“Laurel, hey, what are you doing here? Chasing a story?”
“Possibly. I have a line on a human-interest piece. What are you up to?”
“Killing time because of a scheduling snafu. Ivy is gone, and my office is bordering on chaos.”
“Speaking of chaos, I am looking for the new hospital liaison, Ally Mowak. You know her, right?”
Tag set his features to bland. “Met her. Briefly.”
Laurel’s brows jumped high onto her forehead. “And...?”
His answer was a little frown and a shrug to match.
Clearly not fooled, not that she ever was, she said, “You can cool the closemouthed, cagey act. I know you flew her cousin in from Jasper Lake after the grizzly bear attack. Tell me what you know, what you think.”
“About what? I don’t know anything. It was pretty intense, Laurel. The patient was her cousin, and we didn’t spend much time chitchatting.” Why did he sound defensive? Tag wasn’t about to mention the controversy Ally had caused with the use of the clay, although he knew gossip had already flown around the hospital like a foot fungus in a dirty locker room. Heck, he’d heard it being discussed at the Cozy Caribou the day before.
Meaning Laurel already knew, which must have something to do with her being here. Her doubt-filled expression seemed to strengthen his deduction.
“Do you know her grandfather is Abraham Mowak?” Laurel asked.
“No...” Doctor Abe Mowak, the well-known, well-connected Native healer and advocate had a reputation for being...unconventional. How had he not made that connection?
“Yeah, we’ve got the granddaughter of one of Alaska’s most renowned Native healers working right here in Rankins. I met her earlier this week before I realized who she was, and even then, I thought she was...intriguing. From what I’ve learned, she’s been working by his side since she was a very young girl. And she’s an Army veteran.”
“Huh. Well, Laurel, it sounds like you already know more than I do.”
“Big surprise,” she teased. “I also stopped by to see Ginger.”
“Ginger is here?” Ginger Weil was a mutual friend. In addition to being a professional photographer, shooting weddings, parties and portraits, she also took photos for the region’s newspaper. She’d been diagnosed with ovarian cancer nearly a year ago, and it hadn’t responded well to treatment.
“Yeah, they admitted her last night with an infection.”
Tag felt his gut tighten with concern. “Is she staying?”
“I don’t know.” Laurel shook her head. “She doesn’t want to. Poor thing. She wants to stop treatment and her family is not taking it well.”
“Yeah, I talked to Jacob last week. He’s not dealing with the whole thing in general. I think I’ll head up there and say hi.”
“She would love that. And so would Jacob. You should try talking to him. He likes you. Maybe he’ll listen. I’ll see you tomorrow at Iris’s party, right?”
“Yep, her flight gets into Anchorage this afternoon. I’m picking her up after I drop off a patient.”
* * *
ALLY HAD RETURNED from her lunch break to discover a request to visit a patient ASAP. She’d headed to the fourth floor to find a smiling nurse standing outside the patient’s door, seemingly waiting for her arrival.
“Hi, I’m Nicki. You must be Ally. It’s great to meet you finally.” With a wave, Nicki moved to the end of the hall. Ally followed. “Ginger has ovarian cancer. She’s done two rounds of chemo. They didn’t work. Now she says she’s through. Doesn’t want to talk options anymore. Family is distraught. Dr. Ramsey thought a conversation with you might, um, encourage them to accept her decision. Ginger agreed.” Nicki handed her a chart.
“Of course.” Ally skimmed the details and headed into the room.
“Ah, Ally.” Flynn smiled and waved her over. “Thanks for coming. I’d like you to meet Ginger Weil. Ginger, this is Ally Mowak, our hospital liaison. Ginger is a photographer, the most talented one I’ve ever met.”
“Pfft.” Ginger flapped a hand in his direction, but she was grinning. “Charmer. How many photographers have you met?”
Ally sent her a warm smile. “Hi, Ginger.”
“Lovely to meet you, Ally. Welcome to our family meeting.” Ally was surprised by both the twinkle in the woman’s eye and the trace of sarcasm when she said, “Doc Junior here tells me it’s your job to reassure my parents that I’m a grown woman capable of making my own decisions about my health. I’m looking forward to hearing someone with the proper authority do that.”
Ally took in the two women huddled together off to one side. A beefy man with a gray buzz cut stood on the opposite side of the bed, not frowning, yet there was no trace of a smile, either. Massive arms folded over his muscled chest made his biceps bulge, and everything about him screamed military.
Flynn introduced the man and the older woman as Ginger’s parents, Jacob and Kate. The other woman was their younger daughter, Cara, Ginger’s sister.
Ally moved closer to Ginger. “I understand you’ve decided to forgo further treatment for your condition?”
“Correct.” A confident nod accompanied her response.
“I’m sorry, but I need to ask if you understand what that means. Even though I know that your oncologist, and probably Dr. Ramsey, have already gone over this with you, I’d like to talk—”
“Yes, let’s talk about it,” Kate broke in. “That’s all we’re asking, honey.”
“Any hope is still hope,” Cara chimed in.
“Talking some sense into her is all we want,” Jacob growled.
Oh, dear, this poor family.
“Platitudes are my favorite,” Ginger whispered. Squeezing her eyes shut, she gave her head a shake before settling a determined gaze on Ally. “I’m totally fine talking about it. With treatment, my odds of beating this are less than two percent. Treatment would consist of more brutal chemo. The first rounds left me helpless and miserable and incapacitated and nearly killed me. But if I opt out of the treatment I could have three or four or as many as six or even eight months with relative quality of life. Way, way better than the chemo version of quality I’ve suffered through already.
“I could smoke weed—sorry.” She gave her dad a pointed look before addressing Ally again. “I could legally partake of medical marijuana until I can no longer stand the pain. Then I’ll hook up to a morphine drip and sleep peacefully until I die with as much dignity as dying allows.”
“Stop talking about dying!” Cara barked, her tone bordering on a shout. “You have to fight, Ginger. Why won’t you fight?”
Kate choked on a sob. “Ginger, honey, Cara’s right. Please think about Ella. She needs her mother.”
Jacob stood his ground, menacing and gruff, his blue eyes settled on the wall above Ginger’s head. Ally’s heart went out to him; she wasn’t fooled by the man of steel routine. Why was it that the harder the shell, the more devastating the heartbreak seemed?
A passionate, circular conversation ensued, and Ally understood why Ginger had requested some help. She glanced at Flynn, whose only response was a gentle upward nudge of one brow.
Ally had experienced an uncommon amount of death in her life. Palliative care was one of her grandfather’s strong suits and Ally had shown a knack for assisting him at a very early age. She knew when a patient was making a decision for the wrong reason and when they were making it for the right one. As far as she knew, her intuition and experience