he was sort of impersonal. there was a distance between shen and the patients that dennis just couldn’t relate to. shen was a good doctor! he just didn’t get invested in the way dennis was used to seeing.

so, of course, dennis felt so fucking silly when shen was the one who found him with his knees to his chest, crying over an elderly man’s fall.

“shit,” shen swore when he noticed dennis curled up on himself. “uh-you want, like, a soda or something?”

dennis shook his head, roughly swiping at his cheeks. “no, i’m-i’m sorry. i’ll be out in a second.”

shen stood there sort of stiffly, before he put his coffee on the table and slid down to sit next to the intern. “you’re good. take all the time you need.”

“i know it’s not a big deal, but he’s never going to be the same after that broken hip,” dennis tearfully explained. “i’m fine. it just sucks.”

shen nodded while staring off into space. “it does.”

dennis looked at him curiously. “does this stuff not ever get to you? you don’t seem to…”

shen chuckled. “are you asking if i have, like, ASPD or something?” dennis stayed quiet. “no, it used to get to me a lot more.” shen looked at the tear tracks on dennis’s pretty face. there was an unspoken i used to be a lot like you.

“did you find a balance or something?” dennis questioned quietly.

“no.” shen shook his head. “i think i sort of turned it off, which i’ve been told isn’t the best.” he flashed his overly empathetic coworker a sarcastic smile. dennis regarded him with a sad, solemn look. “don’t give me the puppy dog eyes, i’m fine.”

dennis kept looking at him, passing over this new information in his head. “yep. we’re both fine. two of the finest people i’ve ever seen.” he gestured around, highlighting the fact that they were on the floor of a fucking hospital break room.