After they'd all finished we sat outside the hotel. "That was the worst thing I've ever done. I'm glad it's over." I said as I sat down. Jackson was trailing behind me.

"That was hell. Actual physical hell." Meredith said to us. I never wanted to do that again.

"I went a tad overboard." Cristina said to us, I did as well. "A lot overboard." She added.

"I lost a piece of myself in that room." I said to them all.

"They took something from me." Mer said to us. At least I wasn't the only one.

"Yeah, that wasn't an exam. That was an interrogation." Jackson said to us all.

"Like, way, way overboard." Cristina said to us.

"I feel like I talked in circles." I said to them all. I did. It was a lot.

"The mind games." Meredith said to us, there was so many.

"Trick questions." April said and there was a lot of them as well.

"It felt like Al-Qaeda in there." Jackson and we all sat in silence.

"Next test is June." Mer said to us and I looked at her.

"That's not that far away." I said to her with a smile, that was manageable. I could do that.

"June's not bad." Cristina said to her and Mer looked at the two of us.

"2013." She said that was next year and not manageable.

"Maybe not then." I said to her and looked down.

"Oh." Cristina got out. I then rested my head on Jackson's shoulder.

"What's done is done. Let's just not even talk about it anymore." Jackson said and I agreed with that. We all sat in silence then.

"Anyone know how Alex did?" Meredith asked us, that was if he was even here.

"Anyone know if Alex made it?" April asked, he wasn't here at all.

"Made it?" Cristina asked worried. Like he'd been in an accident.

"What do you mean, 'Made it'?" Meredith asked and she hadn't heard. I looked at her.

"He flew back to Seattle yesterday. I haven't seen him comeback since." I said to them all. They were in shock. I couldn't believe that he'd ever pass up on this. But let me take you to six hours earlier. When I entered into the room of hell.

"Welcome to the American Medical Board of Surgery Certifying Examination. We'll give you four separate scenarios in three 30-minute sessions. Ten-minute breaks in between. To pass the test, you must pass two of the three sessions. Now, you can fail a session and still pass. But examiners are not permitted to indicate whether you passed or failed each session. You'll be rated on your ability to diagnose, manage treatment, handle the unexpected, basically, the strength of your constitution in crisis. And when we move on to the next scenario, there's no doubling back, meaning, once a queasiness is asked you can't go back." One of them said to me and I looked at them with a smile.

"Are you ready to start Dr. Y/l/n?" The asked me and I nodded at them.

"I'm ready when you are." I said to them with a smile.

"Then let's get started. A 65-year-old woman is being seen by her primary care physician for a workout of osteoporosis when she is found to have elevated calcium. Her PTH level was well above normal. Her doctor sends her to you." One of them said to me and I nodded at them.

"They elevated calcium and PTH would indicate that there's primary hyperparathyroidism. I would offer the patient a parathyroidectomy. And then at first, I would explore the right side. If the gland is abnormally large I would biopsy it so I could get the next plan into place. What did Pathology say in their finding?" I said to them the lady looked at me.

"Path comes back with parathyroid hyperplasia." She said to me and I looked at her.

"Next, I would resect it leading me to explore the other glands. It might be an aggressive course but it might take longer if I wait for the IPM. Resecting the glands would give a better outcome. If the IPM showed PTH levels in the normal range I would feel comfortable with concluding the procedure." I said to them. This was so stressful. At the end of the first session I waited for Jackson before collapsing into his arms.

"That was so easy but stressful." I said to him and he looked at me.

"I think we both did well. Even if I wasn't with you." Jackson said to me and I went to take a bit more of my break. Treating myself with a drink and a motivational talk with my mum. When the second session started, I've never been more stressed. But thankfully I powered through. I found out the middle room between me and Jackson had my mum and Catherine in. Who knew the in-laws would be together. Listening to them laugh was kind of unsettling though. I was just glad that I was starting to get ortho questions. When it come to the end I ran into Jackson.

"I'm stressed. I know your stressed and I think we should destress. I've got the hotel room key too." I said to him and we started heading back to the room.

"I can't believe that they are asking us all these stupid questions and then taking away all of our pride." He said to me and I took my blazer off as soon as we got into the room.

"This is the world's hardest thing and my mum cheering me in isn't doing anything at all." I said to him and he looked at me.

"And all I need is for this to be over." He said to me before locked the door on us. I smiled knowing what was coming next.

"And now we can take our mind off of it for a few minutes." I said to him and that's when we started our session. Once it was over we then went to start our final session. Thankfully it was something that I'd worked on before. It was all to do with amputation. I could see this in front of me even if it wasn't. After this one I wasn't even looking forward to heading home. I was going to disappoint my son. The second round was full of trick questions and I knew that I had failed. I knew it. And I think everyone else would. I guess that takes us to present day. As we all waited for the shuttle to take us to the airport. And when we all got back to Seattle Grace Mercy West. We waited for that text email.

"What time you got?" Jackson asked us.

"12:04." Cristina and I both answered.

"Oh! It's supposed to come online at midnight." Jackson said and I looked at my phone.

"What are they playing at?" I asked, didn't they now how much waiting we had already done for them. That was torture enough.

"I mean, it's four minutes late. Come on, people." Mer said to us. I looked at Alex. Yes, he had made it. He'd missed the first session but he did the others. 

"Crazy doctors, they crashed the system." Alex said to us and I looked back at my phone.

"I already know I failed, so I don't know why I keep hitting the refresh button." Mer said. I kept refreshing. Even if it did nothing.

"Ok, if anyone failed, it was me, because my guy had a vendetta." Cristina said to us and I looked at her.

"My guy kept telling me everything I did was risky. But that's what Ortho is." I said to her, I had never been more angry.

"Please. I've got the odd on failure." Alex said and I was just waiting for something.

"Are any of you on call? I've got a trauma." A nurse asked as she ran out and we all turned to look at her.

"No!" We all shouted at her.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. I passed. I passed." Jackson said and I was so happy for him.

"I passed! I passed!" I shouted and I was so happy. Jackson kissed me instantly we both did it.

"I passed! I passed! I passed! Yes!" Cristina shouted. That was three down and three to go.

"I passed! I passed! Oh, my God! Yeah!" Mer shouted before letting out a relieved laugh.

"Alex?" Cristina and I asked him.

"It's not coming up." He said to us and if he didn't pass I'd be so mad. Jackson put his phone out for Alex.

"Here, here. Use mine." Jackson said and that's when we all looked at him. The look on his face he passed. We all had a group circle of jumping. We all celebrated. "Wait, wait. Where's April?" Jackson asked and she walked out. She wasn't happy. The tears in her eyes proved that she didn't do it. She'd failed the most important test of her life.