With the security guards' escort, Lu Ke finally managed to break free from the siege, leaving the noisy sounds and surging crowd behind him. He waited for the hospital's glass doors to open and close, and only then did the commotion and chaos completely subside. The glass door separated the inside and outside into two different worlds.
Fresh air, with a faint medicinal scent, rushed in instantly. It was cool and refreshing. Lu Ke couldn't help but take a deep breath. Then, a voice filled with laughter came from beside him. "You haven't encountered a situation like this before, have you?"
Lu Ke looked up and saw the team doctor, Walter Hudson, holding a cup of coffee. He looked relaxed and leisurely, a stark contrast to Lu Ke's current disheveled, sweaty appearance. Lu Ke deliberately furrowed his brows and put on a serious expression. "Wait, are you gloating?"
"I think the journalists would be very happy to interview the team doctor to get some first-hand information," Lu Ke said, pointing behind him with a friendly expression. "Compared to Sophie, you're a more suitable interview subject. Do you want me to let them know? I don't think they know you're here at the hospital yet."
Walter almost choked on his hot coffee and waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, no need." He couldn't even speak properly and gave a polite but awkward smile. "I'm just worried about you. Today is just the beginning. There will be more and more such occasions in the future. You should get used to it. You know, that's what superstars get."
Lu Ke also gave a big fake smile. "If I get injured or start losing games, they'll be happier than they are today." Although it might not be appropriate to criticize his "potential colleagues" like this, it was the truth.
"At least they saw you," Walter said with a shrug and wide eyes, joking.
Before this week's game, journalists had already started paying attention to Lu Ke, even ambushing him on his morning jog route and disrupting Lu Zhengze and Jiang Youni's daily lives. But those nuisances were nothing compared to today's scene. Now, the journalists had truly "seen" Lu Ke. For the entire league, the Chinese quarterback had only truly joined the professional league yesterday.
Lu Ke naturally understood the deeper meaning of Walter's words, but he pretended not to and joked, "So, do you want me to help them open the curtains that are blocking their view and let them see you?"
"Ahem, ahem." Walter coughed twice exaggeratedly, as if he had really been scalded by the coffee. Then he pretended that nothing had happened and looked away. His awkward and stiff appearance was a stark contrast to his usual serious demeanor at the team facility. As expected, everyone had a different face on and off the field.
"Ding." As they were talking, the elevator arrived on the first floor. Walter quickly changed the subject and gestured for Lu Ke to go up with him to prepare for today's checkup.
Unexpectedly, when the elevator door opened, a familiar face, Leigh Steinberg, came out. Next to him stood a silver-haired man in a white lab coat over a suit. He looked to be around 60 years old and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, exuding a scholarly aura.
Leigh also noticed Lu Ke standing in front of him. Lu Ke's short black hair was a mess. The collar of his shirt was severely stretched and out of shape. There were a few red marks on his cheeks and chin from being squeezed by camera lenses. There were even clear footprints on his jeans, more than one. He looked completely disheveled and embarrassed.
This was not the Lu Ke he was familiar with, and it was obviously not the Lu Ke anyone was familiar with. After taking off his strong and domineering quarterback persona, Lu Ke was just a recent college graduate. His youthful face still looked a little immature. Wait, all Asians looked this young!
A hint of a smile flashed in Leigh's eyes. He turned to the silver-haired man next to him. "Martin, this is the young man I told you about."
The man named Martin carefully examined Lu Ke, but it wasn't the look of an elder looking at a junior. It was more like... an archaeologist looking at a skeleton.
Although he knew this thought was ridiculous, Lu Ke didn't know why the image of a "skeleton" appeared in his mind. He couldn't help but roll his eyes internally. He just felt that this silver-haired man was a little strange, a kind of weirdness that he couldn't put his finger on. He felt like he was a vampire.
"So, you are Bambi?" The silver-haired man gave a faint, elegant, and calm smile. Then he nodded slightly, not confirming what he was confirming, because his words stopped there. There was no follow-up, and he immediately changed the subject. "A quarter for your thoughts."
"'Twilight.'" Lu Ke's answer stunned everyone, but he looked nonchalant. "You know, the part where the female protagonist sees the male protagonist's father for the first time... Wait, you guys haven't seen that movie, have you?"
Lu Ke suddenly realized that the three people around him had a confused "what are you talking about" expression on their faces. The awkwardness of them not understanding him was really funny. Generation gap, this was definitely a generation gap! "Okay, I'll shut up. I just want to state that I personally don't like this movie. I only watched it to accompany a friend. Uh, a friend." It wasn't Candice Swanepoel. It was Logan Newman.
"A movie for young people?" The silver-haired man showed a meaningful expression and slightly retracted his jaw. Then he turned to Leigh. "He is indeed an interesting guy."
But in the next moment, he saw Leigh raise his chin and give him a signal. He was a little puzzled and turned his head again in the direction Leigh was pointing. He then saw Lu Ke open his right hand and hold it out in front of him. His confusion didn't get resolved. Instead, it continued to grow. His head was full of question marks.
"The quarter," Lu Ke said.
He was slightly stunned. Then he saw the smiles on Leigh's and Walter's faces, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself. Then, he took a quarter from the pocket of his white coat and solemnly placed it in Lu Ke's palm. "I'm Martin Hirsch, a consultant and an old friend of Leigh's. I hope we never have to work together."
The self-introduction was concise and clear, but he didn't talk much about his profession or identity. The unusual greeting was full of personality. This reminded him of Leigh's style. But it was safe to assume that Leigh came here specifically to introduce Martin to Lu Ke, which meant he was a very important person. As for the last sentence, it could be understood as a wish for Lu Ke's professional sports career to be free of injuries and for him to have as little work interaction with hospitals, doctors, and consultants as possible.
From this perspective, Martin was not as serious and elegant as he appeared on the outside. He had a humorous style in his bones.
"I hope so. Thank you for the quarter," Lu Ke said with a smile, shaking Martin's right hand and then putting the quarter away. "I'm Lu Ke, a football player. Leigh and I just met, and we're still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage."
His expression was serious, but his words were witty and humorous. The contradictory sense of discord created a different kind of humor, and the smile in his eyes couldn't help but swell. Especially the second half of the sentence, which had an ambiguous "blind date" tone, was truly funny. Leigh was already used to it, but Walter and Martin were both a little surprised. After they understood, they both chuckled.
Martin stepped back half a step and politely said, "You came here for a checkup today, so I won't take up any more of your time. When you go upstairs, the relevant staff will guide you. Have a great day."
Without stopping, Leigh and Martin left the elevator, and Walter and Lu Ke walked into the elevator. Leigh nodded and gestured. "You go get your checkup first. We can talk more slowly during lunch." Then, without waiting for the elevator door to close, he and Martin turned and walked toward the back of the hospital.
As he watched the two of them walk away and the elevator door slowly closed, Walter looked Lu Ke up and down, his eyes filled with curiosity. But in the end, he couldn't hold back. "Aren't you even a little curious who that was?"
Lu Ke just shrugged slightly. "I'm looking forward to never having to work with him." The more of a big shot he was, the more serious the injury issues would be, so Lu Ke felt it was better not to know.
This response made Walter roll his eyes in a speechless manner. Then he still couldn't hold back and gave the answer. "Martin Hirsch, a top consultant in sports neurology and muscle damage. He's one of the most authoritative figures on the West Coast, at the top of the pyramid."
"These years, he has gradually left the clinical field and is mainly focused on consulting. But he can always give the most professional and accurate advice, and his powerful network can always find the top young and middle-aged clinical doctors in various fields." Walter's excitement was almost hard to hide. "He's an absolute industry big shot. I can't believe he showed up today!"
But if he thought about it carefully, Leigh Steinberg was already an extraordinary top agent. Ben Roethlisberger's connections were also top-notch in the industry; otherwise, the numerous injuries would have ended his career long ago. Now it was Lu Ke's turn, and it was no exception. It was only natural for Leigh to contact Martin Hirsch early on to take precautions.
"Why aren't you excited at all?" Walter's excitement fell flat in front of the calm and composed Lu Ke.
Lu Ke spread his hands and said with an innocent expression, "You're a doctor. You should be excited. I'm a football player. The last thing I want is to deal with him."
Walter then understood and turned his head awkwardly, staring at the elevator door without saying a word. One second, two seconds.
"But he really is a top authority," Walter couldn't help but say in the end.
Lu Ke couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if he met Peyton Manning...
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