Medical Center.
Emergency Department.
"Melendez, take over here."
Adam walked over, glanced at Carter, and instructed, "Carter, come with me."
"I'm fine."
Carter was somewhat resistant.
"This isn't a negotiation."
Adam nodded at Shorty and turned to leave.
"Go on."
Shorty stepped forward and took over Carter's patient. Usually detached, he rarely patted Carter on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging look.
Carter was startled by Shorty's rare display of warmth.
But then he gave him a grateful look, nodded, and quickly caught up with Adam.
"Do you know why I had Melendez replace you?"
Adam waited for him to catch up and asked as they walked.
"My emotions have been affected these past couple of days."
Carter naturally knew the reason. He lowered his head and answered honestly.
"I understand. You're only human. Watching an intern under your command get shot in the head right in front of you is an overwhelmingly traumatic experience. You're scared and shaken afterward. That's a normal reaction. That's why I had you undergo counseling. You kept insisting that you were fine, but the way you've been performing these past few days is nothing like the Carter I trained. It's more like... um... Don't tell me you've secretly hooked up with Meredith?"
"..."
Even while being lectured, Carter couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upward at that. "Definitely not."
All kinds of Grey's Anatomy jokes had already spread throughout the Medical Center.
Whenever someone brought them up, everyone couldn't help sharing a knowing smile.
"It'd better definitely not be!" Adam grumbled. "You know how I feel about Meredith's professionalism. Temporary weakness and taking time to recover won't affect my opinion of you. Nor will it affect your future development. You're one of mine. As long as you don't force yourself