Medical Center.
Just as Adam was chuckling over House's antics, Christina and Chief Resident Kelly tracked him down.
"Adam, talk some sense into her," Kelly said, dragging Christina along. "She's about to do something rash."
"What's going on?" Adam asked, puzzled.
"She wants to report Dr. Campbell," Kelly said with a wry smile.
"She's a stubborn old fossil who won't let go of her scalpel or retire gracefully," Christina scoffed. "She totally botched a surgery. Shouldn't we tell the chief and get the patient a new surgeon?"
"What surgery did she mess up?" Adam asked, turning to Kelly.
"A cholecystectomy—gallbladder removal," Kelly replied, grimacing. "Dr. Campbell went with an open procedure instead of laparoscopic."
"It should've been a simple surgery with a quick recovery," Christina complained. "But this old dinosaur refuses to learn new techniques. She used that outdated method with a huge incision. Now the patient's still not healed and even broke their leg because of it!"
"Christina!" Adam snapped, frowning. "No matter what, Dr. Campbell's a veteran here. She's been at this hospital for forty years—the first female surgeon they ever had. Legends like Grey and the surgical chief trained under her. Don't you remember what Dr. Grey wrote about her in her journal? How she described learning from Campbell?"
"…'Exceptional skill,'" Christina muttered, her sarcasm fading under Adam's steady gaze. "But that was back then…"
"So you're talking to your future self?" Adam said, eyeing her. "You're mocking her to motivate yourself—hoping to repeat her glory but never her flaws. Telling yourself that when you're a big shot, you'll step away gracefully and retire when it's time? You sure you can stick to that?"
"…I'll do my best to keep up with the latest techniques and never fall behind," Christina said, struggling to defend herself. "I wouldn't skip a laparoscopic procedure just because it's new or the view's limited, and go for some old-school, invasive method instead."
"I hope you can," Adam said with a nod. "Dr. Campbell's talent was on par with Dr. Grey—definitely no less than yours. Even now, pushing 70, people call her a stubborn relic behind her back, but she still won't put down the scalpel. That passion for surgery? It's as strong as yours. Do you think, forty years ago, with her talent, grit, and love for the job, she didn't feel the same way you do—that she'd always stay cutting-edge? So why didn't she? How'd she end up here, getting mocked by you?"
"…" Christina had no comeback.
What else could it be? Age. Her ability to learn new things weakened, while medical tech just kept speeding up!
"So what do you suggest?" she pressed. "Do nothing and let her keep hurting patients?"
"I didn't say that," Adam replied, shaking his head. "If you can prove she made a mistake—an unacceptable one—then say what needs saying and push for her to step back if it's warranted. But keep some respect in your tone. Her future is ours too. Respecting her is respecting ourselves."
"Got it," Christina said, taking a deep breath before heading off to check on the patient.
Later that night:
"Adam, can you do me a favor?" The surgical chief sidled up to him as usual, flashing a sheepish grin while issuing an order.
"What's up?" Adam asked with a smile.
"You heard about Dr. Campbell, right?" the chief asked.
"Yeah," Adam nodded. "The gallbladder surgery. She skipped the minimally invasive laparoscopic option, and it led to a bile duct rupture, artery damage, and a mess of complications."
"It's a medical incident," the chief said, wincing. "Obviously, she doesn't want this, but she's just not fit to keep operating on patients here. We're aiming to take the top spot this year at the medical center—we can't let this keep happening. But she was our mentor. She watched us stumble from clueless interns to where we are now. Alice and I made way dumber mistakes back then—worse than this. And every doctor screws up sometimes. So I can't bring myself to call her out…"
"What do you want me to do?" Adam asked, looking at him.
"I already talked to the patient," the chief explained. "Told them they could switch surgeons, hoping Campbell would get the hint. But the patient really trusts her—likes her, even. Even knowing what happened, they still want her to operate. I'd like you to step into this surgery. Campbell can look us all in the eye and say every doctor makes mistakes—dumb, laughable ones worse than hers—and she'd be right. That's why she spends most of her time in an office but still grabs a scalpel for the occasional surgery. But you, Adam? You're different. You've never messed up. If you work a few surgeries with her, she'll see it: times change, people evolve. She's not cut out for the front lines anymore. And if she realizes that herself and chooses to retire, that's the most dignified exit I can think of for her."
"So you want me to help her bow out gracefully…" Adam's expression turned a little odd.
"Exactly," the chief nodded eagerly. "That's what I mean."
"Alright," Adam said with a laugh. "I'll do my best."
The chief had no clue about the meme he'd just stumbled into. He wasn't being sarcastic—he genuinely wanted to give his old mentor a graceful send-off.
Hmm.
Of course, it was also about preserving his own dignity. If he hovered over Campbell in the OR like she was some rookie resident, she'd probably spill all his embarrassing stories in front of everyone. Like the time he left forceps in a patient, or his flirty antics with Alice Grey—one minute yelling at each other, the next minute slipping into the break room for some earth-shaking "reconciliation." They even had to reinforce the break room walls after that…
Blah blah blah.
Between professional blunders and juicy gossip, she could strip away the stern, dignified image he'd spent years building.
Okay, fine. For Adam and the others who'd read Alice Grey's diaries, the chief didn't have much dignity left anyway. Christina loved teasing him about his affair with Alice—those diaries were packed with their fights. According to Christina's theory: the louder the argument, the wilder the "make-up." Adam, having devoured all of Alice Grey's multi-box diary collection, could confirm… she wasn't wrong.
(Chapter End)