Medical Center.
"Dr. Duncan…"
With Dr. Bailey's nudge, Mark Sloan finally tracked down Adam.
No other choice, really.
The whole mess with the African-American intern's suicide-by-train was still blowing up, and as part of a teaching hospital, Mark couldn't risk stirring up another group drama. He just wanted to keep things low-key and let it all blow over.
But his reputation? Yeah, it was trash. No one was giving him the time of day.
The nurses he'd hooked up with? They were dead-set on making his life hell to get some payback.
So, he had to swallow his pride.
"I can help," Adam said, "but I hope you're cool with how I handle it."
Adam had heard the rumors too. After listening to Mark's awkward explanation, he didn't say no—just flashed a smile and gave a little heads-up.
"Right now, as long as I can get back to surgery, I don't care how you do it," Mark said with a bitter laugh.
"Got it," Adam replied with a nod. "I'll take care of it."
"Thanks, man," Mark said, relieved at how chill Adam was being. "Dr. Bailey was right—I messed up before. I could've been your buddy from the start."
"No biggie," Adam said, glancing at him with a grin. "We're all colleagues here. The key is respecting each other and saving lives. Your skills as a plastic surgeon? When the right patient comes along, you can change their whole world. That's just as big as saving a life."
"Any rare cases pop up, feel free to jump in anytime," Mark offered sincerely.
"Deal!" Adam wasn't about to turn that down.
After Mark left, Adam made a quick call to the nurse who knew how to handle the others. A few words, and he hung up, diving back into his work.
Soon enough, the hospital was buzzing.
Mark got word fast—the nurses' boycott was off. He was back in the OR!
He couldn't believe Adam's pull and how quick he'd sorted it.
But when he found out how it went down, his jaw twitched.
Turns out, one of the nurses he'd been with gave a speech to the "Anti-Mark Sloan Nurse Alliance."
In it, she called him a sleaze and a total jerk! 😬
But then she flipped the script: "Yeah, he's a creep, but he's never pretended otherwise. We all knew that going in! So let's stop whining about why he didn't call us back or why he's chasing someone else now. Let's keep our own standards high, do our jobs, and not give him another shot. Then let him do what he's good at—being a top-tier plastic surgeon! That's what Dr. Duncan's always preached, right?"
But things spiraled way beyond Mark or the nurses' control.
Even though Adam's influence convinced the nurses to let Mark off the hook, the hospital higher-ups couldn't just ignore it.
The next day…
"What?!"
"No way, this has to be a joke!"
"Are you messing with me?"
Chief Resident Callie dropped the bombshell—an administrative order straight from the hospital board. Everyone who heard it freaked out.
"It's a mandatory measure from the board to prevent another 'Mark Sloan incident,'" Callie explained with a sigh. "Every employee at the medical center who's had an intimate relationship with another employee has to register it. They're calling it the 'hook-up disclosure.' You've got until the end of today to fill out the forms. Unless you want a lawsuit, take it seriously and be thorough!"
In the hallway, the chatter exploded.
"Meredith, here's your form—I grabbed it for you," Adam said, 'running into' her and handing over a paper.
"Thanks… wait, what's this?" Meredith started to thank him but paused when she noticed something off.
Adam had handed her two forms.
"Not enough? Here, take another—I came prepared," Adam teased, pulling out a third.
"Hahaha!" Cristina, holding her own form, scribbled Dr. Burke's name on it against the hallway wall. Hearing Adam, she burst out laughing.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Hilarious, huh?" Meredith shot them both a sarcastic glare.
"Don't be shy," Cristina said, deadpan, eyeing her bestie. "Two forms not cutting it is totally normal. Our star of the show, Mark Sloan, grabbed three!"
"Take your time, Meredith, think it through!" Adam chimed in with a smirk.
"…" Meredith wasn't in the mood for their nonsense and stormed off.
"You sure just Bianca's enough?" Cristina peeked at Adam's form.
"Absolutely, positively, 100%," Adam said with a laugh.
No way Alice Kidman would list their encrypted fling on this thing. Sure, it's supposed to be private employee data, locked away from prying eyes. But a hospital? Secrets don't stay secret.
Between the staff handling the files and the higher-ups with access, someone's always got a way to dig. And gossip like this? Good luck stopping it.
Even Adam was curious—what kind of wild, tangled web would the medical center's love lives turn out to be? Could it connect almost everyone?
"What?!"
Just as Adam and Cristina were poking fun at each other, Dr. Bailey suddenly squared off with Chief Resident Callie nearby. Bailey's voice went sharp.
"Sorry, what's wrong?" Callie glanced around, awkward as heck.
"What did the director say about me?" Bailey demanded, enunciating every word.
"He said…" Callie started, then froze under Bailey's glare. "He just trusts you, Dr. Bailey—he didn't mean any disrespect!"
"Oh, really?" Bailey shot back with a cold laugh. "Everyone in the hospital has to register their flings in detail, but the director specifically said Miranda Bailey doesn't need to—and he doesn't even want to see me with a form. If that were you, Dr. Torres, would you feel respected? No hint of insult or discrimination there?"
"…" Callie had no comeback.
She got it. As a woman, she felt where Bailey was coming from.
Bailey might be the hospital's beacon of righteousness—above all the messy drama. But she's still a woman.
Being singled out like this, excluded from the registration? It kinda screamed, "Bailey's not charming enough to get into trouble."
For someone going through a divorce and already doubting her own appeal, that didn't sting much… but the insult? Oh, it hit hard! 😤
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