Two days flew by in a flash.
The intern doctors were about to face the certification exam that'd decide their fates—testing everything they'd learned during their internship and locking in their residency specialties.
Everyone was buzzing with excitement! 😄
Medical Center:
The search-and-rescue team had just found a missing hiker and brought them in for treatment. Normally, the interns would be scrambling around, helping out—but today, they could only stand off in the distance, staring longingly.
"We should be studying," George piped up.
"This is studying," Christina shot back, leading the pack as usual. She was laser-focused on the hiker who'd just been wheeled in—hands, feet, and nose all severely frostbitten, swollen up like Ouyang Feng's sausage lips.
"How do you treat frostbite?" she quizzed.
"Rewarm them, avoid surgery unless auto-amputation causes a deep infection," George answered on autopilot.
These past few weeks, prepping for the exam had turned rapid-fire Q&A into second nature.
Emmm. Like, really second nature.
Take George, for example—back home with his girlfriend Kelly (a senior ortho resident), he'd even started begging her to quiz him. She finally snapped, "This distraction trick isn't gonna work…" 😂
Christina, though? She took it to another level—hounding Dr. Burke with endless questions until the guy was just a blank slate of zero emotion.
It's not that she was scared of flunking some measly certification exam. Nah, she was gunning for the top score. Christina Yang doesn't settle for less! 💪
"See? This is studying," she said casually.
Just then, an ambulance rolled up with another hiker—this one wailing in pain from heavy injuries.
"Looks like a flail chest! I've never seen one up close—c'mon, let's check it out!" Christina's eyes lit up as she grabbed Meredith and dragged her over, grumbling, "Why'd they have to schedule the exam for today of all days?"
"What are you idiots doing just standing there?!"
Dr. Bailey—running around like crazy because she had no interns to help—spotted the group gawking and lost it. She stormed over, dragging an oxygen tank, yelling as she went.
"In a few hours, you're taking an exam! Your scores will shape your futures! The bottom five interns? Gone. Fired!
What am I doing?
What are you doing?
Don't make me drag you out of here—go back and study now!" 😡
"Adam's taking the exam too, and he's still in surgery," Christina muttered under her breath.
"What'd you say?!" Bailey's voice hit a new octave.
"Nothing!" Christina threw up her hands and bolted, playing it smart.
"Good choice," Bailey said, a tiny smirk tugging at her lips as she watched them scamper off. "Adam's a guaranteed pass—can you say the same?"
Even talented interns could crash and burn if they weren't in top shape. Three years back, a stellar intern at the center pulled three night shifts before the exam, could barely keep their eyes open, and had to redo the whole internship.
These past few weeks, Bailey had gone out of her way to give them study time—taking on their grunt work herself. No night shifts scheduled either—she wasn't about to let her interns flop on her watch.
She'd done all she could behind the scenes. The rest was up to them.
---
A few hours zipped by.
A hospital conference room had been set up as the exam hall. The interns trickled in, chatting in little clusters.
"Adam's not here yet?" Christina scanned the room, winking at Meredith and George with a smug, "Guess surgery's got him tied up."
Meredith and George cracked smiles.
Couldn't blame them.
Ever since that cruise ship accident a while back, Adam had been the center's golden boy—his rep climbing even higher.
The chief, the dean—used to keep it all stern and professional around him. Now? Still stern… with everyone else. But the second they saw Adam? Instant switch—genuine, heart-melting smiles that could fool anyone who didn't know better.
All that "how you holding up?" small talk? Ugh.
Emmm.
Jealousy's got me looking like a whole different person.
Jealousy's got my cell walls splitting! 😂
"If you don't know the answer, pick B—it's usually B," Christina advised Meredith and George.
She was a straight-A nerd who'd dissected years of past exams and cooked up her own strategy:
- Three long, one short? Pick the shortest.
- Three short, one long? Pick the longest.
- Two long, two short? Go B.
- Same length? Pick A.
- Mixed bag? D's your friend.
- Total mess? C's unstoppable.
And this exam? Mostly two-long-two-short vibes.
Five minutes later:
"What's the holdup?" Christina, seated and ready, got antsy when the proctor hadn't handed out the tests yet. She raised her hand, annoyed. "It's 9:03 AM—time's up, why aren't we starting?"
"Hold on a sec," the proctor—a friendly-looking Black woman—gave a professional smile, glanced outside, then said, "Sorry, the exam starts at 9:13. Ten more minutes—you can review your notes."
"…" Christina's mouth twitched.
Exams always start on the hour—or at least 9:10. 9:13? Seriously?
Don't think I didn't catch that little eye signal with the nurse peeking in from outside! That nurse flashed a "10," and then you bumped it to 9:13.
And why's a nurse out there playing lookout?
No need to guess—Adam, obviously!
Sure, Christina loved a good gloat when Adam tripped up, but calling him out in front of everyone? Nah, she's his friend—she wouldn't go that far.
Besides, this exam's a national thing, but since it's hosted at each hospital to test their residency programs, the centers have a lot of wiggle room.
Pushing the start time back a few minutes? No biggie. Postponing the whole thing or letting someone retake it solo? If the higher-ups push for it, it's fair game.
And would the hospital bend over backwards for Adam's last-minute surgery stunt?
Do you even need to ask?
To them, it's not "Adam being reckless"—it's "Adam putting patients first." Big doctor energy.
Sure enough, ten minutes later:
Adam rushed in.
"Everyone, take your seats, put your books away…" The proctor snapped into action, handing out the tests.
Christina shot Adam an envious glance, then dove into her paper.
But she hadn't gotten far when Adam strolled up, handed his test to the proctor, and zipped out the door.
She noticed everyone else looking up too—their faces all kinds of weird.
"Ahem, focus on your exams—no looking around!" the proctor barked.
"Damn it, Adam! Did you have to finish that fast?!" Christina grumbled under her breath, scribbling furiously.
---
(Chapter End)