Medical Center. Nurses' Station.
"Of course you're wrong," said the know-it-all nurse with a smirk. "You've obviously gotten too full of yourself. We're all worried you can't even hold a scalpel anymore."
"Even Dr. Duncan thinks so?" Carter asked anxiously.
"To be a doctor, you've got to be calm and steady," the nurse reminded him. "Otherwise, you're one of those who can't handle a knife. So, Dr. Carter, are you calm and steady enough?"
"I…" Carter wanted to say he was, but when he met her teasing gaze, the words just wouldn't come out.
"Violet, just tell me everything," he said, gritting his teeth and pleading.
Might as well face the music now—early death, late death, it's all the same. He didn't even realize he'd mastered some kind of mythical levitation kung fu, practically floating through life. Heaven knows what other flaws he had that he was blind to.
Back when he was the only one shadowing Dr. Duncan, it didn't feel like a big deal. But now? Three new competitors had popped up out of nowhere, and each one was putting serious pressure on him.
Take little Melendez—he was basically a mini Duncan starter pack, so no surprise there. Then there were Lexie and George, the ones he'd been secretly laughing at. One was a Harvard Med School star, the other a seasoned surgical intern with a year under his belt. Sure, Carter could chuckle, but deep down, he wasn't so sure he was better than them.
Sigh.
He wasn't Dr. Duncan's only little sidekick anymore. Otherwise, Duncan wouldn't have kicked him straight to the ER without a second thought.
"Carter, you're still not steady enough. Your foundation's shaky," the know-it-all nurse said, dropping the sarcastic "Dr. Carter" title now that she saw he was genuinely owning up to it. She gave him some friendly advice: "Take something as basic as placing a central line. You can't do it perfectly every time. Sometimes you nail it in one go, other times you're fumbling around, missing the spot. What's that about?"
"That's the nurses—" Carter started to argue, then slumped. "No, it's me. My foundation's weak."
"Of course it's your foundation!" she said, shaking her head. "If a doctor can't handle something that simple without a nurse holding their hand, what kind of clinician are they? What if you're stuck with a newbie nurse who doesn't know squat? You can't count on her—do you just yell for help like some helpless kid?"
Carter's face turned beet red. That scenario was straight-up nightmare fuel.
"Dr. Duncan pointed this out to you twice before, but you didn't take it seriously," she reminded him. "Back then, you were just a med student. No one knew if you'd even graduate, let alone become a doctor or end up interning here. So after those two times, Duncan stopped bothering. It's all on you to figure out.
"But things are different now. Dr. Duncan's officially training interns, and word is he's grooming them to be future star doctors. If you keep coasting like you used to, not buckling down to solidify your basics and work twice as hard, you won't even get the same treatment you had as a med student. Duncan's got plenty of resources, sure, but they're going to the interns he believes in. It's only the first rotation—don't end up as the one he doesn't bet on."
"Buckle down, solidify my basics, work twice as hard…" Carter muttered, repeating her advice like a mantra. Then he perked up. "I'm heading to the ER right now. I'll make sure I do every single thing perfectly!"
"That's the spirit!" the nurse said with a satisfied grin. "But your first stop when you get there? Apologize to all the nurses. I hear they're ready to teach 'Dr. Carter' a lesson."
Carter's face froze. He quickly said goodbye to the know-it-all nurse and bolted to the ER. The second he saw a nurse, he apologized sincerely.
Back in the day, he'd been tight with the nurses—practically one of the gang. So he knew firsthand how terrifying it was when they teamed up to "teach someone a lesson."
Damn it! He'd gotten way too cocky. How could he forget that?
---
Adam's Office.
"Grab some snacks—I'm starving!" Cristina and Meredith barged in, immediately raiding Adam's fridge the second they walked through the door.
Back when the row of stretchers along the corner hallway was their go-to lounge spot, it was just them. But ever since Alex, Liz, and the others left, the group had shrunk. Plus, with Adam getting his own office, their hangout chats had mostly shifted here. Even Ellis Grey's late-night tutoring sessions happened in this room now.
It'd become second nature.
Emmm.
And honestly, the setup here was just too good to pass up.
"I heard you chewed George out until he was totally dazed," Cristina said, munching on snacks while digging for gossip. "Next time, do it in front of us so we can watch the show."
She loved nothing more than seeing chubby little George squirm.
"Chewing him out is for his own growth, not to turn him into some villain," Adam said, shutting down Cristina's wicked idea without hesitation.
Sure, "pretty boy" George could go dark and power up ten times over and still not be a threat. But Adam was a straight shooter—why would he randomly pick on someone, let alone put on a public spectacle? He didn't have some goofy superpower where beating someone up made them like him more, bonding through bruises.
Emmm.
What worried him more was if he tried it without that power and it worked. With George being… well, George, he might actually enjoy it.
"You met her beforehand!" Meredith said, glaring at Adam accusingly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Last night was the first time," Adam replied casually, knowing exactly who "her" was. "That's between you sisters—I'm not getting involved. Didn't Mrs. Grey mention Lexie was coming to intern here?"
"…"
Meredith didn't have a comeback.
Her dad's current wife—aka the new Mrs. Grey—had brought it up plenty of times, even inviting her over to meet Lexie. But Meredith had shot it down every time.
She could maybe stomach the woman who stole her mom's husband, the oh-so-motherly current Mrs. Grey. But Lexie? The girl who'd taken the fatherly love she'd craved her whole life? No way was she ready to deal with that.
Seeing her reaction, Adam just smiled faintly and shifted gears, chatting with Cristina about surgeries and training interns instead.
"That short guy you've got seems pretty impressive," Cristina said, fishing for more gossip.
"Johns Hopkins grad, same school as Dr. Burke—how could he not be?" Adam said with a laugh.
"My four are total logs," Cristina griped. "Meanwhile, you've got two geniuses and two seasoned pros. They don't just save you effort—they handle half your grunt work too. Wanna trade one?"
"Sure, whatever," Adam said with a shrug. "If they're cool with it, swap whoever you want. I'm fine either way."
"…"
Cristina froze, then flipped him the bird.
That was a straight-up Versailles-style humblebrag smackdown.
"Heh," Adam chuckled. "Training interns is all about you. If you don't want to put in the effort, just let them fend for themselves—how much they learn is their problem. But if you go that route, are you ready for Dr. Bailey to rip you a new one?"
Cristina grinned at first, clearly tempted, but the second he mentioned Bailey, her smile vanished.
Even though Dr. Bailey wasn't their boss anymore, they still dreaded her wrath. And if she caught them slacking on training interns? A full-on Bailey roar was guaranteed.
Cristina could already hear it in her head, complete with visuals:
"What are you doing, Cristina Yang?! Is this the attitude I taught you? How did I train you all back then?! You can't even handle a few interns—where do you get off acting so smug all the time? What's there to be smug about? Get your ass back there and teach them properly—right now! I swear, if I catch you slacking again, I'll chew you out every damn time!"
(End of Chapter)