Chapter Text
Everything is fine. Robby just lost a patient, a 6 year old girl who drowned in her backyard pool. One of the most traumatic cases he’s seen all day. Seeing the faces of her parents sobbing as they held her tiny hand, whispering goodbyes, it left a pit in his stomach. His stomach rolls as he heads out of the patients room, towards the nurses station to chart the update. He wipes the sweat off his forehead as he sits down and begins typing.
“Hey.” Dana says approaching him. “I'm sorry about the kid. Seems like a rough case.” She says, putting a hand on his shoulder.
He sighs and turns toward her, “Kids make it hurt 10 times more.” He says, turning back to his computer. After he finishes his charts, he heads for the breakroom. Hopefully a snack will offset the pain in his stomach. As he opens the door, he sees Dr. Whitaker sitting at the table eating a sandwich. He smiles down at him, offering a wave, turning towards the snack drawer and pulling out a pack of cashews.
“Hey, kid. How’s your shift going?” Robby asks
“Oh-” Dennis replies, food still in his mouth. “It’s going pretty good. I got to assist on a thoracotomy earlier. It was both the coolest and nastiest thing I’ve seen in a while.” He says, offering a grin. “Dr. Robby, are you feeling okay? You look a little hot.” Dennis asks, looking concerned, moving closer to him.
“No no- I'm fine, Whitaker. Really. I just had a rough case.” Robby responds, smiling in response. The last thing he needs is his coworkers worrying about him. Robby’s favoritism for Whitaker was already clear as day, he didn’t need to make it worse.
“Okay..” Whitaker responds, clearly not believing him.
“Well, I'm going back to work.” Robby says, standing up and pushing his chair back in.
“Oh, well my break is over anyways. I'll come with you.” Dennis responds, mentally noting how Robby hadn’t even taken a bite out of the snack he had. Robby smiles in response, and signals him to join him in the pitt.
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Dennis has had a long day. And it's only 2pm. Great. He follows Robby into the trauma bay, noting the patient lying down with her leg out of place. Yikes.
“Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Robby and I'll be attending to your case today. Assisting me is Dr. Whitaker, a first year resident here at PTMC.” Robby says, putting on his gloves. Dennis is standing to his right, waving to his new patient as Robby introduces him.
“Help-” she exclaims, “It really hurts- OW-” she cuts off grunting in pain as a nurse palpates around her shin. “This definitely needs surgery down here.” The nurse whispers to Robby.
Robby peaks his head out the door towards the nurses station, “Dana, page Garcia-” Robby starts as Dennis approaches the patient to begin his assessment. He notes the bleeding, and begins working. By the time Garcia makes it down, he has gathered the full patient history and managed to slow the bleeding.
“She’s showing signs of compartment syndrome, this needs emergency surgery.” She confirms. Once he checks that the patient hasn’t eaten in the last few hours, Garcia takes her up to surgery. Robby and Dennis let out a massive sigh as the patient was rushed out of the room.
Dennis turns towards Robby, who is bent over clutching his stomach.
“Dr. Robby, you clearly aren’t oka-” Whitaker begins
“Enough.” Robby grunts, standing up taller. “Im fine.” he says, seeming to be talking to himself more than he was to Whitaker.
“You look a mess.” Whitaker says. “Wait, no that's not what I mean. I mean normally you look great. No, what I mean is-” He tries to say..
“Just stop, Whitaker” Robby chuckles, but stops as he bends to hold his stomach again. “Can you start her chart while I run to the bathroom real quick?” Robby asks, gathering his things.
“Uh- yeah!” Dennis responds a little too enthusiastically. Robby just laughs at the kid, clapping his hand on the shoulder. This kid is just too cute. He thinks to himself, then immediately dismisses the thought, and heads to the bathroom.
Dennis is sitting down at the nurses station as he spots Dana.
“Hey, Dana, can I talk to you for a second?” Dennis asks.
“Sure kid. What's up?” She asks, looking concerned as she comes to sit next to him. Dennis tells her about the weird vibes he’s been picking up from Robby. How he's been holding his stomach, not eating, super sweaty.
“You seem to be paying an awful lot of attention to your boss.” She chuckles, patting him on the back.
“No, I-” Dennis quickly responds.
“Relax.” Dana cuts him off. “Im just messing with you kid. I’ve noticed he’s seemed a little off today too. I'll look into it. Thanks for letting me know.” She gives him a final smile as she heads off, presumably to see her next patient. Dennis sighs, turning his full attention to his charting. Hopefully Dana will fix whatever is going on with his boss.
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Robby is stepping out of the bathroom as Dana corners him. “Hello to you too.” He says, attempting to step around her.
“You stay right there.” She says, blocking his attempt to escape. She pulls a thermometer out of her back and holds him against the wall so he can’t move.
“Hey- what is wrong with you let go!” He raises his voice, attempting to push her off of him. She just chuckles in response, continuing to hold the thermometer up to his head. It beeps, flashing a red hue with the number 101.2. “Gotcha.” Dana says in response. “What the actual fuck is going on right now??” Robby says, looking around and squinting his eyes at her, but letting out a gasp as he feels a sharp pain in his lower stomach. “Come on. We are getting you checked out.” Dana says, helping Robby to a chair. Robby happily obliges and sighs as he sits down. He could use a seat right now. His side is killing him. “Take a second then we're going to give you a full workup.” Dana says, leaning against the seat.