Chapter Text
Your first shift at The Pitt lasts twenty-seven minutes.
You’ll remember that number forever.
The ER is chaos the moment you step onto the floor — alarms chiming, stretchers rolling, voices overlapping. Exactly what you expected from the busiest emergency department in the city.
What you didn’t expect was becoming a patient before you even learned where the break room was.
You’re halfway through helping an agitated patient settle into a bed when everything goes wrong.
He snaps.
One second he’s shouting.
The next he’s lunging.
You barely register the movement before something slams into you.
The world tilts.
Your shoulder hits the floor first, then the back of your head.
Someone shouts your name.
“HEY—!”
The patient swings again—
—but he never reaches you.
Two bodies crash into him from the side.
One tackles his torso.
The other takes his legs out from under him.
The man goes down hard.
When the chaos settles, security finally arrives and drags the patient away.
But the damage is done.
Because now you’re on the floor.
And two very panicked coworkers are hovering over you.
“Hey—hey—don’t move.”
The voice belongs to Dr Dennis Whitaker. His hair is a mess and his chest is still heaving from tackling a grown man.
Next to him, Mateo Diaz, who looks just as winded, hair a mess from wrestling the patient to the floor, and an expressions that says he’s about ready to punch a wall.
“You okay?” Mateo asks urgently.
You blink at the ceiling.
“…I think so.”
Whitaker winces.
“That is not a reassuring answer.”
Someone pushes through the crowd forming around you.
“Move.”
The sharp command belongs to Dr Cassie McKay.
She crouches beside you, already pulling out a penlight.
“Follow the light.”
You groan.
“I literally just got here.”
“Congratulations,” Victoria Javadi replies dryly. “You’re already making an impression.”
Behind her, Dr Trinity Santos is glaring toward the hallway where the patient was taken.
“If security had been faster—”
“They weren’t,” says Dr Samira Mohan calmly, checking your pulse.
Whitaker rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.
“He swung at her,” he explains, like he’s still trying to process it.
Mateo scoffs.
“He shouldn’t have gotten that close.”
Dr Cassie McKay leans into your line of sight again.
“Well,” she sighs gently, “I guess I’m your doctor now.”
You stare at her.
“…You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
She gestures toward a gurney.
“Let’s get our brand-new nurse off the floor.”
Ten Minutes Later
You’re lying on a gurney.
Your head throbs.
You shoulder aches.
And apparently half the ER staff has decided to supervise your care.
At the foot of the bed stands Dana Evans.
She looks… furious.
Not at you.
At the situation.
“You’ve been here,” Dana says slowly, “less than half an hour.”
You raise a weak hand.
“Twenty-seven minutes.”
Dana closes her eyes.
Across the room, Dr Mel King mutters, “Well. That’s a record.”
“Mel,” Dana snaps.
She shrugs.
Cassie checks the back of your head again.
“Any nausea?”
“No.”
“Blurred vision?”
“No.”
“Desire to strangle the patient who hit you?”
“Maybe.”
Cassie smiles faintly.
“Good sign.”
Whitaker and Mateo are still standing nearby.
Neither of them has left your side.
“You should’ve seen him,” Mateo says, still angry. “Guy just snapped.”
Whitaker nods quietly.
“He swung at her twice.”
That gets everyone’s attention.
Trinity’s jaw tightens.
“He what?”
Mateo points toward you.
“If we hadn’t grabbed him—”
“Enough,” Dana says firmly.
The room falls silent.
“We’re not doing hypotheticals.”
She looks at Cassie.
“Tests?”
“Concussion protocol,” Cassie says.
“CT scan just to be safe.”
You sigh.
“I hate this.”
“Get used to it,” Mel says from the corner.
“Welcome to The Pitt.”
Later That Night
Night shift starts while you’re still in the department.
And the moment he walks in, someone fills him in.
Across the ER, Dr Jack Abbott freezes mid-step.
“…The new nurse got assaulted?”
Whitaker rubs the back of his neck.
“Yeah.”
Jack exhales slowly.
He walks over to your gurney.
Studies you.
Then shakes his head.
“Horrifying,” he mutters.
Then, after a beat—
“Unfortunately not surprising.”
From the nurses’ station, Dr Michael Robinavitch overhears.
He doesn’t look surprised either.
Just concerned.
“Security reports,” Robby says. “I want them.”
Dana nods.
“They’re coming.”
The ER hums around you.
But something has changed.
Everyone keeps glancing your way.
Checking.
Making sure you’re okay.
You sigh quietly.
“Well,” you mumble.
“Worst first day ever.”
Mateo pulls up a chair beside your gurney like he’s not going anywhere.
Whitaker leans against the wall nearby.
Neither of them argues.
Mateo smirks.
“Technically… You survived your first shift.”
Whitaker nods.
“Which means you’re officially one of us now.”
You groan.
“…That’s not comforting.”
Across the room, Trinity mutters, “She’s not walking anywhere in this hospital alone again.”
And somehow—
You believe her.