Description: Frank Langdon x Nightshift!Reader. You have worked at The Pitt during the night shift for long enough to know how to do your job. How to live your life. But then Frank Langdon decides to stroll in from the day shift and ruin your whole life.
You had never seen Frank Langdon. He was a whisper in the bright lights of the Pitt, a story told to fill the brief respites between patients. Though many of the doctors, Abbot included, sung his praises, you thought he sounded arrogant and a little annoying. Buying a dog for his wife with no consulting? Yeah, no thanks.
Then all the stories stopped. For months. Every time someone brought his name up, it went dead silent. Dead is a poor choice of words but…if the shoe fits. The awkward looks and stiff shuffling didn't affect your job of course. Patients came in, patients came out. You treated as many as you could. Cried about the ones you couldn't then kept going. You’re a junior resident now and you finally feel like you got the flow of the job down. The night shift was insane, and demanding and you loved every minute of it.
Ok, love is dramatic. But you truly loved being a doctor and if that had to happen in the middle of the night like Batman then fuck, somebody call Commissioner Gordon.
Then Frank Langdon just had to crash the party.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
He didn't come with a parade or music like you expected. He came tiredly hunched over the desk, looking up at the patient board, hair flopping into his face. It was 9:38 PM exactly, your father always made sure you had a watch that was timed down to the millisecond. Military habits. You make note of him quickly, the way he holds himself like he isn't sure if he’s allowed to stand on the hospital floor is…interesting. Mulling this over your head, you make your way to the lockers, and there like a beam of sunshine from the day shift was Mel King.
“Mel!” You call happily, careful not to shout, something you found out when you squealed when she brought you coffee one time after a horrible shift and she flinched. You apologized many times and since then have watched your noise levels. She turns to you with a smile, “Hey. How’s it going?” You sigh and spin your locker dial, “You know, the usual. My landlord is driving me crazy, he still hasn't gotten my hot water fixed.”
She tilts her head “Is that why there's shampoo and conditioner in the showers?” You flush with embarrassment that she noticed that little fact and groan “Yes! I'm trying my best here, King.” Mel raises her hands in defeat “But I am so, so glad you are on the night shift for two weeks. Is that shitty of me?” you say, glancing at her knowing how the night shift messes with her schedule, especially with Becca. She shakes her head with a small smile “I'm happy to be here.”
“Good.” You walk back to the patient board and just like that, Mel is called by Abbot to assist with a patient and you are left to scan the board alone. “Hey Cowgirl,” You had to straddle a patient to restrain him one time- “Yes, Lena?” You smile at the woman who has settled into the seat behind the desk “You’re not cherry picking are you?” “Honey, I just got here. Plus, you know I never cherry pick.” She snorts “Room 12 could use you.”
So dutifully you head to Room 12. After an easy consult with a nervous parent and a very proud thirteen year old boy who had been skate-boarding without a kneepad and really just needed a cleaning and a couple stitches, you head back to the board and there he is again. Now he looks more comfortable, he’s laughing with Lena. You're a little jealous at how easy it seems to be for him. Swear to god, you haven't laughed as hard as he is in a month. Maybe more. Night shift will do that to you.
You sidle up to the desk again “All done in Room 12. Am I allowed to actually choose my patients now Lena?” She smiles and gestures to the man “Do you know Dr. Langdon?” Blinking at him, you realize that this…skinny, exhausted looking man is the Doctor Langdon. The supposed Chosen One of the ER.
“Hi. We haven't met.” He offers you his hand with a friendly smile and you wordlessly shake it. “Im Dr. Langdon.” “I know,” You grimace at the rough words as soon as they leave your mouth, and trying to save it you say “I mean, I’ve heard of you. You’re a local celebrity.” He drops your hand and you can tell that you’ve made it much worse because now his eyes are glued to the board and his jaw is clenched. “Im taking Room 3.”
You feel your brow furrow, watching him walk off and Lena sighs “Sometimes a reputation isn't always good, Cowgirl.” Well, fuck. You didn't know that he had some messed up past. You nod a little “Shit. I’ll apologize later. Got a job to do, you know?”
Later never comes because you swear that's when every patient decides to make it their personal mission to drive you nuts. You are in the middle of trying to get a man to remember what pills he takes when Langdon strolls in “Hey. Need help?” Now you’ve lost the man again, you think he has vendetta against you because he immediately starts asking Langdon questions “Hi. Are you the doctor? My head hurts and I googled my symptoms on WebMD and I think I might have burst a vessel cause I was yelling at my kid the other day and I felt this pain just come behind my eyes. What do you think?”
Langdon shoots an amused glance your way “Have you had headaches before?” The patient shakes his head “Not like this. This is like bad bad. Like I can’t even speak.” Ironic given he’s running his mouth and won’t let either of you get a word in. You try to pipe in “Mr. Cline, I really just need what pills you-” Mr. Cline barely looks at you and says to Langdon “I take a couple multivitamins and some iron pills.” Fucking asshole.
“Ok Mr. Cline, the good doctor here,” Langdon gestures to you “Is going to help you out.” Cline shakes his head and lowers his voice like you aren't in the room “I’d rather have…a real doctor? One that isn’t…a woman?” Jesus Christ.
Staring at you with a slightly shocked expression, Dr. Chosen One can't seem to form words so you stand and clap him on the shoulder “Of course, Mr. Cline. Dr. Langdon here is exactly the man you need. I'll transfer the patient file to you.” “Wait! I-” You shoot him a tight smile “Good luck Dr. Langdon.” You are already at your wits end, let him deal with sexist Mr. Cline.
You don’t have time to think about the interaction because as soon as you step out of the room, Dr. Abbot is calling your name for laceration repairs and you gladly take the chance to clear your mind. Afterwards, you're stripping off your gloves when Abbot turns his attention to you “You look tired.” “Thank you, Dr. Abbot. Have you also noticed the sky is blue?” He chuckles and you offer him a smile "I'm fine, Abbot. I promise I'm getting my doctor recommended 8 hours.”
Abbot nudges you as you walk to the sandwich cart “Yeah, and I can fly.” A small laugh escapes your lips as Langdon brushes past you and just your luck, Abbot stops him “Dr. Langdon! Have you met one of my favorite residents?” “You aren't allowed to say that when Samira exists.” You mutter to him and he digs his elbow into your rib. Ow.
Dr. Perfect turns his shockingly blue eyes onto you “Yeah. We’ve met.” Abbot smiles, unaware of the weird tension between you two “Good! I think you guys are gonna be a good team.” Langdon nods and mumbles something about needing to check on a patient and darts away. Coward. Abbot turns to you, “You know, he’s recently divorced.” You stare at Abbot. “You are not trying to set me up right now.” He laughs at you and nudges you again "I'm just saying, if I'm getting laid so should you.” “Ew! I'm telling HR!” You call after him as he goes to check on a patient, cackling the whole way.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
All you can say is thank god for Mel King. As you change out of your scrubs, Mel comes bouncing in, “Hey sunshine, what's got you in a good mood?” You ask, feeling some of her bubbliness rub off on you “I just did CPR for ten minutes. It was awesome!” You hold up a hand for a high five and she gladly takes it. “That's sick! Sounds like you had a better shift than me.” Mel frowns, “Bad shift?” “Mhm, there was this guy who asked right in front of me for a male doctor.” Scoffing, you tug on your shoes “I mean, can you believe it?” Mel shakes her head “Some people…”
“Oh also!” You grin and turn to her “Did you see Dr. Langdon?” Her brow furrows like she's confused “Yes? What about him?” You gape at her “What do you mean? He’s like…The golden child of The Pitt. And he’s here! On the night shift!” Mel smiles a little and her confusion melts away “You know I've known him for a while. I think we’re friends. We even carpool.” You stand in shock at the revelation “And you’ve never told me!” “I didn't think it was important. Or that you cared.”
You’re both walking out now and you roll your eyes “Ok, maybe I don't. But I do like the occasional gossip. It's the least you could do.” Speaking of the devil, Langdon himself comes bounding up to you both just as the sun starts to rise. “Hey Mel! Hi…um.” You give him your name and he nods “Right. I’ve been meaning to ask you that.” Mel smiles and looks at Langdon “Ready to go?” “Yeah, just give me a minute. I’ll catch up.” Mel nods at Langdon's reply and starts walking towards the parking lot. As soon as she’s out of earshot, he turns to you.
“Listen. I think we kinda got off on the wrong foot so let me make it up to you. I was thinking coffee? Not from the cart, obviously. I'm not that cheap.” Frank smiles a little at you.
You assess Dr. Langdon, the early morning light hitting the side of his face “That's very kind of you Dr. Langdon but I'm alright. We don't need to be friendly just because I said something insensitive. I am sorry for that, by the way. But in two weeks you’ll be back on the day shift so it would be easier just to be colleagues instead of friends.”
His face falls a little and you feel a small pang in your chest that you quickly bury. You have no time or room in your life for feeling guilty or whatever it is that's settled right next to your heart as soon as you say those words. “Right. Yeah, understood.” You nod a little “It was nice meeting you Dr. Langdon. Mel’s waiting for you.”
As you head towards your car, you risk a glance back at Langdon and the feeling in your chest tightens again when you see him watching you and ok, maybe you take pity on him and wave a little. It does make you feel better to see him perk up and wave back. As you start your car, something tells you it's going to be a long two weeks.
Description: Autological, a term which describes itself. Working at the PTMC as a social worker is rarely easy, and someone is very gleefully about to make it a lot harder.
If someone asked you why you got into social work, you would smile and say the canned answer of “I wanted to help people.” When the real answer had a lot more rage behind it. Rage at the system, rage at the people, just…lots of rage.
Working at PTMC was exactly what you wanted. Somewhere you could change, at least in your own incremental ways (still, the system, rage, etc.) but when you were working under those fluorescent lights, you felt the rage diminish, subside into actual energy and concentration. You felt useful.
“Trin, could you please just run to the grocery store this weekend. Our fridge is like the desert.” Whitaker leans against the desk and blinks his eyelashes. Someone has got to get a handle on whoever told him he could just do that and get whatever he wanted.
“Nope! You just want more avocados and I have a very hot date with a very hot girl, and I will be spending Saturday getting ready, then Sunday taking her out for a post fuck dinner.” You wrinkle your nose “Must you be so graphic?” Spinning in Dana’s chair a little, you laugh at the sour look on Trinity’s face.
“Oh, my bad. I forgot we had Jane Bennet over here.” “Tell me again what I have to do with Pride and Prejudice?” Trinity snorts “You have the same views on sex as they did back then.” You throw up your hands in amused exasperation “I didn’t realize talking about sex was encouraged in the workplace.”
“It's not. Kiara wants to see you.” Dr. Robby stares at the three of you with that same kind of vague disappointment he always has. “Right! Sorry.” You smile a little and get up, stretching.
Samira passes by you as you head into a patient's room and she calls your name “You’re coming out tonight right?” “Wouldn’t miss it.” You say back, to which she nods and you count to five in your head before murmuring your apologies to the patient's parents.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Besides the work you do, two other things help you handle your emotions: baking and dancing. Both in very different ways, of course. Baking helps you work through your thoughts, the control of going step by step and then getting something out of it. It’s great, and your friends like it too.
But dancing. You love dancing. The freedom, the bass of the music, it all just bleeds away.
“Where’d Samira go?” Shouting the question over the thumping music about the third person of your dance group, Whitaker leans forward to reply. “I think she hit it off with someone. And Trinity’s making out with a girl in the corner.” You nod and slip back into the zone.
Whitaker finally taps out, stumbling over to the booth with Victoria and Mel deep in discussion about collecting Pokemon cards. Feeling how dry your throat is, you decide to follow his lead but you head to the bar instead.
“One Moscow mule, please.” You smile and the bartender nods, heading off to make your drink. You hum softly along to the music and scan the room. Oh fuck. There, at the end of the bar, was a very recognizable figure. A Dr. Jack Abbot.
Jack Abbot is…somewhat of a puzzle to you. One: he works the night shift. You have found that people who work the night shift, in your professional opinion, usually need therapy and definitely don’t seek it.
Two: He flirts with everyone. Everyone! And he gets away with it too because, well…
Three: Abbot is honestly ridiculously, totally, unfairly good looking. The times you pass him on the night shift hand-offs, you can’t help but admire, merely admire! His very nice arms, the biceps specifically. How they move against scrub material, you can only imagine them in other…situations.
But four: He isn’t married. And you know because Trinity hangs around Princess and Perlah and the nurses would be the first ones to know if Abbot came in with a wedding ring on. Hell, they report when he seems to smell of women's perfume.
Shit. You’re staring at him. Shit! He’s looking at you. Fuck!! He’s coming over here. Oh god, oh god. You plaster on a smile you usually reserve for pushy sales people “Dr. Abbot! I- I didn’t know you came to this sort of…place…”
Internally, you scream at that sentence.
Abbot smiles a little “Why? Cause I’m old? I can still keep up with the youth you know.” “No, of course! I mean, you aren’t that old. I think.” The bartender places your drink in front of you and you down it gratefully, he watches on with an amused smile.
“Sorry if you feel like you can’t relax now. Knowing I’m here.” Oh, that’s nice. You shake your head a little, relaxing a little “It’s a public space, Dr. Abbot. I can’t tell you not to be here.” “That’s very kind of you. What’re you drinking?”
“Moscow mule.” Abbot wrinkles his nose and you laugh a little “I didn’t take you for a snob.” “No, I just…didn’t expect that.” He replies “Some might say I am full of surprises Doctor.” A corner of his lips tilted up “I’ll make sure to remember that.”
Trinity calls to you “Bennet! Come on!” Her voice slurs a little “Everyone else went home.”
What? That makes you turn your head to find that, yes, everyone else except Trinity and Whitaker have left. You check the group chat to find several goodbyes and several with your name telling you to “have fun with the guy u r talking to ;)” Shit.
You say a quick goodbye to Abbot and go to where Trinity is swaying. Wrapping an arm around Trinity’s waist and gently supporting her, you ask. “Where’s Whitaker?” She nods (at least you think it’s a nod given how loose her neck seems to be) to outside.
“Calling the uber.” Ok, good. That’s good. Except Whitaker and Trinity live way out of the way from where you live. And you don’t want to be alone in an Uber at 1 AM. You’ve heard too many stories for that.
You debate this as you make sure the two of them get into the car ok. You can’t walk, a taxi is out of the question, maybe the bus? “Do you have a ride coming?” You jump a little, and turn to find Dr. Abbot. Who is obviously hiding his amusement at scaring you.
“I was thinking of taking the bus?” He stares at you like you’re crazy “I know it’s not ideal,” You reason “But I really don’t want to get into a strangers car this late and-” “I’m not a stranger.”
Now it is your turn to stare at him. “You can’t be serious.” “Ah, but I am.” You take a step closer to him. “Have you been drinking?” “One drink at the beginning of the night and soda for the rest. Don’t tell my doctor.” He smirks.
“Fine. How do I know you won’t kill me?” “Easy. Do no harm. I swore it.” You assess him, the amusement now radiating off of him then sigh. “Ok. Thank you, really, this…is very kind of you.”
You climb into his sleek car and sink into the comfortable leather seats. “This is a nice car.” You murmur, feeling the drowsiness at the end of a night out sink over you “Thank you again.” He makes a low hum in the back of his throat in acknowledgement.
Glancing over at him and you just now realize he’s wearing a tight black shirt that highlights what scrubs cannot.
It makes your brain break a little, if you were being honest with yourself. “Do I have something on my face?” He asks without looking at you. “No! No I’ve just…never seen you without…scrubs on.” Tilting his head towards you, you very pointedly fix your gaze on the traffic light. “I do yoga. It’s very relaxing.” You think he says this to explain the muscles. Like he needed to explain the muscles.
“Yoga is…that must be nice. Dancing is my exercise.” He nods “Good choice.” You slip into silence after that, unsure of what to say. Abbot seems to be completely comfortable, humming along to the radio. It almost makes you jealous.
You tap the glass a little “This is me.” He nods and as you’re climbing out onto the sidewalk he says “Bennet?” Huh. How did he know about Trinity’s joke? “...Yes?” Abbot smiles a little “I live in this neighborhood, so if you ever need a ride in just…let me know.”
Surprise rushes through you. You never knew someone else lived close by. Especially Dr. Abbot. Not that that detail matters. Because it doesn’t. “Oh thank you! I’ll…take you up on that sometime.” He nods “See that you do. Goodnight, Bennet.”
God, you really have to stop Trinity from calling you that.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Work the next day consisted of ignoring the soreness in your legs, ignoring Whitaker moping about like he does when he’s trying to hide he has a hangover, and very much ignoring Trinity groaning constantly as she’s charting.
You had just finished walking Ms. Darleen about options for an in-home care service when Robby claps you on the back “How’s it going?” You smile a little “Good. Ms. Darleen was very receptive to care options.” Robby nods, looking around distractedly.
You were used to Robby half listening to you. Still didn’t stop the small sting of disappointment. “We are setting up for the night shift hand off. You ready?” He asks. Reminding you to text Shen to make sure he had what you asked him for. To which you get an affirmative.
“Here you go! One hot black coffee. I didn’t know you drank coffee B.” Shen says all while sipping on his own large iced coffee “I don’t. I prefer tea.” He tilts his head and a gleam enters his eye “Oh, is this for a special someone? Maybe that guy I was telling you about?”
Rolling your eyes you reply “I heard him listening to Joe Rogan on his break” Shen's face falls “Shit. I never should've assumed a single forty-one year old was normal.”
“Normal is subjective, Dr. Shen.” He nods “Of course, my bad. And my bad for the set up.” Nudging him a little you say “He was a little old for me, don’t you think?” Shen nudges you back, smirking “I know your type.”
Ignoring the flush that spreads across your cheeks you mumble “Has Dr. Abbot come in yet?” “Is that who the coffee is for? I told you B. Type!” Glancing around, you see Abbot stepping out of the elevator. Huh, when did he get here? Maybe when you were in with Darleen. Anyways, you nudge Shen a little harder in goodbye then cross the hub.
“Excuse me, Dr. Abbot?” He turns your direction and smiles a little “Ah, good evening. How are you feeling?” You shift on your feet “Fine. Not as bad as the others. I…um…brought you something. In thanks.” Holding out the coffee, you pray he takes it.
That small smile on his face then grows into a larger, more sincere one and butterflies (of nerves) bloom in your stomach. Abbot takes the coffee “I might have a new favorite, ever think about joining the night shift?” Robby claps Abbot on the shoulder from behind him.
“Nope. I am not letting you poach another one of mine. We already lost Mateo, and I fear Javadi may follow.” Abbot just shakes his head “You’re just jealous they like me better.”
Robby snorts, “Jealous? Of what? Those grey hairs?” “Jesus, it’s like a man can’t age gracefully.” Abbot replies. You are caught, eyes bouncing between the two of them, unsure if you could go or not.
“You’re keeping a very dedicated worker here brother.” Abbot nods his head towards you and you breathe a sigh of relief “Have a good shift, Dr. Abbot. Bye Dr. Robby.”
As you walk into the late autumn chill of Pittsburgh, you feel satisfied that you paid Dr. Abbot back for the ride and you are looking forward to rewatching Mad Men when you get home. Clean and simple.
Scrolling through coffee menus wasn’t how Jack usually spent his rare breaks but he wanted to pay you back for the drink you got him. It did get him through three intubations and one STEMI which was more than the crappy break room coffee got him.
Jack had always pegged you as responsible, even more so after watching you last night. In a non creepy way, he swears. But he appreciated the way you took care of Whitaker and Santos, even if they sometimes remind him of the twins from the Shining.
“Watcha doing?” Shen looks over his shoulder and he jumps a little “We should put a bell on you.” Jack grumbles as he closes his phone, putting it face down. “If you’re ordering coffee, you legally have to get me some.”
“I didn’t see that in my contract.” He replies to which Shen snorts “Come on man, just this once be cool.” “I am always cool!” Jack opens his phone again and hands it to the coffee addict “Fine, but don’t go advertising this.” “Thanks old man, you’re my fav attending. Don’t tell Crus. I wouldn’t mind if you told Robby though.”
Jack pauses for a moment “Hey, you’re friends with that social worker right? Uh..” Shen says your name and he nods “What kind of coffee does she like?” He smirks “Aw, that's sweet. Is this how you guys courted back in the 1900s?”
Rolling his eyes hard, Jack scoffs “One more diss about my age and I swear…” “Calm down man, she doesn’t like coffee.” That makes him pause, what sort of hospital doesn't like coffee? Are you psycho? “She doesn’t?”
John shakes his head “She’s a tea drinker. Likes earl grey for her shifts.” Oh. Well, Jack can get behind that, it is still caffeinated “Put an Earl Gray on there too.” He nods towards his phone.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
He’s not waiting for you. Technically, he’s waiting for Robby and if you happen to walk in around that time then, well, that just works out pretty well for him.
“What’s up brother?” Robby claps him on the back, “That for me?” He reaches out to take the cup of tea sitting by his hand before Jack stops him “Sorry Mikey, not for you.” Robby raises his eyebrows “Who-”
“Morning Dr. Robby, Dr. Abbot.” You tilt your head in greeting. Jack calls your name as you head towards the lockers “I wanted to pay you back for the coffee. It was heaven compared to what we usually get.”
A small smile graces your lips as you take the cup. “Oh thank you, Dr. Abbot, but I don’t drink coffee.” “It's tea. Earl Gray.” The small smile you wear turns into a full one, with your eyes crinkling up in the corner “That’s…very considerate of you Dr. Abbot. Thank you so much, you really didn’t need to do that.”
He waves away your praise, even though it makes something in his chest twinge “Not at all, just taking care of my people.” “Your people?” Robby crosses his arms from where he’s been standing. “Last time I checked she was still on the day shift, Jack.”
Flashing a smile, he replies “Ah but there's still time.” “What are you still doing here? Go home.” Dana picks up a chart “Robinavitch, I think Whitaker was looking for you.” The other attending turns on his heel, but not before glancing back at Jack with a look that read very clearly ‘we are talking later’
“Have a good shift.” He nods at you and you nod back, still smiling. Good. He liked your smile. Not creepy, he had to remind himself.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
What Jack hadn't realized at the time was that one tea would start an exchange of drinks almost every day. He’d come in to start his shift to find a coffee cup placed discreetly by his computer, sometimes with a little note wishing him luck.
Stupidly, he felt it made his day (night, technically) better. He hoped the tea he left with Robby every night helped you the way it did him.
“Good evening Dana.” Dana looks up from where she is standing with Lena “Evening. Someone had a good day.” Jack shrugs, shifting his weight to take it off his leg “Just looking forward to doing some good.” He places his backpack on his chair then reaches for his cup of coffee, only to grab…empty air.
Dana snorts softly “Sorry casanova, it was her day off. Meaning, no coffee for you.” Shit. “Aw did that ruin your night.” She pats his back “Chin up jackrabbit, you can survive on the break room coffee like the rest of us.”
And sure, he could survive off break room coffee. He’s done it for ages, but the world had conspired against him to make this the worst shift ever to go cold turkey. Two MCI’s, pile ups on the highway. Even though they managed to save most of the people that came through, there were still casualties. Those they couldn’t save.
It brought the whole ER down when that happened.
On nights like these, Jack heads up to the roof, trusting Robby will find him. “Thought I’d find you up here.” His voice comes after about six minutes, Jack nods to acknowledge him.
“Heard about what happened. I'm sorry.” Robby pulls him into a side hug and pats him on the back, which makes Jack smile a little. “You know how it can be sometimes.” Robby hums in response. “You deserve a break. Go home, shower, do yoga.” He wrinkles his nose a little as he says that.
Jack laughs, feeling the weight of the night slide off him a little “Your coffee girl is looking for you by the way.” He turns towards Robby and says your name to which Robby nods “She’s been checking on all the night shift people. Good one, she is.”
His chest tightens with dislike at the fact you were looking for only him but he tries to shove it down as a ridiculous feeling to have about someone he barely knows. Then he remembers. “Shit! I didn’t get her tea.”
Robby snorts, much like Dana “You’re insane.” “Shut up man, its tradition.” Rolling his eyes, Robby follows him back down the stairs “We will talk about this in depth.”
Yeah, he’ll have to catch him first.
Looking around the ER, Jack tries to make it subtle how he’s looking for you but with the way Shen is watching him and making very obvious eyes towards the breakroom, he’s pretty sure he is failing.
“Mm ok, I’ll try to wrangle the insurance company a little bit. The guy there always tells me I smell good, so I can use that to my advantage.” Javadi's laugh rises from inside the breakroom and a peal of your laughter quickly follows.
Jack opens the door very casually, very normally and the dying laughter between the two of you from where your heads are bent low together makes him want to say something equally funny but all he comes up with is “Hi.”
Javadi shoots up “Dr. Abbot! Hi, sorry! We’ll- I'm going- Right.” She rushes past him with an awkward smile, leaving you to stare after her with a very interesting look on your face.
“Hey kid. You good?” You snap back to him and nod “Yes, sorry. Hi. How are you feeling?” Jack shakes his head slightly and travels over to the fridge to take out his (cold and congealed) chicken parm. “I don’t need a check in, Bennet. I have a therapist for that.”
“Oh you go to therapy?” Smiling, he replies “Do I not seem like it?” Your brow furrows a little “You work the night shift.” “Yes I do.” You shrug a little “Just, I’m surprised. Guess I didn’t expect it.”
Jack chuckles. Your head ducks towards your chest. He files this information away for later. “Sorry if that was mean.” “Not at all. I figure someone in this ER needs to be in therapy.” You laugh softly at that “Mm that’s probably true. I’m sorry for not getting you coffee this morning, by the way.”
He waves away your concern, picking at the cheese. Jack considers himself a pretty good cook but twelve hours in a fridge doesn’t do much good for anything edible. “We’re even. I didn’t get you tea.”
The silence that follows is…awkward. Jack has realized he doesn’t really know a lot about you (besides the fact you can fucking dance) so he doesn’t have a lot of topic of conversations to pull out when things get quiet.
Jack hated not being prepared.
This thought then leads him to land on the fact that he wants to get to know you better. But before Jack can even begin to question you, you smile slightly and stand. “I should get to work. And you should get going. Otherwise someone might rope you into an operation before you leave.”
That was true, even if all that was waiting for him at home was large empty rooms and not a lot to fill the quiet except a police scanner.
“You know, if you need help with that insurance company…” He trails off, gesturing at himself. You shake your head, a change coming over you. Posture straightening, you reply “I’ve got it, Dr. Abbot. Don’t worry about it. Really, go home.”
Right. That’s a hint if he ever saw one.
“I hope you’re still planning on bringing me coffee. I think I’ve become dependent.” Jack says this as he’s throwing away the rest of the leftovers. You roll your eyes “Shen has called me coffee girl one too many times…but I won’t stop if you don’t.”
Casting his gaze back to you, he winks. “Of course not.” Workplace flirting was commonplace for him so it didn’t phase him very much but you had frozen in place. Jack smirks a little, feeling rather pleased at such a reaction.
“Have a nice day.” He murmurs as he passes you. “Yes- Yeah! You too!” You call back.
The Saturday sun warmed your skin as you adjusted your tote bag to stop it from digging into your shoulder when you eventually added flowers, jam, and fruit. Plus anything you saw and impulse bought at your local farmer’s market.
You hum softly to yourself as you pick through the bouquets pressed together in the buckets. Bright against the asphalt of the shut down road. A part of you wonders if Dr. Abbot would like flowers but you quickly shut that down.
Afterall, it was just coffee for him and tea for you. No need to read into it, none at all. You definitely have not been doing that since it’s started.
But now you’re thinking about it. Dammit, this was supposed to be a nice day off.
Sheepishly, you bring up two bouquets of mixed flowers because the woman at the cash register was staring at you in a less than pleased way.
Weaving gently through the crowds, a stall stacked high with different kinds of pies draws your attention. You turn on your heel, admiring the gleam of cherry syrup.
The pie tops had pretty flower designs made of dough, like something you’d see out of an instagram photo dump.
You mentally calculate if you could take something out of this week's budget to buy one for your friends. Lord knows they need it, and you would make them one if you had time but…that is sadly not on the schedule. “Strawberries are my favorite.” Someone speaks up right beside you.
“Oh!” Startling a little, you glance at the person “Oh, sorry. Yeah I like them too.” You smile politely at the man. Tall, shaggy sandy blonde hair, about your age. He offers you a hand to shake “I’m Tyler.” You give him your name and reply “People don’t shake hands very much anymore.”
Tyler laughs a little too much at that comment, in your opinion. Maybe he was just being polite. He still hasn’t let go of your hand though “I haven’t seen you come to this often? Are you new in town?” “Um, no. I’ve lived around here for a while now.” You tug your hand a little, and after some weird amount of resistance he lets go.
Smiling sheepishly, Tyler says “I think I would’ve noticed a woman with such a beautiful body around.” Oh my god. This man is hitting on you. Annoyance and disgust bubbles up at the fact that he thought you even wanted to be hit on in the first place.
With a truly terrible pick up line as well.
You back away a little. “That's…uh..” “Hey, where are you going?” He steps towards you, a hand reaching out to grab your wrist “I just want to talk.” Before you can take another full step back, someone’s hand lands on your shoulder.
“Ready to go, baby?” You whip your head to the man standing by your shoulder. Dr. Abbot, not looking at you. Instead, his eyes are trained on Tyler who is suddenly looking a lot less confident than before.
“What?” You ask, brain still trying to play catch up. Dr. Abbot smiles warmly at you “Ready to go? Or do you want to buy a pie?” His gaze finds Tyler again and his smile hardens “I suggest you stop trying to pick up women with bad TikTok one-liners.”
He mutters “What? You her sugar daddy or something?” Abbot raises his eyebrows “I'm her boyfriend.” Tyler then says something about not being interested in you anyways then storms away.
It is just about after that you realize Dr. Abbot is still standing very, very close to you. “You alright?” He asks and you have to actively try to get yourself to say something not stupid. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. That..” You trail off into nervous laughter.
Which then spirals into normal laughter at just how ridiculous the last five minutes have been. When you finally straighten to meet Dr. Abbot's eyes, you find them crinkled around the edges.
Oh, he’s laughing at you. A rush of total, utter, and complete embarrassment comes over you, and deciding you can’t stand the way his hazel eyes twinkle (whose eyes fucking twinkle?) you fix your gaze on the pavement.
“Thank you.” You murmur “No problemo. Just looking out for a fellow Pitt member.” Right, that’s all you were to him. A coworker. You pretend it doesn’t hurt a little. “That guy was an asshole. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine. Just a little…surprised? That was definitely the boldest pickup I’ve ever been subjected to.” Dr. Abbot chuckles but it’s a little strangled. Like he’s still upset. Then he gestures to the pies, obviously trying to move past the debacle “Were you gonna get one?”
You shake your head “No. I was just looking.”
“How often do you come here?”
“What is this? Twenty questions?” You ask with a small laugh “I come as often as I can. With the hospital and everything, sometimes it’s hard to get away.” He nods a little “You’re telling me.” Right, he’s a doctor. A lot busier than you’ll ever be. You hate that whenever you’re around him, you seem to say the most obvious things.
He tilts his head slightly “Are you still shopping?” You nod, readjusting the flowers in your bag. “May I join you?” That makes you pause. If you allow him to join you, it is very likely you’ll say something that keeps you up till 2 AM. But…it would be a chance to get to know the man better.
Because it’s good to be friendly with your coworkers. No other reason.
“Yeah, of course.” You fall into step beside him “Are you looking for anything in particular?” He hums a little “Some fruit, and a couple cuts of meat for early dinner.” Nodding along, you note the items “Do you cook?” “After the military, I swore I would never eat MREs again.”
You had forgotten he had served. That’s probably part of the reason he goes to therapy but you wouldn’t make that observation out loud. “You’re a man of many skills, Dr. Abbot.” He smiles “Call me Jack when we aren’t at work.”
Jack. He wanted you to call him Jack. This is normal. This is how coworkers interact. You smile back and hope it doesn’t look as awkward as it feels. “Jack. I should thank you again for…helping back there. I’m sure you didn’t have this planned when you started your day.”
He shrugs “I told you. Just looking out for you.”
Rocking back and forth on your feet, you stand to the side as Abbot - because it was safer to call him Abbot then Jack in your mind - scanned the packages of steaks in front of him. “Do you cook?” He asks without looking up “Mm nope. I usually subsist off shitty takeout.”
Abbot shakes his head, pulling out a very shiny black card to pay for the stakes he then stuffs into his totebag. “I worry for the health of our frontline workers.” You laugh softly, settling into his dry wit more.
The sparkle of gems winks at the corner of your eyes. You point to the booth, hawking homemade necklaces and bracelets. “Would you mind if we stop?” “Not at all.” Smiling, you practically skip over to the table “I usually never look at these but I’ve always wanted to, I never get the chance to wear jewelry.”
“Do you want one?” He asks and you seriously contemplate it, but if you don’t buy a pie. Something you can eat and use, then you definitely can’t spend money on a bauble. “No. I just like looking.” You sigh softly.
Letting out a low hum, Abbot leans a little closer to you “You could let your boyfriend get it for you.”
Jesus fucking Christ. This man was going to give you a fucking heart attack.
A strangled laugh makes its way out your throat. “Ha! Good one!” You pat his shoulder and quickly start walking again so he doesn't have to see just how painfully red your face is.
“Hey slow down!” His voice reaches you, causing you to stop “I’m not as spry on my feet anymore.” Abbot smiles slightly as he reaches your side “It was just a joke Bennet.” Groaning, you cover your face. “God, I hate that nickname.”
“I can stop calling you it?” God, he’s considerate too, someone shoot you. You flap a hand in his direction “No, it’s fine.”
“If you say so.” You finally work up the courage to meet his eyes and nod. He nods back. “We should…keep shopping.” You mumble. To which Abbot agrees.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
After you both finish grabbing the items that you needed, you stand by the entrance to the farmers market. “Are you sure you don’t need help carrying those back to your place?” Abbot asks you.
“No, it’s really fine Dr- Jack. I can handle it.” Abbot huffs softly, crossing his arms. Biceps, his biceps are so- Fuck, he asked you a question. “Sorry! Could you…uh repeat that?”
He rolls his eyes dramatically and says very slowly “Are you positive?” You roll your eyes back at him “Yes, Jack. I’m a big girl.” He blinks for a moment, then a smug smile rolls across his face.
“Well, I’ll let you handle it, cause you’re a big girl.” You gape at him as he turns on his heel and lifts a hand in a wave “See you at work!”
A/N: See if you can spot the musical theater reference I threw in there :3
Every needling comment Garcia is making is driving Frank up the wall. Comments about his technique, or his timing, or his hair. Which to be honest is lower on the list but it still stings. So honestly he should’ve seen this coming
“Don’t believe everything Dr. Langdon says,” Garcia directs this towards Joy and knockoff Whitaker “He’s called Prodigal son by Lena for a reason.” He grits his teeth and snaps “Could you not undermine me for every goddamn thing!?”
Everyone pauses, staring at him. Including the patient. Fuck. “Sorry.” Frank mumbles, yanking back the curtain before heading to the board and trying to ignore the headache that’s started behind his eyes and the whispers behind his back “Frank, are you alright?” Mel’s voice asks from behind him and the anger drains out of his posture.
“I just haven’t been sleeping well. My back's been killing me.” She makes a sympathetic sound “Do you need to take a break?” “You know what he needs?” Santos pipes up with a wicked grin “He needs his girlfriend.” The anger comes flooding back in. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He turns to where Santos is standing.
“You have a girlfriend, Dr. Langdon?” Emma asks gently, half directing her question to him and half to Dana. “No. I do not have a girl-“ Frank tries to say before Santos cuts him off by saying your name. Shock clashes with the anger in his chest.
“Trinity, you know they aren’t dating.” Mel says disapprovingly but that just makes the smile on Santos face grow “So they say. But come on, he’s acting like a baby because he misses her. It’s so obvious.”
Now, Frank does not disagree. Day shift seems to have lost the glamour it once had now that he only gets glimpses of you during handoffs. He feels so juvenile admitting that he misses your smile, or the way you treat patients, or that vanilla perfume or how you match his jokes and banter or...
But he would never say all this out loud and give Santos the satisfaction of being right. Instead he just scoffs “I do not miss her. I’m just adjusting to the day shift.” She pats him on the shoulder “Keep telling yourself that, cowboy.”
Dana claps her hands together “Alright people no more harassing Frank mm? There’s sick people here ya know.” He’s grateful for the interruption and quickly heads toward room 6.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Frank was restless. It was his day off, he had already walked Tibia and now he was just staring at the ceiling in bed, trying to get the willpower to do anything. He wished he was at the hospital but his therapist recommended a healthier work life balance so here he is. Bored out of his mind. His phone pings and he scrambles to pick it up.
[13:27] Cowgirl: Are you good at fixing stuff?
[13:27] You: Sure, I guess?
[13:29] Cowgirl: Can you come over and look at a couple light bulbs in my kitchen?
He sits up immediately. A chance to do something and a chance to see you? Sign him up.
[13:30] You: I’ll be there soon.
Frank tries to explain away the rush he is in to get to your place as he gets into his car. He’s just helping a friend, a colleague. That is all. He’s bored to tears and this is a great distraction. But as he parks outside your apartment, a thought surfaces unbidden. You, standing in your doorway, with a loose sleep shirt and shorts? Sweatpants? The only other time he’d seen you out of scrubs was when your dad came into the hospital and it was like a punch to the gut.
You had returned his jacket a few days later, washed and folded smelling clean, crisp. Frank wonders if all your clothes smell like that. Two notifications from his phone interrupts his daydream.
[13:56] Cowgirl: I see your car.
[13:56] Cowgirl: Weirdo.
Embarrassed at being caught, he pops out of the car quickly, and grabs his toolkit that he pulled out from the back of his closet. When he reaches your door, Frank knocks twice. You open the door quickly, like you’d been waiting for him. He smiles, deepening his voice he says “Heard you ordered a handyman?” You wrinkle your nose, a sign of distaste “Ew Frank.”
He laughs and you step aside to let him in. It’s small…like really small but you’d obviously put work into making it cozy and nice. There’s pictures of friends and little trinkets scattered around the living room.
“The kitchens there,” you step into the small, peeling linoleum floored kitchen and he follows “Sorry it’s small.” Frank glances at you, noting your downward gaze “It’s ok! It’s cozy.” “Cozy just means small.” You point out and Frank smiles “No, it’s like if small had a much nicer cousin.”
Shaking your head at Frank's idiotic comment, you point towards two flickering light bulbs “These are the ones that need to be looked at.” “Alright, I’ll knock those bad boys out, you just sit back and relax.” Laughing you pick a book back up from the couch and curl into the corner like you’d done it a million times before. He thinks that he would wrap you in a blanket to keep you warm and safe forever.
“You’re staring.” You hum softly as you flip a page and Frank snaps his eyes back to the flickering light. “Just wondering how night shifts are going.” He mumbles, climbing the short stepping stool to reach the light. He hears you sigh and shift, which just makes him want to turn his gaze back to you but he fights the instinct.
“It's fine. You know, the usual…” You launch into a story about a little boy who accidentally superglued himself to his brother which makes Frank respond with a story about how Penny and Tanner tried to give him the present of…well, them, by hiding in a box for five hours on Fathers Day and totally freaking him out.
Time passes in that easy fashion Frank hasn't experienced since…actually he’s not sure if he’s ever experienced something like that. Eventually he steps down from the stool and wipes the sweat from his forehead. The lights have stopped flickering, and he finds satisfaction in a job well done. “Are you hungry?” You had abandoned your book a while ago, now glancing up from your phone to ask him the question.
“I mean, I could eat.” “Great, what do you want?” Frank pauses for a moment. “Uh…whatever, I don't care.” He replies.
You snort softly at the wishy washy answer “Fine. How about mexican?” Frank feels lightheaded at the fact that he’s going to get to eat with you “Frank?” “Yeah! Yeah, that sounds good.” The smile he receives is bright, causing him to chuckle.
The food comes pretty quickly and as he helps unpack the containers you keep glancing at him, obviously wanting to ask something “Honey, you’re staring.” He mimics your tone from before and a laugh escapes you “I was just wondering if you wanted to watch a movie or something while we ate?” God, yes, anything to spend more time with you.
“I would love to.” He slumps onto the couch with a plate in his lap and watches out of the corner of his eye as the shirt you’re wearing rides up when you reach for two drinks from the fridge and he selfishly drinks in the silver of skin it reveals.
“You can pick the movie, given I picked the food.” You set a beer in front of him. “Oh I don’t drink.” You blink at him and he feels his cheeks heat up but then you smile softly and pick the beers back up "That's fine. I have soda? Or sparkling water?” “Sparkling water please.”
He’s stopped paying attention to the movie. Your shoulder is right there, so close and all he wants to do is shift you closer to him. But, as stated before, he is a coward, a coward till he dies. But not too much of a coward to ask a question that's been burning in the back of his mind. “Can I ask about your dad?” Immediately you stiffen and he regrets the words that have come out of his mouth.
“Nevermind, sorry that- I shouldn't have asked that.” You shake your head “No no, it's ok. I don't mind talking about it.” Then you shift a little closer to him and Frank swears he stops breathing “Um, my dad was in the military. My mom was, uh is, a lot younger than him and when she found out she was pregnant with me he had just been deployed again.”
Your eyes are glued to the screen but he can see the way they get shiny “He- He wasn’t really present in my life. And whenever he was, he was mean, like…fragile? And my mom had me tip toe around anything that could set him off. There were moments where…” You press your palms to your eyes like you did when you came in with him on your day off.
“He’s better now, but our relationship is still strained. It's hard. It's been hard.” “Oh honey.” He doesn't know what else to say. How does he heal such an old wound. You laugh weakly “Sorry. I hate- I hate dumping all this on people.” He shakes his head vehemently “I told you. Anytime you need to talk about this, I'm here. Do you need anything?”
You shake your head and he decides to take a risk, gently wrapping an arm around your shoulder, you relax into him and sigh softly. “Thanks.”
It's silent after that. Not the awkward silence that seems to follow everything he says or does these days but a comfortable silence. Then your head drops to his shoulder, and your breathing evens out…and you're asleep. Jesus Christ. He can't move. His heart is going crazy and he thinks he’ll be frozen like this forever. Not that Frank’s complaining.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Something's ringing. Can someone shut that fucking thing off? Frank swears if- “Shit.” Your muffled voice breaks through his hazy thoughts and you both have shifted a little, with you halfway on Frank's chest and his hand is now cupping the back of your head. Which is conveniently placed directly into the crook of his neck. Shit indeed.
“I have to go to the hospital.” You untangle yourself from him, he clenches his teeth to stop a very very embarrassing sound from slipping out at the loss of your contact. “Right. I- Sorry.” You pause in your doorway, tilting your head. “Dont apologize Frank.” A smile plays at the edge of your lips “That was the best I’ve slept in a while.”
Fuck.
Frank leaves very quickly after that, mainly to deal with the fact that he has just now realized that he has a ridiculously hopelessly massive crush on you. And also to deal with how turned on he got about a millisecond after that discovery. He thumps his head on his steering wheel and takes very seriously the act of contemplating his tax returns.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
“Mm Im still deciding if I want to stay or not.” Frank is not eavesdropping. He just so happens to be in your vicinity as you talk with Santos during hand-off. But this piques his interest so he slides next to you. Casually, super casually. “Deciding for what?” You glance at him “I was telling Santos that my lease will be up in like three weeks and I haven't decided if I want to renew it or not.” Oh he just got a very bad idea.
Frank waits till Santos is distracted by patients so she doesn't hear the absolutely idiotic thing he’s about to say. “Come home with me.” “What?”
He blinks then restarts “I mean- Like, move into my place. I have a guest room, and my hot water doesn't go out and my lights work. Plus I’m a good roommate, and I- It would be nice to have someone else around.”
You stare at him like he’s crazy. Fuck this was a really bad idea but he doesnt back down “We can split rent. I can cook pretty well, I’m neat mostly, and-" You smile a little "How soon can I move in?” “I have a washing machine in the basement, I-” You put your hand on his shoulder “How soon can I move in?” You want to move in.
“Are you sure?” He can scarcely believe it but you nod “I’ve been meaning to find a new place anyways.” Cool. Cool, cool, cool. He hears Abbot call your name “I’ll…let you get to work.” Frank hopes that didn't come out as strangled as he thinks it did.
“Yeah.” You say softly “Thanks Frank.” Jesus fucking christ. He is so gone.
You were being truthful when you told Abbot that you could take care of yourself. But…it was really nice to have him there. Now that you’ve recovered, the only thing you can think of anytime you see him is how his face looked in sleep. Relaxed in a way you’ve never seen, lines smoothed to a dreamless sleep.
“Earth to Bennet.” Samira snaps her fingers lightly in front of you. “You good? You were zoned out for like five minutes.” Shaking your head to clear the fog from your brain, you offer a smile to the concerned women.
“I’m good, Mira. Must be lingering sickness.” Her brow furrows “Do you need a break?” You wave your hand “No, no I’m alright.” Kiara calls your name and you give one last reassuring smile to Samira before heading off to where Kiara had popped her head out.
The day passes as most days in the Pitt do. In a way that speaks to the merits of controlled chaos, people passing in and out of rooms like an intricate dance, and by the end of it you feel a deep satisfaction sinking into your bones.
“It’s so weird.” Trinity mutters as she charts next to you “What's weird?” You ask, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from her face. She flashes a grateful smile at you before replying “Abbot keeps showing up for his shift earlier and earlier.” Her head tilts towards where the attending is standing with Robby.
He catches your eye and gives you a small smile. Trinity glances between the two of you “Actually maybe I do know why he keeps coming early.” You shove her shoulder “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s probably just being a good doctor.”
The woman rolls her eyes. “Yeah and I can fly.” “Are you implying Dr. Abbot is not a good doctor?” Trinity moves her chair back to properly look at you, leveling a glare in your direction “I am not saying that. He’s better than Doctor riding my ass over there.” She gestures towards Dr. Al-Hashimi “He even let me get away with that sick procedure during Pittfest.”
You hum softly in reply, encouraging her to keep going “I think that he likes you.” The hum in your throat quickly turns into a cough “W-what?” Trinity grins “I said-” “Enough gabbing ladies, I’m sure we can find you something to do.” Dana breaks up the two of you with an affectionate smile.
As you walk away, Abbot falls into step beside you “Scolded by Dana, Bennet? Thought you were better than that.” The crinkle of his eye tells you he’s joking. So you shrug a little “What can I say? I simply must rebel.” He laughs, deep in his chest and a spark goes through you.
He nudges you “Rebel without a cause.” “Alright old man. Did you take the horse and buggy to see that one?” Abbot presses a hand to his chest “How old do you think I am?” You scrunch your nose up in amusement, pretending to think “At least 98?”
The man next to you lets out another laugh, this time throwing his head back, drawing the attention of people around him. Including Robby. “Did you know James Dean’s front two teeth were fake?”
Abbot raises his eyebrows “Really? Where’d you learn that?” “History.com” The laugh gets stronger and he has to pause to catch his breath.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” You look at Abbot as the laughter fades from his face, “Sure, shoot.” Mulling the words over in your head you try to figure out the best way to ask the question “You’ve been coming earlier for your shifts?”
Abbot smiles a little “I have.” There's a pause and you know he’s waiting for you to ask the second part of your question “Is everything…alright?” He pats you on the shoulder, firm and solid against your skin. “Yup, just figured I should be good at my job.”
Your brow furrows a little and he softens “I’m fine, kid. Don’t worry your pretty head about me.” Goddamn him. Now all you can think about is the fact he called you pretty. “If you say so.” You murmur, and Abbot nods before getting pulled into a consult. You’re left standing in the middle of the Pitt with a warm buzz tingling up your skin.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Robby’s been acting weird. You suppose no weirder than normal but…he’s been hovering around you more? Sitting in on family consults and looking over your shoulder while you chart. It was fine for the first couple of days but at this point anytime you feel his eyes on you, it feels like you're walking on eggshells, just waiting for him to yell at you.
A call of your name bounces across the busy central area and you glance up at Robby, hands buried in his pockets and face firm. You make a quick excuse to the patient in front of you and duck your head to avoid the curious gazes of the nurses and doctors as you pass by them.
“Step outside with me for a moment.” It’s very obviously a demand so you step inside, trying not to freak out. Robby shuts the door behind him. “Is there an issue Robby? Because I made sure to triple check the Millers insurance, and I got Mrs. Robinson to accept a nurse into her house and-”
Robby holds up his hand, and you cut yourself off. “I am not asking about a patient. I want to talk to you about Dr. Abbot.” That makes you fully stop “What about Dr. Abbot?” He runs a hand down his face, scrubbing at his beard.
“You and him…are friends, yes?” You blink at him, yes, you would consider Jack a friend. A friend you want to lick until he’s clean but a friend nonetheless. Nodding, you say “Yes, I think we’re friends.” Robby nods, looking like he severely regretted asking.
“Right, ok. Jack is a handsome man. I will not argue with that. But I cannot emphasize enough that he is a giant flirt. Hell, that man has flirted with half the people in this hospital.” Jesus Christ. You want to crawl into a hole and die. You would bury yourself in sand and just let the tide wash over you.
He sighs softly “Listen, he is a great guy. Just…I want you to be warned.” “I- I am not- I do not like what you’re implying! Dr. Robby, I am a very professional person and for you to say that I am flirting- that Dr. Abbot is flirting with me!?”
Robby puts his hand up again “I am not implying that you are unprofessional. It is just a precaution.” You snap your jaw shut then run a hand through your hand through your hair.
“I appreciate your warning.” The words are stiff and suddenly the room is suffocating. You have to get out as quickly as possible.
You move past Robby and open the door, the lights of the ED too bright, and the noise too loud. “Dana!” The charge nurse glances up at you, brow furrowing when she sees the state you’re in. “You ok kid?” “Yeah, just need some air. If Kiara asks for me I’ll be in the loading bay.”
Barely hearing her assent, you are able to catch your breath in the cool October air. Halloween is right around the corner, and Trinity has been insisting you and the others do a group costume. Something about 101 Dalmations? You weren’t sure.
Another thing you weren’t sure about is why the conversation with Robby freaked you out so much. It didn’t bother you when Trinity joked about it. Maybe it’s because she was joking and Robby was insinuating. Acting like you were knowingly encouraging it.
So what if you were? As you think about it more and more, you just feel yourself getting upset. “Hey B. Whatcha doing?” And there, like an angel holding iced coffee, is John Shen.
“John!” You hug him and he squeezes back, holding the coffee cup above your head “Careful! I don’t want coffee all over you. What's with the theatrics?” “Says the guy who does community theater.” He shrugs, “I know ball.”
You laugh at his insane use of Gen Z slang. “Im just- Robby called me into his office and gave me like…a weird ass speech.” Shen wrinkles his nose “Gross. I hate those.” “Yeah. Yeah, it kind of freaked me out.”
He claps you on the shoulder “Well, you get off soon right?” You nod and he nods too “You know what I’ve really been craving? Chocolate chip pumpkin bread.” He knows exactly what he’s doing, giving you something to focus on rather than spiraling. Rolling your eyes, you reply “Don’t you know you can get that at Trader Joes?”
Shen scoffs “All the way in North Hills? No thanks.” You sigh “Fine. I’ll make it.” He smiles and claps your shoulder “Knew I could count on you. Now get back in there! Kick some ass!” He shoves you a little, and you glare at him over your shoulder. “I think you’re stalling before your shift.”
His smile grows “Hey, you said it. It’s before my shift.”
Though the conversation didn’t ease your mind completely, it did allow you to get through the rest of the shift without completely freaking out. As you are walking out to the car park, Abbot calls your name from the hospital entrance.
You turn to find him walking briskly to you, holding a cup “You almost forgot your tea.” “Oh. Thank you, Dr. Abbot.” He smiles “You’re off of work, you can call me Jack.”
Staring down at the concrete, you really hope you aren’t as flushed as you feel “Thanks, Jack.” “Jack! Let's go!” Robby’s voice cracks through the air and Abbot rolls his eyes at you. “No rest for the wicked.”
“Have a good shift.” You say softly and he waves as he walks back into the Pitt. Leaving you shivering against the rapidly approaching dusk.
A/N: This is the last chapter!!! I'm very proud of this one, thank you for enjoying it as much as I have. Hopefully I will be writing more Langdon in the future.
Frank doesn’t know what he did to get so lucky.
Every day, he gets to wake up with you in his arms. You two haven't told anyone yet but from the way Princess watches him when he does handovers with you, to your days off both aligning suspiciously well, he gets the feeling it won’t be long till he’ll have to tell people.
Twenty four hour shifts were never easy. His back had started protesting around nine and he didn’t have the chance to take an Advil till eleven so he tried sticking to easier patients, even as Lena looked at him weirdly.
“So I’m just going to irrigate and then we should be good to close up.” He wanders past the trauma room you were in, smiling softly at seeing what a good doctor you are. “Eyes forward Langdon.” Trinity shoulder checks him before pausing and turning on her heel.
“Actually,” Her voice drawls in a way that Frank knows means trouble “You could settle something for me.” He rolls his eyes “What’s that Santos?” “Are you and cowgirl official yet? If so, when and where?”
He grabs clean gloves out of the box with a huff “Don’t you have charting to do?” “Ugh don’t remind me.” Trinity tugs at her stethoscope “Come on, you really aren’t going to tell me?” Frank pats her shoulder “Nope, sorry Santos.”
She walks away, muttering something about how hard it was to live in a world trying to crush beautiful women with excessive charting.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Frank shifted on the bad hospital cot with a groan. Abbot had sent him away around two, telling him he’s seen more alert people in zombie movies, which…ouch but fair. The only problem was that a hospital cot is not the greatest place for a man with back issues. But he will suffer through.
“Frank?” He feels his shoulder being nudged slightly “Five more minutes.” This complaint grumbled into his arm. A familiar laugh sounds above him and he cracks an eye open to find you “Hi sweetheart.” He smiles slightly, trying to sit up.
“Mm go back to sleep honey, Abbot sent me up here.” “What time is it?” He asks as he scoots over “Uh…2:20?” He lets out a disappointed noise that quickly fades as you snuggle in closer to him. “Come’re.” Frank pulls you on top of him and is finally satisfied when you press a kiss to his jaw and rest your head on his collarbone.
It seems that whenever Frank is finally getting some good rest, something has to go and interrupt it. That something is a 20 woman bachelorette party and the party bus that carried them crashing into a telephone pole.
Frank stumbled downstairs with you follow shortly behind him after his pager buzzed against your hip and you had to do a very precarious dance to get untangled from each other.
Trinity and Perlah cast the two of you suspicious looks but they don’t get the chance to say anything as Lena starts assigning rooms. “Alright, cowgirl, in central eight, Whitaker takes central one, and Frank is on trauma two. OK get to it everyone!”
At that command, everyone splits off into their assigned stations.
He ends up with Mateo in triage, dealing with three still slightly drunk bridesmaids. Two of them were wearing the lost and found sweaters offered to them given the dresses they had on just reached past their thighs.
But the third one had rejected the given sweater while making direct eye contact with Frank. He feels a little weirded out by the gaze but chalks it up to the drunk nature of the woman.
“So, we are going to check your eyes.” He murmurs to the third, who introduces herself as Emily, while Mateo smiles at a joke one of the other women told him.
Emily smiles a little “You have big hands.” Frank nodded a little, half paying attention. “Pupils are reactive, that’s good.” She giggles “Mm I bet you would take good care of me.” That's…a weird thing to say. “We try our best to give you the care you need.” Frank smiles tightly and casts a glance towards Mateo, who is looking at the two of them with a furrowed brow.
“Listen.” Emily tries to whisper, but she doesn’t do a very good job of it. She also tugs surprisingly hard on Frank's arm to get him to come closer. “Listen. After this, when I’m better, we should totally…” She trails off into a giggle “We should totally go out. You’re like…so handsome.”
He immediately pulls his arm away and coldly replies “I’m seeing someone.” Emily’s face falls. “We’ll be back to check on you in a few.” Mateo says and steers Frank out of the room before bursting into laughter.
“Dude. That was amazing.” Frank grumbles “Yeah for you.” Mateo claps him on the back again “Are you really seeing someone?” “Why do you sound so surprised?” The nurse smirks a little “Who is it?”
Frank groans “Why is everyone asking me that?” “The hospital doesn’t pay you to stand around and talk.” Lena calls from the desk. Your laugh rises above the hospital noise and because he can’t help it, Frank drifts to your side.
“Anything good?” He asks, nudging your shoulder “Mm, all pretty normal. The bride is going to be ok. She just had some bad lacerations, and when we told her they’d scar she started worrying about wedding photos.”
Laughing, he replies “That’s one way to get her mind off of things.” “Hate to break up the lovefest but I need you with me.” Parker taps you on the shoulder and you nod.
“Coming!” You rise onto your tiptoes and press a kiss to Frank's cheek. He hums happily and kisses your forehead in response.
You follow Parker but she’s stopped. Staring directly at Frank. “What?” He asks before he realizes what just happened. Shit. You just gave both of them away with the same move you do before you leave him for work.
“I knew it!” Trinity practically screams from where she’s standing. Everyone starts speaking over each other. You’re covering your face but he can tell that your cheeks are a bright red. Abbot pulls you into a hug and mumbles something in your ear.
“When did this happen?” Trinity grabs you away from Abbot and you laugh “Um…Like when did we get together?” “Duh.” Everyone seems to quiet down “After Jacks barbecue.” A chorus of groans rise up.
“What?” Franks asks, coming to put an arm around your shoulder “A barbecue is very sexy.” “Never say that again.” Trinity replies “It’s just Melanoma won the fucking betting pool.”
You smack Trinity's arm “You didn’t tell me there was a betting pool.” She rolls her eyes “It would’ve ruined the fun!”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
At a lunch with Mel a day later, the two of you found out how she won the pool.
She shrugs as the waiter sets down their orders. “I saw you guys leave the party and I just knew. I am your best friend after all.” Mel points towards Frank. “Actually I hadn’t bet on it till then but I’m glad I did.”
You lean over a little “Yeah, what are you going to do with your winnings?” Mel smiles “I’m going to buy a really nice princess dress to wear to the Renaissance Faire. I’ve already been looking at some.”
Frank laughs, "That's a really good buy.” Mel nods. “After this, what are you guys doing for your day off?” You hum softly “Probably going to the farmers market. If that works for you.” The question is directed at him, and he just places a firm kiss to the back of your hand.
“Whatever you want.” You smile at the reply and the rest of the lunch is spent in easy conversation. Stories about patients, about life all pass the time quite nicely.
Frank still doesn’t know what he did to get so lucky, but one thing’s for certain: he won’t let it slip away.
