Medical Center.
Emergency Room.
A gunshot rang out.
"Holy shit!"
In a world slowed to a crawl, Adam's mind was buzzing like crazy.
"Here it is, here it is—I knew it. Happy America, gunfights every day. Nine years since I crossed over, and I've barely seen a handful. Almost thought it was all hype.
The target? Alex.
The shooter triple-checked before pulling the trigger. Looks like a personal grudge, not some nutjob playing real-life Call of Duty."
Adam couldn't help but feel a tiny wave of relief. If this was like that terrifying video he'd seen in his past life, even he'd be in danger. Chicago typewriter-level firepower? No amount of foresight would save you. Dodge one bullet, sure—but a whole storm of them?
Relief aside, the bullet was still flying. Adam's brain kicked into gear again. "What kind of grudge escalates to straight-up shooting?"
He wasn't that shocked, though. With Alex's track record—insulting patients, nearly killing them—getting shot wasn't exactly a stretch. It was bound to happen eventually.
But he'd only been an intern for a couple of months. The two patients he almost screwed over? Liz and Adam saved them both. They're still kicking, so the odds of this being some over-the-top revenge for that were slim.
The giant-tumor girl he'd called a disgusting freak who deserved it? She was too insecure to even report him, and her mom was a spineless pushover—no way they'd go this hard.
The old guy he told should've died already, whose condition Alex worsened? Now that could be it. Maybe the guy passed away by now, and a family member heard something, snapped, and went full-on revenge mode. That tracks.
"Wait, hold up."
Adam suddenly clocked the bullet's trajectory. Something was off. Normally, you'd aim for the chest—big target, easy hit, plus the heart's a kill shot. But this bullet was way lower. In a flash, he calculated it: the shooter was aiming for Alex's, uh, fifth limb.
"Oh, right—last night he hooked up with that hot older woman."
It all clicked for Adam. The revenge vibe was screaming loud and clear.
Right then, he yanked the bronchoscope faster, pulling it out just as Alex screamed. He barely managed to suck a key out of patient JP's mouth in the nick of time.
"Ahh!"
Alex let out a howl as the bullet's force knocked him back into the ward door, crashing through into the room.
"Shit!"
Adam cursed under his breath, dragging JP and his shell-shocked girlfriend to a corner away from the door. He yanked over the bronchoscope monitor's metal stand and some other cabinets to shield them. Sure, he figured it was a "green" revenge thing—personal, not random—but you don't take chances. People lose it and go overboard all the time.
Risk his life to save Alex? Sorry, despite all this slow-motion thinking, that idea didn't even cross his mind.
Outside, panicked screams erupted, echoing Alex's wails.
A tall, imposing guy stepped into Adam's line of sight.
"Alex, you really pissed off the wrong dude this time," Adam thought, sizing him up. Military vibes were obvious—every move screamed discipline.
"Don't kill me!" Alex pleaded, the threat to his life momentarily overriding the agony in his crotch.
"I'm not gonna kill you," the tall guy said coldly. "I only kill people who wrong me. You didn't wrong me."
Alex didn't find that comforting. Adam could figure it out—how could Alex, the guy in the crosshairs, not?
The second the shot went off, he'd recognized the shooter. Last night, at the hot older woman's place, he'd locked eyes with this guy's face in the wedding photo on the wall for a good long while. Back then, he'd been smug as hell. Now? He was scared shitless.
Damn it! She'd said her husband was overseas on rotation, not back for ages. Alex figured he'd have a few rounds of fun and bounce. Judging by her vibe, he wasn't the only sidepiece. By the time her husband rolled back, she'd probably have forgotten his name.
No way he'd have messed with a Marine otherwise, no matter how bold he was. He never dreamed that after one night, payback would hit this fast. The searing pain down there was killing him—and so was the regret.
The woman's husband, stone-faced, planted one foot on Alex's leg, then used the other to pry apart Alex's curled-up second leg, forcing him into a trembling, spread-eagle heap on the floor.
"Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth!"
The Marine raised his gun, aiming at Alex's blood-soaked crotch with a cold smirk. "Had a real good time last night, huh?"
Bang!
"How about now?"
Bang!
"Feeling even better?"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired six shots, one for every taunt, straight into Alex's "little brother." Alex passed out cold.
Peeking from behind the metal cabinets, Adam winced on Alex's behalf. Ouch.
"Ahh!"
Just when Adam thought it was over, Alex screamed again. Looking closer, he saw the Marine, still fuming, slam a heavy combat boot down on Alex's mangled crotch—then twist it back and forth.
"Hiss." Adam sucked in a breath. That was brutal.
"Doctor, come save him!" the Marine barked, satisfied with his "enemy's" ruin, glancing at Adam behind the cabinets.
Without waiting for a reply, he strolled off like a badass.
Adam didn't have time to process the absurdity—like he was waiting for cops to "clean up the mess." Doctor's duty kicked in. He rushed over to check Alex's condition.
One look, and he sucked in another breath.
It was bad. Real bad.
"Drop the gun!"
"Get on the ground!"
Hospital security's shouts rang out from outside. No more gunshots followed.
Adam hoisted Alex onto a gurney and bolted for the OR, yelling to nurses along the way: "Call Dr. Green, Dr. Burke, Dr. Shepherd!"
Whoever could make it, get here.
The nurses snapped into action—some ran to fetch the docs, others cleared a path.
"OR 3's open!"
Adam wheeled Alex into OR 3. While stabilizing his vitals, Leonard and the others showed up.
With the surgical chief out, Dr. Burke stepped up to run the show and took charge of the rescue. He despised Alex—had pushed to get him fired more than once—but not like this. Right now, Alex was just a shot-up colleague.
They had to save him, full stop. Everything else could wait.