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Robby hadn't noticed how strange he was acting the first day, with the constant touching and redirecting of the younger man whenever he was in his vicinity. It wasn't until the end of the shift, once he left the hospital and felt the strange need to check on Whitaker and smell the soft Eucalyptus, that he knew something was off with him.
Then, the next day happened.
A touch to the shoulder that lingers, his thumb pressing against Whitaker's exposed skin that the scrubs didn't cover. The first thing he did whenever he spotted the med student was drag him along to do the rounds, coincidentally placing Whitaker close to him in the small gathering of the day shift staff.
A hand that lingers on the nape of the Omega's neck as he guides him to another patient. Consequently, taking him away from the nurse Jesse, whom Whitaker was blushing up at due to being complimented by the handsome older Alpha nurse.
Firmly gripping the younger man's bicep, pulling him away from a potential disaster as the patient, an Alpha, tried to urinate on him. That bastard tried to mark my- Robby shut down that thought process quickly, attempting to avoid the Omega for the remainder of their shift. They were only 2 hours into their 12-hour shift.
Leaning against his workstation, rubbing his face, he stared blankly at the screen before him, sensing he was being watched.
"Smoke break?" Dana asked, noticing she got the Alpha's attention as she stared him down.
Shit. She noticed. With a nod of his head, he quickly found himself outside, chewing on a nicotine gum as she pulled out a cigarette. "Still trying to quit?" She asked, lighting her cigarette and guiding it to her lips, staring him down with a calculating gaze. "I see the kid came back." The heavy influence on the word 'kid' was felt immediately, Robby's shoulder dropping as he sighed loudly.
"He smells nice. I... I didn't notice until now. Did I touch him a lot during his first day?" The Alpha asked, chewing on the gum nervously, absorbing the nicotine from the gum in hopes it would relieve his anxiety about where the conversation was heading.
"Quite." She narrowed her eyes at him, the purpling around her bruised eye appearing more threatening for the promise of danger. Pulling another smoke, she sighed, "I was going to let you off the hook because it was Adamson's death anniversary." She glanced to her left, ensuring no one was there before adding, "You saw promise in the boy. Was this the reason?"
Robby was immediately shaking his head as he knew where it was heading. He shifted nervously from the balls of his feet to his heels as he said, "I wouldn't do that... again. Collins was different." It sounded like a pathetic excuse, but it was the truth. She was in a different profession when they had dated, and they didn't have any intimate relationship when she started her internship in his department. Neither one of them would sacrifice their careers for a relationship that was strained from the beginning to the end, their Alphas butting heads for dominance. It did lead to intense intimacy, but it wasn't good for a healthy relationship.
"Are you hoping to take advantage of your position over him?" She exhaled, the smoke blowing towards Robby as she stared him down, the intensity of her gaze causing him to sweat on his forehead. For a Beta, she could be scary as hell even without a scent. Robby thought, shoving that prejudiced thought away to the back of his mind.
"I would never. Dennis's rotation in my department is for only twelve weeks. I can keep it in my pants until after that." Robby said he hoped his voice sounded more confident than what he did.
"So he's Dennis now?"
Fuck. Why did I say Dennis?
"I mean, Whitaker," He brought a hand up, waving it side to side in a gesture of finding his blunder irrelevant.
Dana continued smoking her cigarette, the ashes falling from her hand as she rubbed her pointer finger against her forehead, thinking about the conversation and the potential HR nightmare it might bring. Then she thought back to the reason she returned, she returned for Robby, for her nurses who needed her. "Keep it in your pants if you want to die with it at least until his rotation ends in our department. I heard he's doing Surgery next, in our hospital." Dana exhaled deeply, watching the smoke from her lips drift away with the wind as she added, "Remember your oath, Robby. Do no harm. He's a good kid."
Chewing on the gum for a couple more seconds, the taste waning to being just rubber, Robby nodded in understanding, "Of course, I wouldn't want to ruin his career... or him." Dennis.... Whitaker deserved to be a doctor; Robby knew he could be a great one with the correct guidance. The older man also knew Dennis deserved someone better, less broken than him, but he knew that he couldn't find it in him to let Whitaker go. Not with how quickly his inner Alpha became attached to the naive Omega, who unknowingly locked his fate when he extended his hand in Peds.
"Oh, I have a feeling you want to ruin him differently." Dana's quick wit caused her to grin devilishly, seeing how red the attending turned from her commentary.
The touching didn't stop, even when Robby became more aware of them. It was as if his body had a separate mind of its own, causing him to find himself in the Omega's proximity whenever possible.
A lean over the younger man's shoulder, looking down at the screen from his workstation, the Omega occupying, as he said, "Making it a habit of eating on my work station, Whitaker?" From the position he had over the younger man, he could see the cheeks puffed out like a hamster, full of the hot pocket he was devouring, and pause as he was caught red-handed.
The Omega turned his attention away from the YouTube video he was watching, depicting a procedure for properly wrapping wounds, as he glanced up to see how close the Alpha was. I can smell his cologne... he smells nice. Dennis thought, chewing quickly before risking it all to gulp part of the food in his mouth. Another quick set of chewing, he swallowed the rest, turning away to cough from the overexertion before turning back to blink up nervously at the older man.
"I.... I just wanted to double check I was wrapping a wound correctly and get a quick bite between patients... Your workstation is always empty." Dennis tried to excuse himself, hearing how weak it sounded to his own ears. No wonder no one uses it, it's the undisclosed work station for the attending, the younger man chided himself.
Before Dennis could go down a spiral of how he messed up already on his second day, that he was going to be kicked out of the program, all thoughts disappeared at the feeling of fingers caressing through his hair on top of his head, patting him. Confused, Dennis sat there allowing the older man, the Alpha, to touch his head as the attending spoke, "No worries, Whitaker. I'll let it slide if you make sure to clean up after yourself and use it only for studying or work-related purposes." Robby paused in his words but not in his hand movement as a sudden grin formed on his face. "If you attract any rats, it'll be your job to catch them."
The reward for his teasing was the bright pink on the younger man's pale cheeks. "Ye-Yes, Sir."
Robby's hand was quickly removed from the Omega's head as if he had suddenly burned. The clearing of his throat made him turn to see Dana looking at him. "You're needed in Room 2 for a consultation."
Smiling nervously at the older woman, he knew he was in trouble when she didn't smile back.
"Whitaker, you're going to follow the patient to Surgery. Come find me when you come back." It was another day, but even now, Robby's attention always went to the younger man. The younger man had a coy, perhaps even flirty, smile as he talked to Jesse while he finished checking the chest tube on the patient. Seeing those blue eyes directed at another Alpha was causing an itch at the back of his head; his Alpha wanted to claw Jesse's face for having the younger man's attention. And hell, he liked Jesse on any typical day; he was a competent nurse. Pausing before stepping out of the room, Robby added, "Jesse, you can go check on your other patients. Room eight is awaiting a blood draw for additional testing."
He saw Jesse quirk an eyebrow, a corner of his lip turning upwards as if he found something interesting. "Of course, Dr. Robby." The nurse turned his attention to Whitaker, winking at him as he addressed the med student, "Find me when you get back. I can show you some interesting stuff."
Fuck that. Robby thought, frowning as he stepped out of the room and walked into another, observing another trauma while keeping his eyes on the doorways, ready to snag Whitaker before he could find Jesse. I can teach him more than any nurse can.
Maybe fate decided to be slightly more forgiving to him after what it put him through a couple of days ago, his hands gripping Dennis's shoulders as he exited a room, having seen the med student pass by while looking for someone.
"You're treating him like he's your personal stress toy." That was how Jack greeted him when he arrived half an hour earlier to do an easier turnover of the ED. Perhaps it was also because his house was an empty nest, with two grown children in the middle of college or finishing it.
"Who?" Robby asked, playing ignorant even as his eyes wandered over to the sound of Dennis' laughter, seeing the Omega smile at Trinity, who had an annoyed expression.
Jack didn't dignify his question with a verbal response, just a quirk of an eyebrow. It was enough to get the point across.
Robby could feel his shoulders slump, a deep sigh escaping his lips as he tilted his head to the side, jerking his chin slightly to signal the roof. He could see Jack reeling himself in, his left shoulder lifting as his head tilted to the right, rolling it before the night-shift Attending nodded. The younger Alpha turned, walking towards the elevator.
Now, he had a minute or two to find Dana to let her know where he could be found. He walked towards Whitaker, patting the Omega's shoulder, ignoring the narrowed eyes of the Omega intern as he said, "Half an hour until the end of shift, go check on your patients one more time before finalizing your reports, Whitaker. You too, Dr. Santos." It pained the Alpha to let go of the Omega's shoulder, but he did so reluctantly, spotting Dana coming out of a patient room with a tablet in hand.
Walking towards Dana, he could hear Dr. Santos whispering, "I'm telling you he's a creep around-"
"Trinnnn not here," Dennis whispered back. Both of them were failing miserably at whispering, and Robby could still hear them. One problem at a time, Robby.
Opening the roof door, Robby walked towards his best friend. "Thought for a second you wanted me to freeze my ass out here with how long you were taking." Jack joked, turning to look at his brother with a smug expression, the coldness of the night having stopped bothering him decades ago. It stopped bothering him when he learned how cold a desert can get.
"Please, I was barely a minute late." Robby smiled, refraining from rolling his eyes as he leaned against the railing beside Jack. He stared down at the buildings, unsure of how to start the conversation.
"Barely a week in and you've already scented him," Jack stated bluntly.
"I-I didn't scent mark him." Robby weakly defended himself, leaning further down against the railing to rub his hands against his face. He could smell the slight scent of Eucalyptus on his hands; the last person he had touched before going to the roof had been the med student. Fucking hell. "Okay, maybe I scent-marked him a little bit."
"A little bit?" Jack laughed, getting up from the railing to grab Robby's wrist and pulling it away from his face. Bringing it close to his nose, he sniffed, hmming as he added, "Never knew you liked Eucalyptus scented hand sanitizer, Robby. Should I get you some for Christmas?"
Robby clicked his tongue as he pulled his hand away, pushing himself off the railing as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, unconsciously possessive of the scent of the Omega. What the fuck is going on with me? Robby screamed at himself in his mind, shrugging his shoulders in a deflective motion. His head dropped, his eyes staring down at the gravel on the roof's flooring.
Jack's eyebrows raised together, leaning slightly down so he could stare up at Robby, not giving him an inch to escape. Not when it meant risking the career of a promising kid, at least from what Dana's told him. "Got anything to say, brother?"
"He.... He smells like home. Makes me feel calm just by touching him." Robby admitted, thinking back to all the touches he provided to the Omega to comfort the younger man, when in reality it had helped him ground himself in ways that blasted all other grounding techniques out of the sky. It helped him in Ped's in ways that kept him up at night, wondering what would have happened if it were anyone else but Dennis. Robby continued, "He helped me out of a slippery situation. Kept it a secret from everyone for me. He trusts all the decisions I make, never questioning me without a good reason. He grounds me in ways no other technique could compare to."
"What about him?" Jack asked, bringing Robby out of his thoughts.
"W-What?" Robby asked, blinking his eyes in confusion as he jerked his head up, Jack pulling himself up from his leaning position as he shrugged his shoulders.
"All I heard right now was 'me'." Jack raised his hands to make air quotes around the word me. "What about the kid? Have you made your intentions known, or are you hoping to keep scent marking him while he's oblivious to it?"
"I was planning to court him properly after the end of his ED rotation," Robby said, scratching at his chin as another sigh escaped him, a sudden itch to go and touch the Omega.
"Yeah, Dana mentioned it. Think you can last that long around him?" Jack asked, his face neutral as he awaited his brother's response.
There was a pause that passed through them, both of them staring each other down. It was Robby who broke the staring contest, staring out to the night sky, barely able to see a couple of stars as he shook his head. "I... I don't know. But for him, I'll make it happen. Do... Do you think you can write his evaluation?" Robby asked, knowing that if he wanted to pursue a future with the Omega, it would be best not to have his name on any of Whitaker's evaluations or recommendations. Robby knew it would leave a black mark on Whitaker's career, especially if Dennis took his last name.
"I'll take him off your hands for the next week or two. It'll do you good to remember your other grounding techniques." Jack nodded, patting Robby's shoulder as he walked towards the door. "Now tell me what mess you left me with."
Robby laughed, shaking his head, and trailed behind the younger Alpha.