AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER NINE
“WORD HAS REACHED ME, Ms. Mowak, that you are encouraging patients to smoke marijuana.”
“Excuse me?” Ally said to buy some time and get a handle on the situation. She wasn’t surprised that she’d been summoned by Dr. Boyd again. It was the timing that caught her off guard. She’d met with Ginger a week ago. Clearly, his spy was slacking.
“I don’t believe it’s a difficult question. Did you or did you not recommend the use of marijuana to the patient?”
“I did not.”
“That’s not the way I heard it.”
Careful to keep her voice calm and even she said, “With all due respect, Dr. Boyd, if you’re going to ask me a question and then dispute my response, what’s the point in asking?” You condescending, unpleasant prig, she silently added.
“I would advise you not to take that tone with me. You are already skating on very thin ice here.”
Incredible how often the complete lack of emotion in her voice got her accused of the opposite. “I apologize if that sounded glib or facetious to you, sir, but I am rather confused. Medical marijuana is not only a scientifically proven effective treatment for the alleviation of pain and other cancer symptoms, but it is also now legal in the state of Alaska. Doctors are sanctioning its use for numerous diseases and medical conditions.”
“Not in my hospital, they’re not! I know you’re used to watching your grandfather run around doing whatever he wants, but that’s not the way it works around here.”
“I see.” Ally knew that continuing this conversation was only going to incite Dr. Boyd further. “You asked me if I recommended the use of medical marijuana to the patient and I told you I did not. There were plenty of witnesses in the room who can attest to the fact that the patient broached the subject. Did the patient or her family complain?”
“No.”
“I’ve studied the handbook like you suggested, and there’s nothing there or in my job description about not discussing the proper use of a legal drug with a patient. Perhaps if I missed it, and it is there, you could highlight those portions for me, as well?”
Ally watched Dr. Boyd and imagined that he was trying to gauge her level of sincerity.
“Did you tell her you would help her secure the marijuana?”
Fixing her eyes on his neatly trimmed cap of white hair helped her keep herself in check. It was like he was intimating that she’d agreed to buy weed for a teenager bent on a weekend party binge instead of counseling a terminally ill cancer patient.
“Not exactly. After inquiring if the patient had applied for a medical marijuana card I told her I could recommend experts to help her choose the right strain for her condition.”
Blue eyes flashed with anger. Disproportionate and misplaced anger, because could he truly be this upset about a conversation regarding the use of cannabis as a medical treatment? Ally almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost, that is, until he started speaking again.
His jaw went taut, teeth bared like he was biting into a piece of tough steak. “This is unacceptable.”
Ally waited while uncomfortably long moments dragged by. The tick-tock-ticking of a clock high on the wall behind her sounded through the room like a cartoon time bomb.
Folding his fingers on the desktop in front of him, he leaned in. Ally resisted the urge to lean back.
“I am going to remind you of a few things, Ms. Mowak. The most important of which is that in this hospital we only practice modern medicine. You will adhere to that practice and behave professionally. And despite your innocent act here, I think you know exactly what I mean by that. But if you do have even one iota of doubt about what that might entail, you will ask.”
“Of course.”
He pointed one long spidery finger at her. “Watch yourself, Ms. Mowak, and comport yourself accordingly. That includes reining in your unorthodox opinions. Yes, I’ve heard you’re spreading those around, too.”
As if she had a disease and was trying to infect the population. Ally didn’t bother to respond. If he thought he could silence her when she was off the clock, he was sorely mistaken. The whole point of her existence, her purpose in life, was to share her knowledge. Unfortunately, she reminded herself, there was also the matter of keeping this job.
