Medical Center.
The surgery wrapped up smoothly.
Noon.
Cafeteria.
"Adam, you still into collecting this gross stuff?" Liz grimaced at the glass jar on the table, which proudly displayed 'America's Greatest Novel' inside.
"Gross?" Adam glanced at her with a smirk. "You're such a rookie! There are doctors out there collecting literal poop, and they even call one of them the 'Gut Girl Poop Princess.' Loads of people think she's adorable and totally love her for it.
"No way!" Liz dropped her fork, swallowing hard, her face a mix of disgust and disbelief. "There's no way someone like that exists! And even if they did, it'd probably be some super flamboyant gay dude, not a female doctor…"
"See? Look at you!" Adam chuckled. "So narrow-minded! The Gut Girl doctor I'm talking about looks at her collection from a medical angle. Every type of poop is different, and different poop points to different diseases. Collecting it is just another way to learn and remember. But your first thought is 'gross,' and then you jump to saying it shouldn't be a woman, it's gotta be some flamboyant gay guy—that's just your dirty mind talking. Between two female doctors, who's the pro here? Feeling a bit ashamed yet?"
"…" Liz's face turned red, but she wasn't ready to back down. "Forget gender for a sec—I just don't buy that any doctor would do that. Where's this so-called female doctor even work?"
"If you don't believe me, fine." Adam shrugged, dodging the question. No way was he gonna say it was Yunhua Hospital.
"Bet you're just making it up," Liz muttered, growing more convinced he was pulling her leg since he wouldn't answer.
"Whatever makes you happy." Adam grinned and went back to his food.
Just then, chubby little George stormed over, plopping down with a huff. His round, pale face screamed 'I'm pissed.'
"Whoa! Here comes our hero!" Liz clapped for George, momentarily forgetting the Poop Princess drama.
"Heh." Adam snickered, eyeing George.
"You guys!" George snapped, fuming.
"You straight-up told off Dr. Montgomery, didn't even wait for him to kick you out—just dropped a 'So I don't need to handle this case anymore, right? Got it!' and walked out like a boss." Liz giggled. "That's the most badass thing we've ever seen you do!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" George's face darkened. "You saying I'm not usually a man?!"
"Oh, you're always a man, totally a man," Liz teased, barely holding in her laughter. "Just… this time you were extra manly!"
"Alright, enough," Adam cut in. "So, what'd the family of that two-hearted patient decide?"
Yup, that's right! The guy they thought might be pregnant, suspected to have a teratoma and be a two-hearted patient, turned out not to be. But now, the hospital did have a real two-hearted patient.
She looked like a teenage girl.
Her name was Beth.
She was admitted for enlarged pelvic lymph nodes and underwent an ultrasound-guided biopsy.
The results were jaw-dropping.
The tissue wasn't ovarian—it was testicular.
Compared to that bombshell, the actual diagnosis—a benign lymph node tumor—felt like small potatoes.
"They want us to keep it from Beth," George said, voice dripping with anger. "They wanna sneak in during the lymph node surgery and remove the testicular tissue too—basically do a gender reassignment surgery without her knowing. What kind of parents do that?! Making a life-changing decision for their kid without even telling her! Beth's always felt like something's off about her. She's super insecure, thinks she's a freak. Even at her age, her chest is still flat as a board… To try and be like other girls, she's been secretly taking birth control pills—five at a time! She heard it'd help her develop, but that's dangerous! It could kill her! Now, with this situation, Beth could choose to live as a boy, and having a flat chest wouldn't be something to hide. But her parents wanna just snip that option away without even a heads-up. I can't accept that!"
"Chill, man," Adam said, surprised. "George, what's got you so worked up? I've never seen you this emotional before. Something hit close to home?"
"Yeah," Liz chimed in, squinting at him. "George, don't tell me you…"
"I'm not!" George's chubby face turned beet red as he caught their meaning. "I haven't had any gender reassignment surgery!"
"Relax, we believe you," Adam said with a laugh. "It's just rare to see you so empathetic. Kinda threw us off."
"I'm really not!" George insisted, still red-faced. "I just… I see my old self in Beth. Not like that, but… back in middle school, I was lonely and insecure too. Beth's got almost no friends, gets picked on all the time, and just draws comics to cope. I was the same. To make friends, I even joined the Dungeons & Dragons club—ended up as the secretary and treasurer."
"What?!" Liz burst out laughing. "George, you were such a nerd in middle school!"
"Dungeons & Dragons again, huh?" Adam groaned. "Seriously, George, you getting paid by them or something?"
"Huh?" George blinked, totally lost.
"I swear, every lonely, awkward kid ends up playing Dungeons & Dragons together," Adam said with an eye roll. "Even my buddy's obsessed with it—been playing since we were kids. I'm starting to think D&D's dropping big bucks on marketing to make this happen."
Adam couldn't help but think of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, always going on about D&D. There were even episodes where the whole crew played it. With how huge that show was, Adam wouldn't be surprised if D&D shelled out some serious cash for product placement.
"So what're you gonna do?" Liz asked, curious. "You gonna tell Beth?"
"No way," Adam warned. "Going against a minor's parents' wishes could land you in a lawsuit real quick."
"Don't worry, I'm not that dumb," George said, thinking it over. "I won't tell her outright, but I can drop some hints to make her ask her parents herself…"
"I'd think twice about that," Adam said seriously. "Her parents aren't completely wrong here. They've raised a daughter for over a decade—suddenly turning her into a son is a massive shock for most people. Imagine the gossip and judgment their family would face. Beth's still a kid. Right now, she might think being a boy sounds cool, but what if she can't handle the stares and whispers later and regrets it? Who's she gonna blame—you? Or sue? You might feel better saying something, but it's her family that'll have to live with the fallout."
(End of Chapter) belamy20