Bunny & Rabbot
Ch. 1
Rabbot x reader, soulmate au. Nerd!Reader, designed with female identifying readers in mind but appearance and size are not mentioned. Reader will be called bunny eventually. Cross posted on AO3.
The waiting room TV was playing something loud and forgettable, drowning out the noise of dozens of others in the lobby. Probably some daytime Wegovy commercial with too many bright colors and not enough substance.
It's not like you were paying attention to it anyway.
Sitting hunched slightly forward in the plastic chair, her right arm cradled awkwardly against her body, trying very hard not to move it. Every shift sent a reminder through her shoulder that something was out of place. This was annoying.
Not the most- well, okay, it was- but mostly it was painful in that sharp but achy way.
Especially because normally, she could fix this herself.
Across the room, the sliding doors opened and a young man stepped out, scanning a clipboard before calling your name.
“Yep.”
“Come on back.”
The intake room smelled like antiseptic and something specifically hospital.
You perched on the edge of the exam table while a nurse typed something into the computer.
“So, my name is Mateo, and I’ll need to ask some questions before we get started,” the nurse said without looking up. “What brings you in tonight?”
“My shoulder is dislocated.”
The nurse looked up, eyebrows furrowing.
“And how did that happen?”
You paused for half a second before replying
“My friends and I were playing a game…Dungeons and Dragons.”
There was another pause.
“…okay.”
“We got excited,” You continued quickly. “Someone rolled really well, people started yelling, my chair tipped weird, and I caught myself with my arm. Which was… a mistake.”
“That’s… new.”
“Yeah,” “I didn’t actually want to bother coming in, usually I can pop it back in myself.”
The nurse stopped typing.
“You can what?”
“Pop it back in,” she repeated. “Shoulders are kind of a repeat offender situation for me.”
He palpated the area and finished up taking note of your vitals before stepping away.
“Alright, I’ll just need you to hang tight for a second while I get someone to take a look at that.”
A few minutes later, the door opened, and a doctor who vaguely resembled a kicked puppy stepped inside. He had this slightly overwhelmed look of someone who hadn’t slept through a full night for a few years.
“Hi,” he said, offering a quick smile. “I’m Dennis Whitaker, one of the med students.”
“Hi.”
He glanced at her arm position and winced sympathetically.
“Yeah, that definitely looks uncomfortable.”
“Just a bit.”
He washed his hands and stepped closer. “Mind if I take a look?”
“Go for it.”
He moved carefully, gently testing the range of motion- or lack thereof- before pausing.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Yeah. That’s dislocated.”
“Shocking,” You deadpanned.
Whitaker huffed a quiet laugh.
“Normally we can reduce these pretty easily, but I might want another set of hands just to be safe.”
“Sure.” You say, shrugging with your good shoulder.
Whitaker stepped out into the hallway, and a minute later the door opened again.
An older man walked in with the type of authority of someone who had done this a thousand times.
“Evening, I’m Dr. Robinavitch, but Dr. Robby is just fine.” He said with a friendly smile, and his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“Hi.”
Whitaker came to stand by your damaged arm and presented to his attending
“Anterior shoulder dislocation, non-traumatic fall, no signs of fracture from what I can tell.”
“Alright. Let’s see what we’re working with.” Robby stepped forward.
And the moment his hand touched your arm and shared sensation ran through you both…burning.
A sudden, sharp heat flared across your chest like someone had pressed a brand over her heart.
Robby jerked back at the same time, eyes going wide.
Because on his chest, beneath the midnight colored hospital scrubs, the name that had sat there his entire life had just ignited.
For half a second the room was silent.
Whitaker looked between them.
“…um?”
Robby opened his mouth to say something-
Suddenly, the door was pulled open.
A second doctor burst inside. He was slightly taller and had a head of beautiful silver curls.
“Robby-”
He stopped dead when he saw them, before being allowed to ask anything Dr. Robinavotch grabbed his wrist and put it on your good shoulder. Allowing you to feel that overwhelming scald all over again.
The man in the doorway stared like the ground had just disappeared beneath him.
“…Ah,” he said softly.
Robby ran a hand over his face.
“Well.” Whitaker looked like he was considering melting into a puddle. “Um,” he said, backing toward the door. “I’m gonna… give you guys a minute.” And then he escaped.
You blinked at the two doctors. “…so,” she said slowly. “This is happening.”
The one who had burst in-, Dr. Jack Abbot, apparently- crossed his arms over his chest.
“I felt the mark flare and figured….but I didn’t actually expect…” He gestured vaguely at her.
“Yeah,” You said. “Same.”
Robby cleared his throat, trying to recover some semblance of professionalism.
“Well.” He pointed gently at her shoulder. “Before we get too existential about this, we should probably fix that.”
“Good call.”
Robby moved to position her arm while Jack stepped in on the other side.
“Okay,” Robby said. “On three.”
“One–”
The joint slid back into place.
You exhaled slowly. “There we go.”
Jack blinked. “…did you just relax into that?”
“A little.”
Robby frowned slightly.
“How are you feeling?”
Reader rolled her shoulder experimentally. “Honestly? Mostly annoyed.”
“Annoyed?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Usually I can get it back in myself.” Both doctors stared at her. “…usually?” Jack asked.
“Joint issues.”
Robby raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t the first time.”
“Not even close.” You responded flexing your fingers once, satisfied that everything was relatively normal.
“But,” she added, glancing between them, “I guess it worked out…If I fixed it, I wouldn’t have met you two.” They were both quiet for a moment.
Then Robby huffed a soft laugh. “Well,” he said. “Aren’t you lucky to be paired with two doctors?”
~
The observation period should have been quick. Normally, for something like a simple shoulder reduction, it was. Tonight it wasn’t.
You lost count of how many times someone poked their head through the curtain. The young nurse from before came by twice to check her vitals.
Whitaker dropped by again and hovered awkwardly once before clearly deciding whatever soulmate chaos had just happened was above his pay grade. Another resident asked if she was dizzy. And Robby checked in at least three times.
Not that you minded.
The last time the curtain slid open again, he stepped inside with a clipboard tucked under his arm. “Well,” he said, glancing at the chart. “Everything looks good.”
“Meaning?”
“You’re cleared to go.” He handed her the discharge papers. “No heavy lifting, take it easy for a couple days, sling if it starts bothering you again.”
She skimmed the page quickly.
Then Robby cleared his throat. “So… I also wanted to ask something.”
That made you look back up.
He shifted his weight slightly, suddenly looking a little less like the confident attending physician and more like a man trying to navigate a very strange life event.
“If you wanted,” he said carefully, “you could come with me for a bit and we could talk. Or we could exchange numbers and find some time that works for the three of us to sit down and figure this out.”
Not really prepared for this after spending hours in the ER you say
“I could come with you for a little while,But I have work in the morning.”
“That’s fair.”
You hopped down carefully from the bed.
“Funny enough,” she added while slipping her arm into the sling, “I actually work at a different hospital.”
“Oh?”
“Presbyterian.”
Robby blinked. Then he laughed softly, rolling his eyes. “Really? Presby?”
You shrugged.
“Well, I don’t know much about the medicine,” she admitted. “But I know they treat their lab techs well enough and that was all I was looking for at the time.” You paused. “But it’s not like my heart is committed to the place.”
Robby nodded slowly. “Good to know.” He gestured toward the hallway. “How about I drive you home?”
Outside, the night air felt cooler than the hospital.
You followed Robby toward the parking area before pausing when he headed toward a truck.
“I normally ride my bike in since Jack and I have different schedules,” He glanced at her sling.
“But I don’t think now’s the best time to have you holding on with that shoulder.”
You laughed softly. “Fair.”
He held out a hand helping you climb into the passenger seat.
The truck rumbled to life once he settled and they pulled out onto the street after entering your address into the GPS. For a few minutes they just drove.
Finally Robby glanced over at her.
“So,” he said. “How old are you?”
You looked towards him, examining the laughlines that made his face whole, the grey in his beard.
“Does it really matter?”
He considered that for a second.
“No,” he admitted. “Not really.” Then he sighed.
“I’m just sorry you got saddled with two old guys.”
You scoffed and reached over to pinch the arm he had resting on the center console. “Well,” she said lightly, “it’s a good thing old guys are my type.”
Robby blinked. Instead of responding, he simply rested his hand gently on her knee. It didn’t feel strange. If anything, it felt oddly natural- like the kind of casual contact that would have been uncomfortable with anyone else but somehow wasn’t with him.
After a moment, he spoke again. “So what actually happened tonight?”
“My shoulder?”
“Yeah.”
You leaned back in the seat. “My friends and I were playing Dungeons & Dragons.”
Robby frowned slightly. “…I don’t think I know what that is.”
“It’s a tabletop game,” she explained. “Storytelling, dice, fantasy stuff.”
He nodded slowly. “And the shoulder?”
“We get a little intense about it,” she admitted. “Someone rolled really well, people started yelling, my chair tipped, I tried to catch myself…” She lifted her sling slightly. “And here we are.”
Robby huffed a quiet laugh. “That might be the first time I’ve heard of a board game injury.”
“Oh, it’s definitely not the first.”
Eventually, the truck slowed in front of her apartment building.
You climbed out, and Robby followed.
You could see it immediately on his face. The building wasn’t great. Peeling paint off old brick. Flickering hallway lights. The kind of place people moved into when rent was cheap and options were limited.
To his credit, he didn’t say anything. “Do you want me to walk you up?” he asked instead.
You smiled a little.
“Sure.”
Her apartment, in contrast, was warm and comforting despite its small size. Books are stacked in piles by overflowing shelves. A worn couch with crochet blankets thrown over the back. Dice, markers, journals, and pencils were scattered across a coffee table next to a half-finished puzzle.
Robby glanced around briefly.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Water’s fine.” You grabbed a glass from the kitchen and handed it to him.
He leaned against the counter, thinking for a moment.
“Actually,” he said, “Jack and I already had a day off scheduled together in two days.”
“Oh?”
“We were planning to get some work done on the house.” He took a sip of water. “If you’d like, you could come by. Spend the day with us. Get to know each other a little better.”
You didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, I’d really like that.”
