#mohan

A/N ~ I am so glad everyone is enjoying this series as much as I am. I hope you enjoy part 3 😊

Previous parts to this series can be found below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Masterlist

Summary ~ Your behaviour has been off. Jack is oblivious to the rumours. Mohan realises something new and she doesn’t like it.

Taglist ~ @girljusttrying97 @trustmeima-doctor @materialgirl-97 @willgrahamcrackerr @sideblogmeanz @ghostlywonderlandtragedy @binaryssunsets @nathymrx @cath-ryn95 @fionaapple888 @acrookedtree @santinstar @saibaxoxo @nat20st @spicymango422 @aic1709 @mrsxchase @looploopbeboop @ineedbooksandoldermen @4ria790 @penvisions @amacphet @calytrixsworld @renegadebirch

You didn’t know when it had started.

Dr. Mohan hadn’t done anything wrong. She hadn’t said anything out of line. If anything, she was exactly the same as she’d always been: professional, capable and easy to get along with. Yet, something had shifted. Because now, when you looked at her, standing a little too close to Jack across the ED, leaning in as she said something that made him laugh, something twisted low in your chest. Something sharp, sudden and uncomfortable. The kind of feeling that made your jaw tighten before you even realised it. The kind that made you want to walk over there and —

You stopped the thought before it could fully form. That was a problem. Because that wasn’t you. Not even close.

“Hey, Dr. y/l/n, can I get a consult?” Mel’s voice cut in, pulling you out of it. You blinked, tearing your gaze away from across the room. Away from Jack, from Mohan, from the way their shoulders had nearly brushed.

“Yeah, sure,” you said, a little too quickly.

You slipped the mask back on, the one you wore so easily at work. Calm. Composed. Unbothered. Like nothing had shifted. Like nothing was wrong. As you followed Mel down the corridor, you repeated it to yourself, steady and certain. Nothing is wrong. Everything is fine. Even as you walked away, the image lingered. The way Jack had laughed. The way Mohan had leaned in. The easy familiarity between them. What wasn’t fine, what you couldn’t quite ignore was how much you wanted to wipe that smile off her face when her elbow brushed his.

____

“So… what’s new?” Santos asked, tapping her fingers against the counter, a sly smile already forming.

Whitaker didn’t even look up from the computer. “Uh… nothing?” It came out more like a question, his tone edged with suspicion as he glanced at her. 

“You sure about that?” Santos leaned in slightly, eyes glinting with mischief. “Because I know something you don’t know.” She sang the last part, clearly pleased with herself.

Whitaker sighed. “Good. ‘Cause I really don’t want to know.” He clicked through the patient chart, unimpressed. Santos pulled a face at him, halfway to flipping him off before she noticed Mel sitting down nearby.

“You wanna hear something?” she asked, turning toward Mel with enthusiasm. Mel raised her brows.

“Trust me, you don’t,” Whitaker muttered without looking away from the screen. Santos shot him a glare and flipped him off properly this time. “Shut up, Whitaker. You lost your chance.”

She turned back to Mel and leaned forward. 

“So, I saw y/l/n in the trauma room earlier. Absolutely furious. Snapping at everyone, flying off the handle…”

Mel frowned slightly. “Okay…?”

Santos let out an exaggerated sigh. “Don’t you want to know why?”

“No,” Whitaker answered for her again. Santos didn’t hesitate. She grabbed a pen and threw it at him. Whitaker ducked just in time, the pen clattering harmlessly against the floor behind him.

“She does want to know,” Santos insisted, folding her arms on the counter as she looked at Mel expectantly, “Don’t you?”

Mel hesitated, clearly not convinced.

“I heard from one of the nurses,” Santos continued anyway, lowering her voice slightly, “That Mohan and Abbott were looking pretty cosy this morning and y/l/n was not happy when she saw it.”

Whitaker snorted quietly. Mel straightened. “I really think it’s a bad idea to be listening to nurse gossip.” She stepped away, already moving toward her next patient.

Santos watched her go, unimpressed. “Well, she’s a bore.”

“Aren’t we all,” Whitaker muttered under his breath.

“Oh, shut up,” Santos snapped, grabbing another pen and throwing it, this time with better aim. Whitaker yelped as it hit his shoulder. Santos smirked, satisfied and walked off.

_____

Jack hadn’t seen you all shift. He only realised when you didn’t show up for lunch. 

A patient had food delivered as a thank-you something that usually meant the staff lounge would be packed, everyone drifting in and out, grabbing what they could between cases. It was almost routine at this point. You were always there but not today.

“Hey,” Jack called, picking up his brown paper bag from the table as Robby passed by. “You seen y/n?”

Robby shook his head. “No, not since morning rounds.” Jack nodded, like that answered something, though it didn’t settle the restless feeling sitting in his chest.

“Why?” Robby added, a smirk tugging at his lips, “You worried she’s off with her friend?”

Jack grimaced, sharper than he meant to. “No. Just wondering, that’s all.”

Robby didn’t look convinced, but he let it go. Jack glanced down at the food in his hands, suddenly uninterested. The thought crept in anyway. Uninvited and persistent. You, somewhere else in the hospital laughing, and sharing food. Sitting across from someone else the way you used to sit across from him. The same easy conversation. The same quiet moments. Just not with him. His grip tightened slightly on the paper bag before he forced himself to loosen it, exhaling under his breath. It shouldn’t bother him. It didn’t mean anything.

“Hey.”

Jack barely registered the voice at first. Mohan stepped into the room, offering him an easy smile, like nothing in the world was out of place. He glanced at her for half a second, distracted. “Hey,” he muttered, already moving past her. He didn’t stop. Didn’t slow. His mind was elsewhere caught on a loop he couldn’t quite shut off. One question repeating, louder than it should have been.

Where were you?

____

The rooftop was surprisingly warm for this time of day. Or, maybe it just felt that way compared to how cold you’d been all morning. You kicked lightly at the gravel beneath your shoes, watching the tiny stones scatter as you let out a frustrated breath. That had been bad. Losing your temper like that, raising your voice, snapping in front of everyone, it wasn’t you. Not as an attending. Not as someone who was supposed to stay composed when everything else wasn’t. And the worst part? You didn’t even fully understand why it had happened. Someone had mentioned Jack, then, Mohan and something in you had just…snapped.

You leaned forward slightly, resting your hands against the cool metal railing, eyes drifting down to the helipad below. As if staring hard enough might give you an answer. It didn’t.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

A voice called from behind you. The voice of the man you had been avoiding all day. You didn’t look his way as he leaned against the metal railing beside you. The same one you were gripping a little too tightly. You kept your gaze fixed downward. If you looked at him, you weren’t sure what might show on your face. Jack, on the other hand, was already watching you. 

There was something unsettled in his expression something caught between concern and frustration and beneath it, something quieter. Something he didn’t quite want to name. He hated how the last few shifts had felt. Hated how everything between the two of you had shifted without either of you saying a word. Hated even more that it seemed to have started the moment that friend of yours began showing up.

“y/n?”

You glanced at him then, unable to ignore it any longer. His brow lifted slightly, patient, waiting like he always was with you. That only made it worse. How had you ended up here? So close to him and yet somehow so far away.

“Save your pennies,” you said, a little too clipped, “I’m good.” The words came out sharper than you intended. You caught the brief flicker of something across his face, a small wince he didn’t quite hide, before you looked away again, back toward the helipad.

“Alright then,” Jack said quietly. He tapped the railing twice and pushed off. He started to walk away. Your eyes squeezed shut for a second, frustration bubbling up again. This time at yourself.

“Wait.”

The word left your mouth before you could re-think it. Jack stopped mid-step. He turned back slowly, hands slipping into the pockets of his dark scrubs. 

“He’s just a friend, you know.”

The words hung awkwardly between you. Jack tilted his head slightly, caught off guard. He took a small step toward you then stopped himself, rocking back instead.

“Seems like a very good friend.”

There was something under it. Something you didn’t like.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jack shrugged, gaze drifting briefly past you to the skyline behind you before settling back again. “Just that he obviously cares about you.”

Something in your chest tightened.

“Why don’t you just come out and say what you want to say?”

You stepped toward him now, closing the distance, leaving the safety of the railing behind. Jack’s eyes flickered with something: surprise, maybe, or something sharper.

“What do you think I want to say?”

“Something about you and Mohan?”

It slipped out too fast. Too sharp. The moment it was out there, you wished you could take it back. Jack blinked, thrown.

“What about Mohan and me?”

Then, your pager went off. The sharp, insistent beeping cut through everything. You glanced down at it, grateful for the interruption and hating it all at once.

“Gotta go. 911,” you muttered, already stepping past him toward the fire exit.

“Y/n,” he called as he watched you walk away, “I’m still waiting for my answer.”

Your hand hit the door, pulling it open. You paused just long enough to throw something over your shoulder.

“The entire Pitt knows.”

The heavy metal door slammed shut behind you, leaving Jack alone on the rooftop. Standing there with more questions than answers.

____

Jack had just finished with a patient and the last of his notes. The locker room was quieter than usual just the dull hum of the overhead lights and the faint echo of voices from down the hall. He swung his black bag over his shoulder, adjusting the strap as he exhaled, the weight of the day settling into his muscles.

“How you doin’? You alright?”

Dana’s voice cut through the quiet as she stepped into the room, already watching him. 

Jack glanced over at her. “Yeah, kind of.” He shifted the strap again.

“Kind of?” Dana echoed, nudging him lightly with her shoulder, a knowing smirk already forming. 

“Sounds like girl trouble.”

Jack rolled his eyes automatically. “No.” He watched as she walked towards her locker on the far end. “What are people saying about Mohan and me?”

Dana’s smirk widened instantly, blooming into something far more dangerous.

“Ohhh,” she dragged out, delighted now, “What do you think they’re saying?”

“Dana.”

“Alright, alright,” the grin didn’t leave her face as she popped open her locker. “Someone may have mentioned seeing you two looking a little close the other day.”

Jack frowned. “What?”

Dana shrugged, “Maybe there’s something you want to tell us, lover boy.”

Jack shook his head. “That’s not true.”

It came out firmer than he expected like he needed it to be. Dana hummed as she rummaged through her things.

“That’s not what my people are saying.”

Jack let out a quiet breath, dragging a hand over the back of his neck. Everything about this felt wrong. All of it was just wrong.

⸻

Mohan stood in front of the patient screen, arms folded, feet planted firmly against the tiled floor. On the outside, she looked composed. Focused. On the inside, she was still riding the high. The case from this morning replayed in her mind: the pressure, the decision, the moment she had acted. Her patient had suffered trauma to the brain where pressure had to be relieved in his brain. Since surgery was taking its time, she decided to drill the hole herself. The risk. The outcome. A win. A big one. Jack had been there to see it all.

He had been the one to praise her. Steady, impressed, just a little teasing in the way he had pushed her to make the call in the first place. It had meant something. More than she wanted to admit. For a moment, she had thought maybe she was finally settling in. Finding her place.

But when she had seen him later in the staff lounge and had gone up to him with that same energy still buzzing under her skin, there had been nothing. Not nothing, exactly. Just less. Jack was more distant than before. Like what had been there before had quietly slipped out of reach. It bothered her more than it should have. She really thought they were closer since she had helped him with his laceration and then this morning. Then, her eyes flitted away from the screen to the side for a split second and stilled. 

Across the department, just beyond the sliding doors, she spotted Jack with you. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched. Jack stood close. Too close. His hand wrapped loosely around your forearm, like he was trying to stop you from leaving or keep you there just a moment longer. Mohan couldn’t hear what you were saying or see you fully as people passed in front of her, breaking up the view.

She didn’t need to hear it because she saw enough. You pulled away first, heading off down the corridor. Jack followed a step behind with a smile on his face. Small and soft. The kind of smile that didn’t belong to just anyone. Mohan’s chest tightened before she could stop it. Because she knew that smile. She had seen it before when she had patched up the wound on Jack’s arm. When he had stood close, letting her work, his voice quieter than usual. It was the same smile he had given her this morning; half impressed, half proud. The one that had made her think maybe it meant something. Her jaw tightened slightly as she watched him disappear down the corridor after you.

Now, she wasn’t so sure anymore and she didn’t like that feeling.

Not one bit.

______

A/N - Does anyone else sense a triangle forming here or is it just me? 🤭

selamat pagi sayangku cintaku duniaku 🖤🤍

this season, we see it clearly with al-hashimi. he doesn’t even give that woman a chance. he walks in, sees that she does things differently from him, and puts up defenses against her. this is a woman who is talented and capable and clearly there for a reason, and robby is treating her like a resident. and robby allows santos, his subordinate and student, to smack talk her and even subtly agrees with her, further cementing this othering.

it’s happening again with mohan, creating a toxic environment where doing or feeling anything against the norm is seen as shameable behavior. because robby doesn’t just reprimand mohan for having a panic attack (which is a whole other can of worms), he shames her. in front of her peers and colleagues and students. and then tells her she’s probably not cut out for the er!! when we know damn well she is!!

and ogilvie is experiencing it too. don’t get me wrong, i am not an ogilvie fan at all. but refusing to answer his (and javadi’s!) questions when the system went down isn’t just a “i’m done with you” moment, it is deliberately shutting him out and setting him up as another outsider in the department.

and of course, langdon. he has officially fallen from grace in robby’s eyes. once the golden boy, now replaced by whitaker. robby has created in langdon a villain for himself to be up against. did langdon fuck up? absolutely yes. but is he evil or incompetent? no. but robby needs a villain, because he works best when it’s a fight. he doesn’t know how to manage conflict and be emotionally vulnerable, so instead he lashes out.

robby has been incredibly emotionally stunted this season. ignoring questions from students, dismissing mel after specifically asking her how she’s feeling, telling langdon at the worst possible time that he doesn’t want him in the hospital anymore and then reprimanding him for being slow to the draw, shaming mohan, shaming mckay for going to see a patient and withholding the information that roxy died until he could drop it and leave the biggest impact.

robby creates cliques within the department and leaves his staff fighting for his approval to be part of the group. and then, once they’re in, he pits them against someone else, and they fight them. it’s an exhausting cycle that is going to collapse in on itself eventually. al-hashimi is already starting to dismantle it, encouraging langdon to talk to santos and defending samira when robby berates her.