Medical Center.
"Me!"
"Me!"
Adam and Liz raised their hands at the same time.
George, meanwhile, hung his head low. Clearly, he was still salty about his goddess Meredith getting cozy with this jerk in front of him so fast. Stubborn as ever, he was showing his displeasure in his own quiet way.
As for Cristina?
She was currently Dr. Shepherd's golden girl, always tagging along with him for surgeries.
And her bestie Meredith? Naturally, she was following her boyfriend, Dr. Burke, into the OR.
A perfect swap!
Obviously, Dr. Shepherd hadn't given up on Meredith. This was his sneaky way of looking out for her from afar.
Dr. Burke, of course, knew what was up but played it cool.
Now, this kid with lionitis? Dr. Shepherd had assigned Cristina as his bedside doctor.
"Great."
Mark Sloan glanced at the two volunteers. His eyes skimmed right past Adam and landed on Liz, a dazzling smile spreading across his face.
Emmm.
Adam was 100% sure that was the smile of a total player.
Don't ask him how he knew! 😏
Liz, under that gaze, blushed a little. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hide the grin tugging at her lips—a classic "I'm saying no but meaning yes" vibe.
Clearly, when she'd said before that she wouldn't mind a handsome, buff lover like him, she wasn't kidding.
"Come with me."
Mark Sloan waved them over—mostly Liz, of course—and walked side by side with her, flashing that killer smile. "Dr. Liz Stevenson?"
"Just call me Liz," she said with a shy little laugh.
"Looks like you're out of luck," Cristina muttered to Adam as they trailed behind.
"Not necessarily," Adam replied with a sly smile.
"It's all up to the attending," Cristina said, shaking her head. "He picks who he wants, and clearly, he's a pro at this game. He only wants to take hotshots like Liz."
"You're looking at it too surface-level," Adam chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Cristina shot him a confused look.
"Did you see how they were arguing earlier?" Adam grinned. "Dr. Sloan was obviously begging Dr. Shepherd to forgive him."
"So?" Cristina blinked, totally lost. "That's normal, right? It's not like Dr. Shepherd would beg Sloan for forgiveness."
"You're missing the key point," Adam hinted. "When Sloan said it, he sounded so confident, like it was supposed to be this way. It was all, 'Alright, stop sulking already. You've been mad long enough, right? I didn't mean to break up you and your wife—I just wanted to join the party!'"
"…"
Cristina just stared at him, dumbfounded, her brain scrambling to replay the scene. "Wait, what? Was it really like that?"
"Think about it. Chew on it!" Adam teased.
"Hiss…"
Cristina mulled it over for a sec, then gasped. "Okay, yeah, it kinda was!"
"And that's not all," Adam added in a low voice, smirking. "This surgery—did it really have to happen together? Sloan could've just waited for Shepherd to finish, then taken over. With his rep and the trust he's already built with the patient by giving them a fresh perspective, no one could've stopped him.
But nope!
He insisted on clashing with Shepherd, demanded they do it together right now—even if it meant dragging it to the surgical chief or dealing with the patient's parents freaking out.
And after it worked? He even threw in that line to Shepherd: 'Round two goes to the jerk.'
Who's the jerk? Him, obviously.
Calling himself that shows he knows he screwed Shepherd over, but he's still so smug about it and keeps poking the bear. What's that all about?"
"'I'd rather you hate me than not see me at all…'" Cristina murmured, piecing it together.
"Now you're getting it," Adam said with a playful grin.
"Yeah… wait, huh?" Cristina nodded at first, then froze, exasperated. "Getting what? Even if Sloan's some love-everybody type, what does that have to do with him picking Liz over you? Unless you're saying… ew, no way!" 😳
"Stop overthinking it," Adam said, giving her a light tap. "I never said this was about him choosing between me and Liz. I'm just debunking your 'Sloan only likes hot girls like Liz' theory.
Unless a miracle happens, yeah, he's probably sticking with Liz this time."
"…"
Cristina rolled her eyes hard. "So you're calling yourself a miracle now?"
"He didn't totally shut the door at first—gotta keep his options open, right?" Adam smirked. "Makes sense, though. If he'd picked Liz right away and she wasn't into it, that'd be embarrassing. The East Coast's top plastic surgeon can't afford to lose face like that!"
"You seriously think you can turn this around and make him pick you over Liz?" Cristina asked, genuinely curious.
"Can't say for sure," Adam said modestly. "But I can give it a shot."
---
In the patient's room:
"I don't agree!"
After Dr. Shepherd's nudge, the patient's parents were super against the idea of doing two complex surgeries at once.
"Dad!" the lionitis teen called out.
"Jack, we're not rushing this," his dad soothed. "Let's do the tumor surgery first. Once you're better, we can talk about the plastic surgery later."
"Yeah," his mom chimed in. "You're already handsome enough in my eyes. We just want you to live."
"Doing both surgeries together is actually safer," Mark Sloan stepped in, trying to convince them.
But the parents? They couldn't get past the bruise on Mark's face from earlier. Compared to the polished, gentle Dr. Shepherd, their trust in him was shaky. They just wouldn't sign the consent form.
Mark sighed and glanced at Liz.
"Mr. and Mrs. Burton," Liz started, "Dr. Sloan's the best plastic surgeon on the East Coast. He's the only one who can guarantee a successful surgery for your son. This is a rare chance—Dr. Sloan doesn't even work at our hospital. He could leave any day. Missing this would be such a shame."
"Dr. Sloan, could you leave us your card?" Jack's dad asked, turning to Mark. "If this surgery goes well, we'll come find you later if we need to. You'd do it for Jack then, right?"
"Of course," Mark said, meeting his gaze with a forced smile.
"Dad, Mom, I want to do it now," Jack finally burst out. "I trust Dr. Sloan. I'm not scared of the risk. I know you think I'm handsome enough, but that's your job as parents. Other people don't see it that way—and neither do I. I need this surgery."
"Jack, you don't even know what the outcome will be," his dad reasoned. "It probably won't be as perfect as you're imagining…"
"I don't need to know," Jack said firmly. "Whatever happens, I'll take it. Look at me—what's worse than this?"
His hand trembled as he pointed at his face.
"Wahhh…"
His mom covered her mouth, tears streaming down. She knew this was her son's deepest pain.
He was usually so funny and chill, but saying this now? It hit hard.
"Mr. and Mrs. Burton," Adam piped up, stepping forward. He'd been quietly scribbling on a chart off to the side. "You can know what the plastic surgery will look like ahead of time. Check this out."
He slid a piece of paper in front of them.
On it was a sketch of an ordinary-looking teen, smiling softly.
The Burtons instantly recognized it—it was Jack.
So spot-on!
"Is this me?"
"Can I really look like this?"
Jack and his parents gasped in unison.
"Dr. Sloan?" Adam didn't answer them, just turned to the stunned Mark Sloan.
"Y-Yeah…" Mark stammered, staring at Adam. "That's exactly what I had in mind for the surgery. How'd you do that?"
"I know a bit about human anatomy and plastic surgery," Adam said with a humble smile. "Plus, I've got a decent memory, some imagination, a knack for math… oh, and I can sketch a little."
Everyone: "…" 😶
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