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“You look nice,” Jack said without looking up from where he stood at his computer.
“Thank you,” Robby smiled. He had changed into his non-work clothes, dark jeans and a button up. He was fiddling with the cuff button, clumsily. Jack beckoned Robby to hold out his wrist and assisted the button through the hole.
“Hot date?”
“Yeah, actually,” Robby was bent over his backpack, stowing his stethoscope and travel mug away.
Jack made a small noise in acknowledgement. He bit back the urge to ask with who. It wasn’t his business. But he wanted it to be his business.
“Well, have fun, you need a condom?” Jack smirked. Robby let out a genuine laugh and pulled his backpack on.
“Keep that up and I’ll volunteer you to work Christmas.”
♡
By the next time Jack and Robby’s shifts overlapped, Jack had honestly forgotten about Robby’s date entirely.
“Hey, can you help me with the incoming trauma?” Robby rushed past Jack, as the ambulance bay doors opened.
Jack hated today’s shift. It wasn’t that he was annoyed at being called in on his day off. It wasn’t that he had already been cussed out by a patient. It wasn’t even the fact that he had forgotten his coffee on the kitchen counter this morning.
His problem was Robby. Since first thing this morning, he had a slight limp in his step. It was like Robby was wearing a giant flashing neon sign that kept pulling his focus.
Jack joined the already crowded room, pushed his way slightly towards the head of the bed.
“Alright everyone, on my count,” Jack braced his right leg against the side of the bed. “1, 2, 3.”
“Henry, can you tell me what happened?” Robby was pulling open Henry’s shirt.
“I was washing my windows at home, fell from the second story,” he groaned out which turned into a pained laugh. “I lost the plot after that.”
“I can see some glass here,” Robby’s gloves were already covered with blood.
“Okay Henry, we’re going to prep you for surgery okay? Our friend here, Dr. Garcia is going to patch you right up.”
“CT scan first.” Robby ordered. A flurry of hands were flying in to help.
Jack’s eyes flicked up to Robby’s, from this angle he could see the tiredness. He wondered if Robby was sleeping okay. Maybe he should bring him some soup tomorrow.
It was while he was thinking that he missed the shard sticking out of Henry’s shoulder.
“Fuck!” Jack backed away quickly, ducking underneath Yolanda’s arms.
“You okay, Abbot?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll circle back.” He pulled his gloves off and ripped his disposable gown off, throwing both into biohazard. Jack opened the trauma room door with his back, cradling his hand.
“Princess? I need a room.” He scanned the hub for an open door without success.
“Central 19 is open. Can Robby put in the orders for the post-exposure labs?” she asked as she held the door open for him. She already had the phlebotomy kit ready in her hand.
Jack nodded, as he tried to staunch the cut. It wasn’t deep but it sure was bleeding, right down his entire arm, dripping off the point of his elbow.
He was already ripping at the saline ampule with his teeth, trying one handedly to spray the wound.
“Left or right?” Princess asked, tourniquet ready.
He stuck out his left arm, letting her tie it tightly and prick his vein. His right hand continued to bleed sluggishly.
“You’re an easy stick, if that’s any consolation.”
Princess just finished putting patient stickers on the vials when Robby opened the door. He eyed Jack’s hand before going straight to the computer, hitting his badge against the monitor.
“You want PEP too?” He asked, typing furiously to add the screening labs.
“Do we know if Henry has a known HIV infection?” Jack asked, pulling the suture kit towards him.
“I’ll send it in, better safe than sorry.” Robby electronically sent the medication, then turned and pulled the thread from Jack’s hand.
“You want an ugly scar? You can’t suture lefty.” Robby tsked at him like a petulant child. Jack let Robby work in silence.
“You want to come over tonight, watch the game and have a beer?” Jack examined Robby’s work.
“I can’t, Duke is taking me out.” Robby threw off his gloves, tossing them into the biohazard bin.
“Oh.”
♡
Robby was spending a lot of time with this Duke guy. They bonded over their love of motorcycles and cynicism bullshit. Jack started noticing Duke was coming by a lot, usually picking up or dropping off Robby.
Robby rarely had time to meet him up on the roof anymore.
Jack was walking through the elevator doors, having just come down from the roof himself, when he saw a huddle around Robby. He ran through the Rolodex in his mind, it wasn’t Robby’s birthday.
“Are you sure you don’t want any ice?” Samira asked, her hand lightly touching Robby’s face. When Jack rounded the desk, he understood the huddle.
Nasty laceration to his temple, a black eye blooming underneath it. It looked fresh.
“You haven’t even been here 15 minutes,” Jack shook his head, pushing through the crowd to get a better look. Jack’s finger pressed around Robby’s face, checking for any nasal fracture. Robby pushed Jack’s hands away, simultaneously shooing the crowd.
“I tripped outside,” Robby offered, taking the ice pack Dana held out to him.
“Really?”
“Yeah the dumb steps, it’s no big deal.”
“First of all, it’s a workplace injury. Second of all, did you lose consciousness?” Jack started rifling for the paperwork.
“I’m not filing a claim. No, I just tripped, was in my head thinking that’s all.” He grabbed Jack’s wrist, stilling him.
“You can trip for a lot of reason, high blood pressure, A-Fib, stroke-“
“I wasn’t watching where I was going, lay off.” Robby stood up, and pushed Jack away.
“Duke drive you this morning?”
“Yep.”
“Did he see you trip? Maybe he noticed something,” Jack tried one more time.
“He’ll say the same thing. I wasn’t paying attention.”
♡
“Robby! You promised!” Jack was pulling at Robby’s stethoscope, holding the two ends together like a collar.
“No, I didn’t. Plus the residents most definitely don’t want me there.” He let Jack pull at his stethoscope, obediently following him to the lockers.
“It’s a pool party, not a funeral.”
“Jack, no one wants their boss to show up at their pool party.” He leaned against the lockers, and felt like he was in high school again.
“We both got an invite. Plus I promised we would make an appearance. Bring a six pack, we’ll have fun.” Jack had a very persuasive pout.
“I have to ask Duke,” Robby conceded, pulling his stethoscope off when Jack finally let up.
“Ask him about what?”
“We usually go out on Saturday nights, that’s all. It’s polite.” Robby shrugged, he went to take off his sweatshirt. He paused before deciding to leave it on.
♡
Dana and her husband had a pretty rocking pool. Her children were taking turns asking Jack to throw them into the pool. Cassie was keeping an eye on her own son doing laps, as she chatted to Samira. Emma was setting up the plates and cups while Matteo manned the grill.
“Robby, you coming in?” John called from where he bobbed up in down in the deep end. Dana had been throwing a football to him from where she sat on a lounge chair. He was like a golden retriever, never losing energy.
“I’m good right here,” Robby called back, sunglasses perched on his nose. He had his feet in the pool, cellphone laying face down on his thigh. Every couple minutes he would flip it over, furiously text, sigh, and the put it back.
“Food’s ready,” Matteo called, placing the impressive heap of burgers on the center of the table.
“Robby, can you get me one?” Jack stayed sitting at the edge of his pool. His prosthetic had been placed safely inside the house to prevent it from getting soaked.
Robby didn’t even need to ask, he had long since memorized Jack’s hamburger order. He brought it to him, sat down next to him, thigh to thigh.
Robby had just put the plate down when one of Dana’s sons ran over accidentally knocking Robby into the pool. Jack laughed as Robby surfaced sputtering water out of his mouth.
“Awesome, just awesome” He threw his phone to Jack, who caught it easily.
“Sorry Mr. Robby!”
“It’s okay, that’s what the cloud is for,” Robby pulled himself out of the water, dripping like a dog.
He pulled his shirt off and placed it in his lap, half covering his belly.
“What’s that from?” Jack asked, finger lightly poking a nasty looking welt on Robby’s back.
“I was being an asshole,” Robby responded nonchalantly. He smiled at Jack like it was a joke but Jack didn’t return the look.
He, again, poked at it gently. Robby tensed and shuffled to get up.
♡
The sun was setting, the air turning cool. The party headed inside, a lackadaisical calm radiated through the group. Jack was relaxed on the couch, leg having been reattached properly.
There was a commotion coming from the kitchen, stirring those who were still awake. Duke was standing there, huffing and puffing. It looked like he had already had a verbal spar with Dana’s husband.
“Whoa, what is going on?” Jack put his hands out, putting some space between the two men.
“This guy came into my house, yelling about Robby-“
“Why the fuck haven’t you been picking up your phone!?” Duke yelled, tripping over some of the words.
“Hey man, lower your voice.” Jack instinctively made a half-step in front of Robby.
“Who the fuck are you?!” Duke made a sudden move.
“Hey fucker! This is my house and you’re going to fucking behave in front of my children!” Dana yelled from where she stood. Samira and Cassie taking that as their cue to herd the children away from the fight.
“My phone’s dead, it got wet.” Robby’s voice was uncharacteristically wavering. He was looking down at his feet. “I’m sorry, I should’ve called.”
“Do you even consider how this affects me? I was supposed to go out to the bar with the guys-“
“Seems like you got a head start,” Jack chirped from where he stood, still partially blocking Robby. “You drive here drunk?”
Jack had a quirk to his eyebrow and a deep frown etched in his face. Duke’s eyes snapped down to Jack’s. They had an ugly glare even under the haze of alcohol.
“Tipsy, what’s it to you?”
“Nothing,” Jack squared his shoulders, “Just looking out for the innocent people on the roads, that’s all.”
“I can still drive better than you, crip.” Duke sneered.
“Hey!” Dana stalked towards Duke, hand coming to the middle of his chest. “We don’t use that language around here.”
“Fuck this! Robby can still drive, let’s go!” Duke threw his keys to Robby, who didn’t make a move for them, just let them fall to the ground.
Robby wasn’t even looking at Duke, he was looking at Jack. His eyes were full of regret, searching for some sort of forgiveness.
“Robby!” Duke called again.
“Call an Uber,” His voice was barely above a whisper. Robby’s eyes still trained on Jack’s, trying to read his expression.
“God, you’re such a fucking loser. I hope you and Make-A-Wish have a good fucking night.” Duke turned on his heels and slammed Dana’s front door.
“Robby, sweetie, are you okay?” Dana asked gently, tapping him on the shoulder.
“Jack, I’m so sorry.” He looked guilty. Jack didn’t respond, his face unreadable.
He looked around the kitchen, reaching for his keys and wallet.
“C’mon, I’ll drive you home.” Jack thanked Dana and her husband, asking them to forward his goodbye to the others.
♡
Robby followed Jack to his truck, sat in the passenger seat quietly. It was only when Jack pulled up outside his house that he turned and looked at Robby.
“Jack, I’m so sorry for everything he said, I-“
“Why are you sorry?” Jack asked quietly. His hands drummed anxiously on the steering wheel. “None of this is your fault.”
“I’m going to talk to him-“
“The fuck you are! You’re cutting him off, block his number, delete your tinder, I’ll get your stuff for you. You don’t deserve to be treated like that-“
“Fuck, yes I do! He’s honest with me. He humbles me. I need that! I need to be-“
“You want someone to level with you? This is me leveling with you, I’ve noticed. Half the time you come in limping or with an unexplainable injury. You’re nervous all the time. You want rough sex? Fine, go find a dom. You want someone to tell you off, call Langdon.”
Robby shyly looked up, “I’m 54 years old, Jack. No one wants this.”
“I do.”
Robby laughed incredulously, he felt borderline hysterical. “Fuck, that’s mean, Jack.”
“I’m not joking.” Jack looked at him, earnestly.
♡
Jack followed Robby outside to his bike. He wanted to kiss him goodbye without an audience. Jack skidded to a stop.
Duke was leaning on Robby’s bike, arms crossed, smirking. He was murmuring something too low for Jack to hear from where he stood.
“Good to see you, Duke. Take care of yourself.” Robby nodded at Jack in acknowledgement. His hands were clenched as fists in his pocket.
Duke held out his hand, waiting for Robby to shake it. Robby just looked down, continuing to bounce on the balls of his feet.
Duke waited an uncomfortable amount of time before pulling his hand back. He turned on his heel sharply, grinning at Jack and walking past him.
“Nice peg leg,” he shot at Jack as he continued on. Jack turned over his shoulder and shot Duke a look.
“You okay?” Jack asked, walking up to Robby. He nodded and bent his head down, letting his and Jack’s forehands touch softly.
“Yeah, I’m okay, I have a real hot date tonight.” Robby smiled softly at Jack.