292-294

Chapter 292: The Bet in the Observation Room 

Surgical Observation Room. 

The transparent glass gallery was already filled with intern doctors. 

They had all heard the news and made time to come and watch. 

"Wasn't George supposed to perform the first surgery?" 

Ruthless Liz frowned as she looked down at Adam, who was scrubbing in and changing in the operating room. "Why is it Adam instead?" 

"I heard that Dr. Green and Dr. Burke don't get along," Christina whispered. "In order to let Adam perform the first surgery, Dr. Green rearranged the schedule, catching Dr. Burke off guard." 

The hospital had a limited number of operating rooms. To ensure the most efficient scheduling, a blackboard was placed in the hallway. It used time as the X-axis and operating rooms as the Y-axis, dividing it into slots. 

A designated person would arrange the surgeries accordingly, writing down the details—what time, which operating room, which attending surgeon, and which assisting doctors—all at a glance. 

Dr. Burke had checked the board and confirmed that he could assign George O'Malley his first surgery. However, he had never expected Leonard to switch the schedule on him. 

"Dr. Burke must be furious," Ruthless Liz clicked her tongue. "And that means Adam will be on his bad side, too." 

"So what?" 

Christina scoffed. "If an attending surgeon treats me like that—no, even if I offend the head of surgery—who cares? I’ll just follow a different attending to another hospital." 

"George, pay close attention. In an hour, it's your turn." 

Ruthless Liz reminded him. 

"Mm-hmm." 

The slightly effeminate, chubby George sat in the front row, staring intently at the operating room below. 

"Meredith, are you okay?" 

Christina nudged Meredith, who had been silent and lost in thought the entire time. 

"I'm fine." 

Meredith forced a smile. 

She was still in shock. 

The epileptic girl she had been assigned was a neurology case, so her supervising resident, the strict Miranda Bailey, had handed her over to the neurosurgery attending—Dr. Derek Shepherd. 

Then she realized—Dr. Derek Shepherd was the same man she had hooked up with at the bar last night and kicked out of her place that morning. 

And he looked at her like she was standing there naked, even openly suggesting they continue their "relationship." 

She had, of course, refused and expressed her deep dissatisfaction. But deep down... she felt conflicted. He was handsome, humorous, and authoritative—completely captivating. 

The Betting Begins 

"Ten bucks says he can't finish the surgery." 

"Fifteen says he cries." 

"Twenty says he has a complete meltdown." 

Some of the interns started placing bets. 

"I bet he succeeds—against all of you, with no limit on the amount." 

Bianca stood up, turned around, and looked at the male interns making bets. 

They were momentarily stunned. 

"What? Afraid to bet?" Bianca smirked. 

"Fifty bucks!" 

"Seventy-five!" 

"A hundred!" 

One by one, the male interns raised their stakes. Being challenged by a beautiful female colleague—especially over a male intern they were already envious of—was something their pride wouldn't let slide. 

"Can I bet on Adam succeeding?" 

Christina raised her hand. 

"Of course. We’ll split the winnings evenly," Bianca nodded. 

"Then I’m in, too," Ruthless Liz raised her hand. 

"Count me in," Meredith, pushing aside her complicated thoughts, joined them. 

In the corner, Alice curled her lips and glanced at Steven beside her. Her fingers twitched, but in the end, she didn’t raise her hand. 

If they were betting a million, she might have taken the risk of upsetting Steven to side with them. 

She knew Adam’s skills best. 

He was excellent—beyond exceptional. 

An appendectomy? He would succeed without a doubt. 

Seeing that several female interns were betting on Adam, the male doctors who initially didn’t plan to participate got fired up. They placed their bets on Adam failing. 

It was no longer just a game—it was a battle of pride. 

After all, they were all men. Why should Adam be the exceptional one? 

The Surgery Begins 

"Let’s get started." 

Leonard finished scrubbing in outside the operating room. Wearing a mask, he walked in with his hands up, allowing the nurse to help him put on his surgical gown. He smiled at Adam, who was already prepped and ready. 

Adam nodded. Looking at the patient, whose body was draped except for the surgical site, he reached out steadily. "Scalpel." 

The surgical nurse repeated his request. "Scalpel." 

She handed it to Adam with practiced ease. 

Adam took the scalpel and made a decisive incision. His confident and skillful movements instantly silenced the rowdy crowd upstairs. 

A true expert only needed one move to show their skill. 

"Forceps." 

"Forceps." 

Adam reached out again. 

"Clamp." 

"Clamp." 

Before long, the appendix was removed. Adam expertly inverted the stump into the cecum, secured it, and proceeded to close the incision. 

"Shit! How is he that skilled?!" 

"Look at his suturing speed! His technique is insane! Is he really just an intern and not a fellow?" 

The observing interns buzzed with disbelief. 

Then, they all fell silent. 

Dr. Burke was standing at the corner, watching. His gaze met Leonard’s. 

"Good technique," Dr. Burke muttered before walking away. 

Aftermath and Consequences 

"Dr. Duncan, that was amazing." 

"Yeah, with suturing skills like that, you could make a fortune in cosmetic surgery." 

The nurses praised Adam. 

"George, you're in trouble." 

Christina grinned as she collected her winnings with Bianca and the others. "The better Adam does, the more pressure on you. If you mess up even a little, Dr. Burke is going to tear you apart." 

"…" 

George looked like he was about to cry. 

If he had known this was going to happen, he would never have talked back to Dr. Burke. 

Now, all he could do was hope that his surgery went as smoothly as Adam’s. 

Unfortunately, the gap between people could sometimes be devastating. 

One hour later— 

Dr. Burke unleashed his fury on George. 

"Get out of my sight, you idiot!" 

"Somebody take him away—I don’t want him in my OR!" 

Chapter 293: A Real Man Never Looks Back  

Observation Room – Operating Room  

A few minutes earlier…  

Unlike Adam, who performed surgeries entirely on his own while Leonard simply observed and exchanged looks with Dr. Burke for fun, things were different for George O’Malley, the chubby, timid intern. Taking a deep breath, he began performing an appendectomy under the guidance of attending physician Dr. Burke.  

This was the standard process—an attending physician instructs, the intern operates. If they handle it well, they proceed step by step. If they struggle, they step aside. How much they’re allowed to do depends entirely on how much the attending is willing to let go.  

Leonard knew Adam’s true capabilities, so he had no reservations about letting him operate solo, not even offering a single word of guidance.  

Dr. Burke, on the other hand, had intended to use this surgery as a warning to others, so he didn’t trust the timid, chubby George one bit.  

"Use more force. Human muscle is tough—cut through it," Burke instructed.  

However, as George successfully removed the appendix, Burke’s expression became complicated.  

According to his original plan, George was supposed to struggle, fail, and then be reprimanded harshly.  

But with Adam setting the bar so high earlier, if George performed too poorly, it would make Burke’s team look bad in comparison.  

Worse yet, it could raise the question—why did the hospital assign the best intern to Leonard while giving him a weaker one? Was the hospital showing favoritism?  

Even though Burke knew that wasn’t the case, others might speculate.  

This left him in a dilemma.  

"Careful not to rupture the cecum."  

Seeing George getting a little overconfident after successfully removing the appendix, Burke decided to give him a heads-up. He couldn’t afford to let Leonard outshine him too much.  

There would be plenty of other chances to make an example out of someone—this time, he’d let it slide.  

George nodded in acknowledgment, but he didn’t slow down at all. In his mind, he saw Adam’s smooth, confident surgical movements and Meredith Grey’s unwavering support for Adam.  

"If Adam can do it, so can I!"  

"Meredith, watch closely—I, George O’Malley, am a real man!"  

A confident smile formed under his mask.  

And then…  

"You ruptured the cecum!"  

Burke’s expression darkened instantly.  

He had initially planned to patiently guide George, but now? A lost cause.  

Time to make an example out of him.  

"He’s bleeding now, and fecal matter is leaking out. What’s your next move?"  

"Uh… uh…"  

George froze, completely stunned.  

"My technique was just as smooth as Adam’s… how did this happen?"  

"Think!" Burke barked. "Start suctioning! Before he loses too much blood, locate the sutures!"  

Turning to the nurse, he ordered, "Get him a clamp!"  

"Blood pressure is dropping!" the nurse alerted.  

George stood frozen, unable to move.  

This kind of paralysis was common among rookies—extreme anxiety and fear shutting down their ability to function.  

"Bury your fear and act! What are you waiting for? Start suctioning!"  

Burke, despite his frustration, still upheld his duty as a mentor and gave George one last chance.  

Unfortunately, George remained frozen.  

The blood pressure monitor alarm went off.  

"Dr. Burke?" The nurse’s voice carried urgency.  

"Get out of my way, idiot!"  

"Someone take him out of my OR—I don’t want to see him!"  

Burke shoved the stunned George aside and swiftly took over, stopping the bleeding, stabilizing the patient’s vitals, and suturing the wound.  

George stood there with his hands still raised, shame washing over him as he glanced at his fellow interns observing from the gallery.  

Moments ago, he really thought he could do this…  

"He’s a 007!"  

"Yeah, 007!"  

"What’s a 007?"  

"A license-to-kill agent for the Queen of England—he legally kills people!"  

A murmur spread through the room.  

Adam, who had just been enjoying his system rewards, glanced at the first person who spoke—an intern who got up and left without looking back, exuding a cool, aloof demeanor.  

"Could he be a worthy rival?" Adam mused.  

But as the intern disappeared from view, Adam quickly lost interest and returned to admiring the notification on his system panel:  

+0.001 lifespan.  

For the past 11 years, Adam had studied how the system worked. He had learned that performing good deeds himself earned him merit points, which converted into extra lifespan.  

This was the first significant breakthrough in his plan to lead a simple yet extraordinary career in medicine.  

+0.001 years might seem small, but this was just an appendectomy.  

Back when he helped an elderly woman cross the street or massaged an old man’s back for months, he had only earned +0.05. Even saving a reckless kid from running into traffic had only given him +0.01.  

By comparison, a non-life-saving surgery granting +0.001 in under 30 minutes? That was an incredible deal.  

If he could perform 50 surgeries, that would add up.  

At a rate of 10 minor surgeries a day, in just five days, he could earn the same as months of minor good deeds.  

Of course, there was no way an intern would get to perform that many surgeries.  

But even at a rate of one surgery per day, working 300 days a year, he could earn 0.3 extra years annually.  

At this stage, since he couldn’t yet perform major life-saving surgeries, this reduced his lifespan consumption rate from 1 year per point to 0.7, significantly slowing down his losses and extending his life.  

With more effort and more support from Leonard, by the time he became a full-fledged resident, he might just break even—gaining as much lifespan as he consumed.  

That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about dying young.  

Now, the only question was—how much lifespan would he earn from assisting in surgeries?  

Luckily, he was about to find out.  

In a few days, Leonard had arranged for him to assist in a heart bypass surgery.  

Adam predicted that participating in such a procedure should count as “personally doing good” and would likely grant points.  

Probably not as much as performing a solo minor surgery, but over time, it would add up.  

After all, there was no such thing as too much lifespan.  

The First 48-Hour Shift Continues… 

Late at night.  

Bianca yawned deeply, shaking her head in an attempt to stay awake.  

"If you’re tired, take a quick nap," Adam suggested. "Doctors, especially residents, need to learn to grab rest whenever they can, or they won’t last."  

"Then how are you still so awake?" Bianca asked enviously.  

"I have great stamina." Adam gave a reserved smile. "I can handle 48 hours without sleep."  

"I can do it too! I’ll grab some coffee." Bianca yawned again.  

"Go easy on the coffee," Adam warned.  

He remembered that in the future, Bianca’s life spiraled out of control after she was diagnosed with cancer.  

Of course, coffee itself wasn’t the culprit, but excessive caffeine was a central nervous stimulant—too much of anything was bad, especially stimulants.  

"Thanks," Bianca said gratefully, her eyes gleaming.  

Suddenly, she didn’t feel so tired anymore.  

Chapter 294: A Bronze Disguised as a King  

Medical Center.  

The first round of the 48-hour shift had entered its first deep night.  

Bianca’s eyes became misty from just a single concerned remark from Adam. She stared at him, suddenly no longer feeling sleepy.  

Adam chuckled silently, shaking his head in a wordless refusal.  

This was a hospital—there were no secrets here.  

He had no intention of leaving behind any leverage against him.  

“Hey, Adam, guess who almost hit a home run in the on-call room just now?”  

Bald Chris spread his arms wide, wiggling his body as he walked over.  

“Almost? So, it didn’t actually happen,” Adam teased.  

“Uh…”  

Bald Chris’s grin stiffened for a moment, but he quickly recovered, boasting, “That’s only because she got paged. Otherwise, I definitely would’ve hit that home run. We only met less than twelve hours ago, and I already had my pants off.”  

“Who is she?” Bianca asked curiously.  

“Kara, a nurse from Internal Medicine,” Bald Chris replied eagerly. “She’s Hispanic—absolutely gorgeous. At first, I was worried we were moving too fast and that I might scare her off, but then she shut me up and told me to take my pants off. That kind of confidence? So damn attractive.”  

Bianca glanced at Adam, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes.  

“I’m going to do rounds,” Adam said, turning to leave.  

He was in the hospital pulling long shifts to extend lives—not to gossip about nighttime escapades. Besides, he wasn’t some divine being who could miraculously eliminate all diseases with a touch. It was best to stay out of these kinds of conversations.  

“Dude, wait up!”  

Bald Chris, still not done chatting, chased after Adam, leaving Bianca, whose excitement faded into drowsiness once more.  

Nurse’s Station. 

“The patient in bed 4-B has post-op pneumonia. Administer antibiotics.”  

A cocky male intern was giving medical orders. Adam, suspecting this guy was a strong competitor, paused to listen closely.  

Lu Xun once said: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.  

“Are you sure about that diagnosis?” the nurse questioned.  

“I don’t know—I’m just an intern.”  

Without even looking up from the chart, the cocky intern scoffed, “I have a great idea. Why don’t you go to medical school for four years and then let me know if the diagnosis is correct?”  

The nurse fell silent.  

Even though nurses often said, Doctors diagnose, but nurses actually treat patients—nurses run the show!—without that shiny medical doctorate, it was hard to argue back when a half-baked intern spoke with such arrogance.  

“She has rapid breathing and a fever. It’s a post-op complication,” the intern declared confidently, seeing that he had “silenced” the nurse. “Go ahead and administer the antibiotics.”  

The nurse shot him a cold glance and walked away without a word.  

Their job was to carry out orders. Doctors gave the directives, but they also bore the responsibility.  

Who’s afraid of who?  

“Oh God, I hate nurses,” the intern muttered, full of smug superiority.  

Adam, witnessing the scene, couldn’t help but chuckle.  

At first, he thought this guy was a king—turns out, he was just a bronze.  

“What are you laughing at?” The intern frowned.  

“You might end up hating them even more,” Adam said with a smirk. “Because if the nurses who didn’t go to med school for four years turn out to be right, and you—who did—are wrong…”  

“That’s impossible.”  

The intern’s expression changed.  

“What’s impossible?” Adam asked curiously. “The symptoms you just listed could also point to diaphragmatic inflammation, pulmonary embolism, or other unknown conditions. That nurse is experienced—she didn’t get that way overnight. Yet you dismissed her without even examining the patient. Are you really that sure?”  

The intern’s face darkened.  

If it were another doctor questioning him, he might have shrugged it off or even fired back with another jab.  

But Adam’s skills had been widely acknowledged since his flawless performance in his first surgery. Stories of his medical school brilliance and legendary internships had spread everywhere.  

Even someone as arrogant as this intern wouldn’t dare claim superiority over Adam—let alone mock him as a mere “nurse.”  

And if Adam was saying he was wrong… then there was a good chance he was wrong.  

But admitting that in front of the nurse? No way.  

The more he had just enjoyed belittling the nurse, the more humiliating it would be to backtrack now.  

And just because there was a high chance he was wrong didn’t mean he definitely was.  

What if his diagnosis was correct?  

With a scowl, the intern stormed off.  

"That was awesome." 

A pretty young nurse looked at Adam with admiration in her eyes.  

“Thank you.”  

The older nurse nodded at Adam in gratitude.  

“You’re welcome,” Adam said with a smile. “My mom is a nurse.”  

After building some goodwill with the nurses, Adam left the station.  

“Adam, why do that?” Bald Chris asked, catching up.  

“What do you mean?” Adam raised an eyebrow.  

“Doctors stick together, nurses stick together,” Bald Chris said. “That’s just how it works. Even if Alex was wrong, we should’ve acted like we didn’t notice. How could you call him out in front of the nurses?”  

The cocky intern’s name was Alex—one of the twenty surgical interns in this batch, though assigned to a different team.  

“Kara, there you are.”  

Adam suddenly smiled and looked behind Bald Chris.  

“…You were absolutely right, Adam!” Bald Chris did a complete 180, nodding righteously. “Nurses deserve respect! They’re not beneath doctors—no way! Every role is essential. Hospitals couldn’t function without nurses!”  

He turned around—only to find no one there.  

“You scared me,” Bald Chris grumbled, catching up to Adam again.  

“Are you scared?” Adam asked casually, flipping through a patient chart.  

“I… yeah.”  

Bald Chris had been about to say “no” but hesitated, glancing around nervously. He had just started hooking up with Nurse Kara, and he definitely didn’t want to ruin his chances over some dumb comment about nurses.  

“Good,” Adam patted his shoulder. “Don’t think you can badmouth nurses just because Kara isn’t around. Hospitals have no secrets. Anything you say about nurses will reach her ears eventually. Then you can forget about that ‘home run.’”  

On the flip side, Adam’s stance in defending the nurses would also spread. It would undoubtedly earn him goodwill from most of them.  

With Dr. Leonard backing him, Dr. Sherry watching out for him, and the nurses willing to support him wholeheartedly, why should he worry about offending some bronze-tier intern who could be dismissed at any moment?  

(End of Chapter)