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Pat*eon : belamy20
Medical Center
Two days later…
Mr. Robinson pulled through the danger zone. Little Mr. Robinson, after some serious soul-searching at Adam's request, still said yes to the experimental treatment.
"Starting tomorrow, on top of your regular rotations, you'll take turns monitoring Little Robinson—tracking every single reaction. It's gonna get busier. Any issues?" Adam asked the crew.
"Nope!" the Fab Four shouted in unison.
"Thanks for letting me join this epic clinical research, Dr. Duncan! I'm all in—gonna give it my absolute best!" Shorty piped up first, which was rare for him, and with a full-on speech no less. You could tell he was pumped.
"Me too!" George and the others chimed in, even the less "refined" ones.
Yup, even old-hand George was buzzing! Especially picturing Cristina and Meredith's jealous, cell-wall-collapsing envy—he was over the moon. He could totally strut around now, bragging, "That's right! I meant to flunk that exam back then. Seized this once-in-a-lifetime shot!" 😎
"Solid," Adam said, nodding with approval. Morale was high, and he could work with that.
For a long-haul research gig like this, having a team was a game-changer. All the tedious observation and logging? Dump it on them. After assigning the Fab Four their tasks, Adam bumped into Cristina in the hallway.
"Whoa, what's with the vibe? Surgery go south?" he asked.
"No surgery at all," Cristina griped. "Patient's allergic to the anesthetic! Freaking coronary artery bypass graft—poof, gone, just because of this random nonsense!"
"Can't do an angioplasty?" Adam asked, surprised.
"Nope," Cristina shook her head. "There's a clot blocking the artery completely. Needs deep surgery to clear it. It was gonna be a killer case, and now it's just… gone."
"Not totally hopeless," Adam said, thinking it over.
"What's the fix?" Cristina and Dr. Burke—who'd just walked up—asked in sync.
"High thoracic epidural anesthesia," Adam said. "Numb him below the chest, keep him awake during surgery. There was a successful case in the Three Kingdoms last month."
"But that's the Three Kingdoms…" Burke hesitated, recalling the case. "Their 'success' is kinda questionable."
"Theory's sound," Adam said with a grin. "Even if they fudged it, doesn't mean we can't nail it."
"Dr. Duncan, wanna jump in?" Burke asked after a beat, nodding at him.
"Count me in," Adam said, grinning as Cristina ground her teeth.
"Awesome, welcome aboard," Burke chuckled.
Deal sealed, the trio headed to the patient's room to break the news to Mr. Arnold. He'd just been told he was toast—now there was a lifeline? He jumped at it, no hesitation.
Back in his office, Adam tapped away at his computer while tossing a casual jab at Cristina, who was glaring daggers. "Cheer up—without me, that surgery was dead in the water."
"Yeah, but my first-assist spot's dead too," she snapped.
Adam just smirked, saying nothing.
"What're you up to?" Cristina grumbled, curiosity winning out as she peeked over his shoulder.
"Birds?" She snorted, spotting his research. "Seriously? Just 'cause Mr. Arnold's into birds, you're cramming this now?"
"It's not just that he likes birds," Adam said, flipping through data and memorizing it at warp speed. "He's a bird nut. His whole fight against this disease is so he can hit Arkansas one more time to see the ivory-billed woodpecker. We're doing this surgery with him wide awake—six hours plus. Lying there, hearing drills and knives? He could lose it. So I'm brushing up to be his bird buddy. Chat about feathered friends, keep him calm, and make the surgery smoother."
"…" Cristina's jaw dropped.
She hadn't even thought of that—and even if she had, no way could she pull it off. Once again, she was floored. Total respect.
"Pfft!" Adam, mid-cram to become a bird expert at record speed, suddenly cracked up.
"What's so funny?" Cristina asked, leaning in.
"I just saw God!" Adam laughed hard.
"He's God?" Cristina glanced at the screen, confused.
"You wouldn't get it," Adam said, shaking his head with a grin. He quickly dialed a number from the webpage. Tonight, he was heading to Peggy's with a gift in tow.
Operating Room
"Everything below my neck's gone—I can't feel it. Like the rest of me doesn't exist," Mr. Arnold said, voice shaky with fear.
"No worries, totally normal. It'll come back after surgery," Adam soothed. "Focus on the bird calls—tell me what you hear."
The head nurse slipped headphones onto Mr. Arnold's head, loaded with bird songs Adam had tracked down.
"No way I could name every bird just by sound," Mr. Arnold said, instantly distracted and relaxing a bit. "But there's this one guy in our bird crew who can. Unreal!"
"Oh yeah? Who's that?" Adam played along.
"Bird people" was what hardcore birdwatchers like them called themselves.
"Brad!" Mr. Arnold grinned. "He's a sound-ID wizard. Shame his job's got him tied down—if he did the Big Year, he'd smash the record and take the crown!"
The Big Year? A bird-watcher's showdown. Spot the most species in a year, and you're champ.
"Actually, Dr. Duncan can ID birds by sound too," the head nurse said with a smile.
"No way!" Mr. Arnold lit up. "You're into birds, Dr. Duncan?"
"Yup," Adam said. To vibe with Mr. Arnold, it had to be a two-way convo—not just nodding along. That's the only way to keep him steady for hours.
"Last champ was Kenny, right? 732 species—pretty epic," Adam said, flexing his fresh knowledge. "Red-headed warbler, Donner's finch, Tibetan snowcock—super rare stuff!"
"You actually know this!" Mr. Arnold beamed as Adam dropped insider bird trivia only a true fan would catch. When Adam mimicked the calls, the guy's energy shot up.
"Of course," Adam said, earning a nod of approval from Dr. Burke. He kept Mr. Arnold hooked, chatting birds while assisting the surgery—totally wiping out any fear of exposed guts. The guy was in top shape for the procedure.
(End of Chapter)