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There’s a baby in the emergency department. Not an uncommon thing, more common than Dennis would like to hear about, but the one good thing from it is being able to see Doctor Robinavitch. Names are important, no matter how much the man insists on Dennis calling him ‘Robby’ like most of the people around him. In his hometown, names helped everyone know where everyone came from. The Whitaker’s were from Ireland, though Dennis didn’t know much more about his heritage than that. His mother made foods with more vegetable than meat and on the occasional time they did have meat, they weren’t killing a cow but buying fish. Sometimes he missed her brown bread, though she sent him the recipe. It never tasted the same.
The Santos’ made delicious lumpia, the Larsson’s shared their Swedish meatballs with every farm in Broken Bow, no matter how little they talked, and Singh’s made a mean pavlova. Dennis knew for a fact Doctor Robinavitch made matzo soup that was to die for. He’d made it once a few months ago and had left-over’s. Dennis had been lucky enough to run into the man before he got off shift and had been given a bowl and told not to worry about the container.
Doctor Kertchet had been the one to call Dennis over and let him know there was a baby in the emergency department that needed to come up to their floor. Most times a transfer was needed, Dennis was one of the people sent to get the patient. The whole department knew of Dennis’ crush on the ED chief. They wouldn’t if Trinity had kept her mouth shut, but of course his roommate turned friend had to blab to someone and she couldn’t do it to the people in her department because Dennis had strictly forbidden it.
The elevator dinged as it hit the floor. Dennis twisted his ring as he walked onto the floor. He knew exactly where to go to find the charge nurse, but he also knew the ED would be a little busier. Kertchet had said the West Bridge hospital had been sending new patients to them due to a code black. Dennis knew it would be unlikely he’d run into Doctor Robinavitch but he still held some hope.
A whoosh and Dennis stepped into the hallway as nurses and doctors rushed around him. He managed to dodge out of their way and start to make it toward the central hub. He didn’t make it far before a much taller man with curly hair blocked his way. The man looked like he could be Dennis’ cousin and he almost asked for his name, just to check. When he opened his mouth, the man spoke right over him.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” the man said, “James Ogilvie? You are?” Dennis stared at the mans outstretched hand and tried not to wrinkle his nose at the rudeness. They were working in a fast-paced environment. No doubt they needed information fast as well. Dennis made sure to read the badge and noted the ‘student doctor’.
“Dennis,” he said, accepting the hand, “Whitaker. I’m just—”
“You’re in pink?” Dennis looked down at his scrubs. He did wear pink. He liked the color well enough and the scrubs were oddly cheaper. Plus, it helped make the parents a little more at ease. Not to mention the female nurses and doctors he worked with. As well as anyone in the queer community he ran into.
“Oh,” Dennis nodded and started fidgeting with his ring again, “Yeah, it started as a joke, but they grew on me. Messed up my laundry.”
“Right. Couldn’t buy new ones?” Dennis straightened. If this was how this man wanted to play, Dennis could play. He didn’t like it, but he would. Most days he preferred to turn the other cheek. Be a kind person. When that didn’t work, Dennis figure God would forgive him for his rudeness.
“I need to find Doctor Robinavitch,” Dennis said, “Unless you want to continue inappropriately commenting on someone’s clothing.”
“I don’t mean anything by it.”
“Of course not. If you did, this conversation would be going in a much different route. If you’d like to take a ride up to HR, we can certainty go that route.”
“Jesus, I was just saying pink’s a more feminine color—”
“Ogilvie!” The voice Dennis wanted to hear since he stepped off the elevator interrupted their conversation. Dennis couldn’t stop the way he bounced on his tiptoes as he waited for the man to approach. While Ogilvie turned his head, Dennis managed to pull out a sheet of stickers from his left back pocket and stick a ‘Bad Job’ sticker with a thumbs down on the hem of the man’s shirt.
“Robby,” Ogilvie said with too much familiarity. If Dennis knew the schedule of the ED, it was only the man’s first day on rotation, “I was about to bring Whitaker to you.”
“Doctor Whitaker,” Doctor Robinavitch said, “And you can go help Doctor Santos’ with a debridement in north four.” Ogilvie nodded and walked by Doctor Robinavitch. Dennis resisted the childish urge to stick his tongue out at him. He could be professional. Sticker on the student’s scrubs notwithstanding.
“Thanks,” Dennis said, “I was thinking about taking him to HR just to teach him a lesson.”
“You’d be doing the department a favor,” Doctor Robinavitch sighed, “Here about the Jane Doe baby?” Dennis nodded.
Doctor Robinavitch landed a hand on Dennis’ shoulder (always touchy) and led him in the direction of the pediatrics room. As they walked, Dennis was proven right by the business of the day. There were more patients in the hall than he’d ever seen and the noise level rivaled his own department when one child set off the rest. Dennis tried to hide his wince, but he could tell Doctor Robinavitch noticed. He tried to make sure they walked a little faster and Dennis was grateful for it.
Eventually, they made it to the pediatrics room and Dennis relaxed at the sight of the paintings on the wall. They were familiar in the way his department had similar cartoons painted on their walls. He gave a smile to the nurse (Jesse?) and a nod to the other doctor in the room (Mohan). In between them was where the Jane Doe baby sat in a bassinet. Dennis couldn’t stop the coo from his lips as he stepped forward. Gloves were pulled onto his hands before he lifted the baby and looked her over in his grasp.
“Nothing came back looking hinky,” Doctor Robinavitch said as Dennis turned the baby to hold her in his arms, “Negative tox screen, blood count was good, everything you asked for came back perfect. Well…”
“I know what you mean,” Dennis said as he let the baby wrap her hand around his finger, “He just means you’re good to come with me! That’s right.” Jesse and Mohan laughed as Dennis ran his finger under her chin. The baby smiled up at him and Dennis grinned back down at her. He did noticed the baby start fussing a little more as her face contorted. Dennis knew exactly what that meant and handed her over to Doctor Robinavitch.
Under the guise of checking his phone, Dennis watched the baby. It only took a few moments before the baby spit-up. Dennis chuckled to himself and stared at some nonsense. He wasn’t even sure what app he opened as Doctor Robinavitch handed the baby off to Jesse to burp and pulled off the green jacket.
“Did you do that on purpose?” he sighed. Dennis shrugged and shoved his phone back in his pocket.
“Why would I ever do such a thing?” he said. Doctor Robinavitch shook his head with a smile that made Dennis light up. He tilted his head and Dennis peeled off the remaining glove to follow him out, passing his hand under some sanitizer.
They made their way to Doctor Robinavitch’s station and Dennis pulled a chair up as he looked over the records they had for the baby. It wouldn’t take long for them to get sent to pediatrics but every second Dennis could steal to be by the man he would. He twisted his ring as he read over everything and spoke with Robby in hushed tones. Just enough for them to review what the ER had done for the baby and next steps. Police had already been alerted, so it was a waiting game on that front.
Just as Dennis started to ask Doctor Robinavitch a question unrelated to the baby, someone bumped the back of his chair. It made him jolt forward and lose grip on his ring. He figured it would be fine, but he couldn’t catch it in time and he heard it hit the linoleum floor. Dennis swore as he stared down at the tiles expecting to see it just there but… nothing.
“Oh, fuck,” Dennis hissed. He didn’t care about who was behind him as he rolled the chair back, hoping it would reveal the ring. He felt sick to his stomach as the silver didn’t show itself.
“Dennis?” Robby asked.
“My ring,” he said, “I dropped it. I don’t know—I can’t see it.”
“It’s okay. We’ll find it.” Robby rolled his chair back as Dennis swallowed like it would stop him from throwing up. Tears blurred his vision as his breathing hiccuped.
“It was my grandmother’s. Shit. I can’t lose it.” He dropped out of the chair, uncaring of his knees as he wiped at his eyes and scanned over the tiles. He never took the ring off. The last time he had was to get it shined from the tarnish. Even that had felt like an abomination. Not wearing the ring for the week it had taken made Dennis more anxious and snappy than ever. Once he got it back, his coworkers literally begged him to not do it again. Dennis agreed. He hated the phantom feeling of nothing on his finger.
“It’s just a ring,” Ogilvie said from behind them. Dennis ignored how his face reddened in anger at just the smug tone. He narrowed his eyes at a piece of lint that held no answers. “A woman’s ring. What’s so important?”
“I swear to God the second I find it we’re going to HR,” Dennis snapped. He didn’t care if the words lost their edge with how wobbly his voice sounded. The threat stood. If the man felt like he could talk this was to a doctor, who knew how he would treat patients when he was alone? Much less how he treated coworkers.
Robby joined Dennis on the ground, a hand on his shoulder as he helped Dennis look. His expression was pinched as they both tried to find the silver. They stayed there for a few minutes before Dennis knew he was well and truly fucked. That ring wasn’t just his grandmothers. It was at least his great-great-grandmother’s. The fact it lasted so long was a testament to how well-loved the jewelry had been. If Dennis was the one to lose it, the only male to own it. Maybe it was a sign he was destined to be alone forever. It lasted this long and he had been the one to lose it.
“Oh my God,” Dennis muttered as he curled up on the floor, “My mother is going to kill me.” Robby groaned as he leaned against the cabinets with Dennis. He rested a hand on Dennis’ knee as a comforting gesture. Dennis barely felt it. He couldn’t think beyond having lost a family heirloom. Something he wore daily. Something he loved and hoped would bring him love, even if most people didn’t know the meaning behind it.
Dennis clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from full on sobbing in the middle of the ED. Robby at least had the decency to pretend he hadn’t heard the choked off noise. His vision swam as tears fell down his cheeks silently. Robby shushed him. It didn’t take much coaxing before Dennis leaned against his shoulder.
“It’ll show up,” Robby whispered, “I’ve lost my Star more times than I can count. It’s a miracle the thing hasn’t even bent.”
“I never take it off,” Dennis stuttered, “Never.”
“These thing happen.” Someone peaked over the edge of the counter and Dennis winced. The department needed their chief and here they were on the floor while Dennis fought off a full-blown breakdown.
“We got a trauma three out,” Dana said. Dennis liked her. She probably wouldn’t judge him for this.
“Uh, can you hand it off to Al-Hashimi?” There was no verbal response but the shadow disappeared. Dennis frowned at the name. If he could distract himself with something, he’d latch onto it. So he asked. Robby sighed and moved his arm to wrap around Dennis’ shoulders so he could lean into Robby more. It helped him to know Robby was staying solid by his side.
Then, Robby started talking. It made the whole situation worse as Robby talked about leaving for a while (three whole months) to take a sabbatical. He’d fixed up a motorcycle and chuckled at Dennis’ protest of helmets and reassured him he was taking care of his brain just fine. It brought Dennis some comfort to know that. Even if they didn’t interact much, at least Dennis knew the man would take care of himself.
Even once the three minutes came and went, Robby stayed on the floor with him. He made no efforts to move and the few times someone tried to grab his attention and Dennis tried to wiggle out of his grip, Robby took care of it. They still had a Jane Doe baby to transfer. They still had files to send up to pediatrics. There was still a whole department to run.
Robby still stayed on the floor with Dennis. As if it were the most important thing in the world.
“Sorry for keeping you here,” Dennis said after a while. Probably ten minutes. No doubt the buzzing of his phone was Kertchet asking what was taking so long. Transfers that Dennis took always ran long, but never this long. There were dried tears in his scrub collar and he didn’t care.
“Don’t apologize,” Robby said, “I’d rather be here than anywhere else.” Dennis tried not to let it show just how that made him feel. He cleared his throat instead and leaned out of the hold. The loss of body heat made Dennis infinitely colder and he stood up fast to pretend like it had never been there. He wiped his undershirt sleeves and ran his hands over his scrub pants. A bit of dust came off them.
The sounds of the ED rushed back and Dennis winced at the influx. An aborted movement to his right hand made his chest ache. Maybe he could replace it. Even if it wasn’t the right kind of ring, at least he would have something there to fidget with. Just the idea made his chest ache worse. He had no right to replace what he’d lost.
Dennis managed to pull his phone out and look through the notifications he’d received. He acted like Doctor Robinavitch’s gaze on him was unfelt. Like he suspected, he had one text from Kertchet. He sent a quick response to update him and then looked at all of Trinity’s texts.
At least he knew he had someone looking out for him. He typed a quick response as he rubbed at his eye again when the screen became hard to read. The rest of his day would be a damn nightmare.
Dennis shoved his phone back in his pocket once he say Trinity had read the text. Except that meant he had to stare at Doctor Robinavtich and his sad eyes. Like he was concerned about Dennis and his reaction to the whole thing. Dennis focused on his breathing, made sure it stayed steady. He could get through this. He would check the lost and found religiously, but it would be okay. Maybe a bout of prayer would help save him.
“Sorry,” Dennis said. He cleared his throat when it cracked and shook his head. “Sorry, we should get back to the transfer.”
“Are you sure?” Doctor Robinavtich said, “We can keep looking if you want. Or if you need some water—”
“I’d rather not think about it. If I lost it…” He refused to say his thoughts out loud. It would make them true and Dennis didn’t think he could stand that hit.
Doctor Robinavitch nodded. He pulled his chair back up to the computer and offered the chair Dennis had been sitting in back to him. It was one of the things Dennis liked about the man. If he really didn’t want to talk about something, they didn’t talk about it. He gave Dennis the space he needed and didn’t push him. Didn’t force Dennis to talk or do anything he didn’t want to. A lot of people tended to see his youthful face and assume Dennis was younger than he was and therefore needed more guidance. Doctor Robinavitch never made that assumption.
It was nice to talk shop, do what Dennis needed to and focus on the patient. They went over everything again, more as a distraction. Dennis twisted the skin of his finger, probably rubbed it raw in the few minutes, and leaned forward as they returned to hushed tones. Doctor Robinavitch never commented when Dennis’ breathing changed or he stuttered or had a slight hiccup in his words. The grace to let Dennis know himself.
Both of them looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching. Dennis frowned at Trinity as she practically shoved Ogilvie toward the central hub.
Once when he first moved in Dennis accidentally put his scrubs in with one of Trinity’s white tops. They were new and still had some bleeding, but Dennis hadn’t seen her shirt. It tinged it just pink enough that it didn’t looked white. Not enough to be pink, either. Just a sort of in between that didn’t match any of her outfits. The look on her face then had nothing compared to it now.
“Tell him,” Trinity snapped.
“Doctor Santos what’s going on?” Doctor Robinavitch asked. His gaze flicked from the med student to the doctor. Dennis just tilted his head at Trinity. He wondered what meal it would take to bring her down from this kind of rage. He barely noticed Ogilvie reaching into his pocket.
“It rolled,” Ogilvie said, “When I bumped your chair.” It clicked in Dennis’ head and he didn’t even fully see the ring before he surged forward and snatched it from the med students hand and double checked it would go on the right way as he slid it over his finger. In an instant, all the stress melted away. He slumped back into the chair and stared at the tarnished silver as he twisted it round and round.
Everything in him lightened as he sent a prayer of thanks and just kept staring. The silver ring back in its rightful place on his finger.
“Go to the family room,” Robby said, voice clipped, “We’re going to have a serous discussion about your behavior.” Dennis heard Ogilvie walk off. There was a knock on the counter and Dennis had to peel his gaze from the ring to make eye contact with Trinity. There was clear worry on her face but a smile there, too.
“Thank you,” Dennis breathed. He wiped at his face for the umpteenth time. It would surely be raw and Dennis didn’t care. “Oh my God, thank you.”
“Eh,” Trinity shrugged, “Only took a little digging. Plus he said some… not nice things about you and your sexuality derived from no information other than pink. Connected the dots.”
“Well, he’s not entirely wrong there.”
“Yeah, but because pink? Really?” Dennis shrugged. He had no defense for that one. Robby spoke up and Dennis tuned the two of them out as he stared back down at his ring. It had been refitted when his mother passed it down to him. Either he needed to get it fitted again or he needed to find another way to keep it on his finger. A second ring might work. Dennis had seen a few that fit above the second knuckle. He’d have to get one of those.
“Whitaker?” Robby said. Dennis looked up as Trinity snorted and walked away. Robby had an amused look on his face as Dennis tilted his head.
“Sorry?” Dennis asked. Robby shook his head with a widening smile. It made Dennis’ heart thump faster. There were a lot of times when he saw that look on Robby’s face. He liked it being there because of him.
“I just asked about the design. I don’t think I’ve seen a ring like that.”
“Oh!” Dennis looked down at his ring. “It’s a Claddagh ring. I’m like… Watered down Irish but it’s an heirloom. You wear it a certain way to signify relationship status. So if I were to flip it around…” Dennis kept a tight grip on the metal as he pulled it off his finger and turned it “… Then this would show me being in a relationship. On the other hand it’s different. I haven’t had anyone give me a reason to wear it like this though.” Dennis fixed the ring.
When he looked up, Robby had his brows pulled together and was nodding. Like he was thinking really hard. Dennis startled as Robby took his hand and inspected the ring. Dennis didn’t know what else to do other than let him. His hand got turned this way and that. Before Dennis could react, Robby pulled the ring off, and flipped it around.
“I think it looks good like this,” he said, “I know I’ve got the sabbatical tomorrow, but if you’re willing to wait, I’ll get us reservations somewhere nice. Classy.” Dennis gaped down at his own ring. His ears buzzed and it took a minute for the words to process. When they did, Dennis nodded.
“Yes.” Dennis said. “Yes, please. I like the sound of that.”
“Good,” Robby laughed. “Been working up the nerve to ask.”
“It’s a good thing you did.” Dennis grinned at Robby.
“What’s the baby still doing in pedes?” Dana asked. Dennis squeaked and stood from the chair as Robby laughed. Dana sighed and shook her head while Dennis apologized. Out of instinct, he reached into his pocket for a sticker. He always gave Robby a sticker before he left.
These stickers were animal themed. There were dogs, cats, birds, and a plethora of other smiling cartoons on them. Dennis stared at them then at Robby. He held out the sticker paper for the man and Robby chuckled as he reached forward and looked through them. It didn’t take long before he peeled off a cat sticker and pulled his stethoscope from his neck.
Dennis always like this part. The way Robby picked at the old sticker and put the new one on. Now that he had confirmation of it being due to reciprocated feelings, it made the whole thing that more domestic. Intimate. A constant reminder of Dennis on Robby’s most important instrument.
“Go get our Jane Doe,” Robby said as he stuck the sticker in place, “I’ll take care of our med student problem.”
“Sounds good,” Dennis said, “See you in three months?”
“I’m looking forward to it.”