Chapter Text
Dennis Whittaker POV
It started as small touches.
Being led through The Pitt with a hand on his back from his married attending, Dr. Micheal Abbot-Robinavitch. It had soon moved to small squeezes on his neck, and waist grabs that made Dennis have a sinful pit in his stomach. All of the praises he had gotten from Dr. Robby made his head spin; he grew up on a farm, he was used to being told ‘good job’ or ‘atta boy’ but from Robby? It was different. Very different.
“Whitaker? You with us?”
He snapped out of his daze, a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly; Dr. Robby. The thoughts he was having about his attendings were sinful. The thoughts he had about him laying in his shitty hospital bed at night, how he would squeeze the back of his neck thinking, wishing it was him. But he was married to the night shift attending Jack Abbot-Robinavitch.
Dennis had been on night shifts before – one or two during his rotation as they were required. And he would be a big fat liar if he didn’t say that he was a catch. Yes, almost 25 years older, the both of them were. But with Dennis’s daddy issues he definitely didn’t mind, but then again, isn’t adultery a sin? Suddenly he was snapped back out of his thoughts once more with a firm squeeze on his shoulder, hitting the spot on his neck that gave him chills.
“Oh- sorry Dr. Robby- Male 34, Presents with sudden hearing loss and ringing in his ears, possible tinnitus I think-”
He was stopped.
“You think or you know?”
He spoke with that sureness in his tone he had when he knew Denis could do better. Robby has always had high hopes for this kid. Abbott loved the kid and had been trying to get him back to being on night shifts for 3 weeks, complaining about the night shift being too understaffed and trying to pull specifically Dennis to night shift; Robby didn't want to let Dennis out of his sight though.
“I-I mean, we could do an exam and a MRI to count out a brain tumor or clot in the ear drums-”
Dennis went through his notes looking for the form to admit for a MRI, Robby put a hand on his notes and pushed them down just enough to distract Dennis and make him look up.
“I got it kid, go take a break. I know damn well you've drank the motor oil of coffee we have down here more then 3 times, there's some fancy muffins in the break room Dr. Abbot so kindly got us. Go get some, Dennis.”
There it is again, the guiding hand on his back, almost pushing him to the break room- Wait. Dennis? Why had he used Dennis? It was always ‘Whittaker, go get an EKG’ ‘Dr.Whittaker Get the crash cart!’ Never Dennis, not even during the mass casualty a few weeks ago. What the fuck.
“R-Right- Thank you Dr.Robby-”
Dennis sat and ate the muffin, Damn it they were good. They were from that fancy expensive bakery a few miles from the hospital. Dennis had passed by it once or twice on his way back from the food pantry. Obviously he didn't have the money for fancy pastries or a 7 dollar latte; goodness, it sounded good though. He’s thought about his life after he started a salary, when he could finally stop squatting in a shitty abandoned hospital room. He heard the break room door open.
“Oh, Whitaker, I see Micheal had you get to the muffins.”
Jack fucking Abbot.
What the hell was he doing here?! He wasn't scheduled for days right now- was he? Dennis’s shitty old MacBook had completely shut down a few weeks ago and he was trying to save up enough just to get a hold one off Facebook Market Place, he’d been relying off Dana's printed out schedule for almost his entire rotation in the ER. He quickly had to swallow his bite of muffin before talking.
“Oh- Dr.Abbot- I didn’t know you were scheduled today”
“Oh yeah, I was on call today unfortunately. Michael- Sorry- Dr.Robby needed an extra hand it seems, didn't expect to be called in this early though.”
“Well, I’m glad you're here to help out!”
Dennis spoke a little too enthusiastically, a little too quickly, he seemed more than excited to see both of the attendings there. Soon enough Robby came in to check on Dennis, It was like a dream come true for him. He very rarely got to see his two attendings together. But the guilt of wanting two married men sat with him in the pit of his stomach. They didn't want him. He didn't want to fuck up their marriage.
Back where Dennis had grown up out in Broken Bow, Nebraska, You very rarely saw any queer people. And if there were any they didn't stick around for long. Most of the time they were sent away to a camp where they came back differently, or they never came back at all. Dennis had the unfortunate experience of going to said camp after his dad found him kissing another boy from their church in the middle of the night behind their barn. It was hours away in the Nebraska wilderness, separated by gender. It was a living hell, He still had nightmares about it.
So seeing the two attendings so happy, so proud of being married and queer, how could he ever confess and put even the smallest strain on that?