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As the straps of his rucksack wore into his shoulders, music played into his cheap and uncomfortable earphones . His mind wandered to you, hoping that you would be there at the lockers when he walked through the double doors. The bright lights of the ER illuminated a square patch of the entrance, with the sunrise dancing behind his golden curls. He turned down his music as he greeted a few of the night shift crew who looked relieved to see himself and obvious others of the day shift.
“Dennis” the sound of your voice filled his ear as he popped out the earphones.
His heart racing at the sight of you, your scrubs neatly folded onto the bench as he examined your casual clothing. Your hair wasn't tied back yet, it was 6am in the morning and you were full of energy.
He envied you as he let the earphones dangle around his neck, his eyes never lingering further than your collarbones.
“You seem full of beans this early” he mumbled as he approached his locker.
Which was conveniently right next to yours, as he opened his locker his hips bumped into yours as he tried hard to focus on anything else. Your perfume was strong but smelt familiar, comforting.
“Are you not ready for the day, Denny?” You beamed, a teasing glance in your eyes,
Denny.
His chest fluttered, clearing his throat to try and ignore the throbbing in his pants. Forcing a smile on his face, burying his head inside his locker.
Cheeks burning red, he threw his headphones and jacket into the locker alongside his bag. He joined you on the walk towards the scrubs locker, watching as the familiar sounds entered his eardrums. The swing of your arm hitting his, the distance between you both.
His scrubs were in your hands when he looked up from the distraction behind him, his cheeks flushing the accustomed redness. Watching as you laughed at his mumbled ‘thank you’, a soft head shake and you both wandered the separate changing rooms.
As he hurried to change, his mind drifted to your first day. You commented on the luxuriaries that were commonplace within The Pitt, with the wonky locker doors, the private changing rooms and amongst other things but the one thing that stuck was how you spoke about the respect.
His heart dipped at the thought of someone so respected by members of the staff in The Pitt hadn’t been given any form of gratitude and admiration whilst within the field.
From that day forward you and Dennis decided that bouts of compliments were what the other needed.
Today, you both walked together into the loud and busy nurse’s station of The Pitt. Assigned together, which had become the regular. You had experience but in Dr Robby’s eyes you had a lot to learn about being a doctor within The Pitt.
Or maybe it was an excuse for the team to watch you and Dennis awkwardly dance around the feelings that oozed out of the pair of you.
The day flew by like any other; Dennis was coated with a variety of unknown fluids, which made you laugh. The sound vibrated across his body, his cock throbbing at the sound. Able to find a small bout of humour when he looked at you.
Standing once again next to you at the lockers, one of the many scrubs Dennis had disposed of in the locker bin. His rucksack thrown over his shoulders, his earphones dangling around his neck but yet to be placed in his ears.
Doing anything to avoid not hearing you talk, even the soft waves and goodbyes to the night shift. He could have listened to you haul a cab; his voice soothed his eardrums after a loud and heavy day.
Whilst standing at the illuminated entrance of the ER once more, the night sky was falling to his feet as he began to take his step in the opposite direction. It was evident that he didn't want to wait until he saw you tomorrow, but he didn’t have the confidence to ask you out just yet.
So fortunately for him, you asked him first.
He tried his best to hide his excitement, the corners of his mouth twitching and his eyes glistened.
“Yeah, let’s grab a drink”
His feet ached; his body was sore. Random fluids were tangled in his curls, but you looked at him with such excitement that he would be able to deal with the pain for a private out-of-work excursion with you.
Especially since you dangled your keys in his face.
In the warmth of your car, he perched himself awkwardly on the edge of the seat. His bag pressed between his legs as you flicked through your playlists, humming at each one before pressing play.
“So, Denny. What do you do after work?”
That nickname made his stomach flip, blinking rapidly as he felt your eyes on him. Awaiting an answer as you put the car into drive.
Stumbling once again on his words, the flame of his cheeks burning at your attention.
“Not a lot really, I go to the bar alone when Trin has Yolanda around” he said sheepishly, his hand reaching to scratch the back of his head.
You smirked at this, everyone knew about Trinity and Yolanda. They didn’t exactly hide it but no one was allowed to call it a relationship.
Dennis felt sorry for her because that was what he wanted, a relationship.
Specifically, with the person driving the car right that second.
His eyes followed your hands as they gripped the wheel, your humming and head tilting to the music.
The night life of Pittsburgh passed you both by but he didn’t notice, his eyes were on you.
You pulled into an unfamiliar car park, once you had explained your plans for the night. He bit his smile as you walked him towards a quiet bar. Pointing out your apartment a few blocks away.
Dennis was in awe as he listened to you talk, your interactions with a few faces who greeted you with familiarity.
He let you order for him, taking a seat in the corner as he sat and watched you. Feeling nervous, his leg jiggling as he took in his surroundings.
He barely ventured away from the shared apartment with Trinity, there was a bar nearby which she had shown him once but he was still new to the city.
You seemed like a city person through and through, your laughter echoing across the nearly empty area. The bartender guiding you as you poured Dennis’s beer, a twang of jealousy hit his stomach.
A few cheery words exchanged as you re-joined him at the small and cosy booth, the beer not splashing once as you pushed it across the sticky table.
He mumbled a polite “thank you” and took a heavy sip, the foam tache coating his upper lip caused a roar of laughter from you.
Unable to hide his amusement, he found himself chuckling with you. The pain and misery of the heavy day at work began to fall off his shoulders, relaxing into the leather seat with you sat across from him.
“You come here everyday? He asked quietly, not wanting to be evasive.
You took a sip of your drink before answering him, the more you unravelled the more he found his affections growing for you.
Your home was Pittsburgh but you gained most of your practical experience in your first year as a medical volunteer at Doctors Without Borders.
Compared to working at The Pitt, your work was a different kind of fulfilling and you spoke about it with such pride and admiration that he almost felt jealous for those who worked there with you.
Your choice to volunteer started out when you joined your medical school's Friends of MSF Chapter and before you knew it, you were applying to swap your first year residency to volunteer with MSF.
Dennis didn't interrupt you as you excitably spoke about your experience, his beer was downed long before you had a chance to drink yours.
Admiration written across his face as he rested his cheek onto the palm and continued to listen to you speak, the few regulars had begun to leave as it got later.
But Dennis didn't have any plans to shut you up, your voice was music to his ears. You didn’t discuss work at the Pitt with this much enthusiasm despite being nowhere near as taxing physically and mentally on the body as working in the field.
He felt inspired by your stories that as you downed your drink and the bartender from earlier informed you both that it was closing time.
Dennis felt disheartened that the night was ending but you appeared to have other ideas. He let you lead him towards your apartment, where you offered him a few more drinks.
Your apartment was tidier than his, two new doctors living together was good but chaotic at the best of times. He perched awkwardly on the corner of the sofa, his bag close to him.
As you were clattering about in the exposed small kitchen, he couldn’t get over how pretty and refreshing you were. Humming the same tune from the bar as you re-entered the living room.
The glasses matched as your legs brushed past his knees, knocking him into the seat of the sofa with a heavy “oof”.
“Oh, Denny! I'm sorry” you gasped, turning round to help him.
The drinks were placed onto the glass coffee table, your hands reaching for his and your face was suddenly inches away from his.
His eyes dropped down to your lips, damp and parted. The urge to cut the distance and kiss you was heavily on his mind and it was if the thought had crossed your mind.
For a split second, his hands hovered on your hips and your soft lips met his rough ones. The intimate kiss shared between you, sent fireworks across his body.
After spending his days daydreaming about seeing you outside of work, doing more than constant eye contact and subtle flirting.
He wanted, he needed more.
But tonight wasn’t that night and you both knew it.
Trying not to ruin the moment, his hands retracted away from your body. Adjusting himself as you dropped yourself back into your seat, your hand brushing his as the glass passed between you.
It was strong, the coke fizzing and popping against the glass. The scent of vodka and your perfume filled his nostrils.
Suddenly the tiredness combined with sheer embarrassment kicked into his system and he felt sick as he stared at the contents of his drink. You were humming along to the music quietly pouring out of your speaker system and as he turned to look at you.
Your eyebrows pinched together with concern, his fingers lacing the strap of his bag. Words tumbling out of his mouth as he reached the door.
Dennis woke up the next morning feeling like an idiot, the shame and embarrassment of not being able to stay at your apartment for a single drink without freaking out.
His nerves were shot as he walked into the familiar busy building of the ER and standing a few inches away from his locker. There you were, the same as every shift.
Dennis was nervous about being near you, he had made a fool out of himself. He liked you, really liked.
But to his surprise, your eyes lit up when they saw him. A smile plastered onto your face, despite it being 6:45am.
“Morning, Denny. Get home okay?” You spoke as if nothing awkward had happened last night.
Blinking a few times as he battled with disbelief, in the past the people he dated would have never spoke to him again. But from the moment he met you, he knew you were different.
“Yes, did you?’’ He muttered, trying to continue the small talk.
The small talk didn’t last for long, neither did any private conversation. For the rest of the day shift began piling into the small area that contained the lockers.
To avoid being squashed from all the lockers opening, Dennis collected his scrubs and phone and disappeared. You lingered in his mind with every passing second.
He didn’t see you until 12pm, his mind was going crazy with unwanted thoughts.
Whether you had requested to be separated from him? Were you just being polite this morning and all the time you couldn’t wait to be away from him?
But all those thoughts fizzled when Dr Robby ordered him into Trauma 2, a female patient was unconscious on the centre gurney. You were stood with several nurses and a doctor, he didn’t recognise.
Your voice was the loudest and one who was leading.
Robby stood next to Dennis, his hand hovering just above Dennis’ chest as if to stay ‘stop and watch’.
The procedure you were performing was something he had never seen before.
“The patient is in her 50’s, her daughter stated that she was complaining of bladder pain, low urine levels and abdominal pain. What do you reckon Whitaker?’’ Dr Robby whispered.
Dennis didn’t have a chance to answer because you were slowing down your movements, your fingers prodding at the skin of the woman’s stomach down to her pelvic bones.
“There is a significant amount of swelling from the bladder, I think that we need to request an xray of both the kidneys, the bladder and her uterus to rule out uterine fibroids. Keep her sedated with the catheter’’ you spoke clearly without pause.
Dr Robby nodded in approval, shrugging his shoulders towards Dennis.
‘’Maybe you need some experience in the field’’ he teased before ordering that everyone act quickly.
A grin pinched your face hard, he knew you were supressing some of your excitment when you bounded over to him.
‘’Whitaker’’ you said sternly, your fingers moving his elbow with you out of the room.
In the quieter corridor, heading towards the central rooms of the ER. You finally let out your excitement to him, your hands were squeezing his forearms as nurses rushed past.
“How did you know all that?” He asked, peering over his shoulder before taking a step closer to you.
Pure amazement plastered across his face as he studied you, the worries from the night before had disappeared as he listened to you explain.
“I learnt as I had a patient during my volunteering who couldn’t communicate in English, she was in constant agony. It took me a few days as I was inexperienced but after performing a basic ultrasound, the spots that were hidden the first time. Made sense when combined with the constant uti’s and bleeding.” You sighed, excitedly.
“This patient is different right?” He asked with intrigue.
He would have asked you anything, if it meant he could continue hearing your voice. Especially when you spoke with so much passion and knowledge, you were educating him with every conversation and he loved it.
He loved you
“Yes, so Miss Johnson has fibroids in the bladder and my previous patient had to have those removed from her uterus. Miss Johnson could have been aware of this already and just avoided being checked out, so a background check is crucial” you shrugged your shoulders at Dennis.
You went on to discuss this patient further, stipulating that Miss Johnson was older and her fibroids were not only in a different area. Uterine fibroids mostly affect women within the reproductive years whereas fibroids of the bladder more likely affect women from 35-54 years of age. Though cases can very and surgeries, treatments are different depending on the patient and location.
“Well thank you, teach” he teased, a smile flickering from the corners of his mouth.
Tipping your head down as you smiled at his comment, he let you lead him towards the next patient.
From then onwards, Miss Johnson had two doctors. Dennis watched as you proceeded with the next steps, organised the preparations to have the large fibroids removed within the OR.
Everyone was impressed how quickly you diagnosed and managed Miss Johnson, right down to finding out her medical history. But Dennis was the most impressed and as he stood next to you at the lockers that evening.
“Hey, your knowledge from your volunteering year is very cool” he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke.
You smiled at him, swinging your bag over your shoulder.
“Well, if you are ever interested in fundraising. I’d love to show you” you said without pause, staring intently at him.
Were you asking him on a date further in the future?
His stomach flipped at the idea of being part of another fulfilling cause outside of working at The Pitt with you by his side, he would do anything you asked of him.
He was down bad for you.
“You’re incredible” he whispered as your shoulder bumped into his.
The sounds of the ER filling his ears, the night lights of Pittsburgh getting closer with every step. No one was watching when your hands slipped into his, hidden between the fabric of clothing.
“Oh Denny, how about you stay for a drink this time?” you sighed with a soft smile.
Hands still entangled as the doors to the Pitt slide shut behind you both, the sirens edging closer as he walked with you to your car.
Dennis wasn’t going to be leaving your side any time soon, you were it for him.
Maybe in the far distant future, he could experience the impact of volunteering alongside you like the impactful Doctors Without Borders.
But for now, his hand would stay in yours the whole night and he wouldn’t worry about professionalism whilst sitting on your sofa. Or awkward moments after an accidental kiss.
Dennis Whitaker was falling in love, and you had no plans to stop him