Medical Center
It turns out Adam's diagnosis and hunch were spot on.
After all, modern medicine has treatment plans for every disease laid out in textbooks. As long as you're well-read enough, nothing really throws you off.
Ward Room
"You're gonna kill me first, then bring me back to life?"
Joe cracked a joke after hearing Dr. Shepherd's rundown of the standstill surgery. "All in 45 minutes? If you go overtime, do I get it for free?"
"No way," Cristina blurted out without thinking.
Yep, she was there too—tagging along with Dr. Burke.
In the end, Dr. Shepherd had picked Burke as the cardiothoracic expert to assist with the surgery.
"Dr. Yang, you can go do the pre-op checks," Burke said, trying to smooth things over.
Adam raised an eyebrow and chimed in, "Dr. Burke, I'm Joe's attending resident."
Burke pressed his lips together tightly.
Dr. Shepherd grinned, watching Burke with a playful glint in his eye, curious to see how the acting surgical chief would handle this one.
Truth be told, it didn't really matter who got picked to assist in this surgery. The spotlight was on Shepherd and Burke. The interns were just there to lend a hand. As long as no one pulled a Meredith—like dozing off, forgetting to trim their nails, and accidentally puncturing a patient's heart—pretty much anyone could do it.
Not every case involves holding a giant tumor for hours on end, nor does every surgery hit a freak accident that even the attending can't handle, only for an intern to somehow save the day.
Adam had also figured out why, after he'd secretly stepped in to help the surgical chief with a procedure, the chief had passed him over and tapped Burke as acting chief instead.
It was because of him and Meredith. The chief had found out.
The chief's take? Keep yourself above reproach.
But was Burke really so upright and fair? Adam had his doubts.
Burke was starting to get a headache.
When Cristina heard about this standstill surgery, she'd come straight to him. He'd agreed without much thought.
What he hadn't expected was that Adam—usually so reliable—would openly challenge his call.
As acting surgical chief, he could pick whoever he wanted for a surgery. Forget Adam, a mere intern; even Dr. Shepherd fell under his authority.
But locking eyes with Adam, Burke remembered the favor he owed him. The reprimand he'd been ready to dish out just wouldn't come.
Because Adam was right—this was his patient. And Adam hadn't dropped the ball once while managing Joe's case.
Normally, Burke wouldn't have bypassed Adam and told Cristina to do the pre-op checks or join the surgery.
He thought back to the surgical chief lying in a hospital bed, praising them as cut from the same cloth—both work-first types—hinting at passing the torch to him.
If personal feelings weren't in play, he never would've told Cristina to step in.
He couldn't keep doing this. His career had to come first.
"Dr. Duncan, you handle the pre-op checks," Burke said, switching gears.
In his head, he made a firm decision.
The smile froze on Cristina's face.
"Sorry, folks," Joe piped up. "I don't care if it's Adam or Cristina—I haven't even decided if I'm doing the surgery yet."
"Joe, you need this surgery…" Dr. Shepherd warned.
"I know, I know," Joe cut in. "If I don't do it, I might die. But first, I need to know how much this is gonna cost. I don't have insurance. I'm not about to let you save my life just so I can spend the rest of it drowning in debt I'll never pay off. What's the point of living like that? So give me a number. Ten grand? Twenty?"
Dr. Shepherd and the others went quiet.
"Thirty?"
Joe had a sinking feeling, but he clung to a shred of hope, bumping the number up ten grand at a time.
Ten thousand was already a fortune to him.
"At least two hundred thousand," Dr. Shepherd said bluntly, meeting Joe's eyes. He was the lead surgeon; he had to be straight with him.
"At least," Burke added.
That was just the surgery itself. Hospital stays, tests, meds—all the extras—would pile on top.
Joe froze.
Two hundred grand hit him like a punch to the gut. The "at least" part crushed him completely.
He was just a small-time bar owner, pinching pennies so hard he'd skipped insurance altogether. Now they were asking him to cough up over two hundred thousand bucks for this surgery? Where was he supposed to get that kind of money? Selling the bar wouldn't even cover it.
And that bar? It was his livelihood, his whole life.
If he sold it, what would he do after?
For a long while, Joe couldn't decide. Finally, he managed, "I need some time to think…"
"Of course," everyone nodded in unison.
It was a huge call.
Only Joe could make it.
Dr. Shepherd left first.
Burke glanced at Cristina, then followed.
Cristina stood there, stunned.
"That's too far—didn't we agree no backdoor deals?" Adam teased.
"Me, too far?" Cristina snapped. "You're not even Burke's intern! You've already hogged all the good cases under Dr. Green, plus you're always lurking in the ER, snagging the best patients before anyone else gets a shot.
Me, Meredith, Izzie, George—and back when Alex was around, that made five of us—competing for Burke's surgeries. Now Alex is gone, and you still waltz in and steal Burke's cases whenever you feel like it!
And you've got the nerve to call me out for pulling strings? I'm too far? When have we ever gone to Dr. Green and taken your surgeries? Who's really playing dirty here?"
"Uh…" Adam grimaced. "You could try competing for them. It's all fair game, right?"
Cristina's withering glare shut him up.
Okay, fine.
Nobody's an idiot here.
The prime surgeries under Leonard? Even Bianca and the others only got the second-tier stuff. Cristina and the rest wouldn't stand a chance poaching from there.
"Hmph!" Cristina scoffed. "Under Dr. Green, you don't just get the best surgeries—you get the most freedom to run them. That's the dream for the rest of us.
But you're not satisfied with that. Now you're swooping in, snagging Burke's and Shepherd's cases left and right. Think about it—lately, haven't you pretty much monopolized every good surgery? And you still have the gall to call me out?"
"Easy, easy," Adam said, a little sheepish. "I didn't mean anything by it. It's all just fair competition, right?"
He hadn't done the math before, but now that he did, it hit him.
He really had turned into a "greedy snake."
Over the past two weeks, he'd done about 80% of the good surgeries from the three attendings.
Those were supposed to be split between nine interns.
Sure, Adam's skills earned him that share, but without his connection to Leonard—who handed him 100% of his good cases—it never would've been this lopsided.
No wonder Cristina, just as ambitious as he was, was so pissed.
Honestly, props to her for holding it in for two whole weeks.
He'd have lost it way sooner.
---