Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch is someone who is formidable and strong, only a few people can actually get on his nerves.

And one of them comes in the form of Dr. Heather Collins.

“Morning, Dr. Robby.” She greets him and he sighs as he looks up at the board.

“Morning, Dr. Collins. Got your sign in already?” He asks her and she nods. She already has a tablet in her hands, most likely already checking a patient and their status. ”Who did hand offs to you from the night shift?”

“Dr. Shen did. It amazes me every single time how he’s so nonchalant in the most chaotic place on earth.” She says and chuckles to herself.

Robby wants to laugh because he feels the same, albeit there are times he gets annoyed at how John Shen, their newest attending does not seem to waver in the chaos of the emergency department. As much as he appreciates him and his work, he cannot handle him and his iced coffee that he leaves in the nurse’s station which sits and leaves a puddle by the time he even remembers he has one. Jack seems to handle him properly so all’s well.

“They, luckily, did not have a full house and chairs does not seem that full.” Robby comments and Heather hums in response.

“Hey, can I borrow your favorite for today? Haven’t got the chance to be with him on a full shift because you keep hogging him.” Heather says, eyes not leaving the tablet and Robby raises an eyebrow.

“My favorite?” He asks, genuinely confused. Heather laughs but when she looks up, she realizes that he’s completely serious about being clueless.

“Dennis Whitaker? Funky music? Our bloodhound as Dana likes to call him?” She says, putting down the tablet to look at him seriously.

“He’s not my favorite? I don’t have favorites?” He says, hesitantly and she scoffs.

“Robby, you cannot be that stupid.”

Robby is taken aback by this statement and is about to tell her off when she puts her hand up and rolls her eyes.

“Robby, everyone here can see that he’s your favorite. Always when you get a call, you yell out his name. You practically manhandle him every single minute of every shift. You always check up on him, maybe even a bit more than the others and hey, we don’t mind but come on.” She says, in a very serious tone as she places her hands on the station and leans against it.

Robby laughs at her, as if this whole ordeal is impossible and outwardly. “I don’t have favorites. You just hate me.”

Heather laughs in response. “Okay, Robby. Whatever you say.” She nods her head and looks around the department.

She spots residents, interns, medical students, nurses, nursing assistants and the occasional surgeon for consultation until she spots Dennis with a chart on his hands, already reviewing cases that were handed to him by night shift before the shift even starts.

“Hey. Code Stroke, ETA 10 minutes. Trauma 2 is available.” Dana says, butting into their conversation. She stands beside Heather who nods at her.

“I’ll take that then. Happy Thursday.” She says and Dana laughs at her, leaning onto her side.

Heather gets a brilliant idea, as she always does. She smirks and looks at Dennis who was still in the same position. “Okay then, Robby. I’ll have Dennis with me for today’s shift, thanks!”

“Hey, I—“ Before Robby can argue, Heather yells

“Pretty boy!”

Everyone in the ED stops and looks at Heather who yells that out. They follow her line of sight and they immediately lock onto Dennis Whitaker, who seems focused on his chart. He mumbles quietly while reading it, something he did that everyone just brushed it off as everyone had their own quirks on the job; this in particular was harmless enough.

Everyone witnesses how Dennis is still oblivious to the amused eyes and quiet laughter surrounding him, unlike the person beside him, Trinity Santos.

Trinity nudges him and he looks up, confused. He looks around and everyone is staring at him. His eyes immediately landed on Heather’s who just looked expectantly at him.

His face brightened and pointed to himself, “Oh! I’m ‘pretty boy’?” He asks.

Heather smiles widely, “Yes!” And gestures for him to come over, “You’re with me, come on!”

Dennis smiles shyly at the attention, puts the tablet down for it to charge and stands beside Heather.

He looks at her and tilts his head. “Pretty boy? Me?” He cautiously asks her and she nods.

“Well you are pretty and you are a boy, hence pretty boy. I’m merely stating the obvious.” Heather genuinely says with a smile on her face, loving the fact that Robby is witnessing this encounter right now.

Dennis blushes under everyone’s gaze and nods. “Oh, well, thank you for thinking that, Dr. Collins. But I do think you’re prettier than me.” He says, a cute smile on his face and Collins smiles at him.

“Oh why thank you. You’re so sweet.” She pats his head and hands him some gloves. “We have a code stroke, ETA now 7 minutes at Trauma 2. You up for it?”

Dennis nods, determined as he wears the gloves. “Lead the way then.” He tells her and she laughs.

“What a gentleman.” She comments, very amused to see a deepened blush on his face.

Robby then directs a stern gaze onto Heather who smiles innocently.

“Hey, I think—“

“Oh, Dr. Robby. The patient will be here in a few and I have to quickly orient Dennis if that’s alright with you?” Heather informs him with a smug smirk on his face.

Robby then clenches his jaw. He looks between Heather who looks too proud of herself and Dennis who innocently looks at him. He simply nods and they leave to tend to their patient.

🐾

Robby doesn’t know why he’s so bothered by Dennis simply getting swept away by Heather. Most of the time, he and Dennis were on the same cases. Already calling out to the intern the moment a new case comes up. He didn’t think it was a big deal but seeing Heather call Dennis, ‘pretty boy’ and his cute reaction evident by the blush on his face, twinkle in his eyes, and a shy smile, could rile him up so much.

He’s watching Heather and Dennis through the windows of Trauma 2. Heather asks Dennis questions and Dennis perfectly answers her within a split second with no hesitation, already predicting the interventions before Heather orders them so he’s ready, his assessment of the patient is now spot on with a few little corrections (normal especially in interns, he can improve better), and his own orders once Heather asks for it. Heather seems satisfied with working with Dennis, evident by the smile on her face and a few teasing jabs, to which Dennis responds with the same reaction.

The 'blush, twinkle and smile' triad.

Robby should publish that in a research article.

Though, he keeps having this unsettling feeling as he watches them work. Dennis is a good intern, already improving miles compared to his first shirt. He grew more confident in his skin and his work that all Robby had to do was encourage him more and revise some of his actions and thinking and he would grow up to be a good doctor, maybe even better than Robby.

Hell, he’s already a better doctor when you compare their patient satisfaction scores.

Heather and Dennis seem to be done with their work as they leave the trauma room. Heather grins smug at him and he wants to roll his eyes but Dennis is looking at him with that same fucking twinkle in his eyes.

“Good job you two. Update the chart and get on with other patients when you’re done.” He informs them and Dennis nods.

“I can go update the chart for you, Dr. Collins.” Dennis offers and Heather coos.

“Thank you, Dr. Whitaker. Come find me when you get your next patient. You’ll be shadowing me for today.” She says and Dennis tilts his head.

God, he’s like a puppy. Robby thinks to himself.

“Oh, um. Sure, yeah.” Dennis seems unsure. He realizes it and jolts, turning to face Heather. “Not that I don’t want to. I’m just so used to shadowing Dr. Robby but I learned a lot from this case and would like to learn more from you!” He says and Heather laughs.

“Well,” Heather side-eyes Robby who sighs deeply. “It is good to see the perspectives of different doctors. I’m sure Dr. Robby has many to offer but I would like the opportunity to teach you too.” She says with a smile.

Dennis smiles and excuses himself after thanking her. Robby finally rolls his eyes and looks at Heather who has a smirk on his face.

“I do hope Dr. Robby appreciates his students getting the most of their education here at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, wouldn’t want to limit them, don’t you?”

“God, you really hate me, huh?” He asks as he runs his hands over his face and Heather laughs.

“I just love making you suffer like this.”

Heather walks off as she laughs, getting the last laugh and Robby is on his last thread and its not even an hour into the shift.

🐾

Eventually, with the scene earlier that morning, gossip has run through the entire department and by the time the shift ends, everyone is on the mission to make Robby suffer in the most outrageous way possible.

The amount of times he hears, ‘pretty boy’ and once he looks over, he sees Dennis within his eyesight but also the smug smirks and quiet laughter that radiate the halls. He can’t help it but will not admit to it.

“So, Whitaker, how’s your day been with Dr. Collins?” He asks the boy once he walks into the break room to find the intern alone and munching on a sandwich in a pink Tupperware. Must be Santos’. He thinks to himself, knowing full well that they live together but are not actually together.

“Oh, she’s been great. I learned a lot from her and she’s really sweet. Would love to have to learn from her more.” He simply says, textbook answer but it’s the truth really.

“That’s good.” Silence. “You’re not really bothered by the nickname, right?” He asks cautiously.

It takes Dennis awhile to process the question and his face eventually brightens, as if amused by it. “Pretty boy?” He asks and Robby nods while chuckling to himself.

“Yeah, that. I can put a stop to it if it makes you uncomfortable.” Robby says and Dennis shakes his head with a smile.

“It did at first but I realized that people were genuine in calling me that so I didn’t mind it. Trin even told me it's good for my self-esteem as she quote, ‘because you don’t have any’ end quote.” He laughs to himself.

Robby seems actually shocked. Dennis, a low self-esteem? That didn’t sit right with him, didn’t seem right at all since he seems to have gained confidence in his work but he doesn’t really know much about Dennis apart from what he shared with him during his first shift; the fact that he was Nebraska-borne and raised, and a theology undergrad.

He sees Dennis as this warmth hearted person, almost like the sun but it wasn’t in an annoying type of way. It was in the way that you simply needed it every single day of your life for you to function appropriately, to feel its warmth and get the enough nutrients that you need from it. It’s a shock to him that it seems like Dennis had low self-esteem.

“Dr. Robby?” Dennis asks and this pulls Robby out of his thought process.

“Oh yeah right. Well, that’s good. Just let me know if something bothers you okay? I’ll take appropriate action.” He says and Dennis laughs.

“Thanks, Dr. Robby. For now, I’m all good.” Dennis says and looks at his watch. “Oh, I have to do hand-offs with Dr. Ellis.”

“Yes, of course. Go ahead.” Robby gestures to the door and gives a smile to the intern who smiles at him back and leaves the break room.

Robby sighs against his hands and crosses his arms right after. He closes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath.

Pretty boy indeed, he thinks to himself.

🐾

THE PITT: BETTING POOL
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