In the early hours of the morning, Adam left the hospital and drove toward New Jersey.
Ten minutes later—
Beep beep.
Beep beep.
His pager went off.
With a swift maneuver, Adam executed a sharp turn and headed straight back to the medical center.
Code 911—absolute emergency.
For a hospital to page an off-duty intern at this hour, it could only mean one thing: a major accident. One that required all hands on deck.
Adam instinctively floored the gas pedal.
A disaster meant a flood of patients.
Lives were at stake.
Theirs—and his.
Six minutes later, Adam arrived at the medical center.
Christina and the others were already there.
Meredith, reeking of alcohol, leaned against the wall. Judging by her state, she had probably come straight from Joe's Bar across the street.
They were all in the middle of putting on surgical gowns.
"What's the situation?" Adam asked as he started suiting up as well.
"A drunk moron decided to drag race against a train in the middle of the night. He crashed head-on, died instantly, and caused the train to derail. There were over three hundred passengers onboard. It's reportedly a horrific scene."
As always, Christina had the scoop first.
"…"
Adam was speechless.
Not just because of the reckless drunk who sealed his own fate.
But also because of the excitement in Christina's voice.
Seriously, girl?!
Sure, a wave of patients was about to come in.
For once, interns wouldn't need to suck up to their attending doctors to get hands-on experience.
But at least pretend to have some empathy.
Otherwise, people might start thinking you're some kind of sociopath.
"Christina," Meredith slurred, still leaning against the wall, clearly not impressed by her friend's attitude.
"What?" Christina shrugged. "I'm a surgeon. I've been working non-stop for hours. The moment I heard the news, I wasn't tired anymore. That's good news for the patients. Don't tell me you guys don't feel the same way?"
George and the others stayed silent.
Because, truthfully, they did feel the same way.
Even though they sympathized with the victims, deep down, they were also eager for the opportunity to prove themselves.
Unlike Adam, they lacked his endurance.
Right now, exhaustion was weighing on them heavily.
But the anticipation of working on real cases suppressed their fatigue. In a way, that was beneficial for the patients.
Adam cleared his throat. "It's good that we're alert—it'll help the patients. But looking excited is a different story. Christina, tone it down. If a patient's family sees you grinning like that, you might not just lose the chance to operate—you might get shot. Don't push your luck."
Christina's excitement vanished instantly.
She had almost forgotten about that.
The sharp clatter of high heels echoed through the hallway, drawing everyone's attention.
"What are you looking at?"
Dr. Bailey appeared, dressed in a tight-fitting evening dress—an unusual look for her. She rolled her eyes at their surprised expressions.
"Out at this hour, Dr. Bailey? A date, maybe?" Adam teased.
"It's my tenth wedding anniversary," she replied while slipping into a surgical gown. "Got off work too late, so we had to celebrate at midnight. Any issues with that?"
"None at all." Adam grinned. "If every doctor had your level of discipline and dedication, we'd be in great shape."
Christina, George, and Liz: "…"
Suck-up!
"Exactly!" Christina immediately chimed in.
Meredith, still tipsy, suddenly lost her smile.
She felt personally attacked.
"Enough chit-chat," Dr. Bailey said, a flicker of amusement passing over her face. "Get ready. We're about to get very busy."
Then she noticed Meredith's drunken state and frowned. "Who else has been drinking?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Good," Bailey muttered before turning back to Meredith. "Grey, stay put. You're not touching a patient."
"Then I might as well just go home," Meredith mumbled, swaying slightly, a smug smile on her lips.
"Oh, you wish." Bailey scoffed. "We're going to be working non-stop for the next few shifts. Unless you chugged an entire bottle, you're getting an IV with vitamins. In a few hours, you'll be sober, and then you're back to work. Home? Please."
Adam and the others chuckled.
"The rest of you, follow me. Get ready for patient assignments."
Bailey's gaze lingered on Adam. "You take the lead and handle as much as you can."
"Yes, Dr. Bailey."
Everyone followed her into the emergency room.
The ER was already chaotic—patients everywhere, doctors rushing in and out. More wounded were being wheeled in nonstop.
"I've got a pregnant woman with severe burns. I need help!" Dr. Montgomery called out.
Christina, George, and Liz all raised their hands at once.
Even though they were Meredith's friends and should be giving Montgomery the cold shoulder, the case was just too tempting.
Bailey scanned the group and chose Liz. "You're up."
Meanwhile, Adam had already jumped onto a gurney, performing life-saving procedures on a critical patient covered in blood. The medical staff wheeled them into a trauma room as he worked.
This was a patient who would die without immediate intervention.
After stabilizing them, he didn't even glance at the system notification flashing +0.01—he had long since muted those. He was already moving on to the next emergency.
Tonight was going to be a long one.
During the chaos, he spotted something rare—a man and a woman, sitting on separate gurneys, but both impaled by the same steel rod. They were chatting and laughing as they were wheeled in.
Adam was intrigued but was already handling another critical case. He could only watch as they were taken away.
---
Radiology Room
Dr. Burke and Dr. Shepherd had been called in by Dr. Bailey for a consult on the impaled couple.
"…If we remove the steel rod, both could die. We need to extract one patient first, saw off the rod, and carefully remove it while managing the injuries. We might save one."
"But who do we save? And who do we sacrifice?"
"She has a major arterial injury. Her chances of survival are slim. If we move her, he has a much better shot."
"But she's talking, making jokes," Meredith blurted out, unable to hold back.
Her eyes locked onto Dr. Shepherd.
Tonight, she had waited for him at Joe's Bar, expecting answers.
Was she really fighting to save the woman?
Or was she talking about herself?
Shepherd hesitated under her gaze. Then, his stance shifted. "Her injuries are more severe, but maybe we should try moving him first. See if we can save both."
"That's impossible," Burke countered. "If we do that, they'll both die."
"Not necessarily," Meredith interjected. "Adam might be able to do it!"
Everyone froze.
(To be continued…)
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