Medical Center.
Emergency Treatment Room.
"Ahh!"
A pained groan escapes Liz's lips as she slowly opens her eyes.
"You're awake."
Adam's cold face comes into view.
"It hurts so bad!"
Liz doesn't have a second thought—pain's taken over her entire mind.
"You got shot," Adam says flatly. "Bullet went in through your right shoulder and lodged in the nerve cluster near your spine. Dr. Shepherd's prepping for surgery, but he can't guarantee full function in your right hand."
"My right hand…"
Liz's pain ramps up even more.
"Yup, the one you hold a scalpel with—or eat dinner with," Adam says, glancing at the empty doorway. "But don't freak out too much. Even without this mess, you're done holding a scalpel anyway. With Dr. Shepherd's skills, he can probably save most of your arm's function. You'll still be able to eat with it, at least."
"Danny…"
Liz looks at Adam, agony in her eyes.
"He's fine," Adam replies, ice in his voice. "As long as you don't send George to snip his power cord, he'll stay that way.
Oh, and that heart? It's with Dr. Hahn's patient now.
They're probably doing the transplant as we speak.
Word is, he's a good guy—two kids, four and five years old. Been waiting forever for this heart.
Soon, he'll be running around with them, laughing, with a healthy ticker. Happy ending, right?" 😏
"I didn't mean for this, Adam. Can't you understand? I love him…"
Liz isn't sure if she's crying from the pain or the shame of almost wrecking that happy ending Adam just painted.
"I believe that's what you think," Adam says, nodding without a flicker of emotion.
"Dr. Duncan, the OR's ready," a nurse pops in to say.
"Got it."
Adam wheels the gurney toward the operating room.
Inside the OR.
"Okay, tuck in a bit here."
"Alright, I'm moving the bullet out of the nerve cluster now."
Dr. Shepherd's leading the surgery, with Adam assisting, working on Liz.
Beep beep!
The monitor blares an alarm.
"Neutrophil count's dropping!"
"Arterial pressure's down 50%!"
The nurse calls out.
"Did we nick a nerve?"
"I don't see any severed ones."
"Okay, let's test her arm reflexes."
"No response."
"Damn it, try again."
"On it."
"Hell, if I'd cut a nerve, I'd know it."
"Dr. Shepherd, what about a wake-up test?" someone suggests. "Only Liz can tell us if the surgery's messed up her nerves."
"Hmm…"
Dr. Shepherd hesitates. "Waking her up now? I'm worried she won't handle the pain."
Her arm's sliced open—muscles and nerves exposed. Without anesthesia, those raw nerves would scream straight to her brain. She'd be in absolute hell.
"But Liz is a doctor," Adam says, all professional. "This is her whole life on the line. Let her decide."
With his sharp eyes, he's more certain than Shepherd that no nerves got hit.
But, hey! 😅
Medical science still knows squat about the human body sometimes. And he's just an intern—his view isn't the whole picture. What if some microscopic nerve got snipped, beyond even the magnifying glasses?
Real-world results are the only truth that matters.
Playing it safe's his style.
He's not about to take the blame for deciding Liz's fate.
That's on her.
Yup, that's the deal!
"Fair enough," Dr. Shepherd nods.
If it were him—or any top-tier surgeon in his shoes—they'd wake the patient without blinking. For their career's sake.
A renowned doc losing the hand that wields the knife? That's a lifetime of misery.
This wake-up pain? Peanuts in comparison.
But for a regular doc—especially a pretty ex-model like Liz—Shepherd's gut says she might not be up for it.
It's like when Sheldon whines about not being at his peak, and Penny shrugs it off. He shuts her down with, "You wouldn't get it—you've never been at the peak."
Top surgeons are Sheldons—near the pinnacle, terrified of the fall.
Regular docs? Pennys—never hit that height, don't feel the sting, maybe don't even notice.
Would Sheldon care if Penny couldn't act or lost her smarts? Nah, it wouldn't cross his mind.
Shepherd sees Liz the same way—not as extreme as Sheldon with Penny, but still. Subconsciously, he figures being a doctor doesn't mean as much to her as it does to them.
She's the chick who posed for sultry medical photoshoots, after all.
Kinda tarnishes the whole noble profession vibe.
Female docs save lives with skill, not by flashing skin for the masses.
Plenty of folks at the hospital despised Liz from day one for that. Even now, no one—especially the women—bonds with her. That's a big reason why.
Liz knows it too.
Back when Meredith and Shepherd were dating and Liz found out, she lost it—tearing into Meredith, saying she stole all the good surgeries through the back door, that Meredith shouldn't toss away the professional respect Liz craved but couldn't earn.
Liz, the heartthrob model turned med center doc—her first impression stuck like glue.
No one respects her professionally—why would they think the job matters to her?
"Does Liz have a partner or a best friend?" Dr. Shepherd asks. "When she wakes up, she'll need someone to keep her focused through the pain so we can test if her arm's paralyzed."
"She's got something going with Danny Duquette, but he's stuck in bed with a left ventricular assist device—can't come," Adam explains. "How about George O'Malley? He's her best bud."
"Alright, page Dr. O'Malley ASAP," Shepherd tells the nurse.
A few minutes later.
George scrubs in, looking nervous as hell once he hears what's up.
"O'Malley, when she wakes up, you'll call her back, talk to her, keep her focused on you to dull the pain. Then follow our cues to test her arm's nerve response. Got it?" Shepherd confirms.
"I-I'll try my best," George stammers, crouching by Liz's side.
Shepherd signals the anesthesiologist to cut the drugs and start waking her.
"She's coming to," the seasoned anesthesiologist says.
"George, get ready!" Adam warns.
"Liz, Liz, it's George—wake up, open your eyes, hey, hey…"
George's voice pulls her back. Liz's eyes flutter open, and then she's shaking like crazy.
The unbearable pain hits so hard, Adam wonders if she'll bounce off the table and hit the ceiling. He and the nurses have to pile on to hold her down.
"Ughhh, cough cough…"
With a tube in her mouth, Liz can't scream. Her wild thrashing gets pinned by Adam and the crew, and all she can manage are muffled whimpers and coughs.
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