Cut Yourself First

Late at night.

It was the eighteenth hour of the interns' first shift.

Having gotten past their initial excitement, agitation, and nervousness, the interns were all beginning to tire.

After Adam, Cristina, and Meredith had attended Ellis Grey's special lesson, they came out and began joking about it.

"When I go over there later, if I catch anyone sleeping, I'll make them regret it."

Cristina said maliciously, "Back when we did our first shift, it was forty-eight hours. They've already had theirs reduced to thirty-six, and I haven't even rested yet as their boss."

"Forget it."

Meredith advised, "We were all interns once. Don't mess with them."

"Is this messing with them?"

Cristina said solemnly, "This is teaching them! Besides, I'm going to sleep later. I don't want them waking me up halfway through my sleep, so I might as well warn them first. Keep them alert, make sure they don't slack off and turn some little problem into a major one, then come running to wake me up! Adam, what do you think?"

"Me?"

Adam smiled and waved a hand. "Don't mind me. You can decide for yourselves."

"Oh? Do you have some other idea?"

Cristina raised an eyebrow.

"Not really an idea."

Adam smiled. "It's just their first shift. You know how it is—the first time is always unforgettable. So I'm planning to stay with them the whole time and make sure it's a fulfilling, unforgettable experience."

"Stay with them the whole time? Thirty-six hours?"

Meredith's mouth twitched.

"See?"

Cristina complained, "Compared to Adam, I'm already merciful! At least while I'm sleeping, as long as they don't wake me up and no patients need resuscitation, I won't care if they sneak in some rest! Running into Adam is their real nightmare!"

"All right, it's time to go check