Medical Center.

"What's wrong? You look terrible."

Adam snapped out of his train of thought and noticed that Meredith looked visibly upset. He was a little surprised.

Could it be that Meredith had also heard about that 'famous foodie,' psychology master, and professor's story?

"Mr. Harper…"

Meredith looked like she had just swallowed a fly. She hesitated before continuing, "He said my features are too perfect, too delicate, like porcelain. He also said he didn't want to tell me what he swallowed because it might be offensive. And the way he looked at me…"

At first, she just assumed Mr. Harper was attracted to her.

It was normal. A tiny part of her even felt a little flattered.

After all, she was stunning.

That was the typical reaction men had when they saw her.

But now that Adam pointed it out—

She actually felt violated.

"Oh, I see."

Adam said seriously, "In that case, I suggest you talk to Dr. Bailey and hand this case over to someone else. Preferably not a woman."

"Thanks for the advice."

The moment Meredith heard the words hand the case over, her eyes sharpened. "But no need. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?"

Adam chuckled. "Guys like this? They either have pica, a curtain fetish, an unusual preference, or they just like it."

"I think he just likes it."

Meredith grabbed the CT scans and went to find Dr. Bailey.

"You won't think that for long."

Adam quickly caught up with her and walked by her side. "Do you know why he enjoys doing this? Either he likes the feeling of swallowing and passing it later, or this is just the beginning of some twisted fetish."

"I don't want to hear this!"

Meredith let out a loud groan and picked up her pace into a jog.

Tsk.

Even after all that, she still wouldn't give up the surgery?

Adam sighed. What a shame.

But he quickened his steps to keep up.

Jokes aside—

Meredith was still kind of a friend. He didn't actually want her dealing with a guy like that alone.

At the very least, he should take a look and make sure everything was okay.

After spending so much time with Juno and studying psychology seriously, plus his mental enhancement after becoming a super genius, Adam had developed a pretty good sense of danger.

He wasn't on Juno's level of seeing right through people—

But his instincts were fairly accurate.

### Imaging Room.

"The results are in?"

Dr. Bailey glanced briefly at Adam before turning her attention to Meredith. "Foreign object?"

As an experienced senior resident, she had already made her own assumptions.

"No."

Meredith handed her the CT scans. "It's… the head of a doll."

"What?"

Dr. Bailey looked shocked. She grabbed the scans, slid them onto the lightbox, adjusted the brightness, and leaned in for a closer look—

Then immediately gasped.

"Holy crap! That's a Judy Doll!"

"You can tell the brand just from the scan?"

Adam raised an eyebrow at Dr. Bailey.

"I know what you're thinking."

Dr. Bailey rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't I be familiar with Judy Dolls?"

"Of course, of course."

Adam nodded quickly. "Every woman has a little girl inside her. It's perfectly normal for you to love Judy Dolls, Dr. Bailey."

Meredith immediately gave Adam a massive eye-roll.

Seriously?

Dr. Bailey? A soft-hearted Judy Doll lover?

Which part of her looked like she had a 'girly side' to him?!

Suck-up!

Adam ignored Meredith's judgmental glare and smiled sincerely.

Sure, Dr. Bailey wasn't exactly attractive. She was short and stocky—

But she had a warm heart.

And hey, plenty of men had a soft spot for Judy Dolls, too.

Why shouldn't Dr. Bailey?

Adam's words were absolutely genuine.

Definitely not just an attempt to earn some extra points with her.

Nope. Not at all.

"I love Judy Dolls. I collect Judy Dolls."

Dr. Bailey looked at Adam expressionlessly, but her tone had noticeably softened.

For someone who never talked about personal stuff at work, she had just voluntarily shared a little more than usual.

Meredith, who had worked under Dr. Bailey for a while, found this completely shocking.

Adam's flattery was so obvious—

And yet, Dr. Bailey still enjoyed it.

She knew it!

Nobody was completely immune.

Not even Dr. Bailey!

Meredith threw Adam a disdainful look.

Adam simply glanced back at her, as if saying, You're one to talk.

After all—

Hadn't Meredith, on her second shift, proudly brought Dr. Bailey a latte in front of everyone?

What was that if not blatant bootlicking?

### Back to Business.

"Meredith, how are we handling this?"

Dr. Bailey quickly shifted back into professional mode.

"Complete bowel irrigation!"

Meredith answered seriously.

"Details."

Dr. Bailey pressed.

"We need to remove all 36 feet of Mr. Harper's intestines from his abdominal cavity, manually locate all the doll heads, cut open the intestines, squeeze them out one by one, then suture everything back together."

Meredith responded quickly and efficiently.

"Okay. Meredith, book an OR. Harper's condition is critical—we need to operate today."

Dr. Bailey nodded approvingly, then started assigning tasks. "See if George, Yang, and Liz are available. If they are, bring them in."

"Got it!"

Meredith responded enthusiastically and shot Adam a triumphant look.

Trying to steal my surgery?

Keep dreaming!

Adam just smiled.

"Adam, go to Psych and bring someone in to evaluate Mr. Harper. We need to figure out what's wrong with him."

Dr. Bailey turned to him. "And if you're free, you can assist in surgery. We'll need extra hands—this is a lot of intestine to work through."

"Absolutely, Dr. Bailey."

Adam's smile grew even more sincere.

### Hallway.

"Suck-up!"

Meredith muttered.

"Are you questioning Dr. Bailey's fairness?"

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not…"

Meredith immediately shut up.

She worked under Dr. Bailey. No way was she admitting to that.

"Exactly."

Adam grinned. "So your accusations are completely baseless. Now go book the OR."

With that, he walked off toward the psych department.

Leaving Meredith behind, gritting her teeth.

### Patient's Room.

Adam followed a psychiatrist into Mr. Harper's room.

The moment he laid eyes on the patient—

His gaze sharpened.

That smile.

That look.

It wasn't the same as that professor's kind of perversion—

But this guy was standing at a crossroads, looking around.

And down one of those paths…

He could definitely see shadows of that professor.

For a moment, Adam's thoughts raced.

---