Medical Center.
Seeing Meredith trembling and hiding there, peeking out, Adam's first thought was that Mr. Harper had lost it.
But then he heard a roar.
"Don't touch me!"
"You incompetent quacks!"
"How many times have I told you not to bother me while I'm working?!"
Adam relaxed a little.
It was a woman's voice—and not a high-pitched, cutesy one either.
So it probably wasn't Mr. Harper going nuts.
Hmm…
Then again, he thought about the future—some eight-foot-tall dude sitting in an internet café, switching between a squeaky little-girl voice to climb the ranks with his buddies and a soft, gentle tone to chat with his girlfriend. Or that sleazy troll from The Big Bang Theory—the one who ruined Howard and Bernadette's relationship by mercilessly clicking away under the Soul Bridge in World of Warcraft. In real life, that guy turned out to be just a gross old fat dude from Caltech's equipment department, where Howard worked.
So yeah, without seeing someone face-to-face, you can never be sure.
To confirm, Adam quickly rounded the corner and took a look.
There was a middle-aged woman sitting on a gurney, yelling her head off and thrashing around.
Cristina, Izzie, George, and the others nearby looked like they'd just seen a ghost.
"That's Dr. Ellis Grey!"
"Didn't she go to the Mayo Clinic?"
"I heard she was with the United Nations."
"Someone said she's been traveling the world, gathering material for a groundbreaking medical book."
"How did she end up like this?"
"Maybe she's lost it. For someone as proud as her, it's not shocking she'd fall this far."
"Yeah, genius and madness are just a hair's breadth apart, right?"
"Poor Dr. Meredith Grey, though. That's Alzheimer's."
"…"
All sorts of hushed chatter reached Adam's ears.
He got the picture right away.
This was Meredith's mom—the idol of Cristina and Izzie, a legendary female doctor who'd pioneered a slew of famous surgical techniques and authored multiple textbooks.
Ellis Grey!
The Mayo Clinic's widely regarded as the top medical center in the U.S.
The UN's World Health Organization? A globally renowned hub.
Only the biggest names in medicine end up at places like those.
And Ellis Grey? She'd been invited to both—repeatedly, with open arms.
That alone spoke volumes about her status in the global medical community.
But now, with all her achievements, she'd been struck by Alzheimer's—a near-terminal disease—leaving her unable to remember who she was, where she was, or what she was doing.
No wonder Meredith was trembling and hiding, too shaken to step forward.
Back in the day, people saw Meredith as "the daughter of the legendary Grey." It was mostly envy or jealousy.
She'd always say—or at least hint—that she didn't want to be the daughter of a legend.
But deep down, she was proud of it.
That sense of identity had been carved into her bones after med school.
Not every med student has to buy textbooks written by their own mom, learn intricate techniques their mom invented, or hear classmates and professors constantly rave about how amazing their mom is.
And now? She was just a pitiful figure others felt sorry for.
The more dazzling her mom's past, the sharper the contrast Meredith felt now.
Adam shook his head and turned to leave.
He still had three patients to check on—no time to deal with this mess.
---
An hour later.
After rounding on his three patients, Adam was about to head to the ER when George—looking like a headless chicken—stopped him.
"Adam, help me out, man."
George's face was a mix of desperation and despair. "I can't handle Dr. Grey."
"Which Dr. Grey?" Adam asked, already knowing George had, as usual, gotten himself tangled in some drama. He couldn't resist a little jab.
"Ellis Grey—Meredith's mom," George clarified. "She's got Alzheimer's, and now she's having intermittent cramps, pain, and diarrhea. Dr. Bailey told me to examine her, but she thinks I'm her husband. She's treating me like we're playing some doctor dress-up game. She won't let me check her—she keeps telling me to stay out of her way because she's 'working.'"
"Well, damn, George O'Malley!" Adam blinked, his expression turning sly. "I've gotta hand it to you. In novels, you've got fiancées cheating, fiancés mourning for a decade before marrying the daughter—that's already wild enough. But your seamless, no-delay move here? That's next-level, man. Makes the other stuff look amateur."
"What are you even talking about?!" George groaned, exasperated. "She's just confused. I apparently look a little like her ex-husband."
"You look like Meredith's dad?" Adam nearly burst out laughing. "Who told you that? Meredith?"
"No," George said, his face crumpling again. "The chief did. He's old friends with Meredith's mom."
"Oh, good," Adam said, nodding.
"What's good?" George asked, confused.
"Good that it's the chief saying it," Adam replied, barely holding back a grin. "If Meredith had thought you looked like her dad from the start, that time she broke down crying with you would've had a whole lot more layers to unpack."
"…" George's head started throbbing. He was on the verge of tears. "Are you gonna help me or not?"
Adam eased off the teasing—he didn't want to push George over the edge.
Time to focus.
He'd been about to say no.
He had plenty on his plate already.
Plus, he liked to keep work and personal stuff separate—unless it was absolutely necessary, he wouldn't mix the two.
And honestly, if George couldn't handle something this small, he'd be a total lost cause.
But then something George said clicked, and Adam's mind shifted. "Wait, you said she keeps talking about work? What stage is her Alzheimer's at? Stage two, right? How long has she been in stage two?"
With Alzheimer's, by stage three, people can't take care of themselves anymore. No way someone that far gone would be as lively as Ellis Grey was acting now.
"Second year!" George answered instantly, having seen her chart.
"Alright! I'll come with you to check it out," Adam said, his eyes lighting up.
Stage two Alzheimer's meant memory loss, sure, but not as severe as stage three.
And for a legend like Ellis Grey, surgery was practically muscle memory.
Hadn't she been yelling about "you incompetent quacks" just a minute ago?
There's no official ranking for doctors, but in Adam's mind, for cardiothoracic surgery, it went something like: regular attending, mildly notable Leonard, renowned Burke, big-hospital surgical chief Richard, and then the legendary Ellis Grey.
Yup—Ellis Grey was a cardiothoracic surgeon.
If Adam's hunch was right, and Ellis had held onto her medical knowledge…
Getting to talk face-to-face with a cardiothoracic legend like her? That'd be a rare treat—practically a once-in-a-lifetime thrill.
The thought hit him, and suddenly, Adam was wide awake.