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At the medical center.
George's dad's aortic valve replacement went off without a hitch! 🎉 George, the zodiac dog, instantly went from a bundle of nerves to his old doughy self again.
"…We'll need to monitor him for two days. If everything looks good, we can move on to the tumor removal," Adam explained to George's mom, who'd just arrived.
"Thank you so much, Dr. Duncan," she said, overflowing with gratitude.
Adam smiled, nodded, and motioned for the short guy to keep managing the patient. Then he stepped out of the ward.
But the second he hit the corner, Christina blocked his path.
"Hand it over," she demanded, holding out her hand.
"Hand what over?" Adam grinned.
"Don't play dumb," Christina shot back, her sharp little eyes scanning him. "The Surgical Holy Grail—that shiny golden pager!"
"How'd you even find out about it?" Adam asked, genuinely curious.
"Nobody can fool me!" Christina smirked. "Something this good in surgery? No way I'd miss out!"
"Dr. Burke spilled the beans, didn't he?" Adam nailed it in one guess.
"Doesn't matter who told me," she brushed it off, reaching toward him. "What matters is you shouldn't have it! It's our Holy Grail to fight for!"
"Whoa, stop!" Adam swatted her grabby hands away. "You're engaged now—hands off! People might get the wrong idea. Anyway, this is the medical center's legendary Surgical Holy Grail, meant for first-year residents. Am I not a first-year resident?"
"No, you don't count!" Christina crossed her arms. "You're way too freakish to be a regular first-year. Heck, you barely even seem like a resident! So you can't hog our Holy Grail!"
"What are you guys talking about?" Meredith chimed in, strolling over after spotting the commotion.
"Nothing," Christina muttered, avoiding her bestie's gaze.
"She means this," Adam said, pulling a sparkly pink pager out of his pocket.
"What's that?" Meredith blinked, confused.
"Ask your BFF," Adam teased.
"Ugh, fine," Christina groaned. "It's the Surgical Holy Grail. Every year, it goes to the top-performing first-year resident. Whoever wins it through a competition gets to pick any surgery they want for the next three months—no one can say no!"
"There's something like that?!" Meredith's eyes widened. "How did I not know?"
"Of course you didn't!" Christina huffed. "It's supposed to be our competition, but Dr. Bailey just handed it to Adam. That's so unfair!"
"You wanna compete and take it from me?" Adam smirked playfully. "You sure about that?"
"You can't join!" Christina shook her head. "Otherwise, the whole point of the Surgical Holy Grail is ruined. It's meant to reward us normal first-year residents!"
"Exactly!" Meredith jumped in, catching Christina's frantic eye signals. "The winner gets to pick surgeries for three months, but Adam, you're already leading operations all the time. What do you even need the Holy Grail for?"
"It's about the honor," Adam said with a grin. "Next year, I'm planning to pass it on to Melendez and the others. You know, keep the tradition going."
"No way!" Christina and Meredith shouted in unison.
"That screws over everyone in our year!" Christina complained. "You'd snatch all the glory, and we'd have no shot at it!"
"Is it really just about losing out?" Adam raised an eyebrow. "Think it over and try that again."
"…" Christina froze.
Being in Adam's year had actually been a blast—they'd gotten way more experience and leveled up faster than anyone else.
"Adam, I'm getting married soon," Christina switched tactics, going soft with puppy-dog eyes. "How about you give it to me as a wedding gift? Pretty please?"
"No way!" Meredith objected.
"You have to say yes," Christina glared at her. "It's my wedding gift wish! I'm the bride, you're the maid of honor—bride trumps all!"
"Didn't you and Dr. Burke just get engaged?" Adam asked, puzzled. "You're tying the knot already? That's fast!"
"If you give me the Holy Grail, I'll run to the courthouse and get the license today," Christina laughed.
"How about next year?" Adam dangled the pager. "Once Melendez and the interns finish their rotation, I'll set up a competition. You can all fight for the glory then."
"No!" Christina protested again. "That'd leave the Holy Grail sitting around for a whole year—what a waste! We'll compete with your interns, fine—but it has to start now. Otherwise, with all the resources they get from you, our scores won't stand a chance!"
"Yeah!" Meredith nodded. "Ever since you started training interns, we barely get surgery time with you. George has been smirking like a smug jerk—we're ticked off! If we're doing this, it's gotta be now!"
"Alright," Adam said, eyeing their fired-up vibe—like Penny saying her girls needed some sun. He nodded. "Deal."
"Yeah!" Christina and Meredith cheered.
One was dead-set on winning, the other figured she had a shot.
"You think you've got this in the bag?" Adam chuckled. "Don't celebrate too soon."
"I've totally got this!" Christina beamed with confidence. "If I can't beat your interns, I might as well ram my head into a wall!"
"Competition's off," Adam said, deadpan. "Someone's throwing around off-field pressure—saying she'll die if she doesn't win. No point in holding it now."
"…It's just a figure of speech!" Christina groaned.
"When do we start?" Meredith asked, practically bouncing.
"Let's wait until George's dad's surgery wraps up in a couple days," Adam decided. "That way, everyone's got energy to compete. This thing runs for two weeks!"
"How's it scored?" Meredith asked, curious.
"It's been a med center tradition for decades—there's a whole system," Christina explained with a grin. "Simple stitching? 1 point. Scores go up with complexity. Observing a surgery's 3 points, first assist is 10, leading gets you 30. The big one? Solving a medical mystery—80 points! There's detailed rules for every procedure and role. It's intense!"
"That's not fair," Meredith frowned. "With Adam's surgery load, we can't keep up."
"I've got four interns," Adam pointed out. "No matter how many surgeries I do, they split the points. You two have your own famous attending boyfriends and you're first-year residents. If you're still complaining, we can wait till next year. By then, I won't train them, and you'll all be residents—totally even playing field."
"No need! It's fair! Let's do it this year!" Christina shouted.
"Then it's settled," Adam teased. "Spend these next couple days balancing your hormones, ladies. Once the competition starts, if you wanna win, you'll be living and breathing the hospital—surgery on the brain 24/7. Two whole weeks!"
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(Chapter End)