Howard grits his teeth in the back and takes another gulp of coffee. "Yeah, well, I guess I'm just supposed to get over it, here. What happens in the arena stays in the arena, right?"

He wants to believe that it can be that way, at least. He feels shaky, and he tries to shrug it off, because there's no need to seem any more vulnerable in front of a relative stranger. John hasn't done anything too suspicious yet, although Howard's noted the reluctance to sit facing the wall instead of the door, but Howard's in no position to be trusting these days. "Anyway, it was the guy I went to for help with my ankle. That's why I'm trying to learn to do medicine on myself, so I don't make the same mistake twice."