That scene where robby looks over at collins when that police officer is flirting with her...HE IS SO JEALOUS I CAN'T. Canonically possessive ex Robby. (I will eat him alive)
I fw with Robbycollins so much i need some flashbacks of them. Tbh if Heather was my ex i would also be this possessive cause why that woman so fine???
And since i am late to this pitt party I got to know people hate Heather?? WHY ARE WE HATING HER?? THAT GORGEOUS WOMAN SHE IS LITERALLY A DREAM?? SUCCESSFUL SMART SARCASTIC WOMAN WHO CAN PUT ME IN MY LINE????
bits and pieces of michael robinavitch and heather collins’ story
wc: 2.63k
a/n: this is just purely my interpretation<3 and i hope you like it :) - anna
shoutout to @mads198-9 for being my beta reader ily
content: angst, pregnancy, abortion, no smut, not really even fluff, just plot
Heather stared down at the piece of plastic in her hand, on which read the words “Pregnant.” Lying beside her on the floor were two different kinds of tests, each displaying the two definite lines. 3 positives.
She felt the tears begin to fall down her cheeks before her brain even started to process what that meant. She was pregnant. With Michael’s baby.
Michael Robinavitch, who she only met 11 months ago. Who was so sweet, so kind, everything she could ever want in a boyfriend.
But that’s all he was: a boyfriend.
She couldn’t tell him. She knew he wanted to be a father someday, and that was wonderful. For him. Heather didn’t want to be a mom, not now in her life at least, and quite frankly, she didn’t know if ever. She wiped the tears away and inhaled deeply, trying to prevent any more from falling. She had to pull herself together and leave the bathroom soon, or else he would think something was wrong.
She didn’t want this; she couldn’t want this. She picked up her phone from the counter and immediately called her sister.
“Hey, Heath—”
“I’m pregnant,” Heather blurted out, her voice cracking.
There was a pause on the other end,
“What?”
“I just took the test. It’s positive. I—I don’t know what to do.” Her hand trembled as she held the phone to her ear. She sank to the floor, her back against the cold tile of the bathroom wall.
Her sister, Megan, finally spoke, her voice gentler now. “Okay. Okay. Just breathe. Are you alone?”
“No. Michael’s here. He’s in the other room. He doesn’t know. I haven’t told him yet.”
“Do you want to?” Megan asked.
Heather closed her eyes. “No. Yes. I don’t know. He’s amazing, Meg. Like… he’d be thrilled. He talks about being a dad one day. But not like this. Not now. I’m not even sure I ever want kids.”
There was a long silence between them, filled only by Heather’s ragged breathing and the distant hum of the bathroom fan.
“You don’t have to make any decisions tonight,” Megan finally said. “But you do have to be honest with yourself. What do you want?”
Heather looked down at the test again, still lying on the counter. It felt surreal, like this was happening to someone else.
“I want to go back to how things were yesterday,” she whispered. “Before this.”
Megan exhaled on the other end. “I get that, hon. I really do. But you can only go forward— whatever that looks like. And you don’t have to do it alone. I’m here. Whatever you decide.”
Heather bit her lip and nodded, even though Megan couldn’t see her. She felt a small flicker of warmth at her sister’s words—comforting, grounding.
“I can’t tell him tonight,” Heather said. “I need time to think. To figure this out.”
“Then take that time,” Megan said. “You’re allowed.”
Heather ended the call a few minutes later, wiped her eyes one more time, and stood up on unsteady legs. She glanced at her reflection. Her mascara had run, but she could fake it. At least for tonight. She splashed some cold water on her face and braced herself as she reached for the door handle.
She opened the bathroom door and stepped into the hallway. Michael was sitting on the couch, flipping through Netflix, his face lighting up when he saw her.
“Hey,” he said. “Everything okay?”
Heather forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah. Just needed a minute.”
“Are you sure, sweetheart? You look upset–”
She raised her hand, and he fell silent. “I’m fine, Michael. I promise. Please, don’t push it tonight.”
With worry etched on every inch of his face, Michael nodded. He knew not to press when she asked.
She walked over and curled up beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and glanced at her, slightly concerned but just squeezed her shoulder lightly and chose a movie. She wasn’t okay, not really. But for now, she could pretend.
And tomorrow, she’d start to figure out what came next.
It was a week after Heather had gone to the clinic with Megan to get the abortion. She had convinced Michael she had the flu, and that’s why she was under the weather for a few days. He had been the perfect, caring boyfriend that he always was – he brought her soup, made sure she was comfortable, followed doctors orders, and provided lots of tissues.
The tissues she used for tears, however, not the sniffles like he intended. She did throw up a couple of times though.
The tenderness and affection that once made her stomach fill with excited butterflies now made her nauseous. The guilt was eating her alive. Not of having the abortion, but pretending that everything was okay. That they were okay. That she was okay.
She wasn’t the same person anymore, not after everything. And while she still loved Michael, she knew it wasn’t fair to let him keep loving a version of her that no longer existed. Loving a liar. She kept telling herself.
Heather was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her, exhaling shakily as she heard him puttering around the kitchen, cleaning up after he had made them dinner. He entered the living room where she was sitting, and she looked up, forcing herself to meet his loving gaze.
“Can we talk?” Her voice was dry, raspier than she intended. She cleared her throat as he sat down beside her.
“Yeah, of course we can. Is everything okay?” His eyes shone with concern.
“I care about you a lot. You know that, right?”
Michael nodded, a small smile on his face, “And I care a lot about you too.”
Heather’s lips twitched upwards, though her hands had begun to shake, “I’ve been thinking a lot about…about what I think I need in my life right now…and what I want…”
He nodded slowly, not really understanding the weight of her words, “Okay…?”
She swallowed, but it didn’t ease the weight in her chest. All she wanted was to make him understand that he wasn’t the problem—that he’d never been. The real problem was her: a coward dressed up as a girlfriend, a liar hiding behind his love, clinging to comfort she hadn’t earned.
“I don’t think I can be in this relationship anymore. I’m not in the right place…and it’s not fair to you for me to continue to pretend to be.”
The words tasted like venom exiting her mouth, and her hands were still shaking. She forced herself to look up again, to meet his gaze. He was staring at her with a mixture of emotions, but predominantly sadness mixed with confusion.
“Is it…is it something I did?”
“No–” she said, swallowing a sob as she grabbed his hand, “I need you to believe me, Michael. You didn’t do anything. You’ve been great. Amazing, even.”
“Then why are you ending it?” His voice was sad as he pulled his hand out of her grasp, slowly pulling away from her. He was shutting down, and she could tell.
“I–” she almost said it. She nearly let it slip.
“I just need to do what’s best for me.”
Liar. She was a fucking liar. And he could tell, but he didn’t push. He just nodded, slowly standing up.
“So this is it?” Michael’s voice was hollow, like there wasn’t any emotion behind it. She knew there was though, and that he was just pushing it all down.
Heather knew he knew she was hiding something. They were both terrible liars. She just nodded, also standing up to look up at him.
“Yeah. It is.”
He didn’t argue. Didn’t beg. Didn’t even ask why. He just turned, grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, and walked toward the door. No dramatic goodbye. No parting glance. The door clicked shut behind him, soft but final, like a page being closed on something that would never be reopened.
Heather stood frozen for a moment, staring at the space he left behind. Then, the weight of it hit her all at once. Her knees buckled as she sank to the floor, sobs tearing through her chest like they’d been waiting for permission to escape.
It hadn’t been fair to him. She knew that. He deserved the truth, but she hadn’t been ready to give it. Not then. Maybe not ever. And now, it didn’t matter. Letting him go felt like losing a piece of herself. But it was the right choice. The only choice. Even if it shattered them both, it was better than building a future on a lie.
And maybe, one day, he’d understand that. Maybe she would, too.
Almost three years after having had what some might describe as an existential crisis, Heather Collins found herself in her first rotation of medical school in a hospital. She had quit being an accountant and, out of the blue, one day, decided that she wanted to be a doctor.
She stood nervously with the other students who were gathered around a woman who had introduced herself as Dana, the charge nurse of the emergency department at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre. Every day since getting her assignment, Heather was glad to be placed at PTMC instead of Pittsburgh Presbyterian. Presby.
Michael worked as a resident at Presby when they were together, and even though it had been four years since the two had seen each other, she just wanted to avoid him at all costs.
She didn’t even know if he was at the same hospital, let alone in the city but she didn’t want to take any chances.
“Alright,” the woman named Dana ushered them over to a group of adults who were all preoccupied with charts, “We’re gonna go in a circle and introduce ourselves. I know they all look scary kids but they don’t bite. Attendings, here are the med students for this rotation.”
One by one, all of the students in Heather’s class introduced themselves. Then, it was her turn.
“Heather Collins, MS1,”
She had been looking at her feet, the walls, charts, basically anywhere but people’s faces. She hated introductions. But then she felt a pair of eyes on her and turned her head slightly to the left to be met with the face of the man who walked out of her apartment. Her eyes widened slightly, as did his, and she watched as his face reflected the same amount of confusion it had on the last day she saw him.
The world felt like it stopped. For both of them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Heather saw Dana’s eyes flittering between the two of them as she ushered the other students and attendings away. She felt as though her feet had frozen to the cold tile of the emergency room as she stared at him.
Dana grabbed Michael’s arm, tugging on it lightly, snapping him out of whatever trance he was in. His gaze snapped to hers.
“What?”
“I don’t know what this–” Dana motioned between the two of them “is, but don’t figure it out in the middle of my damn ER, Robby. Go to the break room.”
Michael gave a single nod before turning away, gesturing for Heather to follow. Her legs carried her forward before her mind could catch up, moving on instinct alone. He held the door open to the break room, and she slipped past him, turning to face him just as the door shut behind them.
She opened her mouth to speak first, but nothing came out. She just stared at him, unable to formulate a single thought good enough to put into words.
“Hi.”
Michael spoke first, his gaze still on hers.
“Hi,” she responded, her voice small.
He crossed his arms, leaning against the closed door, running a hand over his face, “What the hell are you doing here?”
His question wasn’t angry but was laced with years of built-up resentment and confusion.
“My first med school rotation…” Heather responded, her voice still quiet.
“Yeah, I heard that.” He shook his head slowly, the words not lining up with the person he remembered.
“You’re an accountant, Heather. You have a five-year plan and spreadsheets for everything— even our vacations. You used to say you couldn't even stand the smell of antiseptic—,” he was rambling. Every word laced with more and more confusion.
“I know,” she said quickly, cutting him off. Almost defensively, “But that was a long time ago.”
He scoffed under his breath, more confused than anything else. “Yeah, clearly. You couldn’t sit through a single episode of Grey’s Anatomy without freaking out, and now you’re a student doctor?”
Heather met his eyes, finally. “People change, Michael.”
He bristled at the use of his first name.
“Evidently,” he muttered, uncrossing his arms, his voice quieter now.
“I…I pushed to do my rotation here because I thought you were working at Presby–” her voice was softer now, trying to explain and rationalize the situation. “I didn’t come to find you. I thought you were still at Presby. I pushed to do my rotation here because I thought it’d be… I don’t know, a good experience. Clean slate.”
Michael nodded, taking in her words. She kept talking when he didn’t say anything.
“I know you don’t like me—and, and you don’t have to like me. Quite frankly you can even hate me. I hurt you, and even though we haven’t seen each other in years I know that you’re probably still hurt. I don’t blame you for that. I would still hate me too, but we work together now—“
“Heather,” He finally spoke, “I don’t hate you.”
The end of her last sentence hung in the air as she stared at him. “You don’t?”
He shook his head. “No. You’re right. It was a long time ago. People change and move on. It was just a shock to see you.”
Heather wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself, but she nodded, “Yeah. For me too.”
The two stood in silence for a few minutes. Neither one of them wanting to move. Michael cracked his knuckles, shifting his feet awkwardly.
“I think—“ he cleared his throat, “I think it’ll be good to have to here. You’ll make a good addition to the team.”
She raised an eyebrow at that, “Really? You haven’t even seen me work yet.”
He nodded, agreeing, “True enough. But you’re smart. You’ll catch on easily. Now-“ he checked his watch, “We should get back out there. Rounds start in 5 and you need to be assigned a senior resident.”
Heather nodded, “Okay. Yeah. So,” she paused briefly, “We’re okay?”
Michael nodded as well, a hint of a smile on his face, “Yeah. We’re okay.” He held out his hand, “Welcome to the Pitt, Dr. Collins.”
She shook his hand, “Thank you Dr. Robinavitch.”
He huffed out an amused scoff, “Please. Call me Robby.”
Her lips twitched upwards, a slightly lighter expression grazing her features for the first time since stepping into the hospital, “Ah right. How could I forget?”
The nickname had existed in his workplace since he was an intern and his attending didn’t want to take the time to pronounce Robinavitch.
Robby chuckled. As he reached for the door to open it for her, she reached it first and shot him a look. A you don’t do things for me anymore look, at which he raised his hands in surrender.
“Old habits die hard I guess,”
Heather pursed her lips together and made a soft sound of both acknowledgment and annoyance.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: ¼
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Heather Collins/Michael “Robby” Robinavitch
Characters: Heather Collins, Michael “Robby” Robinavitch
Summary:
I love you
Thank you
I forgive you
Please forgive me
Be so for real they wrote her off cause she’s in a religious cult and didn’t like the abortion storyline. This is not about racism.
Please spare me. I wrote that when no one had came out about her religious beliefs and the only inkling/info we had abt her not coming back was her subsequent erasure from the show. What i wrote was the culmination of spending months worrying abt if my favorite character was coming back or not after weird cryptic messages and hints from said actor and the creators.
This particular circumstance might not be about racism but let’s not act like HBO/AMAZON/other streaming services don’t erase / cancel or generally just not cast black women in this shows or when they do they don’t promote it and let it fall back into the ether. ie. duster on max literally just got cancelled w like no promo but yk. many such cases.
And AND the fact that there have been many! instances! of black actors been written off a show or black women being mistreated on set and written off and told they’re too “difficult to work with” when it’s not true and if you were there from when she was first written off you would know that was a working theory/worry of mine and some others. operating on that knowledge and everything else ofc i was pissed like hello?
none of that means I was defending her or her freak ass church. what her church has done is vile and disgusting. im not negating or ignoring that. what i said defending her came from my anger and confusion from all those reasons listed above. i still think it’s important to call out these streaming companies for erasure and mistreatment.
sidebar there are literally no other black main characters on the Pitt now so instead of like recasting her or bringing a new char they just said fuck it. so. and I’m still not defending her or her freak ass church. never that. but my feelings ARE valid as a black women and nothing will change that and I honestly don’t have to explain myself either. Bye
It a slippery slope when talking about Tracy. I do think it was just as it said creative differences between both parties and whatever that was we will never know in great detail . Tho the statement her people put out was not great. I’m also very weary of seeing others particularly on twitter labeling a black woman as stuck up or this or that I seen some in the fandom suggesting cause other cast members weren’t following her and vice versa . And again we can speculate till we’re blue in the face of why that was but none of us really know . But regardless people have always been weird toward the character Collins and we know why😒 and her relationship with Robby and this scandal has made some feel a little comfortable with dunking on the character that they didn’t want to exist or never liked in the first place. Lastly which each season they add new characters coming and going in the hospital so I hope they see the lack of black main characters not supporting but main as an issue for a show that pride itself on diversity and representation .I remember Noah talking about the importance of a character like Peter Benton and his role in that show as a black man and character. So I think Noah aware of things like this so I have faith they make right on this eventually.
and yet people keep acting like certain things aren’t canon.
Lets lay it out:
They chose to give Robby a love interest. Not just a random hookup or a throwaway arc. No, they made her work with him. They made her someone he sees almost every shift. Someone he longs for during said shifts, casting her those heart-wrenching glances across the ER floor. And they didn’t stop there.
They gave them a backstory. One full of tension, complicated choices, heartbreak. We’re talking an abortion. A breakup. A one-sided breakup. You don’t write that unless you’re trying to say something.
If the show didn’t want to position Heather Collins as a central figure in Robby’s life, they would’ve just… not done all that? But they did. They crafted her with care. They wove her into the very fabric of his storyline, and into the rhythm of the show.
And yet… fandom and media refuses to see it.
Heather is more than “Robby’s love interest.” She’s pivotal on her own. She’s competent, compassionate, layered. A Black woman in medicine with her own trauma, her own ambitions, and yes, a deep, complicated love for a man who still looks at her like she hung the damn moon.
If she is apart of that church, she definitely needs to go, but needs to be replaced by another black actress, one who isn’t in a cult preferred 😂 it’s important to keep the black community represented, especially in a healthcare setting
Yes!
Heather Collins is too important to give up. She is an incredible character, and we still need so much more of her story.
I woke up this morning feeling so sad about how the situation unfolded. As someone who hasn’t been part of a fandom in years, I was thrilled to have the chance to spark my creative energy again. A show isn’t just a show when you’re emotionally and creatively invested in it. I truly hoped for a better outcome, and I hope that, with time, I’ll be able to separate the characters from the actors and from the show itself, so I can at least finish my fanfic and enjoy reading others.I really loved having a community again, and it hurts that it ended so abruptly.
It's the fact that we were just getting started in a beautiful, slowburn, second chance romance. Then, to have it unceremoniously ripped away and have the situation marred in controversy, it hurts.
It's the mourning of an amazing character, a beautiful romance, a community of fans, and fanfic writers coming together to stan this wonderful, important Black woman character.
Especially with the world always trying to convince Black women we don't matter, the show and community provided levity and an escape from the horrors we see in the real world every day.
Heather Collins is still an all-time great character and is so important to Black women and Black characters in general.
Controversial actors and actresses can be replaced. It has happened before.
I think we still need Heather Collins in future seasons. There are many great and talented Black actresses that can reprise and bring magic to the role.
we got the fact that sydney lied saying she’d go to the original beef on sundays with her dad when they’re always closed on sundays just to work under carmy (s1 says they are open 7 days a week HOWEVER in s1 episode 8 syd tells marcus that her family rarely ate out and then in season 2 carmy tells claire how much he hates sundays)
the THOUGHT of sydney calming carmy down during a panic attack twice mind you when the thought of claire only made it worse
the iconic table scene in season two
the fact that CARMYS FIRST DISH was the best meal sydney had (looked like a bleeding heart mind you)
burned himself out and put the restaurant in debt because he wanted to get a star FOR SYDNEY not for himself
carmy saying he liked this when it was literally just them in the kitchen in episode one mind you
him literally begging sydney to let him come to the hospital and that phone call in general
both the kid and donna’s crazy ass clocked sydcarmy and they didn’t even watch them interact
carmy literally sounding so sad with that “you didn’t talk to me all service” in episode ten
the fact that sydney knows she can run the bear herself with sugar and richie but she WANTS to work with carmy cried over the fact that he was leaving her
and yet they’re still pushing the claire and carmy narrative when every single action points to carmy and sydney right…right…
manifesting heather collins on maternity leave during the fourth of july, and we'll see her again for whatever chaos season 3 unleashes. warmest regards
I woke up this morning feeling so sad about how the situation unfolded. As someone who hasn’t been part of a fandom in years, I was thrilled to have the chance to spark my creative energy again. A show isn’t just a show when you’re emotionally and creatively invested in it. I truly hoped for a better outcome, and I hope that, with time, I’ll be able to separate the characters from the actors and from the show itself, so I can at least finish my fanfic and enjoy reading others.I really loved having a community again, and it hurts that it ended so abruptly.
Heather Collins is still an all-time great character and is so important to Black women and Black characters in general.
Controversial actors and actresses can be replaced. It has happened before.
I think we still need Heather Collins in future seasons. There are many great and talented Black actresses that can reprise and bring magic to the role.
