Chapter Text
„It has been exactly one year since the tragic incident at the Pittfest, right here in the heart of Pittsburgh. What was supposed to be a day of celebration and relaxation ended in chaos, violence and death. One hundred and six injured, as well as six fatalities, were reported by the nearby Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre, not to mention the many people who never made it to the E.R.”
“Today, we are here to show our respect to the victims, as well as the heroes of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre, who are the reason why those one hundred and six people are still with us. As you can see, people from all over the city came here to light candles, write letters to their loved ones, and comfort each other. And just a few blocks from here, a huge crowd has gathered in front of the hospital to donate food and letters of encouragement to the E.R department.”
“We, here on PBC News, now want to dedicate the rest of this segment to the people who were taken from us way too soon. Leah–“
Dennis was pulled out of the trance in which the news report had entangled him, as the TV in the waiting room had suddenly been shut off. His head was still angled upwards with his eyes locked onto the black TV screen. The inside of his head, which was normally firing rapidly with memories of previous interactions and conversations, was almost completely empty, except for an image of himself, looking down at his blood-covered, trembling hands and muffled crying in the distance.
Sure, he had been working here for quite a while now, but had it really been one year? How could he have forgotten that today was the exact day? Dennis felt a heavy lump forming in his throat with every second that he kept staring at the screen. But suddenly, he felt something on his shoulders. It was a familiar sensation.
When he dragged his eyes away from the TV and around to the person standing behind him, he was greeted by a melancholy smile. “Let’s get out of here, Whitaker,” Robby, who was visually as upset as Whitaker felt, suggested.
“Yeah,” Dennis muttered faintly, nodding his head.
On their way out of the waiting room and into the E.R, they were interrupted. One of the patients, a middle-aged man, who was pressing a bag of ice against the side of his face, cut them off. “Hey, man, I was watching that!”
“You need to let us through, Sir. You can ask our lovely ward clerk, Lupe, over there, to put on another channel, but you need to step aside,” Robby tried to negotiate calmly.
“I’ve already been waiting here for an hour, man, and I really want to watch that,” the man demanded.
“Listen, pal, a lot of us were on duty during the Pittfest incident last year, and we don’t need to be reminded of it,” Robby responded, growing impatient.
The patient rolled his eyes and reluctantly stepped aside, “That TV better be on again, in the next few minutes,” he threateningly muttered under his breath.
Robby’s hand moved from Dennis’s shoulder to his lower back as the door opened, gently guiding him into the E.R. Shortly after entering, they were greeted by Dana, who was already in her scrubs and holding a steaming paper cup with coffee in her hand.
“Good morning, you two,” Dana’s voice was warm, but cautious, as if she knew what had happened. “They’re playing it on every channel today.”
A heavy silence settled between the three; none of them really knew what to say. Instead, Dana simply smiled softly, the corners of her mouth tugging downwards, Dennis stared at the ground in front of him, and Robby’s grip on Dennis’s back subconsciously tightened.
After a few seconds, Dana broke the silence, clearing her throat. “Administration has also sent out an email this morning. Gloria is planning on doing a remembrance in the cafeteria around two. Just as a little heads-up.”
Dennis eyes went up to Robby when he didn’t answer and just kept staring off into the distance, as if his mind was occupied by something… “Dr. Robby?” Dennis asked gently, snapping Robby out of his trance.
“Of course, she is,” he said slightly muddled. “She better not expect me to show up,” he added after a few seconds.
“She might. You know her, she’ll take every chance she gets to improve this hospital's reputation, even if that means praising you,” Dana said, before taking a sip of her coffee. “Oh, I should also warn you about another thing,” she added, crossing her arms. “PBC got reporters outside, again. Dying for an interview with anyone who was here that day.”
“Figures. I can still remember the reporter who snuck in here last year,” Dennis finally spoke, eyes still pointing to the floor and his hands fidgeting with the cord of his zipper hoodie.
Dana studied him carefully before continuing. “Security’s keeping them back. But it’s gonna be one of those days.”
“Alright. We’ll just keep our heads down and do what we always do,” Robby acknowledged, let go of Dennis's back and motioned over to the locker rooms. “Come on, Whitaker. Let’s get changed.”
Robby took the lead, and Dennis quietly followed him. Together, they crossed the E.R. and made their way to the locker room. When they arrived, Robby pulled the identification badge out of his pocket and opened the door, gesturing for Dennis to get in.
He gave Robby a small nod of appreciation as he passed him, proceeding into the locker room and immediately steering towards his locker, opening it. Then, he squatted down and rummaged around in his backpack, trying to find his ID Badge, while listening to Robby's footsteps behind him.
Robby crossed the room and stopped at his locker, not too far from Dennis’s and tossed his ID Badge onto the wooden bench right next to it. “I swear, if Gloria really expects me to make an appearance during her promo stunt…,” he muttered more to himself than Dennis, while putting in the combination to his lock in a bit harder than necessary.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while Dennis was still squatting over his backpack, looking for his ID Badge. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to let this out on you, Whitaker.”
Dennis’s head shot up at the mention of his name. Having concentrated more on finding his Badge than listening to what Robbie had said, he simply stared at him. But Robby just looked back in anticipation. “Yeah… no. It’s cool, really,” Dennis answered, his pulse quickening, before immediately giving his attention back to his backpack.
He heard the metallic clicking of Robby’s locker opening, followed by his footsteps moving towards the scrub machine. Then he perceived a soft beeping, before the distinctive thud of scrubs entering the drawer sounded.
By the time Robby had gotten his scrubs, put his bag into the locker and was starting to change, Dennis was still looking for his ID badge. Come on, where are you? I swear I packed you this morning. Please don’t tell me I forgot to pack you. Trinity will kill me if we have to drive back to get you, his thoughts spiralled.
Just as Robbie had taken off his sweater, he noticed Dennis still rummaging in his bag and starting to pull out pens, crumpled papers and snack wrappers. “You okay?” Robby asked, slightly concerned.
“Yeah,” he replied, while concentrating on his bag. “I’m doing fine.”
Robby didn’t answer right away. Instead, he placed his sweater on the bench, next to his ID Badge and approached Dennis. He stopped right next to Dennis and gently lowered himself beside him. “I didn’t mean in general,” he added.
Dennis froze, one of his hands still buried in the backpack, as he noticed the presence right next to him.
“I meant because you’ve been digging through that thing since we walked in,” Robby elaborated, looking into Dennis's eyes.
Dennis faintly raised his head from the backpack that he had basically turned inside out, flustering as his eyes met Robby’s bare chest and getting caught on his necklace, before quickly jumping up to meet his eyes.
“I–“ He swallowed. “I can’t find my ID,” he admitted.
Robby’s gaze dropped to the chaos in front of them and then jumped back to Dennis, going back and forth a few times. The stressed expression on his face from earlier had vanished and been replaced by a soft smile.
After a few seconds, Robby reached forward, slow enough to give Dennis time to pull away, if he wanted to. As Robby’s hand was only a few millimetres away from his chest, Dennis’s breath hitched. Robby brushed the edge of his hoodie and grabbed it before pulling away again.
“Here, Whitaker,” Robby was holding his ID badge up between two fingers. “It was still clipped to your hoodie,” Robby said while studying Dennis’s expression.
Dennis let out a deep sigh, “Shit. I’m sorry,” and took his ID.
Robby didn’t get up immediately. “It happens. Especially on days like these,” he stopped for a second and looked down,”… If you do want to talk about how you feel, in general, at any point today, don’t hesitate to–“
The door to the locker room flew open forcefully, making both men jump.
“Those fucking reporters! Don’t they have anything better to do than to–“ Santos stopped mid-sentence as she saw Robby and Dennis squatting next to each other in front of Dennis’s locker. “Oh, shit. Did I interrupt you two during something?”
“No! I– we–“ Dennis shot up and hit his head on the locker door that he had opened before looking for his ID. “Ah, fuck!”
Santos rushed past Dennis, who was rubbing his head and went to her locker. “Sorry, Whitaker. I was just fucking with you,” she stated, before rushing into one of the changing cabins with her bag and a pair of scrubs.
Robby pushed himself up slowly and took a look at Dennis’s hair, looking for any laceration. “I don’t see any blood, Whitaker. Are you okay?”
Dennis blinked away the stinging in his eyes and forced a short nod. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Robby’s hand hovered over Dennis’s head a few seconds longer, as if wanting to check twice, before finally dropping it and moving over to his locker, again. “Try not to concuss yourself before Handoffs,” Robby said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Dennis huffed softly, giving the back of his head a final rub, before finally going over to the scrub machine and getting a pair as well. After getting back to his locker, he took off his shoes and the cool tile pressed against his socks. When he pulled off his jeans, he tried not to overthink the fact that he and Robby were still technically the only people changing in the locker room; that he was there changing right next to him.
We’ve known each other for a year now. It’s normal to be nervous about changing in front of your superior! Right? Yeah… of course. Dennis' thoughts were racing as he stepped into his scrub pants, binding the drawstring tighter than necessary.
Robby was already fully dressed and adjusting his stethoscope when Dennis looked over to him. So he tried to speed up a bit, pulling his own scrub over his head hastily and somehow ending up getting stuck in there. “Damn it,” he exclaimed quietly, before finding the right hole and finally sliding down the top.
At last, he scooped up the pile of items in front of his back, stuffed it back in and placed his backpack into the locker before closing it. When he turned around, Robby was standing by the door, one hand already on the handle, waiting… for him. Dennis’s chest slightly tightened at that.
Robby swiftly looked at his watch and then back to Dennis. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” Dennis answered, adjusting the stethoscope around his neck.
Robby pushed open the door and stepped into the hallway, holding open the door until Dennis had followed him through. Together, they went back into the increasingly crowded E.R. and made their way to the nurses’ station, already meeting a few familiar faces on their way there.
Dana was still at the station, leaning against the counter, coffee in one hand, phone in the other. “Look at you two. I thought you’d never leave the locker room; what took you so long?”
“I misplaced my ID,” Dennis admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
Dana took a sip of her coffee, put her phone into her pocket and turned to Robbie. “And? What’s your excuse?”
Robby seemed surprised by Dana’s question. “Me? I–“
“Dr. Robby helped me to find my ID,” Dennis jumped in, turned to Robby and gave him a quick smile, before turning back to Dana.
“Heroic,” Dana said dryly, though the corners of her mouth twitched upwards slightly.
Before either of them could respond, more people approached the station for the morning handoffs. McKay arrived first, rubbing her eyes, like she’d just been thrown out of bed. “Please tell me there is still some coffee left in that pod,” she muttered, eyeing Dana’s cup.
“Breakroom, if you’re lucky,” Dana replied. “Oh, but be careful, Gloria is wandering around in the area,” Dana looked over to Dennis and Robby. “She’s still trying to recruit one of us for a speech later.”
McKay stopped mid-step and turned around, looking as if she’d drank 5 coffees by the time Dana finished her sentence. “Why does she need one of us to hold a speech?” she asked, eyes wide open.
Mel appeared behind her, a thin folder tucked under one arm and a water bottle in her hand. “One of us has to do a speech?” she asked nervously.
As if on cue, Javadi joined them. “Yeah, Gloria wants one of us to hold a speech during the remembrance in the cafeteria today,” she explained.
“She can’t be serious,” someone from behind Dennis said, making him flinch. When he turned around, he recognised that Samira was standing behind him, looking as sleep-deprived as the rest of them, except for Mel, who looked surprisingly rested.
It didn’t take long until the night shift had gathered as well, with Dr. Abbot being the last to arrive. “Alright,” he said, trying to get everyone's attention. “Can we get started?”
Just before they began, Garcia rushed in, closely followed by Santos. “Sorry, sorry. Elevator was packed,” Garcia explained for both of them, raising her hands in a half-sarcastic, half-appeasing manner.
A few minutes later, the day shift was finally caught up, and the night shift was ready to go home. Though before the day shift could properly take over, Robby stepped forward and clapped his hands together once to get everyone’s attention. The low murmur around the station had quieted down again.
“Alright. Let’s break into teams before this turns into chaos.” Robby looked at the board, then back at them. His expression turned into the shape it always did when he was focused.
“Samira, you’re with Santos and Joy. You’ve got rooms four through seven. Four and five are stable for now; six still needs to be evaluated, and it’s important that you keep an eye on seven.
Samira nodded once, Santos gave a mock salute, and Joy was scrolling through the patient list on her tablet.
“Mel, Javadi, McKay – you’re together. Eight through twelve. Nine is the one who thinks her goldfish caused food poisoning.”
“That’s biologically unlikely,” Mel said calmly, after looking at the patient's file.
“That’s what Abbot told them,” McKay muttered.
“As for me, I will take Whitaker…,” Robby scanned through the crowd, making sure he forgot no one, then his eyes locked on Ogilvie. “and Ogilvie. We’ll cover one through three.”
Dennis felt his chest tighten. He didn’t like Ogilvie, but he had already expected it, because no one else wanted to work with Ogilvie either. But since Robby was mostly rushing between rooms, he didn’t really know what Ogilvie was like; he might even have forgotten him, judging by the pause.
Nonetheless, he straightened slightly, already catching an annoyed glimpse of Ogilvie and acknowledged Robby’s assignment. “Got it.”
Ogilvie adjusted his stethoscope and stepped closer to Dennis and Robby, already scanning the board. “Trauma one’s just a post-op transfer, right?”
“Never just a post-op transfer, but essentially: yes,” Robby corrected. “Two’s a chest pain rule-out. Labs pending.”
He briefly turned to Dennis, lowering his voice slightly. “You’re on initial assessments.”
Dennis nodded again, briefly glancing over to Ogilvie.
“Let’s move,” Robby said, and the groups began to separate, each of them going to their designated stations.