Medical Center. Self-Service Cafeteria.
"Adam, what you're doing is just wrong."
George couldn't wrap his head around it, frowning as he went on, "This is totally messing up the hospital's order and stepping on other people's freedom… What? Am I wrong or something?"
He trailed off, noticing Adam staring at him with a weird look, and hesitated.
"You don't know the first thing about freedom, huh?"
Adam chuckled, shaking his head.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
George blinked, confused.
"Where are we right now?"
Adam glanced around at everyone. "This is the medical center—a private business. All the rights and freedoms here belong to the hospital board! As long as they're cool with it, throwing a party that mildly annoys some patients is no big deal. Even if the President showed up for treatment and wanted to complain, it wouldn't matter! They'd just kick him out. That's real freedom!"
"Bullshit!"
Meredith snorted, laughing. "No way that's true!"
"Exactly!"
George jumped in. "What about the law? Where's the justice in that?"
"You're not serious, right?"
Christina, munching on some melon, glanced at Adam—who was grinning silently—and her jaw dropped.
"Looks like you guys really don't get it."
Adam shook his head with a laugh. "If you get the chance, check out U.S. law. Personal freedoms like speech? That's for public spaces—think random squares with no owner. But if a place has an owner, every right there belongs to them. Sacred and untouchable!"
"Wait, for real?"
Christina's eyes widened. "So you're saying if someone's rich enough to buy up the whole country, they could do whatever they want?"
"Theoretically, yeah."
Adam nodded, humming a little tune. "On my turf, you follow my rules. Reap freedom, chase happiness with power, and carve out my own vibe…"
"Money really lets you do anything, huh?"
Christina murmured, still processing.
"No way that's true!"
George shook his head hard. "Adam, you're full of it. I don't buy it!"
"Believe what you want."
Adam shrugged, switching gears. "Christina, how'd the angiogram go for that patient with the heart mass this morning? Tumor or what?"
"It's a coronary aneurysm."
Christina was way more level-headed than George and the others. Sure, she was stunned by this new take on American freedom, but she quickly adjusted, shoving down the worldview-shaking vibes.
"A coronary aneurysm?"
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Lucky you!"
"You bet!"
Christina grinned, then huffed. "But the patient hasn't decided on surgery yet. They're about to get married, and according to his fiancée, they're not young anymore. They've sunk way too much into this wedding, so they're thinking of tying the knot first, then dealing with the surgery later."
"But a coronary aneurysm could rupture any second!"
Adam pointed out. "That's a recipe for turning a happy day into a funeral. 😬"
"I told them that too."
Christina sighed. "Now we can only hope they come around, or I might not even get to do the surgery."
"Earlier, I saw the fiancée in the lounge, staring at receipts for their wedding dress, band, and venue rentals," George chimed in. "She said she regretted not listening to her mom—should've tossed those receipts instead of keeping them 'just in case.' She thought it'd bring bad luck, and now look, it's like it came true."
"That's just survivor bias talking."
Adam shook his head.
"Ugh, they were such a happy engaged couple. Who knows what'll happen now?"
Meredith sighed.
"What'd Dr. Burke say?"
Adam glanced at Christina. "Is the surgery tough?"
"Nah, it's fine."
Christina shrugged. "Burke's the best. If he's doing it, the risk's as low as it gets."
By then, everyone had finished eating. After a quick chat, they got up and headed toward the wards. Everyone had their own stuff to handle.
As they walked down the hallway, Christina reached the patient's room first. She waved at the group and was about to check on their decision when she bumped into the fiancée coming out.
"Can you tell Dr. Burke that Kev's ready for the surgery?" the fiancée asked Christina.
"Of course! That's awesome—you guys figured it out!"
Christina beamed. 😊
"Where are you off to?"
Adam, though, noticed her bag and her off vibe, piecing it together.
"Uh…"
The fiancée stammered. "I… I can't face this. I'm not strong enough."
"Amy, I get that it's tough, but your fiancé's about to have surgery," Meredith said, stepping forward to comfort her. "When he wakes up, you're the one he'll want to see. You should stay."
"No."
Amy's face stiffened. "He won't see me. He's not my fiancé anymore."
"You're leaving him?"
George's jaw dropped. 😳
"I'm not strong enough…"
Amy repeated, sticking to her excuse.
"What about 'in sickness and in health'?"
Christina couldn't hold back. "You're just gonna ditch that vow?"
"Please, try to understand. I hate that I'm not strong enough."
Amy's face screamed self-loathing, but her tone was firm. "But I know I'm not."
Adam watched this absurd yet painfully real scene unfold in silence.
That morning, this couple had been all over each other in front of everyone—flirting shamelessly, cracking dirty jokes, totally lovey-dovey. But in a blink, it turned into "birds of a feather fly apart when disaster strikes."
Love in the mirror—fragile as a dream of glory.
Then he caught something in the room.
Beep beep beep!
The alarm blared.
"Patient's heart stopped!"
Adam bolted inside, Christina right behind him.
"Call Dr. Burke fast—his aneurysm might've ruptured!"
Adam shouted.
As they scrambled to save him, Adam's peripheral vision caught Amy outside, glancing in once before turning and walking away.
When Dr. Burke arrived and headed to the OR with Christina, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where's Amy? Did she really leave?"
"What else could she do after that?"
"Do you think the patient crashed because of her?"
George fumed. 😡
"Could be," Adam said with a nod. "A coronary aneurysm plus a big emotional hit—like getting dumped by your fiancée right after a diagnosis—could easily make it rupture. Lucky it happened here and not out there, or…"
"She basically tried to kill him!"
George was livid.
"It's fake, all fake…"
Meredith muttered, dazed.
That morning, she'd been swept up watching this flirty couple, daydreaming about her and Dr. Shepherd in their place, feeling all warm and fuzzy. But now? This twist left her doubting if love even existed.
Of course, in this mess, she didn't see herself as backstabbing Amy—she was the patient, hit over and over until his aneurysm burst from the shock.
---
PS: Main Character's Latest Stats
- Wisdom: 182.6 (Normal: 100, Great: 120, Genius: 140, Super Genius: 180)
- Strength: 480 (Normal: 100, Buff: 200, Super Strong: 500, Inhuman: 1000)
- Endurance: 660 (Normal: 100, Great: 200, Show-Off: 500, Inhuman: 1000)
- Speed: 180 (Normal: 100, Great: 200, Show-Off: 500, Inhuman: 1000)
- Lifespan: 36.23 (Early Death, Normal: 80, Great: 100, Show-Off: 150, Inhuman: 200)
Your comments, reviews, and votes really help me out so much and they make me super motivated to keep working on this story! Thank you! Pat**on : Belamy20