Attack

“Do you have one Dr. XXXXX in your department?” It was my classmate from college on phone. He has a flourishing dental practice. “Yes, what about her?” “She has been maligning me” he sounded upset. “What happened?” I asked. “I had a patient. She underwent a tooth extraction in my clinic and went home. Half an hour later, she fainted. This Dr XXXXX has her clinic next to that woman's residence. So she was called. She saw this and said it was an attack. Then the relatives gathered in my clinic and accused me of negligence so that the patient got an attack.” “What attack?” I was puzzled. “Attack as in a cerebrovascular accident or heart attack” he said. “The word 'attack' means this to these people.” I thought about it a bit. It was too late for being a vasovagal attack. But then I remembered this professor rushing to every one who fainted in the department and calling it vasovagal attack. That clicked. “She must have meant a vasovagal attack” I said. “She has a thing about vasovagal attacks.” “Oh God!” he said. “She should specify that. Now she has instigated my patients against me.” “Explain to them what I said, and everything will be alright.” “But she should not do such things” he protested. “Keep safe distance” I advised. “I do the same thing myself.”