354-356

Chapter 354: Angry Birds 

Saying Goodbye to Lily and the Crew 

Outside the Ward  

Adam was feeling pretty good as he left the room. Every time Barney’s outrageous antics got under his skin, he couldn’t resist the urge to mess with him a little. Sure, the payback might come with a delay, but it always showed up eventually.  

There’s nothing like the thrill of roasting someone—and keeping it going? Even better. That’s just how it works.  

In the Hallway  

“Huh, surgery tonight?” Adam asked, spotting Meredith heading toward the OR.  

“Nope,” she replied, shaking her head.  

“Come on!” Adam threw his hands up. “What, you think I’m gonna steal your case?”  

“That’s not it,” Meredith said, glancing at him. “I just… can’t tell you.”  

With that, she sidestepped him and kept walking. A few steps later, she turned back with a smirk. “And yeah, even if I could tell you, I wouldn’t!”  

Last time, she and her boyfriend, Dr. Shepherd, had planned a surgery together—practically a date night in bed plotting it out—only for Adam to swoop in and snag it. She wasn’t about to let that slide.  

“Another one of Shepherd’s surgeries?” Adam called after her, grinning.  

Meredith didn’t even turn around—just flipped him off with both hands and kept going.  

“Guess it’s a secret surgery,” Adam mused to himself.  

Some big shots or VIPs liked to keep things hush-hush, and this had that vibe all over it. He thought about it for a sec, then shrugged it off. Sure, he loved cutting, but he wasn’t dying for this one. Secrets usually meant trouble, and he wasn’t in the mood to stir any up.  

Locker Room  

Adam was changing when George and Alex walked in.  

“Dude, you should be grateful,” Alex said, dead serious as he spouted his twisted logic. “Syphilis is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Think about it—before, all the girls thought you were gay. Now? You’re a total player in their eyes.”  

“They’re calling me Syphilis Boy!” George snapped back, clearly not amused.  

“Exactly—boy!” Alex grinned, leaning into his punk vibe. “Not girl, not gay. That’s a win. Plus, Syphilis Boy? It’s like Superboy, just with a little extra baggage.”  

“Oh yeah? And what about you?” George fired back. “What are you, huh? The Scoop Master? Backdoor Alex?”  

“Watch your mouth!” Alex’s face darkened, his voice dropping to a threatening growl. “Or I’ll show you what a real Scoop Master looks like!”  

George shrank back, avoiding Alex’s glare. Honestly, it’s no wonder Liz and the girls treated him like their gay bestie. The guy had zero edge—too soft, too easy to push around. He couldn’t hold his own against Liz and the crew, let alone stand up to a bulldog like Alex. He didn’t dare say another word.  

SLAM!  

Adam shut his locker hard, making his presence known.  

George’s face lit up. “Adam! You’re here too? Heading home?”  

“Yup,” Adam said, shooting a sideways glance at Alex, who looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. “Hey, any idea what Meredith’s up to tonight?”  

“No clue,” George said, blinking. “Haven’t heard anything.”  

“Alright,” Adam nodded, letting it go. It was just a casual question anyway.  

“Catch you tomorrow, then.”  

“Wait up—I’ll walk out with you,” George said, fumbling with his locker. He didn’t even bother changing out of his scrub shirt—just threw on his jacket and followed Adam out, ignoring Alex’s smug, mocking stare.  

Outside the Hospital Doors  

“George!” Olivia called out, stopping him in his tracks.  

“You two chat,” Adam said with a grin, stepping away.  

“About before…” George started, hesitant.  

Olivia cut him off. “George, I just want you to know…” She paused, choosing her words. “That night at 2 a.m., it was totally spontaneous. I was kind of seeing someone else at the time. I didn’t expect to fall for you so hard. But when I realized it, I broke it off with him right away.”  

“Someone else?” George frowned. “Who?”  

Olivia went quiet.  

“It’s not Adam, is it?” George’s head whipped around to where Adam was still lingering by his car. “I remember you had a thing for him!”  

“No, it’s not,” Olivia said, her face clouding over.  

George mentally kicked himself. If it was Adam, why would Olivia dump him for George? He knew all too well what it felt like to pine after someone who didn’t feel the same.  

“Sorry,” he said quickly.  

“It’s fine,” Olivia said with a bitter little laugh. “Now that I think about it, Dr. Duncan’s got the right idea—never dating coworkers. Smart move.”  

“So who was the guy?” George steered the conversation back on track.  

Olivia hesitated, then dropped a name.  

“Alex?” George blinked, his face screaming You’ve got to be kidding me. When he saw she wasn’t joking, his voice shot up. “Alex?!”  

He flashed back to earlier—Alex mocking him over the syphilis thing, acting all high and mighty. And now it turns out Alex was the real source?  

A wildfire of rage exploded inside George.  

“ALEX!!!!”  

He spun around and bolted back toward the hospital.  

“George!” Olivia yelped, startled by his reaction. She took off after him.  

Meanwhile, Adam—who’d been eavesdropping from a distance—couldn’t help but chuckle. Talk about a plot twist. But when he thought about it, it kind of made sense. Alex was a player through and through. The fact that he didn’t line up for testing? Either he already knew he had it and shot himself up with penicillin, or… well, there wasn’t really another explanation.  

Alex had been playing the blame game like a pro, and even Adam hadn’t caught the hypocrisy in the moment. Shaking his head, he decided not to head home just yet and jogged after them. Judging by George’s fury, this was about to get wild. As George’s buddy, he had to back him up… not just watch the drama unfold like some popcorn-munching bystander… right?  

Back in the Hallway  

Alex, freshly changed, strutted out—just as George came charging at him like a runaway train.  

“ALEX!!!!” George roared, launching himself into a full-on tackle. He slammed Alex to the ground, rearing back his fist and swinging it straight at Alex’s face. “You’re the one who gave me syphilis, you jerk!!!”  

Alex hadn’t seen this coming—not from soft little George. Caught off guard, he took a solid punch to the eye. But he’d wrestled enough to recover fast. Blocking George’s wild swings with his arms, he glared up, ready to hit back hard.  

“George, chill!”  

Just as Alex swung, George suddenly floated backward, dodging the punch perfectly. Alex squinted with his good eye—and nearly lost it when he saw why.  

Adam stood there, holding George back, playing the peacemaker. But the glee in Adam’s eyes? Blinding. He was loving every second of this. 

Chapter 355: There’s Only One Truth 

Medical Center. 

The hallway. 

With all the commotion, it didn’t take long for a crowd of nosy onlookers to gather. 

Especially after George let out that ambiguous, booming yell—it had everyone’s eyes glinting with juicy speculation. 

“What’s going on?” 

“George caught syphilis from Alex!” 

“What? You’re kidding, right?” 

“Syphilis spreads mostly through, uh, you-know-what—and the unprotected kind, no less. If George got it from Alex, doesn’t that mean…” 

“Uh-huh, you get it now, right? What kind of protection would they even need? Of course it’s the no-holds-barred, unprotected you-know-what! Otherwise, how do you explain why, even with all the ‘true love’ talk in the gay scene, the chaos and STD rates are way higher than with straight couples?” 

“Heh, Durex must hate them. If everyone followed their lead, condom companies would go bankrupt!” 

“Hahaha!” 

“We all knew George was gay, but Alex? Never saw that coming!” 

“What’s so surprising? A playboy like Alex? He’s always been the type to swing both ways—guys, girls, whatever. If he wanted to try it, you think George would say no?” 

“Yeah, makes sense. Think about it—Alex was originally punished with a week of latrine duty, but now it’s stretched to two weeks, three weeks, maybe even permanent. Doesn’t that strike you as weird?” 

“What are you getting at? He’s being punished because he keeps pissing off Dr. Burke.” 

“That’s the obvious take—or what Alex wants you to think. But look at this mess now. Doesn’t the truth just hit you in the face?” 

“Wait, are you saying Alex actually likes latrine duty, so he’s been deliberately ticking off Dr. Burke to drag out the punishment?” 

“Pfft!” 

“Don’t laugh—okay, fine, laugh, but not in my face!” 

“Sorry, I can’t help it!” 

“…” 

“Look, maybe the first punishment was an accident. But after that? Unless he’s an idiot or genuinely into it, why else would a lowly intern keep provoking Dr. Burke over and over again? That takes some serious guts!” 

“Right? He’s not dumb—he couldn’t be a doctor if he was. So what’s he after? He knows messing with Dr. Burke will get him punished, yet he keeps doing it…” 

“Exactly! Peel back the surface, look at all the evidence, rule out the other options, and no matter how ridiculous it sounds, there’s only one truth left: He loves latrine duty. He went from straight, to bi, and now he’s diving headfirst into full-on gay territory with no turning back. Or maybe this is the real Alex all along. Like a lot of closet cases, he couldn’t face it at first, but now he’s free—finally brave enough to be his true self.” 

“Whoa, that… actually tracks.” 

“Impressive! With logic like that, you could totally do diagnostic work. Maybe you’re the next Dr. House!” 

“Heh, no big deal. I just tossed out some casual reasoning. It’s not even hard—the evidence is so obvious it’s practically blinding. I couldn’t ignore it if I tried!” 

“…”  

George’s one loud outburst had been twisted into “the only truth” by a bunch of self-proclaimed logic geniuses. Alex’s supposed emotional journey and his tangled love-hate saga with George were being unraveled bit by bit in the gossip mill.  

Back in the East, a sage taught the art of divination to interpret the heavens and earth. Over here? The crowd was using it to decode “freedom and love.” Talk about a waste of potential. 

“Asshole!”  

Alex was already fuming, and the not-so-subtle whispers from the onlookers weren’t helping. Every word rang clear as day in his ears, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Clenching his fists, he charged forward. 

“Back off, Alex!” Adam called out, raising a hand to stop him.  

“Go to hell!”  

Seeing Adam block his path, Alex swung a fist straight at his face. Compared to George, who’d landed a punch on him earlier, it was this face he despised more.  

He loathed it with every fiber of his being.  

“Ahh!” 

“Dr. Duncan, watch out!”  

The moment Alex switched targets, a chorus of gasps erupted from the female onlookers. Their perfectly synced screams threw the guys in the crowd off their gossip game for a second.  

Do you have to be that coordinated? What are you, a cheerleading squad?  

“Hit him hard!” 

“Yeah, right in the face!” 

“He’s still smirking at them—unbelievable!” 

“Still playing cool? Pound him harder!” 

“Mess him up so bad even a plastic surgeon can’t fix it—let’s see if they still swoon then!”  

The male onlookers exchanged glances, united by a shared goal. In that instant, their silent eye contact spoke volumes—pure, unfiltered resentment toward Adam.  

Adam totally got where their grudge came from. Nine years since he’d crossed into this world, he was used to it by now.  

Yep!  

In that split second, with a fist flying toward him, Adam not only had the presence of mind to flash a dazzling smile at his female supporters, but he also had the bandwidth to clock the mental meltdown of his male colleagues.  

Why? Simple.  

Alex’s punch was “too slow.”  

Back when his IQ shot past 180 and he hit super-genius territory, Adam had a fleeting moment where the world seemed to slow down in his eyes. It passed quickly, and he brushed it off. But now? He knew it wasn’t an illusion.  

His perception had genuinely leveled up.  

When he focused—whether by choice or reflex—his brain kicked into overdrive. His thoughts sped up, and paired with his already above-average reflexes, it created a kind of bullet-time effect.  

It wasn’t that Alex’s fist was slow. Adam’s mind was just that fast.  

Think of Rajesh’s scavenger hunt in The Big Bang Theory. The puzzles stumped most geniuses for a bit, but super-genius Sheldon? He’d glance at them and spit out the answer instantly. Why? His brain processed everything at warp speed.  

Adam’s mental hardware was on that same tier now. And unlike Sheldon—who’d open a door, take a deep breath, and call it “exercise”—Adam’s muscle speed was no slouch either.  

Sure, with his current abilities, he could track a bullet’s path, but his human-level speed still couldn’t dodge it outright—unless he saw it coming and reacted before it was fired.  

Alex’s fist, though? That wasn’t a high-velocity bullet. It was just a regular punch, and to Adam—who could semi-dodge a bullet—it was laughably slow.  

“I’m just trying to break up the fight,” Adam said with a grin, sidestepping Alex’s swing by a hair’s breadth. “Why’re you coming after the peacemaker?”  

“Because it’s you I want to hit!”  

Alex threw another punch, but it missed again. Staring at Adam’s smirking face right in front of him, his rage boiled over. Ignoring a bewildered George, he went full berserk, swinging wildly at Adam.  

He didn’t even graze his shirt.  

“What are you two doing?”  

The hospital’s big boss finally showed up—Dr. Burke, drawn by the chaos.  

“Stop it!”  

Alex was too far gone to listen.  

“Dr. Burke said stop!”  

Adam dodged another swing, then grabbed Alex from behind, pinning him firmly against the wall.  

“What’s going on here?” Dr. Burke demanded, his face dark with anger.  

Adam explained the situation, backed up by a flurry of female colleagues chiming in with details. It didn’t take long for Dr. Burke to piece it all together.  

“You again!”  

Dr. Burke glared at Alex, still pinned to the wall. He couldn’t believe this scandal—potentially a black mark on surgery, or even the whole hospital—might’ve been sparked by Alex of all people.  

He’d suggested to the surgical chief before that they push Alex out, but the chief shot it down. Now? He couldn’t wait to see what the chief—humiliated by this mess—would say about it.  

With that thought, Dr. Burke gave Alex a cold, thin smile.  

Chapter 356: The Devil’s in the Details 

Medical Center  

“Dr. Duncan, let him go,” Dr. Burke said, tilting his head toward Adam.  

Adam nodded and released his grip.  

Alex rubbed his face where it’d scraped against the wall, turning to glare at Adam. But when he caught Dr. Burke’s icy smirk, the bravado he’d had a minute ago deflated instantly.  

Back in his wrestling days, Alex lived by the rule that the bigger fist wins. Just now, Adam had pinned him with one hand, and despite swinging like a madman, Alex hadn’t even grazed Adam’s shirt. The message was clear—Adam was on the winning side of that rule. Plus, Dr. Burke was the big boss, and Alex wasn’t dumb enough to challenge his wrath.  

And just like that, the chaos fizzled out.  

“Nice one, George!” Liz said, slinging an arm around him after the crowd dispersed, her tone half-praise, half-tease.  

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” George muttered, his face stiff.  

He’d heard all the gossip from the onlookers—same as Alex had—and now he was starting to regret it. Not one person questioned the story; they all acted like it was obvious.  

“Damn it!” he growled under his breath. Why had he blurted out something so easy to twist like that?  

“Chill out,” Liz said, trying to smooth things over. “You landed a solid punch on Alex. Everyone knows you’re a man now.”  

Cristina, lounging nearby, couldn’t resist a jab.  

George whipped his head around, glaring at her.  

“Alright, knock it off,” Liz said, switching gears. “Think Alex is getting canned this time?”  

“Who knows?” Cristina said with a shrug. “Burke’s seriously pissed, though.”  

“But do you guys think Alex is really what they’re saying?” Liz’s gossip radar pinged again. “I mean, how else does he have the guts to pull that stunt?”  

“Ask George,” Cristina quipped, stabbing him with another verbal dagger. “He’d know best.”  

George exploded, and if Liz hadn’t held him back, he’d have lunged at Cristina right then and there.  

“Adam, what do you think?” Liz asked, calming George down with a few quick moves before turning to Adam.  

“Hard to say,” Adam said, shaking his head with a grin. “A guy like Alex, who’s always out playing the field? It’s not a stretch he swings both ways. But to say he’s out there picking fights with Burke on purpose, playing the Scoop Master? That’s a bit of a leap.”  

“Then why’d he do it?” Liz pressed, puzzled.  

“Simple—his personality,” Adam said, shrugging. “He can’t control himself.”  

Anyone with a shred of self-control wouldn’t tank their career like that, let alone keep doubling down on the chaos.  

“Come on, let’s hit Joe’s Bar and celebrate,” Liz suggested.  

“Nah, I’ve got stuff to do,” Adam declined politely.  

Lately, he’d been pouring a ton of energy into studying math. It’s a vast ocean of knowledge, and even with a brain on par with Sheldon or Paige, Adam knew he couldn’t catch up to them without years of grind. Those two had been at it for over a decade with their genius-level hardware, and they never stopped.  

Adam’s schedule was brutal—13-hour shifts on a 5-6-6 rotation. Factor in a couple hours of random downtime, and he’s left with 9 hours. Even with his “show-off” stamina, he still needed 3 hours of sleep to function. That left him 6 hours a day—barely half the time Sheldon or Paige could dedicate to studying.  

If knowledge didn’t have its limits and bottlenecks, Adam figured he’d never catch them in a lifetime. Luckily, he wasn’t aiming to outdo them—just to speak Paige’s language. Plus, he wasn’t starting from scratch; he had a solid foundation. With a few years of effort, he’d get there. And since his IQ was still climbing, it might even take less time than he thought.  

Sure, hanging out with people matters, but compared to leveling up his own skills? That’s gotta come first. Besides, constant group outings were for tight-knit squads—like the Friends crew, the How I Met Your Mother gang, or the Big Bang Theory bunch. Adam wasn’t here to form a doctor BFF club; he just wanted good coworker vibes.  

Cristina, Liz, Meredith, George—they all had their quirks. Even if they were as chill as Chandler or Monica, Adam wouldn’t dive in like that. Unlike those sitcom pals, he and this crew were colleagues first, friends second—maybe besties way down the line. Friendship’s simple; coworkers? Messy. Competition’s a massive divide.  

That said, it’s not the worst part. Intern year’s just 12 months—after that, they’d split into specialty residencies. Different departments, less friction. The real killer issue? When a close friend asks for help, you say yes. But what if that favor screws your career? Do you still say yes?  

Take a simple example: that time Cristina and Liz broke Burke’s orders to keep a crash victim alive for the Chief’s VIP heart transplant patient. If they’d asked Adam to back them up, what then? Say no, and they’d hold a grudge, even if they didn’t say it. Say yes? No chance—he couldn’t afford even a hint of that risk.  

Or how about this: the hospital’s strict 5-6-6 rule was in place, but Cristina and the gang ignored it to cram in more learning. For most doctors, that’s normal—even their uptight boss, Dr. Bailey, turned a blind eye. She’d come up the same way, genuinely believing interns and residents should live at the hospital.  

One slip leads to two, two to three. Two months into internship, and they’d already racked up at least three rule-breaking stunts. In that kind of mess, Adam figured keeping some distance was the smart move.  

Distance makes things prettier, right?  

Turning down a bestie feels personal—it stings, dents the bond. But a coworker saying no? If it’s fair, consistent, and not aimed at anyone specific, they’d just see Adam as “upright.” After the initial awkwardness, they might even respect him for it.  

The devil’s in the details, after all.  

After parting ways with them, Adam headed back to his apartment. He scrubbed his hands a few times—gotta kill those hospital germs—then sank into a hot bath. With a math book in hand, he let his mind drift into the cosmic mysteries of the universe, soaking in both the water and the knowledge.  

(End of Chapter)