summary:Β what happens when the fun banter between you and frank crashes against the news of robby sending him home
includes: coworkers to kinda-strangers?, mentions of drug use, hospital canon gore, medical talk (and probably medical inaccuracies), robby mention yey!!, angst, open ending with a possible pt.2 (so sorry)
wc: 1.7k
a/n: its lwk crazy to make a second part to my second fic i'm sorry but i hope you like it enough for a second part!
βAlright, move out of my way, hotshot,β you mumble as you nudge Langdon out of the way. Your hands brush his as you take the fifteen-blade from him. βWe want the patient to live, so let a professional do this."
He looks at you, an amused smile curled around his lips. βOh, is Garcia coming down?"
You glare at him, but when you see Robby shake his head in your peripheral vision, you focus back down on the patient. βYou are hilarious, Langdon. Ever considered being a stand-up comedian?"
Your hands are steady as you make a small incision, narrating your actions for the med students in the room with you - Whitaker and Javadi, you believe their names were. βYou start by making a small incision right at the intercostal space."
You can feel Frank's eyes on you, and despite being used to that by now, heat creeps up your neck at the intensity of his gaze.
You try your best to ignore him as you continue. βNow you take the Kelly, and you insert it into your incision, opening up the tract for the chest tube."
You keep explaining to the med students until the procedure is done, looking up at Frank afterwards, your head tilted cockily. "And that's how a chest tube is inserted, Dr. Langdon."
βMinus all the peacocking, of course,β Robby's voice pipes up, grabbing everyoneβs attention in the room, the way he always does. βTry not to teach my students any bad habits, alright, you two?"
The med students stare at you, clearly forcing down amused expressions. You and Langdon look at each other for a second before he speaks up, without breaking eye contact with you. βYes, boss."
You're standing at the nurseβs workstation, staring up at the board with intense concentration. You know you're not supposed to cherry-pick, and you can already feel Dana staring at you. βI know, I know, Iβm getting on the next case."
She looks at you over her clear glasses, raising an eyebrow, clearly not impressed. βYeah, sure you are. Go help Langdon in South 20."
She looks back down at her iPad, interrupting you right as you're about to complain. βAh-ah, I don't wanna hear it. Go."
You sigh, knowing this is a fight you'd never win. Not against a charge nurse, and definitely not against Dana. Pushing yourself off the workstation in defeat - not without an annoyed little huff though - you mumble in her general direction, βYes, ma'am."
You step into the examination room, grabbing a pair of gloves without interrupting Frank, who is currently examining a patient and explaining to him whatβs going on. Your eyes scan the patient first - professionalism winning this time around - before your gaze drifts to Langdon.
A strand of his hair is falling over his eyes in that infuriatingly attractive way it always does. His biceps strain against his scrub top as he lifts the patient's leg to check mobility.Β
You're so busy blatantly checking him out that it takes a couple tries for your ears to pick up on your name being called, and only then do your eyes snap up to his.
βYou here in the room with us?" he grins at you, clearly very amused by having caught you readhanded.Β
You shake your head, willing the heat beneath your skin to calm down. βYes, of course. It looks like a partial rupture of the quadriceps tendon."
You turn your attention to the patient, trying to ignore Langdonβs intense gaze for the second time today. βWe'll have to do a CT to determine if your tendon is fully or only partially ruptured, though with the mobility you still have in your leg, I would bet on partial. That should heal on its own with the help of a knee brace."
Langdon can't help but smile when he sees you do so, nodding along to your words.Β
God, you're good at what you do.
Itβs one of the many things that draws him to you, though he'd never admit that out loud.
βExactly right,β he looks at the patient and nods, "you are in very good hands, Mr. Hill."
Well. At least he'd never directly admit it.Β
You send him a small smile before both of you walk out of the room together.
Before either of you can speak, Robby walks past you. βLangdon, you got a second?"
Frank nudges you softly before following after Robby.Β
You were swept up by cases for the last half an hour, jumping in and helping the others wherever you could. A perfed appy here, some nausea there kept the day going quite fast. So fast, in fact, you barely noticed that you havenβt seen Langdon this whole time.
You look at the board, but don't see his name next to any of the patients. Your eyebrows furrow in confusion, and you look around, hoping to catch the mop of soft brown strands, but you come up empty.Β
Eventually, though, you spot Robby and make your way towards him to clear up the confusion.
βRobby!β
His eyes turn towards you, tilting his head softly and inviting you to continue. βDo you know where Dr. Langdon is? I havenβt seen him around.β
Robby sighs, his hands coming up to scrub at his face and you immediately know that something is wrong. Even more so when he asks you to step aside with him to talk to you for a second.
βOkay,β he starts and looks around before speaking again. βI had to send Frank home because I found Louieβs lost pills in his locker.β
You blink up at him, your mind racing with all the possibilities. Your confusion seems to show so Robby elaborates, his eyes full of empathy - or pity, maybe.
βHeβs been stealing benzos, kid.β
You take a step back from Robby, shaking your head in disbelief. βNo, heβ¦ Robby, he wouldnβt do something like that.β
Right?
βKid, Iβm sorry I-β
But he doesnβt get to say much more, Dana interrupting him from across the floor.
βRobby!β
She seems to change her mind, though, and walks up to the two of you, her voice low, her words landing to make a bad day even worse.
βThey called in an active shooter at Pittfest.β
It feels like the universe is playing a cruel joke on you. Youβve just spent the last hours in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Pittfest, and your body has yet to catch up to what you all just experienced. It feels impossible. Especially with Frank having come back to help out. You tried your best to avoid him, though that was obviously not your main priority.
Now, crouched in the ambulance bay, leaning against the wall of the hospital as all the adrenaline and energy drains out of you, the fight leaves you as you see him approach. You donβt look at him, nor do you make any move to stand up - not like that would be necessary as he lowers himself next to you, sitting on the cold concrete floor with enough space between you not to crowd you.
βIt isnβt true.β
The silence stretches between you as you let his words sink in - willing them to sink in, though they barely get through you.Β
βIsnβt it?β
You donβt look at him, but you can feel him stiffen up as his defenses build around him.
βIβm not a fucking drug addict. I would never be in this hospital treating patients if I were, you know that.β
βDo I, Frank?β Your soft, broken voice breaks through his desperate words, stopping him as you finally lock eyes with him. βBecause Iβm not so sure about knowing something like that.β
Your name leaves his lips, a broken plea to be on his side, to see it out for him.
You donβt know that you can.
You stand up, the weight in your chest becoming too unbearable with the way heβs looking at you. Heβs right behind you, taking a step closer towards you, keeping his voice low as he tries to bargain for your support. Or maybe itβs your forgiveness heβs preemptively looking for.
βI could lose my medical license over this.β
βFrank! You could go to fucking prison for this. Itβs a goddamn felony!β you hiss at him, though youβre not surprised - his medical career has always been above everything for him.
Your eyes begin to sting as you take a step back, needing to distance yourself from this. You feel bad for him, and itβs a foreign, heavy feeling. You feel bad heβs going through this, though you also feel bad for what it means for the two of you.
How fucking ridiculous.
Youβre mourning something that was never officially alive. Youβre mourning the idea of what couldβve been while heβs at the lowest point in his life. It makes you feel horrible.
βFrank-β your voice breaks around a shuddered breath, and you see his hands twitch towards you, forcing you to take another step back. You take a deep breath in, trying to keep your emotions at bay as you start again.
βFrank, I really hope youβre right. I hope itβs not true. But I know Robby would never lie about something like that, not with how much he adores you.β
He shakes his head, his face scrunched up in discomfort as he looks away from you to hide the way your words lodge themselves between his ribs. But you continue anyway.
βSo, more than anything, Iβm sorry. Iβm sorry, I never noticed. Iβm sorry, I didnβt help.β You look at him with glossy eyes and as much composure as you can muster. βAnd I hope you can get the help that you need.β
His mouth opens, yet nothing comes out. seeing you like this, hearing your words - so full of hurt and sympathy at the same time - is more than he can handle.Β
But before he can mutter a word, your gaze moves past him and he follows your line of sight, watching as Robby walks out the door.Β
Frank looks back at you, but youβre already brushing past him. He watches you walk past Robby and disappear into the hospital once again.
pairing: michael 'robby' robinavitch x gn!nurse!reader
summary: robby's sabbatical is right around the corner and after barely talking to you about it, he's at a loss about your distant behavior
includes: robby being an idiot (as per usual), established relationships, implied age gap, slight angst, "my love" used as a petname, happy ending, lmk if i missed anything
wc: 2k+
a/n: this is my very first fic!! i hope you guys enjoy!
robby was being pulled from left to right without any time to take a breath. the constant flow of patients, the oppressing july heat and now the system shutdown was making for an interesting last day. though that was the least of his problems compared to the fact that he hasn't seen you all day.
anytime he manages to catch a glimpse of you, you seem to promptly disappear back into the sea of doctors and nurses. your eyes avoid his and you manage to snake past him whenever he's approaching you.
it's starting to get to robby, his thoughts running rampant as he tries to thinks of all the reasons he could have given you to avoid him like the plague.
did he say something wrong?
did he forget something important?
did he forget your good morning kiss?
none of it rings a bell for robby. he cant wrap his head around your distant behaviour and he can feel himself starting to spiral-
"hey, sad boy" dana's voice rings out around him, pulling him out of the vicious cycle that is robby's mind. "you've been staring at that board for minutes now, why don't you get back to work and help us out a little around here."
despite the weird weight on his chest, robby feels a chuckle rise in him. "yes ma'am, on it right away."
he blinks up at the board again, this time willing his brain to actually comprehend some of the words on it, which is how his eyes latch onto your name next to one of the patients.
"i'll go help out in central 12" he nods at dana. "nothing like some good old myofascial pain, don't you think, evans?"
she doesn't look up from her ipad, simply humming in absentminded agreement and giving him a thumbs up as he walks away from his work station. "whatever you say, captain."
you're in central 12, helping santos with a trigger point injection for her patient. she disappeared somewhere so you are making sure everything is ready for when she comes back, chatting away with harlow through her interpreter.
as you're rolling the tray to the bed, the door opens and you start talking before looking back, simply assuming trinity is back already.
"i prepared the trigger point injection, dr. santos and explained to harlow what it'll do to help with her headache."
when the voice - that is most definitely not trinity's - rings out through the room, your body stiffens, eyes still glued to the tray in front of you.
"thank you, though i'm not quite dr. santos" robby replies and you can hear the smile in his voice. the bastard. he's really smiling right now.
you finally turn, no amusement evident in your features as you find robby's eyes. "dr. robinavitch, this is harlow graham. she presented with a headache and abdominal pain and dr. santos has decided to go with a shot of mylanta and a trigger point injection."
you turn away again after watching robby's small smile fall at your clipped tone. good, you think. he can suffer a little bit too.
"right" robby's voice trails off, watching you for a second too long before looking at harlow now, tugging his lips into a professional smile. "that sounds like a good treatment plan ms. graham, you're in good hands with dr. santos."
he nods at her and her interpreter before making his way to the door. one of his hands grips the frame as he looks back at you, calling your name with his chief-attending-tone. "could you step out with me for a second."
you know any chance of getting out of this is out of the window now, so you smile at harlow, saying your goodbyes before following robby out into the hallway. he leads you past some boarders until he reaches a semi-quiet spot - well as quiet as the ED can get.
robby looks around for a moment, wringing his hands together with a deep inhale before finally breaking the silence between you. "so... whats wrong?"
you look up at him, blinking as you give him some time to elaborate, maybe - hopefully - say something less idiotic.
he does not.
"what's wrong? please robby, for the love of god, tell me i misheard you just now" you scoff, taking a small step back from him. it proves useless as he closes the created distance with a step forward.
his eyebrows furrow, eyes softening in confusion in the sweet way that almost makes you fold, especially paired with the soft voice he lowers enough for only you to hear. "you've been avoiding me all day and i know it's probably my fault but i don't quite know what it is that i did."
you sigh, scrubbing your hands down your face to gather your thoughts into something more coherent than the chaos they are in your head right now.
"robby, you are leaving for three months tonight and you barely talked to me about this whole sabbatical trip, let alone made any time for us to spend together before you leave" you tell him, your voice soft, the annoyance drained out of you, replaced with the underlying hurt.
"i'm not mad you're leaving, god knows you really need it, but you're gonna be gone for three months on that stupidly dangerous bike of yours and you just casually mentioned it to me on the side."
robby's heart feels too tight in his chest, his stomach dropping at the tone of your voice. only now does it click to him.
you'll miss him.
he doesn't know why it surprises him so much. why the worry and caring in your voice is such a shock to him, when you have been nothing but loving towards him. and suddenly he feels shame wash over him at the way he's been handling his sabbatical.
but before he can voice his thoughts, before an ounce of apology can pass his downturned lips, dana's voice rings out behind him, shattering the moment between you two.
"robby! incoming trauma, eta 3 minutes!"
you look at him for a second more before you move, though you don't get too far with his hand wrapping around your arm, pulling you a fraction closer to him.
"later" its more of a plea than anything else, something swimming deeply in those brown eyes of his that has you only nodding in response.
"robby!" dana calls out again, the urgency rising in her tone.
"yeah, yeah! i'm coming!" he responds, letting go of you to grab a pair of gloves behind you before jogging towards the ambulance bay doors. you breathe for a second longer before throwing yourself back into the familiarity of voices, machines and the smell of antiseptic.
eventually a bit of a lull in patients rolls around, giving you a second to stretch your weary limbs at the workstation while keeping an eye on everything.
you hear him before you see him, his heavy footsteps something you are accustomed to by now. it only takes a few moments before he's standing by your side, close enough to feel his body warmth but far enough not to crowd you too much. he takes a beat or two, but eventually-
β¨"could we talk for a second?"
he's not looking at you, instead keeping his eyes glued on the board. you know he's trying to give you - or maybe himself - the easy way out. trying to keep it light, though you both know this is anything but.
"sure" is all you manage, letting him lead the way towards an empty on-call room and following him in once the door beeps open. as it clicks shut behind you again, silence envelops you both.
you don't say anything. you've already said it all, what is there more to add that wouldn't blatantly lay you fully bare in front of him while he has yet to say anything on the topic. it's his turn.
"i'm sorry" his voice his low, though clearly directed at you, as is his gaze.
"that's a good start."
he keeps his distance as he continues. "i'm so fucking sorry. i fucked up. i should've talked to you about my trip or at least told you earlier than i did, i wasn't thinking."
his eyes stay glued on you, portraying every ounce of emotion he holds in them. "i don't know why but i guess i didn't expect you to care as much as you do about me leaving, and though it's not an excuse, i thought that gave me the right to be casual about the whole thing."
his words create a growing pit in your stomach, causing your chest to constrict uncomfortably. "robby why would i-"
but you don't get far, his soft but firm voice interrupting your incoming spiral. "no, please. let me finish."
he waits for you to give him a sign of permission, and when you nod weakly, he keeps going. "i had a hard time understanding what you see in me. you're young, you're beautiful and smart. you're in the prime of your life and i thought it would all eventually lead to you seeing that i would be nothing but a weight on you."
he swallows and takes a tentative step forward and in those very seconds you don't dare to breathe, scared it might startle him.
"and i guess it all boiled over with my sabbatical. i thought this would be it. i-i would be gone and you'd realize how much better that would be for you. so, as cowardly as it is to admit, i wanted to make this as painfree as i could for myself."
he looks at you, his breath shaking as his equally unsteady hands reach for you. "but you don't make things easy for me, do you?"
you step closer to him, letting his hands find your waist while yours find solace around his neck.
"you are a fucking idiot, michael robinavitch, so why should i" you mutter, shaking your head.
"my turn" you state and continue before he can interject again. "i don't know how you haven't realized yet, robby, but i really fucking love you."
you ignore the way his breath hitches and push through before you lose your train of thought. "and it really hurt when you just told me you want to up and leave for three months. because i can guarantee you one thing, those three months are gonna be horrible without you."
your fingers tug at the strands at the back of his neck - part affection, part lingering anger. "you're a part of my life now, if you want it or not, and i need you to talk to me about things, robby. or this is not gonna work."
he looks at you, speechless for a moment before your frown sets him into motion. he'd do anything to get rid of that look on your face.
"i do. i do want to be a part of your life. and i promise i'll try to do better."
"yeah?"
"yeah. i-i'll even stay here. i won't leave, i swear."
your heart skips a beat and you pull away a little - at least as far as his tightening grip allows - to look at him more clearly. "robby, you don't have to, i just wanted-"
your words turn to dust when his lips find your mouth, swallowing up any argument you had. you kiss him back immediately, the instinct taking over until he pulls away, enough to mumble against your lips.
"i want to be here with you. if you'll have me."
you pull back despite his huff of disappointment, looking at him for any signs of regret or doubt. and when you find neither, a small smile tugs at your lips.
"i'll have you for as long as you let me, robinavitch."
he smiles, his heart soaring in his chest as he leans in for another kiss, frowning when you pull back instead.
β¨"i'm still mad at you though, you'll have to really make this day up to me."
an actual, carefree laugh rumbles through his chest as he shakes his head. he leans forward to quick for you to react, stealing a quick kiss. when he leans back again, a smug expression melts into his features.
i write mostly for the pitt, though i'm open to eventually branch out further and you can check the list of additional fandoms i write for in my request guidelines!
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