Jim poured himself a third cup of coffee and grabbed his cell phone from his jacket pocket. He called Dean Jessop, his friend, boss, and former Ranger unit LT. Dean picked up on the fourth ring.
“Jim?”
“Yeah, man. How you doing?”
“OK. I’m just getting ready to take Emma to her doctor’s appointment.”
“Yeah, I know. She nervous?”
“Hell, I’m nervous,” Dean said. “We find out if she’s moving closer to remission… if the transplant and last few rounds of chemo have had any effect.”
“You’ll give her my love?”
“You know it, man. Anyway, is this why you called? Or is something else up?”
“Both.” Jim sipped his coffee. “I wanted to wish Emma luck, but also, I wanted to ask if Mitch or Jase could cover my shift this afternoon.”
“You OK?”
“Yeah. It’s Kat.”
Dean’s voice sharpened. “You have h
