Chapter Text
Dennis was fucked.
Across from him sat his attending, his fingers steepled at his forehead, at a shoddy dive a few minutes from the PTMC. It stank of bad perfume and cheap alcohol. A few flushed drunkards stumbled about, but they kept to their laughing gaggles, draped across tables. Dennis and Robby were nestled in the corner, as far as they could be from the chaos. Away from the vomit. The occasional smashed glass. Perhaps a bar fight, if the two guys squaring one another up got ballsy. The quieter area of the bar wasn't much more inviting. Dennis' chair was sticky on one side, and he was saddled awkwardly on the edge to avoid it. He wished he could have a drink to ease himself, but given the situation it was.. less than appropriate. They'd opted for waters.
"How long have you been living at the hospital?" Robby asked, dragging his hand down to his stubble. He looked more tired than usual with the yellow overhead lights casting shadows across his face, such that it seemed half of his cheeks were eyebags.
"Just a few weeks." Flush prickled up the back of his neck. "Things are just tight, between loans and my family."
Family. The word felt like acid in his mouth. Origin in Latin, coming from famulus, for servant or slave. That sounded about right. Etymology came naturally to him. He'd gotten into it during his theology undergrad and now pointedly looked up word roots mid-conversation, much to the annoyance of those around him. Especially Trinity.
They both stared at one another. The memory of the discovery flashed through his mind. He'd been camping out in the abandoned wing of the hospital. It had running water. A bed. Dennis, the idiot he was, had let his guard down. He was shuffling backwards to the beat of something in his earphones. He had turned to see his attending staring at him the same way he was now. Dennis had swung around to face him. He'd stumbled backwards and planted his arms out behind him to avoid further damages. Pain had spiralled up his forearms right to his shoulder. If he was going to get injured, he supposed, at least it was in a hospital. Robby had just come for a piece of equipment, but he quickly shucked the responsibility off to a med-student (this is a teaching hospital, after all, he'd chuckled ) and dragged Dennis off to a bar to "discuss".
"Kid..." He sighed. "I'm willing to keep this off the books. You're a good- well I'd like to think, a good guy."
Dennis nodded quickly.
"I remember it being hard as an MS4, myself, you know, in the stone ages." Robby shuffled with his bag and began to rifle through it. Dennis picked up and swallowed a gulp of water. The ice had long since melted, but the cold still lingered, and it chilled his throat. He'd been so focused on not choking, because, really, tonight was humiliating enough, that he hadn't noticed Robby. Robby ripped a page out of a notebook. The paper was a little yellowed, with a messy fringe where it'd been torn. His phone number.
Dennis flicked his eyes back up to Robby. He'd licked his digit and was now thumbing through a wad of money, counting under his breath.
"There." He held the stack between his index and middle, outstretched. It was too much money.
"I can't take that--"
"You can, and you will." When Dennis didn't respond, Robby jabbed it forward at him. "Go on."
He set it down on the table, and Dennis looked at the thick wad uncomfortably.
"Dennis," he started, "I know this is a slight overstep on my part, but I want you to have it anyway. Trust me, I've got enough money to handle myself. You certainly need it far more than I do. Buy yourself some dinner and a nice hotel for the night, then message me. I'll poke about, see if there's something I can do for you."
Robby stood suddenly and shouldered his bag. Dennis opened his mouth, but it was clear from Robby's look that he didn't expect nor want to be thanked for the life-saving help he was giving.
As he left, Dennis couldn't help but notice the deep slump of his shoulders, like he was carrying far too much on them. Shame burnt in his chest, coiled in his chest, as he became another thing Robby had to carry. He finished the rest of his water, and then Robby's, until the feeling cooled.
---
Dennis rolled over. He had a banging headache. Probably dehydrated.
It was good that Robby had let him off of work. He didn't actually think he could get to the PTMC in five minutes, and he didn't have the capacity to disappoint for the second time in forty-eight hours. He stretched out. The bed was plush under his fingers. It'd been so long since he slept without his ears catching every creak and rustle with fear. Just as he'd freed himself from the covers and sat up, his phone vibrated on the nightstand. That was another thing. Finally having a full charge on his phone. Dennis briefly imagined having that every night, even though he was pretty sure he'd read somewhere that was bad for the battery. He took the phone off the nightstand.
Trinity
Today 8:46 AM
- huckleberry
- fuckleberry
- fagleberry
- pretty sure thats a HR violation
- DENNIS AUGUSTUS WHITAKER
- literally not my middle name
- where tf are you???
- im sick
- long story
- seriously
- r u okay?????
- yeah im good. maybe we can go out later?
- ill pay
- will the doctor have declared you fit to move by this evening?
- with you being deathly ill and all
- IM a doctor
- so ill ask my reflection
- gtg robby will kill me if i dont finish these charts
- what a twat
- hes not that bad
- WOWWW
- yk you're meant to be on MY SIDE.
- ok go back to bed enjoy ur freedom
- yes ma'am
-
A notifcation pinged on his screen.
Dennis closed his phone before he sent something stupid to either of them and internally groaned. This was just great. Great impression on all his superiors. No biggie. Just that he was homeless and had been living in the hospital; something he'd now have to explain to Trinity. Surely that wouldn't end well. He glanced at the clock and thought it best to take a shower while he still could. Checkout was 12pm.
What the hell was he going to do? Go out to dinner with his superiors and then get pissed with Trinity, probably. Dennis was fucked.