Chapter Text
It said it would rain today, Whitaker wanted to avoid the rain as much as possible. Because he hated it. It makes everything feel clammy, damp, and humid, so humid that he feels like he can’t breathe. His shoes have no grip so he’s constantly slipping and ruining his dry clothes. He hates the feeling of wet clothes clinging to his body, he hates having damp hair. The rain makes him feel sticky and dirty, it’s like a layer of dirt on him which he can feel but he can’t see. He hates the rain.
Luckily, at the moment it was only spitting. Very light rain, barely noticeable unless you pay attention. Some people don’t even consider it rain, but Whitaker does. The few droplets that came every minute would land on Whitakers head, causing his curls to frizz. Whitaker already regrets giving santos his umbrella, she said she needed it since she was ‘allergic’ to the rain. She’s just being dramatic.
If Whitaker had the umbrella he would pull it out right now to stop him from getting wet, but he didn’t. Santos is one of the ‘Some people’ who don’t consider spitting as rain, so therefore do not put their umbrella up. And he was stuck walking to work with her, he doubted that even if it started bucketing down with rain she wouldn’t put it up.
The Er was in view now, just in time. The rain started to get heavier, so they quickened their pace.
Once they were in the locker room, Whitaker felt secure. No rain indoors. Whitaker hated the rain. He really hated it.
“Hurry up Huckleberry, we’ll be late for Robby’s debriefing.” Santos called out from the doorway of the locker room, it had snapped him out of his thoughts that he hadn’t even realised he was lost in. Whitaker quickly got himself together and headed towards the nurses station with Santos. It was quiet. He didn’t like that, the Er was never this quiet. He figured that it must be one of those days, one of those days that hasn’t happened yet.
They were now at the nurses station, Whitaker leaning and santos standing waiting for Robby to do his daily “Don’t be shit” speech, Whitaker could feel the humidity already building up. He was looking at the wet muddy footprints that were trailed around the ambulance station. Easy slip hazard. As long as he stayed away from the doors he should be fine.
”Right!” Robby clapped his hands once together, gaining everyone’s attention. “I know it’s hot and wet but I don’t want that to be a reason for anyone to slack off. Ok?”
People nodded, people hummed in agreement. Whitaker didn’t, the rain really messes with him… but he won’t let that affect him.
”Go save some lives.” Robby dismissed everyone with a wave of a hand, they all scattered away to their work.
Whitaker didn’t move, he just stayed there leaning on the nurses station. Santos takes every opportunity to get the most gruesome case, and she always succeeds. He doesn’t understand how some of the cases she takes doesn’t gross her out, not even in the slightest.
Whitaker could already feel the invisible layer of sticky mud forming on his hands, it was so odd how the rain could throw him off so much.
He reached over the counter and grabbed a large glob of hands sanitizer. He rubbed his hands together as vigorously as he could and as long as he could. He needed to get the mud off of him, especially if he’s treating patients.
”Whitaker, you alright there?” Robby questioned as he lent up against the nurses station right next to Whitaker. He was eyeing him up and down, observing how the kid had been scrubbing his hands for no clear reason. “What are you doing?”
”Cleaning my hands, they feel dirty…” He didn’t look up from his hands, he was still scrubbing hard. He then added another glob of sanitizer to his hands, before he started rubbing again.
Robbys eyebrows furrowed in concern, he reached over Whitaker and moved the hand sanitizer out of his reach. “You’re gonna scrub your hands raw.”
Whitaker didn’t answer, it seemed like he wasn’t paying much attention to Robby’s presence next to him. So to gain his attention, he placed his had on Whitakers shoulder. Whitaker instantly stopped scrubbing his hands and looked up at Robby.
”Whitaker, are you sure you’re ok?” Robby asked, now removing his hand. It seemed the gears in Whitakers head were turning, and Robby waited for his response patiently.
”Uh- Yeah… I just don’t like the rain.” Whitaker finally said. Robby chuckled at his delayed answer, and then shook his head.
”Well it’s just rain so get to work please, can’t have you slacking.” Robby got up and just walked away without giving Whitaker a chance to respond.
Whitaker hates the rain.
He gathers himself together and heads to his first patient.
The next 2 hours seem to fly by in a blur, Whitaker doesn’t feel real, he doesn’t feel grounded. It’s like he’s dreaming or something.
If you were to ask him who was the last patient that he treated, he wouldn’t be able to answer. He wouldn’t know, he wouldn’t remember. This is what the rain did to him, it made him slack. And that slacking was starting to become noticeable when he and Langdon had a small altercation.
”Jesus! Whitaker how did you miss something like that? How can you call yourself a doctor if you can’t even catch the simplest of things?” Langdon wasn’t yelling but he was speaking quite loudly.
Whitaker could feel his cheeks growing red, Langdon was embarrassing him in front of loads of people. Not just patients but also doctors and colleagues that he somewhat looked up too.
”I’m sorry…” He squeaked out, hoping to get Langdon just to stop yelling. He knew it was bad that he missed something so simple but so deadly. He was ashamed. But it was the rain, the rain really did something to him. But he couldn’t tell them that, they’ll think he’s completely lost it.
”Sorry’s not good enough Whitaker. Someone could have lost their life today because of a stupid mistake made by you” Langdon really wasn’t backing down from yelling at Whitaker.
“I know… I’m so sorry..” Whitaker felt like crawling into a whole and never coming out, everyone was looking. Watching him getting yelled at.
”What’s wrong with you-“ Langdon took a step forward causing Whitaker to take a step back. Maybe he should just say he feels really sick so he can go home and spend the rest of the day slacking off at home instead of at work.
”Langdon. Don’t speak to him like that.” Robby cleared his throat as he made his way over to Langdon. “He made a mistake, yes. But there’s no need to publicly embarrass him.” Although Robby was sticking up for Whitaker, he could tell just how disappointed he was. He had missed something even a baby could spot. Whitaker couldn’t stand the look of disappointment on Robby’s face, he just wants to go home.
“Take a break Whitaker and get your act together.” Robby commanded. For some reason that one sentence embarrassed him even more than everything Langdon said. He felt ashamed. So he listened, and prayed it would actually help him get back on his feet.
He made his way to the break room. He passed the ambulance station and noticed the growing muddy puddles inside the hospital, dark brown water… everywhere. It made him feel sick to his stomach. Made him feel sticky and dirty again, he wanted to go home and have a steaming hot shower to burn all the dirt off.
He quickly slipped into the break room just to grab a snack. He doesn’t think he can drink in this humidity, it’ll make him feel even worse. He didn’t even want to sit down on the chair, he knew he was going to stick to it and that would just ruin him completely. So he stood, he stood and just ate his small snack before heading back to work.
Only 2 minutes later he walked back out of the break room. The humidity was slightly better than the break room which was a relief. He quickly made his way to the nurses station to pick up another patient to treat, but clearly he went to quickly and so he slipped. He slipped and landed hard. He was covered in muddy water now and he wanted to die. It was by far the worst feeling ever.
He got back on his feet and leaned on the nurses station, adding a glob of hand sanitizer to his hand. He was wondering how many times is he going to have to change his scrubs in this one shift, he was praying it was only this one time.
He turned towards the scrubs machine which he knew all too well, when paramedics burst through the doors with a gurney. Water splashed everywhere as they ran in, they were drenched head to toe in water. Whitaker couldn’t imagine the feeling.
On the gurney was a brunette girl who was clearly in a lot of pain. He hurried over towards the gurney, followed by Robby.
”Female, 23 years old. She was hit by a swerving car. Bp 83/56, heart rates 111, she’s lost a lot of blood.” The paramedic called out “Her brother was with her when it happened, might want to check him over for any injuries.”
Robby nodded “Whitaker. Check over the brother, we’ve got the girl” Whitaker stopped mid tracks when he said that, does Robby not trust him anymore?? He watched as Robby brought the girl into trauma 2.
A paramedic walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder to get his attention. “That’s the brother” he said pointing behind Whitaker, before walking off.
Whitaker turned around and when his eyes landed on the man his heart sank. He never thought he’d see that face again… never.
“Dennis.” The man spat