened to that place and those docs. I promise you that what goes around, comes around. Say a prayer for him to be absolved of being an asshole.”

“If I can pull it together, I will.”

“Do that, brother. You ain’t no good to me or anyone else all messed up again. So, Filstrup notwithstanding, thanks for coming back down.”

“Nonsense. We’re gonna get you through this.”

“Duly noted. So, have you met my new friend Dr. Ivan, the friendly undertaker?”

“I just talked to him. Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Ivan.”

“Ivan who?”

“Ivant to suck your blood.”

An appreciative snort was all Cap could manage.

“Nothing like a corny Welcome knock-knock joke to cheer me up. Especially compared to the stuff that Russian beanpole has been doing to me. Talk about humorless. He makes you look like Chris Rock.”

“Hey, watch whose humor you’re disparaging. So, here’s a good one I just heard. This guy’s wife goes into labor big-time, and she’s a screamer. ‘Get me to the hospital! Get me to the hospital!’ So he bundles her into the backseat and races across town only to find there’s not one parking place in the hospital lot.”

“And his wife keeps screaming.”

“Exactly. Like a jet engine. So the guy is desperate. He looks to the heavens and calls out, ‘God, get me a spot and you have my word—no more drinking, no more gambling, no more smoking, no more flirting.’ At that moment, right ahead of him, a car pulls out and in he goes. ‘Never mind,’ he calls up. ‘I found one.’”

“Better. How much do you want me to pay you to stop cheering me up? Name your price. Speaking of not cheering me up, what did Ivan-the-terrible tell you?”

“He said he’s wicked smart and he’s going to cure you.”

“Don’t BS me. I trust you, doc. You’re family.”

“I’ll never lie to you,” Lou said. “Puchalsky says you have a very serious infection in your leg and they’re trying to figure out how best to treat it. This is a terrific hospital and these are very competent people. They’re going to do everything that needs to be done to get you back on your feet again.”

“Yeah, or foot. Think there’s much of a market for one-legged boxers?”

I’ll never lie to you.…

“Don’t say that. You’re not going to lose your leg.”

“You tell me that with truth in your eyes and I’ll buy it.”

“I’m telling you that.”