Chapter Summaries

A Marine shot Alex in the emergency room as revenge for Alex sleeping with his wife, then repeatedly shot and stomped on Alex’s crotch. Adam and the doctors rushed Alex into surgery, where Dr. Burke took charge of the effort to save him.

• Adam realized the shooter was targeting Alex’s crotch and pulled JP’s key from his airway just before Alex was shot.
• The Marine confronted Alex, who recognized him as the husband of the woman he had slept with the previous night.
• The Marine shot Alex six times in the crotch and stomped on him before calling for a doctor and leaving.
• Adam examined Alex, put him on a gurney, and called Dr. Green, Dr. Burke, and Dr. Shepherd to help.
• Adam rushed Alex into Operating Room 3, where Dr. Burke led the team’s attempt to save him.

Alex underwent emergency surgery after a soldier shot and mutilated him, and the Plastic Surgery Department could only remove the destroyed tissue. Adam later suggested that the shooter may have discovered Alex had given his wife Charm Poison, leaving his colleagues to reconsider what had driven the attack.

• Dr. Burke and the surgical team operated on Alex while wearing protective goggles and masks because Alex had Charm Poison.
• Adam told the doctors that the shooter had fired six precise shots at Alex’s manhood, and Dr. Shepherd realized the shooter had likely wanted Alex to survive and suffer.
• The Plastic Surgeon took over the operation and removed the irreparably damaged tissue, while Adam washed himself thoroughly afterward.
• Bianca checked on Adam, and Liz, George, Meredith, and Cristina debated whether Alex deserved the attack.
• Adam proposed that the soldier had returned from overseas and found evidence that Alex had given his wife Charm Poison, prompting Cristina and the others to understand the shooter’s motive.

After the hospital shooting, Adam declined Bianca’s attempt to comfort him physically and spent the night simply holding her. He later spoke with Juno about the incident and his feelings for Paige, ending the conversation by insisting he had changed.

• Adam turned down Bianca’s advances because the shooting and his obsessive-compulsive habits left him unwilling to be intimate, and he explained his reasons while holding her.
• Juno called Adam after hearing about the shooting, and he recounted what had happened from his perspective.
• Juno warned Adam about the risks doctors faced from patients who concealed infections and described Dr. Cameron’s exposure to possible HIV infection.
• Adam cautioned Juno to stay safe, and she told him she was careful around patients.
• Juno teased Adam about Paige, and Adam said he was no longer driven to possess every beautiful woman he saw.

Adam arranged for Leonard to receive a dramatic makeover and coached him to act confidently before meeting Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton. At Princeton, Adam introduced Leonard to Elizabeth, but Leonard lost his nerve and could only stammer a greeting.

• After talking with Juno, Adam returned to find Bianca asleep and thought about Leonard’s upcoming meeting with Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton.
• Adam took Leonard to fashion designer Tony, who transformed Leonard’s appearance and helped him practice a bold pickup line.
• Adam and Leonard traveled to Princeton, where Adam arranged a secret filming setup with Lisa and planned to leave once Leonard and Elizabeth were talking.
• Adam introduced himself and Leonard to Elizabeth in the cafeteria, but Leonard’s confidence vanished when he saw her and he stumbled through a greeting.

Adam helped Leonard meet his Princeton crush, Elizabeth Plimpton, and left them alone to talk. Leonard enjoyed Elizabeth's attention and tried to steer her away from Adam by describing him as a womanizer.

• Adam introduced Leonard to Elizabeth and explained that Leonard admired her academic work.
• Leonard struggled to speak with Elizabeth until she began discussing physics with him.
• As Leonard grew more comfortable, he signaled Adam to leave, and Adam stepped away after receiving Lisa's call.
• Elizabeth asked Leonard about Adam, and Leonard eagerly described Adam's medical training and personal life.
• Leonard portrayed Adam as a womanizer, hoping Elizabeth would lose interest in him.

Adam visited Paige in Princeton and learned that her mother was away starting a furniture business with her boyfriend. He listened to Paige’s teasing song, then spent the day with her, leaving them playing music together that night.

• Adam asked Lisa about Paige’s mother and learned she had gone to Washington with her boyfriend to start a furniture business.
• Adam heard Paige sing a self-written song that called Sheldon a dummy and Adam half an idiot.
• Paige asked Adam to be her inspiration, and he carried her to the bedroom.
• Lisa brought Adam and Paige dinner and a new guitar after hearing them singing together.
• Adam and Paige sat facing each other and played Paige’s song on their guitars.

After returning to New York, Adam learned that Leonard’s attempt to discourage Elizabeth Plimpton had only made her more interested in him. Adam reluctantly agreed to see Elizabeth at the outpatient clinic, where she planned to visit the next day.

• Adam turned on his phone and called Leonard after seeing dozens of missed calls.
• Leonard admitted that he had called Adam a womanizer and a sleazebag to Elizabeth, but she had become even more interested and asked Leonard for Adam’s number.
• Adam refused to help Leonard pursue Elizabeth and hung up when Leonard seemed open to Adam breaking her heart so Leonard could comfort her.
• Adam called back the unknown number and learned that Elizabeth wanted to discuss a private medical issue in person.
• Adam invited Elizabeth to see him at the New York Medical Center outpatient clinic, and she excitedly said she would come the next day.

Adam assisted Dr. Burke in examining his friend Bill for abdominal pain and blood in his urine, while Bill’s pregnant wife Holly worried nearby. The biopsy and CT scan revealed an abnormality that left Adam stunned, but its nature was not yet stated.

• Adam encountered Cristina practicing a supposed surgical habit called the Staring Technique.
• Dr. Burke assigned Adam to care for his friend Bill, whose abdominal pain and blood in his urine had resisted diagnosis.
• Adam performed a cystoscopy while Dr. Burke and Bill joked about their fraternity days.
• Adam noticed an abnormality during the examination, and Dr. Burke ordered a biopsy and CT scan.
• Adam reviewed the results and was left in disbelief.

Dr. Burke told Bill that the growth in his bladder was an ovary, and Dr. Knox removed it in surgery, where the doctors discovered Bill's vas deferens were blocked despite his pregnant wife. At lunch, Adam heard that Cristina had mysteriously missed her shift and questioned Liz's persistent devotion to Alex.

• Adam showed Dr. Burke the scans and biopsy report confirming that Bill had an ovary growing in his bladder.
• Dr. Burke explained the condition to Bill, who agreed to have Dr. Knox remove the ovary.
• Dr. Knox operated on Bill, and the doctors discovered that his vas deferens had always been blocked while his wife was five weeks from giving birth.
• Adam found George and Meredith at lunch and learned that Liz had gone to see Alex while Cristina had asked George to cover her shift.
• George complained about Liz's care for Alex, and Adam said her behavior seemed like a condition that needed treatment.

Adam warned George and Meredith that Liz might make an impulsive commitment to Alex, drawing on a case in which a doctor married a dying patient and later fell for his best friend. He refused to get involved in persuading Liz and returned to the ward, wondering why Elizabeth had not arrived by noon.

• Adam told George and Meredith about a doctor who married a cancer patient and later fell in love with her husband's best friend.
• Adam questioned whether the doctor and her husband's best friend truly loved each other, and said the doctor lived with guilt after her husband died.
• George worried that Liz might follow the doctor's example and asked Adam how they could help her.
• Adam advised George to try talking Liz out of it but refused to get involved himself.
• Adam finished his meal, headed back to the ward, and wondered why Elizabeth had not come yet.

Adam witnessed Dr. Burke confront Holly about hiding her affair and the child’s paternity from Bill, then helped Bill after he woke from surgery. Later, Elizabeth visited Adam and flirted with him by asking him to listen to her heart, leaving him flustered.

• Adam overheard Dr. Burke accuse Holly of deceiving Bill, and Holly insisted that keeping the truth from Bill protected their happiness.
• Dr. Burke said he would tell Bill as his attending physician, while Holly left without entering Bill’s room.
• Bill woke after his successful surgery and asked Adam where Holly was, so Adam fetched Dr. Burke.
• Adam received a call and went to the outpatient department, where Elizabeth asked to speak with him privately.
• Elizabeth told Adam her heartbeat seemed abnormal, then exposed herself and teased him about whose heart he wanted to hear.

Adam treated Elizabeth Plimpton, who had mistaken him for someone interested in her cosplay games, and remained distracted afterward by the vivid memories. At the hospital food cart, George raised concerns that anesthesiologist Dr. Tyler might be drinking at work, and Adam advised him to speak privately with Meredith Shepherd.

• Elizabeth tried to get Adam to examine her, then apologized and left after realizing she had misunderstood his intentions.
• Adam listened to the other doctors talk while replaying his encounter with Elizabeth in his photographic memory.
• Cristina said Burke had put Adam in charge of an ovotestis removal surgery, and Adam suggested Cristina might have been chosen if she had not been avoiding Burke.
• George told Adam, Cristina, and Meredith that he suspected Dr. Tyler had been drinking during work hours.
• Adam advised George to privately tell Meredith Shepherd about his concern, leaving the decision and responsibility with her as the attending physician.

Adam watched Dr. Shepherd prepare for a hemispherectomy with George as his assistant, while Dr. Tyler’s drinking became a point of conflict. After George confronted Tyler and was removed from the Operating Room, Shepherd called Adam in to take his place.

• Adam checked on the downcast Bill, asked the nurse to monitor him closely, and went to observe Dr. Shepherd’s scheduled hemispherectomy.
• Dr. Shepherd selected George for the operation, while Adam watched Dr. Tyler prepare and realized George had not reported the anesthesiologist’s drinking.
• George asked Dr. Tyler whether he had been drinking, and the confrontation halted the Operating Room’s preparations as Shepherd warned George to stop.
• Dr. Shepherd ordered George to leave, then warned Tyler to be ready before calling Dr. Duncan to replace George with Adam.

Adam assisted Dr. Shepherd during a two-year-old girl's brain surgery and noticed that Dr. Tyler had fallen asleep while the anesthesia was becoming too light. After Adam's warning prevented a possible disaster, Dr. Tyler was removed from the Operating Room, and George watched Adam continue the operation from the Observation Room.

• Adam hurried to the Operating Room and joined Dr. Shepherd as his first assistant, while George regretted confronting Dr. Tyler and watched from the Observation Room.
• During the operation, Adam noticed the patient's rising blood pressure and heart rate and warned Dr. Shepherd that the anesthesia was too light.
• Adam and Dr. Shepherd discovered that Dr. Tyler had fallen asleep, and Dr. Tyler initially dismissed Adam's concerns about the anesthesia.
• Dr. Tyler checked the patient, found that the anesthesia was too light, and administered more after seeing her eyelids twitch.
• Dr. Shepherd sent Dr. Tyler out to sober up and arranged for Dr. Pellington to take over, while George watched Adam remain in the surgery.

Adam assisted Dr. Shepherd after anesthesiologist Dr. Tyler was removed from the operating room, then explained how he had noticed Tyler falling asleep and detected the anesthesia problem. The operation succeeded, and Adam went to check on Bill while the patient recovered.

• Adam assisted Dr. Shepherd during surgery and explained that he had studied anesthesiology and noticed Dr. Tyler's stillness and abnormal monitor readings.
• Nurse Stafe and Dr. Shepherd questioned Adam about how he had realized Dr. Tyler was asleep, and the staff came to appreciate that he had acted to prevent an accident while preserving Tyler's dignity.
• George felt resentful as he compared the staff's reactions to Adam with the way they had treated him after he was removed from the operating room.
• Dr. Pellington took over anesthesia monitoring, and the surgery proceeded smoothly to a successful conclusion.
• Dr. Shepherd went to tell the patient's parents the good news, while the patient was taken to recovery and Adam went to Room 2 to check on Bill.

Adam comforted the heartbroken Bill by telling him a true story about a couple who discovered they were half-siblings after the wife nearly died. Bill understood Adam’s warning about the importance of knowing the truth, and Adam decided not to tell him another story about his sister.

• Adam found Bill crying after surgery and advised him to rest and talk with Preston.
• Adam told Bill about a young couple who risked everything to save each other when the wife suddenly became critically ill.
• The doctors discovered that the wife had Hereditary Angioedema, and the husband’s father had already died by suicide.
• Adam revealed that the couple were half-siblings, which left Bill shaken but eased his melancholy.
• Bill said he understood that the truth mattered, and Adam chose not to tell him the other story about his sister.

Adam’s coworkers invited him to a strip club, but he declined and saw Meredith and Dr. Shepherd together at the hospital. Their relationship collapsed when Addison Shepherd revealed she was Dr. Shepherd’s wife, and Adam followed the heartbroken Meredith to Joe’s Bar, where she began drinking heavily.

• Bald Chris and Stu invited Adam to a strip club, but he refused and left the hospital after changing.
• Adam saw Meredith and Dr. Shepherd show their affection openly in the hospital lobby.
• Addison Shepherd arrived and told Meredith that she was Dr. Shepherd’s wife, revealing that Meredith was his mistress.
• Meredith rejected Dr. Shepherd’s attempt to stop her and walked away, and Dr. Shepherd asked Adam to keep an eye on her.
• Adam followed Meredith to Joe’s Bar, where she rapidly drank several shots of whiskey.

At Joe's Bar, Meredith revealed that Derek was married, and Cristina admitted she was pregnant and planned to end the pregnancy. Adam stopped Cristina from drinking and took her to another hospital for an ultrasound, leaving with Meredith and George supporting her.

• Adam joined Meredith, George, and Cristina at Joe's Bar for a game in which the unluckiest person would win.
• Meredith revealed that Derek was married, shocking George and prompting him to celebrate privately.
• Cristina announced that she was pregnant and said she had decided to end the pregnancy because she wanted to focus on becoming a surgeon.
• Adam warned Cristina about the danger of an ectopic pregnancy and stopped her from drinking.
• Adam ordered Meredith and George to help him take Cristina to another hospital for an ultrasound.

Cristina learned that she had an ectopic pregnancy and went into surgery, while George decided to pursue Meredith after Adam challenged him to say what he wanted. At the clinic, Adam and George watched Bald Chris and Stu get caught trying to enter a strip club before they rushed to help a collapsed cameraman.

• Adam took Cristina, George, and Meredith to Williams Clinic, where an ultrasound confirmed Cristina had an ectopic pregnancy.
• Cristina agreed to immediate surgery, refused to notify Dr. Burke, and entered the Operating Room with Meredith.
• In the waiting area, George told Adam he planned to pursue Meredith because Dr. Shepherd had hidden his marriage from her.
• Adam and George watched a news report in which Bald Chris and Stu claimed they were at a strip club to protest, but a reporter exposed the cash in Stu's pocket.
• When cameraman Neil collapsed, Bald Chris and Stu began CPR as reporter Robin Scherbatsky filmed their rescue live.

Ted arranged a contrived chance encounter with Robin and invited her to a party, where he tried to act casual by ignoring her. Meanwhile, Adam stayed with Cristina through surgery before heading to the party, and Robin ended the night by declaring that she wanted to marry a flamboyant man she had just spotted.

• Ted learned Robin was at the Medical Center and rushed there, where he pretended their meeting was a coincidence and invited her to a party.
• Lily and Marshall joined Robin and Ted at the Medical Center, while Adam stayed at Williams Clinic until Cristina's surgery was over and then left with George.
• Ted quickly put together a party at Marshall and Ted's apartment and tried to impress Robin by acting casual and ignoring her.
• Robin complained to Lily about Ted's strange behavior, then theatrically pointed out a flamboyant man and said she wanted to marry him someday.