Medical Center
The showdown between the ultimate war god and the flirtiest doctor ended with the flirty one—Mark—getting totally crushed.
Mark was fuming. Not only did he lose to his "old man" rival, but Dr. Montgomery had called him out in front of everyone, making it sting even worse.
Adam, though? He noticed something else.
Mr. Deacon looked calm on the outside, but there was a coldness in his eyes that set off alarm bells in Adam's head.
Sure, Adam had jokingly called him a "war god" before—a guy who'd seen countless battles and didn't blink at death. But after coming back from the war, thanks to the world's (or, uh, script's) influence, he'd mellowed out. To regular folks, as long as his daughter wasn't living in a doghouse, even a guy who'd stolen his girl was just an annoyance he could shrug off—not a life-or-death enemy.
But Adam's sharp instincts caught something off. That fleeting, icy look in Deacon's eyes? It was dangerous—so intense it even rattled Adam, a bystander just munching popcorn on the sidelines.
Something wasn't right.
Had this big-eyebrowed, war-hero dad gone dark? Evil, even?
Adam filed that thought away, keeping it on his radar.
The drama wrapped up quick. Mark Sloan, having lost both pride and dignity, stormed off back to the hospital. Mr. Deacon left too, with Dr. Montgomery escorting him out. The crowd of onlookers buzzed with "oohs" and "aahs" before scattering back to their posts.
Hallway
"Meredith, you okay?"
Adam and Cristina strolled over after the show, only to find Meredith pale as a ghost, hunched over and weakly leaning on the wall. Cristina rushed up, touching her forehead. "You're burning up!"
"I'm fine," Meredith said, brushing off her bestie's hand with a weak smile. "Just not used to mixing two different… dishes at once. Bit of a stomachache."
Adam and Cristina swapped a look, both smirking weirdly.
"It's not what you think!" Meredith snapped, catching their expressions. "I mean actual food! Finn and I haven't gotten there yet."
"There?" Cristina teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Poor Finn," Adam said, shaking his head. "Dude's a contender but lost before the race even started."
"…" Meredith swayed—either from the fever or Adam's jab, who knows?
"Haha!" Cristina cracked up.
"You're laughing?!" Meredith glared at her friend.
"I mean, Adam's got a point," Cristina said bluntly, as always. "If you're picking between Mr. Dreamy and Finn, you can't play favorites. Don't tell me these past few days with Dreamy have just been chit-chat and doorstep pecks?"
Meredith went silent.
Yeah, right—like that was happening!
"Thought so!" Cristina grinned. "Why're you even stressing? Your body's already made up its mind. Finn's kinda pitiful—didn't even know he was doomed from the jump."
"No…" Meredith tried to argue, but Cristina's eager grin and Adam's half-smirk stopped her cold. She'd been dating Finn but cheated with Derek—how could she even deny it?
Just then, Dr. Montgomery strutted over, looking radiant.
"Adam, I've got a case booked for tomorrow—super rare. Wanna swing by and check it out?"
"Absolutely," Adam said, jumping at the chance.
Cristina's eyes sparkled with envy.
Sure, she was dead-set on cardiothoracic and usually scoffed at other fields like neonatal or OB. But a rare surgery—and Adam's VIP treatment? She was jealous.
It hit her hard: when Adam first started, it was just Dr. Green backing him. Now? Burke, Shepherd, Montgomery—pretty much every big-name doc at the center, except newbie Mark Sloan, had his back.
Good surgery? They called Adam first. Tough case? They wanted him in on it.
It was drool-worthy.
"Blech!"
As Dr. Montgomery passed by, Meredith hurled—splashing right onto her shoe.
"You…" Dr. Montgomery frowned, glancing at her puking ex-rival. "You're not pregnant, are you?"
"I'm not pregnant!" Meredith shot back instantly.
"Whatever," Dr. Montgomery shrugged and walked off.
A woman in love had clearly moved past the mess of her ex and his fling.
"Stomach pain, fever, vomiting," Cristina said, helping Meredith into a room. "Trust me, classic pregnancy signs!"
"Lucky for us, no need to play 'guess the dad,'" Adam quipped. "Unless your 'not there yet' scale is way different from ours~"
"Hahaha, yeah, Meredith, your standards are always a little… looser than most," Cristina laughed. "We're doctors—we know even low bars come with risks. So, you worried about who the dad might be?"
"…" Meredith slapped a hand over her eyes, done with their glee at her expense.
"Adam, take a look," Cristina said after a quick check, nodding him over.
"Sure."
Adam didn't hesitate. This kinda exam was routine. Back in school, classmates like Bianca even grabbed his hand to check their "hearts" for practice—purely professional, of course. Strip away the nonsense, it's just fat. No biggie.
"Congrats… probably not pregnant," Adam said, dragging out the words with a grin.
"Not pregnant?" Cristina blinked, surprised.
"Nope," Adam chuckled. "Looks like appendicitis."
"Appendicitis?!" Meredith and Cristina yelped in unison.
"I'll do it for you," Cristina said, grinning at her bestie.
"No way," Meredith shook her head. "I want Adam to do it."
"You don't trust me?" Cristina huffed.
"It's not that," Meredith said with a wry smile. "Adam's just the best. I've only got one body, and you've got plenty of small surgeries to practice on, right?"
"Fine, I'll do it," Adam said, laughing. "I was gonna suggest George, though—you know, 'get back up where you fell.' He's not the same old George anymore!"
"No!" Meredith shouted. "George is my buddy, but there's no way I'm letting him near my appendix!"
Back when they all started as interns, the first surgery was supposed to be George's—a punishment from Dr. Burke to make an example of him. But Adam swooped in, aced it, and stole the show.
George got the second case—an appendectomy. Total disaster. The newbie froze, got mocked as "007" by Alex, and flopped hard.
Meredith had defended him back then, but now, facing it herself? Even with George leveling up, she wasn't risking it. Not even Cristina, the tech wiz, made the cut.
She wanted the best. Plain and simple.
(End of Chapter)