Medical Center
Surgical Wing
Hallway
"Nice work, Adam!"
Cristina spotted him and immediately started gushing. "You really showed 'em what real doctors are made of—saving lives like a boss!"
"Okay, Cristina, chill," Meredith cut in, exasperated. "Plastic surgeons are doctors too. Don't trash the whole specialty just 'cause he ticked you off."
"Did I say anything wrong?" Cristina fired back with a smirk. "Real doctors save people. Mark Sloan? He just makes bank. Let's see him save a life!
Guys like him? In an emergency, they just stand around gawking—like today.
Not surprising, though.
What's he gonna do, stitch a flower on someone's heart or paint a masterpiece with brain nerves to save them?"
"Pfft!" Adam burst out laughing, throwing Cristina a big thumbs-up. "Cristina, your sass is lethal! Absolute legend!" 👍
"What can I say?" Cristina shrugged dramatically. "When someone acts like us little people don't exist, I've gotta leave an impression—make sure he knows who Cristina Yang is!"
"You're actually mad, huh?" Adam said, eyeing her in surprise.
Plastic surgery might sit low on the medical prestige ladder, but in a money-driven world, those cash-raking plastic surgeons still have clout.
Hmm.
Cristina's got her heart set on cardiothoracic surgery, so from that high perch, she's roasting plastic surgery—the bottom rung of the academic snob chain. It's like a cultured bookworm mocking a flashy millionaire: jealous of the cash but sneering at the lack of class.
Thing is, she's just an intern, while Mark Sloan's a top-tier plastic surgeon—walking in as the head of plastics at the medical center. The status gap? Massive.
She wouldn't be out here real-name roasting him this hard unless she was seriously pissed.
"Wouldn't you be?" Cristina shot back, rolling her eyes. 🙄
"Heh, I bet he'll never forget Cristina Yang after this," Adam chuckled.
For a crazy-talented, proud surgeon like her, being ignored in her field is a no-go. Doesn't matter if it's an attending she barely sees, a boyfriend, husband, or even her parents—she's not having it.
So what if Cristina Yang mocks Mark Sloan? It's not even her first rodeo! Back when she started, she group-roasted pediatricians as "brats" and psychiatrists as "nutcases."
Her people skills suck. So what?
As long as Burke, the cardiothoracic god and her boyfriend, keeps teaching her, she's golden.
Unlike Adam—who's chasing every surgery from ER to OB, neonatal, ortho, plastics, you name it, aiming to master everything—Cristina's laser-focused on cardio. She couldn't care less about rotating elsewhere.
Two more months, her intern year's done. Pass the resident exam, and she's officially a cardiothoracic resident.
Plastic surgery chief? She doesn't give a damn what he thinks of her!
"And you're egging her on," Meredith grumbled, glaring at Adam.
"I'm just stating facts," Adam said with a grin. "Cristina's not planning to cozy up to Mark Sloan anyway. What's a little teasing?"
"…" Meredith's face darkened.
She totally felt like Adam was throwing shade at her. What's with that "not planning to" jab?
Adam caught her look, smirked, and took off.
Today was Aunt Beattie's discharge day—Sheldon's aunt. As her resident and a family friend, he had to see her off.
VIP Ward
"Mrs. Cooper, Beattie, Emilia," Adam greeted each of them with a smile as he stepped in. Under their eager stares, he did a thorough check-up, then grinned. "Congrats, Beattie—you're good to go!"
It'd been two weeks since her surgery. The incision had healed up nicely, and she could move around freely now.
Cancer had already handed her its final notice.
Beattie clearly didn't want to waste her last days stuck in a hospital. Even if she wasn't about to hit the clubs to DJ and dance, she wanted to live her final weeks big. ✨
"Thank God!" Mary, the devout believer, praised the big guy upstairs first.
"Mom, wherever you wanna go, I'm there," Emilia said, beaming.
"You're discharged, but don't go too wild with the exciting stuff," Adam couldn't help but warn.
"I know," Beattie said with a gentle smile. "I just wanna see the world a bit."
"Emilia and I will tag along," Mary chimed in, laughing. "Perfect chance to live out that travel dream we had as kids!"
"Sounds good," Beattie agreed.
She knew Mary and Emilia wouldn't let her wander off alone even if she wanted to. Plus, they were her closest people left in the world. Who else would she spend her last days with?
"You could visit Wharton Business School—see Missy," Adam suggested with a grin. "She can show Emilia and you guys around, give you a taste of college life early. If I remember right, Mrs. Cooper's first college trip was a blast."
"Oh, you bet!" Mary's eyes lit up like fireworks. "First time I took Sheldon to college, he didn't want me tagging along—thought people would treat him like a kid if Mom was there. So I waited outside.
Lucky me, I ran into Sam, his high school physics classmate. She bought me a school T-shirt and showed me around campus.
Such a sweet girl… even if her goal was to make Sheldon miserable seeing me rock that T-shirt.
But still, sweet girl!
And get this—it gets better.
I put it on, and this guy Jason came over, inviting Sam to a homecoming BBQ. She told him I was her friend, and Jason legit thought I was a freshman too!
Can you believe it? He thought I was a college girl!
Hahaha!"
Even years later, Mary couldn't stop cracking up about it.
"Sounds like a riot," Beattie said, giggling too.
She and Mary were practically twins—talk about relatable!
"Oh, it was," Mary said, waving her hand as she laughed. "Everyone was so nice. When they found out I was a mom of three, they were all 'Whoa, you're so cool!' I freaking love college!"
"Alright, let's swing by home first, check in with friends, then head to Missy's Wharton for stop one," Beattie said with a smile. "She can give us the grand college tour."
"Missy's not Sheldon—she'll treat you right," Adam teased. "Oh, by the way, I never asked—where are you guys from, Beattie?"
Emilia quickly named their small town.
"Whoa!" Adam blinked in shock. "You're from there too? That's wild!"
"What's up?" Emilia asked, curious. "You know it?"
"Yeah!" Adam said, amazed. "My best friend's family lives there, and another friend's new perfect girlfriend? She's an elementary teacher from your town!"
"What's your friend's name? And the teacher?" Beattie asked, grinning. "We might know 'em."
"My friend's Monica Geller, and the girlfriend's Anna Taylor," Adam replied.
"The Gellers?" Beattie chuckled. "You mean that super-competitive Geller family with the son and daughter who ended up in the hospital over a football fight?"
"That's them!" Adam laughed. "Guess the Gellers are pretty famous around there."
"Ms. Taylor taught me!" Emilia piped up. "What a coincidence!"
"No kidding," Adam nodded. "Small world, huh?"
They all chatted and laughed a bit more. The nurses had already handled the discharge papers, so Adam walked them out, told them to call if they needed anything, and headed back to the hospital.
Then he spotted a familiar figure—and couldn't help but gasp in surprise again.