dical Center
The showdown between the ultimate war god and the flirtiest doctor ended with the flirty one—Mark—getting totally crushed.
Mark was fuming. Not only did he lose to his "old man" rival, but Dr. Montgory had called him out in front of everyone, making it sting even worse.
Adam, though? He noticed sothing else.
Mr. Deacon looked calm on the outside, but there was a coldness in his eyes that set off alarm bells in Adam's head.
Sure, Adam had jokingly called him a "war god" before—a guy who'd seen countless battles and didn't blink at death. But after coming back from the war, thanks to the world's (or, uh, script's) influence, he'd llowed out. To regular folks, as long as his daughter wasn't living in a doghouse, even a guy who'd stolen his girl was just an annoyance he could shrug off—not a life-or-death enemy.
But Adam's sharp instincts caught sothing off. That fleeting, icy look in Deacon's eyes? It was dangerous—so intense it even rattled Adam, a bystander just munching popcorn on the sidelines.
Sothing wasn't right.
Had this big-eyebrowed, war-hero dad gone dark? Evil, even?
Adam filed that thought away, keeping it on his radar.
The drama wrapped up quick. Mark Sloan, having lost both pride and dignity, stord off back to the hospital. Mr. Deacon left too, with Dr. Montgory escorting him out. The crowd of onlookers buzzed with "oohs" and "aahs" before scattering back to their posts.
Hallway
"redith, you okay?"
Adam and Cristina strolled over after the show, only to find redith pale as a ghost, hunched over and weakly leaning on the wall. Cristina rushed up, touching her forehead. "You're burning up!"
"I'm fine," redith said, brushing off her bestie's hand with a weak smile. "Just not used to mixing two different… dishes at once. Bit of a stomachache."
Adam and Cristina swapped a look, both smirking weirdly.
"It's not what you think!" redith snapped, catching their expressions. "I an actual food! Finn and I haven't gotten there yet."
"There?" Cristina teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Poor Finn," Adam said, shaking his head. "Dude's a contender but lost before the race even started."
"…" redith swayed—either from the fever or Adam's jab, who knows?
"Haha!" Cristina cracked up.
"You're laughing?!" redith glared at her friend.
"I an, Adam's got a point," Cristina said bluntly, as always. "If you're picking between Mr. Dreamy and Finn, you can't play favorites. Don't tell these past few days with Dreamy have just been chit-chat and doorstep pecks?"
redith went silent.
Yeah, right—like that was happening!
"Thought so!" Cristina grinned. "Why're you even stressing? Your body's already made up its mind. Finn's kinda pitiful—didn't even know he was dood from the jump."
"No…" redith tried to argue, but Cristina's eager grin and Adam's half-smirk stopped her cold. She'd been dating Finn but cheated with Derek—how could she even deny it?
Just then, Dr. Montgory strutted over, looking radiant.
"Adam, I've got a case booked for tomorrow—super rare. Wanna swing by and check it out?"
"Absolutely," Adam said, jumping at the chance.
Cristina's eyes sparkled with envy.
Sure, she was dead-set on cardiothoracic and usually scoffed at other fields like neonatal or OB. But a rare surgery—and Adam's VIP treatnt? She was jealous.
It hit her hard: when Adam first started, it was just Dr. Green backing him. Now? Burke, Shepherd, Montgory—pretty much every big-na doc at the center, except newbie Mark Sloan, had his back.
Good surgery? They called Adam first. Tough case? They wanted him in on it.
It was drool-worthy.
"Blech!"
As Dr. Montgory passed by, redith hurled—splashing right onto her shoe.
"You…" Dr. Montgory frowned, glancing at her puking ex-rival. "You're not pregnant, are you?"
"I'm not pregnant!" redith shot back instantly.
"Whatever," Dr. Montgory shrugged and walked off.
A woman in love had clearly moved past the ss of her ex and his fling.
"Stomach pain, fever, vomiting," Cristina said, helping redith into a room. "Trust , classic pregnancy signs!"
"Lucky for us, no need to play 'guess the dad,'" Adam quipped. "Unless your 'not there yet' scale is way different from ours~"
"Hahaha, yeah, redith, your standards are always a little… looser than most," Cristina laughed. "We're doctors—we know even low bars co with risks. So, you worried about who the dad might be?"
"…" redith slapped a hand over her eyes, done with their glee at her expense.
"Adam, take a look," Cristina said after a quick check, nodding him over.
"Sure."
Adam didn't hesitate. This kinda exam was routine. Back in school, classmates like Bianca even grabbed his hand to check their "hearts" for practice—purely professional, of course. Strip away the nonsense, it's just fat. No biggie.
"Congrats… probably not pregnant," Adam said, dragging out the words with a grin.
"Not pregnant?" Cristina blinked, surprised.
"Nope," Adam chuckled. "Looks like appendicitis."
"Appendicitis?!" redith and Cristina yelped in unison.
"I'll do it for you," Cristina said, grinning at her bestie.
"No way," redith shook her head. "I want Adam to do it."
"You don't trust ?" Cristina huffed.
"It's not that," redith said with a wry smile. "Adam's just the best. I've only got one body, and you've got plenty of small surgeries to practice on, right?"
"Fine, I'll do it," Adam said, laughing. "I was gonna suggest George, though—you know, 'get back up where you fell.' He's not the sa old George anymore!"
"No!" redith shouted. "George is my buddy, but there's no way I'm letting him near my appendix!"
Back when they all started as interns, the first surgery was supposed to be George's—a punishnt from Dr. Burke to make an example of him. But Adam swooped in, aced it, and stole the show.
George got the second case—an appendectomy. Total disaster. The newbie froze, got mocked as "007" by Alex, and flopped hard.
redith had defended him back then, but now, facing it herself? Even with George leveling up, she wasn't risking it. Not even Cristina, the tech wiz, made the cut.
She wanted the best. Plain and simple.
(End of Chapter)
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