Chapter Text
"We need to intubate, quickly. Princess, you grab the–" Cassie McKay was cut off as she blindly ran straight into the fourth year medical student, Dennis Whitaker.
They both exclaimed as they bumped into each other, knocking each other off balance slightly. McKay took a brief second to regain her thoughts, unsure of why she was so taken aback by this small run-in. She gazed up at Whitaker's dirty blonde hair, his short, 5'7" body standing barely over her 5'5" self.
They aren't strangers. Around the hospital the two shared moments often. He would help her out with getting her son presents. or beg her to buy him a snack from the vending machines.
Gosh, he was so immature. But, it was almost endearing to McKay. Whitaker was 31, and her 43rd birthday was next month, and she dreaded it. She hated the thought of being "old." It didn't help that Harrison nailed in into her skull every waking second.
"C-Can uhm.. we do it?" Whitaker started, attempting to be confident, breaking the silence between them. McKay still stared, never breaking her gaze. Something about McKay broke down his confidence, just a bit. He seemed to be so much softer around her. It made sense, they knew each other better than people presumed.
"I just, you can never have enough experience intubating...” he said aloud. In a whisper he continued, “…and I feel like we don't hang out as much anymore" He stared innocently right into McKay's eyes.
'Hm.' That's all she could think.
Robby, across the room, immediately noticed the tension between the two, staring at McKay with a gleam of curiosity in his eyes. He knew the two had a fondness for each other, but he thought nothing more than just a sweet little mentor-mentee relationship.
But he knew that glimmer in McKay's eyes.
Robby took his own few seconds to ponder their encounter. 'McKay? Really? and Whitaker?' He emphasized that last part in his head. He looked at Whitaker, then back to McKay, a slight pleading in her eyes. 'McKay, you are one gutsy woman, but him??' Robby laughed in his head.
she smiled and slightly shook her head. "Sure. Why not."
Whitaker turned his head to meet McKay's eyes, a wave of joy overtook his face and he lit up, turning to get the supplies.
"Okay–I'll need..."
Robby watched, drowning the noise out a bit with his own thoughts.
'He's not so great at hiding his eagerness, I see.' Robby thought to himself, slightly widening his eyes and turning back to the patient on the table. 'Not my job to handle whatever weird relationships my doctors have. At least Abbot isn't here, he would have a field day with this.'
Robby spotted Mohan across the room, eyes darting back and forth between McKay and Whitaker. Meticulously piecing together every interaction they've had in the past 6 months. Or at least that's what Robby assumed she was doing.
"Doctor Mohan! Will you step out with me and help me with any other incoming patients rerouted from Westbridge?" He called her. She snapped her gaze away from the two and moved it to Robby. His eyes met hers and they both had a mutual understanding of exactly what was going on. She ran over and joined him by the door.
"You gauged that too, right? I'm not crazy??" Mohan poked at Robby barely as the door shut.
"What? McKay and Whitaker? Yeah, I noticed. Doesn't help me or any of these patients though to sit around and talk about it." Robby said back with a hint of snark in his voice.
"Right. I forgot you hate gossip." She mocked and rolled her eyes. "But come on! He was all over her! And she was hardly disinterested..." Mohan looks away from Robby and back to McKay and Whitaker inside the patient room. Robby cut her thoughts off, waving his hand in front of her face.
"Doctor Mohan, I think Doctor Abbot will benefit more than I would hearing this. For now, please stick to your job." He muttered something as he walked away. Mohan was left standing alone.
'There is something up between those two... I know it.' She thought to herself.
"We all see it." Trinity Santos' voice rang out from a few feet away. Mohan's eyes snapped up at her. "Huckleberry and McKay? Yeah, if you ask me it's weird as hell, she's like a mother to him, but hey, to each their own, I guess." She said, shrugging and returning back to her computer.
Back in the patient's room, Whitaker is quickly gathering all of the supplies needed to intubate, while McKay watches him from aside, finding a little thrill in his squabbling and shuffling about.
She took a moment and just looked at him, really looked. His dirty blonde curls, now forming a perfect mullet in the back. She really liked his new hairstyle, she assumed Santos had something to do with it, Dennis can't do his hair for the life of him.
McKay would know, she used to curl his hair for him when he would come over at 5 a.m. for a study session. He always would show up at her apartment door, bright and early, with their favourite orders from the coffee shop down the way.
For him, a large white mocha with whipped cream and 3 shots of espresso. For McKay, a stark black coffee, with milk from her fridge. Whitaker always poked fun at the fact she used her own milk, and she just retorted claiming that hers "tasted different." He would laugh and she would glare at him jokingly, and he would get a bit too loud and she would shush him as to not wake Harrison.
Not anymore, though. His tests were over and they slowly dwindled their hangouts. McKay missed it, but they both were so busy and enveloped with work nowadays.
Either way, she needed to be in the moment right now, not daydreaming about his curls or her silly coffee requests.
Presently Whitaker was frantic looking for a certain part needed for the breathing tube. While he was keeping his composure decently well on the outside, McKay knew exactly how he was feeling on the inside: panicked.
She knew that look in his eyes. The exact look she saw when she introduced his first USMLE Step 2 CK practice test. That look quickly vanished thought when she looked him in the eyes and told him not to worry, that she'll walk him through everything he needs to know.
'No more daydreaming, Cassie! You need to get your head in the game. This isn't highschool.'
She thought harshly to herself, blinking hard before transporting herself to the present and planting her feet so she wouldn't get distracted.
"Uh.. we need.. Where the hel–" Whitaker started, but was cut off by McKay.
"Looking for this?" She said, holding up the piece, a smug grin on her face. She found it a few moments before, but waited just a second to watch him scramble. Whitaker sighed a breath of relief before smiling a bit too.
"Thanks. You know, you could have just given it to me. You didn't have to watch me squirm like that." He huffed out, grabbing the piece from her, attempting to put the pieces together so they can start the intubation. The other doctors and nurses in the room were tending to their own mini-missions in order to help the patient, none of them in ear shot of the two.
"Aw, but I like to watch you squirm, Doctor Whitaker." She whispered teasingly, batting her eyes up to look at him.
*TINK!* The part clatters to the ground. Whitaker coughs a bit, caught off guard. His face immediately flusters and all of the doctors look up to see what the commotion is. McKay looks completely normal, cool as ice. Whitaker glances at the other doctors, waves a hand up awkwardly, then looks back at McKay, a flutter of annoyance in his eyes. She looks at him, eyes widened slightly, as if telling him to calm down, mixed with an "oh sh*t" gleam. He clears his throat and bends down to pick up the part. A few nurses giggle and go about their business.
Whitaker is mortified. The beeps of the vitals machine are ringing in his ears. McKay grabs the part from his hands and attaches it to the breathing tube in a swift motion.
"Good grief, kid, I didn't think your brain would malfunction." She laughs a bit, smirking as if she can't believe she just said that.
"I'm glad you find amusement in my humiliation." He grumbles, taking the breathing tube from her hands. "What the hell even was that? You don't say stuff like that!"
"I don't know I was trying something new?? You're right we haven't hung out in like—forever...and I've been reading a magazine about how to 'spice up your life'" She said, giggling and mocking the 'spice up your life' part.
She thought it was hilarious, honestly. While she did find some amusement in his little freak-out, she admittedly felt bad. She didn't like to embarrass people, especially Whitaker.
She noticed him about to start the intubating process, his hands shaking and his breathing heavy.
Robby, who was walking back in now to check on the patient, stopped at the foot of the bed.
"What is going on in here? Why isn't the patient intubated??" He said frustratedly motioning to the patient. "Whitaker, what is taking you so long? You've done this more times than I can count. Why are your hands shaking??" Robby was nearing full anger, livid that one of his best doctors was altered.
"Uhm- I just- well there-" He started, but McKay chimed in instead..
"We just lost a part, Robby! Nothing too serious. He thought he messed up and didn't want to disappoint you by telling you." She looked over at Whitaker, a 'thank you' in his eyes.
"Its okay, Whitaker, Robby won't kill ya." She finished, looking back at Robby. The ball is in his court.
"Okay. Just get the job done." He turned to leave, stopping before reaching the door and saying,
"For the record, Whitaker, you don't have to be afraid to tell me you made a mistake, we've all been there."
"Uh, yes, yes sir, Doctor Robby, of course. Thank you." He started to calm down, his breathing subsiding.
Robby smiled and opened the door, walking out and letting it shut softly behind him.
Whitaker shook his head, fully recovered, and continued with the process and successfully intubated the patient, turning to McKay, putting his hands up as if to say, "I did it! All done."
She high fives him with both hands, then challenged him a bit, knowing his brain was scrambled. "Okay, what next?"
His face dropped slightly and his hands relaxed a bit down. He repeated back her question quietly, before snapping up. "Oh—right! Uh well, he is intubated and you mentioned that he needs a CT scan so, my guess would be to prep him for that?"
"Your...guess?" She repeated back.
"Nope no guess, that's what we should do." He corrected.
"Correct, Doctor Whitaker." She said, walking by and patting him once on the back.
She walked up to the door to leave but Whitaker stopped her.
"Uh where-where are you going?" He questioned.
"I've got other patients to take care of! You can handle this one, ask Princess for help." She motioned towards Princess, who looked over to Whitaker and smiled.
"Right, uh okay." He replied, already on to the next thing as he turned towards the patient.
"Oh and, Whitaker?" She turned back around.
"Yeaah?" He dragged the word out a bit.
"Have your lunch break with me, 12:30." She smiled and turned to leave, not giving him a chance to answer. She knew he would show.
McKay open the door and walked out.
'What a knucklehead.' She laughed to herself.