Chapter Text
Dennis was exhausted. Mentally. After a full shift at the Pitt with minimal success with any of his patients, he needed to get out of the hospital for a while before he condemned himself to another night in his small room on the 8th floor.
A brisk breeze met Dennis as he stepped out the sliding doors, his backpack slung over his shoulder. His breath fogged up the air in front of him. In any other circumstance, Dennis would despise the cold weather of Pittsburgh in the late months of winter, but the freezing temperatures were a welcome distraction to the disastrous shift he had just completed.
A young boy from a terrible car crash that wasn’t able to pull through with the extent of his injuries.
An older woman who suffered a sudden heart attack and wouldn’t live long enough to see the birth of her grandchild.
A man who came in with third-degree burns covering nearly every inch of his body who died due to sepsis since medics couldn’t get to him in time.
The list went on.
Dennis felt like a failure.
Of course, he did everything he could to save each of his patients that day, but it didn’t make the overwhelming sense of hopelessness for his career go away. Most days in the ER weren’t nearly as bad as that day, but it only takes one day to destroy a man. Dr. Robby assured him that he did nothing wrong–that even he wouldn’t have been able to save them all–but Dennis couldn’t help but beat himself up over every failure in the Pitt. All those patients had families. He had to tell each of those family members that he couldn’t save their loved one, and he knew they all blamed him for it.
It was snowing outside. The streets of Pittsburgh had since quieted down as it was nearly midnight, leaving only the distant noise of cars on the highways and the crunch of snow beneath his feet as he walked.
When he reached a small pond in the middle of a park he frequented after many of his shifts, Dennis stopped, folding his arms and resting his elbows on the small fence railing before him. He watched as flocks of pigeons pecked at the falling snowflakes and listened to the quiet laps of water as wind pushed small waves onto the shore. Taking in a deep breath, Dennis closed his eyes and stretched his head up to the sky, trying to clear his head of the awful memories of the day. He squeezed his hands tightly around his biceps, fingernails digging into the leathery fabric of his coat. Slowly, he squinted his eyes open, searching the night sky for constellations, but when he was met with nothing but clouds releasing flurries of snowflakes, he let out a long sigh and dropped his gaze back to the pond below.
Unclenching his hands from his arms, Dennis grabbed the railing and pushed himself away to continue his walk, telling himself that it would be best to get back before the snow got any worse. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Dennis turned back to the path and headed for the park’s exit. The path that wound through the trees blocked his view of the city buildings, allowing him to forget for a fleeting moment that he was in the middle of a big city.
Back at home, there were so many trees surrounding his family's farm that he found himself lost in for hours. Being the youngest of five, Dennis was often forgotten and overlooked in his family–not that he minded most of the time. Because his parents' judging eyes were rarely on him, he had the freedom to do almost whatever he wanted.
Dennis missed the farm life, but he didn’t miss his family. He was glad to finally get out of there, and if living in a city was the one sacrifice he would have to make, he wouldn’t mind.
The headlights of a car reminded him of where he was as he exited out onto one of the main roads. Without the coverage of the trees, snow fell much harder. It wasn't a blizzard, but Dennis knew it wouldn’t be long until one began, so he picked up his pace back to the hospital.
His eyes were focused on the ground, so he didn’t see the figure leap out of the shadows as he passed an alleyway.
Dennis could feel his heart drop to his feet as he felt himself getting yanked backwards. When his back hit the brick wall behind him, Dennis couldn’t help but let out a stunned yelp. The man before him was cast in a deep shadow, so he couldn’t make out a single feature on his face.
“Give us your money,” an agitated voice growled from beside him.
“What-?” he began in horror, but was cut off when a fist hit him square in the side of his face.
Dennis stumbled, immediately nauseous as he felt his brain rattling inside his skull. He was sure he would fall, but a hand on his backpack pulled him back up before he could get anywhere.
“Your money,” the voice said again. “Give it, or we will take it.”
A second man stepped into view, also shrouded in shadow. Dennis’ breath picked up speed as panic began to cloud his vision.
“I-” he started, but another punch took the words straight from his mouth. His vision flashed white with pain, and he was sure a tooth was just knocked loose.
Suddenly, he was pulled away from the wall and forcefully turned so that he now faced the wall. Dennis grimaced as he was shoved forward, barely having enough time to turn his head before he was shoved into the cold bricks. As soon as he felt several sets of hands trying to pry his backpack from his shoulders, the adrenaline kicked in, and Dennis shoved hard back against the men behind him.
Nearly his whole life was in that backpack, and he wasn’t about to let those creeps steal it. The moment of defiance stunned the men briefly enough for Dennis to make a dash down the street, but he didn’t make it far.
“Fuck!” he hissed as he slipped on the slick snow.
Dennis went down with a groan as he landed hard on his knees, but quickly scrambled his way back to his feet. Though, the short slip allowed the men just enough time to catch up with him, and Dennis wasn’t on his feet long before he was knocked face-first into the sidewalk, his nose smashing painfully into the concrete. As soon as he lifted his head, a stream of blood poured from his nose, pooling quickly in the stark-white snow.
His breath was knocked out of him as soon as one of the men jumped on top of Dennis, pinning him to the ground with his knees digging into his back. When he tried to turn and look at the man, a fistful of his hair was grabbed, yanking his head further into the air before smashing it down into the concrete once more.
The world blurred out of focus, and the chaos of noise was tuned out and replaced by a high-pitched ringing in his ears. Dennis was pretty sure he didn’t black out, but he definitely lost a second or two as he tried to regain his surroundings. He could feel a strong tug as they attempted to grab his backpack once more, but they were unsuccessful.
“Give it up, kid!” a voice shouted, probably from the man sitting on top of him.
“Please…” Dennis choked out, coughing violently when he felt blood pooling in his throat. “This is all I have.”
The man paused briefly before digging his knee painfully into Dennis’ spine. “My daughter was all I had. You murdered her, and now I have to pay thousands for shit you did that did nothing to save her.”
His daughter. The one he let die earlier that day, after he spent over an hour doing CPR on her after she came in from a drowning incident.
Dennis blinked, letting out a shaky breath before replying, “I didn’t… I tried to save her.”
“Not hard enough.” The man’s voice was quivering with the threat of tears.
Dennis tried to turn and face the man, but as soon as he caught a glance at what the man was holding, he froze. In his shaking hand, the man held a kitchen knife. He could see the tendons in the man’s hand working as he gripped the knife with all of his strength.
“Wait!” Dennis plead. The man didn’t respond, his eyes wide with rage and a deep frown crossing his face. “Please don’t. I’ll do anything!”
“Too fucking late for that,” the man whispered. “Give me your things.”
Dennis dropped his head to the ground, trying to think of a way out of this. He couldn’t come up with anything.
“I can’t… L-look, I’m homeless. This is everything I own. I have nothing without it… please…” Dennis begged, pleading with the man to understand his situation. “Please-”
Dennis was forced to swallow his words as he was interrupted by the feeling of the knife plunging into his skin. He flinched violently, letting out a sharp gasp, a mountain of hot pain washing over him. His vision tunneled, and the ringing in his ears surged louder than before. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes as he realised the weight of what had just happened to him.
Another choke of breath forced its way out of his lungs as the knife was twisted further into his back before pulling out quickly, tearing more damage into his guts before releasing from his skin. A rush of cold air filled the gap of the knife momentarily, and a rush of blood soon began spilling out of the wound.
“Aagh-” Dennis choked out quietly, clawing uselessly at the snow beneath him, unable to even muster up a full scream for help.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Dennis reached a hand to his back, trying to feel for the damage done, but the sharp blade of the knife sliced across his palm, forcing him to drop it away.
“You killed my daughter. You deserve to suffer for what you did. You are a terrible fucking doctor. I hope you bleed out thinking about what you did. Fuck you,” the man spat.
Dennis felt the weight of the man lift from his back, allowing him a brief moment of relief. Weakly, he tried to drag himself away from the man, but was stopped when pain seared in his side again as the knife was pushed down into his abdomen once more. He let out another gasp of breath and went limp, his muscles refusing to lift him back up.
When he was lifted harshly from where he lay, Dennis finally let out a pained scream, hoping it would alert anyone nearby. The second man came around and forced his backpack off his shoulders quickly before nodding at the man who was currently holding Dennis standing. He barely had time to process a thought before the man let go of him, and he went tumbling back to the ground, the knife shifting painfully in his back where it had yet to be removed.
“Keep the knife. I don’t want it anymore,” the man grumbled from somewhere above him.
When their steps faded into the night, Dennis was left in silence, the gravity of the situation finally consuming him.
God, he was tired, and he was in so much pain.
His ears rang, his vision was spotty, and it felt like his head was filled with fog.
Maybe a nap would be good, he thought to himself, letting his eyes droop as he blinked slowly. I’ll figure this out… later. When I wake up.
Dennis couldn’t fight the sleepiness anymore and gave in, letting himself get pulled into unconsciousness.
His world shifted quickly, bright lights blurring past as he flew through a hallway. Dozens of voices shouted around him, none of which he could distinguish. A figure stood above him, frantically shouting orders to those around him. When he forced his eyes to open further, the figure slowly came into focus.
It was Dr. Robby.
Weird, Dennis thought idly, his eyes already beginning to fall shut.
„Witaker! Eyes on me,” Robby’s voice shouted, startling Dennis awake.
He tried his best to open his eyes again, but his eyelids felt far too heavy. When he tried to close them again, Robby jostled him awake by shaking his shoulder roughly.
„Hey, keep your eyes open!” Robby ordered. „Do you know where you are?”
Dennis allowed his gaze to wander and observe his surroundings. No. He had no idea where he was. All he could muster was a weak shake of his head. Robby furrowed his brows, a look akin to worry spreading across his features.
„You are at the ER. You have some pretty gnarly injuries. Any idea how they happened?” He asked quickly.
A sharp turn caused Dennis to rock unsteadily on his side, nearly blacking out his vision with the pain that followed the movement. He let out a weak groan, curling in on himself to try to ease the pain. It didn’t work. Tears clouded his vision, and Dennis clenched his jaw closed to try to keep himself from screaming out in pain.
When a hand brushed the hilt of the knife, causing it to aggravate the injury more, nausea crashed over him, and he nearly hurled over the side of the gurney. Dennis squeezed his eyes shut, willing the bile to stay in his stomach, but he was interrupted when Robby’s voice ordered his eyes open. He wasn’t sure if it was sweat or tears that clouded his vision, but nothing came into focus when he opened his eyes again.
He could hear all kinds of medical jargon being thrown between the doctors and nurses above him. At first, he tried to make sense of what they were saying, but he quickly gave up when another surge of pain racked through his body. When he felt his wounds being poked and prodded, Dennis let out a pained shout, reaching out and grabbing hold of whatever he could get his hand on. He dug his fingernails in, willing the pain to subside, but nothing was working.
„Witaker!” Robby’s voice broke through the noise. „You have to let go.”
It took his brain several seconds to piece together what Robby said before he realised the object he was grasping was Robby’s forearm. Robby was crouched down in front of Dennis, trying to pry his fingers off his arm with zero success.
„Fuck!” Dennis screamed as someone jostled the knife again, squeezing Robby’s arm even tighter.
Robby shook his head and let out a breath before standing up again, abandoning the impossible task of making Dennis let go.
„Someone sedate him! The morphine isn’t going to work quickly enough for us to be able to do what we need to do,” he ordered carefully. „Standby for intubation. He’s probably not going to breathe on his own.”
Robby crouched down again and placed his free hand on top of Dennis’ arm, giving it a comforting squeeze. Dennis could feel himself shaking uncontrollably as he tried to focus on Robby’s face.
„We’re going to knock you out so we can fix you up, ok?” Robby said slowly, making sure Dennis was following. „We have you. Everything will be ok. I promise.”
It almost sounded like Robby was trying to convince himself of that fact, but Dennis was in no shape to press further on the subject. He nodded back slowly, feeling tears rushing down his cheeks.
„It hurts,” Dennis choked out.
„I know. We are going to fix it,” he reassured Dennis, glancing up at a nurse and giving the go-ahead for sedation. „You are going to be ok.”
Dennis could feel the sedatives kicking in immediately. He mustered up a sad smile for Robby before letting his eyes get pulled shut and falling into unconsciousness.