After seeing off Gabe, the third brother, Adam spent the last two days in Boston.
Juno, Karen, and Heather—who had flown in from Texas—were already waiting for him.
The four of them had a wonderful time together.
Talking with Juno helped Adam finally put aside the troubling thought that Gabe might be a second Barney.
Of course, when Juno suggested that Gabe could have been influenced by him, Adam firmly disagreed. For the first time, he found himself doubting Juno's judgment.
After all, Juno was only human, not a god.
Since Heather had a tight schedule and they had limited time together, Adam knew better than to dwell on this issue.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Sunday Night
At the airport, Adam and Heather bid each other a reluctant farewell.
He flew back to New York.
Heather returned to Texas.
Juno stayed in Boston.
As an outstanding graduate of Harvard Medical School—despite the many students who got in through connections or sheer luck—her academic performance remained top-tier.
As a result, she was placed at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the best.
Karen, having studied nursing, found the transition easy. After years of assisting Adam and Juno in hunting and dissections, she was more than prepared.
Monday Morning
Adam got up early, got ready, and arrived at the medical center well ahead of time.
Today was orientation day.
Several people were already waiting there.
"Adam."
A young woman of South Asian descent spotted him and approached. "Do you remember me? I'm…"
"Cristina Yang."
Adam smiled. "Juno's classmate. You and Meredith really gave up those great hospitals in Boston just to come to New York and compete with us?"
"Competition is everywhere. It's the same no matter where you go."
Cristina raised an eyebrow, unconcerned.
"Where's Meredith? Didn't you come with her?" Adam asked.
"No."
Cristina shook her head. "She's staying at her mother's house, while I rented a place on my own. I don't like living with others. She wanted me to go to a bar last night, but I turned her down since we had orientation today. She's probably still asleep."
"You didn't wake her up?"
Adam chuckled.
"She'll wake up."
Cristina smirked.
So much for sisterly love.
Adam understood immediately. When Cristina said, competition is everywhere, she meant it.
Meredith might be her close friend, but she was also her biggest rival. If Meredith didn't perform well, many of her opportunities would fall to Cristina instead.
So why would she wake Meredith up?
Adam even wondered if Cristina had chosen not to live with Meredith precisely to keep some distance and avoid unnecessary complications.
"By the way, thanks for helping me on that flight."
Cristina changed the subject and thanked him.
"No problem."
Adam glanced at her briefly.
They casually chatted about some hospital gossip, and time passed quickly.
More interns gradually arrived.
Orientation Begins
"Is everyone here?"
A bald man in a suit looked over the group, checking his list.
"Meredith isn't here yet," Cristina whispered to Adam.
"Don't worry. The head of surgery is a close friend of her mother's."
Adam smiled knowingly.
"Good point."
Cristina nodded.
For regular interns, the first few days were nerve-wracking—they had to be extra cautious to avoid breaking any hospital rules and getting kicked out of the residency program.
But for someone like Meredith, who had strong connections, the rules didn't apply in quite the same way.
This was probably why, despite knowing today was important, she still felt comfortable drinking at a bar the night before.
"Follow me."
The bald man didn't call names. He simply led the group into an office and had them take their seats.
"I'm Jason Dawn, the hospital's legal advisor. Today, I'm here to give you an orientation, so you understand what you can and cannot do."
He glanced around. "Now, can anyone tell me what the most important thing is for a doctor?"
"Caring for patients?"
A young intern raised his hand and answered with a smile.
Jason let out a dry laugh.
"See? This is exactly why you're all so naive! Caring for patients? No! The most important thing you need to remember is—the hospital does not want to be sued! Lawsuits are never a good thing…"
What followed was a long list of lawsuit cases involving doctors. The sheer variety of legal troubles—many stemming from doctors who had meant well but were still sued—made everyone's scalp tingle with unease.
"Good."
Jason scanned the room and, seeing that everyone had taken his words to heart, nodded with satisfaction.
"Now, let's say you've done everything you can, but an accident still happens. What do you do then? Any takers?"
"Deny everything?"
Cristina raised her hand.
"Exactly!"
Jason's eyes lit up, and he pointed at Cristina.
"Deny, deny, deny. Of course, that applies when dealing with the patient. But if the patient is already dead, well… then you can say whatever you want."
He even chuckled at his own remark.
No one laughed with him.
Jason clicked his tongue in disappointment and continued drilling this legal mindset into them.
Meeting the Department Heads
"Alright, my job here is done. Your department heads will take over now. I'm sure they have plenty to tell you."
About ten minutes later, two doctors in white coats—one white, one Black—appeared at the door.
Jason finally wrapped up his speech.
"Surgical interns, follow me."
The Black doctor, an older man with short, graying hair, spoke briefly before turning to leave.
Cristina was the first to jog after him.
"Let's go."
Adam nodded at Elijah, a fellow internal medicine intern, and gestured for Bianca to follow. Then, he joined the surgical group.
The interns followed the surgical department head into a room that, once the lights were turned on, was revealed to be a practice surgical suite.
"This is where you'll be training," the department head began.
He looked around at the group and started his speech.
"Today, you come here full of hope, eager to compete…"
At that moment, a young woman slipped in through the door.
The department head glanced at her but didn't say anything about her tardiness. Instead, he continued:
"In medical school, you were students learning how to become doctors. But as of today, you are doctors.
"The next seven years of your residency will be both the best and worst years of your life."
Standing with his arms crossed, he spoke in a calm but firm tone.
"You will be pushed to the brink of collapse. Look around. Say hello to your competition.
"By the end, eight of you will transfer to less demanding specialties. Five of you will crack under pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave.
"This is your starting line—your battlefield.
"Where you end up depends entirely on you."
Adam scanned the room.
There were 20 surgical interns in total.
According to the department head, only five would make it to the end…
Let the games begin.
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