Medical Center – Indoor Cafeteria
"Is Dr. Burke really like that?"
George, the slightly chubby guy with a soft demeanor, was visibly anxious.
"That's what I've heard, but who knows if it's true."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Why? What happened?"
"I think I offended him," George stammered, panicking.
"Man, you've got some guts," Adam said, giving him a thumbs-up. "It's your first day as an intern, and you already managed to piss off your boss's boss."
"George, what exactly did you do to offend him?" Christina asked, curious.
"It was about Tony, the patient I was assigned to. I couldn't get the IV needle in properly right away, so Dr. Burke took over and did it himself," George explained, frustration in his voice. "I just said, 'I bet you made mistakes when you first started too…'"
Clap, clap, clap!
Before George could finish, Adam started applauding.
"What's your problem?" George glared at him.
"Dude, you just threw shade at the attending physician in front of the patient. That's bold as hell!" Adam praised sarcastically, giving him two thumbs up.
"George, you shouldn't have done that," Meredith said, shaking her head. "Medicine has a strict hierarchy. You can't challenge a senior doctor's authority—especially not in front of a patient."
"Yeah," Adam added, twisting the knife. "And considering you couldn't handle the situation yourself, insulting the big boss was just asking for trouble."
Top surgeons like Leonard usually have their own clinics and partnerships with hospitals. Dr. Burke was no exception—he was even more well-known than Leonard and was close to the Chief of Surgery. There were even rumors that Burke would become the next Chief himself.
In medicine, skill and authority are everything. If an intern disrespects a senior doctor in front of a patient, any attending physician would be annoyed.
Who else would they take their frustration out on if not you?
"George, you're screwed," Christina said, shooting him a sympathetic look.
"Really? It can't be that bad…" George's face went pale. "I only made an offhand comment. Dr. Burke wouldn't hold a grudge over something so small, right?"
"Wouldn't he?"
Liz, who had just come back from vomiting, glared at him. "Dr. Hahn just dislikes me, and she's already made me clean bedpans 17 times—and she's just a resident supervising us. You, on the other hand, pissed off her boss. Think about it."
"I bet George will be the first among us to perform surgery," Adam said, smirking.
Dr. Burke was a renowned cardiothoracic surgeon and a rival of Leonard's.
Leonard had mentioned him to Adam plenty of times—especially the fact that both Dr. Burke and the Chief of Surgery, Richard, were African American and had their own tight-knit circles.
While Leonard had been overshadowed by Richard before, now the younger Dr. Burke was following closely behind, making it seem like they were systematically excluding the white doctors.
Based on what Adam had heard, he was sure Dr. Burke was going to give George a hard time.
Speak of the devil!
"Good afternoon, interns,"
A tall, well-built Black doctor approached them. Under George's horrified gaze, he made a beeline for him, folding his arms and smiling.
"Word spreads fast, but I wanted to deliver this good news personally," Burke said. "As you all know, the honor of performing the first surgery goes to the intern with the most potential. I have a procedure later today, and I need someone for it."
Christina, Meredith, and Liz all straightened up, trying to look as eager as possible, even though they knew this was probably Burke's way of getting back at George.
That's the power of surgery—irresistible, no matter the circumstances.
"You, George O'Malley!" Burke suddenly clapped George on the shoulder.
"Me?" George trembled.
"Yes," Burke replied with a sly smile. "You'll be performing an appendectomy this afternoon. Congratulations—enjoy it."
With that, he left, looking very pleased with himself.
"How is that a punishment?" Christina grumbled.
"Yeah, an appendectomy is super easy," Liz agreed. "If that's what it takes, I should've pissed him off too."
"Difficulty is relative," Adam said, nodding toward George. The soft-spoken intern was already sweating and staring blankly into space.
"Sure, an appendectomy is easy if everything goes according to plan," Adam continued. "But what if something unexpected happens, like sudden bleeding?"
Everyone fell silent.
In surgery—especially for rookies—unexpected complications are the worst.
They didn't have the experience to think things through on the spot. If something went wrong, they'd have to react instantly, or they could lose a patient's life right there on the table.
That pressure could crush a newbie. The fear of going completely blank or panicking was real.
This was why interns and even residents weren't allowed to operate without supervision from an attending surgeon.
If you performed well, your attending would let you do more on your own. It was both a sign of trust and a heavy responsibility since the attending was ultimately responsible for the outcome.
So, even if Burke's goal was to punish George and send a warning to the rest of the interns, he wouldn't risk giving him anything more complicated than an appendectomy.
Because if something went wrong, Burke was confident he could step in and fix it immediately.
But if it were a more complex surgery, things could get messy fast—and that risked making Burke himself look bad.
Why not give George a slightly more challenging procedure? Simple: Burke had done his homework. He knew George barely made it into the program and had a soft personality.
For a rookie like him, even a "simple" appendectomy would be enough of a challenge.
After lunch…
The interns went back to their hectic routines.
As the common joke among them went:
"We're interns—the bottom of the surgical food chain. We run tests, write reports, and pull all-nighters. Even if we drop from exhaustion, we can't complain. We've still got to buy coffee for the boss and smile while we're at it. It's brutal…"
"Adam, you're up for the next appendectomy," Leonard announced, walking over. "Come with me and get ready."
"What?!" Adam was stunned.
"Burke's not the only one doing appendectomies today," Leonard said, grinning. "The honor of performing the first surgery should go to the best intern, not someone caught up in a petty revenge game."
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