Chapter Text
Robby had just finished dropping the kids off at school, Milo and Clark at the middle school, and Nell and Junie at the elementary school.
He’s heading into the ED for his shift. He chats with Dana for a moment before asking, “Where’s Abbot?”
“Getting some air,” she says with an intent look.
“Really?” Robby responds and turns to make his way up to the roof to check on his husband.
He finds Jack on the other side of the railing. It doesn’t truly concern him. Maybe a brief little spike in his heart rate at first. But he’s not worried his husband will actually act on anything.
“Good morning, Jack.”
Jack glances over his shoulder at him. “What are you doing here?”
The assumption was that he wouldn’t work today. It’s the anniversary of Adamson’s death. Always a hard day for Robby, but he feels the need to be busy instead of wallowing at home.
“I’m working. And you?”
Jack continues to face the landscape. “Oh, I don’t know. Had a guy come in. Hit by a drunk driver at a crosswalk. 39 year old vet. Survived three tours without a scratch. I spent the last two hours coding him.”
Robby winces. He knows the man being a vet hits a nerve with Jack.
“That’s always a rough way to end the night.”
“I must have had a reason to keep coming back at one point….” Jack leans forward and looks over the edge, contemplative. “But I can’t think of it right now.”
Robby still isn’t truly worried, so he goes for lighthearted. Teasing.
“Because this is the job that keeps on giving. Nightmares. Ulcers. Suicidal tendencies.” Robby tilts his head a little to look at him, hoping to get him to glance his way.
He hears a small huff of breath, but doesn’t get a response so he goes for the big guns. “Besides, if you jump on my shift, that’s just rude, man.”
He sees Jack take a deep breath before saying “I hope I’m never one of your patients.”
“That makes two of us, my friend.”
They start the trek back down to the ED, Jack giving Robby the rundown of the patients. He gives him an envelope with a letter for the family of the vet and reminds him that he’s got new med students and interns coming today.
“Lucky, lucky me,” Robby comments as a man runs naked through the ED while being chased by nurses.
“Sure you want to work today?”
Robby doesn’t comment, and Jack makes his way to his computer.
A moment later, lost in his own world, he hears his name right beside him. “Dr. Robinavitch,” a female voice says, and Robby jumps slightly before turning to her.
“Yep.”
“Melissa King. I will be joining you today. I just came from two months at the VA.”
“Hey, welcome to the Pitt. This is Dr. Jack Abbot.”
“Nice to meet you. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here today, so…”
Jack cuts in with a snarky “Talk to me at the end of the day.”
Boy, he really is in a funk.
Robby looks at King. “Ignore him. He had a rough night. And is having an ongoing existential crisis.”
Grump that he is, he snarks right back without pause. “Don’t worry. You’ll get there soon enough.”
Robby walks off to see what else is going on and then introduces the med students and interns to each other as well as introducing Dana as the most important person there when she interrupts with an incoming trauma. She is the glue that holds the place together, after all.
He introduces them to their senior residents and they all begin rounds together.
The day unfolds with traumas and sick patients. He gets into it with Gloria, but what else is new? One of the new med students, Javadi, passes out and he sends her to the lounge for a cold drink. He manages to annoy Collins. Another one of the new kids’ cellphone goes off during their moment of silence for an elderly patient that passed away, so Robby felt the need to correct him and advise him to keep his phone on silent. A woman fakes illness to bring her son in because she’s concerned about him potentially being a danger to others.
At this rate, it’s shaping up to be as good a shift for him as it was for Jack.
He finds himself flashing back to Covid and Adamson throughout the day. He finds himself being a lot shorter tempered than usual.
His mental health has been pretty solid lately. It’s been a while since he’s done therapy because he hasn’t felt the need for a while.
But there’s the first little inklings of maybe something just isn’t right. He brushes it off as stress. Especially the stress of this particular day.
He deals with helping two adult children make a decision regarding letting their dad go. He works with two parents of an overdose kid to make a decision about being an organ donor. He continues to check in with the mom of the teenager that might be a danger to others.
He reads Jack’s heartfelt letter to the vet’s sister in the family room.
As the morning progresses, Robby continues to spiral mentally. Though, he’d never tell anybody else that.
Jake comes to the ED to get their PittFest passes. They had planned to go together but Jake was ditching him for a girl. He didn’t blame him though. He’d have ditched for a girl at his age too.
He gives Jake the tickets and reminds him to be safe, not to take anything from anybody, and as he reaches into his pocket for cash, Jake says “Please don’t give me a condom.”
And wow, he was not ready for that. “Condom? I was going to give you extra cash….wait, are you having sex?”
“Thank you!” Jake deflects, grabbing the cash and walking away.
Well, shit. He’s not naive, but it’s weird to think about the little guy he’s watched growing up potentially making such adult choices.
Dana gets punched in the face in the ambulance bay, shaking everybody up. Robby makes sure she’s taken care of, not letting her brush it off.
Santos, new intern, brings concerns to Robby of Langdon stealing patient drugs. Fuck, he did not need this. He so did not need this.
He totally loses his shit on Langdon, confronts him at his locker.
“Open your fucking locker, or I will have security smash it open.”
He sees fear in Langdon’s eyes as he goes to open his locker.
Robby finds pills belonging to a patient, and Langdon begins trying to talk his way out of it.
“Could a drug addict do what I do?”
“Apparently,” Robby begins as he picks up Langdon’s stuff off the floor and throws it at him as he seethes. “And I just fucking let him. You’re done. Leave now or I will have Ahmad escort you out.”
“Robby, please.”
Robby slams his hand into the lockers. “You are done.”
He watches as Langdon walks away, looking back like maybe Robby will change his mind.
Princess is watching as she pushes a patient down the hall in a wheelchair and Robby yells “WHAT?” at her so she scurries by quickly.
Robby is exhausted. This day is turning into a shit show. And now, Dana is telling him that she’s done. What is he supposed to do without Dana? She runs this place. She’s literally everything.
Then Robby’s whole world turns upside down. Active shooter at PittFest. Where Jake and his girlfriend are.
Panic tears through Robby as he moves into action - readying the ED, readying staff.
Jake has to be okay. He has to.
Relief and surprise take over momentarily as he sees his husband walking in.
Robby falls into him, wrapping his arms around him. “Brother, I am so fucking glad to see you.”
Jack returns the hug. “Heard it on the police scanner. How many are we expecting?”
Jack and his police scanner.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good. Where are the kids?”
“I called Sarah. I figured you’d need all the help you could get here. She said she can stay the night if needed.”
Robby nods, appreciative of their longstanding nanny. She’s basically family, she’s been with them so long, and Robby’s anxiety is soothed knowing she’s with their kids.
“Jake is there, Jack.”
He knows Jack knows because they had talked about it, but he feels the need to remind him.
“I know, baby.” Jack murmurs. “All we can do is hope for the best. Have you talked to him?”
Robby shakes his head. “I can’t get in touch with him.”
Jack nods. “It’s hard. It’s so so hard. But we have to stay positive, okay?” He grips Robby’s shoulder, trying to ground him a bit. “Okay, brother?”
Robby takes a deep breath and nods, despite the ringing in his ears and the press of panic in his chest. They have to try to stay positive and hope for the best. They have to hope for the best. His world will fall apart if something happens to Jake, who has become another son to him.
He doesn’t want to take charge and jump in, but he knows he has to. So many people are depending on him. He braces himself and gets ready for their briefing. Jack stands up there with him, helping prepare everybody.
As usual, Jack is his rock. He doesn’t know that he’d make it through this without him. They work together as a team, and Robby feels love and appreciation flowing through him.
Robby looks at Jack as he’s talking to the crowd of staff. “Communicate. Ask for help if you need it. Trust your attendings.” He looks at Jack as he offers him a fist bump which Jack accepts immediately. “We will get through this together.”
Jack nods in confidence. “Damn right we will.”
The crowd breaks from there, going about their various tasks.
Robby tries to soak in Jack’s confidence because he’s not feeling it. His gut tells him their lives are about to change forever.