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Ally walked into the anteroom where Cora sat guarding his inner sanctum. The secretary gave her a tentative, apologetic smile. “He’s expecting you,” she said and waved her toward his office.
Dr. Boyd, in his white coat, stethoscope draped around his neck, sat with his head bowed. Ally was struck by how ordinary he looked, like a hundred other doctors she’d met in her life. Kindly, if not harmless. Until he lifted his gaze to meet hers, and she saw that the look on his face wasn’t harmless at all. It was so full of hatred Ally wanted to wince.
“Hello, Dr. Boyd. You requested to see me?”
“I did, Ms. Mowak. Nice of you to join the rest of us here at work today. I hope you enjoyed your morning off.”
“I was out of town on an emergency.”
“Yes, with a pilot who is contracted with this hospital but who was able to make it back while you opted to stay behind.”
The implication was obvious. “Is that why you asked to see me? Because I took a few hours off this morning? If that’s the case, I can assure you that I more than made up the hours in the preceding weeks. You can check my work log.”
“I don’t like your tone.”
“My tone is my voice, Dr. Boyd. If you don’t like it, I suggest you get an interpreter or one of those voice alteration devices because this is simply the way I speak.”
“Not with patients, it’s not.”
“I have sympathy, empathy and compassion for my patients. In addition to a desire to help them in any way I can.”
One hand spread on the desktop between them, he began a slow thrum of his spider fingers. “See, I don’t like that, the way you talk. You very cleverly…imply things. And you’re condescending.”
She was condescending? What was the point of this? “Are you trying to provoke me into losing my temper, sir? Because I can assure you, you will be disappointed.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Interesting. But, no, I don’t care about your temper. Don’t get me wrong—it would be nice to be able to add that little gem to your file before I send you on your way. But, alas, it’s not why I called you in here.”
“Then, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to get to the point. Despite your special hearing tomorrow, we both know you, alone, can’t fire me. And, at least until then, I have work to do.”
“Ah. Yes. I’ve discovered this to be truer than I realized. That grandfather of yours has tentacles almost as long as mine. Fortunately for you, that means we are not going to have to duke it out at the hearing.”
Ally felt a faint stirring of hope but responded with a simple “Oh?”
“I’ve accepted the fact that I can’t have you fired.”
“Does this mean there won’t be a hearing?”
“Yes, it does, Ms. Mowak. You won’t be getting fired tomorrow.”
Relief coursed through her. But she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of seeing how worried she’d been. And she certainly wasn’t going to show him even a whisker of gratitude.
“Hopefully, we can find a way to work amicably—”
“Not so fast. You’re not going to be fired because you’re going to quit.”
“Excuse me?”
Arrogant smirk in place, he explained, “I understand you and Tag James are in a relationship.” A slight narrowing of her eyes had him bringing a palm up and out as if to halt her response. “It’s not a question. I have it on good authority. Let me assure you that I do not care about your private life beyond my ability to use it as leverage.”
This time Ally glared at him because she didn’t want this man anywhere near her private life. She felt a tiny bit of gratification when she realized that whatever card he thought he had up his sleeve was no good now, not when she and Tag were no longer together.
“I have a complaint all ready to file for the malpractice of medicine, along with a patient who will be compelled to testify if necessary.”
Pushing aside her distress at his declaration, Ally thought fast. How could these two points possibly be related? The answer made her body go weak. She knew Tag was upset about Shay, but had he said something to Dr. Boyd? The idea was sickening. But even if he had, she hadn’t given Shay any medical advice. And Shay would never file a complaint against her. It didn’t matter because there was no way Ally would fall victim to his underhanded strong-arming.
