Page 36 of Saving Veronica
“Okay. When I get home, I’ll see what I can come up with. Do you know what her favorite colors are?”
“Anything but pink.” Gerald laughed. “Shehatespink.”
“What’s she getting her PhD in?” Stan asked, as he pulled Gerald’s information toward him and read it. “Holy fuck, are you General Pennyworth, USMC?”
“I was. Retired now.”
“My dad served under you. You probably don’t remember, but he was Stanley Castle Sr.”
“Sargent Major.”
“Yes. Unfortunately, I lost him last year to cancer. Don’t worry about your granddaughter, we’ll hook you up.”
“Thank you. Call me if you have any questions or concerns. When do you want me to stop in and pay?”
“When you pick it up,” Norm said, as he studied the man before him. “Here’s my card. Call me when you leave the hospital with your granddaughter, and I’ll tell you how far along I am.”
“Thank you, gentlemen,” Gerald said, as he shook their hands, then took his leave. He turned back to look at Stan. “To answer your questions, Ronnie is working toward her DVM. When she’s done she’ll be a Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine. An animal doctor.” He nodded to the group, before turning on his heel to leave.
“Shit,” Norm said, and rubbed his face hard as he watched the older man take his leave. “Think I can have your father’s scooter?” He asked Stan.
“Sure, it’s just sitting in the garage collecting dust. But what’s wrong with you?”
“I know of that man.”
“How?”
“My oldest brother hooked up with his daughter. She was messed up, in love with another man who was in jail. She hooked up with Jimmy, he hooked her on drugs, but she dumped him when her baby’s daddy got out of jail, was gone for a couple of years. She came back after he went back to jail. You know Jimmy was messed up in drugs. He’s the one who got her hooked. Then, one night he came home and said the woman he’d hooked up with was a mess, because her old man was killed in jail. That’s the night he beat me and mom, and took all our money and some valuables to sell.”
“Christ, is that the night he ODed?” Stan asked.
“Yes. Both he and the woman. I scoured the papers and saw her obit. She never married the man who went to jail, but she gave their daughter his last name. But her last name was Pennyworth. I remember Jimmy telling me once that her old man was some big wig in the Marines.”
“How much older was Jimmy than you?”
“Twelve years.” Norm sighed, lost in his own thoughts of what his older brother had done. He made a vow that if he could help Mr. Pennyworth in any way, he would do it, even if it was only to give him a scooter for his granddaughter for free.
Chapter 12
“So, Doctor.” Ronnie asked, as they sat in her hospital room. It was ten o’clock on Thursday night.
“Patch, please,” he said, as he took a bite of his burger. It was after visiting hours and he had to report to work in an hour. He’d been coming in on his off time to spend time with Ronnie.
“How did you like my boobs?” Ronnie asked, tongue in cheek.
Without missing a beat, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, and rattled off, “Firm, high, perfect handful, pretty pink areoles’, and perfect nip…” He trailed off when he realized what he was saying. He looked at Ronnie and saw the twinkle in her eyes and the smirk on her face. “You’re a brat.”
“So I’ve been told.” She couldn’t hold her laughter in. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You’ve been my doctor since I arrived, so I kinda figured you were in the operating room. And since my boobs are encased in plaster, I figured someone had to handle them.”
“And you are correct.” He grinned at her. The more time he spent with her, the more he thought of her as a friend. He’d still give Finn a rough time, but he’d have some fun along the way. “Do you have any questions for me before I discharge you in the morning?”
“Some, but nothing to do with medical.”
“Go on.” He frowned as he continued to eat his supper, because he knew he wouldn’t get a break once he started working in the ER.
“How well do you know the guy that rescued me?” Ronnie asked, then felt her face heat.
“Pretty good.” Patch grinned. “I grew up in the foster care system in a different state. When I was eight, I was placed with a good family. When I was ten, we moved to Montana for his job. When I was twelve, they divorced, and I went back into the foster care system here. I met Finn during that time. We became instant friends. I was lucky to get placed with a good family and they knew the Larsons, so I was able to hang out with Finn all the time.”
