At the medical center.
Operating room.
"George, talk to her—keep her focused on you!" Dr. Shepherd barked.
"Y-Yes, yes," George stammered, shaken by Liz's grim state. He followed orders on autopilot, leaning close to her ear, locking eyes with her. "Liz, it's George. Look at me. Can you hear me? Calm down, calm down, calm down."
"There's a complication now, but we can fix it. We need you to move your right fingers. You can do it—focus, move your right hand. Come on, you've got this!" Dr. Shepherd directed from the side, while George echoed it softly in her ear.
"Pain… pain…"
Amid the double dose of encouragement, Liz's voice—inside and out—kept repeating that one word.
"She's passed out from the pain," the anesthesiologist noted.
"Should we keep doing the wake-up test?" Adam asked.
George whipped around, staring at Adam in disbelief, his voice cracking. "She's in this much pain, and you want to keep going?!"
"I get it," Adam said, cool as ever. "But this is her hand—her scalpel hand. Are you sure you can decide for her to risk a lifetime of pain and give up now?"
"I…" George choked, stuck.
How could he make that call for her?!
"She doesn't have the grit…" Dr. Shepherd shook his head, ready to call it quits.
"I think we should give her one more shot," Adam said, dead serious. "Wake her up, ask if she wants to push through. If she says no, we stop. Otherwise, none of us can take that responsibility. George, don't look at me like that. If you're willing to own it, say so—we'll follow your lead. If not, it's her choice. She's in agony, I know, but we're only losing a moment of pity. She could lose her whole future!"
"George?" Dr. Shepherd wavered, glancing at him.
In the U.S. medical system, doctors are drilled from med school to follow protocol and dodge liability. Especially with a colleague's entire career on the line, Shepherd wasn't about to shoulder that burden.
"I—I can't decide for Liz…" George mumbled. He was just her guy-bestie, no backbone for this. Even if he suspected Adam was messing with her, he couldn't muster a real fight. Adam's logic was airtight.
"Then it's settled," Dr. Shepherd said, slamming the gavel.
"George, if you really care about her, figure out your words. When she wakes up, get her answer fast—keep her suffering short," Adam added kindly.
"Right, right," George nodded, shooting Adam a puzzled look. Was he wrong to doubt him? Was Adam just being objective?
This was the OR—pain or not, they had plenty of ways to bring Liz back.
"AHHH!!!"
Her eyes snapped open, focusing again, followed by a gut-wrenching scream. George's chubby face hovered over her, explaining what was happening, urging her to decide.
"Liz, yes or no?"
"N… o…"
She understood and made her choice. Not everyone's got the guts to endure that kind of torment. All she wanted was to pass out and escape the pain.
"Dr. Johnson!" Dr. Shepherd caught her answer and turned to the anesthesiologist. "Put her back under, now!"
"On it."
The anesthesiologist jumped in, and soon Liz was out cold again. The OR went quiet.
"Man, what a shame," Adam sighed.
Everyone couldn't help but glance at him.
"If it were me, I'd keep testing—even if it hurt a million times worse," Adam said, totally serious.
"Same here," Dr. Shepherd nodded in agreement.
"Being a doctor isn't everything," George pushed back.
"Then you're not devoted enough," Adam replied, shaking his head. "When you truly love something, you wouldn't say that. But hey, it's good news too."
"Good news?" George frowned.
"Yeah, it means Liz isn't that devoted either," Adam explained. "If this surgery ends badly, it won't crush her as much. Being a doctor isn't her whole life—or yours."
In the original timeline, Burke—screwed over by Liz's recklessness—got woken up mid-surgery too. He endured insane pain, forcing his fingers to move, proving to Shepherd his nerves still worked. For a top-tier surgeon like Burke, no amount of pain would stop him—it was his everything.
Liz's selfishness nearly destroyed that.
This isn't some fantasy drama with magic or Kamar-Taj. A crippled Burke couldn't pull a Doctor Strange and fix himself with spells. Strange hit rock bottom—lost everything, even drove off his loyal girlfriend with his post-trauma temper. Cristina, obsessed with prestige, wasn't that kind of ride-or-die. If Burke hadn't toughed it out and worked with Shepherd, laying the groundwork for recovery, he'd have been toast.
Adam didn't know any of that. If he did, he wouldn't have told George to keep it short—he'd probably have straight-faced suggested waking Liz up again after she passed out…
Of course, that's just a thought. If he'd pushed that hard, even softie George would've begged Shepherd to skip the wake-up and just operate.
The surgery pressed on.
Unsure if Liz's arm was paralyzed, Shepherd played it safe, keeping things conservative.
"How's Stevenson?"
The second it wrapped, the Chief of Surgery summoned Adam. Burke was there too, back from Princeton, along with George—another insider to the mess.
"We don't know yet if the nerves are damaged…" Adam briefed them.
"Hm." Chief Richard's face was stone, giving nothing away. He scanned the room and dropped his voice. "Now, let's talk about how we handle Stevenson faking records to steal a heart…"
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