Medical Center.
Adam's brow furrows the second he hears this. His gut says no way, but since he's still clueless about the full story, he holds back. "Just spit it out—what's going on?"
"Two hearts…"
Liz quickly spills the beans, then pleads, "Dr. Burke's fighting for the last heart right now, but it's looking grim. We've gotta do something to get it for Danny. I need you to make Danny's condition tank—now…"
"Stop right there!"
Adam cuts her off with a shout. "Give the phone to Dr. Burke!"
"You won't even help me with this little thing?"
Liz freezes. "It's a piece of cake for you! I know you can do it. Danny's your patient too…"
"Shut up, you moron!"
Adam snaps, letting her have it. "Have your hormones fried your brain? You're seriously saying this crap out loud like it's no big deal—a 'little favor'?
Do you even get what happens if you pull this off?
You're talking about faking records to scam a heart from the transplant center.
If they catch you, you're toast—fired on the spot…"
"I'm not scared of getting fired!"
Liz growls stubbornly. "I don't care!"
"I know! And I don't either!"
Adam laughs coldly. "But who pays for your little tantrum? Me, Dr. Burke, the whole hospital—and the patient you'd be stealing that heart from!
Leave me and Burke out of it for a sec.
If this scandal blows up, the hospital gets blacklisted by the transplant center!
Know what that means?
No approval, no cooperation—heart and organ transplants here? Done. The best cardio-thoracic department in the medical center? Half-dead!
The hospital's ranking tanks, reputation and resources gone—poof!
How many people work here?
You'd be smashing everyone's rice bowl!
And that patient you'd be screwing over with your fake data?
Their life doesn't matter?
Don't give me that '17 seconds earlier doesn't count' garbage—it's theirs by right!
Now, hand the phone to Dr. Burke immediately!"
Beep beep beep.
Liz, chewed out by Adam, knows he's not helping her. She hangs up and switches off Dr. Burke's phone in one swift move.
Even after Adam laid out the brutal consequences, she's still dead-set on getting that heart for Danny.
Yup—she's not giving up.
"George, you're my best friend, right?"
She dials her BFF, George O'Malley. "You've got to help me this time…"
Back at the Medical Center.
Adam's face is dark after the hang-up. He storms toward Danny's room, redialing Dr. Burke's number.
Phone's off.
"You're not stopping till you hit rock bottom, huh?"
Adam starts plotting how to handle this mess.
First: Liz can't succeed.
Second: This can't go public.
It's a straight-up scandal. Even if she doesn't pull it off, leaking it risks the blacklist anyway.
For a good while, the hospital's interests are tied to his own—his whole "save lives, extend lifespan" plan's on the line.
This time, he's not just gonna mutter "Saint Liz" under his breath and let it slide with a laugh.
Outside Danny's room, he spots George O'Malley pacing nervously. Adam's expression goes ice-cold. He grabs George, drags him to a corner, and hisses, "Your brain turn to mush too? Do you even know what you're doing?"
"I don't want to, but Liz…"
George looks torn.
"Liz is done for," Adam sneers. "And now you're out too!"
"Adam…"
George tries to speak.
"Get lost—now!"
Adam points, raising his voice.
George has never seen Adam like this. Whatever he was gonna say gets swallowed up, and his legs move on autopilot in the direction Adam's pointing. A few steps in, he actually feels relieved.
Deep down, he knows better.
How could he even think about doing this?
If Liz hadn't guilt-tripped him hard, he wouldn't have even shown up.
"Chief, we've got a situation," Adam says, dialing Surgical Chief Richard Webber.
After he said no, Liz still roped George into faking data. She's lost it.
No guilt holding him back now—he spills everything to the chief.
Richard's stunned. An intern this reckless? Then the rage hits.
This is his hospital!
This is his surgical department!
Princeton Teaching Hospital.
Liz pulls herself together and steps into the meeting room.
"Dr. Burke, Mr. Duquette's condition is worsening."
"What?"
Dr. Burke jolts. "What's happening?"
"Dr. Duncan's resuscitating him," Liz says through gritted teeth. "It's not looking good. That qualifies him for priority transplant, right?"
"If that's true, then Danny Duquette's now a 1A candidate for the heart transplant. He'd jump ahead of Dr. Hahn's patient," Dr. Burke says, though something feels off.
"That's nonsense!"
Dr. Hahn snaps. "I'm out of here."
"Dr. Hahn!"
The transplant center rep's voice crackles through the always-on conference line. "If Dr. Burke requests an ultrasound and BNP heart failure test to confirm the patient's condition, we'll allow it."
"That'll take at least an hour!"
Dr. Hahn's pissed.
"Is the donor stable?" the rep asks.
"Yeah," Dr. Hahn admits reluctantly.
"Then Dr. Burke has one hour for those tests," the rep decides, finalizing it.
Call ends.
Dr. Burke and Liz step out of the meeting room.
"Liz, where's my phone?"
Dr. Burke holds out his hand. "I need to talk to Dr. Duncan myself and get the rundown."
"Preston," Liz says, handing it over, calling him by his first name. Her eyes are begging.
Dr. Burke pauses, thrown off, a bad feeling creeping in. "Liz, what did you do?"
When he finds out, his face turns to stone.
Adam thought of the fallout—how could he, the cardio-thoracic chief, not?
"Preston, Danny needs this heart…"
Liz pleads.
Dr. Burke glances around, sees no one, pulls Liz into an empty meeting room, shuts the door, restarts his phone, and calls Adam.
"Dr. Duncan."
"Dr. Burke, the chief wants to talk to you."
"Burke, what's going on over there?" Richard asks, frantic.
"Relax," Dr. Burke says, knowing what's got Richard spooked. "The transplant center gave us an hour for tests. They didn't say anything else. We're doing this by the book. If Danny's condition's really tanked, we get the heart. If not, we step back."
"No!" Liz cries out.
"Shut up, Liz Stevenson!" Richard barks. "You don't get a say here. Burke, you know how bad this could get. No leaks."
"I know," Dr. Burke says gravely.
"Liz, stop this nonsense!" Adam jumps in. "Keep this up, ruin the medical center's rep, and I swear—even if Danny gets a new heart, no decent surgeon will touch him. You hear me?"
She's a lunatic right now, and Adam's too far to stop her physically. Intimidation's his only shot.
"Me too!" Richard piles on.
"Don't believe I can make that stick? Think about the chief's pull in the medical world," Adam says icily. "Now sit there quietly, not a word, and come back with Dr. Burke in an hour!"
"You guys!"
Liz wants to cry.
"Think about what you're doing," Adam says, stone-cold. "You're trying to save Danny, not kill him. He's got two years—plenty of chances. You really gonna blow it all on this doomed shot and leave him with no top surgeons later?
And don't tell me any random doc can do a heart transplant with the same results."
"I messed up. I'm done. I'll do what you say—let's leave it to fate," Liz sobs.
"Preston, keep this under wraps," Richard stresses again before hanging up.
"I'm firing Liz Stevenson!" Richard yells. "She's gone!!!"
"Agreed," Adam nods.
Liz has zero medical ethics left.
If they don't sack her for this, it'd be some cheesy medical drama plot. 😒
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