Chapter Text
The bar smelled like cheap beer and old wood. Music pressed through the walls and floor. Robby leaned his elbows on the bar, watching the crowd without much interest.
Jack had one shoulder turned toward him, glass in hand. “You picked this place,” Jack said. “You can’t complain about the music.”
“I’m not complaining. I didn't even say anything,” Robby said.
Jack gave him a look. “Exactly. You’ve been staring at the same spot for five minutes.”
Robby lifted his drink. “People watching.”
The mechanical bull in the corner started up again. A few cheers rose over the music. Someone had climbed on.
Jack glanced over without much care at first. Then he stopped mid sip.
“Well look at that,” he said.
Robby followed his gaze.
The guy on the bull had one hand in the strap, the other in the air like he was mocking the whole idea of hanging on. Slim build. Curly mousy hair falling he swept up and off his face. White shirt half untucked from his jeans. He wasn’t stiff the way most people were on the thing. He moved with it. Leaning back, laughing when the bull jerked hard.
The crowd around it started shouting.
Robby felt something low in his stomach tighten.
Jack let out a whistle.
The bull kicked harder. The guy stayed on another few seconds, long enough that people were clapping. When he finally slid off he landed on his feet, laughing like it was the easiest thing in the world.
He re-tucked his shirt, said something to his group of friends that made them shove his shoulder.
Then he looked toward the bar, at them, and winked
Jack raised a brow. “Did he just wink at us?”
Robby did not answer.
The guy said something to his friends again and started walking over.
He moved like he knew exactly what he was doing. Easy, loose, a little smug about it.
Jack turned slightly on his stool. “Oh he is absolutely coming here.”
“Don’t make it weird,” Robby said.
“He rode a mechanical bull like he was auditioning for us.” Jack said.
“He was just having fun.”
“He was just showing off.”
The guy stopped right between them.
Before either of them could say anything, he slipped an arm around Jack’s shoulders and the other around Robby’s like they had been friends all night.
He leaned in close enough that Robby could smell sweat and something citrusy.
“You two look bored,” he said.
His voice was warm and a little rough from shouting over music.
Jack blinked once. “We were fine.”
The guy tilted his head, studying their faces like he did not quite believe that.
“Sure,” he said.
His hand squeezed Robby’s shoulder once, casual but deliberate.
“I saw you both watching my ride.”
Robby did not bother pretending otherwise. “We noticed.”
“Hard not to.” Jack huffed out a laugh. “You always introduce yourself like that?”
“Depends,” the guy said.
He leaned a little closer between them, grin widening.
“Did it work?”
Jack and Robby looked at each other for a split second.
Jack said, “Maybe.”
The guy laughed, low and pleased.
“Good,” he said.
Someone from across the room shouted his name. “Hey, Dennis,”
He turned his head. One of his friends waved him back toward the dance floor.
“Hold that thought,” he said.
His arms slipped off their shoulders. His fingers dragged lightly across the back of Robby’s neck as he stepped away.
Then he walked back through the crowd without another word.
Robby watched him go.
Jack watched too.
The guy reached his friends and immediately got pulled into the middle of them. The music shifted to something heavier. He started dancing without hesitation.
He moved the same way he had on the bull. Loose. Confident. Hips rolling with the beat like he didn’t care who was watching.
People nearby turned toward him.
Robby took a long drink.
Jack set his glass down. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Robby did not look away from the dance floor.
“Yes.”
“Good,” Jack said.
They stood up at the same time.
By the time they reached the dance floor, Dennis was already laughing at something one of his friends said.
He noticed them again almost immediately.
His smile changed. Slower this time.
“Hey,” he said, raising his voice over the music.
Jack stepped in first. Close enough that their chests almost brushed.
Dennis looked between them. “I would have made my way back to you two,” he said looking them up and down before wetting his lips.
Robby stepped up behind him.
“This seemed easier.”
Dennis laughed softly.
“Well,” he said, “glad you came after me.”
The crowd pressed tighter around them. Music thumped through the floor.
Dennis turned slightly so he was between them making himself available and pliable.
Jack’s hand settled on his hip.
Dennis sucked in a quiet breath.
Robby’s hand came to rest on the other side of his waist.
Now he was fully sandwiched between them.
Dennis looked over his shoulder at Robby first. Then back at Jack.
“I get both of you?” he said.
Jack shrugged. “You started it.”
Dennis laughed again and leaned back into Robby as the beat dropped.
They started moving together without much thought.
Dennis rolled his hips with the music, brushing against Jack’s thigh, then shifting back against Robby.
Jack’s hand tightened slightly on his hip.
Robby’s fingers spread along Dennis’s side.
Dennis tipped his head back against Robby’s shoulder for a second, eyes half closed, then turned toward Jack again.
“You two always dance like this with strangers?”
“Only the ones who can ride a mechanical bull like that,” Jack said.
Dennis grinned.
“I can show you a private show sometime?”
He leaned forward and kissed Jack.
Quick at first. Testing.
Jack kissed him back immediately, one hand sliding up onto his neck pulling him tighter.
When they slowed apart Dennis looked over his shoulder again.
Robby was watching them with heat in his eyes.
Dennis reached back and hooked a hand in Robby's hair, pulling him forward. Robby leaned forward and placed kisses down his jaw, trailing his neck and lightly onto his clavicle.
Robby’s hand moved from his waist up his ribs, stopping just under his chest.
Dennis let out a quiet gasp.
When they broke apart he laughed softly, a little breathless now.
“Okay,” he said.
Jack leaned closer to his ear. “Okay what.”
Dennis glanced between them again, eyes bright.
“You two are trouble.”
“Probably,” Robby said.
They kept dancing.
Dennis shifted so his back was against Robby again, Jack in front of him. Hands moving. Bodies brushing with the rhythm.
At one point Jack kissed him again, slower this time.
Robby’s mouth found the side of Dennis’s neck.
Dennis cursed under his breath. “Jesus.”
After another minute Jack leaned close to his ear.
“You came here with friends?”
Dennis nodded toward the group across the floor.
“They’ll survive.”
Robby’s hand slid down to his hip again.
Jack studied his face for a moment.
Then he said it simply.
“You want to come home with us?”
Dennis blinked once.
Then he smiled.
Slow.
“Oh fuck yeah,” he said.“I absolutely think I do.”
As his hands struggled with the key inserted in the lock, Robby let out a breath, turning the knob and pushing the door open. Dennis stumbled slightly, laughing as he caught himself, his hand grasping Robby's arm for support. Jack was right behind him, his breath hot on the back of Dennis's neck.
The townhouse was dimly lit, the only light coming from a lamp left on in the livingroom. Robby kicked the door closed behind them,his hands already tugging at Dennis's shirt, pulling it up and over his head. Jack's hands were just as eager, unbuckling Dennis's belt, his fingers brushing against the growing bulge in his jeans. Dennis let out a low moan, his head falling back against Jack's shoulder as Robby's mouth found his neck, teeth grazing his skin. He could feel the hard lines of Robby's body pressed against his front, Jack's solid presence against his back. It was overwhelming, but in the best way possible.
"Bedroom?" Dennis managed to gasp out, his voice ragged with desire.
Robby chuckled, his voice low and rough. "Second door on the left.”
Dennis stumbled forward, guided by Jack's hands on his hips. The bedroom was bathed in the soft glow of the city lights filtering through the window. Robby pushed him down onto the bed, his body on full display as they removed the rest of his clothes, mouths trailing hot kisses down his chest. Dennis reached out, his hands finding Robby's waist, pulling him closer. He could feel Robby's hardness through his pants, could feel the heat of his breath on his face. He turned his head, seeking out Jack's mouth, their tongues tangling in a desperate kiss.
Robby sat back, his hands moving to his own jeans, unbuttoning them and pushing them down his hips. Dennis watched, his eyes widening as Robby's cock sprang free, hard and ready. He licked his lips, reaching out to wrap his hand around it, feeling the smooth skin, and the hot steel beneath.
Jack chuckled, his hands moving to his own clothes, stripping them off quickly. "Impatient, aren't you?”
Dennis just grinned, his hand still stroking Robby's cock. "You two are so hot."
Robby groaned, his hips moving with Dennis's hand. "Fuck, that feels good."
Jack was back, his hands joining Dennis's, their fingers entwining as they stroked Robby together. Dennis looked up, watching Robby's face, the way his eyes fluttered closed, his mouth parted slightly. It was the most erotic thing he had ever seen.
Suddenly, Robby moved, his hands pushing Dennis back onto the bed, his mouth descending onto Dennis's cock. Dennis let out a cry, his hips lifting off the bed, seeking more of Robby's mouth. Jack's mouth finding Dennis's nipple, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin.
Dennis roughly clutched Robby's hair, his fingers tangling in the strands as he guided him, his hips moving in time with Robby's mouth.
It was too much, too intense. Dennis could feel the pleasure building, his balls tightening, his cock throbbing. "Fuck, I'm gonna come," he gasped out, his hands tightening in Robby's hair.
Robby pulled back, his mouth moving to Dennis's thigh, his tongue licking at the sensitive skin. "Not yet," he said, his voice a low growl. "Not until we say so." He said moving up to kiss his neck.
Dennis whimpered, his body aching with need. Jack's wet fingers were inside him instantly, moving in and out, curling to hit that spot that made his eyes roll back in his head. "Please," he begged, his voice ragged.
Jack chuckled, his fingers slowing, his middle finger rubbing lazy circles on Dennis's prostate. "Please what, Dennis?"
"Please, fuck me," Dennis begged, his hips moving desperately, seeking more friction. "Please, I need you to fuck me." With that Robby moved, his cock pressing against Dennis's hole as Jack's fingers came slipping out. Dennis whimpered at the sudden emptiness, but could feel Robby's hardness and the promise of pleasure. He looked up into Robby's eyes, seeing the same desire reflected back at him.
"Please," he whispered one more time.
Robby nodded, his hips moving, his cock sliding inside Dennis in one smooth motion. Dennis let out a cry, his body arching off the bed, his hands grasping at Robby's shoulders. Jack swallowed his moans as his tongue overtook his mouth.
Robby began to move.
It was slow at first, Robby's hips moving in a steady rhythm, his cock sliding in and out of Dennis's body. Dennis could feel every inch of him, could feel the way he filled him, stretched him. It was ecstasy.
Jack's hands were still moving, still touching, driving Dennis crazy. He could feel Jack's cock pressing hard against his hip, could feel the precome leaking from the tip. He reached out, his hand wrapping around Jack's cock, stroking him in time with Robby's movements.
Robby's pace quickened, his hips moving faster, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Dennis could feel his pleasure building, could feel the way his body tightened, his cock throbbed. He let out ragged moans, clutching the sheets as his arms contorted around him.
"Come for us, Dennis," Robby growled, his hips slamming into him, making his vision blur.
Dennis let out a cry, his body convulsing as he came, his cock pulsing, his body clamping down on Robby's thick length.
Robby let out a final thrust, his body tensing as he followed, the heat filling him, causing after shocks to rock through Dennis's body.
Jack, having watched Dennis come completely undone, couldn't hold back any longer. He pushed Robby's shoulder, urging him to move. Robby rolled onto his back, bringing Dennis with him so he was sitting between Robby's legs. Dennis's body was still trembling from his orgasm and didn't realize what was happening until he felt Jack below him.
Jack moved between Dennis's legs, his hands gripping his thighs, pushing them apart. Dennis looked down at him, his eyes heavy-lidded, his mouth open in an orgasm fueled euphoria.
“I...I can't," he slurred, his body already overly sensitive and spent from Robby.
Jack smiled up at him, his hands moving to Dennis's waist, lifting him slightly. "Yes, you can," he said, his voice low and reassuring. "I am not done with you yet.”
Dennis whimpered, but his hips moved instinctively, following Jack's lead. Jack positioned himself at Dennis's entrance, feeling the heat and tightness of his ring. Dennis tensed. Jack looked Dennis in the eyes and firmly said, “You need to relax for me,”
Dennis nodded, he tried to loosen his body slightly.
Jack pushed in slowly, feeling Dennis's stretch to accommodate him. Dennis let out a low moan, his head falling back, his hands grasping at Robby's chest for support.
Jack started small thrusts, giving Dennis time to adjust. Dennis's body felt incredible, tight and hot, gripping him like a vice.
Dennis started to move with him, his hips lifting and falling in time with Jack's thrusts. Robby's hands wrapped around his ass, helping to lift Dennis, giving Jack deeper access. Dennis's moans filled the room, his body tensing and relaxing with each thrust. Pleasure trickling down his spine.
Jack could feel Dennis's hole starting to tighten, and his cock become harder against his stomach. He leaned forward, his mouth finding Dennis's neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin. That sent Dennis right over the edge. He let out a cry, his body his body racked with a second orgasm.
Jack thrust into him faster, chasing his own release. He moved erratically letting out strangled growls. His nails dug into Dennis's hips as he pulled him further onto his dick. His full body went rigid. Dennis whimpered as Jack trembled through his climax. Dennis's muscles clamped onto him, pulling another low moan from Jack's lips. They all collapsed onto the bed, their bodies slick with sweat, their breath coming in ragged gasps.
Dennis looked up at Jack, his eyes wide with surprise. "I...I've never come twice like that," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Jack smiled, his hand cupping Dennis's cheek. "There is more of that to come, Dennis," he said.
Robby shifted, his chest still heaving, rolling onto his side to face Dennis. The room was filled with their ragged breaths and the soft, satisfied hums that escaped their lips. Dennis, sprawled on his back, seemed to have melted into the mattress, his limbs heavy and sated. A sheen of sweat glistened on his skin.
Robby traced the line of Dennis' jaw with his fingertips. Dennis' eyes fluttered open, meeting Robby's gaze with a lazy smile. "Hey, you," he murmured, his voice gravelly from their exertions.
"Hey, yourself," Robby replied. He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Dennis' lips. "You okay? We need to go get cleaned up.”
Dennis let out a contented sigh, stretching languidly. "Mmm, more than okay. But I think I might need a little help getting to the shower."
Robby chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "I thought you might say that." He slipped an arm beneath Dennis' knees and another around his back, lifting him gently. Dennis let out a soft laugh, looping his arms around Robby's neck.
In the bathroom, Jack was already running the water, the sound of it splashing into the tub filling the room. He turned as they entered, a soft smile on his face. "Just in time," he said, stepping forward to help lower Dennis into the warm, sudsy water.
Dennis let out a moan of pleasure, sinking into the tub with a sigh, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back against the rim.
Robby and Jack exchanged a look, a silent communication passing between them. They knelt beside the tub, their hands moving in sync as they began to wash Dennis, their touches gentle and caring. Robby took a washcloth, wringing it out before running it over Dennis' chest, while Jack lathered a sponge and began to clean Dennis' back.
Dennis' eyes fluttered open, a soft smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he watched them. "I just met you , and the two of you are already spoiling me," he said, his voice soft.
Jack leaned in, pressing a kiss to Dennis' shoulder. "After that performance, you deserve to be spoiled," he murmured.
Robby nodded in agreement, his eyes soft.
Once they had cleaned Dennis, they helped him out of the tub, wrapping him in a fluffy towel.
“I guess I should probably get going, huh?”
Robby shook his head, grabbing his arm and followed Jack silently out of the room.
They led him back to the bedroom, the three of them climbing into bed together. Dennis lay in the middle, sandwiched between Robby and Jack. They spooned around him, their bodies hot coaxing him to sleep.
Dennis let out a soft sigh, his body relaxing into theirs.
Robby pressed a kiss to Dennis' temple, his arm tightening around him. Jack pulled Robby in firmly pressing Dennis between them. Their fuck drunk bodies entwined, as they drifted off to sleep.
Dennis Whitaker woke to the low electrical hum of hospital lights and the faint rattle of a vent somewhere above him.
For a moment he didn’t remember where he was. The ceiling tiles were wrong. Too clean. Too bright. The air smelled sharply of antiseptic and old plastic.
Then it clicked.
PTMC. The closed med surg floor. Room 614.
His room.
Well. Not his room exactly.
Dennis had been spectacularly unlucky with housing. Every apartment remotely close to the hospital cost more than his entire monthly loan refund, and the cheaper ones disappeared before he could even schedule a showing.
During his Internal Medicine rotation the month before, he had gotten lost looking for a supply closet and wandered onto this half abandoned floor of the hospital. Closed rooms. Dim lights. No patients. No staff.
Room 614 had been unlocked.
He had told himself he would stay just one night. Just until he figured something else out.
One night had quietly turned into several.
Now the empty hospital room had become a temporary home. At least until he found somewhere he could actually afford.
Dennis pushed himself upright on the narrow hospital bed, the plastic material crackling under him. His backpack slid off the chair where he had hung it last night and thumped softly to the floor. He groaned quietly and rubbed his eyes.
“First day of Emergency Medicine rotation today.” he said out loud.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed. The linoleum was cold under his socks.
He checked his phone.
5:12 AM.
Good. Early enough that no one will notice him slip out and into the main hospital.
Dennis opened his bag grabbing a toothbrush out. A small bottle of mouthwash. Deodorant. The survival kit of a broke medical student who had moved here with nothing.
He pulled on his one and only pair of hospital issued scrubs, and slung his backpack over one shoulder.
He stepped out into the empty hallway, the understaffed floor was quiet, emergency lights dimly lit the hallway. A supply cart sat abandoned halfway down the corridor. He had taken a few body wipes from it on occasion, making mental notes of IOUs.
Dennis slipped toward the stairwell heading down to the active floors of the hospital.
Ten minutes later he stepped through the Emergency Department doors.
The Pitt ED was bustling.
Phones ringing. Stretchers rolling past. Nurses moving with the quiet speed of people who had done this a thousand times. The whiteboard was already filling with patient names.
Dennis hovered near the edge of the staff area with the other rotating students and residents gathering for morning sign in.
He tried to look like he had just come in the normal, not-totally-illegal way.
He tried to look awake.
He was halfway through a sip of coffee when someone said quietly, “That's Dr. Robby.”
The shift leader stepped into the center of the group.
“Oh shit,” Dennis thought.
Robby clapped his hands once to get everyone’s attention.
“Alright,” he said. “Morning, everyone.”
Dennis felt his entire nervous system attempt to shut down.
No. No no no no.
Robby continued, completely unaware of the medical student having a silent existential collapse in the back of the group.
“Quick rundown before we start,” he said. “We’re already boarding three upstairs because the ICU’s full again. EMS called ahead about a multi car collision on 79, so expect that in the next thirty minutes. Try to move patients fast and communicate with triage.”
Dennis stared at the floor.
Robby kept talking.
“Students rotating through The Pitt this month, welcome to the chaos. Ask questions, stay out of the way during procedures unless asked, and if you feel like you’re about to faint give someone a heads up first.”
A few people chuckled.
Dennis slowly lifted his head.
Robby’s gaze moved across the group as he spoke.
And then it landed directly on Dennis.
Eye contact.
Dennis felt his stomach drop so hard he briefly wondered if this counted as a medical emergency.
Oh my God.
Oh my God that is him.
That is absolutely him.
His brain began sprinting through possibilities.
Option one. Robby did not recognize him.
Unlikely, based on the look he was exhibiting right now.
Option two. Robby did recognize him and they would both pretend nothing happened.
Possible.
Option three. Dennis would die directly on the spot and never have to deal with this.
Strong contender.
Robby paused mid sentence for a fraction of a second.
Just long enough.
Dennis could see it. The exact moment the memory clicked into place.
Dennis’s internal monologue became a high speed panic spiral.
You slept with your attending.
You slept with your attending the week before your first shift.
This is the worst day of your life.
Robby recovered quickly. If anyone else noticed the pause they didn’t show it.
“Alright,” he continued smoothly. “Let’s save some lives.”
But his eyes flicked back to Dennis for half a second longer.
Dennis stood frozen with his coffee and the crushing certainty that he had made a spectacular, career ending mistake.
Dennis spent the rest of the morning waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It never did.
Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch ran the department exactly the way everyone had warned them he would. Fast. Blunt. Efficient. No wasted time and no patience for nonsense.
If anything, he seemed completely normal.
Which somehow made everything worse.
“Whitaker,” Robby said ten minutes after the morning talk, already halfway down the hallway. “You’re with me.”
Dennis nearly choked on his coffee.
“Y-yes, sir.”
The ED was already filling with the usual chaos. Nurses moving patients into rooms. EMS wheeling in stretchers. Someone yelling for respiratory. The overhead board flashing with incoming triage numbers.
Robby pushed through it like the current moved around him.
“First rule of the Pitt,” he said without looking back. “If you stand still you become furniture.”
Dennis hurried after him.
They stepped into a room where Dr. Cassie McKay and nurse Mateo Diaz were working on a woman with a badly burned hand, her two kids hovering nervously by the bed.
Robby gave the hand a quick glance.
“Grease burn. Second degree, maybe partial third,” he said. “Whitaker, what should Dr.McKay's plan be?”
Dennis blinked.
Right. Medical school.
“Cool water irrigation, pain control, tetanus update, consult burn if it’s deeper than it looks.”
Robby gave a small approving grunt.
A hand settled briefly on the back of Dennis’s neck.
Warm.
Steady.
The kind of casual guiding touch an attending used when repositioning a student so they could see better.
His thumb brushed just under Dennis’s hairline for half a second.
Dennis’s brain screamed.
He has to know what he’s doing, right?
Then hand disappeared as quickly as it came.
Robby straightened like nothing had happened.
“Alright. McKay’s got this. Come on.”
Dennis followed him back into the hallway in a daze.
Maybe it was a casual “we are just coworkers now, touch.”
And maybe he was dying.
Across the department, Victoria Javadi suddenly swayed while staring at a trauma patient whose foot had been partially degloved from being pushed onto subway tracks.
Dennis watched in horror as she fainted.
“Someone catch the student!” a nurse yelled.
Robby barely paused.
“Whitaker.”
“Yeah?”
“Rule two. If you’re going to pass out, aim away from the sterile field.”
Dennis nodded automatically.
The day moved faster after that.
Patients blurred together.
Chest pain. Lacerations. An elderly man who swore his neighbor had poisoned him. A triathlete who came in short of breath and suddenly crashed into cardiac arrest two bays over.
Dennis assisted on sutures.
During one procedure Robby guided his hands while tying a stitch.
His fingers burned where the were touching him.
Dennis dropped the forceps.
“Relax,” Robby said quietly.
The corner of his mouth twitched like he was fighting a smile.
“Deep breath, Whitaker.”
Dennis wanted to crawl into the supply closet and live there forever.
Later, while reviewing a chart at the nurses’ station, Robby stepped in beside him.
Close.
Too close.
Their shoulders touched.
Dennis could feel the warmth of him searing through two layers of clothes.
Robby leaned over the computer.
“Your note here,” he said pointing.
Dennis stared at the screen.
“Right?”
“Try using fewer words. It will save you time, and you will be able to treat people faster”
His hips brushed his back when Robby shifted.
Dennis wondered if spontaneous combustion counted as a workplace incident.
And through the entire day Robby never mentioned it.
Not the bar.
Not the very questionable life decisions his new student makes.
Just the occasional glance across the department. The light touches as they passed one another.
Around mid afternoon, the red emergency phone rang. A nurse answered, paled. and hung up.
“Multiple GSWs inbound! Mass casualty at Pitt Fest”
The entire department changed in an instant.
Robby’s voice cut through the noise.
“Mass casualty protocol! Clear trauma bays!”
Nurses began moving patients. Gurneys rolled. Supply carts appeared out of nowhere.
Dennis felt his stomach drop.
Another doctor walked up hugging Robby.
“Brother, I am so glad to see you,” Robby said.
“I heard it on the scanner.” The other man nodded.
Dennis glanced up towards the familiar voice.
And felt the universe collapse again.
Jack Abbot.
The other man from the bar. Of Course. Dennis was in hell.
Jack was already pulling on gloves.
“Where do you want me?” he asked Robby.
“Take point here with the most critical patients while I triage.”
Jack moved into action, his eyes slipping past Robby landing on Dennis.
Their eyes met.
Recognition flashed immediately.
Jack blinked once.
Then he gave the smallest possible smirk before turning to the supplies.
Dennis thought he might actually die.
This has to be a nightmare.
He had found himself trapped in a medical soap opera.
Ambulances started arriving one after another.
Blood everywhere.
Screaming.
Gunshot wounds.
Someone yelling for more chest tubes.
Robby moved like a machine.
“Whitaker, pressure on that wound!”
“Yes, sir!”
A teenager with a gunshot to the abdomen came through the doors.
“BP dropping!” a nurse called.
“Get an IO started,” Robby said.
Dennis pressed gauze against the bleeding while Robby worked.
Their hands touched again, slick with blood this time.
“Hold steady,” Robby said.
Dennis nodded.
For the next two hours everything became motion and noise.
The mass casualty surge continued.
Over a hundred patients eventually flooded through the Pitt from the shooting at the music festival.
Dennis helped where he could.
Running labs. Fetching supplies. Trying not to throw up.
At one point he watched Trinity Santos preform a REBOA procedure on a bleeding trauma patient while Jack supervised from across the bay, silently evaluating before giving a curt nod when it worked. Despite the situation he found himself in, Jack was insanely sexy standing there teaching. He shook the thought and kept moving.
The hours blurred together.
Eventually the flow of ambulances slowed.
The ED settled into the exhausted quiet that followed disaster.
Dennis washed his hands for what felt like the hundredth time.
It was over.
Finally.
He grabbed his backpack.
If he left right now maybe he could disappear.
Maybe he could transfer hospitals.
Maybe he could legally change his name.
Dennis slipped toward the exit hallway.
Almost there.
“Whitaker.”
He froze.
Jack stood at the end of the corridor.
Robby leaned against him, one arm resting on his shoulder.
Both attendings were staring directly at him.
Dennis tried a weak smile.
“I actually just remembered I have… to go, got this really important..thing….”
Jack shook his head.
“Family room,” he said calmly.
Dennis glanced at the exit.
Robby moved closer.
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
Dennis looked between them.
Two older attendings.
Two men he had slept with.
Both waiting.
He considered running.
Instead he followed them down the hall toward the family consultation room.
The door closed behind them.
Dennis suddenly felt very, very trapped.
The family room was quiet. A vast difference from the panic swelling in his chest.
This room is meant for the worst conversations. Soft lighting. Two chairs. A small couch. A box of tissues sitting untouched on the table. So, maybe it was the perfect place for this, Dennis thought, uneasily.
Dennis stood just inside the door while it clicked shut behind him.
He suddenly wished this was a patient death meeting instead of an awkward conversation with your bosses that you fucked.
At least he knew the script for that.
Jack leaned back against the wall. Calm. Watching.
Robby moved by the door like he was making sure Dennis didn’t bolt.
For several long seconds nobody spoke.
Dennis’s brain was running through every possible disciplinary policy he could remember from orientation.
Sleeping with attendings had definitely been in the “do not do this” category.
Sleeping with two attendings on the same night? This was not going to go well for him.
Dennis cleared his throat.
“Okay,” he said weakly. “Before anyone says anything I would just like to point out that we never actually discussed our jobs.”
Silence.
Jack raised one eyebrow.
Dennis kept going because the panic had momentum now.
“We met at a bar. There was alcohol involved. There was… you know. chemistry. And then… umm…events they…occurred.”
Robby rubbed a hand slowly over his face.
Dennis gestured vaguely between them.
“You guys never mentioned you worked here.”
Jack spoke first.
“You never mentioned you were a medical student.”
“That feels like a detail that would have changed the vibe,” Dennis said quickly.
Robby let out a exhale that sounded suspiciously like he was trying not to laugh.
Dennis pointed at them accusingly.
“And you definitely never mentioned that you were attendings in the emergency department.”
Jack said calmly, “we didn’t know that it would be important information.”
Dennis stared at him.
“You are both emergency physicians at the same hospital.”
“Yes.”
“You supervise students.”
“Yes.”
“And I am about to spend months doing my EM rotation here.”
Jack nodded slightly.
Dennis covered his face with both hands.
“Oh my god.”
His voice was muffled.
“We exchanged numbers.”
“Yes,” Jack said.
Dennis slowly lowered his hands.
“We have been sexting.”
Robby coughed into his fist.
Jack did not look even slightly embarrassed.
Dennis gestured wildly between them again.
“You were both sending me those messages while we were all getting dressed this morning.” He could feel himself spiraling.
Robby finally stepped away from the door.
“Whitaker.”
Dennis straightened automatically.
“Sir.”
Robby ran a tired hand through his hair.
“Relax. You’re not in trouble.”
Dennis blinked.
“I’m not?”
Jack shook his head.
“No policies were technically broken.”
Dennis squinted at him.
“That feels unlikely.”
Jack uncrossed his arms.
“You were not our student when we met.”
“That does not make it feel any less complicated.”
Robby moved next to Jack, leaning back against the wall.
His eyes flicked briefly over Dennis the same way they had in the bar.
Dennis felt heat crawl up his neck.
“We didn’t know,” Robby said simply, moving his finger around in a circular gesture to all of them.
Dennis nodded slowly.
Another quiet moment passed.
Jack pushed off the wall and stepped a little closer.
“Let’s review the situation.”
Dennis already hated this.
“You,” Jack continued, pointing at him, “are a fourth year medical student starting an emergency medicine rotation.”
Dennis nodded reluctantly.
“Correct.”
“You,” Jack pointed to Robby, “are the ones running the department.”
“Correct.”
“And I,” Jack finished, “am also an attendant who works the night shift in said department. We have all slept together and have crossed professional boundaries that we can't uncross.”
Dennis rubbed his temples.
“It is extremely bad,” Dennis added.
Robby sighed.
Jack continued, “What it is, is impressive, and I find it hot as hell.”
Dennis stared at him.
“I am begging you not to say that.”
Jack’s mouth twitched.
Robby shot him a look.
“Jack.”
“I’m just acknowledging the statistical achievement, and addressing what we are all feeling.”
Dennis made a distressed noise.
“I hate this.”
Robby held up his hand, quieting him.
Dennis froze.
“Whitaker,” he said quietly.
Dennis swallowed, “Yes.”
“Today,” Robby said, “You completed your first shit in The Pitt. You stayed focused and steady. You didn’t panic during the MCI. You listened to instructions. You didn’t let yourself get distracted.”
“In this department,” Jack said, “that’s an impeccable start.”
Dennis nodded slowly.
Jack stepped up beside Robby now.
The two of them standing together was deeply unfair to Dennis’s already fragile mental state.
Jack looked at him thoughtfully.
“You tried to run away from us just now.”
“I was hoping to avoid this exact conversation.” Dennis said with a half chuckle.
Robby’s mouth twitched into a smile.
Dennis pointed at both of them.
“This situation is objectively insane.”
“Yes,” Jack said.
“You are my bosses.”
“Yes.”
“We had sex.”
“Yes.”
“Really great sex.”
That was answered with a light moan-like noise from Jack.
Dennis gestured helplessly. The pained feeling was evident.
“And now I have to see you every day while pretending that didn’t happen.”
Dennis groaned.
“This is so messed up.”
Robby folded his arms.
“Which brings us to the real question.”
Dennis eyed him nervously.
“What question.”
Robby and Jack exchanged a brief look.
Something silent passed between them.
Then Robby looked back at Dennis.
“Are we going to pretend nothing happened?”
Jack added calmly.
“Or are we going to talk about the fact that all three of us were still texting each other this morning, and we didn't let it affect how we cared for our patients.”
Dennis went completely still.
“You're not suggesting…” Dennis's words trailed off.
“Oh we absolutely are,” Jack said with a wicked grin.