Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch is someone who is formidable and strong, only a few people can actually get on his nerves.

And one of them comes in the form of Dr. Heather Collins.

“Morning, Dr. Robby.” She greets him and he sighs as he looks up at the board.

“Morning, Dr. Collins. Got your sign in already?” He asks her and she nods. She already has a tablet in her hands, most likely already checking a patient and their status. ”Who did hand offs to you from the night shift?”

“Dr. Shen did. It amazes me every single time how he’s so nonchalant in the most chaotic place on earth.” She says and chuckles to herself.

Robby wants to laugh because he feels the same, albeit there are times he gets annoyed at how John Shen, their newest attending does not seem to waver in the chaos of the emergency department. As much as he appreciates him and his work, he cannot handle him and his iced coffee that he leaves in the nurse’s station which sits and leaves a puddle by the time he even remembers he has one. Jack seems to handle him properly so all’s well.

“They, luckily, did not have a full house and chairs does not seem that full.” Robby comments and Heather hums in response.

“Hey, can I borrow your favorite for today? Haven’t got the chance to be with him on a full shift because you keep hogging him.” Heather says, eyes not leaving the tablet and Robby raises an eyebrow.

“My favorite?” He asks, genuinely confused. Heather laughs but when she looks up, she realizes that he’s completely serious about being clueless.

“Dennis Whitaker? Funky music? Our bloodhound as Dana likes to call him?” She says, putting down the tablet to look at him seriously.

“He’s not my favorite? I don’t have favorites?” He says, hesitantly and she scoffs.

“Robby, you cannot be that stupid.”

Robby is taken aback by this statement and is about to tell her off when she puts her hand up and rolls her eyes.

“Robby, everyone here can see that he’s your favorite. Always when you get a call, you yell out his name. You practically manhandle him every single minute of every shift. You always check up on him, maybe even a bit more than the others and hey, we don’t mind but come on.” She says, in a very serious tone as she places her hands on the station and leans against it.

Robby laughs at her, as if this whole ordeal is impossible and outwardly. “I don’t have favorites. You just hate me.”

Heather laughs in response. “Okay, Robby. Whatever you say.” She nods her head and looks around the department.

She spots residents, interns, medical students, nurses, nursing assistants and the occasional surgeon for consultation until she spots Dennis with a chart on his hands, already reviewing cases that were handed to him by night shift before the shift even starts.

“Hey. Code Stroke, ETA 10 minutes. Trauma 2 is available.” Dana says, butting into their conversation. She stands beside Heather who nods at her.

“I’ll take that then. Happy Thursday.” She says and Dana laughs at her, leaning onto her side.

Heather gets a brilliant idea, as she always does. She smirks and looks at Dennis who was still in the same position. “Okay then, Robby. I’ll have Dennis with me for today’s shift, thanks!”

“Hey, I—“ Before Robby can argue, Heather yells

“Pretty boy!”

Everyone in the ED stops and looks at Heather who yells that out. They follow her line of sight and they immediately lock onto Dennis Whitaker, who seems focused on his chart. He mumbles quietly while reading it, something he did that everyone just brushed it off as everyone had their own quirks on the job; this in particular was harmless enough.

Everyone witnesses how Dennis is still oblivious to the amused eyes and quiet laughter surrounding him, unlike the person beside him, Trinity Santos.

Trinity nudges him and he looks up, confused. He looks around and everyone is staring at him. His eyes immediately landed on Heather’s who just looked expectantly at him.

His face brightened and pointed to himself, “Oh! I’m ‘pretty boy’?” He asks.

Heather smiles widely, “Yes!” And gestures for him to come over, “You’re with me, come on!”

Dennis smiles shyly at the attention, puts the tablet down for it to charge and stands beside Heather.

He looks at her and tilts his head. “Pretty boy? Me?” He cautiously asks her and she nods.

“Well you are pretty and you are a boy, hence pretty boy. I’m merely stating the obvious.” Heather genuinely says with a smile on her face, loving the fact that Robby is witnessing this encounter right now.

Dennis blushes under everyone’s gaze and nods. “Oh, well, thank you for thinking that, Dr. Collins. But I do think you’re prettier than me.” He says, a cute smile on his face and Collins smiles at him.

“Oh why thank you. You’re so sweet.” She pats his head and hands him some gloves. “We have a code stroke, ETA now 7 minutes at Trauma 2. You up for it?”

Dennis nods, determined as he wears the gloves. “Lead the way then.” He tells her and she laughs.

“What a gentleman.” She comments, very amused to see a deepened blush on his face.

Robby then directs a stern gaze onto Heather who smiles innocently.

“Hey, I think—“

“Oh, Dr. Robby. The patient will be here in a few and I have to quickly orient Dennis if that’s alright with you?” Heather informs him with a smug smirk on his face.

Robby then clenches his jaw. He looks between Heather who looks too proud of herself and Dennis who innocently looks at him. He simply nods and they leave to tend to their patient.

🐾

Robby doesn’t know why he’s so bothered by Dennis simply getting swept away by Heather. Most of the time, he and Dennis were on the same cases. Already calling out to the intern the moment a new case comes up. He didn’t think it was a big deal but seeing Heather call Dennis, ‘pretty boy’ and his cute reaction evident by the blush on his face, twinkle in his eyes, and a shy smile, could rile him up so much.

He’s watching Heather and Dennis through the windows of Trauma 2. Heather asks Dennis questions and Dennis perfectly answers her within a split second with no hesitation, already predicting the interventions before Heather orders them so he’s ready, his assessment of the patient is now spot on with a few little corrections (normal especially in interns, he can improve better), and his own orders once Heather asks for it. Heather seems satisfied with working with Dennis, evident by the smile on her face and a few teasing jabs, to which Dennis responds with the same reaction.

The 'blush, twinkle and smile' triad.

Robby should publish that in a research article.

Though, he keeps having this unsettling feeling as he watches them work. Dennis is a good intern, already improving miles compared to his first shirt. He grew more confident in his skin and his work that all Robby had to do was encourage him more and revise some of his actions and thinking and he would grow up to be a good doctor, maybe even better than Robby.

Hell, he’s already a better doctor when you compare their patient satisfaction scores.

Heather and Dennis seem to be done with their work as they leave the trauma room. Heather grins smug at him and he wants to roll his eyes but Dennis is looking at him with that same fucking twinkle in his eyes.

“Good job you two. Update the chart and get on with other patients when you’re done.” He informs them and Dennis nods.

“I can go update the chart for you, Dr. Collins.” Dennis offers and Heather coos.

“Thank you, Dr. Whitaker. Come find me when you get your next patient. You’ll be shadowing me for today.” She says and Dennis tilts his head.

God, he’s like a puppy. Robby thinks to himself.

“Oh, um. Sure, yeah.” Dennis seems unsure. He realizes it and jolts, turning to face Heather. “Not that I don’t want to. I’m just so used to shadowing Dr. Robby but I learned a lot from this case and would like to learn more from you!” He says and Heather laughs.

“Well,” Heather side-eyes Robby who sighs deeply. “It is good to see the perspectives of different doctors. I’m sure Dr. Robby has many to offer but I would like the opportunity to teach you too.” She says with a smile.

Dennis smiles and excuses himself after thanking her. Robby finally rolls his eyes and looks at Heather who has a smirk on his face.

“I do hope Dr. Robby appreciates his students getting the most of their education here at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, wouldn’t want to limit them, don’t you?”

“God, you really hate me, huh?” He asks as he runs his hands over his face and Heather laughs.

“I just love making you suffer like this.”

Heather walks off as she laughs, getting the last laugh and Robby is on his last thread and its not even an hour into the shift.

🐾

Eventually, with the scene earlier that morning, gossip has run through the entire department and by the time the shift ends, everyone is on the mission to make Robby suffer in the most outrageous way possible.

The amount of times he hears, ‘pretty boy’ and once he looks over, he sees Dennis within his eyesight but also the smug smirks and quiet laughter that radiate the halls. He can’t help it but will not admit to it.

“So, Whitaker, how’s your day been with Dr. Collins?” He asks the boy once he walks into the break room to find the intern alone and munching on a sandwich in a pink Tupperware. Must be Santos’. He thinks to himself, knowing full well that they live together but are not actually together.

“Oh, she’s been great. I learned a lot from her and she’s really sweet. Would love to have to learn from her more.” He simply says, textbook answer but it’s the truth really.

“That’s good.” Silence. “You’re not really bothered by the nickname, right?” He asks cautiously.

It takes Dennis awhile to process the question and his face eventually brightens, as if amused by it. “Pretty boy?” He asks and Robby nods while chuckling to himself.

“Yeah, that. I can put a stop to it if it makes you uncomfortable.” Robby says and Dennis shakes his head with a smile.

“It did at first but I realized that people were genuine in calling me that so I didn’t mind it. Trin even told me it's good for my self-esteem as she quote, ‘because you don’t have any’ end quote.” He laughs to himself.

Robby seems actually shocked. Dennis, a low self-esteem? That didn’t sit right with him, didn’t seem right at all since he seems to have gained confidence in his work but he doesn’t really know much about Dennis apart from what he shared with him during his first shift; the fact that he was Nebraska-borne and raised, and a theology undergrad.

He sees Dennis as this warmth hearted person, almost like the sun but it wasn’t in an annoying type of way. It was in the way that you simply needed it every single day of your life for you to function appropriately, to feel its warmth and get the enough nutrients that you need from it. It’s a shock to him that it seems like Dennis had low self-esteem.

“Dr. Robby?” Dennis asks and this pulls Robby out of his thought process.

“Oh yeah right. Well, that’s good. Just let me know if something bothers you okay? I’ll take appropriate action.” He says and Dennis laughs.

“Thanks, Dr. Robby. For now, I’m all good.” Dennis says and looks at his watch. “Oh, I have to do hand-offs with Dr. Ellis.”

“Yes, of course. Go ahead.” Robby gestures to the door and gives a smile to the intern who smiles at him back and leaves the break room.

Robby sighs against his hands and crosses his arms right after. He closes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath.

Pretty boy indeed, he thinks to himself.

🐾

THE PITT: BETTING POOL
Moderated by: Ahmad 😎
Open for bets 🤪

Chapter Text

Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch is a patient man. He is aware of his intimidating presence and stature which is not needed in a department chief. So, constant reassurance, guidance and patience is needed and heavily expressed in his everyday life in order to run the ED. 

Though, the scene before him makes him a man with a thin patience that is itching to burst and kill everything on sight.

"Hey, pretty boy." Jesse smirks at the intern, handing him a chart. "I already administered the medications you ordered and put a call up to radiology, they're bumping your orders to the top of the list." 

Robby sees Dennis smile in thanks to the older man but with a confused look on his face. "Um, South 14 didn't really need a rush on scans, Jesse." He asks, unsure why a lady with only a broken arm and no other symptoms needs a rush for an X-ray. "Thank you though for giving the medications! I'm just unsure why." Dennis innocently asks, going through the chart if he missed anything.

"Oh, pretty boy. Don't worry, I just did it because you were the one ordering it." Jesse winks, a coy smile on his face and walks away.

Robby kinda wants to wring him on the neck and leave him stranded on the ER floor. With no narcotics. 

Dennis flushed this beautiful bright red as he tries to hide his face by tilting his head forward but Robby is fuming when he realizes that Dennis is trying to bite his lips to prevent his smile from widening.

Robby suddenly wonders if he has the authority to fire a nurse.

🐾

Robby sighs as he leaves the patient’s room and rounds to his workstation to start charting. It’s not even 5 hours into the shift and he already wants to go home and crawl into bed with the television running and his stomach empty. 

He finds Dennis on his workstation and updating his own charts. Ever since his first shift as a medical student, Dennis now uses his workstation to chart if Robby wasn’t using it. Robby found it very endearing even when he first snapped at Dennis for getting crumbs all over the place but now, Dennis simply eats carefully for the crumbs to not drop and keep the station tidy. Besides, Robby doesn’t exactly stop him from eating on his workstation. 

“You almost done, Whitaker?” Robby says, placing his hands onto the pockets of his jacket, leaning forward in hopes to meet his intern’s eyes. 

Dennis jolts at the sudden entrance of his presence, eyes wide at the intrusion but calms down with a soft look once he notices that it was just Robby. “Not yet, Dr. Robby but I can save it for now and transfer to another station.” 

Ah, Dennis. Always so considerate of others. Robby thinks to himself very fondly. His expression, unbeknownst to himself and Dennis, grows a bit fonder; different from his tired and stern gaze from mere seconds ago. 

“No worries. I can wait, go and finish it.” Robby says, stationing himself by Dennis’ back, placing his hands over Dennis’ shoulders and rubs his thumbs against it in an affectionate manner. 

“Are you sure? It really is not a problem for me to switch stations.” Dennis argues and Robby revels on the fact that he looks a bit flushed at the gesture. 

It will be a problem since I haven’t touched you like this since our shift started. Robby thinks to himself.

Dennis was given the task by Dana to go over non-emergent cases more to easily clear beds since he’s really quick on his toes and his work. Unfortunately, this means Jesse has been spending most of his time with Dennis by helping him out and assisting him, as per Dana’s orders.

Since when did my nurses become so against me? Robby thinks and sighs quietly.

“It really isn’t a problem. No rush, Whitaker.” Robby reassures him, pulling away and grabbing a tablet to check on other charts. He leans against the counter, near Dennis and looks at him. Dennis nods and goes back to charting, already typing a bit faster than he normally does.

“It will be quick, Dr. Robby! I promise.” Dennis says and Robby chuckles.

“Go ahead.” He replies lightly, a genuine smile on his face as he starts to read on the chart.

Dennis continues to type, more focused than ever and Robby eyes him from time to time with an amused expression on his face. He actually feels that seeing Dennis like this can alleviate some (most) of the tension that he’s feeling. 4 hours and without Dennis following him like a puppy does get a bit lonely. 

He’s lucky during this quiet time when he can sneak in glances to Dennis as he continues to type rapidly while also mouthing what he’s typing, very concentrated. Robby’s fond smile never leaves his face. Hell, he doesn’t even know what’s on the chart despite holding the tablet with his glasses on. 

How adorable, Robby thinks.

“Hey, pretty boy.” 

Son of a bitch, Robby continues. 

“Hey Jesse! Do you need me for anything?” Dennis looks up at the nurse who smiles genuinely at him. 

Robby’s jaw automatically tightens at the sight of a bright, wide-eyed intern who looks up at the nurse. Robby closes his eyes shut for a brief moment to compose himself, not noticing the smirk that Jesse throws on his way.

“Heard these Nutella Wafer bars are your favorite. So, I went ahead and got some for you.” Jesse pulls out 5 of the Nutella Wafer bars and Dennis’ eyes go wide with excitement at the sight of it.

“Oh my God, Jesse! Thank you so much!” Dennis, Robby kinda wants to kill himself right now. Please don’t sound too excited at the gesture. 

“Oh I love these. You just made my day.” Robby will jump off the roof right here, right now. 

Dennis directs a big, wide and sweet smile over to Jesse’s direction who returns it and pets his head gently. Robby’s stare hardens when Dennis seems to lean into the affection. Like a fucking puppy. “No worries, pretty boy. Anything for you.” 

Jesse winks and leaves. Dennis laughs sweetly at the statement and giggles quietly to himself as he stares at the chocolate bars in his hands and pockets them. He continues to type and finish charting, not aware of Robby’s internal destruction. 

“Dr. Robby, I’m done.” Dennis looks up at the attending who is staring hard at the chart in his hands. He notices that Robby didn’t respond to him and gently taps his arm, pulling back when Robby jolts. “Are you okay, Dr. Robby?” 

“Huh? Oh yeah, kid.” Robby seems out of it, judging by how white his knuckles are from clenching that tablet and the counter. “You done?” He asks when he noticed that Dennis logged off his account from his workstation. 

“Yeah! Thanks for letting me use your workstation, sorry it took some time.” Dennis apologized but Robby smiled at him.

“No worries, Whitaker. Let me know if you need anything, hmm?” Robby says and Dennis nods, preparing to leave. Robby eyes the Wafer bars in his pocket and scoffs quietly. “I do hope that my intern understands that he can’t just live on chocolate bars during shifts, okay? You need an actual meal.” Robby reminded the intern. 

Dennis looks at the chocolate bars and flushes under Robby’s gaze. God, how evangelistic, Robby thinks. Robby tries not to think too hard at the idea of Dennis relying that much on Jesse, just like how he does to Robby. 

“I will, don’t worry.” Robby smiles at him. Dennis is always so obedient to his advice and orders which makes Robby feel a bit needed. He took delight in knowing Dennis trusted him wholeheartedly with no hesitation. “Jesse told me the same thing earlier. I think he just got me these because I mentioned to him that I got so tired of the same protein bars over and over.” Dennis said as he laughed.

Robby then makes a mental note to ask Gloria if the emergency department can handle off-boarding one of the nurses. 

Robby gives a strained smile, placing his hand on top of Dennis’ shoulders and enjoyed the flush building up on the intern’s face as he squeezes. 

“Go and do some work now, Whitaker. Remember to take breaks huh?” Robby reminds. Dennis nods, excusing himself after thanking Robby, that flush on his face still evident as he scurries off to somewhere. 

Robby now sits down on his workstation and looks around to see the usual buzz of the emergency department with Jesse nowhere to be found. He groans quietly to himself and scratches his beard. 

He can survive the rest of his shift, Robby thinks to himself as he logs into his account and starts charting. 

Right? 

🐾

Wrong. 

Robby tries his best to keep his hands to himself from trying to strangle Jesse in front of a patient and the rest of the department. 

Their patient, Charlotte Jones who is a 75 year old with osteoporosis comes into the ED via the ambulance. She apparently fell in her house, and her daughter called 911. She’s being evaluated for a fracture and possible hip replacement. She’s currently stable in North 5 and is being monitored by the rest of the team. 

To say Mrs. Jones is smitten by Dennis is an understatement and the entire department is amused by the constant flush on Dennis’ face at the amount of compliments he gets from Mrs. Jones. The daughter is embarrassed but she went out of the room to fill out paperwork with Perlah’s help. 

“Oh you’re so handsome, Dr. Whitaker. I only have daughters and I always wanted a son.” Mrs. Jones coos as Dennis politely says a thank you in response, a flush building up on his face. 

“Dr. Whitaker here is the emergency department’s pretty boy.” Dennis turns to playfully glare at Jesse who raises his hands in response as he laughs.

Its only been half a fucking day, how close are you to prompt this exchange? Robby thinks, already feeling the clenching and heat that he’s feeling deep inside his core. 

“Oh! I mean, who could blame them for calling you that? I think it's pretty accurate.” Mes. Jones giggles as she settles onto the bed.

“She’s right, Dr. Whitaker.” Jesse says and leans closer to Dennis, not even minding that he’s in Dennis' personal space.

Not even minding Robby who is seething with rage. 

“You really can’t blame us, can you?” Jesse whispers against Dennis’ ear, a lowered baritone voice echoing to the point Robby can hear it from the other side of Mrs. Jones bed. 

Robby suddenly wonders how long it would take to successfully strangle a person. He makes a bet that it takes less than 3 minutes, he hopes it does. 

Robby turns his back to the intern and the nurse as he fills out the chart as a form of distraction. He types quickly and then turns back to Mrs. Jones. 

“Alright, Mrs. Jones. An orthopedic surgeon will be right with you once we get the lab results and scans back. We’ll monitor you for the time being. Just press the call light when you need anything, okay?” Robby tries his best to present a polite smile to the old lady who smiles at him and nods.

“Thank you, Dr. Robby. I’m comfortable enough but tell my daughter to accompany me when she’s done.” She says and closes her eyes. 

“I’ll go do that.” Dennis says and Robby nods at him. Dennis smiles and turns to walk away, which leaves the attending and the nurse in the room.

Robby continues to chart any remaining information in the portable station, unaware of Jesse’s calculating stares and smirk directed on his person. Jesse knows Robby is fuming with rage with him based on the amount of stern gazes and quietness from the department chief. 

“I’ll go and check on radiology to see if any results are up.” Jesse says after he concludes that the IV lines were patent and good. 

As much as Robby wants to say, ‘Yeah go do that and stop flirting with Whitaker,’ he simply hums and Jesse turns to leave the room. 

Robby sighs to himself and finishes up the chart then leaves the room as well. He looks around to find Dennis putting back a chart.

Before he can go over and tell him that he did a good job, Jesse walked to Dennis and they chatted. Jesse looks like he teases him a bit because Dennis tries to playfully swats Jesse's shoulder. Jesse however, was quick enough to avoid it with a laugh.

Robby can see Dennis huff with a soft smile. They talk for a bit more before walking away towards another patient room.

This time, Robby felt more sad than angry. God, Jesse and Dennis have only been interacting for less than half the shift and they're already that close? To the point of teases and unhesitating touches? Unlike him.

He sighs again, for the nth time today and just goes to check on the rest of his residents. 

🐾

It was the end of the shift. Hand offs were done and Robby left the ED after seeing that all of the day shift had already left. This was his routine, first one in and last one out. 

He wears his bag, says good luck to the night shift and walks out through the ambulance bay. He was shocked to find Dennis smoking a cigarette right outside. Seems like Dennis was equally shocked too judging by his reaction, since Robby hasn’t seen him smoke yet.

“I didn’t know you smoked.” Robby said, eyeing the lit up cigarette stick. Dennis laughs softly, the sound vibrating throughout Robby’s body like a warm hug in a winter storm. “Those can kill you, you know?” He had a teasing smile on his face and Dennis playfully rolled his eyes. 

“I turned the other way when I saw you smoking back then, care to do the same for me?” Dennis says, flicking off the end. For you, anything. Robby bit his lip at the thought. 

Robby laughed instead as response and stood beside Dennis, leaning against the concrete wall.

“Sure, why not?” He said and Dennis continued smoking. Mints, Marlboro Mints. A direct contrast to his Marlboro Blacks that were sitting snuggly at the pocket of his backpack. 

“So, how was this shift? You handled mostly non-emergent cases.” Robby asks which makes Dennis hum.

“It was good and I learned a lot. Jesse has been of help too which made everything much easier.” Robby tries to not be bothered by the sudden appearance of Jesse’s name. He takes a deep breath and smiles, albeit a little strained but Dennis is too focused in taking a puff that he doesn’t notice. 

“Oh yeah? That’s good. Jesse is really good, all our nurses are. Glad he was able to assist you.” Robby says, itching to touch Dennis as always but he keeps his hands to himself, as if drawing a boundary. 

“Yeah but you know, I kinda miss running around the ED and taking complex cases with you.” Dennis smiles.

Robby inhales sharply. He can hear his heartbeat vibrating through his ears, he can feel it against his ribs and he can feel the warmth radiating from Dennis; making him itch to grab onto him as his hands grow cold from the chill of the night. Dennis will keep him warm, make him warm, make him feel warm. 

“The day was a bit slow, productive sure, but I really did miss doing all of those with you.” Dennis looks up to Robby with a smile. He kneels down, kills the light and stands back up with the stub on his hand.

It has been awhile since Robby and Dennis took on their adventures. Dennis, as an intern, rotates between different residents and tasks every shift. He can't just stick to Robby all the time, as much as Robby wants to. 

“Can I hope to go back to normal on our next shift?” Dennis speaks up, almost timidly. But Robby knows he’s genuine, judging that same blush on his skin and twinkle in his eyes. Dennis may look bashful but determined as his wide blue eyes, filled with hope, meets Robby’s tired brown eyes that are filled with nothing but affection.

Normal. Normal. Robby is Dennis' normal? And he’s willing to go back to him, to the comfort of normal. The normal of rushing head first to the incoming traumas, running around the ED and trying to get more patients seen, the amount of touches Robby’s steady hand meets the soft yet reliable shoulders of his intern. Dennis’ normal, their normal. 

Robby smiles, pulls away from the concrete wall. He faces Dennis whose expression and hope didn’t falter. He places his hands, cold, onto the intern’s shoulder; immediately feeling the warm spreading from his hand across the different parts of his body.

“I’ll see you on the first incoming?” Robby says and Dennis smiles.

“You can count on me, Dr. Robby.” Dennis laughs softly. 

Robby thinks to himself, Don’t worry, I always do, as his eyes unknowingly match the twinkle in his intern’s when he looks straight at them. 

🐾

THE PITT: BETTING POOL
Moderated by: Ahmad 😎
Open for bets 🤪