Chapter Summaries

Adam learned about Dr. Montgomery’s unusual patient, whose uncontrollable spontaneous orgasms had caused a car accident and brought deep embarrassment to her and her father. The patient faced the difficult choice of giving up the ability, while Dr. Montgomery had not yet explained her treatment plan.

• Adam saw Dr. Shepherd punch Mark after finding him flirting with Meredith, and Chief of Surgery Richard summoned Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Montgomery to his office.
• Meredith took Mark to treat his injuries while Adam inferred that Richard would protect Dr. Shepherd because of his value to the hospital.
• At lunch, Liz told Adam, George, and Cristina about Dr. Montgomery’s patient, whose involuntary orgasms had begun during a taxi ride and distracted the driver into an accident.
• Liz explained that the patient’s father was her only family and had witnessed her covering her face with a pillow when the episode happened at the hospital.
• Adam argued that the uncontrollable episodes could turn the patient’s so-called blessing into a burden, while Liz and Cristina sympathized with her reluctance to give it up.

After lunch, Adam agreed to examine Dr. Montgomery in private when she was in severe pain. He diagnosed a rapidly worsening Poison Ivy Rash and promised to obtain treatment without creating a medical record or telling anyone.

• At lunch, Adam told Cristina, Liz, and George about cases of Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder triggered by physical contact.
• Adam found Dr. Montgomery struggling to walk in the corridor and initially prepared to leave her alone.
• Dr. Montgomery asked Adam to examine her confidentially, and he took her to a nearby examination room.
• Adam diagnosed Dr. Montgomery with a severe Poison Ivy Rash and offered to get Calamine Lotion, gloves, and Steroids.
• Dr. Montgomery begged Adam not to write a medical record or reveal her condition, and he agreed to obtain the medication quietly.

Adam secretly treated Dr. Montgomery’s severe Poison Ivy Rash and learned that she had contracted it while relieving herself during a mountain dog walk. After giving her an ice pack, he left her to rest in the hospital room.

• Adam treated Dr. Montgomery in secret and warned her to endure the pain quietly so others would not hear.
• Adam suspected her rash was connected to Mark, but Dr. Montgomery explained that their affair had happened months earlier.
• Dr. Montgomery said she had gotten the rash after squatting in the grass while walking the dog her husband’s romantic rival had given him.
• Adam finished treating Dr. Montgomery, brought her an ice pack, and left the room.

Adam helped Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Shepherd reconcile, then treated a sociologist who deliberately provoked people into assaulting him for research. The sociologist asked Adam to let him test his theory, and Adam agreed.

• Adam stayed with Dr. Montgomery after treating her, then fetched Dr. Shepherd at her request.
• Dr. Montgomery showed Dr. Shepherd her Poison Ivy Rash and asked if it could count as punishment for her cheating; the couple laughed and made up.
• Adam returned to the emergency room and examined a middle-aged man whose face was bloodied and ribs were likely broken.
• The man explained that he was a New York University sociologist studying violence by provoking people into beating him.
• Adam pointed out flaws in the man's research, and the sociologist asked him two questions to test his reactions; Adam agreed.

Adam refused to let Mr. Desmond provoke him into hitting a patient, but the nurses turned the sociologist’s stay into a painful ordeal. After Mr. Parnell arrived as his roommate, Desmond provoked the underground boxer and was thrown into the hallway.

• Mr. Desmond tried to provoke Adam with insults, including remarks about Adam’s family, but Adam left rather than strike him.
• Nurse Carol stitched Mr. Desmond’s facial wound, and the nurses grew angry after hearing how he had insulted Adam and his family.
• The nurses arranged for Mr. Parnell, an underground boxer who had just lost a fight, to share Mr. Desmond’s room.
• Mr. Desmond questioned Mr. Parnell about what had happened, and Mr. Parnell knocked him out of the room and into the hallway.

At the Medical Center, Adam learned that sociologist Fang Tangjing had been knocked unconscious after provoking someone and refused to treat him himself. Later, Adam subdued a student who had drugged cheerleaders with chocolates and vowed to involve their families and the police, then wondered how he would protect a future daughter.

• A nurse told Adam that Fang Tangjing had been punched unconscious after his wish to be beaten came true, and Adam sent Dr. Lewis to examine him.
• Adam reflected that Sheldon's looks and charm had protected him from the consequences of his provocations, unlike Paige and Missy, who would hit him without hesitation.
• Adam found three cheerleaders acting abnormally in a hospital ward and subdued them and the football player who had brought them there.
• The student admitted he had drugged the cheerleaders with ecstasy and shown Adam a box of heart-shaped chocolates containing drugs.
• Adam ordered the chocolates tested and warned that the police and both sets of parents would be told about the drugging and its dangers.
• Adam thought he would rather raise a future daughter as a bookworm or send her to Juno than let her be vulnerable to people in the American TV Show World.

Adam discovered that laced chocolates had drugged several nurses at the Medical Center and reported the incident to Kate, but Kate and Robin failed to act. The next day, Adam challenged Meredith’s defense of Mark’s cheating.

• After the three cheerleaders recovered enough to sit unrestrained, Adam found Nurse Debbie staring blankly and suspected she had eaten the laced chocolates.
• Adam told Nurse Carol to care for Debbie and destroy the chocolates, but later found that six nurses had eaten them and were blissfully licking ice cream.
• Adam called Kate to report the drugging and demand action, then threatened to leak the story if law enforcement failed him.
• The next day, Adam learned Kate had proved unreliable and Robin had backed down from covering the case.
• Meredith defended Mark by citing his therapist, and Adam argued that Mark’s cheating was simply lust and shamelessness.

Adam and the interns discussed Mark Sloan’s planned plastic surgery for a teenager with Lion Syndrome and debated whether it should be combined with surgery for the boy’s malignant brain tumor. Mark invited them to join if they could persuade the boy’s parents to consent.

• Adam admitted he wanted to learn from Mark’s plastic surgery skills, while the group discussed Meredith’s feelings and Derek’s conflicting reactions to Mark.
• Mark offered the teenager a more normal-looking face, and the boy chose plastic surgery despite Derek’s recommendation to focus on removing the malignant tumor.
• Adam said the patient’s wishes should guide the decision, while noting that combining the operations would increase the risks of prolonged anesthesia.
• The Chief allowed Mark to perform the plastic surgery if the boy’s parents signed the consent form, and Mark invited the interns to join if they could persuade them.

Adam challenged Cristina’s belief that Mark Sloan only chose beautiful women, arguing that Sloan’s insistence on operating alongside Dr. Shepherd showed he still cared about him. When Jack’s parents refused the combined surgery, Adam showed them a sketch of the result he predicted, leaving Mark shocked by how closely it matched his own surgical vision.

• Mark Sloan selected Liz to assist him, while Adam and Cristina discussed Sloan’s unresolved feelings for Dr. Shepherd.
• Jack’s parents refused to consent to the combined tumor and plastic surgery, despite Mark and Liz trying to persuade them.
• Jack insisted that he wanted the surgery because he could not accept his appearance and trusted Mark.
• Adam showed the Bouldons a sketch of Jack after surgery, and Mark confirmed that it matched the result he had envisioned.

Adam’s sketch persuaded the patient’s family, but Mark Sloan chose Liz to assist him in the Operating Room instead of Adam. Cristina explained that Mark likely felt threatened by Adam’s talent, while Adam left without objecting.

• Adam presented a sketch of the patient’s expected surgical result, and the family agreed to proceed.
• Mark Sloan invited Liz into the Operating Room, leaving Adam out despite the agreement.
• Cristina told Adam that he should be angry, but Adam accepted Mark’s decision calmly.
• Cristina explained to Liz that Adam’s sketch had revealed exceptional plastic-surgery talent that could threaten Mark’s standing.
• Cristina and Liz concluded that Adam probably preferred treating illnesses and saving lives, and Cristina warned Liz that Adam could be petty if she failed to apologize.

Adam joined Cristina and Liz to perform the Plastic Surgery Jack had wanted after the boy died during brain tumor surgery. They began the procedure in the morgue, with Adam confident he could lead it and Liz wondering whether Mark Sloan would later give them pointers.

• Adam spoke with Meredith and George while they watched the operating room, and Meredith avoided explaining why George could only be her friend.
• Dr. Shepherd and Mark Sloan tried to save Jack during his brain tumor resection, but he died at 10:23 without receiving the Plastic Surgery he had wanted.
• Adam asked Cristina and Liz to help perform Plastic Surgery on Jack, and they agreed to seek his parents' consent.
• Adam and the others explained the plan to Jack's grieving parents, who signed the consent form after seeing Adam's sketch.
• Adam, Cristina, and Liz moved Jack's body to the morgue and began the Plastic Surgery, with Adam leading the operation.

Adam reconstructed Jack’s face after securing his parents’ consent, then faced down Mark Sloan when the renowned plastic surgeon inspected his work. Jack’s parents came to see him, and Adam left the morgue after helping them find comfort in his peaceful appearance.

• Mark Sloan tried to comfort Dr. Shepherd, who sidestepped him, before Liz reminded Mark about Jack’s reconstruction.
• Liz told Mark that Adam had already obtained Jack’s parents’ consent and performed the reconstruction.
• Mark inspected Jack’s reconstructed face and could find no fault with Adam’s work, then left after exchanging pointed remarks with him.
• Adam explained to Liz and Cristina that Mark had targeted him personally and that he had no intention of dwelling on the conflict.
• Adam, Liz, and Cristina brought Jack’s parents to see him, and Jack’s mother praised his handsome, peaceful appearance while his father thanked them.

Liz tried to care for Danny, a longtime heart-transplant patient whose worsening heart failure left her emotionally overwhelmed. Dr. Burke assigned Danny to Adam, who ultimately ordered Liz to leave the ICU and barred her from returning without permission.

• Liz recognized Danny when he arrived at the ER with an irregular heartbeat and heart failure, and insisted she was able to treat him.
• Dr. Burke stopped Liz from giving Danny medication, ordered him to the ICU, and assigned Adam to oversee his care.
• Liz stayed by Danny in the ICU and lamented that he was a good person who might never receive a suitable heart.
• Adam instructed nurse Niki not to let Liz into Danny’s room without his or Dr. Burke’s permission, then told Liz to leave.

Adam explained why he had removed Liz from Danny’s care, arguing that her feelings for the patient had compromised her judgment. Danny woke and asked for Liz to be his resident doctor, but when Dr. Burke proposed assigning both Liz and Adam, Adam objected.

• Adam told Meredith, George, and Cristina that Liz had become emotionally involved with Danny and was acting recklessly as a doctor.
• Meredith and the others were shocked to hear what Liz had said about Danny, and Cristina remarked that he was charming enough to make Liz fall for him.
• Danny woke up, asked where Liz was, and requested that she return as his resident doctor.
• Dr. Burke urged Danny to accept Adam’s care, but Danny insisted that he wanted Liz responsible for him.
• Dr. Burke proposed that Adam and Liz serve together as Danny’s resident doctors, and Adam immediately said he did not agree.

Adam refused to let Dr. Stevenson serve as Danny Duggett’s resident doctor because hospital rules prohibited doctor-patient relationships, and Danny agreed to continue under Adam’s care. When Danny developed atrial fibrillation, Adam performed electrical cardioversion and restored his heart rate.

• Adam told Dr. Burke that he would not care for Danny alongside Dr. Stevenson and urged him not to assign her to Danny.
• Dr. Burke explained that dating patients violated hospital policy and warned Danny that Dr. Stevenson would be fired if she broke the rule.
• Danny asked Adam to continue as his resident doctor, and Adam agreed on the condition that Danny not see Dr. Stevenson in the hospital.
• Danny said he hoped to pursue Dr. Stevenson after he was discharged, and Adam said he would approve.
• Danny developed atrial fibrillation, so Adam used electrical cardioversion to bring his heart rate back to normal.

After Dr. Burke handed Danny’s care to Adam, Liz tried to get around Adam’s ban on seeing Danny by following him everywhere. Her scheme failed when Adam’s nurse supporters paged her and saddled her with a heavy workload, leaving her too busy to pursue him.

• Dr. Burke stabilized Danny’s condition and formally handed his care over to Adam.
• Unable to visit Danny, Liz followed Adam into the men’s room and argued that she should be allowed to see him.
• Adam told Liz he did not trust her, and her pager summoned her to the nurses’ station.
• The nurses gave Liz a stack of unpleasant intern duties, punishing her for clinging to Adam and following him into the men’s room.
• When a male nurse expressed sympathy for Liz, the others glared at him, and he quickly joined in criticizing her.

Adam and Dr. Burke stabilized Danny after a dangerous episode of acute pulmonary edema and recommended a left ventricular assist device while he waited for a donor heart. Danny considered the risks and asked to see Liz, but Adam warned him not to make his will to live depend on love at first sight.

• Dr. Burke praised Adam for repeatedly resuscitating Danny, whose acute pulmonary edema had stabilized with medication and bilevel positive airway pressure.
• Adam and Dr. Burke recommended implanting a left ventricular assist device to keep Danny alive while he waited for a new heart.
• Danny joked about becoming a robot, then asked about the device's risks and learned he would have to stay in the hospital until a transplant.
• Adam encouraged Danny to find a meaningful goal during his hospital stay and reminded him that he still had hope of recovery.
• Danny asked to see Liz for motivation, but Adam advised him to pursue higher goals instead of relying on his feelings for her.

Danny agreed to undergo heart surgery despite fearing the hospital’s Three-Seven Death Line, and Adam prepared to help with the operation. Liz learned the surgery was scheduled and confronted Adam, alarmed by how serious Danny’s condition was.

• Adam persuaded Danny that surviving the wait for a new heart mattered more than pursuing a relationship, and Danny agreed to surgery but asked not to operate that day.
• Dr. Burke told Danny his condition required surgery that day, and Danny accepted, hoping he would wake up and live well.
• Dr. Montgomery gave Adam hot cocoa as a good-luck charm, but Adam passed it to Nurse Niki after seeing her give another cup to Meredith.
• Liz confronted Adam about operating on Danny despite the Death Number Legend, and Adam said Danny would die that day without surgery.
• Liz, who had only just learned about the operation, asked whether Danny’s condition was already that serious.

Adam argued that Liz and Danny barely knew each other and urged them not to mistake attraction for love, while Meredith pushed him to prepare for Danny’s surgery. Danny survived the operation, and Adam left Liz to continue his follow-up care.

• Adam refused to let Liz see Danny before surgery and explained that he had advised Danny to avoid her while recovering.
• Adam challenged Liz’s belief in love at first sight and criticized Meredith’s effort to stay celibate by knitting and visiting bars.
• Liz and Meredith watched as several patients died in surgery, leaving Liz afraid that Danny would be next.
• Adam came out of the Operating Room and told Liz that Danny was fine.
• Dr. Burke told Dr. Duncan to take extra care with Danny’s follow-up, then left with his lucky yellow surgical cap.

Dr. Adam Duncan cared for Tatiana, a young Russian girl abandoned at the hospital, and discovered she had AIDS. After her adoptive mother refused to return, Adam promised Tatiana she would have someone who stayed by her side.

• Nurse Carol asked Adam to help Tatiana, whose adoptive mother had left the hospital and could not be reached.
• Adam spoke with Tatiana in Russian, learned she had recently been adopted, and ordered blood tests while asking Ada to bring her a toy.
• Adam asked Officer Beckett to identify Tatiana’s adoptive mother, and Kate found that her name was Mary Hall.
• After Nurse Carol brought the test results, Adam recognized that Tatiana had AIDS and called Mary.
• Mary explained that she could not face losing another loved one and refused to come back, so Adam promised Tatiana she would have a new mother who would stay with her.