writing things

* * *

The last time Dennis checked his phone was about 3 hours ago, right before he put a 60 year old man’s knee back in place. He had been booked and busy since then, running around without a second to stop. But he hadn’t stopped thinking about his date later that night. 

He had met her about 6 months ago on one of his few days off. He decided to treat himself to some coffee that didn’t taste like the hogwash from the ER staff room. He rubbed his face as he reached for the door to the coffee shop, still not fully awake. At the same time that he went to grab the handle, another person went for it too, accidentally grabbing his hand. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she pulled back immediately, her face flushing as she made eye contact. 

“It’s no worries, I got it.” Dennis smiled, fully opening the door to let her in first. 

“Thanks,” she gave back an embarrassed smile before scurrying inside in front of him. 

When Dennis got in line, he looked up at the menu, deciding if he should try something different or do his usual. He was really debating on getting one of the shop’s weekly specials though. He usually didn’t stray from his usual order, but it was his day off, he should treat himself. 

“Hi, can I get an orange creamsicle cappuccino?” he asked, pulling his wallet out from his pocket. 

“For sure!” The barista smiled. “By the way, your drink has been paid for.” Dennis halted his motions.

“Huh?”, he tilted his head, eyebrows furrowing. 

“The girl before you paid.” The barista pointed towards the girl who he opened the door for. 

“Oh, uh thanks.” He shoved his wallet back down into his pocket. The barista wished him a good day as he moved out of line and towards the girl. If she felt like she was in the wrong, she’s wrong about that. He was incredibly tired and didn’t see her at the door. If anything he should’ve paid for her drink for his clumsiness. 

“Thank you,” he said as he got next to her, “you didn’t have to do that.” 

“It’s an apology for my awkwardness.” she let out a snort, “and you looked like you needed a pick me up.” 

“I need my fill of coffee, even on a day off.” He sighed, looking at the pick up counter. 

“It’s my day off too! Where do you work?” She asked, turning to him. 

“PTMC,” he said. Turns out she worked at the same hospital in the Pediatrics department. After they both had drank half of their coffee, they decided to sit down at a table to continue talking. Maybe it was their common workplace or the fact she was so funny, but Dennis was enjoying every minute of it. The conversation flowed easily, and he didn’t feel like he had a front on or hide anything about himself. She was genuine and pretty. Really pretty. They ended up talking for over an hour. Talking about family, the transition to Pittsburg, the weird sound the south elevator makes. When they eventually had to go their separate ways, Dennis gathered up the courage to ask for her phone number. Because he had to see her again to pay her back for the coffee. 

Since then, they have spent every sliver of time off together. So tonight they had planned to get dinner at their favorite Italian place. They planned to go right after their shift ended, not risking going home and getting comfortable. 

By the time Dennis’ shift was ending, he could almost smell the lasagna he was going to order later that night. He just had handoff and then his dreams would be a reality. 

Walking to the nurse’s hub, he saw that she was already waiting for him. “Hey,” he smiled, slowing to a stop in front of her. “I just have one more thing and then I’ll be good to go. 

“Alrighty, I’ll be here.” She beamed, setting her bag on the counter. Trinity squinted at Dennis as he walked away. 

“Who is that?” she bumped her shoulder against Victoria’s, nodding towards the unfamiliar face. Victoria followed her line of sight before shrugging her shoulders. 

“Probably a friend?” she suggested with a tilt of head.

“As if Huckleberry has friends besides us.” Trinity scoffed, making Victoria roll her eyes. 

“Just ask him.” Trinity rolls her eyes to Victoria in return before walking over to Dennis. He just finished handoff and was ready to leave, but Trinity blocked him like a linebacker before he could make it back to the hub. 

“Who’s the chick?” She asked, raising her eyebrows at Dennis. He looked back at his girl with a smile. 

“My girlfriend.” He said shortly with a nod, then swiftly moving away from Trinity before the cork blew off and he was hit with it. He was tired of hiding it from everyone. It wasn’t like he was doing it on purpose, he just wanted to make sure the relationship was serious before he told anyone. Everyone wanted to poked their noses in other people’s business, so he just wanted to be private for a while, which just meant that he was quiet about the whole ordeal. But he was so happy. He got to be himself and found someone who loved that. Someone who supported him and who he supported back. They understood each other to a degree that was kinda unexplainable to him. But they fit together so well together that there was no way he would go back to what life was like before her. 

Trinity watched Dennis walk away, her mouth slightly agape. Then, she let out a snort sound, making Victoria stare at her with wide eyes. After a moment, she started to cackle, her laugh getting soon louder and she doubled over. Victoria threw a pen at her in an attempt to snap her out of whatever was happening. Trinity just ignored the pen hitting her, picking it up and walking back over to the curly haired girl, still having a giggle fit. 

“What did he say?” Victoria leaned over the top of the counter, itching to get as close to Trinity to hear the news.

“His girlfriend?” Trinity laughed out, shaking her head as she spoke. 

“And you don’t believe him?” The younger girl leaned back with an eyebrow raised. 

“No!” letting out an exasperated laugh as she let her hands fall. “He is just lying to get out of Thai night.”

“Whatevery floats your boat.” Victoria sighed. “Whatever, let’s just get going, I’m so hungry.”

“I am right.” Trinity pointed a finger at the other before moving to leave together. 

* * *

The next morning, Dennis’ supposed lie had spread across the ED. There was even a bet set up by Ahmed. 

“You don’t really think he has a girlfriend do you?” Trinity looked up to Perlah from the computer. 

“It could explain why he’s been more smiley lately.” Perlah pointed out. 

“Or it could be because he doesn’t have to deal with you two after hours” Princes motioned to the two pittlings. 

“Hey! He likes us.” Victoria defended, crossing her arms over herself. 

“Yesterday he was just complaining about how you guys don’t take his restaurant suggestions.” Robby interjected, squinting his eyes. 

“He has bad taste.” Trinity shook her head. “One time he took us to this grody BBQ place in the middle of nowhere.”

“Didn’t you say it was the best BBQ you’ve ever had.” Robby tilted his head. 

“Yes…” Trinity hesitated, “but the atmosphere was not it, he doesn’t get a choice anymore.” Robby just shook his head with a sigh. As the conversation continued, Dennis walked in through the triage door, in step with the same girl that was waiting for him the night before. 

“Is that her?” Princess asks, nodding over to the entrance. All heads at the station turn. 

“Could you guys be any more obvious?” Robby laughed, lightly knocking his knuckles against the counter. He shook his head at the antics of his staff before moving to start his day, but still kept an eye towards the lot. 

* * *

“Oh god,” Dennis saw the all beady eyes staring at them as they walked. 

“You think they’re talking about us?” She asked from next to him with a small smile. Dennis just dropped his head with a huff. “Word travels fast.” she laughed. 

“It does,” Dennis looked up to meet her eyes, his head still handing low. 

“Let’s give them something to really talk about then,” Before Dennis could ask what she meant, she had raised to her tippy toes and snaked her hand to lay on his shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. She started to pull back but Dennis quickly leaned down and kissed her again, his hand on her cheek to halt her from pulling away. It wasn’t anything crazy since they were at work, but it was more than enough to get the gossip going. Smiling, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. 

Trinity’s jaw dropped, eyes following Dennis as he walked to the lockers. 

* * *

The bar was loud, but honestly what else was expected. It wasn’t super crowded, but there was a good amount of people. He stood near a high top with his coworkers while he finished up his second drink. He was starting to loosen up from the drink and the atmosphere, and was enjoying himself. 

“You should have seen the look on Robby’s face when I told him Whitaker changed scrubs for the third time,” Langdon laughed, looking at Dana. 

“At this rate, I’m going to end up emptying our whole scrub supply by the end of the week “ Dennis laughed as the others joined him. It felt nice to let loose, and talk to his coworkers about the silly things instead of serious medical information. Seeing them in this light was refreshing. 

Dennis tipped back his half full glass, taking the rest of it down. “Hey, I’m going to go grab another, I’ll be right back.” He said as he held up the now empty glass. He weaved his way around the crowd and made it to the edge of the bar. It looked like there was a bit of a wait, so Dennis leaned one of his forearms against the counter, and let his eyes wander to the bottles behind the bar. He didn’t spend long looking at the different alcohol on the wall as his thoughts were interrupted by a voice. 

“Hey!” A girl had slid into the empty space next to him. She had previously been trying to get the attention of a bartender, but gave up when she saw how busy they were. “You’re not dressed up right,” She frowned playfully, pointing to his scrubs. 

“I just got off of work, didn’t have time to change.” He smiled shyly, looking down at his clothes. The girl was pretty cute wearing a cowboy hat with boots to match. 

“Not very country of you.” She faced him, mirroring his stance. “Well, what type of doctor stuff do you do?”, she said, waving her hand in the air.

“Oh no, I’m not a doctor just yet.” He shook his head profusely. She inched closer to him as she was straining to hear him over the music and crowd. “I’m a 4th year med Student and just started my emergency rotation at the PTMH.” 

“Oh that’s cool!” She pulled back. “How are you liking the city so far?”

“It’s really cool. I’m still getting used to the city, it’s nothing like home.” 

“Where’s home for you?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Small town in Nebraska, I lived on a farm” he looked down at his glass as he twirled it around on the bar. He was getting nervous, he didn’t talk about home a lot. He felt like any time he brought it up, Santos just found another way to make fun of him. It didn’t bother him a lot, but it was getting annoying.  

“Oh a real country boy!” she laughed. “Well, do you know how to two step cowboy?” She felt that they were nearing a touchy subject, so she wanted to lighten the mood up. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve danced.” he smiled nervously.

“Well, dust off them dancing boots and let’s see what you got.” Her eyes lit up and a hint of a southern twang came out as she spoke. Taking his arm, she led him to the side of the dance floor. Dennis had been a little reluctant so she didn’t want to go right into the middle of the crowd. Besides, she wasn’t in the mood to be the center of attention, just the center of his attention.   

An upbeat country song was playing in the background when she stopped on the outskirts of the dance floor. Her right hand slid from his forearm down to his hand. “Just follow the music,” she smiled, moving her other hand to lay on his shoulder. “And don’t step on my toes, these are my pretty boots.” She playfully warned him by pointing at his nose. 

He let out a laugh at her comment and looked down at her brown leather boots. They looked well kept. Likely her going out boots if she had other pairs, Dennis thought.  White embroidery littered all around the shaft, outlining some design he couldn’t make in the dim lighting. He was still looking down at their feet as they started to move. The last time he danced was probably when he left for med school. When he graduated from undergrad, his family threw a get together to celebrate. He thought he wasn’t the best at dancing then, so right now, he felt as stiff as his drink. 

“You’re getting it,” she cheered. They had had a few missteps, but were able to find a good groove after a minute. While he felt out of practice, she thought he was better than most of the guys who came to the bar. It seemed like his muscle memory was starting to kick in. Dennis then finally looked up and settled his eyes on hers. 

“It’s coming back to me,” He gave a small smile. He took his hand off her back and started to spin her with the hand that was still in hers. A genuine laugh came out of her from the unexpected move.  

* * *

It would’ve been a miracle if Dennis didn’t catch the eye of the friends that he earlier abandoned, but god was not willing to grant that one tonight. 

“Where’s Huckleberry?” Santos asked, looking to the bar to see a sliver of the mousy boy. 

“He’s over there, twirling that girl around.” Dana tipped her drink in the direction of the pair, “Looks like you owe me five Langdon.”, smirking to the man on her left. All heads turned to the dance floor to see the event. 

“Didn’t know he had it in him,” Langdon’s mouth parted in surprise. 

“He doesn’t look half bad at dancing,” Javadi mused before taking a sip from her glass of water. 

“Holy crap,” Santos gawked. “Huckleberry’s got moves!”

* * *

Dennis finished orbiting her around the floor, and they laid their eyes back on each other.

“Are you sure you haven’t danced recently?” She jested. Her words and smile charming him.

“It helps that I have a pretty partner,” Dennis froze, “I mean- a pretty good partner,” He looked a bit alarmed. He didn’t mean to say that but Freudian slip got the best of him.   She giggled at his misstep, taking the compliment both ways. 

“Well having a handsome leader to follow certainly doesn’t hurt.” She replied. The music started to shift to a slower song and the couples around them started to follow suit. “Do you mind if we keep dancing?”

“No, I uh- I’d love to.” He answered. He moved both of his hands to rest around her waist. “Is this alright?”

“Good to me.” She hummed. Moving her hands to link behind his neck, she settled in the swaying movement he started. “Now tell me, what’s your name, partner?”, seating at his wording earlier. 

“Dennis, and yours?” Their faces were close, not close enough to touch, but not far enough for him to miss the spots on her face. She drawled out her name, not taking her eyes off him. It might’ve been the drinks in her system, but he felt like more than just a dance at a local bar. She wanted to talk to him more. Maybe they could talk over some drinks that they hadn’t gotten to earlier. Or maybe they could set something up for a later date, she would like that. 

In the corner of Dennis’ eye he saw Dana trying to get his attention. She didn’t want to disturb him but they were leaving and he was said he needed a ride from someone. She had her thumb out pointing towards the exit, trying to mouth some words to him. Dennis got the message, and sighed, turning his attention back in front of him. 

“This has been such a good time,” Dennis started, “but I’ve got to get going now.” He frowned.

”Ah, no worries,” she shrugged, and took her hands off of him, shoving them in her pockets. She was a bit disappointed that their night was ending but understood nevertheless. “Could I get your number?” She waited a beat before asking but the words came out a bit faster than she meant. 

“Oh yeah sure!” Dennis fumbled to get his phone out. She put her number in his phone, and then sent a message to herself saying Dance Partner from Round Up with cowboy hat emoji. After returning the phone to him, she smiled and squeezed his bicep, “I had fun, text me.” She then walked off, hoping that it wouldn’t be the last time she saw him.

With his phone still on in hand, Dennis was softly smiling as he watched her walk away. 

“Good time kiddo?” Dana asked as she clapped his shoulder. 

“Amazing.” He let out, still looking in the direction that his partner left.