The Hospital Room
"Dr. Grey?"
George pushed the door open and called out.
"Damn it, Zack! I'm working here!"
Alice Grey was "hard at work" when she heard the noise and immediately snapped, "I don't have time to deal with you right now. If you want to watch cartoons, go do it yourself!"
George instantly turned to Adam with a pitiful look.
"Zack, you heard Dr. Grey. Go watch your cartoons," Adam said with a grin. Then he turned to her. "Dr. Grey, I'm Adam Duncan, MD. It's an honor to meet you. You're an idol to all of us doctors."
"You familiar with the Grey Endoscopic Procedure?" Alice Grey perked up at this. She "set her work aside" and sized Adam up with a sharp gaze.
"Of course," Adam replied, still smiling. "I've studied all the Grey techniques you pioneered. I've got to say, those innovations are a godsend for both doctors and patients."
"Cut the obvious flattery," Alice interrupted, her face stern as she switched into full-on mentor interrogation mode.
She'd heard enough rainbow-colored praise in her career. Even now, with Alzheimer's clouding her mind, her subconscious filtered it out, zeroing in on medicine instead.
Adam's heart skipped a beat with excitement as he answered her barrage of questions quickly and precisely. When it came to theory, he wasn't afraid of anyone.
The two went back and forth, question after answer, no hesitation. George, standing off to the side, was completely dumbfounded.
"Shameless!" George muttered. He saw right through Adam's "evil plan." Adam wasn't here to help him—he was using Alice Grey as a personal tutor to soak up knowledge. Worse, he wasn't even including George in the fun.
Tough luck for George, though. Alice asked fast, and Adam answered just as quickly. At first, George could kind of keep up, but as the topics got deeper and more obscure, his brain checked out. It took him a while to realize what was happening: he'd been silently dissed.
Compared to Alice Grey and Adam, he really did feel like he should take after Alice's ex-husband Zack and go watch cartoons. It was a double whammy to his IQ and his pride.
And then there was the baggage—Zack and Alice's messy past casting a dark shadow over his own future with Meredith. Man, did it sting!
"Adam, we're here to—" George started, his growing frustration spilling over onto his face.
"Shut it, Zack!" Alice barked at him.
"Ahem." Adam noticed George's face darken and realized he might've gone too far. He coughed lightly. "Dr. Grey, we need to do a quick check-up on you first. After that, I'd love to pick your brain some more. Sound good?"
"Just promoted to attending?" Alice shifted her annoyed glare from George back to Adam, her eyes glinting with a knowing tease. "Doing a little exam yourself?"
"What?!" George's jaw dropped. "You're saying he's an attending?"
"Isn't he?" Alice said with certainty. "His theory's top-notch—on par with any big-name doctor. But his grasp of surgical details? Total rookie attending vibes. What else could he be if not newly promoted?"
"…" George didn't even know how to respond. That wasn't the point!
He knew Adam was good. Everyone knew Adam was good. But not this good. Newly promoted attending? Theoretical skills to rival any famous doctor? She was really laying it on thick.
Then it hit him—Alzheimer's comes with hallucinations. Right. She wasn't the legendary doctor right now; she was just a patient. Why trust a patient's word? After all, in her eyes, George was still her husband.
"Don't get discouraged," Alice said, mistaking Adam's silence for something else. "You're so young and already an attending. That's better than I was at your age. Keep pushing like this, and your achievements won't fall short of mine."
"I'll keep at it," Adam said, grinning wide.
He was sure of it now—Alice Grey was a goldmine. Even with Alzheimer's messing with her memory, making her forget her ex-husband and daughter, she could still rattle off complex medical theories and surgical details like it was nothing.
No wonder Meredith didn't get along with her, and her ex-husband had walked away. Like all the great doctors obsessed with their craft, she probably loved her family too—but medicine? That was her true love, etched into her bones, stamped on her soul.
And honestly, without that kind of passion, she wouldn't have created so many medical legends.
"Good. Let's not waste time—start the exam," Alice said, pleased with Adam's attitude. She turned around, undoing the back of her gown to let him check her.
"Deep breath," Adam said, grabbing a stethoscope and getting to work.
Alice cooperated fully, while George watched, his mouth twitching. Why did she yell, curse, and snap at him, but treat Adam like this? The favoritism was unreal!
"No wonder Zack cheated with one of his students," George grumbled to himself. "With a temper like yours, I wouldn't stick around either."
Alice's fiery outburst earlier had let slip that juicy bit of gossip, and George had initially sided with her. But now, seeing the stark contrast with how she treated Adam, he couldn't help but feel for Zack. That guy must've had it rough too.
"How's it looking?" Alice asked.
"Probably diverticulitis," Adam said straight-up, smiling. "But we'll need a scan to confirm."
"Diverticulitis, huh. Guess I'm really getting old," Alice said, shaking her head.
Diverticula were a classic sign of aging. The older you got, the more likely they were to show up. Alice wasn't even that old—barely in her sixties. Richard, a surgical chief from her intern days, had vision issues, got surgery, and still rushed back to the hospital battlefield. Sixty wasn't old at all.
This had to be like her Alzheimer's—another condition that usually hit people over seventy, often called "old age dementia." Her body must be aging faster than most.
"Let's go get that X-ray," Alice directed. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we can operate."
"Sure thing," Adam said, helping her out of bed and nodding at George to grab the wheelchair.
"Damn it, Zack, hurry up! Stop wasting time!" Alice snapped the second George hesitated. "Can't even handle something this simple? What can I count on you for? Get out! Get out of my house! Get out of my sight! Go mess around with that little tramp of a student and your pathetic research budget! My work matters most! I'm the one paying for this house! I'm the one supporting Meredith! I'm the one keeping you and your precious lifestyle afloat! Why don't you just leave and let me handle this myself?!"
Veins popped on Alice's forehead. If Adam weren't holding her back, she'd have lunged at George. Clearly, even with her medical memory intact, the slightest trigger could unleash some nasty Alzheimer's symptoms.
George froze, his chubby face crumpled like he was about to cry. Who had he pissed off to deserve this?