The surgery was over.

"Duncan, go inform the family," Dr. Shepherd instructed before walking away.

"...Alright."

Adam forced a smile.

Of all the responsibilities that came with being a doctor, informing the family was one of his least favorite tasks.

Bad news meant facing a family on the verge of collapse.

Good news meant facing a family so overjoyed they wanted to hug him.

And for someone like him—a young male doctor—the number of hugs, and the length of those hugs, far exceeded what other doctors experienced.

Sometimes, even when delivering bad news, people still clung to him, sobbing in his arms.

Emmm...

Lu Xun once said: "A man must learn to protect himself when he's out in the world."

But as a mere intern, Adam had no choice in the matter. When a senior doctor assigned you a task, it wasn't just a sign of trust—it was an order. There was no refusing.

The most he could do was try his best to avoid being hugged.

And if he couldn't avoid it, at least he had to make sure no one took advantage of him.

Sigh.

For someone like him, who was always at risk of being tackled in public, when would he ever be able to stand tall?

---

Turns out, Adam wasn't just being paranoid.

As soon as he shared the good news, the patient's younger sister—a teenage girl—practically lit up and launched herself at him.

She was so fast that even Adam barely managed to dodge.

But he could only evade once. He couldn't very well play a game of dodge the hug with the patient's sister.

In the end, he had no choice but to surrender to her persistence and accept the hug.

And once the rest of the family finished hugging each other and shedding happy tears, it was finally Adam's turn to be thanked.

That's when they noticed something odd.

Their little sister, Mindy, was still clinging to Adam.

No matter what, she refused to let go.

"Mindy?"

"Mindy?"

"MINDY!"

The other family members, realizing their daughter had gone overboard, called out awkwardly.

"I'm just so happy!" Mindy clung to Adam, burying her head against his chest as if she were crying tears of joy.

But there wasn't even a hint of sobbing in her voice—only unrestrained excitement.

Realizing she might've overdone it, she quickly added, "For Cindy!"

That poor attempt at justification only made her family even more embarrassed.

It took several people working together to finally pry Mindy off of Adam.

Adam shot them a helpless smile—then promptly escaped.

This is just too much.

---

### In the Hallway

"Tsk tsk."

Meredith, holding a CT scan, ran into Adam and clicked her tongue in amusement.

"What now?" Adam asked irritably.

"People say you're a ladies' man, but I always thought that was just gossip." Meredith smirked. "But I guess I was wrong. Broad daylight, on the clock, and you're already getting cozy with someone? Look at that—there's a huge lipstick mark on your chest."

She meant the first part sincerely.

After all, she'd flirted with Adam herself—more than once, in fact.

And he ignored her every time.

Given her lifelong confidence, she refused to believe it was because she wasn't attractive enough.

She also knew about Adam and Bianca, so she knew it wasn't because he couldn't be with someone.

That left only one explanation: Adam wasn't as much of a flirt as people claimed.

And she understood that all too well.

If no one gossips about you, you're a nobody.

If no one spreads rumors about your love life, you must not be attractive enough.

She, too, had always had a bad reputation.

No one understood this better than she did.

Adam glanced down and—sure enough—there was a bright red lipstick mark on his chest.

His face darkened.

No wonder Mindy's family had looked so awkward when he left.

"It's not what you think," Adam muttered.

"You don't have to explain."

Meredith, ever the composed female doctor, wasn't interested in giving him the chance.

Adam decided not to take the bait. Instead, he changed the subject. "What's that you're holding?"

"Oh, this?" Meredith handed him the CT scan with a smirk. "I always thought it was just a myth, but turns out, some people really are this stupid."

Adam held the scan up to the light.

His expression changed immediately.

"Wait, this patient isn't named Ruth, is he?"

"Ruth?"

Meredith didn't get the reference. "No, his name's Mr. Harper."

Adam counted the objects in the scan and sighed. "Any one of these breaking open inside his stomach could kill him, and yet he swallowed ten of them. That's ten times the risk. Are drug smugglers really this desperate these days?"

"If the packages break inside him, he'd die—he wouldn't turn into a superhero," Meredith scoffed, reaching for the CT scan.

She needed to bring it to Dr. Bailey to decide what to do next.

But just then, Adam squinted at the scan, tilted it slightly, and made a surprised noise.

"What?"

Meredith frowned, thinking he was messing with her.

"This isn't drugs," Adam said, handing the scan back. "Those are doll heads."

"...What?!"

Meredith stared at him in disbelief.

"You think drug smugglers would be dumb enough to package their stuff into tiny human-shaped heads?" Adam pointed at the faint outlines of female faces visible in the scan. "He must have unscrewed the heads off some dolls and swallowed them one by one."

His brows furrowed.

He'd seen plenty of patients who swallowed indigestible objects.

But ten doll heads?

That was next-level disturbing.

Because, psychologically speaking, doll heads had some level of human resemblance.

Which meant Mr. Harper wasn't just some guy with an eating disorder.

He was likely seriously disturbed.

Today, he's swallowing doll heads.

Who knows what he'll do in the future?

And this wasn't just any world. This was the combined universe of multiple TV dramas.

Adam hadn't forgotten about all the infamous serial killers from those shows.

"Yeah, we should probably make sure he doesn't see a psychiatrist," Adam muttered.

In TV worlds like this, a lot of people started out somewhat disturbed but weren't that dangerous.

But the moment they started therapy?

It was like opening Pandora's box.

They'd go from "harmless weirdo" to "full-blown psychopath" in no time.

Because:

1. Therapy offices were like support groups for the mentally unstable—if you weren't crazy going in, you'd definitely meet someone who'd inspire you.

2. You never knew if the therapist themselves was more messed up than their patients.

Some of the worst serial killers in TV history?

Were therapists.

And given this guy's "hobby"...

If he ended up with a certain professor as his therapist, would he turn into a full-fledged gourmet?

The thought alone sent chills down Adam's spine.

---