At the medical center, outside the operating room.
"Peggy?"
Adam froze for a second, chuckling to himself.
Foreign names are just so funny sometimes—Peggy can be a first name or a last name.
And here's the kicker.
Every Peggy Adam's met has been drop-dead gorgeous.
Take Peggy Adler, the icy snow maiden who stepped into the mortal world—stunning doesn't even cover it.
Then there's this Jessie Peggy right in front of him. Not only is she dazzling, but she's got those cute dimples too. 😍
Hmm.
Juno's full name is Juno Peggy McGough.
Another Peggy…
If you put them all together, you'd get a first-name Peggy, a middle-name Peggy, and a last-name Peggy—a total Peggy trifecta!
But Adam's no nutcase like some "Emma-obsessed, explosion-loving" weirdo. He doesn't have a thing for collecting people with the same name, so no plans to summon a dragon with three Peggys here. 😂
"Something wrong?"
Agent Jessie Peggy gave Adam a curious glance.
"Nah, nothing."
Adam grinned. "Just that I know a bunch of Peggys."
"Dr. Duncan…"
"You're here about that explosion case, right?"
Adam cut in. "Let's talk somewhere else. Follow me."
With that, he headed toward his office.
Agent Jessie Peggy had no choice but to trail behind, looking a little helpless.
Adam's office.
Yup.
You heard that right.
Adam's got his own office.
Before the nurse strike last time, he shelled out his own cash to rent it from the hospital.
It's decked out—luxurious, fully equipped, the works.
For someone who basically lives at the hospital, it's super convenient.
There's this orthopedic resident who used to crash in an empty hospital storage closet—she was so jealous. It opened up a whole new world for her.
She followed Adam's lead, rented her own room, spruced it up, and made it home. It's way safer and comfier than the storage closet, plus it cuts out the commute to a hotel.
Her family's loaded anyway, so the cost's no big deal.
"Tea, coffee, or a drink?"
Adam sat down, motioning for Jessie to take a seat too. The on-duty nurse he'd hired for Alice Grey popped in right on cue—super attentive, asking what they needed.
The boss was here, so service had to be top-notch.
Adam's a tea guy, and the nurse knew it. This question was for the guest.
"Thanks, I'm good."
Jessie shook her head.
Then her jaw dropped.
Adam opened a safe.
The nurse stepped over, pulling out tea leaves, a fancy unopened bottle of water, and a kettle. She set it all on the table and started boiling water right there to brew tea.
"Hospitals are busy places. Gotta be extra careful about food and drink safety," Adam explained casually.
Jessie's eyes screamed, "You rich folks are way too paranoid—this is overkill!"
Adam just smiled.
She's still young. She doesn't get it.
Even if it's safe, precautions are a must—especially in a place as wild as the U.S.
Adam's not about to test if his taste buds can detect poison or if his "show-off" stamina can outlast a toxin.
His apartment, his hospital office, Peggy's place, the old friends' bar—any spot he frequents has a stash of antidotes and antivenoms, fully stocked.
Hmm.
It's a habit he picked up after recalling some news from his past life.
With billions in wealth and a big name, there's always some jerk out to get you. Totally normal, right?
Better safe than sorry.
The room went quiet for a bit. They'd wait till the nurse left to talk.
Adam snuck a glance at the familiar dimpled beauty.
Yup.
She's the FBI agent from The Big Bang Theory who vetted Howard's background.
Those dimples stuck with him.
He peeked at her left hand.
No ring.
Makes sense.
It's still ten years before she checks out Howard. By then, she'd be in her thirties—plenty of time to get hitched.
Right now, she's only in her early twenties.
Her future six-foot-something SEAL husband? Probably not even in the picture yet.
"Anything I can help you with?"
After the nurse finished brewing tea and left, Adam smiled.
"Here's the deal."
Jessie straightened up, grabbing her pen and notepad, locking eyes with Adam. "Can you walk me through the details of this explosion case?"
"Sure."
Adam gave his version of events.
Totally objective, no personal spin.
"Got it."
Jessie scribbled some quick notes, then looked up at Adam, her gaze sharpening. "One question, Dr. Duncan. How'd you know this patient was dangerous? And why'd you ask the wife if there was a bomb in him?"
"Gut feeling."
Adam braced himself internally—Here it comes—but kept a calm smile.
"Gut feeling?"
Jessie's eyes screamed disbelief.
"Yup."
Adam grinned. "Agent Peggy, when you deal with life and death day in and day out, you start to get a sixth sense about danger.
Don't believe me? Ask any doctor or nurse.
Take my colleague Meredith—she was saying this morning she might die today. Refused to come to work, dead set against it.
For interns like us, unless the hospital forces us to rest and recharge, we'd happily pull 24/7 shifts here.
If that weird vibe wasn't so strong, why else would she skip out?"
"Your colleague's name?"
Jessie picked up her pen again.
"Dr. Meredith Grey."
Adam chuckled. "Her roommate and fellow intern, Dr. George O'Malley, and Dr. Izzie Stevens couldn't talk her into coming. Took her best friend and coworker, Dr. Cristina Yang, to drag her in.
And turns out, she was right.
If I hadn't sensed the danger and stopped that patient from coming inside, standard procedure would've sent him to OR 3—right next to the oxygen supply hub.
Boom. Whole hospital goes up.
Meredith, working in there? High chance she'd be toast.
That gut feeling—pretty convincing, huh?"
"I'll talk to her."
Jessie didn't commit, but the doubt in her eyes faded a bit.
"Still not sold?"
Adam sipped his tea and grinned. "One more story then. This morning, the surgery schedule board in the hallway was practically empty—not the usual jam-packed mess.
Our chief of surgery, Dr. Richard Webber, the head of cardio, Dr. Preston Burke, and the neuro chief, Dr. Derek Shepherd, all walked up to it and said at the same time, 'Uh-oh, something bad's going down today.'
That's the instinct of seasoned docs.
And guess what? They nailed it, didn't they?"
"…"
Jessie had no comeback. She just scribbled down every name Adam dropped, planning to check them later.
But stuff like this? Hard to fake.
It's too easy to verify.
She bought Adam's "intuition" excuse, though inwardly she was rolling her eyes: "What the heck? What kind of hospital is this? Why do all your doctors have some freaky superpower intuition?"
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