Chapter Text
Abby had come to visit him exactly once while he was in rehab.
She was his first visitor actually, coming exactly three weeks to the day that he was dropped off at the facility. It wasn’t one of those long and heart felt reunions though, like Frank had though it might be.
Instead, she simply dropped a manilla folder on the table in between them in the common room. “I want to get a divorce,” she said as Frank opened the folder to find papers drafted up by some lawyer she had found. Frank jerked his head up, opening his mouth to say something when she continued. “And don’t- This isn’t a sudden decision I’ve made,” she said. “I’ve been thinking of this since at least May. All of…” she motioned around the room they were in, “It’s just-”
“The step that broke the camel’s back,” Frank said, finally saying something.
“Yes,” Abby said, leaving them both in silence for a long moment.
“I’m sorry Frank,” she said. And Frank could tell, even without looking up at her face, that there were tears in her eyes, just like he could feel them forming in his. The only thing that Frank could do was nod. “You don’t have to do anything with them right now,” Abby said as she stood up. She hadn’t even taken her jacket off, Frank realized. “We can figure everything out when you get out of here. But I’m not going to go back on this,” she said.
Frank sighed. At least she was giving him that. Planning divorce proceedings while stuck in here sounded like a nightmare.
So Frank had been left to go through this entire battle alone now, it seemed.
He would say he was surprised by what Abby brought him, and he was, at first. But as a couple of days went by, the surprise turned into him thinking he was an idiot for not seeing the signs sooner. For not recognizing how tired Abby looked each night he came home. For not seeing how much she just needed a break from watching the kids day in and day out while he was at work. For… just everything.
They had started dating when they were both still in high school, continued throughout their undergrad, getting married right after they graduated and before Frank went off to medical school. Abby had started her career as a teacher as Frank started medical school, and she became pregnant with Tanner right as he started his rotations. She had taken a break from her job after that as Frank had started his residency, working almost sixty to seventy hours a week.
That was when the problems had started. And then Penny had come along a couple of years later, and though neither Frank nor Abby would ever feel anything bad towards either of their kids, two kids didn’t make anything easier.
After his third week of rehab, he had been given his phone with full access to contact whoever he wanted to outside. And when he powered it on, it came as no surprise to him that he had almost no messages waiting for him. A couple from his parents and Abby, and that was it.
None from Robby, and while that wasn’t surprising considering how they left each other, he thought there might be at least one message from him. Even though ninety percent of their texts were about work, being one of Robby’s most senior residents, there hadn’t been a day gone by in the last years where he hadn’t gotten some message from Robby.
Frank had texted Robby twice while in rehab, once when he got his phone back, and again a couple days before he was set to leave. Robby had left both messages on read, which while it wasn’t that surprising if he took an outside view of things, it still hurt.
Surprisingly, it was Brendon Park who had been the only person to reach out to him (besides his parents and Abby who sent him the occasional photo and message from Tanner). Frank had completely forgotten he even had the surgeon’s phone number saved in his phone.
Brendon Park: I heard a rumor about you needing to go to rehab and being out for the foreseeable future. If its true, that sucks.
Brendon Park: If you need to talk to someone, feel free to text me.
To say reading the messages was a surprise would be an understatement.
Brendon Park was never known to be someone who was nice and supportive, at least not in this way. He was also not a very sociable person, and definitely not someone who would make first contact. It had also been at least a year since he had spoken to the surgeon, even including all of the consults he had to call down to the ED for ortho patients.
But at the same time, Frank knew that out of any of the ED residents, he probably knew the Shark the best.
It was sometime during his second year of residency, the hospital had sent him, Park, and three other residents to a conference down in Atlanta. Someone in their small group had decided to create a group chat for the four of them. Frank remembered watching the guy ask for Park’s number, how Park had nearly glared him into dust but told him anyway. Now that Frank thought about it, he didn’t remember Park sending a single message in that group chat for the duration they were at the conference.
The conference itself had been enlightening. In part due to all of the medical talks he went to and new technologies he learned about, and also in part due to what he learned about Park.
Don’t get him wrong, Frank had met Park a couple of times before and was well aware about all of the rumors that went around the hospital about the Shark-like ortho surgeon. Frank had figured that Park would act exactly the same at the conference. And at least during the day, Park was the same as he was in Pittsburgh.
In the evenings though, Park was another person altogether.
Frank had run into him in one of the bars attached to the hotel on the first evening of the conference. It shouldn’t have been that surprising to see him down there, nearly a third of the people at the conference were down there, part of the networking of it all. Frank had immediately spotted Park from across the bar, sitting among a group of what had to be other orthopedic surgeons, and the man was smiling… laughing… Frank didn’t think it was possible for the man to do that.
And then somehow, the man had spotted Frank, making eye contact with him in a way that Frank couldn’t even pretend that he was looking at someone else standing nearby Park. And then Park made a motion for Frank to join him, and Frank could tell it wasn’t a choice.
Fuck.
Brendon Park ended up being someone Frank had completely unexpected based on the rumors and few interactions he had had before with Park.
Apparently once you got him out of his scrubs, out of the hospital, and the gel out of his hair, he was someone completely unrecognizable. In one part physically, the man had some curls, in another part personality.
Frank didn’t think the man knew how to say something without making someone feel like running into a hole. Park also knew how to keep a conversation going, and not in just a small talk way, but in a way that made Frank want to stay at the bar with him instead of going back to his room after two drinks.
And then they found each other at the same bar the next night, and each sequential night that week. By the end of the conference, Frank didn’t think he would ever be able to look at Park the same way again.
Not in any sort of disrespectful way, but Frank was well aware by now that the cold and emotionless way he looked at everyone was most of an act. When he actually cared about something, he could be pretty expressive. Very expressive, actually.
“And what, you gonna say I’m not allowed to tell anyone else about what you were like?” Frank said as they landed in Pittsburgh and made their way off of the plane’s jetway.
Park had huffed. “Please, do you really think any of them will believe you?” he asked.
Frank hummed. “My wife will.”
He was watching Park’s face as they were walking down the terminal. Frank didn’t miss how, for just half of a second, it paused. Then Park said, “Unless she works at the hospital, she doesn’t count.”
That was over a year ago, and now Park was texting Frank out of the blue, when out of everyone in his contacts, Park was the last person who had any reason to. They didn’t work in the same department of the hospital, Frank had probably only ever sent two patients to Park in his entire residency, they weren’t even friends.
And yet… Park had been the only person to reach out to him in the last month.
Frank had to wonder what kind of rumors were going around about him that made not a single other person want to reach out. He wanted to ask Park, but at the same time, he didn’t.
He could wait until he at least got out of rehab before he started to worry about the drama going around in the Pitt again.
Now, as his therapists were talking about letting him out of here, he only had one problem.
Where was he going to stay?
One of the rules the rehab staff had was that he couldn’t live alone when he first left the place.
Frank couldn’t balance them for placing the rule on him, it made perfect sense if the statistics he heard about relapses upon first getting released were true. It wasn’t the only rule they had for his discharge, but it was the only one that could prevent him from leaving this place.
Abby didn’t want him coming back to what used to be their shared home. And while that hurt, it had made sense if they were going to be going through with a divorce, which was also something Frank had been slowly growing to terms with.
His parents lived across the state in Philadelphia, too far away from where his entire life was right now.
So where did that leave him?
Frank: Yeah, you wouldn’t know anyone who could use a roommate would you?
He texted Brendon. He knew texting the surgeon and asking that would be a longshot, but they had started texting shockingly regularly since Frank had responded to the other man’s first message to him.
He couldn’t remember if any of the other residents or nurses in the ED were looking for a roommate back when he left. If they had ever mentioned it, he had probably tuned it out as it wasn’t something that could apply to him being married with kids. He supposed now, six weeks later that if anyone was looking for someone, they would have probably found someone by now.
But instead of Brendon just saying ‘no,’ or giving him the name of someone in the ortho department, he shocked Frank by sending the next message.
Brendon Park: You can stay with me.
Frank froze as he read that message. ‘You can stay with me.’ He wasn’t serious? Was he? How was he just casually inviting Frank to stay at his house? Frank knew that you can never really trust someone’s tone over a text message but… he was pretty sure they were never going down any sort of road to moving in together, were they?
Frank: Are you serious?
Brendon Park: Of course I am.
Brendon Park: And with getting two less residents this year and another doctor just having a baby, I have to work more hours. I need someone to look after my dogs.
Frank had to raise his eyebrows. Park was inviting him to live in his spare room just to have someone walk his dogs while he was at work?
Frank: Again, are you serious?
Brendon Park: How many times do I have to tell you yes? Your wife doesn’t want you to go home and the rehab people won’t let you live alone right?
Frank bit his lip as he read that message. It was true, even though it hurt every time he thought about it.
Abby was fine with sending him the occasional note from their son, but she still didn’t even want Frank spending time with either of the kids. At this point he had to wonder if Penny would even remember him. She was only eight months old right now. Abby had told him that he could go to the house to pick up any clothes or anything he needed, but only when the kids weren’t there.
He hated it, absolutely hated all of this.
Frank: I guess you won me over. What do I need to know for these dogs?
Had Park even ever mentioned his dogs around Frank? Frank knew Park would never be caught dead mentioning the dogs at the hospital, but even when they were down in Atlanta, Frank couldn’t remember anything about them.
Brendon Park: It will be better if you just meet them.
Well geez, if that wasn’t helpful.
🦈 🦈 🦈 🦈 🦈
Frank followed Brendon inside his house, feeling entirely out of place as he followed the older man inside. It was no surprise to Frank that Brendon lived in one of the more expensive neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, with more spaces and rooms than Frank knew what to do with.
It made Frank wonder what sort of salary the head orthopedic surgeon made. Whatever it was, it was certainly more than his simple resident salary.
All of the design fixtures that Frank could see were fairly modern and new looking, if Brendon hadn;t gotten the place redone himself, it most certainly had been right before the man bought it. No wonder he told Frank he didn’t need to worry about paying any sort of rent. What Frank could afford right now, wouldn’t make a dent in whatever sort of mortgage payment this man had.
“You can stay in the room right at the top of the stairs,” Brendon said, pointing to the large staircase leading up from the next to the door. “There’s a bathroom attached.”
“Okay,” Frank said as he looked to the top of the staircase, spotting the door Brendon was probably referring to. He had to wonder how large Brendon’s ‘guest bedroom’ could be. Based on what he could see of the kitchen from his current vantage point, the kitchen itself looked larger than the entire first floor of his and Abby’s house.
Thinking of which, he would have to text her later and ask when a good time would be to go there this week. If he was going to be staying with Brendon for a while, he had to pick up some of his cold weather clothing. It was going to start snowing soon.
And then, Frank was distracted from his visual exploration of the house by the sound of small beats coming towards them.
Not small beats, but paws clattering across hardwood.
The last thing Frank expected, when he heard the sound coming from around the corner of the hallway, was for three dogs to pop around.
Three small dogs, all of them…
They were all those wiener dog things. Dachshunds, Frank thought they were called.
And, Frank knew Brendon never told him what type of dogs he had specifically, nor had Brendon ever sent over a picture of them, but he imagined… some type of big and no nonsense dog just like the surgeon.
Not… these little tiny things.
“You know, when you said you had dogs you needed someone to look after, I wasn’t imagining that,” Frank said as he looked down at the three dachshunds, none of which even looked more than ten pounds in weight.
“And what were you expecting?” Brendon asked.
“Like… a german shepherd or husky or something?” Frank said. “Some high energy breed that needs constant attention?”
Brendon chuckled hearing that. “Yeah, they don’t really need that. They liked to sleep most of their days away.”
Frank didn’t have a response to hearing that just then, all he could do right now was looking at the dogs, who were staring straight back at him.
“Are you really judging me and them when I’m letting you stay here for free?” Brendon asked. One of the dogs cocked its head to the side, like it was looking down on Frank somehow. Was that even possible? Brendon chuckled then. “Don’t worry, if anyone judges anyone here, it will be the dogs.”
“What? N- no,” Frank stammered.
Brendon could only chuckle more at the look on Frank’s face.
Forget Frank’s second reaction of the man, now that he was in Brendon Park’s house, he was seeing a third side to the man - that of a maddening bastard.
“What’re their names?” Frank asked as he set his duffel bag on the floor of the hallway and stepped into the kitchen, the dogs following after both of the men. The black one slowly walked over and sniffed Frank’s leg.
“The black one is Otto, the spotted one is Ranger, and the brown one is Scout,” he said.
Frank looked at all three dogs. “Otto, Ranger, and Scout,” he repeated to himself.
Otto barked at him, trying to look menacing but failing spectacularly.
This was his life now, it seemed.