Chapter Text
The buzz of the ER carried Dennis through the motions of his legs taking one heavy step after another. The air felt electric around him, pulsating even. Pushing and pulling at every fiber of his being. The conflict within him to run or hide… or to confront it all.
Frank’s presence behind him kept him going forward.
Trinity, at the charting station, raised an eyebrow at the pair. Dennis shrugged, hoping he gave her the “we’ll talk about this later” look. He was still learning looks. He had always been too socially awkward growing up to have friends to teach him. But Trinity seemed to get the idea.
It was better that Frank was doing this with him and not Trinity. No matter what happened, at the end of the day he could go home and watch bad reality TV with Trinity. There would be no awkward dwelling in whatever ends up happening. And if it’s so horrible, he can just go back to ignoring Frank.
Not that he would admit this out loud, but it was nice having Frank joining him. Maybe because Frank was tall and strong, sort of like a bear in the wild. But there for him, to protect him. Like a little lamb. Or maybe it was just nice to not be alone.
The family, his family, was the same as he left them. His sister gave him an annoyed look, “Finally find the chart you needed?”
“I did, yeah.” Everyone could see there was absolutely no chart in his hand, but Dennis didn’t let that stop him, “First things first, though… uh, I sorta want to ask about your family?”
“My family?” Callie looked up at her parents.
Shauna, their mom, was quick to step in. “What does that have to do with my daughter getting hurt exactly?”
“Shauna,” Jeff, their dad, said in a soft voice.
“No,” Shauna bit back. Dennis could see the girl in the newspaper. The one who had just been rescued. Tiny, frail, scared… but also so fucking brave and tough. “I don’t know what you think you know about us, or our family, but if you’re one of those Yellowjacket’s fanatic freaks, you can fuck right off!”
Oh, that was directed at him. Oh shit.
“No, no!” Dennis was quick to argue back. “That’s not it at all!”
“Do you think that we, like, what?” Shauna wasn’t stopping her accusations any time soon. “Somehow hurt our own daughter? That we are part of some cult that hurts people?”
Dennis didn’t have many memories from the wilderness. He was too small. But he knew enough to know something was out there, that something weird had gone down in those woods. He would have dreams, nightmares maybe, about the bits and pieces he remembered.
Fire, ash, screaming. Deers and little rodents. Lizards too. Snow. Lots of snow. But then the bright summer. The lake. His mom. More fire. More screaming.
A little kaleidoscope of memories.
He must have gotten too sucked into it, because then there was a strong hand on his shoulder. Frank’s hand.
“Let’s all stop for a minute,” Frank said, no question in his voice. “Dr. Whitaker, here, is handing over your case to me.”
“Oh,” Shauna said, her voice dripping with offense. “You’re scared of us.”
“No,” Dennis said, quieter than he meant. He wasn’t scared, not of them. Maybe of what he was, from them. But not of them. “It’s just a HIPPA thing.”
“Hippo?” Callie asked.
“A doctor can’t, or at least shouldn’t, work on their own family.”
Dennis felt the same sensation as being thrown off a horse. The world moving too fast and too slow all at the same time.
A buzzing in his head, the blood rushing through his years. Yet it was so quiet. Too quiet.
The pit in his stomach bottomed out. Dennis was scared he was going to throw up in front of all of them. It would be just his luck too.
His eyes were glued to the floor, but he forced them upward. He could see the recognition in his mom’s face, and he could see the puzzle pieces clicking into place for his dad and sister.
This was really happening.