Cassidy came back with my folder and handed it to Joey. It was somewhat thick after four years of football injuries.
“Take your shirt off,” Cassidy ordered.
I took it off and saw Jill and Becky trying to hide their laughter as Cassidy held out her hand to Joey.
“I’ll pay you later,” Joey said under her breath to Cassidy.
“Did you want to check my skin discoloration?” I asked, turning slightly to show her my butt.
“No!” Jill and Becky said at the same time.
“Behave,” Cassidy admonished me.
I gave Cassidy my drowned-puppy look, and she had to turn away. I think I’d finally nailed it.
“Okay,” Joey said to try to bring back some professionalism to the conversation. “Let’s get his measurements.”
Both Jill and Becky had to go to the office because they were ‘being a distraction,’ according to Joey. I decided not to offer her all my measurements since I could tell she was just trying to get through this.
I officially measured six-four and a quarter and weighed 222 pounds. Next, Joey and Cassidy took me out and had me do some stretching and running, followed by the workout that I usually did in the weight room.
I quickly found that the newest member of our staff knew her stuff. She had me show her how I did each exercise and quizzed me on why I did some drills in certain ways. Joey took a lot of notes and only made a few comments while I worked up a decent sweat.
It felt good to get back into our facilities. To be honest, our weight-room setup was better than what Pepperdine had. Over the last three years, our booster club had poured serious money into getting us everything a top-flight program should have.
Once we were done, Cassidy and Joey took me back to the training room to talk.
“What period do you have PE?” Joey asked.
“First.”
“Okay,” she said as she made a note of that and then looked up. “I can tell you’ve dialed it back since football season. That’s good because it gave your body a chance to completely heal. I understand you were in an accident, is that right?”
“Ribs, hip pointer, and right arm,” Cassidy relayed.
“I want you to come in early tomorrow so that Dr. Grog can check you out. If you need further testing, we may have to schedule an appointment.”
“Doc Grog,” I said.
“Excuse me?” Joey asked.
“He likes to be called
“Okay, I’ll remember that. Thanks.”
“Should I run tomorrow morning?” I asked.
“No. I’m going to shake up your routine. You’ve gotten to a point where your improvement has tapered off. We’ll shock your system by having you do different exercises that will result in a significant increase in your strength, speed, endurance, coordination, and flexibility. I want to get you ready to play baseball and then lay a foundation for when you go to college.
“Many athletes at your skill level don’t seem to improve like they should when they go to college. It all comes down to your having elite training similar to what you’ll experience when you go up a level.
“That means you won’t improve as much as athletes who didn’t have your same training in high school. What I want to do is make sure you continue to improve. We don’t need anyone catching up with you,” she said with a smile.
“I’m on board with that,” I assured her.
“Tell me that in a month when you can hardly walk,” she said with a grin.
“David won’t back down,” Cassidy said, to show her faith in me.
I was glad she was more confident than me at that moment. I didn’t even want to think about what evil plans Joey had for me. Who knew what sort of torture she had in mind? I prayed it wasn’t Pilates. I’d done that my freshman year and just about died.
◊◊◊
After we were done, I took Cassidy to lunch and then to the airport. I’d scheduled my last two hours of required flight time. Roy took me up, and we finished that. He had me go through everything they frequently tested for on the check ride. I told him I wanted to get it done this week, so he scheduled my written test for Wednesday. My check ride would be on Thursday.
I also booked him for a trip this coming weekend because I planned to fly to Cincinnati to see Brook. I wanted him to go with me for safety reasons and in case of inclement weather. My license wouldn’t allow me to pilot the plane if there was a chance I might have to fly via instruments. I didn’t want to get stuck at Brook’s on Sunday if a weather front came through.
Cassidy informed me that I was taking her with me. I would never tell her no when it came to her being able to see her best friend.
◊◊◊
On the way home, I received a text from Caryn.
She’d attached a video that she’d shot of my new condo in Canada. Caryn had decided to take her vacation before she moved to Cincinnati. And oh, my! I quickly discovered that Zander could not decorate to save his life. It looked like a frat boy with no money had outfitted it.
