Please clarify the model that describe the mechanism of the observations. Is it A) a photon travels through a medium and changes the state of an atom in some wa

Please clarify the model that describe the mechanism of the observations. Is it A) a photon travels through a medium and changes the state of an atom in some way. Another photon travels through the medium and interacts with the same ‘excited’ atom. The second photon is then changed in a way directly related to the first photon Or B) a photon interacts with an atom but instead of being absorbed and retransmitted, it is just absorbed and captured. Only when another photon is captured does the atom release them both. In A the information from the first photon is stored in the atom (flipped spin of an electron or proton for example) but the total energy of the atom is not changed much. In B, the energy of the photon is contained in the atom (jump of an electron to a higher energy orbital) and the atom is truly in an excited state- this would be the mechanism of laser. An incident photon would then push the excited atom to quantum orgasm where it would spew out its photons. I tend to favor B because it might make me famous as the inventor of the ‘quantum orgasm’.