Medical Center.
Morning.
Adam had just stabilized the old lady and her daughter, handing them over to a psychiatrist before heading out. After all, he wasn't a professional shrink. Whether or not they actually had a mental illness, he couldn't provide a legally binding diagnosis.
As noon approached…
Adam was busy seeing patients in the ER when a nurse came rushing over.
"Dr. Duncan, you've gotta get to Operating Room 2, stat!"
"Wanda, what's going on?" Adam asked, already getting up.
"There's a huge problem with the patient in OR 2! Looks like some kind of neurotoxin infection—it's knocked out the chief and everyone else operating on her!" Nurse Wanda blurted out the bombshell, practically shouting.
"Let's go!"
Adam grabbed Wanda and headed for OR 2, asking on the way, "What's the situation now? Have they gotten the chief and the others out? Where's Dr. Burke and the rest?"
"They've all been pulled out and are on oxygen therapy," Wanda said quickly. "Dr. Burke, Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Montgomery, and Dr. Sloan are all there trying to figure out a plan. Burke specifically asked for you to come too."
"What about the patient?" Adam pressed.
"They're halfway through surgery—her organs are completely exposed. Burke and the others are worried the anesthesia's wearing off and she might wake up!" Wanda explained. "And Dr. O'Malley and Olivia, who came into contact with her blood earlier—they're both down too. This unknown neurovirus is spreading like crazy!"
"Got it!"
Adam's face turned serious. Now that he had the info he needed, he let go of Wanda and kicked it into high gear.
"Dr. Duncan, where are you going?! OR 2's this way!" Wanda shouted after him, surprised.
"I'm grabbing my gear!" Adam's voice echoed back from down the hall.
---
Operating Room 2
"Where's Adam?" Dr. Burke frowned when he saw Wanda show up alone.
In a crisis like this, they needed every skilled doctor they could get to tackle it together. That's why he'd sent Wanda to fetch Adam in the first place.
"Probably doesn't wanna deal with it," Mark Sloan chimed in, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Told ya—this unknown neurotoxin? We've got no clue what kinda long-term damage it could do. Safest bet is to stay out here and wait for backup. Dr. Duncan clearly made the same call as me, just without my honesty."
"The patient's gonna wake up soon—she'll die in agony!" Dr. Montgomery snapped, glaring at Mark. "We're doctors. We're supposed to save her!"
"Sure, but only if we protect ourselves first," Mark shot back with a shrug. "I'm not about to risk my life for one patient and end up in some nightmare scenario."
"What a real piece of work you are!" Montgomery spat.
"A real piece of work is still a person," Mark quipped with a grin. "Dead or crippled by some horrific disease down the line? That's not a person anymore."
"Damn it!" Dr. Shepherd, who'd been keeping an eye on the patient in the OR, suddenly called out, "She's about to wake up!"
"Where are the hazmat suits? Why aren't they here yet?!" Burke barked.
"They're here!"
A couple of nurses rushed in with two bulky hazmat suits. These weren't your standard-issue ones—they were sterile suits borrowed from orthopedics, typically used for bone marrow transplants. They had self-contained air systems to completely isolate the wearer from the outside, perfect for shielding against an unknown neurovirus.
"Ugh, these things are a pain to put on! No way we'll get 'em on in under a minute," Burke grumbled as he and Shepherd started suiting up, ready to go in and save the patient.
But these suits were like something out of a sci-fi movie—basically space suits. Without help and enough time, there was no way to get them on properly.
"She doesn't have a minute!" Montgomery yelled, watching the patient starting to twitch and resist the intubation tube. She grabbed a mask, pressed it to her face, and charged into the OR.
"Addison!" Mark shouted, startled, reaching out to stop her.
Just as he'd said, this neurovirus was a total unknown. Nobody knew what kind of aftereffects it might have. If it was this aggressive, any potential side effects could be downright terrifying.
Even if Mark mostly cared about himself, he genuinely had feelings for Montgomery. He didn't want her throwing herself into the fire like this.
Too bad for him—Montgomery was way more decisive than he'd expected. She didn't even give him a chance to grab her before she was already in the OR.
"Get out of there!"
"She's awake! I need to re-anesthetize her now!" Montgomery called out, scrambling. "Damn it! I can't find her chart—I don't know her weight! I can't dose her properly!"
Anesthesia usually required a specialist to calculate the dosage based on gender, weight, and other factors. But in a pinch, any doctor could estimate based on rough numbers.
"She's probably around 60 kilos!" Mark shouted from outside.
Montgomery didn't have any other options at this point. She quickly dosed the patient based on the 60-kilo estimate. "Alright, that should do it."
After injecting the anesthetic and getting the patient back under, Montgomery was already feeling the effects of the neurovirus. She stumbled toward the exit, barely able to keep her balance.
"Hurry!"
Mark looked worried but stayed planted firmly outside, unwilling to rush in and help.
Just as Montgomery collapsed at the OR door, a figure caught her steadily.
"Adam?" Montgomery mumbled, her vision blurry.
"Don't worry, I've got this," Adam said, decked out in a sleek, high-tech hazmat suit. He carried her out of the OR, handed her off to Wanda to look after, and then—under Mark's conflicted, jealous stare—headed back into the OR.
"Burke, those ortho suits you've got only have 30 minutes of battery life. No way you'll finish this surgery in that time," Adam said as he checked the patient's condition, speaking to Burke and Shepherd outside, who were now suited up. "I'll take over the surgery. One of you come in to assist for 30 minutes, then get out immediately."
"Sounds good!"
Burke glanced at the futuristic, clearly custom-made suit Adam was rocking—practically oozing money and high-tech vibes—and didn't argue. He just nodded in agreement.
No way this surgery could wrap up in just half an hour. Hell, 30 minutes wouldn't even be enough to stabilize the patient and get her to an isolation ward so they could gear up properly for round two.
They'd been ready to risk it out of sheer duty as doctors. But now that Adam was here, clearly prepared for this, they weren't about to take unnecessary risks.
Adam's skills were undeniable—everyone knew it. Sure, they didn't love admitting it, but deep down, they knew that while they might have more experience in some rare procedures, if Adam had done it once—or even just heard them explain it in detail—he could pull it off perfectly.
That kind of talent just made you tip your hat, whether you liked it or not! In a situation like this, Adam calling the shots and asking for their support? They didn't have a single objection.
"I'll go first!" Burke said, turning to the fully suited-up Shepherd. "Get ready to step in."
"Got it!" Shepherd nodded.
Mark watched the whole scene unfold, feeling oddly annoyed.
Weren't we supposed to be the pragmatic ones here, playing it safe together? Why you gotta go and steal the show like that?!
---
(End of Chapter)