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The rumour mills churn when Frank comes back, the entire hospital aware within a few hours of his return that Frank and Abby are divorced. That he’s been divorced for nearly a full year now, and that Frank had moved into an apartment but was still over regularly for dinner and to see the kids. There are dozens of theories spinning around, that one of them cheated or that Abby left him because of the dog. That they only got married originally because Abby got pregnant. Frank tries not to listen to them.
He’s relieved at least, that the gossip is focused on his divorce, and that no one outside of the original group involved with his agreement seems to know about his addiction and going to rehab. About Robby firing him, and Abbot and Kiara’s gentle push for an agreement that Frank could return and repeat his fourth year if he could stay clean and continued to go to meetings. Dennis knows too, of course, but Frank had been the one to tell him that. So he doesn’t really think it counts, at least not from the hospital gossip side of things.
He’s stressed about being back in a way he didn’t think he would be. Worried he’ll mess up in a way he hasn’t been since his first year of residency. Frank finds another small piece of relief that he’s already dealt with Gloria and HR to discuss the nature of his relationship with Dennis and confirm that they could work together. And he finds even more relief that because of the nature of their relationship, HR doesn’t want them telling anyone they work with yet to ensure they can remain professional and that no one will raise complaints.
Frank wasn’t embarrassed of his relationship with Dennis, he wasn’t trying to hide it or struggling with his identity. He had known he was bisexual since he was a teenager, but he’s already worried about Robby and Dana’s judgement and rebuilding the trust, and it’s not really easy to explain how he and Dennis started dating. That a few days after his divorce was finalized and during the first month of rehab he realized he liked Dennis Whitaker. It was a hard blow at first, and Frank still feels bad about the hours he spent sitting with Abby, with his ex-wife and the mother of his children, talking about his belated realization that he liked one of the interns from the Pitt. Who at that moment in time he thought he would likely never see again.
Abby had laughed in his face, though not entirely unkindly, and told him that they hadn’t been in love for a while before they even started looking into divorce, that she wasn’t surprised Frank liked someone else. She’d been his wingman even, which Frank owes her so much for, had pushed him to reach out and talk to Dennis after he was two months through rehab and doing better. Abby too, had started dating someone a few months after their divorce, about a week before Frank finally worked up the nerve to ask Dennis out for coffee as a proper date. Their relationship hadn’t been great for a while, and they’d both needed something different but had settled because they loved each other. Though, Frank is realizing, their love had always been closer to platonic.
So he’s nervous, showing up to his first day back, repeating his fourth year of residency.
It’s not so bad, as he picks Dennis up from the bus stop and takes him to get coffee before their shift. It had been Dennis’ idea, to help calm his nerves before work. It works annoyingly well, all the tension bleeding from Frank’s shoulders as he sits across from Dennis at some little cafe near the Pitt with their legs tangled together under the table as they sip on their drinks.
Frank leans over and kisses Dennis before he gets out of his car, something quick and sweet because they can’t at work, especially not while they’re in this weird limbo of a trial period waiting for HR to declare them truly clear to work together. Dennis is slow to move for a moment, staring out the windshield at Frank with wide eyes, before he stumbles out and races around the car to catch up with him. Talking about some movie he and Santos had watched that weekend that he thinks Frank would like as they walk into the Pitt.