pairing: leon kennedy x reader (ft other re characters)
summary: it's your first day in the ER as a nurse, and you can't help but fawn over ER attending/SWAT medic leon kennedy
genre: fluff (nurse!reader, doctor!leon, the pitt au)
warnings: medical talk (brief mentions of: overdose, gunshot wounds)
The automatic doors slide open and the ER greets you with bright fluorescent lights and beeping of monitors. The strong smells of antiseptic and sweat fill your nose (A little bit of blood in there too, but you choose to ignore that).
Someone rushes past you with a gurney, another voice calls out medication orders, and you stand there gripping the strap of your bag as your hands shake, trying to calm yourself despite your anxiety.
“I don’t recognize you, first day?”
The voice questions, and when you turn, you see a woman in grey scrubs with a stethoscope hanging around her neck. She has a tablet tucked under one arm, a pen clipped neatly at her collar. Her badge reads, Claire Redfield, Nurse Leader. So this is who your new boss is.
She’s watching you, eyes narrowing as she waits for you to respond. You quickly nod, realizing you spent too long studying her, and introduce yourself. “Y-yeah, I’m the new nurse!”
Claire smiles, “Welcome to hell.” She gestures for you to follow. “Stick with me today,” she says. “I’ll show you how we do things around here.”
You rush to her side, your every step behind hers.
She walks you past triage first. You overhear a fellow nurse speak to a patient clutching their side, asking the right questions to get the right information. The chairs are filled to the brim, people being looked at, people in pain.
“Everything starts at triage,” Claire explains. “You’ll be stuck here eventually, but for now, you’re stuck in the hub with me. The hub,” She starts as you make your way back to the first area you met her at, “is the center of everything. We got the computers, screens all here. There’s beds in the hallways here because we just don’t have enough room for them upstairs.”
You nod, trying to absorb everything she points out. From supply rooms to medication carts, you keep these locations in mind. She shows you where the crash carts are positioned strategically in case of a code blue. You hope it’s a long time before you need to use one of those.
She shows you one of the many private rooms of the ER - each filled with a different patient. Walking past the rooms quickly, you catch a young man on the bed with his parents by his side. Claire keeps walking, rambling on about the hospital policies that she thinks are ridiculous. You don’t mean to, but you pause at the sight of the parents, heart breaking at the extreme grief and pain on their faces.
You jump when Claire calls your name, “We don’t have all day, kid.”
She walks towards you, and softens when she realizes where you’re standing. “That’s Nick. He’s a college student. Overdose.” She sighs. “They’re waiting on test results, but it doesn't look so good.”
“Yeah,” Claire turns to you, “we’ll make sure they’ll be.”
She pats you on the arm and nods her head forward. You weakly smile and go back to following her.
“That’s trauma one and trauma two,” Claire continues, gesturing towards them. “If something critical comes in, which is often, we go wherever is free. I’m the one who chooses who calls dibs on the rooms.”
As if summoned by the word critical, an ambulance alarm echoes through the open doors of the ER, piercing sharp. You flinch and glance back instinctively.
“You get used to the noise,” Claire laughs as you feel the embarrassment rise. “It’s always loud, always moving. There’s always someone to save, got it?” You nod quickly.
She takes you to the nurses’ station, giving a quick overview of the room. Where to keep your snacks, where the good coffee is. “I know it’s a lot, but we got good people here.” She starts to walk out with you, but stops near the doorway.
“That’s Jill Valentine,” she says, nodding toward a woman leaning over a patient’s arm in the hallway, stitching with steady hands and determined focus. “Senior resident. You’ll learn a lot from her if you pay attention.”
Jill looks up at the sound of her name, “You’ll learn best from Claire, kid. She’s the real boss of this place.”
“Damn right.” Claire smirks.
She then looks over to the desks. “And those two,” she adds, “are Sherry Birkin and Grace Ashcroft.”
You follow her line of sight and find them near the central area. They’re hunched over computers, both in wrinkled scrubs. Sherry is flipping through a patient’s chart while Grace is typing up a storm, charting, her brow furrowed in concentration.
“They’re interns,” Claire says. “First year. They’re still figuring out how to keep up.”
Sherry perks up at her name, shouting a quick “Hi!”, and Grace gives you a smile and a small wave before returning to her screen, like she can’t afford to lose her train of thought.
“They’ll get there,” Claire turns to look at you. “Just like you will.”
You grin, the reassurance feels good.
“And that,” her gaze is off to the left, “is Chris Redfield.”
You turn. He stands near the tracker screens, studying the patients names and rooms. He’s tall and… huge, speaking to another nurse with a strong presence that draws attention. His voice is firm and his whole aura feels authoritative.
“Redfield?” You question.
“He’s my brother.” She shrugs. “But don’t think I’m some kind of nepo baby. I was here first before him.” She narrows her eyes at you. You giggle and nod.
“He’s the head of the department and an attending.” Claire explains. “If something bad happens, he’s the one taking the blame for it.”
Noticing his sister, Chris nods in thanks at the nurse. He makes his way over to you two. “Hi,” He greets, offering his hand. “I’m Dr. Redfield, your attending for the day shift.”
You shake his hand, “Hi, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m excited to be here and work with you all.”
Claire grins, “Ah, yes, the fresh excitement of working here before this place drains you dry. You’re so cute, kid.”
He rolls his eyes, “Ignore her. You’ll do great.” He gets called away for a second opinion, and offers a nod to you before leaving.
“So, wrapping up the tour, welcome to the ER,” Claire pats you on the back. “It doesn’t really slow down.”
The corners of your mouth twitched upwards. “I’m starting to see that.”
After the tour, the morning moves faster than you expect.
Claire, as promised, keeps you close, guiding you through everything and easing you into it. She has you check vitals, prep IV lines, and restock supplies between patients. She explains things as you go, never slowing the pace, but also never leaving you behind. You absorb all that you can, seeing your school notes translate to real life in real time.
You meet patients who thank you with tired smiles and patients who barely notice you at all. You learn how to anticipate what Claire needs before she asks, how to step in and step back at the right moments.
At some point, you realize your hands have stopped shaking.
“Not bad,” Claire says after you successfully start an IV on your second attempt. “You’ve got good instincts.”
“Thanks,” you beam, trying to keep your tone even.
“Don’t let it go to your head rookie.” she adds, but there’s a hint of a smile there.
“Incoming!” The warm moment between you two is cut off by the paramedics rushing in with a gurney. “GSW to the neck!”
The patient on the gurney is wearing army gear, and you notice a man next to him wearing the same outfit. He’s tall, also has that authoritative aura like Chris, but slightly different. He’s pressing on the balloon attached to the patient’s airway. He yells, “He’s getting harder to bag, Claire, give me a room!”
“Trauma two,” Claire shouts out quickly, already moving. She turns to you. “Let’s go, stay with me.”
You rush into the trauma room. It’s you, Claire, Grace, and the man you haven’t met. He’s a dirty blonde with bright blue eyes. He’s quite handsome with the way he’s dressed up and the way he looks like he knows what he’s doing. God, you scoff in your head, first day on the job and you already got a small, unrealistic crush to keep you entertained.
“On three,” The man firmly says. “One, two, three!”
You move with them, helping transfer the patient onto the bed. As the man hands the balloon over to you to keep pumping, you make eye contact.
“Who’s this? Found yourself a protégé, Claire?”
“Shut it. Someone get Chris!” She yells out the room.
Seconds later, he rushes into the room, putting on his latex gloves. “Woah, have a fun morning off, Kennedy?”
“You know it, man.” Kennedy, you make a mental note to remember the name.
“You do this intubation?” Chris asks.
“Of course, on the field.”
“First you work in the ER as a night shift attending, then you decide to spend your free time as a SWAT medic? I'm starting to think you’re an adrenaline junkie, Doc.” Claire jokes.
SWAT medic? And ER attending? This just sounds extremely, incredibly hot.
“Ashcroft, what could cause respiratory failure in an intubated patient?” Chris interrupts your very not HR friendly thoughts.
“Well, a lot of things, sir, like-”
“Think DOPE.” Kennedy cuts off her rambling.
“Displacement, Obstruction, Pneumothorax, Equipment failure.” Grace answers.
The team works quickly, with Chris and Kennedy going back and forth on options of what to do. Kennedy ends up taking control, inserting a tube to ensure that the patient can breathe.
“You’re okay, Muller.” Kennedy reassures him. “We got you.”
Once his vitals are steady and there’s no immediate danger, a surgical resident, Helena, comes down to take Muller upstairs to the operating room. You finally feel yourself releasing a deep breath you didn’t know you were holding onto.
“Good job with your first trauma.” Claire smiles like a proud parent. “Hey, go take a five minute break, yeah?”
You nod and make your way over to the nurses’ station. You just want a quiet place to sit and think, so once you notice that there are other nurses, you roam around looking for an empty room.
You see that there’s one with the lights off and the door slightly open. Sneaking in and closing the door behind you, you sigh in relief. You flick the light switch up.
The voice is familiar. You walk up to behind the curtain and see Kennedy sitting on the bed, shirtless. Your eyes widen at the sight, he’s… buff.
“Oh my god, I am so, so sorry, I was just looking for a quiet place to sit for a minute, and this room didn’t even have the lights on, so I assumed it was empty and-”
“Relax.” He teased. “I was just joking, kid.”
“Oh.” You huff. “Why are you shirtless?”
You raised your brows, “Wow.”
“Don’t worry sweetheart, I promise the other guy ended up worse than me. Plus he doesn’t have a pretty nurse by his side.” He winks. You avert his gaze, smiling shyly at the floor. He’s handsome, smart, and he’s flirting with you? First day jackpot.
You give him your name, “Yours?”
Leon Kennedy. Even his name is beautiful.
“Nice to meet you, Leon.”
“How’s your first day going?” He asks as he’s cutting up pieces of body tape.
“Good so far. Everyone here is great, really. It’s a lot,” you sigh, “but it’s what I signed up for, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, we’re all sadists here.” Leon smirks. He puts ointment on a swab, leans over to try to reach the back of his shoulder.
“Here, let me.” You gather your courage and walk towards him, grabbing a pair of gloves.
“No, I got this.” He waves you off.
“Are you talking back to the nurse?” You joke, raising an eyebrow, as if testing him. He laughs suddenly, and you feel a sense of pride that you got him to laugh. He reaches his arm out to hand over the swab.
Close up, you really start to admire him. You see his layered hair, dirty blonde, as you observed earlier, but now, you can see strands of grey in them. You see his sharp blue eyes, brighter up close. His sculpted jawline and his stubble. He’s a handsome man. You feel lucky to be in his presence.
You shake yourself out of it and do your job, taking care of those who are hurt. With a gentle touch, you fix him up, starting with putting the ointment on. He hisses slightly at the sting, and you whisper a small “Sorry.”
Other than that, it’s silent between you two the whole time, but you like it.
“There!” You smile to yourself as you put on the last piece of dressing. “All patched up, Doc.”
“Not so bad.” Leon nods. “I’d give a 100 for the patient satisfaction score.”
You smile as you take off your gloves. “Thanks.”
To your disappointment, he moves to put his shirt back on. “Hey, you always flirt with your medical staff,” you ask, keeping your tone light, “or is this a special occasion?”
His lips curve upwards as he pulls the shirt down. “Only when they handle trauma like that on their first day.”
You bite your lip to try to cover your growing smile. “Careful,” you warn. “You’re still my patient.”
“Then I’ll behave,” he replies.
You shake your head slightly, unable to hide your smile.
“Get some rest before your shift, yeah?” you tell him.
“Nurse’s orders?” he grins.
“I see Claire’s already training you well.”
You smile again, something you feel yourself doing a lot with Leon, as you move to throw away the trash from the dressing and the ointment.
You pause, looking at him.
He holds your stare, his eyes are filled with warmth, maybe a little bit of fondness. “Welcome to the ER.”
“Your first shift is almost over, isn’t it?”
“Yep, couple more hours to go and then, it’s your turn.” You take off your gloves and throw them in the trash.
“Wanna grab some food before your shift tomorrow?” You look up to see Leon, fiddling with a loose thread from his shirt. It’s a complete contrast of what you’ve seen from him so far, uncharacteristically shy. It warms your heart to know that he’s nervous about asking you out.
His eyes light up as he reaches for his phone. “Great, give me your number and I’ll send you a text.”
You type in the digits, saving your contact as your name. “Great.”
“This’ll get me through my shift.” He winks.
Rolling your eyes, you purse your lips to hide your smile. “Get some rest.”
“Of course, pretty nurse. See you later.”
You exit the room, smiling to yourself like an idiot.
And if you spent the rest of your shift skipping around while treating patients and smiling wide, then that’s no one else’s business.
the concept of leon kennedy as jack abbot
and no i will not be doing a pt 2 of this
and yes i did steal some of the medical lines from the pitt script
also the layout of the ER here is based on the pitt set
i tried my very best to make this readable where even if you dont know the show this is still digestible so hopefully that's ok...
