Page 11 of Unworthy
“Listen, I didn’t mean–”
“Thing is,bro,” Dee cut in. She might still be sporting a smile, but there was a hint of steel behind his expression. “The peeps Yaz teaches aren’t your average punters wanting to dabble in some water sports and add some material into their wank banks. They’re some seriously hardcore players. If her teaching wasn’t up to standard, they’d admire her from the shore but book up some other fucker who knew what they were doing to teach them.” She shrugged. “You get a rep out there, man. If her shit wasn’t tight, she wouldn’t last long in this industry. Wouldn’t expect a land-lover like you to understand, but the guys who come to her live and breathe theride.They will not waste their time for a nice body and a pretty face.”
I gave Dee and then Yaz a tight smile. “My mistake,no offence.”
She nodded and shifted closer to Yaz who, after a brief hurt look which felt like a punch in the gut, went back to ignoring me. I took a deep breath in and out through my nose, resolving to juststop. Mia was right – I wassucha prick.
I managed not to punch Bodhi over the course of the next hour, however sorely tempted I was. And I also didn’t make any more digs at Yaz. She slowly recovered from my put down and became normal animated Yaz again. Wherever Yaz was, her presence and energy always seemed to fill the space. Even Penny was drawn into a conversation with her. About health of all things. I would have thought that they were on completely opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to their views about healthcare, but to my shock they seemed to find a surprising amount of common ground.
“Exactly!” Penny cried in a near shout. It was about as excited as I’d ever seen her. Penny’s default mode seemed to be calm and serene. “That’sexactlywhat I mean.”
Yaz smiled at Penny and leaned forward in her chair. It felt like the entire table leaned with her. Yaz was just that magnetic a person.
“Yes. I’ve always thought that the medicalisation of society was out of hand. I mean, if we just–”
I tried, I really did, but I just couldn’t let that one go.
“You’re against the medicalisation of society?” I burst out, cutting her off and pulling the attention of the table my way. “So, I guess you think that the progress we’ve made in things like infectious disease – including the eradication of smallpox – or the fact we can unblock cardiac arteries now instead of just prescribing bed rest, or pull out clots from the brain to reverse a stroke, or replace joints when they’re worn out from arthritis, are all a bit of a waste of time. Bloody hell, yes, of course. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. What a menace medicine has been to society. Much better if we stick with your poxy crystals – I’m sure a bit of rose quartz could sort that HIV infection right out… oh wait–”
“I’m not talking about the eradication of smallpox,” Yaz interrupted in a tight voice. The excited smile had dropped from her face, and I almost wish I’d kept my mouth shut. “And I’m not saying medicine isn’t a good thing. I just think that big pharma, the meat industry, the alcohol industry, the–”
“Oh God, spare me the big bad pharma talk. Pharma keeps plenty of people alive.”
“Heath,” Penny put in, “Yaz has got a point you know and I–”
“Christ, don’t humour her. Honestly, Yaz, this alternative bullshit is getting a little old, you know. Why not try looking at something scientific or evidence based for a change?”
With that, Yaz stood up so abruptly from the table that her chair toppled over behind her and crashed to the floor. The whole pub seemed to fall silent at the noise.
“You want evidence?” The flecks of green in her brown eyes flashed, and the colour in her cheeks shone through her tan. She looked absolutely furious and so beautiful that my mouth went dry. “Yes, you can unblock arteries, you can remove clots, you can replace joints. I’m not disputing that. But maybe, just maybe, we should try to do somethingbeforethe debris builds up in that artery, or before the joint wears out, before the patient has a stroke. Maybe my yoga classes work better for back pain than your drugs. Maybe we should put more emphasis on the only evidence-based intervention that has had the greatest effect on all of those things? Do you know the one intervention that can reverse type 2 diabetes in ninety percent of people? Lifestyle change. How we live our livesmatters, you colossal prick. That’s all I’m saying. Relying on pills and proceduresafterthe fact isn’t the right way to go. You know what?” She spun around and picked up the fallen chair, slamming it down on the ground with a thump. “Fuck you and your judgemental superiority. I don’t need your shit, Heath Markham-hashtag-NHS-hero. Go save some lives after they’ve nearly popped their clogs andI’lltry to make sure they never end up there in the first place.”
There were tears in her eyes by the end of that speech and her mouth was quivering, but she held it together to deliver that parting line. All I could do was sit there with my mouth open and my eyes wide. She was bloody magnificent. So when she stormed out of the pub with Bodhi and Dee in tow, I couldn’t get my brain in gear fast enough to stop her.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Mia said my name, and I blinked, struggling to focus on her face for a moment.
“You promised, Heath.” She was glaring at me across the table.
A rush of air left my mouth as I threw my hands up. “I’m sorry, okay. I just can’t handle all that alternative crap. It really winds me up. She’s an intelligent girl and–”
“It’s not me you need to apologise to. And can I just say that I have never, in any interaction I’ve witnessed between you and Yaz, ever thought that you viewed her as intelligent.”
“That’s not–”
“You treat her like an ignorant child, Heath. We can’t all have medical degrees, you know.”
I sighed. “I’m not saying that. I just don’t agree with her undermining the medical world and – ”
“So, you don’t think any of what she said just now holds any merit?” Penny chipped in. Ugh, they were all having a go now. “You don’t think that our society relies too heavily on the medical model?”
“Well, I–”
“You like evidence-based medicine, yes?”
I nodded. She was looking fired up now.
“Well, there’s almost nothing in all of medicine that has the vast, consistent, and diverse evidence base as what Yaz is advocating. There is no pill, and there never will be any pill, that can reduce the burden of chronic disease in the way that healthy lifestyle factors can. You know, the INTERHEART study estimated over 90 percent of risk for heart disease was modifiable. And that’s across fifty-two countries.”
“Er… what?” asked Teddy, looking thoroughly confused. “Break it down for us muggles.”
