Adam Blake - 49. Chapter 49

“Doc, the machines are here for the cafeteria.”

“Could you show them where to place them? Jane, what’s up.”

“There is a going away party for Arlene this Friday, do you want to contribute to a gift?”

“Sure, here is 20, make sure my name is not mentioned.”

“They are going to have it in the Staff Dining Room.”

“Good, they can say goodbye to that room because when they leave, the room will be locked while they remodel that area.”

“You are going to have them all eat in the cafeteria?”

“Yep”

I saw the smile as she left. “Doc, the pizzas are here.”

I walked into the cafeteria and the kitchen, the remaining staff were doing a good job of cleaning. “I need a volunteer to help serve the pizza that just arrived. If you could open the boxes and place them on the serving line and then replace them as they become empty. I think there will be plenty and you all can have the leftovers.”

I watched my boys as they came into the cafeteria, you could smell the pizza and their smiles told it all. I truly believe that pizza is a universal food. No matter where you come from, you knew what pizza is. I watched as they took one piece and went and sat down. They waited until all of the Knights had their pizza, they stood as James and I approached, James and I sat down, then they sat down. “There is plenty of pizza, so go and get another piece until you are full.”

I looked at James, he had a big smile on his face. “Doc, these boys will miss you when they are gone.”

“I hope they’ll remember what we teach them by our actions rather than who we are.”

There were quite a few pieces of pizza left. I nodded to the woman who was behind the line, she started to remove the pizza to the kitchen. “Doc, the kitchen staff wants to know if they can take the leftovers home.” I nodded yes.

Marie called back and said there was a clinic about 4 hours south of us that could do an overnight sleep test. “James call Dr. McMillian and ask for Ralph Goutier’s medical record. I want to take it with me when I take him for a sleep test. Oh, you also need to inform his teachers that he’ll be excused for medical reasons.”

I received a phone call from Dr. McMillian, “Why do you want Ralph Goutier’s medical records?”

“I believed he’s suffering from apnea and I have scheduled him for a sleep test at a clinic. I’m sure that the doctor who will be conducting the test would be interested in his medical record. So could you bring it to my office, I’d appreciate it”

“Dr. McMillian is here to see you, he’s very mad.”

“Send him in.” I watched as he entered my office, he was mad. “Dr. Blake, you can’t send a student to an outside doctor without my approval.”

“Are you serious? I can send a student anywhere I feel it's necessary for their benefit. Do you have his medical record?”

“No”

“Why not?”

“We couldn't find it. He’s not in the system.”

“Doctor McMillian that’s malfeasance. It’s your responsibility to have a medical record on every boy who attends this school. To not have one is cause for dismissal.”

“I resign, I don’t have to put up being treated like this. The health of the students in this school is my responsibility, not yours.”

“The responsibility of these students in all phases of the operation of this school is mine. And that includes ensuring staff performs their responsibility competently and no child falls through the cracks. I accept your resignation. James, please bring me the form for staff resignation.” I think that I had a form for staff resignations surprised the doctor. James brought in the form, he signed it. “Dr. McMillian, you have the rest of the week to remove your private property, however that does not include medical records of students or staff associate with this school. I think you’ll know what will happen if you do not follow that directive. The school thanks you for your service and wishes you well in the future.”

After he left the office I called Bernard, “Bernard, this is Adam, please prepare a separation check for Dr. McMillian according to his contract. Yes, he has resigned… effectively immediately. Thank you. “

“James can you find Mr. Goutier, tell him we’re going to see a doctor, then notify his teachers he’ll be absent for today and tomorrow.”

I waited until Ralph came to my office with James. “James, can you get his papers, I think Jane may know where they keep his medical authorization. Ralph, we’re going to see a doctor who’s going to help you get a better sleep. You’ll spend the night in a bed, they’ll hook you up to some equipment that’ll monitor you while you sleep. Then with this information, they’ll prescribe a machine that’ll help you sleep.”

“Will this hurt?”

“No, I wouldn’t let them hurt you. Ready to go?”

He nodded, “James, call this clinic and leave a message for the doctor that we are on our way.”

On the drive to the clinic, Ralph proved to be an excellent conversationalist, he did fall asleep several times. He never knew that he had fallen asleep.

“There’s the clinic ahead. I’ll be with you ok?” He nodded yes but I knew he was scared.

We walked into the clinic where I registered Ralph, gave them the forms, which they made a copy, and waited while they notified the doctor we were here. I could tell he was nervous as we sat in the waiting room. I placed my arm around his shoulder, he leaned into me.

“You must be Dr. Blake and I guess this is our patient, Mr. Goutier.”

I stood and shook the Dr’s hand, “This way and we can get this young man taken care of quickly.”

I put my hand on Ralph’s shoulder as we followed the doctor to a treatment room. “This isn’t a normal sleep test that you would find in a hospital, but we can still obtain the information we need to prescribe a machine to correct his problem.”

“Ralph, I’ll be here with you. You need to lay down on the bed.”

You could see the fear in his eyes, I held his hand, he squeezed it several times as they hooked him up to several machines, then they put a mask on him. “I’ll be here when you wake up, I’m not leaving you, just close your eyes,” I didn’t finish as he was asleep.

“Let’s go and get a cup of coffee. It’s going to be a while until we get the data we need and he’ll sleep for a while. How did you know about apnea?”

“When I was tutoring, one of my students suffered from it. He kept falling asleep in class and the guidance counselor told his parents. I helped him to catch up to his class once he started to sleep in a bed rather than in class.”

“Teachers need to be aware of childhood diseases, they don’t include that in their teaching curriculum.”

“You know you’re correct, when I was studying the art of teaching they never covered childhood diseases. We spend a good portion of time with a student, if you don’t mind I’m going to pass that on to my university advisor.”

“I don’t mind but this is the first time I heard of teaching being called an art.”

“I think it’s an art, not everyone is cut out to be a teacher, there are several skills one needs to be an effective teacher. I wrote a book, I know you’re busy but if you think you may have time, I’ll see that you get a copy.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that, there are times when I read something besides medical journals. Let’s go and check on our patient.”