At the medical center, inside a hospital room:
Adam was busy intubating an elderly woman who'd stopped breathing, working fast to save her life. A temp nurse stood off to the side, looking a bit lost.
"You haven't graduated yet?" Adam asked, glancing at the young nurse once he'd successfully revived the old lady.
"Uh, no," the temp nurse admitted sheepishly. "So… she's saved?"
"Yep," Adam nodded with a small smile.
"Awesome!" the nurse cheered, practically bouncing with excitement—until she caught Adam's steady gaze and awkwardly stopped. She suddenly remembered she hadn't helped at all when she probably should've. 😅
"Could you do me a favor?" Adam asked, not sounding annoyed at all, just friendly.
A student who hadn't even graduated yet, thrown into a life-or-death rescue? Getting flustered or freezing up was totally normal.
"Sure, sure!" the temp nurse agreed eagerly, nodding like a bobblehead without even asking what he needed.
"Keep an eye on her for me," Adam said with a grin, pointing at the now steadily breathing woman. "If anything comes up, just call me. I'm Adam Duncan."
"Got it!" she replied instantly. As Adam stepped out of the room, she mustered up the courage to softly call after his retreating back, "I'm Zoe, by the way."
---
An hour later:
"Zoe, what's up?" Adam asked as he rushed back in after getting her call. He noticed the surgical director's secretary was there too. "Jessie, you're here too?"
Zoe, the temp nurse, was thrilled Adam remembered her name but felt guilty for causing him trouble. She'd tracked down the old woman's medical records after a long search.
"Dr. Duncan, you intubated her?" Jessie, the secretary, asked with a helpless look.
"Yeah," Adam confirmed. "She stopped breathing—I had to act fast. Is there a problem?"
"Dr. Duncan," Zoe piped up, looking apologetic, "you asked me to watch her, and I couldn't find her records here, so I went looking. It took forever to dig them up."
Jessie sighed. "Mrs. Beckham was diagnosed with late-stage chronic lung disease. She's from a hospice care facility—end-of-life stuff. No resuscitation, no CPR."
"Oh," Adam said, realization dawning.
"You intubated Grace?"
"He intubated Grace?"
"He intubated Grace!"
Three elderly women burst into the room just then, overhearing the news and getting more worked up by the second.
"You idiot! You should've let her die!" one of them—a tall, imposing woman—yelled, swinging her purse at Adam from behind while cursing up a storm.
"Ma'am, calm down," Adam said smoothly, dodging the sneak attack with ease. He faced the trio, frowning. "Her records weren't here. I didn't know—"
"You didn't know?!" the tall woman snapped, nearly throwing out her back from the missed swing. She'd clearly put some muscle into it. "And you dodged me?!"
"Let's talk this out," Adam said calmly. "I saw a patient dying and didn't know her situation. As a doctor, I acted to save her. What's the issue?"
"She said no ventilator!" one of the other women chimed in.
"You were supposed to let her go peacefully," another added.
"Who told you to save her?!" the tall one barked. "Mind your own business!"
"Jessie?" Adam said, ignoring them and turning to the secretary.
"Ladies, please, Dr. Duncan didn't know," Jessie said, rubbing her temples like she had a headache coming on. "You should've seen when you came in—our nurses are on strike. The records got messed up in the handover…"
"I don't care!" the tall woman snapped, her temper flaring. "He intubated Grace against her wishes—he needs to apologize!"
"Dr. Duncan?" Jessie glanced at Adam, her eyes pleading for him to just let it go.
"Who are you to the patient?" Adam asked the three women, his face blank, ignoring Jessie's hint.
Normally, he'd have gone with the "keep the peace" route and apologized right away. After all, he'd technically done a good deed that backfired. Plus, he'd earned a tiny +0.01 system reward for it. But this tall woman's attitude—charging in, swinging at him, cussing him out, and demanding an apology? Even chill Adam was over it. This was ridiculous!
"We're Grace's friends," one of the quieter women answered.
"So you think it's wrong I saved someone without knowing her situation?" Adam said, his voice low. "Or that when a patient's dying and I can't confirm a DNR, I should just stand there and watch?"
"Well…" The two less fiery women hesitated, starting to see his point after their initial shock.
"You should've known!" the tall one doubled down, not caring about logic. "It's your job! Grace didn't want this—you can't just save her! Apologize, or I'll sue you!"
"Guess we're done talking," Adam said, shrugging. "You're not her family. Contact her actual relatives. She's still unconscious, so if the family agrees, she can still pass peacefully.
"Sue me? Here's my private lawyer's contact. Send the letter straight to him—he'll handle it. He's been itching for something to do anyway. Anything else?"
The room went dead silent.
Even the tall, hotheaded woman froze, stunned.
In the States, personal doctors are common enough—everyone gets sick sometimes. But a private lawyer? That's not standard. Either you're a mess of a family, or you're loaded. And from Adam's vibe, it was clearly the latter—the kind you don't mess with. 😎
The tall woman had pegged Adam as just some young doctor she could push around, leaning on her age to throw her weight. She'd figured she'd smack the "culprit" a few times to vent for her friend, and he wouldn't dare talk back. But when he dodged and nearly made her tweak her back, she got madder. Now? She was rethinking everything. Life experience kicked in: better to play nice.
"Looks like we're good here," Adam said, still stone-faced. "Zoe, let me know when her family shows up." And with that, he walked out.
"Yanis, maybe we should call Grace's daughter, Alice?" one of the quieter women whispered to the tall one.
"Yeah," the other agreed. "Let Alice decide—she's Grace's kid, even if she's, y'know, a lesbian."
"The doc didn't really do anything wrong," they added, trying to ease Yanis off her high horse. "He didn't know. Saving someone's kinda the default, right? Yanis, if it was your daughter or granddaughter, wouldn't you want a doctor to at least try?"
"Pfft!" Yanis spat. "Don't you dare jinx my girls!"
Jessie, seeing the tension drop, jumped in with a few words, subtly hinting that Adam wasn't just some newbie doctor. The vibe softened even more. Yanis started wondering if she'd gone too far—maybe she owed him an apology. The world's too nice a place to stay this mad, right? 😅
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