Medical Center

Hospital Room

"Where's Dr. Grey?"

Mr. Harper, a man with the potential to become a renowned professor, glanced behind Adam, his faint smile fading slightly.

"She's in the operating room for a scheduled procedure," Adam explained, turning his gaze toward the psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist took the hint and stepped forward, attempting to engage Mr. Harper in conversation.

Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain.

Mr. Harper merely smiled politely and ignored him completely.

The psychiatrist shrugged and walked away.

This was a common occurrence in American hospitals.

Difficult patients were often passed around like a hot potato. Everyone tried to avoid getting too involved.

Take the case of the psychic patient Liz once encountered. Technically, he should have been under psychiatric care. But since psychics, when accurate, have an uncanny ability to read people, they make everyone—including trained psychiatrists—deeply uncomfortable.

So, the psych ward conveniently transferred him to neurosurgery under the pretense of a suspected brain tumor.

Turned out, they weren't entirely wrong—the guy really did have something wrong with his brain.

Because of the unusual nature of Mr. Harper's condition, Meredith had pulled some strings to get him prioritized for surgery.

Adam accompanied Meredith as they wheeled the sterilized and prepped Mr. Harper toward the operating room.

"Is this a desperate act?"

"No."

"Are you doing it for attention?"

"Of course not."

"I'm trying to understand, Mr. Harper. Why did you eat the heads of ten Judy dolls?"

"Because eleven would have been too many."

"..."

Meredith, still gripping the stretcher, carried on with her interrogation, completely ignoring Adam's subtle warnings.

Adam sighed.

Meredith was a surgeon, not a psychiatrist or psychologist. Digging into the twisted psychology of patients wasn't her job.

Yet, she insisted on doing it.

Adam understood why. Meredith saw herself as the ultimate embodiment of both beauty and righteousness. In her mind, people were supposed to open up to her, confess their darkest secrets, and embrace her moral perspective.

This wasn't just his speculation.

Looking back at all the cases Meredith had handled, she always did this. Whether with patients or their families, she had an uncontrollable urge to make them see the world as she did.

Most of the time, thanks to a mix of charm and sheer persistence, she succeeded. She'd often walk away smiling, satisfied with the impact she'd made.

But this time, Adam was genuinely worried for her.

Girl…

You've already caught the attention of this psycho, Mr. Harper.

The way he looks at you? Downright unsettling.

And now, you're practically throwing yourself into the fire?

Ever heard the saying, "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back"?

By probing into his mind, Meredith was only making herself more interesting to him.

Sure enough, instead of lying flat on the stretcher like he was supposed to, Harper had turned to his side, watching her with that eerie, unreadable gaze.

Considering how TV dramas love putting doctors in horrifying situations…

Uh…

No way, right?

Operating Room

Dr. Bailey was already inside, waiting with George, Liz, and Cristina.

This was about to be a full-team effort.

"I think it has something to do with his mother," Liz speculated while working on the intestines. "Maybe she wanted a girl and gave him Judy dolls as a gift."

"That reminds me—I should probably warn my friend Ross," Adam quipped as he worked alongside her. "His ex-wife is a lesbian and got remarried. She and her wife are raising Ross's son, Ben. They only buy him Barbie dolls. Ross freaked out and immediately bought him a bunch of G.I. Joes."

"Found another one!" George called out before jumping into the gossip. "So? Did Ben end up preferring the G.I. Joes or the Barbies?"

Everyone turned to listen, clearly curious.

"Barbies," Adam said casually as he pulled another Judy doll head out of the intestines.

"That makes sense. Kids like pretty things," Meredith chimed in. "And when they grow up, they just go from playing with toy Barbies to chasing after real-life Barbies."

"You'd know all about that," Adam teased. "Ross actually loved Barbies as a kid. He even dressed in girls' clothes once. And in college, he had a thing for girls like you. That's why he and his best friend Chandler both secretly competed for you."

"What?!"

"Meredith dated your friend?!"

The gossip sent a wave of excitement through the room.

"Not just one friend," Adam corrected with a straight face. "Friends. Plural."

"Adam!" Meredith shot him a glare, flustered.

"You know how college is…" she trailed off awkwardly.

"Totally understandable," Liz said, coming to her rescue.

After all, everyone in the room had been to college. No explanation was necessary.

"Found another one!" Cristina announced. "Maybe his mom looked like a Judy doll, and he's a voodoo practitioner. Instead of stabbing the dolls with needles, he eats them."

"Black Judy!" Dr. Bailey exclaimed as she extracted another doll head, this one with an afro. "Before she grew out her hair, she had a full African-style cut, wore platform boots, and a leather jacket. Forceps!"

A nurse quickly handed her a fresh pair.

After pulling out Black Judy, Dr. Bailey glanced at the next one. "Model Judy! She's riding a tiny yellow scooter. You know what's weird?"

"It's not already weird enough?" Meredith muttered.

"She kind of looks like Meredith," Adam noted, immediately catching on to what Dr. Bailey meant.

"Exactly," Dr. Bailey nodded.

"Huh. She really does," the others murmured, glancing between the doll and Meredith.

Meredith felt deeply uncomfortable.

"When a man is obsessed with a woman, there's a classic romantic line: 'I want to become one with you,'" Adam remarked. "Meredith, does that still sound romantic to you now?"

"..."

Meredith's eyes flicked to the bowl of doll heads, particularly the one that resembled her.

She shivered involuntarily.

Suddenly, Adam's warnings and the way Harper had been looking at her clicked into place.

No wonder Harper didn't want to talk about it.

This wasn't just creepy.

This was terrifying. Truly, deeply terrifying.