Medical Center. Emergency Room.
A row of intern doctors stood lined up, ready to go.
"Grey, you're up first!"
Dr. Bailey, clipboard in hand, tilted her head toward Meredith.
In the middle of the room, a doctor lay on a bed, face covered, pretending to be a patient.
Meredith stepped forward, checked quickly, and gave her call: "The hand's super swollen, but the pulse at the end is steady. I'd rule out compartment syndrome."
Dr. Bailey stared at her, expressionless, motioning for her to keep going.
"…I think it's probably a radius fracture," Meredith continued, pushing on. "We'd splint it first, then send them to ortho for follow-up. If everything checks out, they can head home."
"Anything else?" Dr. Bailey asked.
"Anything else?" Meredith froze, suddenly flustered, her eyes darting to Adam instinctively.
"No peeking at Duncan!" Dr. Bailey snapped, then scanned the group of interns. "And the rest of you—don't you dare look to Duncan for help either. This is a test! You've got to make accurate calls on your own, or what's the point of having you here?"
She paused, her gaze landing on Adam. Her stern look softened into a little smile. "Adam, don't help them either. Helping them now is just hurting them in the long run."
"I know, Dr. Bailey," Adam said with a grin and a nod.
"Mhm." Dr. Bailey smirked, clearly pleased, then turned back to Meredith, her face blank again. "Grey, anything else to add?"
The other interns' mouths were practically twitching in unison.
Is this still the same Dr. Bailey we know—the one who's all about tough love?
Where'd the old Bailey go, the one who used to give Adam Duncan the cold shoulder?
All this over a free clinic?
Just because Adam helped her snag some funding?
Come on, you're a surgeon—is this really necessary?
The interns never imagined they'd see this side of Dr. Bailey. But then they exchanged glances and shrugged it off.
This was Adam Duncan we're talking about—kind, brilliant, overflowing with talent, and ridiculously charming. No one could resist him. They should've seen this coming! 😏
"Nope," Meredith said, her mind blank. That was her full diagnosis—she had no clue what else to add. Plus, she wasn't sure if Dr. Bailey was bluffing her. These tests were all about training their decision-making skills. For all she knew, she might've nailed it already.
"Alright, I was about to say—" Dr. Bailey started, but she got cut off.
"Time's up!"
Callie, George's girlfriend and an ortho resident, strolled over, stopwatch in hand, calling it.
"I'm dead!"
Then Sydney, the doctor playing the patient, popped up from the bed, ruining Dr. Bailey's big reveal moment.
Adam flashed a knowing grin. Sydney was his resident, and she was a total sweetheart—playful, too. She'd jumped in because she'd been clashing with Dr. Bailey lately.
Just a few days ago, the hospital's chief resident got promoted to attending, leaving the chief resident spot wide open. Surgical Chief Richard was looking for someone to step up.
The gig—overseeing all the residents and basically being half a surgical chief—only had a few qualified contenders: the top senior residents with killer skills and reputations. Dr. Bailey, Sydney, and Callie from ortho.
And wouldn't you know it, those three just happened to be the ones running today's intern training.
Dr. Bailey was the obvious frontrunner. Sydney was second in line. Callie, ortho's finest, was third.
Dr. Bailey was all in on prepping the free clinic lately, so she wasn't super gung-ho about the chief resident gig.
Ehhh, okay, not SUPER, but she wasn't totally uninterested either. If it came her way, she'd take it without hesitation. She'd already been assisting the old chief resident for ages—her rep even spread across the New York medical scene. Visiting attendings would straight-up ask for "the Nazi" from the medical center because everyone knew she was the best resident around. She made their surgeries smoother than butter.
Sydney, sitting pretty in second place, was fired up and ready to fight for it. Sure, she was all giggles and "love heals" vibes, but her skills and ethics? Top-tier.
When Dr. Bailey took maternity leave once, Sydney stepped in to manage Cristina and the crew. She even went toe-to-toe with Dr. Burke—big-shot attending and surgical chief candidate—when he tried sticking up for Cristina. Sydney shut him down so hard he walked away speechless, finally getting why dating an intern was a bad idea.
That kind of guts and principle? Only Dr. Bailey and Sydney had it.
So now, trailing a bit behind, Sydney was throwing little challenges at Dr. Bailey—adding some extra drama whenever she could. It was driving Bailey nuts! 😂
"Dead?" Meredith blinked, stunned.
Sydney, ever the jokester, went full ham—crooked mouth, rolling eyes, shaking all over—then flopped back on the bed, "dying" with her head lolled to the side.
"Duncan!" Dr. Bailey barked, calling Adam in.
"The bone's broken through the skin," Adam said calmly. "She's got multiple wounds and scrapes. Unless there's some hidden condition, a penetrating injury like that's an open fracture. If it's not caught and treated fast, the wound could fester—worst case, it could kill the patient."
"That's it?" Meredith gaped. "That's such a long shot!"
"But it's possible, right?" Adam countered. "As doctors, we've got to think of everything and rule out the wild cards. If we don't, and something goes wrong with our patient, we'll regret it forever."
"Exactly!" Dr. Bailey jumped in. "That's the whole point of this drill. When time's tight and you're triaging on instinct, you've got to be thorough. Don't let your eyes trick you—any tiny doubt that flashes by, chase it down. Otherwise, you could end up with a patient dying for no reason at all."
Click!
A camera shutter snapped, pulling everyone's attention.
"Sorry, just documenting!" George said, all serious, holding up his camera. He'd been snapping pics of Callie, the ortho resident.
Adam, Cristina, and Meredith traded looks, their eyes screaming shock and amusement.
Since when did George, the soft little wimp, get this bold?
Callie marched over, mortified, whispering, "We're working here—I'm your boss…"
"I know, my heart's boss~" George purred, his cheesy line echoing for all to hear.
Callie's scalp tingled with embarrassment as she glared at him. "You can't undermine my authority in front of the interns and my colleagues!"
"O'Malley, put that down!" Dr. Bailey said coolly, and George obeyed instantly, no questions asked.
Callie dropped her head, avoiding everyone's eyes. She'd been third in line for chief resident and still wanted to fight for it—but after this? Yeah, good luck with that. 😅
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(Chapter End)