John smiled and nodded in Howard's direction, eyebrows raised as if to say yeah, I know, the leg again, isn't it ridiculous? - but despite the attempt to hide his very real frustration and annoyance behind the joke, it was fairly obvious he was genuinely pleased to see the kid.

"Looks like I've got someone to do the doctoring for me," he explained wryly. "Shouldn't brag about my double too much though, everyone will want one. You alright?"